2015 Austrian Grand Prix team radio transcript

2015 Austrian Grand Prix

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Have the current power units have become too complicated for the drivers to manage? Jenson Button and Valtteri Bottas were perplexed by two of the instructions which came from the pit wall during the Austrian Grand Prix.

In Button’s case, his instruction to change a setting he couldn’t identify came shortly before McLaren decided to retire his car to prevent damage to his Honda power unit.

Marcus Ericsson suffered persistent problems with his power unit during the race as well. He made it to the chequered flag, but his Ferrari power plant cut out on more than one occasion during the race.

In the battle for the lead, Lewis Hamilton was disappointed his bid to get ahead of Nico Rosberg during their mid-race pit stops failed and requested an explanation from the pit wall. His race engineer told him they had gambled on Rosberg getting held up behind Massa, only for the Williams driver to head to the pits.

Hamilton was at least able to salvage second place, but there were no points for Daniil Kvyat following his first-lap contact with Sergio Perez. His Red Bull suffered bodywork damage and after taking the flag he reported the race had been “like hell”.

Here are all the radio messages which were played during the television coverage of the Austrian Grand Prix.

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2015 Austrian Grand Prix team radio transcript

Lap* From To Message
PR Marco Matassa Carlos Sainz Jnr Syncrhonise all the gears before turn two.
PR Mark Slade Pastor Maldonado Happy for you to apply the brakes harder for turns two and three on this lap.
PR Nico Hulkenberg Brad Joyce And I’ll need the helmet on the grid, the visor is not sealing well, still got air coming through.
PR Daniel Ricciardo Simon Rennie Brakes still didn’t get quite good bite but felt at least even across the axle at the moment.
PR Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo OK.
PR Daniel Ricciardo Simon Rennie Pre-start revs was really bad, I guess you heard?
PR Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo Yeah, saw that.
PR Valtteri Bottas Jonathan Eddolls Balance feels good
PR Jonathan Eddolls Valtteri Bottas Copy that, that’s all good.
PR Gianpiero Lambiase Daniil Kvyat All OK, Dany?
PR Daniil Kvyat Gianpiero Lambiase Yeah all OK.
PR Nico Rosberg Tony Ross Up on the front flap, another 0.25
PR Tony Ross Nico Rosberg OK we need to go into the garage to do that Nico, look for Nath, go on wheelie boards again.
PR Nico Rosberg Tony Ross Plus 0.3.
PR Tony Ross Nico Rosberg OK so when you get into the garage please go up one turn on the front wing, please.
PR David Greenwood Unknown So, happy with balance, there was a little bit of understeer, but by going to diff-int zero we feel that’s a better approach that front wing. He tried on that lap.
PR Unknown David Greenwood OK copy, for me it is more or less between zero or plus one it is up to the driver. Fuoco reported very high grip at the start in GP3.
PR Lewis Hamilton Unknown Jock it looks like the track goes from left to right downhill.
PR Unknown Lewis Hamilton Lewis, Jocky. Yes it does but very little. And the run to the first corner is very short. So I don’t think there is anything to be gained plus or minus, you would look slightly to the right, but you would generally approach T1 from the middle, or drift to the middle. If you’re lining up you would be very slightly to the right but not much.
PR Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo Quite a few clouds around, so maybe some light rain, a bit like we had this morning in the GP2 race. so you may get a bit on your visor but it won’t settle on the ground, so just to be aware there may be a few spots.
PR Julien Simon-Chautemps Romain Grosjean Everyone on [super-soft] except Alonso, Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Perez
PR Gianpiero Lambiase Daniil Kvyat Kimi to the right of you, Perez ahead and Maldonado in tenth starting on [soft] tyres
FL Nico Hulkenberg Brad Joyce Very under-engaged clutch, no initial drive at all.
FL Brad Joyce Nico Hulkenberg Copy that Nico
FL Jenson Button Unknown Just had a false neutral, then pulled for another gear and it went to first.
FL Unknown Jenson Button It’s looking OK, Jenson. OK try to learn five, six, seven and eight.
2 Daniil Kvyat Gianpiero Lambiase Front wing. Should be OK, should be OK. No, front wing…
2 Gianpiero Lambiase Daniil Kvyat OK, box and confirm.
2 Daniil Kvyat Gianpiero Lambiase Right, keep looking, keep watching.
