Stand-in Ferrari team boss Jerome d’Ambrosio has commented on the disagreement between Lewis Hamilton and his race engineer, Riccardo Adami, at the Austrian Grand Prix.
D’Ambrosio insisted that Adami and Ferrari picked the optimal strategy for Hamilton during the Austrian GP.
The seven-time Formula One Drivers’ Championship winner finished fourth in the race on Sunday, June 29. His teammate, Charles Leclerc, finished just ahead in third place.
Former Mercedes pilot Lewis Hamilton joined Ferrari amid much fanfare at the start of the year. But so far, he has not had the impact many expected. He has not won a single Grand Prix with the Italian team, with his only success coming in the Sprint in China. Hamilton hit out at ‘yapping’ critics after his maiden win in the red suit.
Lewis: "Greatest driver of all time?"
Charles: "Yourself!" 😭 pic.twitter.com/G5FI3Ohdrl
— sin ⁴⁴ (@44britcedes) June 27, 2025
After working alongside Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington for over a decade, Hamilton is also finding it difficult to gel with his Ferrari engineer Riccardo Adami. Adami and Hamilton seemingly have a communication issue, while the 40-year-old also does not seem too thrilled with Ferrari’s strategy.
Lewis Hamilton Has Yet Another Frustrating Radio Exchange with Ferrari Race Engineer
During the Miami Grand Prix, Hamilton was frustrated with the time Ferrari was taking to order a swap of cars. The Brit sarcastically quipped, “Have a tea break while you’re at it.” Then, in Monaco, Hamilton asked Adami whether he was “upset or something”, but seemingly did not receive any response.
The duo had another frustrating exchange on Sunday in Austria, as they disagreed over strategy.
Ferrari parenting Hamilton like it’s his first day 🤡 #AustrianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/FQ4MT8Pe91
— Radio Messages (@radiomessages) June 29, 2025
Here is the exchange in full:
Adami: “We box now. For fastest race, optimal race.”
Hamilton: “My tires are okay, can I extend? How many more laps left?”
Adami: “Box this lap, there’s 20 laps.”
Hamilton: “I don’t want to stop. There’s 20 laps left.”
Adami: “Box, box.”
Hamilton ultimately obeyed the instructions and pitted for the second time. This strategy call also did not sit well with F1 TV commentators, who claimed that Ferrari had robbed Hamilton of the opportunity to finish higher with a one-stopper.
Jerome d’Ambrosio Insists Strategy Call Was ‘Optimal’ for Lewis Hamilton
Jerome d’Ambrosio, who stood in for Fred Vasseur after the Frenchman left for personal reasons, backed Ferrari’s call for Lewis Hamilton. He claimed that there was no incentive to try a one-stopper on Sunday.
He said (via PlanetF1):
“What we try to do as a team was to, and Austria is very much like that, you try to do your optimal strategy. You try to optimise your race time.
“That’s what we did with both drivers. To be honest, there was no incentive in doing anything different, because the McLarens were clearly far ahead and George quite far behind. So we were in between them with both cars. We just did a standard optimal strategy, and that was the most straightforward thing to do.”
🚨 | Lewis Hamilton on Leclerc’s driving style and setup direction:
"Just struggling with the balance. He drives a massively oversteering car. Somehow slides the rear, so it doesn’t have degradation."
"When I slide the rear, I get massive degradation. It’s definitely something… pic.twitter.com/gkx2WMtA01
— La Gazzetta Ferrari (@GazzettaFerrari) June 29, 2025
The fourth-place finish in Austria was Hamilton’s best race result of the 2025 season. After 11 races, the cover star of F1 25 ‘Iconic Edition’ finds himself in sixth place in the rankings with 91 points. His teammate Charles Leclerc is 28 points ahead in fourth.
