Oliver Bearman has claimed Formula 1 television coverage “messed me around” when they broadcast a radio message at a misleading moment during the Chinese Grand Prix.
The Haas driver’s radio broadcast, in which he said “ciao”, was played on the world feed to coincide with the overtake he made on his former Ferrari colleague Carlos Sainz.
The moment, in which the young Brit exerted audible enthusiasm, was noticed by many fans and F1 television broadcasters, but all was not what it seemed.
Speaking to Channel 4 after the race, Bearman cleared-up some confusion, and said the comment was made after his overtakes on two other drivers.
“I feel really, really bad for saying that,” he said. “They messed me around, because I didn’t say that to Carlos. They played it at a strange time because I didn’t say that to Carlos.
“I said it to Lawson and the Alpine because I switched them back. And that’s always the most fun move, I’m sure you can agree, for a racing driver.
“I went to the outside, they went deep, so I got them on the exit, and that’s always cool.
“Yeah, just wanted to clear that one up. It wasn’t against Carlos.
“But yeah, I had a lot of fun with that, a lot of confidence on the brakes. I had a little lock up trying to overtake Stroll at one point.
“But then I learned from it, and after that, I was, was really enjoying it.”
Bearman had every justification to be cheerful, having come from 17th on the grid to finish ninth – then inheriting seventh after other Ferraris were disqualified – to score his first points of the campaign.
F1 radio broadcasts a focal point of 2025
Oliver Bearman isn’t the only man affiliated with Ferrari who took aim at Formula One Management [FOM] for distortion in how it broadcast radio messages.
The Scuderia’s team principal Fred Vasseur bemoaned a misleading chain of events in which some communications between Lewis Hamilton and race engineer Riccardo Adami were broadcast, but not all, which gave a false impression in how the team’s swapping of drivers’ positions played-out.
Responding to Vasseur’s assertions that the selection of the broadcasts was “a joke,” FOM responded by claiming it did not try to “present a misleading narrative.”
It was the second incident in two races in which new recruit Hamilton’s communication with Adami has been put under the spotlight.
At the opening round in Australia, Hamilton’s in-car conversations with Adami were analysed, prompting the seven-time World Champion to later state the situation had been “overegged,” and said he had been “very polite” in how he spoke to the Italian.
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It’s a bit dishonest, this monkeying around with the radio to fake things. Just because DTS was successful doesn’t mean it’s an example to be followed in a race.