2013 Abu Dhabi GP qualifying team radio transcript

Mark Webber claimed his second pole position of 2013 in qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

After his final lap Sebastian Vettel said he “had it in his hands” to beat Webber but made a mistake at turn one on his final lap.

Lewis Hamilton also hit trouble on his final lap, spinning at turn 13. He had previously told his team to look for a problem on his car but they hadn’t seen anything in the data and it seems the fault was also overlooked in the limited time available between his two runs in Q3. Mercedes later confirmed Hamilton’s right-rear wishbone had failed.

Here are the team radio messages that were broadcast during qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying team radio transcript

Phase	Time	From	To	Message
Q1	10:00	Jenson Button	Dave Robson	Very easy to lock the front-left.
Q1		Dave Robson	Jenson Button	OK, understood.
Q1	9:15	Tony Ross	Nico Rosberg	Just try and avoid over-boosting out of the last corner as it happened in the last lap.
Q1	8:06	Marco Matassa	Daniel Ricciardo	Comments on balance
Q1		Daniel Ricciardo	Marco Matassa	Yes still losing through turn one, I feel there’s understeer. If I want to carry more speed through there I just push on the front. Then out of seven traction’s quite poor. Braking still a little bit hard to manage but in general we’re making progress so I think just a bit more front wing and see if we can gain more front grip – rear grip, sorry – on traction.
Q1	6:46	Tim Wright	Charles Pic	Do you need any aero balance changes?
Q1		Charles Pic	Tim Wright	No front wing change.
Q1		Tim Wright	Charles Pic	OK Charles copy that, we’re going soon.
Q1	6:19	Mark Temple	Sergio Perez	Compared to Jenson sector one is strong, you’re slightly faster than him; there’s 20 milliseconds in sector two and three-tenths to find in sector three, so sector three’s the one to focus on.
Q1	5:39	Peter Bonnington	Lewis Hamilton	We will be running again, let’s just get back, get the car turned around.
Q1	5:15	GianPiero Lambiase	Paul di Resta	Concentrate on reducing the surface temps through sector three.
Q1	5:01	Ayao Komatsu	Romain Grosjean	Through turn two and turn three you are upshifting too early.
Q1	4:37	Phil Charles	Jean-Eric Vergne	Position is good, Jev. You can drop about four seconds to Grosjean but do not let him through. So you’ve got four seconds you can drop to make the gap.
Q1	4:13	Francesco Nenci	Esteban Gutierrez	The ‘special two’ is a performance setting Sauber use. Warm up the front, we need all the special two.
Q1	2:32	Sebastian Vettel	Guillaume Rocquelin	OK Rocky what do we want to do?
Q1		Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	Get yourself ready for another timed lap.
Q1		Sebastian Vettel	Guillaume Rocquelin	Don’t you think it’s enough?
Q1		Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	We’re looking into this.
Q1	2:17	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	OK, pit this lap. Watch out for Hulkenberg. Box, box. Use more KERS if you can on the way in.
Q1	1:30	Mark Slade	Kimi Raikkonen	You are currently P1, Kimi.
Q1	1:08	Peter Bonnington	Lewis Hamilton	Tyre temps are in the window and brake temps are looking good.
Q1	0:00	Rob Smedley	Felipe Massa	That is a bit better. Switch down and press the ED button. That is the fastest lap so far. You are P1 which is a slight recovery from the P18 we were on the medium.
Q1	0:00	Max Chilton	Gary Gannon	Yeah it wasn’t too bad just the rears… Problem is I pushed on the out-lap to get the tyre temp. And then on the actually pushing lap the rears I could see kind of the last sector the rears starting to grain, or blister. And then the last lap there was just nothing left.
Q1	0:00	Gary Gannon	Max Chilton	Yep, understood mate. You did a good job there you went quicker on the second run. Jules just finishing his lap now, he had a KERS problem.
Q1	0:00	Jenson Button	Dave Robson	Yeah struggling with understeer in the car, quite a lot.
Q1	0:00	Giedo van der Garde	Juan Pablo Ramirez	Censored by FOM. Di Resta completely ** my lap! So how did it go?
