Ferrari publicly respond to Lewis Hamilton's tense radio messages with engineer during Monaco Grand Prix
Ferrari have spoken out in response to Lewis Hamilton's controversial radio conversations during the Monaco Grand Prix amid reports of tension with his race engineer.
On Sunday, a relatively uneventful Monaco Grand Prix was made more exciting as Formula One legend Hamilton appeared to once again clash with his Ferrari race engineer.
Since his arrival at Ferrari at the beginning of the season, the Brit has been heard exchanging several angry comments with Riccardo Adami over the radio.
At Monaco, Hamilton was even heard asking his Ferrari team if they were upset with him after they appeared to ignore him earlier in the race.
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But now, Ferrari have officially responded to the events of the tense weekend, as team principal Fred Vasseur has spoken out to explain exactly what had happened.
Explaining why Adami had ignored Hamilton on some occasions during the race, Vasseur told the media: "When the driver is asking something between Turn 1 and Turn 3 we have to wait to reply to avoid to speak during the corners.
"It’s not that we are sleeping, it’s not that we are having a beer on the pit wall. It’s just because we have a section of the track where we agreed before to speak with the drivers.
"Honestly it’s not a tension that a guy is asking something. He is between the walls, he is under pressure, he’s at 300kph between the walls and I am perfectly fine with it. When I spoke to him after the race he was not upset.”
Perhaps the most tense moment of the race came in the final moments, as Hamilton asked his race engineer if he was still a minute behind the race leaders.
However, when the Italian replied, he completely ignored his driver's question and instead informed the seven-time world champion about the lap times of the top three, Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc, and Oscar Piastri, and the tyres they had fitted.
"You're not answering the question, but it doesn't really matter. I'm just asking, am I a minute behind or...?" Hamilton responded.
"48 seconds," Adami eventually replied.
After the race Hamilton further expressed his frustration about the team radios during the race, explaining that the information given to him hadn't been clear and that it had impacted his performance.
Topics: Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Ben McCrum