Damon Hill reacts to Ferrari boss criticizing FOM for misrepresenting Lewis Hamilton-Charles Leclerc swap

Former F1 world champion Damon Hill reacted to Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur, expressing anger towards the FOM [Formula One Management] for misrepresenting the Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc swap at the 2025 Chinese GP on Sunday. The two drivers ran in tandem from the start of the race, with Hamilton leading Leclerc on the track.

The duo were running P4 and P5, respectively, but the Monegasque damaged his front wing endplate after colliding with the rear tires of his teammates at the start. Despite the damage, the eight-time F1 race winner was faster than his new teammate on medium and hard tires.

Seeing the difference in pace, the Italian team decided to swap its drivers in a bid to attack Mercedes driver George Russell in P3. However, the broadcast saw Hamilton showcasing some resistance to the Maranello-based outfit's call to swap the cars on his team radio.

Whilst tackling questions regarding the Brit's resistance to obey the team's call, Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur clarified to the media that the FOM did not broadcast the first part of the radio.

The missing part showed that Lewis Hamilton wanted to swap cars after recognizing his struggles in the car. The Frenchman said:

"I think this is a joke from FOM because the first call came from Lewis. Lewis asked us to swap, but to create the mess around the situation they broadcast only the second part of the question. I will discuss with them."

On his Instagram Story, Damon Hill reposted Vasseur's comments and expressed concern regarding the Frenchman's anger, saying:

"Oh dear, bit of a mess."

Snapshot of Damon Hill's reaction in his Story...Credits-Instagram

Lewis Hamilton attempted to catch Charles Leclerc in the final few laps of the race but ultimately finished the Chinese Grand Prix in P6 behind his teammate.

Ferrari team boss clarifies the team orders call in China

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur stated that the team orders call came from Lewis Hamilton himself and they were appreciative of the call at the pitlane.

As per ESPN, the Frenchman said:

"I'm not even sure you would even have these situations ten times at other teams in a season, and honestly from the pit wall we really appreciated the call from Lewis saying, 'guys, I'm losing the pace, I'm keen to swap'.

"It took us one lap to ask him to swap with Charles and then the pace was back. He said 'oh let's stay like this for a little bit' and we said 'no, if you up the pace we swap'."

However, in the end, the decision to swap the cars proved irrelevant as both Ferrari drivers were disqualified for failing the FIA's post-race checks.