“This is YOUR job”: Lewis Hamilton attacks his Mercedes team after being left with a choice of tires in the Miami Grand Prix … while the disappointing season of the seven-time world champion continues with sixth place
- Lewis Hamilton finished sixth in the first Miami Grand Prix on Sunday
- The racing engineer of Mercedes left an important strategic decision to him
- The 37-year-old chose not to put on new tires while behind a safety car late
- Teammate George Russell changed his tires and kept ahead of Hamilton
- The seven-time champion questioned his team about not paying
By Philip Duncan, Pa F1 correspondent, Miami
Posted: 00:56, 9 May 2022 | Updated: 01:04, 9 May 2022
Lewis Hamilton said he did not understand why Mercedes wanted him to make a strategic decision at Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix.
Hamilton racing engineer Peter Bonington asked his driver if he wanted to get new tires while behind a safety car at the end of the race.
The seven-time world champion has chosen to stay out, while George Russell, who starts 12th, is taking advantage of the period to change his only tire.
Lewis Hamilton’s disappointing season continues as he finished sixth in the Miami Grand Prix
Russell managed to make his way over Hamilton to finish one place ahead of his teammate in fifth place.
“In this scenario, I have no idea where everyone is, so when the team says ‘this is your choice,’ I have no information to make a decision,” Hamilton said.
“It’s your job.” Make the decision for me, because you have all the details and I don’t. I rely on the boys for that, but today they gave me the solution and I didn’t understand it.
The 37-year-old footballer wondered why his team left the decision to change the tires or not
George Russell really changed his tires and then overtook Hamilton to finish fifth in the race
“When you are given this responsibility, I feel like gambling, and I don’t like it. It was just a little unfortunate.
Russell and Hamilton clashed for the first time as Mercedes teammates. Russell was instructed to return Hamilton’s seat after an illegal off-piste run before leading his man on the next lap.
Hamilton said, “George had the best tire to start with, and in retrospect, maybe I could start with the hard tire. But he did a great job of recovering from his starting position.
This was the first time Hamilton and Russell clashed as Mercedes teammates.
“He was fair and had fresh tires, so I was a bit of a sitting duck. I am waiting for a change in destiny, but until then I will continue to work as hard as I can.
Russell, who scored 23 points more than Hamilton after five races, said: “Obviously you leave a little more space when you fight with your teammate than usual.
“I was told I had to change my position backwards and that was a bit disappointing as I was catching the boys forward. Fortunately, we all went home together.
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