Leading Formula 1 journalist and former Williams and Ferrari team manager Peter Windsor has called on the FIA to implement a code of conduct for team radio messages following Max Verstappen’s repeated outbursts at the United States Grand Prix
Verstappen had to work harder than usual en route to victory on Monday (AEDT), managing a brake issue while weaving his way through the field.
Throughout the race, Verstappen voiced his frustration over the radio to his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner — often using several expletives to get his point across.
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“Mate, these brakes are so shit compared to [Sunday],” he said.
“What a piece of shit.”
When Lambiase later informed Verstappen that his pace was dropping compared to teammate Sergio Perez, he also replied: “I know man, my brakes are just shit”.
But the three-time world champion was not the only driver to lose his cool over the radio across the weekend in Austin.
Charles Leclerc, Yuki Tsunoda, Nico Hulkenberg, Lance Stroll and Lewis Hamilton all had expletives in their radio messages censored for the world feed.
In the closing stages of the race and with Hamilton fast approaching, Lambiase continually updated Verstappen on his lap times and the shrinking gap to Mercedes.
But Verstappen soon commanded he “stop talking” while he battled with his brakes in the corners.
“No talking in the braking [zone], man,” he said.
With the sport attracting a younger audience, Windsor was concerned about the language being promoted as entertainment.
“Interestingly, he was getting very irate on the radio. I felt a bit sorry for Gianpiero,” he said of Verstappen in his latest YouTube video.
“You get the radio and [Gianpiero says], ‘Oh, you know, you’re four and a half seconds ahead of Lewis’. And he says, ‘Don’t talk to me while I’m braking’. He had an expletive deleted at one point when he was talking about the brakes.
“Max, you’re the triple world champion, you’re not allowed to do that. They bleeped it, obviously, but lots of young kids are watching Formula 1 these days.
“I think there should be some sort of code of conduct to do with language. Because even young kids today know what a bleep is, don’t they? So we don’t need any more of that.”
According to Windsor, former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone is responsible for the current flippancy over the radio.
“Bernie started all that when he allowed [former driver] Ralf Schumacher to get away with it years ago, when he used the F word for the first time … on the radio,” he said.
“Bernie thought it was a big laugh and really good for Formula 1.
“I totally disagreed at the time for the same reason I disagree with it now. I think if you’ve got young kids and you’re trying to get to a young audience, you don’t allow that sort of thing.
“It’s not allowed in other sports and it shouldn’t be allowed in Formula 1.
“They do a good job of deleting it, I know that, but one day it’ll slip through.”
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Hasibur Rahaman is a passionate sports journalist. He covers everything from cricket to field hockey, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis of sporting events, both within India and on the international stage.
