Ferrari F1 team insist bizarre Verstappen problem to blame for Hamilton radio issues

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari insist bizarre Verstappen problem to blame for Hamilton radio issues

Hamilton was given a penalty for impeding Verstappen in Monaco

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Friday 6 June 2025 20:55

Ferrari F1 team principal Fred Vasseur has blamed a bizarre issue surrounding Max Verstappen as the reason for a miscommunication between Lewis Hamilton and race engineer Riccardo Adami.

Hamilton's relationship with new race engineer Adami has been under the spotlight in recent weeks, with the pair seemingly suffering some teething issues since pairing up.

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The seven-time world champion sarcastically told Adami to 'go and have a tea break' at the Miami GP, while also engaging in a tense radio message with the Italian at the end of the Monaco GP following another disappointing performance for Hamilton.

Earlier on in that particular weekend, the pair also suffered a breakdown in communication during qualifying, when Hamilton impeded Verstappen heading up the hill into turn three, eventually causing the Brit to be given a three-place grid penalty.

Adami appeared to have told Hamilton that Verstappen was only on a slow lap, hence the miscommunication, but Vasseur has now revealed exactly what went wrong there.

"Due to a problem with the GPS, we lost Verstappen's signal," the Ferrari boss told La Stampa, before going on to talk more broadly about the team radio issues: "The first question to ask is where we can improve and what Lewis expects in terms of information.

"Team radio doesn't scare me, certain reactions are normal when you go at 300 kph between the walls, the important thing is that the dialogue before and after is constructive. I assure you that there is no war."

Hamilton's Ferrari woes

Hamilton's Ferrari career has not got off to the best of starts, which may have explained some of the frustrations that the seven-time champion has displayed over team radio.

The 40-year-old sits sixth in the drivers' championship, and his two most recent performances have perhaps been the most disappointing of them all, particularly as team-mate Charles Leclerc managed to claim a podium in Monaco and Spain.

Hamilton produced a brilliant performance to finish fourth in Imola having started 11th, but that was followed by a Monaco GP in which he finished 50 seconds behind Leclerc, down in fifth. Hamilton then only finished sixth in Barcelona, behind the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg.

On top of these poor race performances, Hamilton has only managed to outqualify Leclerc twice in nine attempts in 2025, but Vasseur insists that the partnership is getting stronger between Hamilton and Ferrari.

"It's about continuing to work and push together, honestly the collaboration is good," he continued in his interview. "You learn more from difficult moments, from which we come back stronger.

"In Spain the two cars had a problem in the last stint, Lewis' performance suffered. Thinking back to Monaco, his second row would have allowed us a different strategy, then came the penalty."

Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton Fred Vasseur Riccardo Adami Miami GP Ferrari F1 team