Bernie Collins praises Verstappen’s intelligence after Singapore radio failure

Bernie Collins praised the way Max Verstappen handled the Singapore Grand Prix despite a one-way radio failure. The Dutchman could not respond to his engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, although Lambiase could still send him messages. Collins saw the episode as evidence of Verstappen’s intelligence and his ability to race without the guidance sometimes heard over team radio.

Verstappen had made a strong start to the weekend: after winning the sprint from pole at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, he secured pole position for the grand prix. At the start, he defended his place against Charles Leclerc. The race then became more difficult, with the serious communications problem adding to the challenge.

Because Verstappen could not reply verbally, Lambiase adapted their exchanges, asking only questions that the driver could answer yes or no by pressing the radio button—or leaving it untouched. Collins stressed how hard it can be from the pit wall to tell whether a driver can hear messages when communications fail: “These problems happen in races, and from the pit wall it is very difficult to know whether Max can hear you.”

Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 Show, Collins also noted that television viewers could hear messages being sent by the engineer, but not Verstappen’s replies. She credited Lambiase with finding a way to get answers without asking the driver to speak, while emphasising what the situation showed about Verstappen.

“It says a lot about Max’s intelligence and the way he drove that race: he wasn’t getting all the coaching we sometimes hear other drivers receive,” she said. Without information about other drivers’ positions or the race strategy, Verstappen had to work things out for himself. Collins highlighted his ability to judge when to manage his pace, when to push and how to look after his tyres. In her view, putting together such a strong race without those exchanges speaks to the driver’s strength.