Q1	0:00	Juan Pablo Ramirez	Giedo van der Garde	It’s good enough, Giedo. P19 for the moment.
Q1	0:00	Tim Wright	Charles Pic	Sutil P18 42.0, Giedo 43.25, Bianchi 43.39 and yourself 43.52, and then Chilton 44.2. Can we have your feedback please?
Q1	0:00	Charles Pic	Tim Wright	Understeer in the front was not there and second lap it was a bit better but still understeery. Specially medium to low speed. High speed corner the balance is fine, it’s medium to low speed.
Q2	13:54	Brad Joyce	Adrian Sutil	That is us out, Adrian, we are not through with that.
Q2		Adrian Sutil	Brad Joyce	Why is this?
Q2		Brad Joyce	Adrian Sutil	Because we weren’t fast enough. We a 42.0, Gutierrez 41.9, Ricciarod 41.8, Paul di a fast-slow-fast and that got him through on 41.6.
Q2	12:47	Esteban Gutierrez	Francesco Nenci	Gutierrez was unable to do another lap at the end of Q1 as he crossed the line moments after the chequered flag came out. I thought there was time enough for the second run.
Q2		Francesco Nenci	Esteban Gutierrez	Yeah there was traffic in front so it was too tight, sorry, we missed by one second.
Q2	11:51	Phil Charles	Jean-Eric Vergne	Warm brakes end of this lap.
Q2	11:25	Andrew Murdoch	Pastor Maldonado	Going for one timed lap.
Q2	10:45	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	Raikkonen behind is one a timed lap, you’ve got a good gap at the moment. If you need to let Raikkonen by there’s a big gap behind him as well.
Q2	7:57	Peter Bonnington	Lewis Hamilton	That’s P2, four-one-thousandths to Nico, P1. You were purple sector one and two.
Q2	7:07	Felipe Massa	Rob Smedley	OK so I need a half degree more front wing.
Q2		Rob Smedley	Felipe Massa	Yep that is already being instructed, that is happening.
Q2	6:24	Mark Slade	Kimi Raikkonen	We think that the cut-off will be 41.1, so it’s very close. The circuit we think will improve by three-tenths, so you’re looking at Di Resta, 41.18.
Q2	5:04	Lewis Hamilton	Peter Bonnington	I thought you said the cut-off was 40.9?
Q2		Peter Bonnington	Lewis Hamilton	As is normal Lewis we’ll just turn the car around just in case we get a scare.
Q2	4:54	Simon Rennie	Mark Webber	We are going to run again, think about the front wing on the way in.
Q2		Mark Webber	Simon Rennie	We need more front wing, mate, [distorted].
Q2		Simon Rennie	Mark Webber	OK mate understood.
Q2	3:42	Simon Rennie	Mark Webber	We’re going to add three clicks of front wing. We’re going to run a new set of [softs], one timed lap. I would suggest keeping up the pace on the out lap, please.
Q2	2:57	Dave Robson	Jenson Button	Track is clear ahead, behind you there is four or five cars, all of them left the pit lane with you. Got plenty of time, good gap ahead.
Q2	2:13	GianPiero Lambiase	Paul di Resta	OK, easy on the tyres.
Q2	1:44	Peter Bonnington	Lewis Hamilton	So we’re just going to send you round and abort at the last minute, we’ll let you know.
Q2	0:06	Andrew Murdoch	Pastor Maldonado	Box this lap.
Q2	0:00	Jonathan Eddollls	Valtteri Bottas	P16 Valtteri, Pastor P15, half a tenth ahead. Those last couple of corners with Raikkonen cost us unfortunately but good job. Sorry about the traffic in the last couple of corners, that was a bit costly.
Q2	0:00	Pastor Maldonado	Andrew Murdoch	Good job from your side. P15 in the end.
Q2	0:00	Phil Charles	Jean-Eric Vergne	P14 Jev, Daniel P6.
Q2	0:00	Jenson Button	Dave Robson	Really struggling to find the grip.
Q2	0:00	Dave Robson	Jenson Button	OK Jenson understand, we are currently P12.
Q2	0:00	Jenson Button	Dave Robson	Don’t quite understand how we go from P6 this morning to so far off the pace. No grip, very strange.
Q2	0:00	Dave Robson	Jenson Button	Yep, agreed. Very strange, very frustrating. So Jenson we are P13.
Q2	0:00	GianPiero Lambiase	Paul di Resta	So that is P12. Massa P10 a 40.989. So we were the fuel out from Q3 but I think given what we knew, we went with what we believed, we can discuss it afterwards. Yeah, nonetheless that’s a good job mate, good two sessions, good progression throughout. Good job.
Q2	0:00	Andrea Stella	Fernando Alonso	I confirm at the end we are P11. Behind us Di Resta, Button, Vergne, Maldonado, Bottas.
