2013 United States Grand Prix team radio transcript

2013 United States Grand Prix

20th November 2013, 9:3021st November 2013, 11:44 | Written by Will Wood

The United States Grand Prix was an exercise in patience for many drivers, nursing the tyres to make a single-stop strategy work.

The team radio messages reveal the difficulty some drivers were having, particularly in Lewis Hamilton’s increasingly terse messages to his pit wall.

Mark Webber – whose views about the current tyres are well known by now – remarked after the chequered flag that “you can only race for maybe five laps or so on these tyres”.

Some abandoned the attempt to make it through with a single stop. Felipe Massa switched to a two-stop strategy afgter which race engineer Rob Smedley asked him for “qualifying” laps.

Giedo van der Garde’s request during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to be let past his team mate had its sequel in this race where Charles Pic was quick to alert his team that Van der Garde was holding him up.

But the winner was rarely in doubt and Christian Horner was quick to remind Sebastian Vettel of the significance of his latest victory before adding: “but I guess you already knew that”.

Here are the team radio messages that were broadcast during the United States Grand Prix.

2013 United States Grand Prix team radio transcript

Lap*	From	To	Message
PR	Lewis Hamilton	Peter Bonnington	My brake pedal’s quite soft. A little long.
PR	Peter Bonnington	Lewis Hamilton	OK, copy that Lewis. No more brake-throttle overlap to warm the brakes, just normal stops.
PR	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	And cool the car, Sebastian.
PR	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	No additional procedeure. Just back of the grid, P1, P0.
PR	Simon Rennie	Mark Webber	OK, there will be no bite points at the back of the grid. Just go to P1 for ten seconds, then P0 please.
PR	Felipe Massa	Rob Smedley	The KERS is not working, too much gripping.
PR	Rob Smedley	Felipe Massa	Yeah, we know this. We’ll have a look and see what we do for the real start. We obviously will have a better idea once we’re on the grid as well.
PR	Rob Smedley	Felipe Massa	OK mate, so cooling the car down now please.
PR	Nico Hulkenberg	Marco Schupbach	Someone needs to clean my visor on the outside. It’s a bit dirty here. I need a clean.
PR	Nico Rosberg	Tony Ross	I’m just not sure if stopping early is the way to go now with these temperatures, you know? Maybe a lot of people are going to go into [distorted] by the end of the race. [Distorted]
PR	Tony Ross	Nico Rosberg	Affirm Nico. I think the best thing would be to go to around lap 15 and let you know. As it is at the moment we’ll see how the degredation is in the first stint, but my tendancy is to agree with you. Let’s look after those. Nico, come to the car but I;d still say we do as we discussed. On the opening laps it’s important to be aggressive but after that looking after the tyres.
PR	Dave Robson	Jenson Button	Jenson as you’d expect track temperature is rising, obviously not one o-clock yet and already it’s 37 degrees and on the way up so I think we can expect over the next hour or so it’s going to get well above 40. So I think the plan should work quite well.
PR	?	Giedo van der Garde	We don’t do the clutch scrub on the grid. So we just do the launch. And it should be now toggle up, mixture one, KERS one and the clutch should be set eight and [distorted] the pit limiter just before the start. [Distorted]. The after 18 and after 19 rolling bite point find. So we do the two rolling bite point find after 18 and 19. [Distorted].
PR	Lewis Hamilton	Peter Bonnington	You guys have prepared the tyres differently, right? I’m hoping the race will be different because the track’s completely different to the rest of the weekend. The rears are going to be a killer today. Don’t be surprised if it’s a two-stop. Jock, what do you think I should do with the differential?
PR	Jock Clear	Lewis Hamilton	I’m happy with the settings you’ve got at the moment, Lewis, which is…
PR	Lewis Hamilton	Jock Clear	What about the trouble we had through turn four? Was a little bit oversteery through there.
PR	Jock Clear	Lewis Hamilton	A little oversteery through five, six and seven, yeah?
PR	Lewis Hamilton	Jock Clear	The second two laps or more oversteer. Six was fine, seven was oversteery. Five was oversteery.
PR	Jock Clear	Lewis Hamilton	Affirm. In which case, can we go to diff init seven?��?�
PR	Lewis Hamilton	Jock Clear	Also turn 19.
PR	Jock Clear	Lewis Hamilton	Yeah, so diff init eight, please. Diff init eight. That will give you a much more consistent front through three, four, five, six, seven and nineteen. I’m happy with the others but, as I say, just looking at – so limiter on, please, limiter on soon as you start – looking at dialling in as much understeer as you can live with, really.
FL	Tony Ross	Nico Rosberg	Work these brakes. All gears are now learnt.
FL	?	Sebastian Vettel	And clutch eight. Clutch eight when you can. Remember, no part throttle.
FL	?	Heikki Kovalainen	OK, we need to keep cooling the car, please.
FL	?	Sebastian Vettel	Feedback on start. Hold throttle during clutch slip. All systems are good, so remember your procedures. It will be two – two – bite point learn, and one and a half burnout. Remember, use brakes. Good clutch prep, so straight to your box. Focus on KERS at the start and KERS eight when you stop. So that’s two bite point.
FL	Simon Rennie	Mark Webber	This is a red start. React to the beep quickly.
1	Tony Ross	Nico Rosberg	Cancel RS.
1	Peter Bonnington	Lewis Hamilton	Just be careful with that right-front brake. A little bit cool.
1	Adrian Sutil	Brad Joyce	Sutil crashed out on the straight after contact with Maldonado, bringing out the Safety Car. I’m off. I retire on the straight.
1	Mark Temple	Sergio Perez	There is a Safety Car. Safety Car. We are staying out.
2	Peter Bonnington	Lewis Hamilton	So the right-front brake is just a little bit cool, so just keep working the fronts. No need for throttle/brake overlap, just some big stops will do it.
2	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	Sebastian, the incident is braking for turn 12., on the left-hand side of the track. The track itself is clear. There will be some service vehicles there.
2	Tony Ross	Nico Rosberg	Remember, stay right to avoid debris one the pit – on the back straight.
2	Jenson Button	Dave Robson	Er, what’s the reason for the Safety Car?
2	Dave Robson	Jenson Button	I think you’re just coming up to the incident now. Sutil is in the wall.
2	Peter Bonnington	Lewis Hamilton	OK, so let’s lay off the brakes just for a second – allow the calipers to cool a bit.
3	Phil Charles	Jean-Eric Vergne	Try to keep brakes cool though, do not brake too much. Caliper temperatures high.
3	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	For your reference the restart maps will be KERS eight and mix five.
3	Marco Matassa	Daniel Ricciardo	You’re working on front tyres very good. Keep doing like this.
3	Paul di Resta	GianPiero Lambiase	How are the tyres, GP?
