At the Miami Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz expressed their frustration with their teams through the team radio, with Sainz losing out to his teammate due to a team orders mix-up, leading him to feel “stupid” and “powerless.”
Hamilton also criticized Ferrari for poor teamwork during the race as he got stuck behind Charles Leclerc.
Meanwhile, McLaren decided to allow their drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, to race each other without team orders, a stance reaffirmed by CEO Zak Brown and backed by team boss Andrea Stella to preserve their future chances.
This highlights the ongoing complex relationship that Formula 1 has with team orders, with Williams’ decision to hold position seen as tame compared to other controversial team orders calls in the sport’s history.
One notable example was in the 1998 Australian Grand Prix where McLaren orchestrated a team orders scenario that caused discord between their drivers Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard, ultimately leading to widespread criticism and scrutiny within the team and the sport.
