Lewis Hamilton defends work ethic in response to Ferrari chairman’s rebuke

Lewis Hamilton has downplayed comments made by Ferrari chairman John Elkann and defended his work ethic.

Elkann made headlines when he told Hamilton and teammate Charles Leclerc to “focus on driving and talk less” after Ferrari suffered a double retirement at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Asked ahead of this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix whether it would be possible to focus more on driving than he already does, seven-time world champion Hamilton replied: "Not really.

“I wake up thinking about it, and I go to sleep thinking about it, and I think about it while I'm sleeping.

“So, anything, I have to focus on being able to unplug more.”

Hamilton said he understood Elkann’s intentions were to motivate the team and stressed he had no issue with the passion shown.

"I know where John's intentions are. That's why I didn't take anything from the comment,” he added.

"We speak sometimes several times a week, so we have spoken several times since last week. It's all about bringing the team together and we are all really together. We are all deep in it.

"The passion just runs so deep. But I love that and I can never fault someone for having passion like that.”

The result in Brazil saw Ferrari slip to fourth place in the constructors’ championship with three races remaining in 2025.

Leclerc revealed he had spoken to Elkann on the phone about the comments.

"I'm not on social media much but I heard about this quite quickly,” he said.

"John called me, like he does after every Grand Prix, and we spoke about everything, including about what he intended to say.

"John wanted to be constructive and push the team to do better. The best thing I can do as a driver is focus on the track and do my best. That's what I've always done and will continue to do.

"That doesn't mean we can't do anything better. We can, and we take that as a motivation to try and do better. Hopefully results will come as soon as possible.”

Hamilton denies notion of Ferrari friction

Despite Ferrari’s underwhelming and bitterly disappointing 2025 season, Hamilton insisted that the team remains united.

"We all need to take responsibility in this team," said the seven-time world champion,” he said. “We all need to play our part. And I know that there's so much passion in this team, every single member of this team.

"I'm incredibly grateful for the extraordinary effort every single person back at the factory continues to put in week on week. And actually, knowing that the team is Ferrari, there's always a huge amount of attention, not always in a 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 opportunity, 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.”

"I think there's great harmony within a team, even with all the ups and downs that we've been having. And I just think everyone's just focused on taking the learnings from this year to build on a better future."