3	GianPiero Lambiase	Paul di Resta	Yeah, tyre pressures and temperatures are reasonable. Obviously you can do to maintain the temperature will be beneficial.
4	Peter Bonnington	Lewis Hamilton	So start picking up your tyre warming. Start picking up some tyre warming techniques.
4	Simon Rennie	Mark Webber	OK mate. And a reminder, you can overtake at the restart from Safety Car line one, which is at pit entry. We do not expect it to be long until the Safety Car is in.
4	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	Rehearse the restart in your mind. Safety car line one location.
4	Dave Robson	Jenson Button	As you come along the start-finish straight this time, I’d like you to stay to the left-hand side so we can take a good look at the car.
4	Dave Robson	Jenson Button	So there is some damage to the front wing.
4	Jenson Button	Dave Robson	It feels OK in turn two, I can push through turn two.
4	Dave Robson	Jenson Button	Yep, understood Jenson. Damage is relatively minor. Much less than the last race. So we’re going to stay out.
4	GianPiero Lambiase	Paul di Resta	It would obviously be very good if we could clear Bottas. Very good for our strategy.
5	Tony Ross	Nico Rosberg	So down one when you can. Temperatures, 13 front, 13 rear. All under control at the moment.
5	Gary Gannon	Max Chilton	So in now, Max. In now for a drive-through. Drive through pitlane, remember limiter. Pit now.
6	Marco Schupbach	Nico Hulkenberg	Recovery seven, brake balance plus four.
6	Tony Ross	Nico Rosberg	So rears are hotter than fronts. Come forward on brake balance.
6	Mark Temple	Sergio Perez	And Checo, please use some KERS for turn 11. Please use KERS before turn 11.
6	Gary Gannon	Max Chilton	Pic is 17 seconds ahead.
7	Peter Bonnington	Lewis Hamilton	Last lap 950, so that’s good. Have a think about KERS for defending against DRS.
7	Lewis Hamilton	Peter Bonnington	The Red Bull’s pretty fast.
7	Simon Rennie	Mark Webber	DRS is now active.
7	Tim Wright	Charles Pic	Track slippery between turn three and five.
7	Tony Ross	Nico Rosberg	You have RFA [DRS].
7	Francesco Nenci	Esteban Gutierrez	Gutierrez has passed the Marussias and Caterhams following an early pit stop. Very good Esteban. And now in front of you, Maldonado.
8	Phil Charles	Jean-Eric Vergne	So behind you, Maldonado is falling away. Daniel on the last lap did a 45.8. So there is more pace in the runners ahead, but they are obviously on different tyres.
8	Pastor Maldonado	Andrew Murdoch	There is some vibration in the car.
8	Andrew Murdoch	Pastor Maldonado	OK Pastor, we’re just checking the data.
8	Paul Davison	Jules Bianchi	We need to come forward with the brake bias, Jules. The rear brakes are hot, we need to come forward with bias one percent.
9	Juan Pablo Ramirez	Giedo van der Garde	Use DRS.
9	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	And diff map five is available.
9	Lewis Hamilton	Peter Bonnington	I feel like the fronts are overheating.
10	Francesco Nenci	Esteban Gutierrez	Unlock the diff with the toggle for 15, 16, 17 and 18 for front-left tyre energy.
10	Rob Smedley	Felipe Massa	Massa is lapping around half-a-second off Alonso’s pace. OK, in turns four, five and six, Fernando stays in fifth gear. That’s the only difference in terms of lap time between you both. Second and third sectors very, very similar.
10	Gary Gannon	Max Chilton	Good lap. Point two slower than Jules in the middle sector. Watch for debris, three, four, five. Maldonado four seconds behind, he’s pitted already.
11	Peter Bonnington	Lewis Hamilton	So, pace is good. We want to target 45.0s. Did a 45.3 last lap.
11	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	Grosjean, 44.1. Plus 3.8.
11	Marco Schupbach	Nico Hulkenberg	Hamilton is degrading in front. Hamilton in P3 looks to be degrading.
11	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	Your pace is good, Sebastian. Grosjean, 44.1. Hamilton, 44.6. Everything else, 45s.
11	Esteban Gutierrez	Francesco Nenci	I start to feel a bit some degredation.
12	Andrew Murdoch	Pastor Maldonado	OK, we need to make this tyre set last. Look after the tyres in turns 17 and 18.
12	Francesco Nenci	Esteban Gutierrez	What is the degredation, Esteban? Front or rear?
12	Esteban Gutierrez	Francesco Nenci	Front.
12	Peter Bonnington	Lewis Hamilton	Webber has DRS.
12	Rob Smedley	Felipe Massa	When you can, tell me about the tyres. We’ve completed 11 laps.
12	Felipe Massa	Rob Smedley	Is a similar situation as before.
13	Francesco Nenci	Esteban Gutierrez	Don’t forget the cars in front are on mediums, in front of Vergne. So they will have more potential than you, so they will be naturally quicker than us. But you’re still quicker than them.
13	Peter Bonnington	Lewis Hamilton	OK Lewis, we do need to manage these tyres, we’ve still got some laps to do on them.
13	Lewis Hamilton	Peter Bonnington	That’s what I’m doing, man. Let me focus.
13	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	And be ready line one. Track is clear.
14	Simon Rennie	Mark Webber	OK, nice job mate. Toggle KERS.
14	Paul Davison	Jules Bianchi	Bianchi has pulled out of range of Van der Garde’s DRS. Great job, Jules. Three tenths a lap quicker than Max, we’re slowly pulling away from the Caterhams. Great job. How are the tyres?
14	Jules Bianchi	Paul Davison	Feel good for the moment.
14	Paul Davison	Jules Bianchi	OK mate. Understood.
14	Peter Bonnington	Lewis Hamilton	Webber passed Hamilton for third on lap 13. Traction was at 1,400 so we do need to manage them, otherwise we’re on a two-stop.
14	Lewis Hamilton	Peter Bonnington	I’m trying to manage them, man. I’m trying to.
14	Peter Bonnington	Lewis Hamilton	Now Lewis, you’re doing a good job. Webber’s pace looks pretty quick. You’ve got Hulkenberg behind, four seconds. He was four tenths slower last lap. We just need to manage this position here.
15	Tony Ross	Nico Rosberg	So tyre temperatures are under control. Ricciardo has lost RFA [DRS] so try to pass now if you can.
15	Marco Schupbach	Nico Hulkenberg	You’re closing on Hamilton. He’s told to manage his pace. You’re racing Hamilton in front.
15	Simon Rennie	Mark Webber	OK mate we need to watch the front locking to look after the tyres.
15	Peter Bonnington	Lewis Hamilton	Gap to Webber ahead 2.5 seconds. Hulkenberg behind, 3.2.
15	Rob Smedley	Felipe Massa	OK, lifting off a little bit before in turn 17 just to save tyres.
16	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	Good pace, Sebastian. Make sure you stay on top of your tyres.
16	Lewis Hamilton	Peter Bonnington	I don’t have the grip, man.
16	Peter Bonnington	Lewis Hamilton	OK, message understood. Information – Hulkenberg two tenths faster last lap.
17	Phil Charles	Jean-Eric Vergne	Vergne was the only driver to start the race on hard tyres and was planning to pit twice, but during the race Toro Rosso switched to a one-stop strategy. Jev, are you OK for Plan C?
17	Jean-Eric Vergne	Phil Charles	I think the tyres are good, so why not?
17	Phil Charles	Jean-Eric Vergne	OK, understood.
17	Mark Temple	Sergio Perez	And Checo, we are in the window. We are in the window, confirm.
