Ferrari F1 boss explains controversial Lewis Hamilton strategy decisions

Vasseur looking serious in conversation with Hamilton, who has back to the camera — Photo: © IMAGO

Ferrari

Ferrari F1 boss explains controversial Lewis Hamilton strategy decisions

Oh, to be a fly on the wall in that debrief...

Chris Deeley Editor

Experienced sports writer covering F1 and other motorsports since 2023

Tuesday 25 August 2026 19:45

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Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has opened up on some race-altering strategy decisions his team made during Sunday's F1 Dutch Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc finished right on the tail of George Russell in fourth and fifth place respectively, with the former spending a large portion of his afternoon complaining about the team's tactics.

The seven-time world champion initially complained about the team's reluctance to tell his team-mate Leclerc - running slower on older tyres - to move aside and let him pass, something he later blamed directly for his failure to finish on the podium.

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Hamilton was eventually released up the road when Leclerc pitted a few laps later for fresh tyres, with Vasseur explaining the timing of that stop to Sky Sports after the race.

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Vasseur explains Ferrari decisions

"We had a group of people in our shadow," he said on Leclerc's stop, "and we are trying to clear this group and there was another group in front.

"In the end we took an option but the cars in front pitted, like Ocon and Lindblad, and we gave it to Russell like this."

Hamilton was also heard complaining about being left out longer than he expected, at one point asking 'Are you using me as a guinea pig or what? What's going on? How long will you have me stay out?'

Vasseur later revealed that were it not for a conveniently-timed virtual safety car inside the last 20 laps, the answer to Hamilton's question may have been 'right to the end of the race', which he said 'would have been a good call'.

'You can always rewrite the race'

Speaking about that and Hamilton's frustration on the radio and in his post-race interview, the Frenchman said: "The story with Lewis was that at one stage we were trying to go to the end and I think it would have been a good call also.

"But probably we lost one second with [following] Charles. The target when you go to the end is not this one and with what has happened after you can always rewrite the race."

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F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Dutch Grand Prix Fred Vasseur