Vasseur reveals why Ferrari kept Hamilton in the dark during Dutch GP strategy gamble

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has defended the strategy call that left Lewis Hamilton frustrated during Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, where the Scuderia finished off the podium for a second consecutive race — Hamilton fourth, Charles Leclerc fifth.

Hamilton’s irritation boiled over on the radio at multiple points during the 72-lap race. The first flashpoint came mid-race after he overtook McLaren’s Oscar Piastri for fifth and began closing on a slower Leclerc ahead. Unable to pass his team-mate on Zandvoort’s tight circuit, Hamilton repeatedly called for team orders that never came, allowing Lando Norris, Kimi Antonelli and George Russell to extend their advantage further up the road. “Great way of wasting time guys, good job!” Hamilton snapped sarcastically over the radio.

Leclerc eventually made his second pitstop on lap 43 — one lap later than originally planned — handing Hamilton the lead. The expectation was that Hamilton would follow suit shortly afterwards, as the drivers around him did. Instead, Ferrari kept him out for a second stint of 30 laps, a decision that left him exposed on ageing hard tyres as Norris and Antonelli closed rapidly on fresher rubber. By lap 53, all three were within a second of each other. “Are you using me as a guinea pig?” Hamilton asked over the team radio, before the McLaren and Mercedes passed him on laps 54 and 55 respectively. A virtual safety car on lap 55, triggered by Esteban Ocon’s retirement, finally gave Hamilton the opportunity to switch to fresh soft tyres.

Vasseur explained that the team had deliberately withheld the strategy details from Hamilton to avoid tipping off rivals monitoring team communications. “We didn’t want to tell him the strategy at this stage because we didn’t want to disclose it to the competitors,” the Ferrari boss said. “We wanted to keep him on track until the end — I think it would have been the right call.”

Vasseur also acknowledged that a one-lap extension to Leclerc’s stint had created confusion, though he played down the significance of the internal tension. “Everybody will be back in the briefing. They will have a clear picture about the race,” he said.

The Ferrari principal added that the unusually small performance gap between all three tyre compounds at Zandvoort had made strategic planning particularly difficult. “The difference between the three compounds was very marginal today,” Vasseur said. “It was difficult to have a clear picture on the strategy. Sometimes we have to change the strategy or adapt, because we are trying to learn.”

The result leaves Ferrari with questions to answer heading into the next round, having now failed to reach the podium in back-to-back races after a similarly frustrating weekend in Budapest.