2014 Malaysian Grand Prix team radio transcript

2014 Malaysian Grand Prix

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The Malaysian Grand Prix was again marked by a row over team orders where one driver refused to follow instructions from the pit wall.

Last year it was Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull, this time it was Felipe Massa. The Williams driver wasn’t having any of it when his team told him to let Valtteri Bottas through.

Bottas had followed Massa for much of the race after being told to hold position early on. Almost 50 laps later Williams decided to let Bottas go by in order for him to have a chance to attack Jenson Button.

On lap 45 Massa closed to within a second of Button. Bottas soon joined the pair of them, lapping four to five tenths of a second quicker than his team mate on tyres that were two laps fresher.

But despite repeatedly ordering Massa to get out of the way, which appeared to include an instruction from higher up the chain of command were forced to give up on the idea.

After the race Massa said that as Bottas was unable to pass him he was unlikely to be able to overtake Button. But at the end of the race Bottas was sure he could have overtaken the McLaren.

Elsewhere during the race Daniel Ricciardo could not hide his disappointment afters his race was ruined by a botched pit stop, while Romain Grosjean brought out Sebastian Vettel’s sarcastic side by failing to allow the world champion through to lap him at his earliest convenience.

But the Mercedes pair had no such troubles. Leading every lap of the race, Hamilton had more than enough time in hand to ask the team if he could take any extra precautions with reliability – just as Rosberg had in Australia.

Here’s how the Malaysian Grand Prix played out over the team radio.

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2014 Malaysian Grand Prix team radio transcript

