Lewis Hamilton PRAISED for ignoring Ferrari order

Lewis Hamilton has been praised by a former F1 world champion for not letting Charles Leclerc back through at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Having been on fresher tyres and setting blistering lap times, Leclerc was told to give up eighth position to Hamilton so that the seven-time world champion could go and chase down Yuki Tsunoda and Lando Norris in sixth and seventh.

However, Hamilton was not able to overtake any of the cars ahead of him in a frustrating end to the race, and was therefore expected to give eighth place back to Leclerc.

Hamilton lifted on the start-finish straight on the last lap of the race to try and let his Ferrari team-mate through after being told on team radio to do exactly that, but he misjudged it, and ended up finishing eighth with Leclerc in ninth.

Both drivers were not too bothered by the incident following the race, both suggesting that it didn't make too much difference given the lowly positions in the top 10 that they were fighting for.

On top of this, Leclerc is 44 points ahead of Hamilton in the drivers' championship, so it's not likely to impact their standing in the overall season standings either.

Despite this, Hamilton has come in for some criticism from pundits for not following team orders, including Ralf Schumacher, who said that Hamilton's relationship with the Maranello outfit could 'tear' the team 'apart'.

Now, Jacques Villeneuve has praised Hamilton for not following team orders. Speaking to OLBG, 1997 drivers’ champion Villeneuve said: "Lewis Hamilton played it well. He played it really well.

"Ferrari asked Leclerc to let Lewis by, but they didn't need to. Lewis then, on the new tyre, was so much quicker anyway he would have overtaken him. So, the team orders were unnecessary. So, I guess that's why Lewis didn't really want to let him by again!"

Is Ferrari a divided team?

Schumacher's comments came following the race and centred on the conversations over team radio between Hamilton and his engineer Riccardo Adami.

The former F1 racer suggested that Adami's tone with the 40-year-old, as well as Fred Vasseur's comments on the situation post-race, are signs of a tense atmosphere at Ferrari, one which has not been improved by Hamilton.

"The way they interact with each other isn't good," the German told the Backstage Boxengasse podcast. "Then there's Lewis' criticism of the team. I view the combination critically.

"Add to that the failure to swap positions with Leclerc before the finish line. Ferrari needs to sort things out internally, otherwise they'll tear themselves apart from the inside.

"A thunderstorm clears the air, that's a thing of the past. We simply need to talk openly with each other. The limits and expectations need to be defined.

"If Lewis no longer has trust in the team, and vice versa, that would be a great shame. Because if mistrust develops, then it's better to let it go and go our separate ways at the end of the year."

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