Ferrari has branded Formula 1's use of radio messages "a joke" and a deliberate attempt to stir up drama over how it swapped Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in the Chinese Grand Prix.
Hamilton was struggling for much of the Shanghai race and under pressure from Leclerc in the first stint and the start of the second, despite Leclerc damaging his front wing on the first lap - ironically by hitting Hamilton through the first sequence of corners.
An earlier pitstop initially bought Hamilton some respite but Leclerc quickly caught him after his own stop, aided by traffic, which prompted Hamilton to radio: "I think I'm going to let Charles go, because I'm struggling."
But this radio message was not broadcast on the international feed. He was initially told to manage the tyres more at high speed, then that they would swap the cars at Turn 14, which was not broadcast either.
Hamilton caught Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll and passed him into Turn 14 anyway, while Leclerc didn't pass Stroll until two corners later, which meant he fell back almost out of DRS range. Hence the swap did not happen immediately.
Then Hamilton was told again "we are swapping cars, Turn 14", but he didn't feel Leclerc was close enough and replied "when he's closer, yes".
Those messages did get broadcasted, as did the next couple when Hamilton said: "If he can't get the guys ahead, he can let us back [through]." And, after a pause, "right now, I'm closing up a little bit".
Hamilton had changed his mind about an immediate swap because he could see they were catching George Russell's Mercedes, but even those resistive messages indicated he was still happy to do so eventually he just wanted more time to try to make progress.
"We want to swap this lap. Swap now," he was told by race engineer Riccardo Adami on the run to Turn 14 again, but replied "I'll tell you when we can swap" and moved aside two corners later into Turn 1, again indicating the "when" was just Hamilton deciding the best place to do it.
In context, the whole exchange was fairly straightforward, instigated by Hamilton and then with some resistance as the race circumstances shifted and then as he worked out how best to comply.
But the delay to some messages made it seem more tense, and the omission of Hamilton's very first message suggesting the swap left Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur very unhappy.
"This is a joke from FOM, because the first call came from Lewis - that Lewis asked us to swap," said Vasseur, speaking before both Hamilton and Leclerc were disqualified for separate technical infringements.
"But to make the show, to create the mess around the situation, they broadcast only the second part of the question.
"I will discuss with them."
In the second half of the race, Ferrari split the drivers' strategies and called Hamilton in for a second stop.
That guaranteed he finished behind Max Verstappen but he was likely to be overhauled by the Red Bull anyway given Verstappen caught and passed Leclerc late on.
Hamilton had half-heartedly enquired after moving aside for Leclerc whether he would get the position back if Leclerc couldn't "get the guys ahead", but made no mention of it over the rest of the race.
And although Verstappen's late pass on Leclerc gave Ferrari the chance the swap its cars if it wanted, as Leclerc was in the position directly ahead of Hamilton on-track and Hamilton had almost caught him with his fresh tyres, the team opted not to do so.
There was no hint of ill-feeling from Hamilton after the race about swapping positions or the strategy call, though. He even radioed a positive message of encouragement.
Vasseur said that the race would have played out the same, with the position swap, regardless of who suggested it first because the drivers were willing to be team players - but said the fact Hamilton did was important.
"We have to work for the team and to consider the best for Ferrari," said Vasseur. "It's agreed between the drivers before the race and it's not an issue.
"Even the best proof of this is that it came from the drivers: 'OK, I’m losing the pace that I'm keen to swap'."
Vasseur also connected it to how some coverage of Hamilton's radio exchanges with Adami in the disappointing and difficult season opener in Australia had been overblown.
Asked by The Race how serious a concern the radio messages were, in terms of a deliberate attempt to build a certain narrative after what happened last week, laughed that "I don't want to be harsh with all of you, but you made a huge storyline" and a "huge mess".
"When Lewis came back to the briefing room he said to his engineer 'good job'. But because they are discussing how to use K1 and 'don't speak when I'm in the fight', I had tons of questions: 'Ah is it a mess?'" said Vasseur.
"But no, that's life. And we are just there to get performance.
"You can't imagine the number of questions that I had about this from the garage when I came here. It's all about the same thing: 'Is it a mess?!'
"No, it's Lewis who asked to swap. I'm not even sure you will have this kind of situation 10 times during the season in other teams. And honestly from the pitwall we really appreciated the call from Lewis to say, 'Guys I'm losing the pace, I'm keen to swap'.
"Honestly as a team, the collaboration between the two guys is mega! I can't complain a single second about something."
Having gone off on that tangent, Vasseur finished by saying: "Now, I understand your question, and you have to ask the question to Stefano [Domenicali, F1 boss] not to me, because I'm not in charge of the broadcast."