Lap* From To Message
PR Ayao Komatsu Romain Grosjean Radio check, Romain.
PR Romain Grosjean Ayao Komatsu Yeah, radio check is OK. I could hear you and Gav on the radio Just a quick one for you guys – when I did the static bite-point at the end of the pit lane, the brake pedal is moving on its own. When the engine RPM goes up, the brake pedal does two things. So just for you to know.
PR Ayao Komatsu Romain Grosjean OK, copy that Romain. It’s OK that you can hear. I was talking to Gav. OK, so clutch seven, please. Clutch seven. And then you’re going to do a static bite-point for the formation lap. After the start, we will go to torque seven please. Torque seven is more MGU-K release. And the procedure for the start is – two rolling bite-points, so one before turn 15, one in turn 15 and four burnouts starting from the exit of turn 15.
PR Ayao Komatsu Romain Grosjean After you’ve finished the burnouts, I’ll ask you to go to fuel one, OK? That’s the one for race start creeping, if you see what I mean?
PR Ayao Komatsu Romain Grosjean OK Romain, correction. We’ll go to fuel one now, please. So that you don’t have to do it after burnout.
PR Nico Rosberg Tony Ross The rubber is coming off a little bit here on the steering wheel. Someone check the steering wheel, please?
PR Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington Feels like there’s quite a lot of [?] today.
PR Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton Affirm. Well we can always reduce it if we wish to, so –
PR Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington Quite a lot of wheel spin on power.
PR Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton Er, ‘BMIG-4’ and ‘BMIG-5’ are always available.
PR Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington For this formation lap, do I need to go to one… err, HPP-1?
PR Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton Negative, Lewis, negative. We will be using the brake magic. I will tell you when to turn it on. It’ll be after you’ve done the start, after you’ve turned RS modes off.
PR Marco Schupbach Adrian Sutil Everybody on [mediums].
PR Brad Joyce Nico Hulkenberg Nico, all drivers are on medium. Apart from Perez, from the pitlane.
FL Mark Temple Kevin Magnussen Formation lap is underway
No weaving until clear of the grid.
FL Bernadette Collins Jenson Button OK Jenson, that’s good. Keep warming the brakes. Warm the brakes.
FL ? Lewis Hamilton Unidentified voice.
Gears are learnt. Brakes are good now, brakes are coming up straight away. And tyres are good now.
FL ? Sebastian Vettel Unidentified voice.
We need a good job on engine until turn 14, please. Good job on engine until turn 14.
FL Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton Strat mode four. We’re going to do three burnouts.
FL Brad Joyce Nico Hulkenberg On arrival to your grid after burnouts, stop on the grid, select neutral, mode two, torque-3.
1 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton Cancel RS. Cancel RS when you can.
1 Jean-Eric Vergne Xevi Pujolar Vergne has hit Maldonado at turn four
Stupid Marussia. I think I broke my front wing.
1 Xevi Pujolar Jean-Eric Vergne Copy that.
1 Jean-Eric Vergne Xevi Pujolar I have absolutely no power. Nothing at all.
1 Xevi Pujolar Jean-Eric Vergne Power is coming back. Temperature problem. Can you confirm on the front wing, Jev?
2 Kimi Raikkonen Antonio Spagnolo Magnussen clips Raikkonen’s right-rear, puncturing it
I have a flat rear tyre.
2 Antonio Spagnolo Kimi Raikkonen OK, we see. Box, box.
2 Kimi Raikkonen Antonio Spagnolo I don’t know what happened to the tyre, because I didn’t touch anybody.
2 Antonio Spagnolo Kimi Raikkonen From the data, it went off immediately. Like debris, or something like this. We pit for medium, new medium.
4 Xevi Pujolar Jean-Eric Vergne OK Jev, watch the white line on the exit. Track is clear. Keep your head down. Nothing is over, here.
4 Jean-Eric Vergne Xevi Pujolar Well, you better have a better engine because otherwise I can tell you I’m not going to go far. It’s really slow.
4 Xevi Pujolar Jean-Eric Vergne OK Jev. You have hard tyres. You have also Raikkonen coming behind, he’s in turn two.
4 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg Interrupted.
Vettel is the…
4 Nico Rosberg Tony Ross Really struggling with the rears at the moment.
4 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton OK Lewis, Nico struggling with rear tyres. Make sure you look after them.
5 Jonathan Eddolls Valtteri Bottas We need to allow Felipe to overtake Magnussen, for info.
5 Mark Temple Kevin Magnussen OK Kevin, we can see some damage to the front wing. You’re doing a good job, keep it going until the first pit stop.
5 Guillaume Rocquelin Sebastian Vettel Be ready, line one. Be ready, line one. And charge map 12 – one-two. Charge map 12, one-two.
6 Felipe Massa Andrew Murdoch Bottas is pressuring his team mate ahead
Did you see what he did? He touched me!
6 Andrew Murdoch Felipe Massa Copy that, we’ll look into it now.
6 Jonathan Eddolls Valtteri Bottas Don’t attack Massa. Don’t be aggressive to Massa, we need to let him go through Magnussen and then we’ll just follow through.
6 Valtteri Bottas Jonathan Eddolls Well tell him to go through. I have more pace.
7 Mark Slade Pastor Maldonado OK Pastor, we need to box the car to retire at the end of this lap.
7 Pastor Maldonado Mark Slade Copy.
8 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg So, rich eight at the end of the lap.
8 Nico Rosberg Tony Ross That’s a lot of laps. Rear degredation is high.
8 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg Copy.
8 Mark Slade Pastor Maldonado OK Pastor. Stop on the marks, idle for five seconds and then switch off please.
9 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg So gap to Vettel, 3.4. Let us know if you need a flap adjust at the stop.
9 Nico Rosberg Tony Ross Erm… down point four on the front flap.
9 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg Copy. When you can, let us know a tyre update on HPP.
9 Xevi Pujolar Jean-Eric Vergne OK Jev, we need to look after tyres. Turns six, ten, eleven
10 Mark Temple Kevin Magnussen OK Kevin box this lap, box this lap, confirm.
10 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton So just easy on traction, turn two and turn 15. Nothing to worry about, though.
10 Kimi Raikkonen Antonio Spagnolo Very slippery overall.
10 Marco Schupbach Adrian Sutil Hard tyre. Hard tyre.
11 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton OK Lewis, you’re doing a great job. Managing the fuel really well, so just keep on pushing on. You’re doing a great job of managing the tyres, just look after them.
11 Marco Schupbach Adrian Sutil OK Adrian, we go hard tyre and we go six clicks down on the front wing. We do two more than we thought.
11 Andrew Murdoch Felipe Massa Magnussen has been given a 5-second penalty for contact with Raikkonen
Magnussen has a penalty. Magnussen in the McLaren.
11 Antonio Spagnolo Kimi Raikkonen Lap times are in line with the front people.
12 Guillaume Rocquelin Sebastian Vettel Default map 13. Default, one-three.
12 Mark Temple Kevin Magnussen The first round of pit stops has begun.
