Rob Smedley believes F1 is sometimes an environment that doesn't deliver the perfection he seeks. The former Ferrari engineer is amazed at how carefully engineers talk to their drivers, and he believes they need to be stricter when giving orders.
“In general, I think that in Formula 1 there is too much hesitation” said Smedley for The Red Flags. “The way the radio messages are transmitted to the driver – I don't watch every race, but the ones I do watch, I'm like get a pair grown, man (sic).”
“Just tell him what you have to say, okay? You give any narcissistic sociopath an inch and he'll take a yard, so don't give him that inch to begin with.”
“Don't make him think you have an inferiority complex. No, buddy, we're at work, right? I'm going to tell you something, you do it. When my boss says something to me , I do. That’s how the world works.”
“And if we don't do that, as long as we don't work for narcissists and sociopaths who tell us to do the wrong thing, if we don't do that in a high-pressure environment like this- This is all going to come to a head, so we need to establish ground rules for how we engage.”
According to Smedley, drivers who don't win aren't happy, so it's okay to offend them: “Look, you'll only ever have one driver happy at the end of the race, right? You can't please everyone all the time.”
“So you have to push yourself and make the necessary decisions. I think it's true in Formula 1 and it's true in life. You walk on eggshells and you don't dare make decision, you end up finding yourself in the worst possible situation.”
-The Briton finds himself managing Gianpiero Lambiase with Max Verstappen, whom he finds quite firm with his driver, and who reminds him of his own approach: “Between Max and GP, the relationship is perfect. GP tells him what it is and Max responds.”
“One thing I really like about GP – and again, it's very similar to how I've always felt – is that sometimes the drivers can become a bit sociopathic with their opinions about the team. These are the guys who stay up until midnight most of the time, who work for you and make things happen.”
“You've heard GP many times, and I've said it to my drivers, I think you need to go back into the garage and apologize to the guys because your behavior is not very adult or you haven't been a very nice person, in polite terms, so go ahead and apologize. GP did it with Max, I certainly did in my time.”
Smedley is convinced that the transparent relationship between Verstappen and Lambiase is ideal: “I think the way Gianpiero behaves on the radio is probably just a reflection of their real relationship. They have a good relationship, a relationship that works.”
“They both rely on and trust each other completely. When you have that, you can talk to each other however you want. There's no need for 'checking,' 'checking,' 'ten-four' , all that doesn't make sense, right? Let's check, fucking hurry up because I'm driving a car at 300 km/h.”
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