Untelevised Lewis Hamilton radio; Williams begins £1m legal case over missing car – round-up
Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton
It has been another busy day in the world of Formula 1, as untelevised radio from Lewis Hamilton came to light from Malaysia and much more on and off the track.
Separately, Williams has been in the news over a missing historic car. All that and more in your Wednesday round-up, so let’s dive straight in.
Untelevised Lewis Hamilton radio exchange from Sepang
Lewis Hamilton spoke after the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia about how Ferrari’s tyre gamble went against him, with Ferrari believing the track would dry quicker than it did.
Hamilton reported back to the Scuderia that the track was still wet, but the team came to the decision to run what turned out to be the incorrect tyre to begin with.
Now, the full transcript between Hamilton and Carlo Santi has emerged.
Read more: Untelevised Lewis Hamilton team radio after Ferrari strategy mistake
Williams begins legal claim over missing car
Williams has filed legal proceedings with London’s High Court over a missing 2001 FW23 chassis, which was loaned to a now-defunct garage but not returned.
The team is calling for the car’s return or the person in question to pay a fee in excess of £1m if it is not found.
A Williams spokesperson told PlanetF1.com: “We have initiated proceedings to recover a car that was lent to a third party and not returned to us.
“As the proceedings are active we will make no further comment but have full faith in the legal system to resolve this matter.”
Read more: Williams begins £1 million legal case over historic chassis return
Brundle lifts the lid on Christian Horner Ferrari comments
Christian Horner’s recent comments around Ferrari have certainly raised attention throughout the Formula 1 world, and Martin Brundle picked up the phone to the former Red Bull boss to ask just what happened.
“There was a lot of talk of Christian Horner this week, so I rang him,” Brundle said on Sky F1.
“He said, ‘I was being polite and respectful about Ferrari in an interview and it took on a whole load’.
“I mean, could you imagine Lewis [Hamilton] and Christian working together after 2021? That would be an interesting dynamic.”
Read more: What Horner told Brundle about Ferrari team principal speculation
Could GP Lambiase join McLaren sooner than planned?
GianPiero Lambiase is due to join McLaren as its newly-created ‘head of racing’, with McLaren having said his transfer from Red Bull should take place ‘no later than 2028’.
PlanetF1.com understands that Lambiase would remain an integral part of Verstappen‘s team until ‘late in 2027’, but McLaren CEO, Zak Brown, has instead mentioned that the timing of this could be slightly sooner than anticipated.
Read more: Brown drops major hint on when Lambiase could join McLaren
McLaren backs F1 over power units
The sight of helplessly-slowing Formula 1 cars on the formation laps in Sepang are unlikely to be forgotten any time soon, but Andrea Stella believes the powers-that-be did an “excellent job” in getting the cars back up and running.
It has since emerged that the teams needed to update the software on the cars before they could go racing – which was one of the reasons behind the length of delay at the weekend – but Stella urged people to bear with the new power units.
Read more: McLaren back F1 over power unit furor despite driver backlash
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