OK Kevin, we are on plan B. Plan B. Let’s focus on consistent driving through the rest of the race – that’s tyres and fuel. Nice, steady, consistent drive.
12 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton So Lewis, two tenths faster last lap. We’re just waiting for the window to open.
12 Guillaume Rocquelin Sebastian Vettel And push, Sebastian. Push.
12 Guillaume Rocquelin Sebastian Vettel Charge six. Charge six.
13 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo Box, Daniel. Box this lap. Torque one for the pitlane.
13 Ayao Komatsu Romain Grosjean OK, box Romain. Box. You’re going to be very close to Magnussen at the exit.
13 Jonathan Eddolls Valtteri Bottas So, this is the time to push, Valtteri. We’re staying out a few more laps. This is the time to push.
13 Sebastian Vettel Guillaume Rocquelin Front flap, minus four. Front flap, minus four.
13 Guillaume Rocquelin Sebastian Vettel Copy.
14 Guillaume Rocquelin Sebastian Vettel Box, box, box. Torque map one and box.
14 Dave Robson Jenson Button OK Jenson, Yellow G3. Yellow G3 and box this lap.
14 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton OK Lewis, one tenth faster last lap. Gap at 6.6.
14 Xevi Pujolar Jean-Eric Vergne OK Jev, if you get close to Chilton, OK to use overtake. Overtake for two laps. Get close to Hilton- Chilton.
14 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg So box, box, box.
15 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton OK Lewis, you’re good on fuel, so you can start to push. It won’t be long.
15 Guillaume Rocquelin Sebastian Vettel Fuel map five. Fuel five. Rosberg in the pits. Rosberg in.
15 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton So box at the end of this lap.
15 Xevi Pujolar Jean-Eric Vergne OK Jev, we’ll need another six laps. Another six laps on these tyres.
16 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton OK Lewis, so it’ll be a similar length stint for the next tyre. So it’ll be medium – no flap adjust.
16 Guillaume Rocquelin Sebastian Vettel Harvest plus two. Hamilton in. Recent tyre phase and charge ten, one-zero.
16 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton We have two second lap advantage, use overtake if you need it.
16 Gary Gannon Max Chilton You’re doing a good job, Max. Good job. Keep those cars behind you, we’re racing them. Keep them behind you.
16 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton OK Lewis, so just look after these tyres. Gap to Nico, 7.6 seconds.
17 Dave Robson Jenson Button OK Jenson. ‘R’-switch, please. Please reset the ‘R’-switch. And you could be racing Hulkenberg at the exit.
17 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo OK Daniel, we suggest you drop back a little more to look after the tyres. Aim for two seconds to Vettel. Alonso three seconds behind you.
18 Daniel Ricciardo Simon Rennie The Merc’s getting closer, though. If something goes on, I want to be a part of it.
18 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo OK Daniel, understood.
18 Daniel Ricciardo Simon Rennie I’ll be sensible with the tyres, but I won’t lose any unnecessary time.
18 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo OK mate, understood.
19 Brad Joyce Nico Hulkenberg So, just manage this pace, Nico. Manage the pace.
19 Nico Hulkenberg Brad Joyce I’m not really pushing.
19 Brad Joyce Nico Hulkenberg OK, that’s good mate. We’re looking good. Just look after them between turns nine and 14.
19 Guillaume Rocquelin Sebastian Vettel OK Sebastian, you’re +2.5 Ricciardo. Be mindful of the gap to Rosberg. Do not hurt your tyres.
19 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo From the inflection this sounds like a reply to an earlier, unbroadcast comment from Ricciardo.
OK Daniel, it is a lot better for energy. So you’ll get less ‘K’ clipping if you keep this setting. We’ll get more ‘K’ release if you keep this setting.
19 Daniel Ricciardo Simon Rennie Understood.
20 Xevi Pujolar Jean-Eric Vergne Vergne retires
OK Jev, it will be box and head straight into the garage.
21 Andrew Murdoch Felipe Massa OK Felipe, we need to start looking after the tyres in turns two, three and turn six. Look after the rear tyres.
21 Mark Temple Kevin Magnussen OK Kevin, you’re doing a really good job with fuel and tyres. We can afford to push the tyres a little more, so pace minus two.
21 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg Er, gap to Vettel is currently 2.5. We’d like to increase the gap and then we’ll go to more savings.
21 Nico Rosberg Tony Ross Difficult to go faster.
21 Guillaume Rocquelin Sebastian Vettel Be ready, line one.
22 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg So rich-9 at the end of this lap.
22 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton We’re going to look after this engine. We’re just going to turn it down a little bit. It’ll be HPP2 to position two. That’s for both cars.
22 Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington Just make sure I’ve done that right?
22 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton Copy, that’s correct.
23 Guillaume Rocquelin Sebastian Vettel So if you think it’ll help you, harvest zero is available.
23 Sebastian Vettel Guillaume Rocquelin Negative, harvest zero. Negative.
23 Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington Is there any more I can do to look after this engine?
23 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton Nope. You’re doing a very good job at the moment, Lewis. We’ll let you know, but just keep doing what you’re doing. And Nico, half a tenth faster last lap – he’s just trying to pull a gap to Vettel.
24 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo OK, think about rear slip on exit.
24 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton OK Lewis, you are in your Safety Car window.
25 Mark Temple Kevin Magnussen And Kevin, remember to drink. Drink.
25 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg Gap to Vettel 3.6, we’d like to get it to at least 5 please.
26 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg And let us know if you need a flap adjust at the stop.
26 Nico Rosberg Tony Ross No change, no change.
26 Dave Robson Jenson Button OK Jenson, Yellow G3. Yellow G3 and box this lap.
26 Sebastian Vettel Guillaume Rocquelin Front wing minus three.
26 Guillaume Rocquelin Sebastian Vettel Loud and clear. Understood.
27 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo OK Daniel, what do you think about front wing? And charge five. Charge five. Do you want to change front wing setting?
27 Daniel Ricciardo Simon Rennie Are we still on 3-3-3?
27 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo Yeah, confirm.
27 Daniel Ricciardo Simon Rennie I think we can go up a couple of clicks.
27 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo Understood.
27 Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington Blue flags, please.
27 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton OK Lewis, so you’ve got a group of six cars ahead, all traffic. They’re getting blue flags. Just be careful trying to get through.
28 Andrea Stella Fernando Alonso OK Fernando, so box now. Box.
28 Andrew Murdoch Felipe Massa OK Felipe, box. Box Felipe.
