Lewis Hamilton failed to relinquish eighth to Charles Leclerc as requested in Baku, which had Leclerc declaring the incident “stupid” and “not fair” over team radio.

However, in the opinion of 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve, Hamilton “played it really well”, as he pointed the finger at Ferrari for an “unnecessary” team order.

Lewis Hamilton praised over Baku team order breakdown

Ferrari had asked Hamilton to slow before the finish line and allow Leclerc to take eighth place. Earlier in the race, Ferrari had swapped their drivers around, so the former could attack the trio of Lando Norris, Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson ahead with his fresher tyres.

Unable to make an overtake, the order came to concede eighth back to Leclerc. While Hamilton did slow, vacate the racing line and o

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