2 Jenson Button Tom Stallard Is Fernando OK is he OK?
2 Tom Stallard Jenson Button Yes he is out of the car, he’s OK. Raikkonen also out of the car.
3 Will Stevens Josh Peckett Check for punctures there was load of debris on the track
3 Jenson Button Tom Stallard Yeah we did get through a lot of debris as his front wing fell off, don’t know if you can see anything in the data straight after that, just before turn three.
4 Jenson Button Tom Stallard The engine in the Manor behind me looks like it is blowing
4 Josh Peckett Will Stevens OK Will stop the car, park the car by the side of the circuit, stop the car.
4 Jenson Button Tom Stallard Don’t suppose you are interested in pitting, are you, for the other tyre?
4 Tom Stallard Jenson Button I still think it’s better to take the penalty on this tyre.
4 Jenson Button Tom Stallard Yeah but I mean not stopping.
4 Tom Stallard Jenson Button Jenson our intent is to following the Safety Car into the pits and take the penalty immediately, as soon as the Safety Car period ends, and then effectively start the race on this tyre.
4 Jenson Button Tom Stallard So we don’t think we can do the race on the other set of tyres? The whole way?
4 Tom Stallard Jenson Button OK, understood Jenson, Let’s try that. Box this lap.
4 Jenson Button Tom Stallard OK box this lap.
4 Tim Wright Sergio Perez There might be some light spots of rain in the first 20 minutes of the race but we don’t expect it to be significant rain. But we will keep you informed.
5 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton Be mindful on the restart pressures are low. Be careful wirth locking, that would really hurt us.
6 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg Pretty sure it may well go this lap. Cars are clear. Remember Safety Car line one is where there’s no overtaking until. The Safety Car lghts will go out between five and six, you’ll control the pace threre.
6 Tom Stallard Jenson Button The Safety Car is in this lap that means we are box this lap to serve your penalty. Box this lap
6 Jenson Button Tom Stallard OK box this lap,
8 Romain Grosjean Julien Simon-Chautemps Come on he is weaving all over the place. Check if there is any damage.
8 Julien Simon-Chautemps Romain Grosjean All OK at the moment, keep going.
9 Tom Stallard Jenson Button Jenson default X5B.
9 Jenson Button Tom Stallard You’re going to explain that one to me, I can’t find it.
9 Tom Stallard Jenson Button Jenson slow the car please, slow the car.
9 Jenson Button Tom Stallard Yeah there is no 5B.
9 Tom Stallard Jenson Button OK slow in-lap, and we need to box
9 Jenson Button Tom Stallard OK.
9 Tom Stallard Jenson Button Box this lap, retire the car
12 Tim Wright Sergio Perez Grosjean behind on the super soft. In seven or eight laps, you will be on the better tyre.
12 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo How is the balance?
12 Daniel Ricciardo Simon Rennie Understeer at the moment
12 Xevi Pujolar Max Verstappen OK front brakes are hot, need to get some free air
13 Carlos Sainz Jnr Marco Matassa Nasr is slowing me down.
13 Julien Simon-Chautemps Romain Grosjean OK Romain we need to try and pass this Perez, pass Perez.
13 Romain Grosjean Julien Simon-Chautemps Yeah but it’s not possible.
14 Gianpiero Lambiase Daniil Kvyat Cars from P7 to P10 lapping in 1.13.4. Pick up the pace at this stage if you can.
16 Jonathan Eddolls Valtteri Bottas Great overtake
16 Craig Gardiner Felipe Nasr OK that is a good job pulling away from Sainz, he does not have DRS.
17 Gianpiero Lambiase Daniil Kvyat So for your info Dany, we do have quite a bit of bodywork damage which will affect your balance mostly from the front. So adjust your control system as you need to, you are going in the right direction.
18 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton Good job there Lewis, closing the gap nice and steady
20 Mark Slade Pastor Maldonado Are you being held up?
20 Pastor Maldonado Mark Slade Yes a little bit, but not too much, just when I get quite close it is difficult
20 Mark Slade Pastor Maldonado Understood, Pastor.
20 Max Verstappen Xevi Pujolar Clipping is getting bigger and bigger.
20 Xevi Pujolar Max Verstappen Go to battery 7. Gap to Nasr 2.6 behind. It would be good to increase the gap behind to have margin
21 Brad Joyce Nico Hulkenberg That is a good lap there
21 Nico Hulkenberg Brad Joyce How are the [softs] performing?
21 Brad Joyce Nico Hulkenberg [Softs] not as strong as this tyre
23 Marcus Ericsson Erik Schuivens Engine breakdown
