Why did Lewis Hamilton not swap with Charles Leclerc in F1 Azerbaijan GP?

“I don’t really care, it’s for eighth place – so it’s okay, he can enjoy that P8.”

Charles Leclerc’s post-race radio harrumph in Baku brought to mind the classic episode of the British TV series Come Dine With Me in which one of the losing contestants took his defeat spectacularly poorly: “You won, Jane. Enjoy the money. I hope it makes you very happy. I hope you spend it on getting some lessons in grace and decorum.”

Leclerc had started ahead of his Ferrari Formula 1 team-mate Lewis Hamilton despite crashing in qualifying, but an intermittent issue with energy recovery in his power unit’s hybrid system meant he could not count on a full boost down the main straight every lap. He also pitted early (lap 19) to defend against a potential undercut from Lando Norris, but this committed him to a long second stint on mediums.

So after Hamilton made his stop on lap 36, he was able to use his tyre life offset to home in on his team-mate.

At this point Leclerc grew agitated and demanded that engineer Bryan Bozzi keep him updated on Hamilton’s lap times, but he subsequently agreed to a team order to let his team-mate past on lap 42. When Hamilton then couldn’t get close enough to Norris to pass, he was asked to give the position back on the final lap – but didn’t lift and brake until he was almost at the chequered flag.

“Confusion? No,” said team principal Fred Vasseur. “I think the situation was clear for us that Lewis had a tyre advantage and we asked Charles to let him go to try to overtake Lawson and Tsunoda or Norris. Charles had the issue with the recovery and we are not at the top on the engine and that, I think, was the best option for us to do this move.

“We asked to swap back and it looks like Lewis had a misjudgment on the position of the start and finish line.”

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Jayce Illman / Getty Images

Although it initially appeared that the presence of Isack Hadjar two seconds behind Leclerc was a contributory factor, Hamilton’s explanation was that he was “zoned in” on the car ahead – Norris – even though there was a diminishing chance of overtaking him.

“Basically, I did lift on the straight and did actually brake, but I missed it by like four-tenths, so that was just a misjudgment,” he said. “So I apologise to Charles.”

The outcome was all the more disappointing for Ferrari since both drivers felt they had the pace in qualifying to go for pole. But in the crucial session both fell short, Hamilton failing to maximise the potential of the tricky C6 soft tyre and Leclerc hitting the wall in Q3.

Car performance convergence and improved rear-wing efficiency has lessened the impact of DRS so starting in 10th and 12th was always going to involve a long slog through traffic, while those running ahead in clearer air could manage their tyres more effectively.

“I think the pace was OK,” said Vasseur. “The issue is that, well, two different situations: Charles, he had the issue on the engine – it was not five tenths a lap, but it was enough to spend your week behind someone and not to be able to overtake.

“And then the cost is not the two tenths that you are losing on the engine, it’s the two tenths plus the gap with the car in front of you. That, for Charles, was a lot I think, but at the end of the day, the conclusion of this is true for us, it’s true for Norris – that if we lost something it was yesterday [Saturday], not today.

“Today we started behind Norris, we finished behind Norris, it is like it is. It’s more yesterday. I think that we had the car and the drivers able to fight for P1 in all the free practice, and we finished [qualifying] P10 and P12.”