Fred Vasseur had called the failure to broadcast certain messages from Lewis Hamilton’s team radio during the Chinese Grand Prix “a joke.” In one of the most intense moments of the race, it emerged that the British driver had initially requested a position swap with his teammate Charles Leclerc because he was struggling.
This first part of the conversation was omitted by FOM (Formula One Management), leading to a misleading impression that the swap was a team order decided by Ferrari.
The following team radio messages suggested that Lewis Hamilton was disobeying team orders, as his race engineer Riccardo Adami continued to insist that he swap positions. However, the swap did take place, albeit under the seven-time world champion’s conditions.
After the race, Frederic Vasseur appeared displeased with the incomplete broadcast of the team radio. “It’s a joke… The first request came from Lewis. He asked us to make the swap,” he stated.
“But for show, to create confusion around the situation, they only broadcast the second part. I’ll discuss this with them.”
Formula One Management later responded to the Ferrari team principal, explaining that there was no malice in omitting some radio messages.
“There was absolutely no intention to present a misleading narrative regarding Ferrari’s team radio. Due to other situations that occurred during the race, Lewis’ message was not played, but this was not intentional,” a FOM spokesperson clarified.
Ferrari left the Chinese Grand Prix with their heads down, bringing home another defeat after Australia. The double disqualification overshadowed their victory in the Sprint Race, and now their focus is already on the next race two weeks from now at Suzuka.
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