28 Dave Robson Jenson Button OK Jenson, some switch changes for rear temperatures – so Purple-C13 position one. Purple-C13 position one.
29 Andrew Murdoch Felipe Massa OK Felipe, we need to look after the rear tyres in this stint. We need to make them last. Back to standard mode, standard mode.
29 Jonathan Eddolls Valtteri Bottas How many laps are left at this pace in the tyres from your side? How many laps in the tyres?
29 Valtteri Bottas Jonathan Eddolls Two or three.
29 Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington Can you keep me up to date with the pace?
29 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton OK Lewis, pace is still good. Half a second faster than Nico last lap. Gap is 10.5, you’re doing a great job.
29 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg And bite-point eight.
30 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg Just be advised there is rain in the area, not absolutely imminent, but we are seeing it on the radar.
30 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton So Gutierrez has blue flags.
30 Marco Schupbach Adrian Sutil Adrian, is stability an issue everywhere, or is it high-speed, low-speed?
30 Adrian Sutil Marco Schupbach It’s only low-speed.
30 Marco Schupbach Adrian Sutil OK, OK.
31 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton OK Lewis, there are clouds forming away from the circuit. Possible threat of rain before the end of the race – we’ll keep you updated. If you could give us a balance check?
31 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton So zero to Nico last lap, gap – 10.2.
31 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg So still target one, Nico. Still rich one.
32 Guillaume Rocquelin Sebastian Vettel Box, box, box. Torque map one and box.
32 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton OK Lewis, we’re going to try and stretch these stints as long as we can – protect ourselves against some rain.
32 Nico Rosberg Tony Ross Tyres are finished.
32 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg Box, box, box.
32 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo OK Daniel, target -0.05. Target -0.05.
33 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton OK Lewis, so box at the end of this lap. Push, push. We’ll come down half a turn on front wing, let us know if you want more.
34 Esteban Gutierrez Craig Gardiner How does it look for the other guys at the front?
34 Craig Gardiner Esteban Gutierrez They look very similar, so it’s more up to you to tell us what you prefer.
34 Esteban Gutierrez Craig Gardiner The feeling at the balance of the front is better, it’s a bit more understeer.
34 Craig Gardiner Esteban Gutierrez Copy. For us, it looks very similar, so consider front-wing change and let us know what you want. I think it’ll also depend on when we pit, Esteban.
34 Nico Hulkenberg Brad Joyce I’m really losing the rear now.
34 Brad Joyce Nico Hulkenberg Copy that, Nico. Torque five. Torque five. Pits this lap, pits this lap, pit confirm.
35 Kimi Raikkonen Antonio Spagnolo It’s raining a little bit on the back of the circuit.
35 Antonio Spagnolo Kimi Raikkonen OK, so we stay out. We see how it develops, the weather.
36 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull drivers get an audio ‘beep’ telling them when to lift the throttle approaching corners to save fuel.
OK Daniel, just hit the beeps. Hit the lift-off beeps. Fuel is OK, hit the beeps.
36 Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington Adrian Sutil has stopped at the exit of the final corner
I can see very small droplets of rain on my visor, out of turn nine. What can I do to look after the car a little bit more?
36 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton OK Lewis, you’ve got double waved yellows at the last corner. Marshalls on track, so lose half a second. So the rain we see on the radar is very, very light. So nothing to worry about at the moment, but just keep us updated. Nico 0.1 seconds slower – gap at 11 seconds.
37 Sebastian Vettel Guillaume Rocquelin Rosberg seems to lose either oil or water for the last couple of laps already.
37 Guillaume Rocquelin Sebastian Vettel Understood. It’s raining in turn nine and ten – there are some drops in nine and ten, in case that’s where you’ve seen it. Kobayashi ahead, traffic. Copy message.
38 Guillaume Rocquelin Sebastian Vettel And Sebastian, we have to use second gear in one, two and nine.
38 Daniel Ricciardo Simon Rennie What tyre is Alonso on?
38 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo Medium. Alonso on medium.
38 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo Update tyre rotary when you can.
38 Antonio Spagnolo Kimi Raikkonen Raikkonen is behind Kobayashi in the Caterham.
Use DRS.
39 Marco Matassa Daniil Kvyat Blue flag, Daniil. Do not impede Hamilton. Blue flag for him.
40 Guillaume Rocquelin Sebastian Vettel Sebastian, there are spots in the air, turn 14.
40 Sebastian Vettel Guillaume Rocquelin Rocky, speak up when you talk. Speak up and repeat.
40 Guillaume Rocquelin Sebastian Vettel Copy. There’s rain in the air, and drops in turn 14, but the track is dry.
40 Dave Robson Jenson Button Box this lap. This is the Hard tyre and I’m going to go down one turn.
41 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo Box Daniel, box this lap.
41 Daniel Ricciardo Simon Rennie Ricciardo is sent out with the left-front wheel not secured
Left-front’s not on.
41 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo OK, stop. Stay as you are.
41 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton OK Lewis, so you were two tenths slower than Nico last lap. The gap is at 11 seconds. Or if you want to keep some flexibility towards the end of the race in case this rain comes along.
42 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo OK Daniel. We’re going to tighten that wheel up. We’re going to go on the same set. Do a normal pull away from the pit stop, please.
42 Andrea Stella Fernando Alonso Followed by a brief message in Italian.
OK Fernando, it will be box at the end of this lap. Use the ‘K-2’ button, ‘P’ button on.
43 Sebastian Vettel Guillaume Rocquelin Vettel is trying to lap Grosjean.
Can you ask Charlie to get him blue flag?
43 Daniel Ricciardo Simon Rennie Ricciardo is cruising with front wing damage and a puncture
I’ve got a front-right puncture. What should I do?
43 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo Pressures still look OK Daniel… if you think you’ve got a puncture, come in.
43 Daniel Ricciardo Simon Rennie Yeah, it’s a big cut.
43 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo OK, understood.
43 Daniel Ricciardo Simon Rennie It’s still got air, but it’s about to go, I think.
43 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo Mode six. Mode six. Alonso now eight seconds behind you. Box this lap, box this lap. We are changing tyres and front wing.
44 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton So you are your Safety Car window. There is debris on the track, I will let you know where.
44 Sebastian Vettel Guillaume Rocquelin Vettel is still behind Grosjean.