Q3	9:38	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	All cars ahead on out-laps.
Q3	9:25	Simon Rennie	Mark Webber	Track will be clear and strong out-lap.
Q3	8:00	Romain Grosjean	Ayao Komatsu	There is a problem on the back. Vibration at the back.
Q3		Ayao Komatsu	Romain Grosjean	Vibration at the back, OK, we’ll have a look at it.
Q3	7:52	Ayao Komatsu	Romain Grosjean	Lotus later Tweeted a picture of the damaged floor. Alright so you basically took the thick concrete paint out of the garage so that’s the vibration. It should go.
Q3		Romain Grosjean	Ayao Komatsu	OK, good.
Q3	7:05	Marco Matassa	Daniel Ricciardo	You can release the KERS.
Q3	7:02	Marco Matassa	Daniel Ricciardo	No more KERS release.
Q3	6:49	Lewis Hamilton	Peter Bonnington	Hamilton suspects a problem with his car after his first run in Q3, which was slower than his Q2 lap. Can you check my floor when I come in.
Q3	5:24	Tony Ross	Nico Rosberg	Don’t lose too much time on the in-lap but this may be a race set, we’ve got two new sets.
Q3	4:51	Marco Schupbach	Nico Hulkenberg	Front wing for new: plus one or plus two?
Q3		Nico Hulkenberg	Marco Schupbach	Plus one only.
Q3		Marco Schupbach	Nico Hulkenberg	OK Nico copy, plus one.
Q3	4:00	Simon Rennie	Mark Webber	What do you think about the front wing?
Q3		Mark Webber	Simon Rennie	Little bit more again.
Q3	3:55	Peter Bonnington	Lewis Hamilton	OK Lewis if you get yourself back quick as possible we’ll have a check over the car. At the moment we can’t see anything on data. So currently P2, eight one-hundredths to Nico, P1.
Q3	3:25	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	As usual watch out for Joe. Do you want to do anything with front wing.
Q3		Sebastian Vettel	Guillaume Rocquelin	Arguably you could go up two but I’m happy either way.
Q3		Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	Alright we’ll stay where we are.
Q3	2:32	Simon Rennie	Mark Webber	You just have Hulkenberg ahead of you.
Q3	2:03	Tony Ross	Nico Rosberg	Temperatures are twelve front and ten rear so try not to get the fronts too hot. Brake balance is quite forwards at the moment so don’t get them too hot.
Q3	1:29	Mark Temple	Sergio Perez	Let’s have lots of brake warm-up down to turn eight and turn eleven.
Q3	0:54	Rob Smedley	Felipe Massa	Just keep doing as you’re doing, this is perfect, preparing the tyres as you want. Rosberg is actually a little bit more pulled out a gap to you. Seven seconds, something like that. The car in front of him, Webber, is five seconds in front of him, six seconds, so he has a big gap there. KERS recharge one click up.
Q3	0:18	Mark Temple	Sergio Perez	Check your brake balance. You still have ten seconds to spare behind.
Q3	0:00	Rob Smedley	Felipe Massa	Brake balance forward, that’s good, come on.
Q3	0:00	Mark Temple	Sergio Perez	You’re currently in F4, let’s go back to green KERS F3.
Q3	0:00	Simon Rennie	Mark Webber	Webber took his second pole position of the season P1 mate, P1, excellent job, nice one.
Q3		Mark Webber	Simon Rennie	Fantastic guys, fantastic, thank you, very good job.
Q3	0:00	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	Sorry mate, you’re P2. Grosjean is still running [distorted] won’t do it. Mark got pole and you’re P2 by a tenth.
Q3		Sebastian Vettel	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sorry guys I had it in my hands, lost it in turn one this time. Sorry guys.
Q3	0:00	Tony Ross	Nico Rosberg	So it’s Webber, Vettel, yourself, Lewis has spun, Raikkonen is fifth, Hulkenebrg sixth, Grosjean, seventh, Massa eighth and Ricciardo… Perez ninth, Ricciardo tenth. OK so P3, good effort.
Q3	0:00	Lewis Hamilton	Peter Bonnington	Something’s failed on the rear end.
Q3		Peter Bonnington	Lewis Hamilton	OK message understood Lewis.
Q3	0:00	Mark Slade	Kimi Raikkonen	We are P5.
Q3	0:00	Marco Schupbach	Nico Hulkenberg	P6 Nico, well done, good. Actually, yeah, very good, P6.
Q3		Nico Hulkenberg	Marco Schupbach	Come on, that’s not too bad, that’s great! Good job guys.
Q3		Marco Schupbach	Nico Hulkenberg	It told you it’s good! Good job, Nico.