17	Marco Schupbach	Nico Hulkenberg	Good job so far. You’re closing on Hamilton, two tenths a lap.
18	Phil Charles	Jean-Eric Vergne	Gearbox eight, release five. Just to let you know, Gutierrez is 1.2 seconds behind you now. He has come a little bit closer.
18	Peter Bonnington	Lewis Hamilton	Three tenths faster than Hulkenberg, last lap. Gap is three seconds.
18	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	Going as far as we can is more important than going as fast as we can. So go for the distance, not speed.
19	Rob Smedley	Felipe Massa	OK, Kovalainen in. It’s still a bit too early for us, so let’s see what pace you can do. You’ve got 2.7 seconds to Rosberg, so let’s see if you can close up that gap now.
19	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	Your torque map around the lap is good. We like it. It’s good.
19	Mark Temple	Sergio Perez	And Checo, how are the tyres and balance?
19	Sergio Perez	Mark Temple	As expected. Very low deg(redation).
20	Tony Ross	Nico Rosberg	So Nico, confirm front wing we’ll go for the target Hard tyre setting.
20	Nico Rosberg	Tony Ross	Affirm. Minus one percent.
20	Sergio Perez	Mark Temple	Overtaking is very difficult.
20	Mark Temple	Sergio Perez	OK, understood. The pack is still quite bunched up, behind, We’ll monitor it and decide on the strategy over the next ten laps.
20	Charles Pic	Tim Wright	The rear-left has started degrading.
20	Tim Wright	Charles Pic	OK, understood.
21	Dave Robson	Jenson Button	Box this lap.
21	Jenson Button	Dave Robson	I have picked up more understeer.
21	Dave Robson	Jenson Button	OK. Understood.
21	Gary Gannon	Max Chilton	Jules was point eight quicker last lap. Biggest loss, exit of nine. But he says he is pushing too hard to make the whole stint.
21	Rob Smedley	Felipe Massa	Button pitted, so push now. Need a big lap.
22	Rob Smedley	Felipe Massa	OK mate, this is good. Box at the end of this lap. We’re going to take off one degree for the hard.
22	Daniel Ricciardo	Marco Matassa	One or two steps up?
22	Marco Matassa	Daniel Ricciardo	Let’s do two steps. Two steps up.
23	GianPiero Lambiase	Paul di Resta	Paul, box. Pit confirm. Empty KERS.
23	Tony Ross	Nico Rosberg	Box. Box. Box. Boost to zero.
23	Peter Bonnington	Lewis Hamilton	Cars behind fourth-placed Hamilton are starting to pit including Perez and Di Resta from sixth and ninth respectively on lap 22. Two tenths faster than Hulkenberg last lap. It’s all starting to kick off now.
24	Simon Rennie	Mark Webber	OK mate, people behind us are starting to stop. We also have a gap ahead and behind, so we are just waiting for traffic behind.
24	Mark Temple	Sergio Perez	We could be racing cars at the exit. Pit toggle up.
24	Peter Bonnington	Lewis Hamilton	Your pit window is now clear. So you’re one-tenth faster than Hulkenberg last lap. Gap is at 3.4 seconds. We want to maximise this stint while your laptimes are still good to give ourselves an easier time on the mediums.
24	Andrea Stella	Fernando Alonso	OK, Perez should go into traffic so now we try and close on Hulkenberg.
25	GianPiero Lambiase	Paul di Resta	OK Paul, so Kovalainen pitted on Lap 17, we may expect him to go to the end, so he is probably pace managing.
25	Jonathan Eddollls	Valtteri Bottas	Push for a couple of laps. See if we can get a jump on Alonso. Then we need to save tyres.
25	Mark Temple	Sergio Perez	Gutierrez and Vergne are on 23-lap old tyres. If we can get ahead of them, we can get Alonso.
26	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	All these guys in front have stopped once already. So they’re not that slow. They’re doing mid-45s.
26	Marco Schupbach	Nico Hulkenberg	Nico, front in for hard, I would keep.
26	Phil Charles	Jean-Eric Vergne	Perez behind you on new tyres, do not lose time with Perez behind you.
27	Mark Temple	Sergio Perez	Checo push now, we’re racing Alonso at the exit. Push.
27	Marco Schupbach	Nico Hulkenberg	Box. Box. Box.
27	Marco Matassa	Daniel Ricciardo	Temperature is increasing, we need to catch more clean air on the straight.
28	Sebastian Vettel	Guillaume Rocquelin	Tyres have gone now. Think about what you want to do.
28	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	Understood.
28	Tony Ross	Nico Rosberg	So there are 29 laps remaining. Ricciardo is just outside of your RFA [DRS].
28	GianPiero Lambiase	Paul di Resta	Di Resta passed Kovalainen on lap 29 after half-a-dozen laps behind the Lotus. Paul, we need to pass Kovalainen for engine and brake cooling. Come on, you’ve got him.
28	Simon Rennie	Mark Webber	Box, Mark. Box.
28	Mark Webber	Simon Rennie	Copy that. Box.
29	Marco Schupbach	Nico Hulkenberg	No need to push like mad. No need to push like mad.
29	Mark Temple	Sergio Perez	OK Checo, 27 laps to go. Let’s make sure we make these tyres last til the end and we have good pace at the end. Let’s manage our pace and we can attack again at the end. The race is not over by any means.
30	Simon Rennie	Mark Webber	OK. Grosjean has pitted, he will be plus four.
30	Paul Davison	Jules Bianchi	OK Jules, great job. We are now outside of Van der Garde’s DRS zone. We need to look after the rears, I will let you know if they start catching us again.
30	Jonathan Eddollls	Valtteri Bottas	Target that laptime, low 44s. We’ve got a good gap behind.
31	Lewis Hamilton	Peter Bonnington	OK, you need to give me some feedback, man. About my tyres, temperatures. Do I need to push more? Less?
31	Peter Bonnington	Lewis Hamilton	So the front tyre temps are now dropping off the maximum line. So they’re now coming into the window, so they’re looking safe. Your pace is good. Target, 43.7.
31	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	Don’t ask too much of your tyres. Remember, the two cars behind ran longer than you. The two cars behind had more range than you did.
31	Juan Pablo Ramirez	Giedo van der Garde	In Abu Dhabi Pic was told to let Van der Garde through after holding his team mate up. Here there was no change of order. You cannot lose more ground to Bianchi because Charles is catching you behind.
31	Charles Pic	Tim Wright	I’m quicker than Giedo.
32	Tim Wright	Charles Pic	OK, understood. Push up to Giedo. You can be quicker out of 11 and 17 by not braking so late and making better exits.
32	Tony Ross	Nico Rosberg	Good effort Nico. So close the gap to Di Resta, do the same to him.
32	Dave Robson	Jenson Button	Information – the first car to pit on the hards was Kovalainen, he’s 14 laps into his stint and starting to struggle. Di Resta has overtaken him and others are having a go, so I think this is a good plan.
33	Rob Smedley	Felipe Massa	OK, gap to Ricciardo now is around two and a half seconds. I think that’s OK, I think we sit at around two and a half seconds. Button’s sitting around two and a half seconds behind you too, so just maintain that.
33	Mark Temple	Sergio Perez	Tyres are fine. Let’s try and maintain a gap to Alonso so we can attack him at the end on better tyres. There may still be opportunites at the end.
34	GianPiero Lambiase	Paul di Resta	Rosberg is in your DRS now.
