Juan Pablo Montoya slams Ferrari: “Too worried about being fair hurts performance”. Juan Pablo Montoya criticises Ferrari’s indecision in Miami.

Juancho’s opinion
“Go ahead and have a cup of tea while you decide.” “Do I also have to let Sainz through?” These were the two most pointed radio messages Lewis Hamilton directed at the Ferrari pit wall when he asked for Charles Leclerc to let him by so he could make full use of the fresh set of medium tyres he had fitted for the second stint of the Miami GP. The seven-time world champion pointed out that in China he immediately made way when it was time to give priority to his teammate, who had better tyres at that moment in the race.

In the end, Charles Leclerc did let Lewis Hamilton pass—but after too many laps, by which time the medium tyres had already lost their peak performance, and the Brit then gave the position back to the Monegasque. The two Ferrari drivers ended the GP in a bitter seventh and eighth place, and the radio messages inevitably went ‘round the world’. After the race, Hamilton and Leclerc both stressed there was no bad blood between them, but shared disappointment in the Ferrari SF-25, which has so far failed to live up to preseason expectations.

Speaking to Spin Genie, Juan Pablo Montoya gave his perspective on what happened at the Miami International Autodrome in Florida:
“Lewis Hamilton just wanted the team to listen to him, to do the most logical thing. Strategically, Ferrari has been decent in recent years, but not outstanding. You can’t put Hamilton on softer tyres and keep him behind Leclerc—that situation ruined Lewis’s tyres. By the time they let him through, there was nothing left to extract. What Hamilton said over the radio to his race engineer was to establish a principle: to make quicker decisions and maximise situations as they arise. Leclerc and Hamilton should have swapped positions immediately. It’s not about deciding which driver to prioritise, but about making the right call to maximise points. Ferrari is too worried about making the ‘right’ or ‘fair’ decision, to the point of hindering the team’s performance. It reminds me of McLaren last season—they could have won the Drivers’ title with a bit more ruthlessness in handling team orders.” – the former Formula 1 driver concluded.