‘We took the tough decision’ – Vasseur defends Ferrari team orders situation in Miami as he acknowledges Hamilton’s frustration

Fred Vasseur has defended Ferrari’s handling of the team orders situation that unfolded between Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton in the Miami Grand Prix, whilst also acknowledging that he could “perfectly understand” the frustration displayed by Hamilton.

Hamilton had been running behind seventh-placed Leclerc in eighth as the race entered its latter stages, with the seven-time World Champion on a different strategy using the medium tyres while Leclerc was running the hard compound.

MIAMI LOWDOWN: All the key moments as McLaren and Antonelli shine, Ferrari face tensions and LEGO takes over

As Hamilton felt that he had the pace to catch Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli ahead, the Briton suggested that he be let by – but as the team assessed whether to make the swap, Hamilton appeared to become increasingly frustrated over the radio, at one point sarcastically commenting that the squad should “have a tea break while you are at it”.

The team ultimately decided to make the switch, but when Hamilton was then unable to reach Antonelli, Leclerc was told that the positions would be reversed back. It appeared that Hamilton, however, had not yet been informed, though the 40-year-old followed the order when it was relayed to him.

When quizzed after the race on why the first decision had seemingly taken a long time, Vasseur explained that the squad were trying to understand certain factors behind the difference in pace between Leclerc and Hamilton.

“It didn't take so long – it was one lap and a half or something like this,” the Team Principal said. “And when you have two cars not with the same strategy, the first thing for me to understand [is] if it's faster when you are behind due to the DRS or not.

MONDAY MORNING DEBRIEF: How Leclerc and Hamilton’s opposing Miami strategies culminated in fractious Ferrari radio exchanges

“It took one lap, it means that it's one minute 30 to understand, and then we asked them to swap. Honestly, you can argue at the end that we would have been better to do it directly, but we didn't know if it was the DRS effect or not.

“And I think we take the tough decision, because it's never easy to ask Charles or Lewis to swap. But we did it, and they did it on track. I didn’t see a lot of teams doing it.”

During the discussion with Leclerc about reversing the positions the second time around, the Monegasque suggested that the team should “talk about it later”.

When asked to explain what had happened there, Vasseur responded: “Because it's the policy of the team that if you ask them to swap, because if you don't ask them to swap, they don't overtake.

READ MORE: 'It was frustrating' – Hamilton opens up on tense Miami radio messages during Ferrari strategy debate

“If you ask them to swap, it's because we think that the second car is faster than the first one at the stage of the race. We try to catch up the guy who is in front, and if we don't do it, we swap back to respect the initial position at the stage of the race when it was clear that we wouldn't be able to fight Antonelli with Lewis.”

Vasseur went on to admit that he could see why Hamilton was becoming annoyed by the situation behind the wheel, with the Frenchman adding: “I had a discussion with Lewis, and I can perfectly understand the frustration.

“They are champions, they want to win races. We are asking them to let their team mate go. It's not easy. It's never easy, and I didn't see another team do it today, but it's why we took the responsibility to do it because it's the policy for the team.

“We are racing for Ferrari first, and honestly, I think as a team, we did a good job. Again, we can argue that it would have been better to do it the lap before, but when you are in control and you have to understand if the car that’s behind is faster than the car in front just from DRS or not, it's not an easy call.

HIGHLIGHTS: Piastri leads McLaren 1-2 after thrilling race in Miami

“It's always much easier to do it two hours later. We asked them to do it, they did it. The frustration when you are in the car, I can perfectly understand this. It’s not the story of the day. We'd be much more keen to speak about [why] we finished one minute beyond McLaren.”

DISCOVER MORE...

Piastri beats Verstappen and Russell to pole in dramatic Imola Qualifying session

HIGHLIGHTS: Piastri pips Verstappen to pole at Imola as red flags disrupt Qualifying

Verstappen reveals details of Nurburgring Nordschleife test after lap record speculation

F1 EXPLAINS: What happens inside an F1 garage during a race - with Haas

BEHIND THE SCENES: How the upcoming ‘F1’ movie plays into the sport’s great underdog tradition