34	Francesco Nenci	Esteban Gutierrez	So the pace is a bit quicker than our competition which is around [distorted]. They’re about 44. The problem is Bottas is quicker than you and will slow you down. But around a 44 is OK.
34	Mark Webber	Simon Rennie	Right tyre vibration is unbelieveable.
34	Simon Rennie	Mark Webber	Right Mark, understood. Keep pushing, you’re doing a good job.
34	Tony Ross	Nico Rosberg	After passing Di Resta Good effort, Nico. Well done.
34	Sergio Perez	Mark Temple	Traffic. Traffic.
34	Mark Temple	Sergio Perez	Understood. He is getting blue flags.
35	GianPiero Lambiase	Paul di Resta	So KERS to defend, Paul. RPM 2. Do not use KERS exit turn nine.
35	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	OK Sebastian, Mark is very close to Grosjean now. Grosjean is defending. Grosjean’s pace, 42.7.
35	Simon Rennie	Mark Webber	OK, watch your front brake locking.
35	Peter Bonnington	Lewis Hamilton	One tenth faster than Hulkenberg last lap.
35	Marco Matassa	Daniel Ricciardo	Recovery four, entry nine to attack.
36	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	OK Sebastian you have a slow queue of cars ahead. Two Caterhams, one Marussia.
36	GianPiero Lambiase	Paul di Resta	Paul, we believe the tyre temperatures are a bit low. Tyre temps are low on this set. You may need to try and push them to generate some temperature.
36	Simon Rennie	Mark Webber	You will catch backmarkers in four laps.
37	Tony Ross	Nico Rosberg	Earlier apex turn six for faster exit. Try that.
37	Mark Temple	Sergio Perez	OK Checo, last lap we lost three tenths to Alonso, but your lap before that was good, so let’s try and keep those up.
37	Rob Smedley	Felipe Massa	Twenty laps to go. Push on the back of Ricciardo now. Let’s push. I need you to push now and get on the back of him.
38	Tony Ross	Nico Rosberg	So try an earlier apex in turn 20 for a better exit. Gap to Bottas below nine seconds. We’re currently half a second a lap quicker than him.
39	Andrew Murdoch	Pastor Maldonado	Still look after the fronts in turn 6.
39	Pastor Maldonado	Andrew Murdoch	Copy.
39	Andrea Stella	Fernando Alonso	Situazione stabile, apparte Perez, che gira come noi, apparte Perez, che gira come noi, non ci sono altri problemi dietro. The situation is stable, apart from Perez who?��s lapping like us, apart from Perez who?��s lapping like us, there aren?��t any other problems behind us.
39	Tony Ross	Nico Rosberg	So traction very good – 200. Bottas has been told to drive to a pace which is currently a second a lap slower than you are.
39	Ayao Komatsu	Romain Grosjean	Use ‘overtake’ button on back straight.
40	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	And fail 36, fail. Three six fail.
41	Rob Smedley	Felipe Massa	OK, now it’s going to have to be qualifying. There are 18 laps to go. See what we can do.
41	Valtteri Bottas	Jonathan Eddollls	Are we OK with this energy?
41	Jonathan Eddollls	Valtteri Bottas	Energy is just on target.
41	Andrea Stella	Fernando Alonso	Fernando, facciamo solo un po?�� d?��attenzione al wheel spin, cerchiamo di controllare un po?�� di piu?�� il wheel spin, il resto ottimo. Fernando, lets pay attention to wheel spin, lets try and control our wheel spin a little more, the rest looks good.
41	Paul Davison	Jules Bianchi	Pace is good, mate. We’re pulling away from Van der Garde. Pic is falling back and they both have blue flags now. Good job.
42	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	Fair enough. Remember, you stayed in phase one for a long time on the other tyres and they fell apart very quickly. You might not get much warning, but keep your tyres alive. And if there’s a Safety Car, you’ll want some rubber left.
42	GianPiero Lambiase	Paul di Resta	OK Paul, we absolutely must push every lap. Keep the temperature in the tyres.
43	Nico Rosberg	Tony Ross	Who’s in front of Bottas?
43	Tony Ross	Nico Rosberg	Perez in front of Bottas, but 16 seconds.
43	Jenson Button	Dave Robson	Traffic, Chilton.
43	Dave Robson	Jenson Button	Understood. He has blues. He has blue flags.
44	Mark Slade	Heikki Kovalainen	OK Heikki. We think we’ve lost KERS. Try pressing the ‘OK’ button twice, please.
44	Heikki Kovalainen	Mark Slade	OK.
45	Rob Smedley	Felipe Massa	Less brake pressure if you can, turn 4. Fernando not braking at all there.
45	Phil Charles	Jean-Eric Vergne	OK Jev, 11 laps to go. If you’re happy your tyres are still good, you can start to push more now.
46	Nico Hulkenberg	Marco Schupbach	What is the pace of Perez?
46	Marco Schupbach	Nico Hulkenberg	Similar to us at the moment.
46	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	Remember for you it’s all about no mistakes. Let’s focus on braking. Clean exits.
46	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	Now Sebastian, these tyres are not bulletproof. We are measuring wear. You’re OK., but don’t abuse it.
46	Sebastian Vettel	Guillaume Rocquelin	I’m aware. Let me know when you think there’s something odd going on.
46	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	So far, it’s all linear and as predicted.
46	Lewis Hamilton	Peter Bonnington	Angry Blue flags!
46	Tim Wright	Charles Pic	Let him past, Charles. Let Hamilton past.
47	Phil Charles	Jean-Eric Vergne	Release eight, Jev. Gutierrez behind you is also picking up his pace. He’s one second. Release seven, release seven, he’s within one second.
47	Tony Ross	Nico Rosberg	Caution, throttle riding in turn 19. Tyre temperatures are all still good. You’ve still got good life yet. So ten laps remaining, gap to Bottas is three and a half seconds so just close that gap up to give yourself enough laps to pass.
47	Andrea Stella	Fernando Alonso	Alonso is given the gap between him and Hamilton in Italian. 1.1
47	Tim Wright	Charles Pic	Rain one for temperature.
48	Phil Charles	Jean-Eric Vergne	Release seven, release seven. Come on, Jev. Come on.
49	Jonathan Eddolls	Valtteri Bottas	Rosberg catching at half a second a lap. There’s ten laps to go, you’re racing him to the end.
49	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	Grosjean, 41.3. Again, he’s got Mark all over him.
49	Marco Matassa	Daniel Ricciardo	Nine laps to go. What about tyre phase?
49	Daniel Ricciardo	Marco Matassa	I’ll survive. No more radio.
50	Marco Schupbach	Nico Hulkenberg	Seven laps to go, seven. Perez same pace. Come on. Nico, come on.
50	Tony Ross	Nico Rosberg	So, seven laps remaining. Gap to Bottas, five seconds. Currently nine tenths a lap faster.
51	Peter Bonnington	Lewis Hamilton	OK Lewis, so traction at 1,300. Target, 1,100. Alonso looks like he’s backed off, he may go for a push at the end. Let’s be ready. Look after these tyres.
51	Simon Rennie	Mark Webber	We think save all KERS, and use all the KERS turn 11. Even when you’re on DRS, keep using the KERS.
51	Andrew Murdoch	Pastor Maldonado	OK Pastor, six laps to go. Can you stay out? Can you make it to the end?
51	Pastor Maldonado	Andrew Murdoch	Copy, will stay out. Stay out.
52	Tim Wright	Charles Pic	Charles, box this lap for a drive-through penalty. You have a drive-through penalty. Box this lap, pit confirm.
52	Charles Pic	Tim Wright	Why I have a drive-through?
