Lewis Hamilton's expletive-laden rant at Mercedes as George Russell passed him towards the end of the Dutch Grand Prix is indicative of the pressure the seven-time world champion is under from his team-mate.
That is the opinion of Jacques Villeneuve, who was left unimpressed by the Brit's reaction to an unfortunate set of circumstances towards the end of the race. He had looked set for a late shootout with Max Verstappen, but was denied the opportunity by two safety car periods.
The first, a virtual SC, allowed Verstappen to dive into the pits for fresh soft tyres cheaply when he was being reeled in by the Silver Arrows. And the second, full SC saw Russell do the same – leaving Hamilton in the lead but exposed on older mediums.
And as he was passed by Verstappen, Russell and Charles Leclerc in the final few laps, he swore loudly and repeatedly in a rant over team radio. Hamilton later apologised to his team, but Villeneuve was critical of the way he had behaved in the first place.
"I was amazed by Lewis Hamilton's outburst in the race and especially the way it was done," he wrote in his Formule1.nl column. "He was aggressive, almost insulting. It is good that he has apologised, but this is not befitting a champion. After everything the team has done for him, you shouldn't be speaking to them like that."
He went on to praise Russell for choosing himself to come in to the pits for new rubber – claiming that Hamilton should have followed suit. The 1997 champion also suggested it was a sign that the younger Brit is developing into more of a leader having found his footing quickly with his new team.
"I see a turnaround within Mercedes, George Russell is rapidly developing into the leader of the team," Villeneuve added. "He made the decision himself to go for that soft tire, Hamilton could have done that with all his experience and championships.
"They decided to go for the win this way and that turned out not to be the right decision. For years their advantage was so great that they didn't have to make very difficult strategic decisions. They did win anyway.
"Now that they are less fast, it is more difficult to make the right call. Then Hamilton also messed up his restart, where he eventually lost his podium."
