‘Was no one watching?’ – New untelevised Lewis Hamilton team radio after Azerbaijan GP
Lewis Hamilton looks on in the Ferrari garage at the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Untelevised footage from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix has unearthed another awkward exchange between Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari after the safety car was deployed in Baku.
Hamilton finished sixth in Saturday’s race as Mercedes driver George Russell claimed his third victory of the F1 2026 season.
Lewis Hamilton safety car confusion emerges in untelevised team radio
The seven-time world champion remains without a podium finish since July’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
The safety car was deployed on Lap 31 in Azerbaijan after Williams driver Alex Albon hit the wall between Turns 5 and 6.
In an untelevised snippet of team radio, Hamilton was left bemused that Ferrari had not anticipated the safety car following Albon’s accident, with race engineer Carlo Santi informing his driver moments after Hamilton had passed the pit entry.
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The lack of communication did not cost Hamilton any positions as the Ferrari driver held an 8.1-second advantage over Pierre Gasly’s Alpine when the safety car was called.
The full exchange between Hamilton and his race engineer went as follows:
Santi: “Safety car deployed. Twenty laps to go.”
Hamilton: “Yeah, just passed the pit lane.”
Santi: “Mode safety car.”
Hamilton: “Had you seen something like a crash? Like, what?”
Hamilton: “Is there an incident?”
Santi: “Double yellow, double yellow 4-5 [sic]. Albon in the wall, double yellow 4-5.”
Hamilton: “OK… was no one watching that happen?”
Santi: “Please tell me which tyres you prefer: medium or hard? It’s 20 laps to go.”
Hamilton: “Which tyre do you think is the best? What are other people doing?”
Santi: “We haven’t seen hard so far.”
Santi: “We think medium.”
Hamilton: “I’m gonna lose position because cars behind…”
Santi: “Negative. We are not losing position.”
Santi: “I’m adding four clicks if you agree.”
Hamilton: “Yeah.”
Santi: “So we go for medium, last call?”
Hamilton: “What do you think? I mean, I’m OK to do the hard. But I don’t know because I don’t think it’s quicker, so I’ll just go for the medium.”
Santi: “Copy that.”
Santi: “Plus four clicks is fine, Lewis?”
Hamilton: “I think so.”
Santi: “Copy that.”
The latest exchange between Hamilton and Santi comes after the Ferrari driver was left frustrated by a lack of communication from the pit wall during qualifying in Baku.
Hamilton eventually told the team that he would check the television screens dotted around the track for information instead.
The full exchange in qualifying went as follows:
Hamilton: “I’ve got no one ahead of me.”
Santi: “There is Russell who is 30 seconds in front.”
Hamilton: “What do I do? I’ve got nobody ahead. How far am I off, please? Give me some update.”
Santi: “We are P7.”
Hamilton: “OK. How… oh, don’t worry. I’ll look on the TV.”
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