‘The abuse that poor guy has taken’ – Lewis Hamilton makes stark Max Verstappen comparison after radio complaints
Lewis Hamilton’s radio exchanges with his new engineer created some headlines, but at least he said please. The new Ferrari driver had an extra challenge in his Australia debut, starting out with a new voice in his ear, that of Riccardo Adami, who replaced his long-time Mercedes engineer Peter Bonnington. A new race engineer was one of Hamilton’s debut challengesAFP F1Hamilton had to adjust communication during the race[/caption] Given he’s had, arguably, the most anticipated team switch in Formula 1 history, all eyes and ears were on Hamilton who had a disappointing opener, coming home in 10th. Throughout the race in Melbourne viewers got an insight of Hamilton’s exchanges with Adami where he repeatedly said ‘Leave me to it please’. Yet Martin Brundle called the exchanges ‘angsty’ and they caused some debate, something which the No.44 has now responded to. “Everyone over-egged [the situation],” he said ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix. “It was literally just a back-and-forth. I was very polite in how I suggested it. “I said ‘leave it to me, please’. I wasn’t saying ‘F-you’, I wasn’t swearing. “It was just at that point I was really struggling with the car and I needed full focus on a couple of things. We’re getting to know each other. “He had two champions or more in the past and there are no issues between us.” Hamilton then turned to other drivers on the grid, in particular his 2021 title rival Max Verstappen. “Go and listen to the radio calls with others and their engineers – it’s far worse,” he continued. “The conversations that Max has had with his engineer over the years and the abuse that the poor guy has taken, and you never write about it, but you write about the smallest little discussion I have with mine. F1Verstappen’s team radio has often been very aggressive[/caption] “We’re literally just getting to know each other. Afterwards, I’m like, ‘Hey bro, I don’t need that bit of information. But if you want to give me this, this is the place I like to do it’. “’This is how I’m feeling in the car and at these points, this is what this is, when I do and don’t need the information’. “That’s what it’s about. There are no issues and it’s done with a smiley face, and we move forward.” Verstappen’s exchanges with race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase have regularly gone viral, with one such radio clip in 2023 at the Belgian Grand Prix showing Verstappen saying: “Yeah, I don’t give a f*** if I’m through in P10! It’s just s*** execution.” In 2024 after a tangle with Hamilton, he was heard saying: “No mate, don’t give me that bulls*** now. You guys gave me this f****** strategy, OK? I’m trying to rescue what’s left. For f***’s sake.” It’s not at all unusual for radio messages to contain swearing, but such acts in press conferences are now being punished with fines after the sport’s governing body, the FIA, wrote a new rule into the 2025 regulations.
Lewis Hamilton’s radio exchanges with his new engineer created some headlines, but at least he said please.
The new Ferrari driver had an extra challenge in his Australia debut, starting out with a new voice in his ear, that of Riccardo Adami, who replaced his long-time Mercedes engineer Peter Bonnington.
Given he’s had, arguably, the most anticipated team switch in Formula 1 history, all eyes and ears were on Hamilton who had a disappointing opener, coming home in 10th.
Throughout the race in Melbourne viewers got an insight of Hamilton’s exchanges with Adami where he repeatedly said ‘Leave me to it please’.
Yet Martin Brundle called the exchanges ‘angsty’ and they caused some debate, something which the No.44 has now responded to.
“Everyone over-egged [the situation],” he said ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix. “It was literally just a back-and-forth. I was very polite in how I suggested it.
“I said ‘leave it to me, please’. I wasn’t saying ‘F-you’, I wasn’t swearing.
“It was just at that point I was really struggling with the car and I needed full focus on a couple of things. We’re getting to know each other.
“He had two champions or more in the past and there are no issues between us.”
Hamilton then turned to other drivers on the grid, in particular his 2021 title rival Max Verstappen.
“Go and listen to the radio calls with others and their engineers – it’s far worse,” he continued.
“The conversations that Max has had with his engineer over the years and the abuse that the poor guy has taken, and you never write about it, but you write about the smallest little discussion I have with mine.
“We’re literally just getting to know each other. Afterwards, I’m like, ‘Hey bro, I don’t need that bit of information. But if you want to give me this, this is the place I like to do it’.
“’This is how I’m feeling in the car and at these points, this is what this is, when I do and don’t need the information’.
“That’s what it’s about. There are no issues and it’s done with a smiley face, and we move forward.”
Verstappen’s exchanges with race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase have regularly gone viral, with one such radio clip in 2023 at the Belgian Grand Prix showing Verstappen saying: “Yeah, I don’t give a f*** if I’m through in P10! It’s just s*** execution.”
In 2024 after a tangle with Hamilton, he was heard saying: “No mate, don’t give me that bulls*** now. You guys gave me this f****** strategy, OK? I’m trying to rescue what’s left. For f***’s sake.”
It’s not at all unusual for radio messages to contain swearing, but such acts in press conferences are now being punished with fines after the sport’s governing body, the FIA, wrote a new rule into the 2025 regulations.
