Lewis Hamilton 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,"
screamed the headline in Gazzetta dello Sport . The comment on
Hamilton was with reference to the fact 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."