No comeback
The Japanese Grand Prix also failed to bring encouraging results for Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton. The British driver finished the race in seventh place, after starting eighth and overtaking only the Racing Bulls car of Hadjar on track. The seven-time world champion was placed on a different strategy by the team, starting on hard tyres while most of the other frontrunners were on mediums.
The race plan was to switch to the medium compound in the final stint, to attempt a comeback on his rivals. However, the reality turned out to be much more bitter, and Hamilton — who after the first round of stops was one second behind the Mercedes of Andrea Kimi Antonelli — ended the race over 10 seconds adrift of the Italian.
Understanding still to improve
During the race, once again, some miscommunications emerged between #44 and his race engineer, Riccardo Adami. A detail that, three Grands Prix into their collaboration, is somewhat surprising. It should be remembered that the driver–race engineer dialogue can be “trained” even in the simulator. The episode in question occurred in the second half of the race, when Lewis Hamilton was beginning to significantly lose pace compared to Kimi Antonelli ahead of him.
The veteran from Stevenage spoke up over the radio — with a slightly impatient tone — and asked Riccardo Adami for more detailed updates: “I’d really appreciate some info on where I’m slow, man,” said Hamilton. The race engineer, who’s been at Ferrari for 10 years and previously worked with Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz before Hamilton, tried to meet his driver’s request: “Turns 8, 9, 13 and 14,” was his reply. “OK, but by how much?!” Hamilton snapped, visibly annoyed. “Let me know.” “Yeah, I’ll tell you. One tenth in turns 8 and 9,” Riccardo Adami concluded the exchange.
The motivator
After the race, the mood lightened, with Lewis Hamilton — ever the team player — trying to lift the spirits of the crew: “Sorry about the result. I didn’t have pace today, but let’s keep pushing to get better results next week,” he said. No personal friction between the two, then, but it’s clear that in terms of in-race communication, there’s still a lot of work to be done.