52	Tim Wright	Charles Pic	You have a drive-through for impeding Hamilton. Drive-through, watch the speed limit, watch the white line.
52	Simon Rennie	Mark Webber	We think you got closer then, mate. Do the same again. The same tactic. All the KERS, turn 11.
53	Paul Davison	Jules Bianchi	Should have no more blue flags to the end of the race.
53	Simon Rennie	Mark Webber	OK mate, if that’s not going to work, try using all of the KERS in the last corner to try something different.
53	Phil Charles	Jean-Eric Vergne	Recovery three. Recovery three.
53	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	OK, traffic ahead. Maldonado. He’s got Chilton ahead of him, who’s got blues already. So Maldonado might be focusing on Chilton, not you.
54	Mark Webber	Simon Rennie	Trouble with the rears, mate. I’ve used a lot of tyre.
54	Peter Bonnington	Lewis Hamilton	Three tenths faster that lap to Alonso. Gap now at 2.9, three laps remaining.
54	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	The only one who can beat you today mate is yourself. Be careful.
55	Ayao Komatsu	Romain Grosjean	No ‘overtake’ button this time.
55	Mark Temple	Sergio Perez	Two laps to go, Checo. Let’s keep the pace up for the last couple of laps. Got an 11 second gap behind.
56	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	Last lap, Sebastian. Starting the last lap.
56	Dave Robson	Jenson Button	Great job Jenson. That is Pic in front of you. He’s traffic, he should have blue flags.
VL	Christian Horner	Sebastian Vettel	Fantastic, Seb. Record-breaking in a season. Unbelievable. Brilliant drive! Brilli- say hello to those guys at turn one!
VL	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	Good job, mate. Very tidy.
VL	Sebastian Vettel	Guillaume Rocquelin	I’m speechless?��?� I’m speechless. We have to remember these days. There’s no guarantee that they will last forever. Enjoy them as long as they last. I love you guys. We have an incredible team spirit?��?� incredible. I’m so proud of you. I love you. YES! Shake ‘n’ bake!
VL	Guillaume Rocquelin	Sebastian Vettel	Vettel does more doughnuts. I thought you could write your name!
VL	Christian Horner	Sebastian Vettel	Eight in a season, Seb. That’s a record in itself. The only one who’s won more than you in a row is Ascari?��?� but I guess you already knew that.
VL	Romain Grosjean	Ayao Komatsu	Yee-ha boys! Good job, guys, good job. One was too quick, but the other is behind. Fantastic. Well done. Where did Heikki finish?
VL	Ayao Komatsu	Romain Grosjean	Heikki is out of the points, unfortunately. He had to change nose, so out of points.
VL	Romain Grosjean	Ayao Komatsu	And the other one?
VL	Ayao Komatsu	Romain Grosjean	The other one finished P5. So Fernando P5, Massa’s out of points. Well done, Romain. What a drive. Great drive. Nice job.
VL	Romain Grosjean	Ayao Komatsu	Yes! I cannot do more. Was under pressure every single lap.
VL	Ayao Komatsu	Romain Grosjean	No, brilliant. Brilliant.
VL	Simon Rennie	Mark Webber	Nice job today, mate. Obviously the first corner was tricky. Good job with Hamilton. Very tricky with Grosjean – you were obviously a lot quicker than him, but very difficult to overtake. But good job mate. Nice one.
VL	Mark Webber	Simon Rennie	Thanks guys. Yep?��?� you can only race for maybe five laps or so on these tyres. We gave it a good crack, but he had track position. Was quick in the first sector.
VL	Peter Bonnington	Lewis Hamilton	OK, great drive Lewis. Very well managed. So that’s P4.
VL	Ross Brawn	Lewis Hamilton	Very well done, Lewis. That was a perfect drive, with the car we had today. Very well managed drive and exactly what we wanted. So well done.
VL	Lewis Hamilton	Peter Bonnington	Great job this weekend, guys. Good points. It’s what we need.
VL	Peter Bonnington	Lewis Hamilton	Yeah, stirling job by you, Lewis.
VL	Andrea Stella	Fernando Alonso	Great, great race. Your pace on the Hards was matching the quicker cars at the front. It was tight with the tyres at the end, but it worked out. Well done today.
VL	Marco Schupbach	Nico Hulkenberg	OK, P6. good job, Nico.
VL	Nico Hulkenberg	Marco Schupbach	Thank you. Again, towards the end there with light fuel, the car light, we get performance when before we were struggling.
VL	Mark Temple	Sergio Perez	We finished P7. I think that’s a really good drive. I think yesterday, after an awesome qualifying, it was always going to be difficult to gain places and we didn’t quite have the pace to match Alonso and Hulkenberg. But I think you did a really solid job anyway, so well done. Great weekend.
VL	Jonathan Eddolls	Valtteri Bottas	P8, Valtteri! That was a smash! Great job. Strong weekend.
VL	Valtteri Bottas	Jonathan Eddollls	Yes! Yeah! Finally! (laughs)
VL	Tony Ross	Nico Rosberg	Well done Nico.
VL	Ross Brawn	Nico Rosberg	Well done Nico. We didn’t quite get it right in qualifying and paid the price, because the car wasn’t bad. But you prove a perfect race for what you had. Some important points, so thank you. Well done.
VL	Nico Rosberg	Tony Ross	Thank you. Yeah, at least a good result against Ferrari.
VL	Dave Robson	Jenson Button	OK, Jenson, great job. I know that’s not really what we race for, but that was a hard fought point and won by some extremely skillful and well paced driving, so great job.
VL	Jenson Button	Dave Robson	Yeah, cheers mate. Cheers Dave.
VL	Dave Robson	Jenson Button	So Jenson, I’m sure you’ve seen this as you came round but, surprise, surprise, Vettel won the race. Grosjean second, Webber picked up third. Followed by Hamilton, Alonso, Hulkenberg, Checo was seventh, Bottas, Rosberg and then ourselves in P10.
VL	Jenson Button	Dave Robson	How far was Rosberg in front?
VL	Dave Robson	Jenson Button	Yeah Jenson, Rosberg 18 seconds up the road. Just 18 seconds. Bottas very close to him. So I’d say we had the pace to race those guys, obviously we didn’t have the track position. We took that early pitstop trying to jump some cars and get you some clear air, which turned out to not work terribly well, but you obviously drove quite superbly from there. A few of the cars had to make a second stop from there which helped and some good overtaking there at the end, so really good job.
VL	Jenson Button	Dave Robson	Yeah, cheers. It’d be nice to get it all together one weekend. Sorry about that guys. But Brazil – it’s going to happen. It’s going to be a great weekend.
VL	Dave Robson	Jenson Button	Yep. Absolutely. I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be?��?� it’ll be good.
VL	Marco Matassa	Daniel Ricciardo	P11, Daniel. Thank you for the effort. How was your race?
VL	Daniel Ricciardo	Marco Matassa	Yeah, just the last five laps, the tyres just hit a cliff. Couldn’t do anything more. I tried my best.
VL	Marco Matassa	Daniel Ricciardo	Yeah, we saw that. Thank you for the effort, Daniel.
VL	Phil Charles	Jean-Eric Vergne	Vergne was given a 20-second penalty for colliding with Gutierrez on the final lap. OK Jev, really good effort today. Sorry you didn’t quite get points, P12. But good effort.
VL	Jean-Eric Vergne	Phil Charles	Gutierrez was really stupid.

