In recent times, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris have frequently been in the news after the trophy-breaking fiasco at the conclusion of the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday. The two-time world champion has become close to Lando through the internet and sim racing, and they have been with each other since their karting days. Both of them have had a great run in Formula One so far as well. Max has won two championships, and the Brit has eight podiums to his name.
The environment after the Hungarian GP and the podium incident has been very witty and fun, with both the teams on social media and the drivers on camera. Max Verstappen and Norris took a dig at Ferrari’s puzzling team radio messages and made fun of the treatment given to Charles Leclerc by the team in a media session after the race.
Max Verstappen mocks Lando Norris at Charles Leclerc’s expense
Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, and Sergio Perez sat together in the press conference held after the race. Reporters asked them to rate each other’s seasons until now. Lando was quick to jump in and talk about Max’s season; he said that considering the win at Hungary, he would rate it 7 and 5 for the whole season. Keeping the humor going, Max replied, “I was expecting a 6.9.”
lando: my plan a, plan c..
max: plan F! copy!!!! đrace engineer max pic.twitter.com/Us49qmlVkv
— nini (@SCUDERIAFEMBOY) July 24, 2023
When reporters asked the drivers about their tire strategies, Lando, being in a jolly mood, replied on their behalf and said that the Red Bull guys had an amazing grip on their tires and they got newer through the stint. When talking about his strategy, he stated, “My Plan A and Plan C are 20. Master.” Max Verstappen cut him off., and the Britishman then asked the Red Bull driver to respond for him.
The 25-year-old hilariously replied by imitating Charles Leclercâs engineer: “Plan F?”. Norris acknowledged that there was also a Plan F there after hearing the same. Verstappen responded, “Copy,” imitating Leclerc’s engineer once more as the conversation continued.
What happened with Charles Leclerc and Ferrari engineer over radio?
Post-Hungarian GP, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc himself revealed his problems with the team radio this season. Charles complained that one out of four words wasn’t going through his team radio, and this problem has been persistent for the last 3 to 4 races. He went on to say that his car radio had to be fixed immediately.
The bad radio message quality was apparent when he appeared to question his tire strategy, saying “It doesn’t make sense” and “What do you mean [we will discuss it] at the end?” in a garbled radio communication with his engineer.
The problems didn’t just stop at the radio in Hungary. In an interview post-race, Charles revealed that he didn’t have water coming from his pack due to the pipe being short, leading him to be a little off the edge during the race. Situations were aggravated because of the slow pit stop due to the tire gun issue. This slow pit stop, along with an added five-second penalty, resulted in a lot of crucial time wasted for Ferrari.
Leclerc concluded by saying, “Honestly, it’s frustrating overall because I felt that the pace we had today, even as a driver when you are feeling like you are doing a good job with the car you have, nobody really notices it.
“When you are doing a bad job, everybody notices it. It’s difficult but in the end, it’s part of the game and it’s just up to us now to do a step forward as McLaren did.
“Now we are on the back foot, it’s been confirmed through the last three weekends. There is a lot of work to do.”
Ferrari has been known to be a frustrating team with their strict rules about social media and press conferences. This isn’t the first time a driver has complained about the team’s consistency. The last time such frustration over Ferrari was expressed was by Charles’s ex-teammate Sebastian Vettel.
Ferrari fans will hope Charles Leclerc’s situation with the team improves, considering that he is still young and has the potential to become a world champion one day.
