Bernie Collins on what Max Verstappen’s Singapore radio failure revealed about him
Former Formula 1 chief strategist and Sky Sports pundit Bernie Collins has praised Max Verstappen’s ability to dominate the Singapore Grand Prix despite a one-way radio failure.
After winning the sprint race from pole at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, Verstappen went on to claim pole position for the grand prix. But after successfully defending against Charles Leclerc at the race start, the Dutchman had a tricky race ahead of him.
Verstappen’s drive was complicated by a severe communications issue. His race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, could transmit messages to the four-time champion, but Verstappen was unable to reply. As a result, Lambiase opted to ask only yes/no questions and asked Verstappen to respond either by pressing the radio button or not.
Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 Show, Collins argued that the situation demonstrated Verstappen’s intelligence and ability to race without the coaching that is sometimes heard on team radios.
“These things happen in races where radio comms go down and it’s very difficult from the pitwall to figure out if Max can hear you,” Collins said. “Obviously that’s really obvious to us, and I guess someone’s watching their TV as well and can hear the messages from GP going one way but not the messages from Max coming back.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Alastair Staley / LAT Images via Getty Images
“But as much as it speaks to the intelligence of GP as a race engineer to think of, ‘OK, how can I get an answer without him speaking to me? We just need clear yes-or-no questions.’ It also speaks very highly of Max’s intelligence and how Max drove that race because he wasn’t getting all the coaching that we sometimes hear other drivers getting.
“He wasn’t getting lots of information. He wasn’t able to ask about the positions of others or what the race strategy was, or any of these communication methods that we hear other drivers asking. Max didn’t have that ability in that race. So, he needed to work it out for himself.
“To have had such a strong race, figure out when he needs to manage, when he needs to push, how the tyres are doing, what the strategy is, to do all of that without those comms really speaks to Max’s strength.”
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