If you could ask Charlie to tell him in French, maybe then he understands.
44 Guillaume Rocquelin Sebastian Vettel Understood. Fuel map four. Respect the fuel.
45 Guillaume Rocquelin Sebastian Vettel OK Sebastian, we’d like to avoid going on the [hards] too early. So stay out, do your pace.
46 Nico Hulkenberg Brad Joyce Hulkenberg is committed to a two-stop strategy.
There is not much grip on these tyres and no rear support. Do you think it’s OK if I slide them a bit more?
46 Brad Joyce Nico Hulkenberg Copy that, give it all. Lock the diff and keep pushing.
47 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo OK Daniel, we have a drive-though penalty, sorry, a stop-go penalty.
47 Daniel Ricciardo Simon Rennie Might as well just call it a day.
47 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo OK Daniel, we’re keeping going. There may be some weather in the area. We may still get some rain. Keep it up mate.
48 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg So situation is – there are nine laps remaining in the race. We still need to swtich to Hard tyres, we are still waiting for strategy.
48 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo Oil transfer, when you can.
49 Daniel Ricciardo Simon Rennie Should I just create space and do a few laps clean? Otherwise I’m just sitting in his gearbox.
49 Guillaume Rocquelin Sebastian Vettel OK Sebastian, for the front wing, exit turn 14 kerb is the problem. Exit turn 14 is the corner you need to look after. Drive on normally for the rest. Turn 14, focus.
49 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton OK Lewis, looks like everyone’s holding out for this rain. Just keep managing the tyres, you’re doing a great job.
49 Guillaume Rocquelin Sebastian Vettel OK Sebastian, we need a small bit of fuel. So 1-73.
50 Gary Gannon Max Chilton No blue yet, Max. No blue yet. I don’t know why they’re waving flags.
50 Guillaume Rocquelin Sebastian Vettel Box, box, box. Torque map one and box.
50 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg So bite point seven when you can. Box, box, box.
50 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton So the next tyre will be the [hard]. We’ll go down two turns. Let us know if you want anything different. Ericsson ahead is traffic, he has blue flags.
51 Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington I’ve got a couple more laps left in these tyres. Couple more laps.
51 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton OK copy that Lewis, message understood. OK Lewis, Nico in the pit this lap.
51 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton OK Lewis, so box box, box box.
52 Andrew Murdoch Felipe Massa OK Felipe we need engine mode position eight for temperatures.
52 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo We are retiring, box this lap please, box this lap. OK Daniel so stop in the box and switch off. Just stay in the car for a minute, please, stay in the car.
53 Andrew Murdoch Felipe Massa Massa is seventh, less than two seconds behind Button but with Bottas less than a second behind
OK Felipe. Valtteri is faster than you, do not hold him up. Valtteri is faster than you, do not hold him up.
53 Jonathan Eddolls Valtteri Bottas You’re faster than Massa, overtake him. You’re faster than Massa, overtake him. You’re faster than Felipe, overtake him now.
53 Guillaume Rocquelin Sebastian Vettel Vettel gets another message to save fuel.
Sebastian we need more on fuel. Target one seven two.
53 Sebastian Vettel Guillaume Rocquelin OK understood.
53 Andrew Murdoch Felipe Massa OK Felipe, Valtteri’s faster than you, he’s got fresher tyres, do not hold him up.
53 Andrew Murdoch Felipe Massa OK Felipe, Valtteri has got better tyres, we need to let him go.
54 Ayao Komatsu Romain Grosjean OK Romain continue to use overtake button.
54 Romain Grosjean Ayao Komatsu I’ll do my best, it’s getting worse and worse.
54 Ayao Komatsu Romain Grosjean Yeah, understood Romain, understood.
54 ? Felipe Massa Unidentified voice.
Felipe you’re slower than Valtteri, let him past. You’re slower than Valtteri, don’t hold him up.
54 Felipe Massa Andrew Murdoch Getting quicker.
55 Jonathan Eddolls Valtteri Bottas Pull to the right to cool the engine on the straight, pull to the right.
55 Valtteri Bottas Jonathan Eddolls I have more pace but if he’s releasing full every atraight there’s no chance I can get through.
55 Jonathan Eddolls Valtteri Bottas Copy that, we’re racing him.
55 Andrew Murdoch Felipe Massa Felipe we need you to cool the car for temperatures.
55 Andrew Murdoch Felipe Massa OK we need to lift and coast to cool the car, we need you to lift and coast to cool the car.
55 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton OK Lewis you are the fastest man on track, we can back the pace off a little bit. Just look after the car.
55 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton So 1.3 faster than Nico last lap, gap 14.7, Ericsson ahead is traffic.
55 Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington OK man I hear you.
55 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton If we can just keep the rpm a little bit higher on downshifts, that will be good.
56 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton OK Lewis you’re on your final lap, take no risks.
56 Andrew Murdoch Felipe Massa OK Felipe we’ll hold position, Valtteri will not attack you, Valtteri will not attack you. Just cool the car, keep cooling the car. Valtteri will not attack you, just cool the car.
56 Valtteri Bottas Jonathan Eddolls I can get him in the next lap. Can I get?
56 Jonathan Eddolls Valtteri Bottas We really need to cool the engine. Negative on the overtake.
VL Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton Awesome race, Lewis. Awesome race. Faultless weekend. You’ve done the job there, pal.
VL Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington Really grateful for the job, guys. Thank you so much.
VL Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton Strat mode eleven. Just look after it, bring it home, brings the revs home. Did an epic job there Lewis.
VL Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton That’s a one-two for Mercedes. P3 we’ve got Vettel. Then Alonso, Hulkenberg, Button, Massa, Bottas, Magnussen, Kvyat. Awesome job. So pick up what you can.
VL ? Lewis Hamilton Unidentified voice.
Yeah well done there Lewis, made it look easy.
VL Tony Ross Nico Rosberg Good job Nico so remember pick up rubber, just look after the engine revs on the in-lap.
VL Guillaume Rocquelin Sebastian Vettel Good job mate. You fought hard, we didn’t have the pace, we did a good job. Well done.
VL Sebastian Vettel Guillaume Rocquelin Thanks boys. Well executed race. We are not yet there where we want to be. There’s a lot of stuff we still need to improve, but we’ll get there.
VL Christian Horner Sebastian Vettel Well done Sebby. You did the best with what we had available, well done.
VL Jonathan Eddolls Valtteri Bottas So you finished P8. Great job, we knew there was more positions there, we’ll have a chat afterwards.
VL Valtteri Bottas Jonathan Eddolls Thanks guys, well done. I’m just hundred percent sure I could have got the McLaren.