23 Erik Schuivens Marcus Ericsson OK full switch-off proceure.
23 Marcus Ericsson Erik Schuivens It’s on again
23 Erik Schuivens Marcus Ericsson OK, try to continue
23 Marcus Ericsson Erik Schuivens It just went black, the whole screen
23 Erik Schuivens Marcus Ericsson OK copy Marcus, continue and stand by.
24 Jonathan Eddolls Valtteri Bottas You are in the window, do the opposite of Hulkenberg
24 Valtteri Bottas Jonathan Eddolls You mean box now if he doesn’t?
24 Jonathan Eddolls Valtteri Bottas Negative, stay out only if is a Safety Car.
25 Max Verstappen Xevi Pujolar I am starting to lose the rear in turn two.
25 Carlos Sainz Jnr Marco Matassa Balance understeer tyre phase three.
25 Marco Matassa Carlos Sainz Jnr How many laps on this tyre do you think?
25 Carlos Sainz Jnr Marco Matassa Seven.
25 Marco Matassa Carlos Sainz Jnr Pit confirm and box, torque map six, watch the line.
25 Carlos Sainz Jnr Marco Matassa I continue becsue Nasr stopped
26 Brad Joyce Nico Hulkenberg Racing Ricciardo on exit
27 Gianpiero Lambiase Daniil Kvyat Verstappen is in, we are racing Verstappen, give it everything you have got at this stage please Dany.
27 Nico Rosberg Tony Ross Graining on the right-front now.
27 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg Copy copy
28 Tim Wright Sergio Perez The leaders are starting to pit now
30 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo How are the tyres?
30 Daniel Ricciardo Simon Rennie The grip remains pretty stable
31 Gianpiero Lambiase Daniil Kvyat Behind is Grosjean, Nasr and Sainz who have all pitted. You are ahead of them on track and have effective race position, OK?
32 Carlos Sainz Jnr Marco Matassa Engine failure or something, no power, no power.
32 Marco Matassa Carlos Sainz Jnr OK standby we are looking into it.
32 Carlos Sainz Jnr Marco Matassa It is coming back.
33 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg So one more lap, go strat seven, push hard now. Box, Nico.
33 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton Time to start picking up the pace, it won’t be long.
33 Marco Matassa Carlos Sainz Jnr We need fail 11 fail again
33 Carlos Sainz Jnr Marco Matassa No…
33 Marco Matassa Carlos Sainz Jnr Understood, Carlos.
34 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton OK Lewis you can have strat nine, full deploy.
34 Riccardo Adami Sebastian Vettel OK we are trying to go as long as possible
35 Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington Tyres still OK
35 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton OK just manage those front temps.
36 Gianpiero Lambiase Daniil Kvyat Tyre update when you can.
36 Daniil Kvyat Gianpiero Lambiase It’s OK I just have no grip on the front.
37 Romain Grosjean Julien Simon-Chautemps There is a problem with the gearbox. Yeah, I don’t have any mroe gears.
37 Julien Simon-Chautemps Romain Grosjean Try not to change gear and come back slowly to the box.
39 Carlos Sainz Jnr Marco Matassa No change no change
39 Marco Matassa Carlos Sainz Jnr Fail 11 fail again and blue flag to Massa behind.
39 Carlos Sainz Jnr Marco Matassa No change.
39 Marco Matassa Carlos Sainz Jnr OK we will box this lap. The race is over for us Carlos, sorry for that.
39 Carlos Sainz Jnr Marco Matassa What a real shame, guys.
39 Marco Matassa Carlos Sainz Jnr Yes Carlos, you were doing a very good race on pace. You are safe to jump out, mate.
39 Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington Update pace
39 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton Gap at 4.6.
39 Mark Slade Pastor Maldonado OK Pastor strat six please.
39 Tim Wright Sergio Perez Watch the white line, watch the white line
39 Erik Schuivens Marcus Ericsson The next two cars behind, Bottas and Hulkenberg, will not pit again.
39 Gianpiero Lambiase Daniil Kvyat Race update: Maldonado approaching, Nasr behind on fresh [super-softs]. Perez exited the pit lane also on fresh [super-softs].
40 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton Strat mode ten.
41 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton OK we have a penalty for crossing the white line on exit, it’s just a five-second penalty, this will be added to our race time. So that means we need to be five seconds ahead of the car behind to maintain our position.
41 Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington Which one did I touch?
41 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton It was pit exit, we are reviewing.
41 Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington How did he get so far ahead?
