At the very end of the Italian GP, Max Verstappen was told on the on-board radio to keep his distance from Pierre Gasly who was driving in front of him. Apparently there was a problem on Verstappen’s F1 car that the team warned him about.
“Max, can you widen the gap with Gasly please,” Gianpiero Lambiase, Verstappen’s race engineer, told him over the on-board radio. “Increase the difference with Gasly. It’s a pretty pressing question.”
Subsequently, Lambiase could be heard again on the on-board radio: “Increase the difference a bit more,” after which, with three laps to go, the following message was heard on the on-board radio: “You can increase the gap with Gasly a bit more.” A message that echoed again at the very end of the race.
Verstappen was then asked about the reason for those messages.
“Everything felt good with the car but we had to manage a small problem at the end of the race,” said Verstappen. “But luckily we had a bit of a lead so I was able to slow down without any problem.”