Red Bull issue unusual Lewis Hamilton F1 plea

Red Bull chief engineer Paul Monaghan has jokingly pleaded with Lewis Hamilton to "take over" after "digging himself a hole" at the Japanese GP.

For the 2026 season, a senior team figure from every squad will answer a handful of questions after Friday's running at a grand prix, replacing the old 'Show and Tells', with Red Bull chief engineer selected for the Japanese GP. 

Reacting to a difficult day for the team after Max Verstappen could only place 10th in FP1, nearly 1.3s off Oscar Piastri's pace, Monaghan sought an unlikely helping hand from Ferrari's Hamilton, who himself was next through to speak to the media.

"I don't think there are any bits of this track that are not particularly challenging," Monaghan began. 

"It consists of corners and straights, much like most of the tracks do. Sector 1 has more corners, so yeah, overall, the lap time is not very good."

At this stage, Hamilton wanders into the pen, leading to Monaghan's unusual plea.

"Sector 1 consists really of some chunks of a corner... please, Lewis, take over, I'm digging myself a deep hole, and I'm about to fall in."

The veteran engineer then continued with his assessment of Red Bull's RB22 after day one at Suzuka.

"Sector 1 consists of a lot of corners, and we've got to get that to improve, and I think the rest will come with it. 

"If we can get the balance of the car better, corners and straights get better, so that is our challenge for the evening."