“It’s a shame, but that’s the rules”: Full radio from Verstappen’s acrimonious Spanish GP

For the first 55 laps of the Spanish Grand Prix, Max Verstappen wrung everything he could out of Red Bull’s RB21 in pursuit of the McLaren drivers.

The team chose an aggressive, three-stop tyre strategy, maximising his opportunity to run in clear air and avoid long periods of tyre management – a McLaren strength.

But by his final scheduled pit stop Verstappen hadn’t quite done enough to get ahead of either of the McLarens. He was starting to slip back from them when the Safety Car was deployed with 11 laps remaining.

That proved the turning point. It led to potentially two errors by Red Bull, and a disastrous reaction to them by Verstappen.

Verstappen’s Spanish Grand Prix radio messages

Jump to:

“The car behind is Norris”
“Box opposite Norris”
“I don’t really like that one”
“It’s so hard to drive”
“This is unbelievable, this car”
“The ride in the car is just completely broken”
“It will make a difference, fresh tyres”
“It’s a shame, but that’s the rules”
“You have one more shot”

“The car behind is Norris”

Verstappen made an excellent start from third on the grid, passing Lando Norris around the outside to run second behind the other McLaren of race leader Oscar Piastri. However as the stint unfolded the McLarens’ superior pace told, and Verstappen recognised there was no point trying to defend his position from Norris at this stage.

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“Box opposite Norris”

Red Bull told Verstappen to pit, but not to follow Norris if he came in. The McLaren stayed out and Verstappen took his first tyre change on lap 13.

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“I don’t really like that one”

Neither McLaren driver visited the pits for another eight laps. While Red Bull kept trying to find better performance modes for Verstappen’s car, one of them wasn’t to his liking, so another was chosen:

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“It’s so hard to drive”

However as the stint wore on and the tyres degraded, Verstappen became increasingly unhappy with his car’s balance. He made his second pit stop with more than half the race remaining, and from this point it was clear he would have to make a third visit.

As in Monaco, he likened his car’s gearshifts to those from a seventies F1 car.

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“This is unbelievable, this car”

Now on the medium rubber, Verstappen was pushing hard to gain on the McLarens, and was periodically frustrated by lapped traffic.

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“The ride in the car is just completely broken”

As Verstappen neared his third pit stop, no messages between him and Lambiase were heard for six minutes. The silence was broken by Red Bull’s instruction for him to pit.

However their hopes they might get ahead of either McLaren by ‘undercutting’ them were dashed. Norris and Piastri made their pit stops on the next two laps and both emerged ahead of Verstappen.

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“It will make a difference, fresh tyres”

Soon afterwards the Safety Car was deployed in response to Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes stopping in a gravel trap. Verstappen immediately advised Red Bull to pit him, saying he wanted “fresh tyres”.

However having pitted three times the only suitable tyres they now had left were the hard compound which, as Lambiase admitted, no one else had tried so far in the race.

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“It’s a shame, but that’s the rules”

Verstappen clashed with both Leclerc and Russell after the restart. He remained ahead of the Mercedes driver despite going off at turn one.

Two laps later, Lambiase advised him to let Russell through. This ultimately proved to be a mistake, as the stewards later confirmed Verstappen kept his position legitimately.

Verstappen disagreed with Lambiase’s order, and although he did comply, he initially made contact with Russell at turn five, before giving way further around the lap.

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“You have one more shot”

Red Bull still had hopes of regaining the position as the last lap began. However Verstappen wasn’t able to get close enough to attack the Mercedes.

It would have proved in vain anyway, as he was given a 10-second time penalty for the contact with Russell, which he acknowledged as he toured back in.

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2025 Spanish Grand Prix

• “Does it matter” if a driver deliberately crashes into a rival? There’s only one answer
• “Obviously he’s going to re-overtake”: Russell expected Verstappen pass after clash
• “It’s a shame, but that’s the rules”: Full radio from Verstappen’s acrimonious Spanish GP
• 2025 Spanish Grand Prix weekend F1 driver ratings
• F1 radio silence confusion: Did Verstappen really demand Leclerc let him pass?

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