Due to a technical fault some messages from the first half of Q1 are omitted.

Phase/time: Refers to point at which message was broadcast. There may be a delay between messages being said and being broadcast. PQ = pre-qualifying.
Message: Repetitive or irrelevant messages omitted. Notes in italics. Highlights in bold.

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16 comments on “2013 Abu Dhabi GP qualifying team radio transcript”

Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
3rd November 2013, 9:58

Wow, that was fast. Thanks, @keithcollantine
PhilEReid (@philereid)
3rd November 2013, 10:01

What is that message to Di Resta supposed to mean?
1. PhilEReid (@philereid)
  3rd November 2013, 10:01
  
  At the end of Q2, I should say.
2. Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
  3rd November 2013, 10:04
  
  @philereid Seems they had more fuel in the car than they needed.
  1. PhilEReid (@philereid)
    3rd November 2013, 10:38
    
    @keithcollantine Ah thanks, Keith.
Rick Lopez (@viscountviktor)
3rd November 2013, 10:20

respect keith for getting it up so fast, does anyone no what the ed button is cause smedley always tells massa to press it
Gwannel Sandiego (@gwan)
3rd November 2013, 10:25

This is probably confirmation bias on my part, but have noticed some quite detailed feedback from RIC the last couple of transcripts. Interesting since. I think rumour has it that his technical feedback, along with results and the young drivers programme, was a big part of him getting the RBR seat.
1. Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
  3rd November 2013, 10:46
  
  @gwan He is very thorough, there’s quite a bit of it during practice as well. It’s not just been since he got Webber’s seat, though, there was quite a lot earlier this year.
  1. Gwannel Sandiego (@gwan)
    3rd November 2013, 10:57
    
    @keithcollantine thanks! I don’t usually get to watch practice sessions, I love the behind-the-scenes info from these transcripts :)
Magnificent Geoffrey (@magnificent-geoffrey)
3rd November 2013, 10:43

I feel like this is an almost essential resource, now.

Now I know that Gutierrez wasn’t necessarily bad, but that he missed out on starting a final flying lap because the team miscalculated. That was never mentioned on the coverage I was watching.

Instead of jumping on him for being so much slower than Hulk yet again, I can cut him some slack now I’ve seen the transcript.
1. Retired (@jeff1s)
  3rd November 2013, 10:55
  
  That why he shook his head in the garage after Q2. Big up for Ricciardo’s feedback as mentioned above, him and Vettel will make a great engineering line-up next year.
AdrianMorse (@adrianmorse)
3rd November 2013, 11:02

Paul di a fast-slow-fast […]

I thought that was a pun at first :-)

I didn’t see qualifying, but I don’t understand why Mercedes sent Hamilton (and only Hamilton) out for a second time in Q2. Perhaps the ghost of the Nurburgring still haunts them.

Does that also mean he set his Q3 time on slightly scrubbed tyres? Either way, I was quite disappointed with P4, given his previous form at this track. I hope he won’t spend the whole Grand Prix looking at the rear wing of Hulkenberg.
stefano (@alfa145)
3rd November 2013, 12:12

I love these so much
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
3rd November 2013, 12:39

Cool! We now have quali’s radiotranscripts! really nice addition, thanks @keithcollantine for the hard work!
kyle dupell (@kyledupell89)
3rd November 2013, 16:54

Q3:649 lewis hamition as his first wun* when well
riska (@riska)
8th November 2013, 3:25

hello keith,where is team radio transcript for the race?