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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Additional transcription by @keithcollantine.

Malaysian Grand Prix data

Image © Williams/LAT

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Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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75 comments on “2014 Malaysian Grand Prix team radio transcript”

  1. I can foresee the Massa-Bottas situation happening again and Williams losing patience. I hope Bottas can do some good qualifying sessions – i think he could be the real deal. His professionalism is impressive.

    1. I was in fact surprised that Williams used team orders, the same team that had so many internal fights in the past (Reutemann-Jones, Piquet-Mansell, Montoya-R. Schumacher). Still, I tend to agree with those who say the poor choice of words only enraged Felipe.

      1. It’s clear that wasn’t a Frank’s decision.

    2. I’m thoroughly impressed by Bottas too. I think his talent is matched by his professionalism in the car, as well as in the interviews.

  2. I believe this was Rod Nelson… or at least the Felipe Massa website states it as such.

    54 ? Felipe Massa Unidentified voice.
    Felipe you’re slower than Valtteri, let him past. You’re slower than Valtteri, don’t hold him up.

    1. Perhaps if Rob Smedley had picked up the microphone instead of Rod Neslon and told the same stuff to Massa “Felipe you’re slower than Valterri, let him past” , Massa would have easily moved over just because of the sheer habit !!!!! LOL

  3. Tony Ross Nico Rosberg Copy. When you can, let us know a tyre update on HPP.

    What is HPP?

    1. HPP simply means High Possibility of Puncture. ;)

    2. Well the team at Brixworth is “Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains”, so presumably it is that.

    3. From the transpcript, I think it’s a dial on the steering wheel. I think they spoke of both HPP-1 and HPP-2.

    4. @egorov @geemac @joetoml1n Ncedi is correct. It’s a multifunction dial on the Merc steering wheel: http://www.mercedesamgf1.com/en/news/2014/2014-tech-guide-steering-wheel/

  4. During the race when they telecast the team radio messages, the driver name is displayed. It would be better if FOM could also provide the name of the other person, so that we can have information on:

    1. Who is he talking to (name of the person)
    2. Who is he taking to (engineer or team principle or random guy)

  5. 12 Guillaume Rocquelin Sebastian Vettel Default map 13. Default, one-three.

    Interesting.

    1. Good thing Dan picked number 3 for his car, and not 74 or something…

    2. Vettel was ahead by two seconds when the default 13 message was given. Riccardo wasn’t catching him up at all. Red Bull gave Riccardo the pitstop preference right after which brought him into DRS range again. Both Ricciardo and then Vettel were told respectively to keep a 2 secs gap to look after tyres. Are we sure default map 13 is what people think it is? There’s a ‘charge map 12, one-two’ order prior to that. For it to be a team order there had to be a similar message on Riccardo’s side and FOM wouldn’t have let it slip given the huge attention from the public?

  6. And this is good news in that Rosberg was not holding back too much so fight for title might actually be on:

    21 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg Er, gap to Vettel is currently 2.5. We’d like to increase the gap and then we’ll go to more savings.

