Force India tell Hulkenberg to ‘shut up’

Nico Hulkenberg shrugged off a terse interchange with his Force India race engineer in which he was told to “shut up” during qualifying for Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix.

German driver Hulkenberg said it was a “misunderstanding” after the engineer Bradley Joyce was heard to react aggressively to a suggestion that his driver was only on a warm-up lap.

The conversation was broadcast on the team radio to a live global television audience.

When Hulkenberg was told that Valtteri Bottas of Williams was 2.5 seconds behind him, he said: “So, I’ll have to let him past then if he’s pushing now.”

But Joyce replied: “No. You won’t. You’re pushing. You’re pushing!

“Do not do that. Do not do that! You’re pushing! We’re on a timed lap now, Nico.”

Hulkenberg then said: “Warm-up lap?”

Joyce replied, shouting: “Shut up! It’s not a warm-up lap. It’s a timed lap. Bottas is on a warm-up lap behind you.

“I’ll tell you where the traffic is. You concentrate on driving.”

After the session was over, and Hulkenberg had qualified 10th behind his Force India team-mate local hero Sergio Perez, he said: “There was a bit of confusion.

“I need to talk to the engineers because I couldn’t understand what was going on.”