F1 | Hamilton furious on the radio against his engineer – Las Vegas GP
Hamilton furious over the radio: “How is it possible that we are tenth?” Ferrari tries to explain the collapse in the final stages. The Las Vegas Grand Prix ended with a Ferrari team radio that says more than any analysis: Lewis Hamilton’s messages, stunned after crossing the finish line in only tenth place at the end of a chaotic race full of unlucky moments and marked by a sudden drop in performance in the second stint. It is in these radio exchanges, and in the replies from his engineer Riccardo Adami, that the full frustration of the seven-time world champion emerges, along with his doubts over a strategy that simply did not work.
Hamilton vents on the team radio after the Las Vegas GP
As soon as he crossed the line, Lewis Hamilton could not hide his shock:
“What happened with the strategy? How is it possible that we ended up tenth? At one point it seemed like everything was going well…”
His voice sounded incredulous, almost confused — a sign of a race that had been going his way until halfway through. Riccardo Adami, calm but clearly aware of the situation, tried to explain the sudden drop in performance.
Hamilton asks about the Mercedes: “How is it possible they got up there?”
As the team radio continued, Lewis Hamilton focused on another aspect that left him puzzled: the recovery of the two Mercedes cars. Earlier in the race he had them behind, yet they finished well ahead.
“How is it possible that they got up there?”
Riccardo Adami replied immediately, pointing to the key strategic factor:
“They pitted early on lap three, fitted the hard, and went to the end. The hard was clearly the best tyre today.”
This detail highlights the difference in approach: those who committed early to the hard compound managed the degradation better and built a consistent race. Those who tried to extend the first stint were overwhelmed by the performance drop.