    21 Nico Rosberg Tony Ross Difficult to go faster.

    1. It also means that Vettel might have indeed have had a slight chance to overtake had it not been for the yellow flags due to Sutil’s retirement.

      1. Joe (@joetoml1n)
        2nd April 2014, 13:10

        Difficult, but not impossible.. Probably due Rosbergs setup that was worse than expected.. Hamilton was more comfortable and a long way up the road

    2. I doubt this very much. This was Tony Ross’s reply – which indicated that Merc had an answer. They simply switched on to a “rich” engine mix. This would explain Rosberg subsequently pulling away.
      Lap 22: Tony Ross – So rich-9 at the end of this lap.

  7. mattshaw85 (@)
    2nd April 2014, 12:48

    Think if Bottas was 100% sure he could get the McLaren then Massa shouldn’t have been a problem?

    1. Joe (@joetoml1n)
      2nd April 2014, 13:12

      I guess the problem was the Williams cars being highest in the speed traps, and at times Massa having DRS as well (from Button in front) but to defend from Bottas.

    2. Massa’s was the fastest car in a straight line, and according to Bottas he was giving it everything on the straights. Add to that a bit more caution about taking out your team mate than a rival and I can see how it would be difficult to get past him.

    3. mattshaw85 (@)
      2nd April 2014, 14:04

      Ah I see your points. Fair enough, perhaps mature driving from Bottas not slinging one up the inside.

    4. Lap time wise, Bottas was about 3.5 – 5 tenths faster than Massa and Button in the last ten laps. Also, the speed traps from qualy shows that Massa could be about 5km/h faster than Button, still he couldn’t overtake him. And also, what JimG said.

  8. I think it should be Jonathan Eddolls, not Jonathan EddoLLLs :)

  9. If you could ask Charlie to tell him in French, maybe then he understands.

    That’s a gem right there…

    1. Yeah, mega rude.

    2. Good one from Seb .

  10. Does anyone know what this was about?

    48 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo Oil transfer, when you can.

    Oil transfer… To my mind it could either be a manual setting to “top up” oil lost, or possibly moving oild around the car to improve weight distribution, but I’ve never heard of such systems before.

    1. Joe (@joetoml1n)
      2nd April 2014, 13:14

      The cars have a second oil tank containing a smaller amount of oil.. After a certain distance, the driver transfers oil from the secondary tank to the main resevoir – as a top up as you suggested.

      1. Thanks, that clears it up :)

  11. RIC saying ‘We might aswell call it a day’. Didn’t saw that coming.

    1. @ardenflo: No, it sounds a bit lacking in tenacity.

      1. I’m not sure about that, I mean a lot went wrong in a very short space of time…he must have been frustrated.

        I mean we’ve heard Alonso say “I give up” and he’s definitely the last person I would ever expect to do so…

      2. @ardenflo @jimg Don’t forget how precious engine, sorry, power train components are this year. They’re only allowed five of each, so they need to be really particular. It makes more sense to call it a day and save putting any unnecessary stress on the engine parts this season if you think your afternoon is effectively over.

        1. @magnificent-geoffrey: True. And I don’t remember hearing that particular message, so I don’t know how Dan sounded: was he giving up, or beating a tactical retreat?

  12. That was the worst drivers managing by Williams engineers. They could simply told Massa that Bottas is at different strategy and that he is chasing Magnusen instead of telling him that he is “faster than you”!!! It is frustrating for any driver to hear that kind of thing while fighting for positions. And they shouldn’t ask Bottas to attack Massa without confirmation from Massa that he will actually drop his guard at let through Bottas. That was bad management from the team. And another thing. It seems that Massa is too nervous right now and needs to relax a bit. I know that he thinks that this is his last couple of years in F1 but still. That’s why he was keen to retain his position. I think that even Alonso wouldn’t react that way cause he is comfortable with his results and reputation, while Felipe…. Maybe Im wrong?

      1. @bullfrog :D I hear you mate.

    1. @nidzovski

      And they shouldn’t ask Bottas to attack Massa without confirmation from Massa that he will actually drop his guard at let through Bottas.

      Whaatt?? Are you seriously saying that teams should wait for the slower driver’s permission before allowing the faster driver to overtake?

      “Okay Felipe, is it okay if Valtteri overtakes you coz he is quicker? But if you object, we can tell him not to coz we really dont care about the championship points.”

      1. @1abe ” Are you seriously saying that teams should wait for the slower driver’s permission before allowing the faster driver to overtake?”
        No I don’t think that the team should ask anything from their drivers in the first place, because of the fact that they are racers employed to race everybody and gain positions. But if you inform Bottas to attack Massa because he is faster at the moment it would be wise to say at least that Massa is not willing to let go that position so that Bottas would know the risk. I never liked team orders and I go to extremes by saying that there should be a one team with one driver only, but that is my ideal world I guess. I’m just saying that if there are team orders in the first place, they should be better organized and sounding like you are giving up of something but to sound like you are doing the best for the team, and Massa wasn’t doing that at all.

        1. The last part should be written like this:
          ” I’m just saying that if there are team orders in the first place, they should be better organized and NOT sound like you are giving up of something but to sound like you are doing the best for the team, and Massa wasn’t doing that at all.”
          Sorry for my English and damn I need that edit button! :)

  13. Seems to be a light error here, Keith Collantine – I presume you meant “chain”. Even with that correction, the sentence still does not read right grammatically.
    “appeared to include an instruction from higher up the change of command were forced to give up on the idea.

