Former team manager calls for code of conduct after Max Verstappen’s Austin antics
After Max Verstappen vented his annoyance at Gianpiero Lambiase with many a bleeped-out word, Peter Windsor believes Formula 1 should introduce a language code of conduct for radio communication.
Despite fighting his way to the front of the field at the United States Grand Prix, Verstappen was nursing a brake problem.
And he let Lambiase know all about it.
Max Verstappen wasn’t alone in his sweary radio messages
“Mate, these brakes are so s*** compared to yesterday. What a piece of s***!” he ranted to ‘GP’.
Later told by his race engineer that his pace was dropping, he responded: “I know man, my brakes are just s***.”
Verstappen, who was also getting incredibly frustrated with ‘GP’ on the timing of certain radio messages during the braking zones, wasn’t the only sweary guy on the radio over the course of the Austin weekend.
Charles Leclerc dropped a lot of F-bombs while Yuki Tsunoda put in his traditional “what the f*** man” on Friday and again on Saturday. Nico Hulkenberg, Lance Stroll, and Lewis Hamilton also had expletives bleeped out by broadcaster FOM.
It has former Ferrari team manager Peter Windsor calling for Formula 1 to implement a code of conduct, after all the sport is trying to attract a younger audience.
“Interestingly, he was getting very irate on the radio. I felt a bit sorry for Gianpiero, his race engineer,” he said in his latest YouTube stream.
“He managed to choose virtually every time he said something to Max, which was usually sort of gaps to Lewis or whatever it was, he chose a braking area when Max was absolutely focused on doing something that he doesn’t normally do and trying to get it absolutely right.
“You get the radio and they say, ‘Oh, you know, you’re four and a half seconds ahead of Lewis’. And he said, ‘Don’t talk to me while I’m braking’. He was actually 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 watching Formula One 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.”
PlanetF1.com recommends
Revealed: The most fined drivers and teams on the F1 2023 grid
F1 2023 driver salaries revealed: How much do Formula 1 drivers make?
Windsor blames Bernie Ecclestone and Ralf Schumacher for today’s antics
Windsor blames Bernie Ecclestone and Ralf Schumacher for the language heard over the radio today.
According to the former team manager when six-time Grand Prix winner Schumacher uttered the first “f***’ over the radio to his team, Ecclestone thought it was hilarious and didn’t do anything to nip it in the bud.
“Bernie started all that when he allowed Ralf Schumacher to get away with it years ago, when he used the F word for the first time that I’d ever heard on the radio,” he said.
“Bernie thought it was a big laugh and really good for Formula One.
“And 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 One. And they do a good job of deleting it, I know that, but one day it’ll slip through.”
Read next: Ted Kravitz adds fuel to fire as Sergio Perez paddock rumours continue