The Monaco GP should have been a relatively uneventful one for Lewis Hamilton, who spent most of the race in a lonely P5.
After a 3-place grid penalty dropped him to 7th on the grid, Hamilton’s chances of competing with the front-runners were essentially ruined.
Despite this, the 7-time Champion found himself in a series of awkward team radio exchanges with his race engineer.
With Hamilton still adapting to his new set-up at Ferrari, such miscommunications are not necessarily a massive surprise.
Still, some of the communication – or lack thereof – between Hamilton and his engineer sparked reaction post-race.
Vasseur: Hamilton “not upset at all” with team radio
Earlier in the season, Lewis Hamilton responded bluntly to some of the media discussions about his team radio messages.
The 40-year-old argued that disproportionate focus was paid to Ferrari’s communications, at least when compared to other teams.
He certainly had a point in this respect. For a variety of reasons, the Scuderia consistently face more spotlight than most teams.
Hamilton’s presence at the team, for better or worse, has only heightened scrutiny on their week-to-week operations.
At the time, the British driver was talking about the reaction to the Australian GP – a very chaotic race that would have tested even the strongest driver and engineering partnerships.
Last weekend, however, some of the transmissions that were broadcasted in Monaco were less understandable.
As he ran alone in 5th place, Hamilton asked for clarity on the gaps ahead towards the final laps of the race.
There was no response. The 7-time Champion then asked if his engineer was upset with him as he crossed the line and finished the race.
Once again, there was no response.
Despite this apparent breakdown, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur says there was no major problem:
“Because when the driver is asking something between turn one and three, we have to wait [until] the tunnel to reply.
“To avoid to speak with him during the corners,” Vasseur told Sky Sports.
“It is not that we are sleeping – it is not that we are having a beer on the pit tall.
“It’s just because we have a section of the track where we agreed before to speak with him.
“Honestly, it’s not a tension that the guy is asking something.
“He’s between the wall, he’s under pressure, he’s fighting.
“I spoke with him after the race, he was not upset at all.”
Ferrari enter make or break sequence
There can be little doubt that last weekend’s radio mishap will be discussed heading into the Spanish GP.
However, once the cars hit the track in Barcelona, there will be far greater concerns for the Maranello team.
After all, this weekend is the first race where the FIA’s new technical directive will come into play.
Until now, Ferrari have been relatively quiet about how they foresee these changes affecting the pecking order.
It has generally been Red Bull who have vocalised their expectations of a potential McLaren decline.
Still, with Ferrari’s upgrades to the SF-25 failing to deliver the desired performance, the Spanish GP could be pivotal in determining their prospects for the remainder of 2025.
As teams bring updates in response to the new flexi-wing regulations, the Italian outfit could have a chance to claw back the deficit to McLaren.
Main photo: Ferrari media gallery
