Ferrari boss accuses FOM for misleading radio messages of Lewis Hamilton

The 2025 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix was another failure for the Men in Red, as the Ferrari team lost their second battle at the Shanghai International Circuit. Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton found no pace with their cars, leading to another bad weekend. 

The biggest disaster was the two drivers being disqualified after the race, as Charles Leclerc's car was underweight and Hamilton’s car’s thickness was not up to the minimum level. Ferrari accepted the steward's actions and said it happened accidentally and they had no intention of lessening the weight or improving the pace. Ferrari still has two weeks to sort their issues, as the next Japanese Grand Prix will be held on April 6th.

Fred Vasseur accuses FOM of misleading.

In between these, Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur accused the FOM of misleading the radio messages during the F1 Chinese Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton was the sprint race winner. He found no pace during the main race and called for Leclerc to overtake him. 

Fred Vasseur reveals that Lewis made the first call, but FOM only aired the second part to spark debate.

FOM has since met with Vasseur directly to address his concerns.

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The FOM broadcasted a message that started with Ferrari asking Lewis to swap race positions. Fred found that as misleading as the message before was, Hamilton was calling for a driver position swap. The official broadcast showed Adami telling Hamilton to swap at turn 14 and Lewis saying, “When he’s closer, yeah.” The next FOM message shows “This is a shame, the pace is there.”

Frederic Vasseur spoke to the media in Shanghai, and was accused the FOM of misleading radio messages. He said, “I think this is a joke from FOM because the first call came from Lewis. He asked us to swap, but to make the show, to create the mess around the situation, they broadcast only the second part of the question. I will discuss this with them.”

Fred further added that the two drivers had a good understanding before the race and everything was planned and agreed upon by them before the race. He said the drivers are the ones called for a swap and not the team. The FOM said they had no intention to mislead any radio messages against any team. 

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