Thanks to @KevinCucamest for translating the Italian messages.

Lap: Refers to lap message was broadcast on. There may be a delay between messages being said and being broadcast. PR = pre-race; FL = formation lap; VL = victory lap.
Message: Repetitive or irrelevant messages omitted. Notes in italics. Highlights in bold.

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59 comments on “2013 United States Grand Prix team radio transcript”

maarten.f1 (@)
20th November 2013, 9:52

Is Grosjean seriously referring to Alonso as “the other one”? Wonder what’s up with that.
1. Gwannel Sandiego (@gwan)
  20th November 2013, 11:04
  
  I wondered that too, if maybe there was a missing message telling him about Massa and then he referred to Alonso as “the other one” in response… Otherwise seems odd that he would say it and his engineer would understand.
2. Juzh (@juzh)
  20th November 2013, 11:12
  
  constructors points..
3. Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
  20th November 2013, 11:45
  
  “You-Know-Who”
  “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named”
  1. harish (@harishmech04)
    20th November 2013, 14:14
    
    +1
4. Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
  20th November 2013, 13:18
  
  @maarten-f1)
  
  Fernando Alonso…. THE OTHER ONEEEEEEEEEE !
  
  sounds like a 80’s terror movie presenting the monster :P.
  1. Diego (@ironcito)
    20th November 2013, 16:48
    
    More like the 50’s. “The Thing from Spain”… ;)
5. mixwell (@mixwell)
  20th November 2013, 16:03
  
  the other one. aka. the other world champion – of the rest lol
  1. Prof Kirk (@prof-kirk)
    20th November 2013, 22:18
    
    +1 lolz
6. Estesark (@estesark)
  20th November 2013, 22:23
  
  Nice to see that Grosjean asked about Kovalainen after the race. That’ll go down well with his team, I’m sure.
GeeMac (@geemac)
20th November 2013, 10:05

“Yep, understood Jenson. Damage is relatively minor. Much less than the last race. So we’re going to stay out.”

A bit of an understatement no? He lost the entire cascade element and a chunk of the endplate. (http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/ferr-mass-cota-2013-61.jpg)
1. gdewilde (@gdewilde)
  20th November 2013, 13:54
  
  Last time he lost an additional piece of the top left ;-)
  http://www.formula1.com/wi/gi/597×478/xgOv/sutton/2013/d13abu2765.jpg
2. gdewilde (@gdewilde)
  20th November 2013, 13:54
  
  @geemac
  1. GeeMac (@geemac)
    21st November 2013, 4:18
    
    Well I suppose it is minor compared to that! ;)
hawkii (@hawkii)
20th November 2013, 10:10

Lap 13 Peter Bonnington to Lewis Hamilton: OK Lewis, we do need to manage these tyres, we’ve still got some laps to do on them.

It is kind of stating the obvious at this point in the season, you can understand why Hamilton would get irked at being old that as he’s trying to race. There’s quite a few engineers who seem to spend as much time trying to sound cool on the pit radio as they do telling the driver useful information quickly in as few words as possible. Sometimes not speaking is an acceptable option.

Although speaking of stating the obvious it works both ways:

Lap 7, Lewis Hamilton to Peter Bonnington: The Red Bull’s pretty fast.

Well spotted Lewis!
1. Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
  20th November 2013, 13:59
  
  @hawkii they’ve got to manage the mood of the driver aswell. “Manage your tyres”, giving the specific, short-answer might not do the job.
  
