Hamilton: Radio Message Criticism is Overblown, Verstappen is Much Worse!

Lewis Hamilton dismisses criticism of his Ferrari radio messages, insisting they were respectful—and says Verstappen’s exchanges are far worse.

Lewis Hamilton has dismissed any notion of tension between him and his new Ferrari race engineer, Riccardo Adami, after their first race together last weekend.

The season-opening Australian Grand Prix was a challenging debut for Hamilton in Ferrari colors. Tricky wet conditions on race day made life difficult for all drivers.

Starting from P8 on the grid, Hamilton struggled to make progress throughout the race. His radio exchanges with Adami were broadcasted live several times, prompting some to speculate about friction between them. However, Hamilton insists he was as polite as possible and says their relationship is still evolving.

“People have completely overblown this!” Hamilton said today in Shanghai.

“It was just a normal conversation. I was very polite in my request. I told the team, ‘Let me do this, please.’ I wasn’t saying ‘Go f*** yourself,’ I wasn’t swearing.”

“At that moment, I was just struggling with the car and needed to focus on a couple of things. We’re still learning about each other.”

“Go Listen to Other Drivers—It’s Way Worse!”

Radio messages are often played during F1 race weekends, particularly when drivers express frustration.

Hamilton pointed to Max Verstappen’s fiery exchanges with his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, as an example of much harsher communication.

“Ricky [Adami] has worked with multiple champions before, and there’s no issue between us. Just go and listen to other drivers and their engineers—it’s way worse!”

“Look at the conversations Max has had with his engineer over the years, the amount of abuse that poor guy has taken. And yet, no one talks about that. But if I have one small exchange, suddenly it’s a big deal.”

“We’re Just Figuring Things Out”

Hamilton explained that working with a new engineer is always an adjustment, and refining their communication takes time.

“It’s all about understanding each other. I might say, ‘Hey man, I don’t need this kind of information at that moment. But if you want to give me something, here’s what I need and when I need it.’”

“This is how I feel in the car, and in certain situations, this is what helps—or what doesn’t.”

“That’s all it is. There’s no problem. We’re figuring it out, having fun with it, and moving forward.”

“Every Driver Has Their Own Style”

Reflecting on his time at Mercedes, Hamilton highlighted how different drivers prefer different types of radio input.

“Every driver needs a different approach. George [Russell], for example, liked a lot of information.”

“Personally, I don’t. Too much input can be overwhelming. But it took Bono [Peter Bonnington, his former race engineer] and me years to fine-tune how we worked together. We tried different things, adjusted along the way, and eventually got it just right.”

“With Ricky, we already get along really well. This was just our first race together—the first time he had to make calls for me in the car. And honestly, we nailed it more than 90% of the time.”

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Hamilton Slams ‘Overblown’ Radio Criticism, Points at Max Hamilton Slams ‘Overblown’ Radio Criticism, Points at Max