Lewis Hamilton action branded 'irritating' and Ferrari 'a joke' after disastrous weekend

Ferrari had undoubtedly hoped for much more at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

After all, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were the fastest drivers during free practice. Hamilton was so ebullient, he even felt he would be fighting for pole position in qualifying, which proved to be a disaster.

Leclerc crashed out, and a tyre mix-up saw Hamilton fail to make it out of Q2, leaving the drivers 10th and 12th on the grid. Leclerc only moved up one place in the race, and Hamilton four, leaving the Italian media incensed.

"Ferrari a nightmare, Lewis Hamilton does not respect team orders," wrote Gazzetta dello Sport.

The comment on Hamilton was with reference to the fact that he did not give back eighth position to Leclerc on the final lap after the Monégasque had allowed him by earlier to attack Liam Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda and Lando Norris.

 "It should have been a great weekend for the Scuderia in Baku, that was written in the stars. Charles Leclerc underlined that even before the start of the weekend," wrote Gazzetta.

"However, with eighth and ninth place, the Scuderia left Baku after a weekend full of mistakes and wasted opportunities. A missed opportunity for Ferrari, which has yet to win a single race.

"Leclerc has still grabbed some podium finishes this year, Hamilton none yet. He is still blocked during his first year at the Scuderia. On top of that, Mercedes has now also passed Ferrari in the constructors' championship." 

La Gazzetta was also unhappy with Hamilton, and his failure to concede a position to Leclerc before giving a nod of appreciation to former Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz, who finished third in his Williams.

"Some chaos ensued because Hamilton did not give his place back to Leclerc at the end of the race," it added. "That was not appreciated by the Monégasque. Leclerc paid an expensive bill for his mistake during qualifying.

"We also saw sweet revenge for Sainz, who managed a podium finish with his Williams. What a fantastic weekend for the Spaniard."

Hamilton and Leclerc

Corriere dello Sport also put Ferrari through the wringer. "Ferrari: a lot of noise for absolutely nothing. It was mainly Ferrari that made mistakes across the board during the weekend. Mistakes by the drivers, problems with the tyres and problems with the engine.

"In the end, they are now four points behind Mercedes and only 14 points ahead of Red Bull in the battle for [second place in] the constructors' championship.

"On top of that, we saw an irritating moment where Hamilton had to give eighth position back to Leclerc and didn't. An unnecessary battle between powerless people."

Corriere della Sera appropriately concluded the damning trend. "Anger at Leclerc for the action of Hamilton in not wanting to give back his position.

"A zero we give to both Ferrari and Oscar Piastri. How the disaster for Ferrari continues. Worst of all, Ferrari has become a joke on the internet, let alone in the championship. 

"Ferrari has become the target of lame jokes. From dreaming on Friday, Leclerc turned into a nightmare over the weekend.

"By the way, Hamilton came to Ferrari to win an eighth world title, not to finish eighth in Baku. Even a Racing Bull drove ahead of the Ferraris."