  And, let’s be honest, Hamilton’s been irked about his mechancis telling him things, whatever it is, at whichever point of the race, since McLaren days.. It confuses me how can’t he just meet with his staff and sort out the way they manage team radio together. I’d have thought that’s one of the first things they do in a new team before a race.
  1. hawkii (@hawkii)
    20th November 2013, 14:09
    
    @fer-no65 That was kind of my point though, he knew he was going to have to manage the tyres anyway, just adding “because we have laps to do on them” doesn’t actually add anything to the short message. If you’re going to say “high temps on the rears” or something of that nature at least it gives him a bit more idea of what he actually has to manage. In this day and age of Formula 1, the message they gave him they might as well have been telling him to remember to brake and accelerate.
2. Ivan (@wpinrui)
  20th November 2013, 15:17
  
  Agreed, but I think Lewis should work on his relationship with his race engineer. It’s like how a rally driver and a co-driver need to have chemistry in order to succeed. Otherwise his race engineer doesn’t know when to say what and Lewis might not get the information that he needs.
Sumedh
20th November 2013, 10:41

Good to see a lot of messages between Alonso and Stella. Last few races have been too quiet. Looks like things are returning back to normal now between the two.

Now, a winning car in 2014 please!!
Psychotext (@textuality)
20th November 2013, 11:07

I wonder what Fail 36 was supposed to signify.
1. Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
  20th November 2013, 11:38
  
  Could be a KERS failure and would explain why Vettel was slower than GRO and WEB towards the end.
  1. toiago (@toiago)
    20th November 2013, 13:39
    
    So slow that he still went on to clinch the fastest lap of the race on the 54th lap.
    1. spoutnik (@spoutnik)
      20th November 2013, 14:56
      
      haha true!
Kirill (@sunlounger)
20th November 2013, 11:34

Does anyone else besides me read the messages to themselves in voice of the people who said them?:)
1. Deej92 (@deej92)
  20th November 2013, 14:01
  
  I do it with Rob Smedley!
Kirill (@sunlounger)
20th November 2013, 11:38

Rocquelin’s “box, box, box” is starting to be popular with other race engineers)
1. gdewilde (@gdewilde)
  20th November 2013, 13:56
  
  @sunlounger Rocquelin is usually: “Box, Torque Map 1 & Box” :-)
  1. Karthikeyan (@ridiculous)
    20th November 2013, 14:06
    
    Usually it’s “Box Box Box, Torue 1 and Box” – the map part usually goes missing
Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
20th November 2013, 11:39

What does “Cancel RS” mean? Every race, it is used by one of the Mercedes engineers on the first lap.
1. nimalas
  20th November 2013, 11:53
  
  Rear spin
2. GeeMac (@geemac)
  20th November 2013, 12:13
  
  Isn’t it “Race Start” modes?
3. hawkii (@hawkii)
  20th November 2013, 12:14
  
  Race start settings
4. Retired (@jeff1s)
  20th November 2013, 12:33
  
  I guess it’s not Renault Sport. I think it’s a formation lap mode
hawkii (@hawkii)
20th November 2013, 14:10

Just noticed no-one was reminded to drink at the weekend, maybe they’ve all been prodded enough
1. salcrich
  20th November 2013, 14:33
  
  It’s coming up to Christmas!! – don’t drink and drive maybe?
2. faulty (@faulty)
  20th November 2013, 15:18
  
  Probably because:
  
  a) Wan’t that a Mercedes coded message? Perhaps not used this race.
  b) I seem to remember this is not all the radio action, just the radio channel officially released by FOM which is then transcribed by @keith & friends.
  1. hawkii (@hawkii)
    20th November 2013, 19:32
    
    Pretty sure Vettel was told it at one point too, although it was mostly Mercedes up to that point
  2. Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
    20th November 2013, 21:16
    
    @faulty As it says in the article this is only what was broadcast.
HS
20th November 2013, 15:09

“No need to push like mad. No need to push like mad.”

Sums up the dire state of F1 at the moment. Such a message would be UNIMAGINABLE 10 years ago unless you had a 30+ second gap to second place.
1. Sam Sam
  20th November 2013, 16:19
  
  +1
  Indeed, this formula has gotten to the point where we see a demo of how short tires can last. What is the point of having really athletic drivers and powerful cars if all they do is drive to delta times to manage tires. I for one can’t wait for this to be changed.
  1. faulty (@faulty)
    20th November 2013, 18:01
    
    Sadly, I don’t think changing some of the regulations will have an overall effect on the quality of racing. What needs to be changed is the philosophy behind the rule-making.
    Over the last 20 years what we’ve seen is a charge towards homologation and “equalness”. What we have is a set of rules that favors one type of competitor, and only one driver/car can excel at being whatever the rules are asking of them. Since the early 90s it’s been either a Newey car or a Brawn car, or either Schumacher or Vettel; and that’s no coincidence, it´s because those four entities are best suited to these types of rules. It’s not so much that others have faltered in their challenge, it’s just that the set of rules allow for only one type of winner.
    It’s obvious that if the Ferrari could qualify from the front row it’d be equally as boring to watch those races than it is now; they have the fastest raceday car and they’d run away to a bigger gap than the Red Bulls. But the rules punish them too much, because they favor the car in front. Rules don’t give an equal chance to the attacker or the defender.
    Rooting for a midfield team or driver has become an exercise in suffering, I want the teams to try out alternative strategies to get their drivers ahead, and it never happens. But I understand that much smarter people than me, with much more information and the tools to analyze it at their disposal have come to the conclusion that there are no more gain-effective strategies than what they try on Sunday, even if it means that everybody else is doing the same thing. That sort of unified problem-solving is there because Formula One racing has become too complex, there are too many variables to solve for, and thus, the avenues for solution have -naturally-, converged. It is the same in car design; the same solution, the same slightly different aerodynamic device.
    As for the drivers, the debate about Hamilton’s aggression, Kimi’s racecraft and Alonso’s focus becomes moot once they all fail against Vettel’s “work within the team”. Wait, wasn’t that Schumacher’s highest praised ability as well? Why was Pérez not renewed? Is Hülkenberg’s body mass, in spite of a stellar season and a half, the only reason keeping him from reaching 100% desirability? Why do they keep Kovalainen around? It must be the same reason, having too many variables in the car, must need in turn a reliable source of information FROM the car’s behavior to the team as well as a driver that can be both fast and capable dialing IN the parameters the team instruments tell them. Who is the best at that?
    It seems to me that there is a problem with the cars as machines. The pinnacle of motors sports and innovation doesn’t have to mean complexity. It often didn’t in the past. The question, in my opinion, is one of simplicity. There have to be some tradebacks that promote diversity; this formula for success is limiting diversity. We will have no James Hunts if FIA/FOM keep us on this road. There will be less industry participation in the sport, because one of the market’s strength is definitely consumer choice. And the more complex we make the rules, the less chance for choice there is.
2. @HoHum (@hohum)
  20th November 2013, 20:50
  
  Yes indeed, a big thank you from the team managers to all the drivers who managed to driveslow enough to score points.
3. Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
  20th November 2013, 21:14
  
  Such a message would be unimaginable 10 years ago unless you had a 30+ second gap to second place.
  
