What radio calls reveal about Verstappen’s controlled pace and Perez’s struggles

Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez drove the same car in the Spanish Grand Prix but finished over a minute apart.

Their radio chatter during the race reveals Perez struggling to make the car do what he needs it to, while Verstappen’s progress at the front of the field was almost serene.

While Verstappen wasn’t always happy with his car, he prompted his race engineer for assistance and received it. In Perez’s car, his race engineer Hugh Bird regularly prompted him to advise the team on where he was struggling.

From Perez’s messages we can also see how far within himself Verstappen drove at the beginning of the race. He only started to dig deep at the end, when Lando Norris began to close on him.

Verstappen and Perez’s Spanish GP radio messages

Verstappen ran second at the start of the race behind leader George Russell. Eager to get into the lead and enjoy the benefit of fresh air, Verstappen pushed hard to pass the Mercedes as the first lap began.

Doing so at this stage of the race was potentially risky as it placed a high strain on his tyres when his fuel load was at its greatest. Nonetheless his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase urged him to make the move as they neared the end of the second lap, and Verstappen needed no further encouragement or advice to get the job done.

In past races Lambiase has told him to go “straight into” tyre management once in the lead after the start, but on this occasion it appears that was taken for granted, and Verstappen’s lap times immediately slowed after he hit the front:

Lap: 2/66 VER: 1’19.871
Lambiase	Might be our best opportunity now, Max. Think wisely.
Lap: 3/66 VER: 1’19.364
Lambiase	0.6.
Lambiase	Verstappen passes Russell Great stuff. Display eight when you can.
Lap: 4/66 VER: 1’20.766
Lambiase	1.1. Does not have DRS.
Lap: 6/66 VER: 1’20.876
Lambiase	So time loss only straight line and turn 13 and 14. Obviously George pushing to keep Lando behind.
Lambiase	Mode seven.

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Meanwhile Perez was mired in 11th place, trying to find a way past Nico Hulkenberg. At one stage he was given information about Verstappen’s use of lift-and-coast – backing off early into braking zones – and Bird gave him direct instructions on how to use the car’s maximum available power to pass the Haas:

Lap: 8/66 VER: 1’20.989, PER: 1’22.010
Lambiase	1.8. Russell on a 21.3.	Bird	So one second, just outside DRS.
Lambiase	We’re still saving a little bit more than Russell at turn three which is fine at this stage, Max.	Perez	Yeah I can’t get close, I slide too much.
Lap: 9/66 VER: 1’21.042, PER: 1’21.481
Lambiase	‘Just about stabilised peaks on the rear-left tyre, Max. Starting to drop now.	Bird	Gap 1.1. What are your main issues?
		Perez	In the low-speed.
		Bird	Which axle?
		Perez	Both axles. I feel I cannot turn the car.
		Bird	At this stage I’d exaggerate lift-and-coast. Exaggerate the lift-and-coast.
Lap: 10/66 VER: 1’21.003, PER: 1’21.680
Lambiase	Gap 2.3. Russell 21.1.	Bird	And gap one second, just outside DRS again. Currently doing less lift-and-coast than Max.
Lambiase	Russell pushing turn three, turn 14.
Lap: 11/66 VER: 1’20.954, PER: 1’21.734
Lambiase	Mode six, Max.	Bird	You’ve got DRS.
Lambiase	Front wing update when you can, Max, on the main straight.
Verstappen	Yeah. That’s perfect.
Lambiase	Understood.
Lambiase	2.7. Russell pushing turn three, turn nine, 13 and 14.
Lap: 12/66 VER: 1’21.376, PER: 1’21.983
Verstappen	Had a bit of movement in seven.	Bird	0.6. Battery is full.
Lambiase	Understood.	Bird	Perez passes Hulkenberg Press and hold.
		Bird	Ocon at 3.3.

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Verstappen was clearly much happier with his car’s balance, asking for no changes to his front wing level for his first pit stop, despite moving to the harder medium tyre compound. When Perez made the same switch he asked for four more turns on his front wing.

Lap: 11/66 VER: 1’20.954
Lambiase	Mode six, Max.
Lambiase	Front wing update when you can, Max, on the main straight.
Verstappen	Yeah. That’s perfect.
Lambiase	Understood.
Lambiase	2.7. Russell pushing turn three, turn nine, 13 and 14.
Lap: 12/66 VER: 1’21.376
Verstappen	Had a bit of movement in seven.
Lambiase	Understood.

While other teams use clear messages to instruct drivers when to push flat-out – such as Mercedes’ ‘Hammertime’ for Lewis Hamilton – Red Bull’s equivalent for Verstappen is more subtle. Lambiase told him to begin ‘reducing management’ of his car when he needed him to start picking up the pace as they neared the end of the first stint.

While Russell had been the nearest threat to Verstappen at first, they were more concerned about Norris’ pace. The team took care to give Verstappen a clear picture of exactly how quick the McLaren was, even taking into account the significant effect of DRS on Norris’ lap times so Verstappen could measure his response accordingly, and not take too much life out of his tyres:

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Lap: 13/66 VER: 1’20.807
Lambiase	Start to reduce the level of management gradually now, Max. Gap 2.7.
Lap: 14/66 VER: 1’20.989
Lambiase	Gap 3.3.
Lap: 15/66 VER: 1’21.097
Lambiase	3.8.
Verstappen	Wind is picking up.
Lambiase	Copy.
Lambiase	Okay so Russell in pit lane, Max. Russell, Sainz in pit lane.
Lap: 16/66 VER: 1’21.223
Lambiase	A slow stop for Russell.
Lap: 17/66 VER: 1’24.876
Lambiase	Okay reduce all levels of management Max. Reduce all levels of management.
Lambiase	Lando 20.4.
Verstappen	Lewis is in.
Lambiase	It was a 21.0, DRS-corrected.
Lambiase	Box and pit confirm please Max.

