01/05/2017
NEWS STORY
While, as a result of his endless radio rants about all manner of problems we now refer to Romain Grosjean as Monsieur Moany, it's fair to say that a number of other drivers are just as quick to fill the airwaves with their frustration, unhappiness and profanities.
One of the main culprits is Sebastian 'message for Charlie' Vettel, who frequently complains to his team about all manner of issues, not least backmarkers ignoring blue flags.
In his pursuit of Valtteri Bottas in the final stages of yesterday's Russian Grand Prix, though the battle was already clearly lost, while the Finn successfully negotiated his way past former Williams teammate Felipe Massa, Vettel didn't have it quite so easy.
Missing out on the opportunity to follow through after the Mercedes as it passed the Williams in Turn 2, Vettel had to wait until after Turn 3 before he could get by the Brazilian.
Giving the one finger salute that does not mean 'number one' to the Williams driver, the German barked "what the hell was that?' over the radio.
Asked about the incident later, Vettel said: "I obviously tried everything to catch Valtteri and maybe I thought there might be some opportunity on the back straight. I was sure (Felipe) would lift around Turn 3, it's flat out, and let me be, so I wouldn't lose much time, but then I think I just wasn't sure what he was going to do and I ended up losing a bit more than I was hoping for.
"It doesn't matter though," he continued, pointing to Bottas. "This is the man of the race today, big congrats to Valtteri, it's his first grand prix win, so it's his day."
On hearing the news of his complaint, Massa smiled a knowing smile.
"He was on his radio complaining?" he asked quizzically. "Are you sure?
"I left completely the inside part for him," he continued, "I backed off before in Turn 4 and he didn’t want to go. He was afraid to dive inside, I was completely on the left, then I let him by straight away after.
"I am sure he was not going to pass Valtteri on the last lap of the race," he added. "Anyway, he really likes to complain."