  You’d have to go back further than that – over 20 years back, to when the Safety Car was not in use.
  
  The disincentive for building a large lead is that in can be wiped out by the Safety Car. In that situation the leader can find himself without a buffer to the cars behind him (and no lapped traffic these days, either), and worn tyres. Yes, the post-2011 tyres have amplified the effect, but the root cause of leading teams not wanting too big a lead is that it can be wiped out by the Safety Car.
Chad (@chaddy)
20th November 2013, 17:27

Do you all think it’s easier for Vettel to get FLAP because tires need such care now as opposed to allowing you to push all race? They go off for everyone, but Vettel is willing to risk the tire damage to get FLAP, and it doesn’t seem any other racers actively go for it, because they are busy trying to finish as high as possible. And especially with a few second’s lead, he knows he could risk damaging his tires for slower future laps because he has enough gap to outlast 2nd place. (On top of all this, I realize he has the fastest car, so that makes it easier.) Although being in first means he has the most to lose in the race, knowing his final points position means he has the least to lose in a sense. I assume back in the day, when everyone pushed all race, at any time someone could have a great lap and taking flap from Schu, or whomever, regardless of him having a faster car. The current situation, and the factors I outlined, favors Vettel to push but not others. What do you think?
1. AdrianMorse (@adrianmorse)
  20th November 2013, 20:12
  
  @chaddy, I think because the tyres do not last very long, especially of you push them hard, the quickest way to drive a stint will result in the tyres being in bad shape at the end of the stint. Ross Brawn said that Nico’s and Lewis’s tyres were almost at the end of their ‘lives’ after they finished the race, “which is as it should be”, according to Ross.
  
  Vettel is pretty much the only driver in the race that is not trying to do the final stint as quickly as possible. Instead, he is only doing it quick enough to maintain a comfortable gap to his pursuers, and as a result he has much more life in his tyres left at the end of the race, so one quick lap is easy to do, and won’t damage the tyres too much.
  
  Also, Vettel likes his fastest laps. On the odd occasion that we see other drivers comfortably leading the race (and it hasn’t happened that often in recent years – only Alonso’s two wins this season spring to mind), we don’t see them going for fastest laps.
  1. Chad (@chaddy)
    20th November 2013, 20:25
    
    That’s an interesting insight about Vettel being able to manage the gap/tires better, so he has life in them for a flap. That’s a result of the situation we have now with the tires, so I get the impression you pretty much agree with me, but find his ability to get to first to be an important part of the equation.
    
    So my question is, would Vettel be getting as many flaps if the tires were indestructible?
    1. @HoHum (@hohum)
      21st November 2013, 1:35
      
      @chaddy, my answer is yes he would, because he likes to and he usually has a clear track ahead of him.
F1 Noob (@noob)
20th November 2013, 17:40

Can somebody tell me how long does the safety car follow the other cars at the start of a race?
1. Chad (@chaddy)
  20th November 2013, 17:54
  
  I think it turns into the pit lane exit, and then does a u-turn and parks
2. Spinmastermic (@spinmastermic)
  20th November 2013, 18:23
  
  You mean the medical car at the back of the grid? It does a full lap. You could see it coming up on Sutil after his crash. The safety car is ready at the pit lane exit at the start of a race.
3. GeeMac (@geemac)
  21st November 2013, 9:39
  
  I does a full lap and pulls into the pit lane. While it isn’t an F1 car it also isn’t exactly a slouch, so it has enough time to cover the lap before the field comes round again.
Hotbottoms (@hotbottoms)
20th November 2013, 18:31

I found this kind of funny:

Lap 13
Bonnington: “OK Lewis, we do need to manage these tyres, we’ve still got some laps to do on them.”
Hamilton: “That’s what I’m doing, man. Let me focus.”

Lap 14
Bonnington: “Traction was at 1,400 so we do need to manage them, otherwise we’re on a two-stop.”
Hamilton: “I’m trying to manage them, man. I’m trying to.”

Lap 31
Hamilton: “OK, you need to give me some feedback, man. About my tyres, temperatures. Do I need to push more? Less?”
1. Jarv F150 (@jarvf150)
  21st November 2013, 0:15
  
  I guess at lap 13/14 were on old soft’s so he probably would have know by this point what to do.
  
  By lap 31 would have been well into the mediums & perhaps he had no guidance as to how he was doing on them.
  
  — Would be interesting to read what was said in-between.
  
  RJ
tmax (@tmax)
20th November 2013, 20:55

I really enjoy reading these messages.

I think Lewis should buy Peter a beer after the race. Peter had to put up with Hamilton’s mood swings during the race. Also Lewis should have a word with Seb as to how he and rocky are able to Gel so much :)

In 2007 when Hamilton debuted, he fell too much into the high volatile situation between Fernando & McLaren. I feel this incident has had a very strong impact on his perception of the Grid. He believes that he and Fernando are in this tiny little bubble where they are the only 2 raw talents and they only need to prove to each other. Maybe Alonso is not feeling that way. But Lewis definitely feels that Alonso is his yardstick. Lewis was so happy after the race because he was basically able to hold off Fernando.
@HoHum (@hohum)
20th November 2013, 21:06

Pretty easy to see why this race got such a poor rating.
KaIIe (@kaiie)
21st November 2013, 8:49

Of course not everything is broadcasted, but it’s still pretty interesting that it took up to lap 8 for Maldonado to report “some vibrations”, when it was clear from the pictures from lap 1 that his front wing was so loose that it could come off at any moment.
Damon
21st November 2013, 10:19

It’s probably a stupid question but can the teams listen to all the conversations between the other teams and their drivers? Surely they must because sometimes the audience is given information that could be influential in a race.
1. Markku Hänninen (@hmmh)
  21st November 2013, 21:28
  
  See lap 39, Rosberg is told what target Bottas was given (I suppose the radio from lap 30).
AldoG
21st November 2013, 22:04

45 Rob Smedley Felipe Massa Less brake pressure if you can, turn 4. Fernando not braking at all there.

This is quite shocking, and show how different were the two cars, one that could go through that turn without reducing speed and one that needed to brake. (And before the dead-horse-beating starts, I will say right here that I do not believe the difference is due to the driver. Not a this level).