Perez’s steady progress through the field continued. Unlike Verstappen, who regularly had clear air, Perez spent longer periods in traffic, exposed to turbulent air, deteriorating his car’s handling. He struggled especially with the slow corners and his race engineer gave regular prompts about which settings changes might help:

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Lap: 17/66 PER: 1’20.420
Perez	I’m struggling for rotation, turn four.
Bird	Red button available for turn four. Red button turn four.
Lap: 20/66 PER: 1’20.661
Perez	I’m struggling quite a bit with front rotation.
Bird	Yeah I see you on the tools.
Bird	Bring back the entry. Back the entry. Flap update for next stint.
Lap: 21/66 PER: 1’21.033
Perez	Four clicks. Four clicks up please.
Lap: 22/66 PER: 1’21.205
Bird	When you can it’ll be display yellow six position four. Display yellow six position four minus two.
Perez	Repeat.
Bird	Display yellow six position four minus two. Display yellow six position four minus two.
Lap: 23/66 PER: 1’21.082
Bird	And display yellow eight. Display yellow eight. Still say bring back the entry turn four.
Lap: 24/66 PER: 1’20.609
Bird	Torque seven is available, torque seven.
Lap: 25/66 PER: 1’20.593
Bird	So push toggle available for turn 12. Push toggle for turn 12.
Lap: 31/66 PER: 1’25.420
Bird	Still recommend push toggle turn 12.
Bird	Okay use the tyre, use the tyre. Flap adjust confirm up four clicks.
Perez	Yes.

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The moment of truth for Verstappen came in the final stint when he switched to a new set of soft tyres he’d saved after qualifying. By now Norris had a clear run at him and Lambiase could see the McLaren driver was pushing flat out.

At this point the communication between the two wasn’t quite as smooth as it had been earlier. Verstappen struggled to hear one settings change and at one point seemed unclear exactly how hard Red Bull needed him to push. But once Lambiase got home the message that Norris was pressing hard, Verstappen reacted, and found he had plenty to respond with:

Lap: 45/66 VER: 1’37.053
Verstappen	How long was my first stint?
Lambiase	17, on a scrubbed tyre.
Lap: 47/66 VER: 1’17.998
Lambiase	Lando last lap was a 19.4.
Lambiase	Lando is in this lap.
Lap: 48/66 VER: 1’18.416
Verstappen	Just keep me up to date if he’s pushing more than me.
Lambiase	Yep, understood. So Lando is the car behind now.
Lambiase	There’s a three-lap delta but Lando on scrub.
Lap: 50/66 VER: 1’18.074
Lambiase	So Lando pushing hard, not saving tyres, Max. All corners.
Lap: 51/66 VER: 1’17.958
Verstappen	Can I have a little bit less high-speed diff?
Lambiase	Yep stand by. That would be display five position three when you can.
Lap: 52/66 VER: 1’17.931
Verstappen	What do you want me to do, mate?
Lambiase	We need to push to the end now Max. As I say Lando not tyre-saving. Lando’s place is a 17.7.
Lambiase	Main deficit last lap, Max, was just turn 13 and 14.

Lap: 53/66 VER: 1’18.140
Lambiase	And strat 10, when you can. Strat 10.
Verstappen	Strat what?
Lambiase	Ten.
Verstappen	Ten or two? I don’t understand.
Lambiase	One zero, One zero.
Lap: 54/66 VER: 1’17.776
Lambiase	Last lap just three was a loss.
Lap: 55/66 VER: 1’18.021
Lambiase	That was a green lap for you. Lap 10 for the stint.
Lap: 56/66 VER: 1’18.354
Verstappen	I need more diff support again, high speed.
Lap: 57/66 VER: 1’18.127
Lambiase	That would be display five, position seven. Display five, position seven.
Lap: 60/66 VER: 1’18.165
Lambiase	The only deficit was sector one. That’s turns one, two and three.
Lap: 62/66 VER: 1’18.301
Lambiase	Strat nine. Strat nine. Display five position 11, position one-one.
Lambiase	Gap 4.3 but Lando had DRS. Pace-corrected, 18.3.

After the race Verstappen acknowledged that the team’s strategy to “keep the gaps” over their rivals without taking too much from their tyres had been the right one:

Chequered flag
Lambiase	Congratulations mate. That was hard work but you made that race for yourself, I think, down to turn one and the overtake of Russell two laps later, nice job.
Verstappen	Yes. Nice! Ah yeah we were definitely not the quickest out there today but we did everything well, strategy as well. Yes!
Horner	Well done, Max, that was a brilliantly executed race. You made it count at the beginning with George making that move and really well-executed race, well done.
Verstappen	Yeah. Another nice win there.
Verstappen	Bit of pick up on the way in please Max as well.
Lambiase	Okay, obviously very close to Lando but Hamilton 18 seconds behind, Russell 22, Leclerc also 22 seconds behind.
Verstappen	Yeah a good race that. I think we did everything right with the strategy, keep the gaps.
Horner	Really good. You were quick when you needed to be and managed the tyres brilliantly. So a well-recovered weekend, well done.
Lambiase	And you are into the pit lane, Max.