41 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton That tyre’s faster, mate, straight out of the box,. Massa pitted.
41 Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington What’s the reason you didn’t pit me?
41 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton Massa was traffic-ing you… er, Massa was traffic-ing Nico but boxed just before he caught him.
42 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg Info, Lewis has a five second time penalty added to his time
46 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg So debris has been dislodged so aero balance should be back to normal
48 Marcus Ericsson Erik Schuivens Same thing again
48 Erik Schuivens Marcus Ericsson OK just restart, restart
48 Marcus Ericsson Erik Schuivens OK I’m going again
48 Erik Schuivens Marcus Ericsson Good Marcus, keep pushing.
49 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo OK Maldonado on [super-softs] doing 12.5 behind you. We might be racing him later on so if you can hold him up it will help.
51 Mark Slade Pastor Maldonado Good job Pastor, well done.
52 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo Torque 1, remember this will be a five second penalty so watch the lights.
52 Xevi Pujolar Max Verstappen Can you give us a tyre phase?
52 Max Verstappen Xevi Pujolar Not too bad, just losing a bit of tractio nand entry stability, but it is controllable so far.
58 Gianpiero Lambiase Daniil Kvyat OK Dany so there could still be a point in it for us. Nasr we believe we may be able to catch and pass at the end of the race, so it just takesone more retirement and we’re in the points, so keep pushing.
58 Daniil Kvyat Gianpiero Lambiase OK. Ricciardo?
58 Gianpiero Lambiase Daniil Kvyat Daniel we think will be effectively P10 once he passes Nasr.
59 Tim Wright Sergio Perez We think we have more life in this tyre, we can push to the end. Ricciardo may be close behind at the end of the race.
60 Jonathan Eddolls Valtteri Bottas On multi-B, MGU-H 14.
60 Valtteri Bottas Jonathan Eddolls There is no button like that.
60 Jonathan Eddolls Valtteri Bottas MGU 14
62 Dave Robson Felipe Massa OK this is really good, still managing the gap to Vettel, still two seconds behind, let’s get onto the back of these two, they are getting blue flagged. Nasr and Riccirdo are racing but we are a lot quicker than Nasr, this is our opportunity to ge both of them.
62 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo OK mate it’s time to get amongst it. Need to keep status ten. May have a chance of catching Perez ahead. You are catching him. There is a chance at the end of the race.
64 Sergio Perez Tim Wright I have very bad vibrations
64 Tim Wright Sergio Perez OK understood, we are looking into it.
65 Tim Wright Sergio Perez We think it is a front-left flat spot.
66 Nico Rosberg Tony Ross Vibration storng on the right front, it is not a flat spot
66 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg Copy, we’ll check metrics
67 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo Perez is starting to struggle, we still might catch him, try and hang on to the back of these guys.
68 Xevi Pujolar Max Verstappen We are low on fuel, now, just be careful the guy behind.
68 Max Verstappen Xevi Pujolar Tell me what to do.
68 Xevi Pujolar Max Verstappen Scenario four.
68 Nico Rosberg Tony Ross Are you sure there is no reliability concern with the tyre?
68 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg Not at the moment, Nico.
68 Nico Rosberg Tony Ross All eyes on that.
68 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg Absolutely, no concerns at the moment.
69 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo The closer you can stay to the cars in front, the more opportunities we’ll get, then you can pounce.
70 Max Verstappen Xevi Pujolar I locked up
70 Max Verstappen Xevi Pujolar Tyres have completely gone
71 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton One more lap, look out for these two in front, they are battling.
VL Nico Rosberg Tony Ross Woo! Yeah guys, yes, come on guys!
VL Tony Ross Nico Rosberg Great job
VL Nico Rosberg Tony Ross Awesome car today, thank you very much.
VL Roberto Merhi Nicholas Perrinn Guys thank you. The car was good all the race. [Unclear] that’s what cost a little bit of lap time [unclear] really good pit stop. The strategy was really good and not too much traffic during the race, it was really good.
VL Nicholas Perrinn Roberto Merhi Yep really good mate that’s P14.
VL Erik Schuivens Marcus Ericsson Well driven Marcus. It was very difficult especially with the electronic blackouts.
