Lewis Hamilton has played down the comments made by Ferrari chairman John Elkann, who appeared to criticise the drivers after a disappointing Brazilian Grand Prix weekend from the Scuderia team.
Elkann made headlines after the outfit’s double retirement in Sao Paulo.
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“Brazil was a huge disappointment,” he said publicly. “If we look at the Formula 1 championship, we can say that on one hand we have our mechanics, who are winning the championship with their performance and everything they’ve done on the pitstops.
“If we look at our engineers, there’s no doubt that the car has improved. If we look at the rest, it’s not up to par.
“We certainly have drivers, for whom it’s important that they focus on driving and talk less, because we still have important races ahead of us and it’s not impossible to get second place.”
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This has come amid a winless season for the Italian squad and after a race which saw the team slip from second to fourth in the constructors’ standings. Now just four points behind Red Bull Racing, it remains far from championship leaders McLaren.
Talking to the media in Las Vegas, Hamilton responded to the comments made.
“I mean, I’m always willing to do less media!” he laughed. “But no, seriously, I think… look, 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.
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“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, not always in a positive way, but we’re all fully committed to turn 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.”
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Ferrari arrives in Vegas hoping to enjoy better luck than its last race in Brazil, which resulted in its second double DNF in just seven races. Hamilton assured the media that this hasn’t affected morale at the factory.
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“I’d never compare it to another team because it’s just so different,” he continued. “But I’m constantly inspired when I go back to the factory. Firstly, going back to Ferrari, to the factory, every single time it’s an amazing feeling.
There is just something so romantic when you go to Ferrari.
“And I see, as I said, I think there’s great harmony within the team, even with all the ups and downs that we’ve been having. And I just think everyone’s just focused on learning from, taking the learnings from this year to build on a better future.
“And that encourages me every time I go and see everybody back at the factory. Of course, there’s areas that we need to improve. We’ve spoken on those.
“That’s what we’re working on.”
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