  14. What is clear, is that despite the way it looks on screen, there is still far too much tyre saving going on, and the drivers are simply pushing within the limits of these artificially created constraints; hence they are NOT pushing to their full capabilities. I thought we were saved from these wretched tyres this season.
    What is the point of all these fuel saving or tyre saving malarkey? Of what use is this “skill” to racing drivers? To show they are “intelligent”?? Or they are doing their bit for the planet? Save tyres. Save fuel. Save the engine. Save the car. What will they be saving next? Themselves?? What silly nonsense!

    1. Who can be the best robot basically. Qualifying is still quite good though… Still some love there.

  15. On FL to LH “Strat mode4” can this be referring to charge stratification, can it be possible that they have multiple options for something that must happen in nano=seconds?
    If so this is a serious advance in fuel/power management.

    1. “Strat” is one of the dials on the Mercedes steering wheel, and it refers to “strategy”.

  16. I’d love a count of the number of times they say “OK” over the radio during a weekend or even an entire season. Must be astronomical…

    1. For sure

      1. anthony (@substructure)
        3rd April 2014, 11:01

        haha, i see what you did there

        1. it fine movement .for me in the race section .
          i am very happy in the @ present move movement …….

    2. OK, Box box box. Push push.

    3. Sounds like a drinking game coming up!

  17. I dont understand a single thing from Vettel and Rocky’s converstaion except few things in english..makes me laugh on this…tell him in French..speak up man speak up..and there is a leak in Ros car..

    He has the talent..even the slow car he managed the podium..whomever says the car brought him WDC has to think..Merc never tried to race anyone..just managed the pace and race.

    1. Vettel asking Charlie to tell Grosjean in French was hilarious! I wish that would have been on the broadcast! I think Vettel thought Rosberg’s car was losing oil because he may have gotten drops of something, probably rain, on his visor. I remember in Singapore 2012 when he said “Hamilton’s car is losing oil” right before Lewis retired.

      It will be interesting to see if people start to say it’s the car that is winning the races if Lewis wins more by a large gap.

  18. Well, reading all these transcripts I am convinced that Alonso does not exist. Really strange as I saw his car on footage.

    About team orders in Williams: it doesn’t matter which words they used. There is a team and you have to conform with the rules in your team. Massa was not fighting for a win. So, he should have let Bottas through.

  19. Valtteri Bottas – Thanks guys, well done. I’m just hundred percent sure I could have got the McLaren.”

    That is a ridiculous statement.

    To Bottas be so sure that he would be able to overtake Button he also should be able to overtake Massa without any team order.

  20. I think this is very strange: “Stupid Marussia”.

  21. Fantastic to relive the race from Williams’ point of view. Also, weird that Raikkonen didn’t even know Magnussen hit him.

    Get close to Hilton- Chilton.

    Is that really what he said? Pretty funny :)

      1. @willwood From now on I will officially refer to him as Hilton-Chilton :)

        1. @andae23 I should clarify. He wasn’t actually referring to him as “Hilton-Chilton” like some sort of funny nickname, it was just an amusing slip of the tongue. ;)

          1. @willwood Ah OK, copy :)

  22. Ok, everyone, I think we can add ‘Ok’ to every ironic line about drivers using ‘for sure’ and ‘obviously’ a lot..

  23. Tony Ross has the most boring way of saying “Box… Box… Box…”

    Rocky’s “Box, box, box. Torque Map 1 and Box” is bar far the most entertaining. Always mouth the words when I see it coming :P

  24. Mag got asked to drink, anyone think he was the one who fainted? Or reading too far into it..

    1. McLaren still use this radio message, not quite sure what it is about.

  25. Does anyone have a link to a video clip showing what happened between Bottas and Massa early in the race when Massa said “Did you see what he did? He touched me!”.

    I want to see if Bottas was really doing something wrong of if Massa was asking for team orders himself.

    1. Actually it was quite funny reading the “excuses” that Williams told to Massa. “Cool the engine” “LIFT and COAST the car”. Really? Massa is not an easy driver anymore. If I were Massa I would just laugh in the face of my engineer.

  26. Did anyone notice the subtle reply Riciardo gives when asked to fall back . Beautiful ! Top man Ricciardo .
    Also , Williams have obviously not discussed this situation earlier as a possible scenario.
    Whoa ! I never thought hit the beeps would be a radio conversation in f1 ;-)
    Thanks a lot f1f for this feature . Top job !

    1. ric didn’t hold pace for long.

  27. “Felipe, a gp2 car behind you is faster then you, do you copy, please let him through”

  28. 6 Valtteri Bottas Jonathan Eddolls Well tell him to go through. I have more pace.

    So, if I understood correctly, Valtteri is ordering his engineer to talk to Massa’s engineer so he can order Massa to overtake Magnussen.
    Valtteri needs to chill down, me thinks, and learn that if he really has all that pace he must be able to overtake by himself or remain silent.
    In any case, i think that to issue team orders at the SECOND race of the season when the drivers are 7º and 8º, must be some sort of world record…

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