Fred Vasseur has a different perspective on how drivers use their team radios, following Lewis Hamilton’s comments on Max Verstappen.
Verstappen’s contentious comments to his team during a fraught Hungarian Grand Prix led to Lewis Hamilton urging the Red Bull driver to ‘remember to act like a World Champion’.
Lewis Hamilton: You have to be a team leader
Verstappen was furious with his team during the Hungarian Grand Prix, a race which started with him being instructed to cede position to Lando Norris as a time penalty loomed – Verstappen had overtaken Norris off the track at Turn 1, having felt he’d been pushed off track by the McLaren driver.
Red Bull was then caught on the hop twice by successful undercut attempts from Mercedes and Ferrari, resulting in Verstappen winding up in fifth starting the final stint. The Dutch driver couldn’t contain his frustration, leading to terse radio messages with his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.
“No mate, don’t give me that s***,” was just one of his messages back to Lambiase. “You guys gave me this s*** strategy, okay? I’m trying to rescue what’s left. F***!”
While Verstappen remained unapologetic for how he spoke to his team following the race, a stance that remained unchanged even once his frustrations had boiled off, Lewis Hamilton commented on the situation to say drivers should be aware of their position within a team when engaging team members over the radio.
“You have to be a team leader, a team member,” he said at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend.
“Maybe not such a team leader but just always remember you’re a team-mate with lots of people and you have to act like a World Champion.”
Asked to explain what acting like a World Champion entails, he laughed: “That’s a good question! Not like it was last weekend.”