VL Marcus Ericsson Erik Schuivens It was not good, I think we could have been quick.
VL Erik Schuivens Marcus Ericsson I think we could have been quick as well, I think there was more in there.
VL Marcus Ericsson Erik Schuivens Really sorry, guys.
VL Gianpiero Lambiase Daniil Kvyat Hard luck, tough race mate. Too much damage in the end.
VL Daniil Kvyat Gianpiero Lambiase It was like hell.
VL Craig Gardiner Felipe Nasr I’m sorry that we let you down again with the braek cooling, for the second time in two events. It really cost us a lot there, points were possible, and I think you deserved it.
VL Felipe Nasr Craig Gardiner It’s a shame. We need to fix that.
VL Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo OK mate good effort today. One more lap I think we’d have had a good chance at Perez, good effort.
VL Daniel Ricciardo Simon Rennie Thanks guys. Was pretty good on the [super-soft] there, wasn’t too bad I thought, the balance. Was quite fun at the end.
VL Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo Yeah very good pace, mate, did a good job. Looked like deg was quite low, there, on [super-soft].
VL Tim Wright Sergio Perez Well done Checo, great job, well done.
VL Sergio Perez Tim Wright I had horrible vibrations.
VL Tim Wright Sergio Perez Checo, understood about the vibration, we see it getting worse and we hear it on the radio.
VL Xevi Pujolar Max Verstappen Good job, very good job.
VL Max Verstappen Xevi Pujolar It’s just a shame about that last position. I really couldn’t hold him back.
VL Xevi Pujolar Max Verstappen I think it was a really big challenge to keep him behind for many laps.
VL Max Verstappen Xevi Pujolar Anyway I have to say the car was great. Super-soft and soft, the car was behaving well.
VL Xevi Pujolar Max Verstappen Yes, that is correct.
VL Max Verstappen Xevi Pujolar Finally some points again, I think that’s the most important.
VL Mark Slade Pastor Maldonado Well done Pastor. Wow. Fantastic race. Absolutely brilliant Pastor, mate, well done.
VL Pastor Maldonado Mark Slade Was quite close at the end. But great job, guys, Great job.
VL Mark Slade Pastor Maldonado That was absolutely superb, Pastor, thank you very much.
VL Brad Joyce Nico Hulkenberg Well done mate, P6, very good job. Great drive mate.
VL Nico Hulkenberg Brad Joyce Thanks you gents! Obviously worked well but at the end there’s less tyre life, less margin than I thought we would have. Quite tricky in the end braking and grip-wise also.
VL Brad Joyce Nico Hulkenberg Copy that Nico. We was one of the very first to go for it. There was a couple of cars one lap earlier further in the pack. But we was quite early on the trigger, think it worked for strategy, just unfortunate we couldn’t beat Bottas really.
VL Nico Hulkenberg Brad Joyce Yeah that was just too quick.
VL Brad Joyce Nico Hulkenberg Copy that, mate.
VL Jonathan Eddolls Valtteri Bottas Nice job there Valtteri, P5.
VL Valtteri Bottas Jonathan Eddolls Just a shame we couldn’t really race. We’re saving things. But next time.
VL Jonathan Eddolls Valtteri Bottas Copy that.
VL Riccardo Adami Sebastian Vettel P4, Sebastian. Good effort and sorry for the pit stop.
VL Sebastian Vettel Riccardo Adami Yeah don’t worry guys. It can happen. Car was great all race but no way to pass him. They were too strong on the straights. I tried everything. Thank you, guys.
VL Riccardo Adami Sebastian Vettel Rosberg P1, Hamilton second, 3.8 seconds behind Rosberg.
VL Sebastian Vettel Riccardo Adami Said in an ironic tone.
Ah, surprise surprise.
VL Dave Robson Felipe Massa Fantastic job Felipe. Great job those last few laps, brilliant all weekend.
VL Felipe Massa Dave Robson Yeah guys, very good I’m so happy. I’m so happy with how we raced, when we kept behind then we picked up the others so we didn’t make mistake. Well done guys, well done.
VL Dave Robson Felipe Massa Thanks Felipe and as I said absolutely fantastic job you’ve driven brilliantly there. Did all the work on Friday, that’s paid off. Nice work.
VL Rob Smedley Felipe Massa Well done mate that was an absolutely great weekend. Really proud of you. I said to you a few races ago, not bad for an old man. Good lad, thank you.
VL Felipe Massa Dave Robson Yep. Not bad for an old man.
VL Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton Ok Lewis well done mate, not the result we wanted but P2, we’ll take that
VL Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington What was the gap behind?
VL Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton Oh gap was plenty Lewis, 13.7, so P2.

