Lewis Hamilton labelled the radio exchanges Max Verstappen has “far worse” than the communication troubles he had with Ferrari in the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.
Hamilton and Adami, who worked with Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz previously, had a baptism of fire at the Albert Park Circuit last weekend.
Adami, keen to guide Hamilton through the mixed conditions on his Ferrari bow, was consistent in his delivery of information, only for the driver to ask for less interaction.
The awkward discussion highlighted the work the two have to be on the same page, but Hamilton insisted post-race that there wasn’t a deep-rooted problem emerging.
Instead, the Briton feels the coverage of the interactions was overblown and drew a comparison to his ex-F1 title rival Verstappen’s fiery chats with Gianpiero Lambiasse.
“I was very polite in how I had suggested it,” Hamilton said via Sky. “I said: ‘leave it to me, please’.
“I wasn’t saying ‘F you’. I wasn’t swearing. So it was just at that point, I was really struggling with the car and I needed full focus on these couple of things.
“We’re getting to know each other. He’s obviously had two champions or more in the past and there’s no issues between us still.”
He added: “Go and listen to the radio calls with others and their engineers, far worse.
“But unfortunately, you [the media] make… the conversation that Max has with an engineer over the years, the abuse that the poor guy’s taken and you never write about it, but you wrote about the smallest little discussion I had with mine.”
Hamilton highlights Verstappen-Lambiase exchanges
It’s actually well-documented that Verstappen and Lambiasse are fiery over team radio, but it has proved to be a winning duo and a routine the duo has settled into.
It’s a chalk-and-cheese combination for sure, but speaks to the fact both men are comfortable with one another after years of collaboration.
Hamilton and Adami are just one race into their working relationship, so naturally, things will take time to gel, leaving him still surprised about the attention it garnered.
“I don’t know why everyone’s been so negative about it,” he said.
“I was polite. I always said ‘please’ at the end.
“When you look at some of the other drivers who have been super vocal, almost abusive, their engineers have taken batterings for years, and mine didn’t even take a battering.
“There are a couple of individuals that were quite rude on how we spoke.
“It’s something you learn along the way. From race to race, we’re going to get stronger together, and that’s the most important part.”
Hamilton went on to say how he and Adami are cordially building up a rapport.
“Ultimately, we’re literally just getting to know each other,” he said.
“So afterwards I’m like: ‘hey bro, I don’t need that bit of information but if you want to give me this, this is the place I’d like to do it’.
“This is how I’m feeling in the car and, at these points, this is when I do and don’t need the information’.
“That’s what it’s about. There are no issues, it’s done with a smiley face and we move forwards.”
Hamilton to change Ferrari approach in China
Radio communication wasn’t the only thing Hamilton is acclimating to as he learned the ropes of working with his wider Ferrari team and the SF-25 machine itself.
After an uninspiring run to 10th in his Ferrari debut, the seven-time champion revealed he will be trying a different approach at the Shanghai International Circuit.
“We’re just going to set the car up a bit different this weekend,” he said.
“I’m still having to take a viewing seat how the team operates.
“It was the first weekend to see how they operate on the race weekend, which is different to testing, how they like to set the car up, the changes they like to make during the weekends.
“As I get more and more comfortable and more knowledgeable about the car, I can start making more decisions, and say, ‘actually, this is the set-up change I want to go with’.
“Already this weekend I’m having those discussions, and gonna lean a little bit more with adding my experience.”
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