Lewis Hamilton 'Refuses' Ferrari Orders in Controversial Leclerc Moment

Lewis Hamilton failed to follow a team order from Ferrari at the end of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

During what was a chaotic start to the race in Baku, McLaren star and championship leader Oscar Piastri crashed out during the first lap.

The Australian locked up going into Turn Six, which resulted in him crashing into the wall.

Reacting to his incident, Piastri said: "The crash - just didn’t anticipate the dirty air in the way I should have. Clearly went into the corner way too hot and that was that."

From there, Red Bull superstar and pole sitter Max Verstappen produced a dominant display to come home first ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and Williams driver Carlos Sainz.

Further down the grid, Hamilton took the chequered flag in eighth place ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc.

However, it quickly emerged that Hamilton should have given his place back to Leclerc after being told on the team radio.

According to footage that emerged on social media, Hamilton was told: "Charles 1.5 behind you, it's the last lap, let him by."

As Hamilton approached the finish line, he appeared to slow down but not enough as he still took the flag before Leclerc managed to get past.

In truth, Ferrari may have left it slightly too late for Hamilton to have enough time to slow down enough for Leclerc to catch up.

As per the above footage, Hamilton was told 'Let him by' just metres before the chequered flag.

FIA-accredited journalist Kunal Shah wrote on social media: "Lewis Hamilton ignored Ferrari's team order to swap back with Charles Leclerc on the last lap."

According to F1 journalist Adam Cooper, Hamilton admitted that he misjudged the move and stated that it will not happen again.

Speaking after his victory, Verstappen said: "This weekend has been incredible for us. Monza was already great but for us to win here is fantastic.

"The car was working really well on both compounds. We had clean air all the time, so you could look after your tyres, and it was pretty straightforward."

F1 will return in two week's time with the Singapore Grand Prix.