Behind the scenes: How Red Bull view Max Verstappen’s blunt radio messages

Red Bull’s Paul Monaghan has no issues with how Max Verstappen conducts himself on team radio, saying it should be viewed as constructive criticism.

The reigning World Champion drew some flak after the Hungarian Grand Prix, with the Dutch driver lambasting his team for its strategy choices which resulted in him being undercut twice, as well as showing unhappiness with the steward’s call against him on the first lap, and with Lewis Hamilton’s defence in the closing stages.

Paul Monaghan: Max Verstappen sets a high bar for us and himself

Verstappen’s fury became fully apparent in the closing stages of the race when race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase got on the radio to gently chastise him for not slowly bringing his tyres into their operating window – a sentiment Verstappen had no interest in entertaining.

“No mate, don’t give me that bulls**t now!” he retorted.

“You guys gave me this f**king strategy, OK? I’m trying to rescue what’s left. For f**k’s sake.”

The nature of his radio messages resulted in some questioning whether he had been too hard on his team, especially after Lewis Hamilton urged Verstappen to “act like a World Champion” in the aftermath.

But Red Bull ‘s chief engineer Paul Monaghan believes the nature of Verstappen’s radio usage isn’t a problem and said it simply comes down to the reigning World Champion expecting nothing but the best from his team, as well as himself.

“Perhaps, I think Max sets a pretty high bar for himself as well as us,” Monaghan said, in a joint interview including PlanetF1.com .

“Last year and at races this year, he’s reached a level the others have thus far yet to match. And as such, if he feels that we are not attaining his high bar, we can expect those kinds of comments.

“I don’t really have a strong view on how he presents it to us, whether the tone is pleasant, unpleasant. Look at it as if he is sensing that we are not getting the most out of ourselves as a team.

“If he didn’t say anything, would it push us to do anything differently? Maybe, maybe not. But in making those comments, maybe view it as constructive criticism rather than a rant or anything like that.”

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Referring to the Rudyard Kipling poem If , Monaghan said it’s not surprising that Verstappen’s radio use would lead to headlines – given that, as world champion with Red Bull, any perception of unhappiness is likely to be broadcast on the world feed.

“He wants the best for himself, he is a fairly significant figure in this team and he has probably the most public speaking platform,” Monaghan said..

“So, thick skin or not, I don’t mind. I think you have to try and maintain Kipling’s poem If—. You just got to take what he’s saying as constructive criticism, not a personal insult, and move on with it.

“How he presents it I don’t mind particularly. I’ve had drivers rant at me in the past. A certain Spaniard I remember threw a chair at me once! He was a little bit upset with me, probably rightly so.

“[Verstappen is] fighting his corner, he wants the best for himself, he wants the best for us.

“How he puts it across, I really don’t mind. If I’m gonna say anything to him, it will be in private!”

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