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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Austrian Grand Prix data

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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32 comments on “2015 Austrian Grand Prix team radio transcript”

  1. Yeah don’t worry guys. It can happen. Car was great all race but no way to pass him. They were too strong on the straights. I tried everything. Thank you, guys.

    And there are still people who keep saying he is arrogant and childish. Ecclestone might not see him as the best champion but among all those drug addicted celebrities thinking they own the world I rather see Vettel as a role model. The way he has protected, yes protected, his family from the entire media circus is worth massive amounts of respect.

    1. The Skeptic
      25th June 2015, 14:17

      Yep. I like that kind of easygoing maturity from Vettel. he’s one of the greatest world champions ever. I’d love to see him, Alonso, and Hamilton in identical cars!!!

    2. ResultantAsteroid
      25th June 2015, 14:22

      +1
      Just like some people kept complaining about him raising his finger to state he was the winner and number 1 whenever he won a race. When people were angry and envious for their favorite driver(s) losing to Vettel at that time, I think it was still not normal for them to feel as if he was showing them the “finger”. I mean only a person who has issues with admitting defeat can twist a number one finger to a another finger. This reflected/reflects on those people, not on Vettel.

      1. @ResultantAsteroid: The reason why Vettel waive his finger after each pole position or win is that during his childhood he had a horrible accident in Spa and his right index finger (the finger he shows) almost had to be cut off. It was stitched back together and he recovered. After that he used the finger as sign of fighting back not arrogance. And it makes sense because he is the Phoenix bird of F1. I remember his comebacks after each disapponitment and reliability issues in RedBull and his heroic drive in Brazil 2012.

        1. That sounds like the story of the battle of Agincourt, after which English soldiers displayed their intact longbow string-holding fingers to their enemies. Make no mistake, F1 is a war. It is a deadly dangerous business. Sebastien Vettel has proved to be a consistent force to be reckoned with.

        2. @malik

          thanks for that story, I didn’t know it (I knew about the finger, but I didn’t know that was why he raises the finger.)

          1. @uan : You are welcome :)

      2. hey, i had a long “Seb is awesome and i’m a fan of his now” comment here; where did it go?
        I know i pointed out Lewis’s shortcomings once or twice … maybe on more than one site, but still, where did my comment go; took me 10 min to write it.

    3. It’s the way he is, moving his team ahead.
      A lot of times on his Red Bull days he did behave like a spoiled child, yes. I remember on Hungary 2012 he was stuck behind Button and said “i can’t overtake him! DO SOMETHING!” Cringeworthy stuff, i say.

      But i could not care less about this. I watch the races to see the drivers that these guys are. Don’t care about the kind of people they are.

      1. Why are you commenting if you don’t care?

      2. I’m skeptical that he actually said “do something” in ALL CAPS, plus boldface type, and then put an exclamation point! at the end for good measure, those all being things it is not possible to do while speaking. You’re taking some considerable editorial liberties. I also don’t think “we need to do something with strategy to get past this guy in front” is really all that “cringeworthy”, it’s a common enough thing in F1.

        1. HE could do something. Overtake. No?

          1. But I guess Hamilton in Spain saying it is impossible on a straight with a two times as long straight and easy DRS in a much better car saying it was impossible so they changed the strategy was fine though…

            And that was with a car strong in a straight line. The RB never was, and then on the Hungaroring..

            Pointless comment all together.

        2. He did say that; in CAPS. but i forgive him; i grew to like him; and he’s wearing red now ;P)

  2. “68 Max Verstappen Xevi Pujolar We are low on fuel, now, just be careful the guy behind.
    68 Xevi Pujolar Max Verstappen Tell me what to do.

