Lewis Hamilton has issued a challenge to his Ferrari team to step up their game after he described the car as “underperforming” in the wake of a lacklustre opening to the Formula One season, with the British driver managing only seventh place at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen took the win at Suzuka, leading from pole position, but Hamilton had a trying afternoon. He had qualified in eighth and, despite attempting an alternative strategy using the hard tyre to open, made up only one place, albeit with one of the few on-track overtaking moves, to pass Isack Hadjar in the Racing Bulls.
