Ferrari furious at FOM's misleading Hamilton radio edits
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Ferrari is fuming at Formula One Management (FOM) for its selective broadcasting of Lewis Hamilton's radio messages during Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix, accusing the organization of painting a misleading picture of team dynamics.
Scuderia boss Fred Vasseur called the situation a "joke," emphasizing that FOM's choice of messages distorted the narrative around the Italian outfit's team orders during the race.
During the first half of the 56-lap event, Hamilton struggled for pace behind Leclerc, who was bottled up behind the Briton.
Sensing the issue, Hamilton radioed Ferrari with a selfless offer: "I think I'm going to let Charles go, because I'm struggling."
Yet, this message never made the world TV feed. Instead, FOM aired a later exchange that cast Hamilton in a defiant light, sparking confusion and criticism.
A Tale of Edited Exchanges
After Ferrari instructed Leclerc on Lap 18 that Hamilton would let him through at Turn 14, Hamilton responded: "I will when he's closer."
Despite further calls from Ferrari to swap on Lap 20, Hamilton delayed the move, saying: "I'll tell you when we're going to swap."
Leclerc, growing impatient, but also lacking clarity on the situation lamented: "This is a shame. The pace is there."
Fans, hearing only snippets, assumed Hamilton was resisting team orders, unaware he'd initiated the idea.
The seven-time world champion eventually allowed Leclerc through at Turn 1 instead of the requested Turn 14, and the Monegasque immediately exploited his superior pace to build a lead over his teammate.
When all was said and done however, Vasseur was thoroughly unhappy.
"I think this is a joke from FOM because the first call came from Lewis," he told the media post-race.
"Lewis asked us to swap, but to create the mess around the situation they broadcast only the second part of the question. We will discuss with them.
"You can't imagine the number of questions I had about this when I came from the garage to here," he added. "It's all about the same thing: 'Is it a mess?' I said no, it's Lewis who asked to swap."
Hamilton's Team Spirit Shines
Reflecting on events, Vasseur praised Hamilton's proactive approach.
"I'm not even sure you would even have these situations ten times at other teams in a season, and honestly from the pit wall we really appreciated the call from Lewis saying, 'guys, I'm losing the pace, I'm keen to swap'," he said.
The swap took a lap to organize, and when Hamilton's pace briefly surged, he hesitated—"oh let's stay like this for a little bit"—prompting Ferrari to insist, "no, if you up the pace we swap."
©Ferrari
The collaboration, Vasseur insisted, was seamless, but the broadcast fallout irked the Frenchman.
"As a team the collaboration between the two guys is mega and I can't complain a single second about something.
"I understand the question, but you have to ask the question to Stefano [Domenicali, F1 president and CEO] and not me because I'm not in charge of the broadcast," he snapped.
The incident echoed Hamilton's earlier gripes in Australia, where aired exchanges with new race engineer Riccardo Adami fueled false tension rumors.
The controversy over the radio messages was just one part of a difficult weekend for Ferrari.
Both Leclerc and Hamilton were ultimately disqualified after the race for failing post-race scrutineering checks, capping off what was already a frustrating day for the Scuderia.
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