    Verstappen is so experienced that Xevi asks Max what to do with fuel and defending ;)

  3. VL – Sebastian Vettel to Riccardo Adami (Said in an ironic tone): Ah, surprise surprise.

    I still don’t know what he meant…

    1. It’s a Merc 1-2; again!

  4. I thought Jock Clear had gone to Ferrari. Didn’t they poach him after the 2014 season? So, why is he still working for Mercedes?

  5. We had 22 pieces of radio from or toButon IN the race
    Sainz 20
    ham 19
    GRO 17
    Kvyat 16
    Rosberg 16
    Ricciardo 13
    Verstappen 11
    Ericsson 10
    Bottas 9
    perez 8
    hulk 7
    Pastor 6
    Stevens 2
    Nasr 1
    Vettel 1
    Massa 1

    Kimi 0
    Alonso 0

    Merhi 0

    1. Considering how early Button retired, that’s impressive.

    2. Not all transmissions are broadcast.

    3. It’s looking OK, Jenson. OK try to learn five, six, seven and eight.

      Jenson was doing warmups for Strictly at the same time, so they wanted to have coverage of that.

      1. @charleski Oh, I though he was learning to count to ten.

  6. @keithcollantine could you possibly help me understand what this message means and why it’s important please.
    Many thanks

    20 Max Verstappen Xevi Pujolar Clipping is getting bigger and bigger.

  7. VL Nico Hulkenberg Brad Joyce Thanks you gents! Obviously worked well but at the end there’s less tyre life, less margin than I thought we would have. Quite tricky in the end braking and grip-wise also.
    VL Brad Joyce Nico Hulkenberg Copy that Nico. We was one of the very first to go for it. There was a couple of cars one lap earlier further in the pack. But we was quite early on the trigger, think it worked for strategy, just unfortunate we couldn’t beat Bottas really.

    It’s when I read things like this that I just can’t help but think teams got every opponents pace as a known quantity post-Friday and in the race especially.

    Going into details, Force India could have, based on the above messages, known the exact deg of the prime as soon as another car put it on and ran two laps on it – enginerrs would work out the laptime difference, check how’s the pace of that particular car in general, subtract the numbers and get the data. Then act accordingly.

    It’s just amazing the sheer size of the data flows and the amount of sensory-telemetric data streams going back and forth. It must be way higher than any of us can possibly imagine. In this sense, it’s even funnier when the usual PR machine drivers kick in their post-Friday or post-Saturday assessments with the phrases ‘we don’t know where the others are, we’re only concentrating on ourselves.’

  8. Perhaps the Ferrari engines aren’t particularly easy to program? I can’t even imagine the complexity of these systems. Can we not cut Kimi some slack?

    1. @ferrox-glideh A former world champion getting paid in the region of $20m a year? Just where should the slack be cut from?

      He has been overrated since day one. He’s only ever mopped up when others have failed. Including his title (HAM / ALO / Stepney etc.)

      The only respect I have for Kimi is for how long he’s managed to blag it…

      1. Not quite! He’s been amazing in 2003 – 2007;
        In 2007 when he won the title he had the most wins and most retirements of the top pack so 100% deserved.
        He’s been awesome in the Lotus since the return.
        It’s just these new Ferraris he does not get along with, yet i hope; he better change that soon, because i him to stay in F1.
        And he’s the coolest of them all (Seb is coming strong from behind).
        And he can pull a “i’m disappointed to be on the podium” face; Lewis has tried that all season long but he does not do it properly.

        1. Kimi was pretty good in 2012 too.

  9. Yeah don’t worry guys. It can happen. Car was great all race but no way to pass him. They were too strong on the straights. I tried everything. Thank you, guys.

    Vettel is rising in my esteem: it was wise to be gracious even though the pit-stop problem cost him the podium. Marchionne and Arivvabene can do the shouting at the culprit (which seems to be the wheel nut designer).

  10. VL Dave Robson Felipe Massa Thanks Felipe and as I said absolutely fantastic job you’ve driven brilliantly there. Did all the work on Friday, that’s paid off. Nice work.
    VL Rob Smedley Felipe Massa Well done mate that was an absolutely great weekend. Really proud of you. I said to you a few races ago, not bad for an old man. Good lad, thank you.

    I wonder about the meaning of “doing the work on Friday?

    1. Car setup, setting up for pace on long runs or qualifying, verifying new parts etc.

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