Lewis Hamilton shrugs off Elkann’s ‘talk less’ jab: “I didn’t even see it”
Lewis Hamilton isn’t losing sleep over John Elkann’s public prod. Ferrari’s president set the paddock humming last week with a pointed assessment that “the rest is not up to par” and a directive for his drivers to “focus on driving” and “talk less.” Hamilton’s reply? He says there wasn’t one.
Speaking in Las Vegas, Hamilton made it clear he didn’t fire off his post‑Brazil social update as any sort of clapback. “It wasn’t reaction actually,” he said. “I hadn’t even seen it, and I posted and I was flying. It’s when I got home and I heard about it, so it wasn’t a reaction to it at all. That was from the weekend.”
The weekend in question was a bruiser. At Interlagos, Ferrari’s World Endurance Championship double-title high was followed by a Sunday to forget: Charles Leclerc was punted out through no fault of his own, and Hamilton later retired with crash damage. In the aftermath, Elkann praised the pit crew and engineers—then sharpened the message elsewhere.
“Brazil was a huge disappointment,” Elkann said. “In Formula 1, we have mechanics who are always first in performing pit stops. The engineers work to improve the car. The rest is not up to par. We have drivers who need to focus on driving, talk less… We need drivers who think more about Ferrari and less about themselves.”
Inside Maranello, the word filtering out was that Elkann’s line was meant as motivation rather than a dressing-down. It still landed loudly. Ferrari is never short on scrutiny, and when the boss rumbles, every syllable echoes.
Hamilton, for his part, kept it calm. “John and I, we speak almost every week so we have a great relationship,” he said. “I didn’t have a reaction to it. I don’t really look into those things too much.”
Asked about the “talk less” barb specifically, he couldn’t resist a little jab of his own. “I mean, I’m always willing to do less media,” he grinned, drawing a round of laughter. Then he pivoted to the message he’s been consistent on since arriving in red: collective responsibility, collective grind.
“We all need to take responsibility in this team, and we all need to play our part,” Hamilton said. “I’m incredibly grateful for the extraordinary effort every single person back at the factory continues to put in week on week. Naturally, knowing the team is Ferrari, there’s always a huge amount of attention—and not always in the positive way. But we’re all fully committed to turning this around, and I’m fully committed to helping this team rebuild and grow. Every challenge is an opportunity for us to grow and learn, and I firmly believe that we will get to where we want to be.”
The timing of his Brazil post—“I back my team. I back myself. I will not give up. Not now, not then, not ever. Thank you, Brazil, always.”—was taken by many as a pointed rejoinder to Elkann. Hamilton insists it wasn’t. Whether intentional or not, the sentiment dovetails with the president’s broader demand: less chatter, more bite.
There’s also a practical read here. Ferrari’s execution has not been the problem; their pit stops have been standout this season, and the factory’s incremental work has been visible. Interlagos was chaotic rather than systemic. But the president’s “not impossible to finish second” line carries its own pressure. The target is clear, the timeframe short. That’s Ferrari.
What matters internally is that driver and chairman are, by Hamilton’s telling, aligned and in frequent contact. Whatever the tone outside, the work inside has to breathe. Hamilton’s Ferrari move was always going to come wrapped in expectation and noise; this is the job he signed up for, and the one he still plainly relishes.
In Las Vegas, he wore the noise lightly. Quips about doing “less media” aside, the message was steady: stability, accountability, forward motion. And if there was a subtext to his stance, it was this: say what you want from the podium, the garage, or the boardroom—he’ll keep showing up on Mondays.
Ferrari thrives when it’s unified. That was Elkann’s line as well: “When Ferrari is a team, we win.” On that, at least, everyone’s singing the same song. The rest will be decided where it always is—on the stopwatch.
