News Summary
- Max Verstappen said his radio worked much better for Red Bull in Mexico, with a few settings still to fine-tune.
- The Dutchman said he flags issues with gear changes because he believes small adjustments can unlock more lap time.
- Verstappen joked that he would be happy if people outside the team had more trouble hearing him.
Max Verstappen had a simple explanation for why Red Bull keeps hearing about upshifts and downshifts over his radio: he still thinks there is lap time in them. Ahead of the São Paulo Grand Prix, Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft asked what the team was doing about the issues he had heard Verstappen raise in practice and during races. Verstappen dealt with the radio first.
“Uhm, well the radio is, I think a lot better in Mexico. We were also trying some things, and it’s just a few tiny settings probably to still get right, but actually the team was hearing me very well. Maybe everyone else not, but that’s actually fantastic to be honest, so we should actually try and keep it that way.”
Why Verstappen keeps talking about the shifts
Verstappen then turned to what he says on the radio. Croft had asked about the same complaints coming up from weekend to weekend. Verstappen explained what he wants Red Bull to do each time he flags something from the cockpit.
“And, with shifts or whatever that you hear me complain about, it’s just because I’m never satisfied, because I think always certain things can be better and I always try to fine-tune, or yeah find improvements. So, you know, if you hear it as complaining or whatever it’s more for me to to make sure that the team is always looking into details to try and find more lap time, because I know there is more lap time in it.”
The exchange came after Verstappen won the Mexico City Grand Prix and moved two points ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the fight for second in the drivers’ standings. At the São Paulo Grand Prix, Red Bull has two Friday practice sessions and a third on Saturday before qualifying.
GRANDE PRÊMIO is covering every session of the São Paulo Grand Prix live from Interlagos. Follow our on-site coverage in Formula 1.
