The Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku has always been renowned for its unpredictable and dramatic developments, but the most recent race surpassed all expectations, becoming the epicenter of an untelevised team order controversy directly involving Ferrari’s veteran driver, Lewis Hamilton, and his teammate, Charles Leclerc.

Meanwhile, McLaren’s Lando Norris continued to grapple with his own challenges, despite his team showing signs of a comeback. This race laid bare the latent tensions within top-tier racing teams and raised numerous questions about strategy and fairness.

Turmoil at Ferrari: The Untelevised Team Order

The main focus of attention in Baku wasn’t the spectacular overtakes on the track but an incident that unfolded behind the scenes—or at least, was not broadcast live to millions of viewers. Lewis Hamilton, with his vast experience and status as a world champion, found himself in an awkward situation involving a team order from Ferrari. The incident began when Hamilton, on significantly fresher tires, was instructed to pass Charles Leclerc to try and attack Liam Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda, and Lando Norris, who were all ahead. This was a logical strategy aimed at leveraging the tire advantage to score more points for the team. Leclerc graciously moved aside, giving Hamilton the opportunity to push forward.

However, things did not go as planned. Hamilton was unable to close the gap and overtake the group of cars ahead. As the race neared its final laps, with just moments before the checkered flag, Ferrari issued a second team order, requesting Hamilton to return the position to Leclerc. This is a common practice in F1 when a driver who has been given priority fails to achieve the objective, ensuring fairness and restoring the original team formation. Race engineer Ricardo Adami clearly communicated this message over the radio: “Leclerc is one and a half seconds behind you. This is the last lap, let him by.”

Hamilton appeared to try to comply. He slowed down and moved off the racing line as he approached the finish line. However, he was recorded crossing the line about 0.4 seconds ahead of Leclerc. This small margin, though not substantial, sparked a heated debate. After the race, Hamilton addressed the incident. He admitted that he received the message quite late and was still “zoned in” on the car in front of him, even though the chance of passing was a mere “0.00001%.” “Basically, I did lift on the straight and actually did brake, but I missed it by like four-tenths,” Hamilton shared, along with an apology to Charles.

This event raises many questions about the effectiveness of internal team communication and the psychological pressure drivers face in decisive moments. Hamilton, with his highly competitive instincts, may have inadvertently missed the order or simply could not react in time in that split second. Although the final result was eighth and ninth place for Ferrari, it was a difficult day for the team, which had shown more impressive pace in earlier practice sessions but failed to convert it into a strong result in the main race. This incident, while not directly affecting the championship outcome, could create fractures in the relationship between the two drivers and the management team, requiring transparency and clear resolution to avoid similar misunderstandings in the future.

Lando Norris’s Unending Challenge: A Race to Forget

While Ferrari was dealing with its internal troubles, McLaren also had a less-than-smooth Grand Prix in Baku, especially for Lando Norris. The young British driver endured a weekend full of disappointment, as he failed to capitalize on an opportunity to close the points gap with his teammate, Oscar Piastri, in the drivers’ standings.

Before the race, Oscar Piastri had an accident in qualifying, forcing him to start from P9. This should have been a golden opportunity for Norris to surge ahead. However, Norris himself could only manage a P7 start in qualifying. The situation worsened when Piastri crashed on the very first lap of the Grand Prix. With his teammate out of the race, the pressure was on Norris to bring home valuable points for McLaren. Yet, he could only finish in seventh place, failing to fully exploit the advantage.

With this result, Norris only gained an additional six points on Piastri, while the gap between the two drivers remains at 25 points. This is a disappointing outcome for Norris, who has showcased exceptional talent in many previous races. Norris explained that he was stuck in a “DRS train” (a series of cars using the Drag Reduction System to reduce air resistance), which made overtaking extremely difficult on the Baku circuit.

When asked by Sky Sports F1 if he felt he had missed another opportunity, Norris candidly replied: “Everyone says that I did the best I could yesterday and I did the best I could today. The opportunities are there every weekend; every race I didn’t win was an opportunity missed. Of course, today I wanted more; seventh was not a good result, but I couldn’t do anything more today. It was lost yesterday because of going out a bit early and not doing the best lap. Maybe I could have gained a couple of positions on the grid, but I don’t think it would have changed anything today. It’s just impossible to overtake.”

Norris also emphasized that he looks back on qualifying more than the main race: “Today, I thought the pace was all right when it needed to be. I did a long stint on the medium [tires]. Could things have been a little better? Yes. Do I think anything would have changed? Probably not.”

For McLaren, the race in Baku was truly a disaster from start to finish. They need to quickly put this weekend behind them and focus on the upcoming Singapore Grand Prix to try and regain their form. With Red Bull’s Max Verstappen demonstrating superior strength with two consecutive wins and closing in on the McLaren drivers, the pressure is mounting. McLaren must find solutions and return to the track with a stronger mentality if they don’t want to be left behind in the battle for top positions in the standings.

The Future of the Teams After Baku

The Baku Grand Prix has once again proven that Formula 1 is not just a race of speed but also a battle of strategy, team management, and individual grit. For Ferrari, the team order incident between Hamilton and Leclerc will be a valuable lesson on the importance of clear communication and handling sensitive situations. To avoid misunderstandings that could harm morale and team unity, they need a more defined and transparent process for issuing and executing team orders.

Meanwhile, McLaren needs to conduct a deeper analysis of its performance in Baku. Although the car has seen significant improvements this season, the inability to seize opportunities and the difficulty in overtaking on a unique track like Baku show that there are still areas for improvement, particularly in race strategy and adaptability to different circuit types. The pressure from Red Bull and other rivals is constantly increasing, forcing McLaren to continually innovate and seek optimal solutions.

The next race in Singapore will present a completely different challenge, with a street circuit that demands high precision and excellent tire management. The teams will need to adjust their strategies and car setups to suit the harsh conditions of Singapore. With the lessons learned from Baku, fans can expect a dramatic and thrilling Singapore Grand Prix, where teams will push their limits to prove their mettle and secure crucial points in the championship race.