With this weekend’s Las Vegas GP kicking off a triple-header finale, Lewis Hamilton has spoken out about John Elkann’s disparaging comments regarding the Ferrari F1 drivers.
The DNFs of Charles Leclerc and Hamilton at Interlagos saw Ferrari drop from second in the constructors’ championship to fourth, 36 points adrift of Mercedes and 4 behind Red Bull.
Ferrari’s disappointing weekend in F1 unfortunately coincided with their sportscar operation winning both the Drivers’ and the Manufacturers’ world titles in endurance racing.
Praising the brand’s World Endurance Championship success, Elkann advised Hamilton and Leclerc to “focus on driving and talk less”. Moreover, he implied that the F1 team lacked unity in a surprising criticism after their São Paulo GP double retirement.
Hamilton denies social media post was a response to Elkann’s criticism
Speaking in a print media session ahead of the F1 Las Vegas GP, Lewis Hamilton addressed John Elkann’s public reproval and maintained that he shares a wonderful relationship with the Ferrari Chairman. Refusing to offer any further clarification, the seven-time world champion added that he isn’t preoccupied with the implications of the aforementioned remarks.
“Yeah, I mean, John [Elkann] and I speak almost every week. So we have a great relationship. I don’t have a reaction to it. I don’t really look into those things too much.”
Asked if his social media caption from 11th November was a reaction to the controversy, Hamilton claimed that he wasn’t yet aware of Elkann’s comments and that it was a standard post after a disappointing race weekend.
“It wasn’t a reaction, actually. I hadn’t even seen it, and I posted, and I was flying. And then I got home, and I heard about it.
“So it wasn’t a reaction to it at all. That was from the weekend.”
Hamilton defends his and the rest of the F1 team’s work ethic
In reference to John Elkann expressing his dissatisfaction with the performance of the Ferrari F1 drivers and thus tacitly calling into question their dedication to the team, Lewis Hamilton significantly downplayed the Italian’s ‘talk less’ rebuke in Wednesday’s media session prior to the Las Vegas GP.
Quipping that he is inclined to skip more media duties, Hamilton remarked that everyone needs to step up to propel the historic Italian outfit forward. Emphasising the immense passion that’s synonymous with Ferrari and the scrutiny—both positive and negative—they attract, the Brit also recognised the crucial contributions of the personnel back at Maranello.
Furthermore, Hamilton reaffirmed his commitment to the long-term growth of the team and insisted that the hardships they are currently facing would eventually steer Ferrari back to championship glory.
“I mean, I’m always willing to do less media. But no, seriously, I think we all need to take responsibility in this team, and we all need to play our part.
“And I know that there’s so much passion in this team, every single member of this team. I’m incredibly grateful for the extraordinary effort every single person back at the factory continues to put in week on week.
“And naturally, knowing that the team is Ferrari, there’s always a huge amount of attention, and not always in a positive way.
“But we’re all fully committed to turning this around, and I’m fully committed to helping this team rebuild and grow. Every challenge is an opportunity for us to grow and learn. And I firmly believe that we will get to where we want to be.”
