F1 legend Lewis Hamilton calls for Ferrari investigation after Azerbaijan Grand Prix flop

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton calls for Ferrari investigation after Azerbaijan Grand Prix flop

A weekend to forget

Chris Deeley Editor

Experienced sports writer covering F1 and other motorsports since 2023

Saturday 26 September 2026 19:57

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Lewis Hamilton has bemoaned the pace of his Ferrari at Saturday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix, calling for a review into his disappointing weekend.

The seven-time world champion could only qualify sixth on Friday despite Max Verstappen's engine issues and Kimi Antonelli's crash, and finished in the exact same spot in Saturday's race thanks to misfortune befalling both McLaren drivers.

As he intimated in both his radio communications and post-race interview, Hamilton felt that lack of pace keenly throughout the race, complaining of a lack of grip and failure to fire up his tyres on top of the team's customary lack of straight-line speed.

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The team's struggles weren't confined to Hamilton alone, with Charles Leclerc finishing in fourth, less than half a second ahead of 16th-placed starter Kimi Antonelli after being another beneficiary of Oscar Piastri's inexplicable lock-up.

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Hamilton: I was just sliding around

Speaking to race engineer Carlo Santi on the radio after the chequered flag, Hamilton said: “We need to look into why we were so slow today. I had no grip, no front end...anyways...but, thanks for continuing to try guys. Not a great weekend overall.”

Talking a few minutes later to Sky Sports, he added: "It was a pretty bad race from my perspective. I mean, I just didn't really go anywhere. I couldn't keep up with the guys ahead, and I was struggling to keep the guys behind.

"Just lacking pace today. Generally through the whole weekend, I just couldn't get the tyres to work. I weaved and weaved and weaved, but the tyres just wouldn't switch on.

"In the race, at the end of the first stint, the tyres all of a sudden started to switch on and start working, and I started to do the same time as everyone ahead – or at least a couple of the guys ahead – and then we switched to the next tyre and it wouldn't switch on the whole last stint of the race, so I was just sliding around."

Hamilton deflects Horner speculation

He then deflected a question about Christian Horner's comments linking himself with the Scuderia as the former Red Bull boss widens the net ever further for an F1 comeback and, when asked what Ferrari needed to do going forward, Hamilton said simply: "Keep trying."