Lewis Hamilton’s final Las Vegas GP radio message highlighted exactly what Ferrari got wrong

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Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton had a Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend to forget and made his frustrations clear on the team radio.

Lewis Hamilton became the first Ferrari driver since Giancarlo Fisichella in 2009 to qualify last for a race without serving a penalty.

The Las Vegas Grand Prix hasn’t been the best circuit for Hamilton in qualifying, but last year he went from P10 to second to secure his most recent F1 podium.

From the back of the grid, Hamilton avoided the chaos ahead of him, with Liam Lawson driving into Oscar Piastri, and Gabriel Bortoleto taking out Lance Stroll and spinning Pierre Gasly.

He made up seven positions in the opening laps, but struggled to make much more progress for the rest of the race.

Very little of his race was shown on the official broadcast, but Hamilton’s unheard radio messages highlight all the problems he was facing as he chased another points finish.

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Lewis Hamilton complained about his brakes and pit stop strategy at the Las Vegas Grand Prix

Hamilton repeatedly said to his race engineer Riccardo Adami that he was ‘struggling with the brakes’ throughout the race.

This isn’t an unusual message from Hamilton, as both he and Charles Leclerc have had brake issues throughout the season.

The seven-time world champion also said that it was ‘hard to pass’, referring to how long he spent following Esteban Ocon’s Haas during his first stint.

When asked about his hard tyres, Hamilton at one point said that they ‘don’t feel great’, before stating that ‘the rear is not that great’.

Hamilton was then unfortunate to be hit by Alex Albon midway through the race, with the Williams driver handed a five-second penalty as a result, similar to the penalty the Ferrari driver received for hitting Franco Colapinto at Interlagos.

The most important decision during the Las Vegas Grand Prix was always going to be when to switch compounds, with a one-stop strategy targeted by every driver.

He was told by Adami to ‘box opposite’ to Nico Hulkenberg, meaning to either stop if the Sauber driver stayed out, or continue if the German headed into the pit lane.

Eventually stopping on lap 30, Hamilton was stationary for 3.1 seconds, a surprisingly slow stop for a Ferrari team who have nailed their pit stops all season.

Hamilton came on the team radio and said, ‘Long stint left no?’, referring to how long he needed to race on the medium compound, before stating, ‘Felt like you stopped me too early, man,’ to which Adami replied, ‘The deg is lower than expected on the medium.’

His message with 10 laps to go would have been the last thing Ferrari fans or John Elkann would have wanted to hear, simply stating, ‘I got no pace. Just leave it.. I’ve got no pace.’

As Hamilton crossed the line, he once again made his feelings clear about his strategy, stating: “What happened with the strategy? How did I end up in 10th?

“I thought we were looking good at one point. How did Mercedes that were behind me get all the way up there?”

Adami replied: “Yeah, we need to look into that second stint, or balance of car we check… [on Antonelli] Early stop lap 3 with, then went to the end with the hard. Hard was the superior tyres.”

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Lewis Hamilton achieved one of his greatest comebacks of 2025 at the Las Vegas Grand Prix

Hamilton would have hoped to be chasing podiums and victories at Ferrari this year, especially after seeing how much they improved at the end of 2024.

However, he’s spent the majority of this season trying to make up positions on a Sunday after some tricky qualifying performances.

Hamilton called himself ‘absolutely useless’ after qualifying in Hungary, and he’s been beaten by Leclerc over one lap at 17 of the 22 Grand Prix completed this year.

After starting 19th on the grid in Las Vegas, after Yuki Tsunoda decided to start from the pit lane, and finishing 10th, it was the second-most positions he had made up in a race in 2025.

The only race where Hamilton made up more positions was at the Belgian Grand Prix, when he went from 18th to seventh.

It’s one of the few positives that Hamilton will be able to take from this year, that he’s still able to get the better of his rivals in wheel-to-wheel action.

But serious improvement is needed in 2026 to avoid more questions being asked about his F1 future.