Lewis Hamilton’s honeymoon with Ferrari may have just hit its first major crack — and it happened in front of the whole F1 world. After a chaotic Miami Grand Prix, a visibly furious Hamilton lashed out at his Ferrari engineers over the radio, yelling, “Are you sleeping?!” during a key moment in the race. The outburst didn’t just rattle the Ferrari garage — it sent a ripple of shock through the entire paddock, raising questions about how stable this high-profile partnership really is.

The drama unfolded on lap 29, just after a safety car was deployed following a collision between Alex Albon and Esteban Ocon. Most front-runners dived into the pits immediately, including Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. But Hamilton stayed out — a decision that cost him multiple places and ultimately left him stranded in P9, fighting cars he should have easily cleared with a proper strategy call.

That’s when the radio message came.

“Are you sleeping?!” Hamilton barked into the radio, his voice cracking with disbelief. “Why didn’t we pit? That was the call. We’ve just thrown the race away.”

There was silence on the other end for a few seconds — an eerie silence that said everything. When the Ferrari engineer finally responded, it was a meek attempt at justification, citing “positioning on track” and “traffic in the pit lane.” But for Hamilton, the damage was done — and not just in points.

This is a seven-time world champion, racing with a team that had promised a new chapter, a revival. The partnership between Hamilton and Ferrari was supposed to be the fairytale headline of the 2025 season. And yet, here we are, five races in, and the cracks are already showing.

Inside the paddock, reactions ranged from disbelief to concern. One Mercedes staff member, speaking off-record, remarked: “We’ve seen Lewis frustrated before, but not like this. Not so early. Ferrari better get a handle on it fast.”

Even ex-drivers chimed in. Nico Rosberg, Hamilton’s former teammate and 2016 rival, didn’t hold back in his post-race analysis: “That kind of message from Lewis isn’t just about one call. That’s frustration boiling over. He’s used to high standards. Ferrari can’t afford mistakes like this if they want to keep him happy.”

Social media, predictably, exploded. Clips of the radio message spread like wildfire, and #SleepingFerrari began trending worldwide within minutes of the race ending. Fans split into two camps — some blaming Ferrari’s strategic department for “still being stuck in 2019,” others suggesting Hamilton’s expectations might be “too high, too soon.”

But even critics of Hamilton acknowledged one thing: he had a point.

Ferrari’s strategy department has long been under scrutiny, especially after repeated blunders in the 2022 and 2023 seasons that cost Charles Leclerc multiple wins. Many hoped the arrival of Hamilton would usher in a new era of sharper thinking and bolder decisions. But Sunday’s incident was a stark reminder that reputations don’t change overnight — and ghosts from the past still linger.

As the dust settles, all eyes now turn to the next race in Imola — Ferrari’s home turf. The pressure is on not just for results, but for damage control. Insiders suggest there will be “internal reviews” and possibly even a restructuring of the race strategy department if tensions continue to rise.

Meanwhile, Hamilton has remained quiet since the race, offering only a short, clipped post on Instagram: “We learn. We move.” But his body language post-race — shaking his head, avoiding eye contact with the pit wall, and leaving the garage before the debrief — said more than any caption ever could.

One thing is clear: the dream pairing of Hamilton and Ferrari has entered its first storm. Whether they emerge stronger or fall apart under pressure is now the most compelling subplot of the 2025 F1 season.