2015 United States Grand Prix team radio transcript

2015 United States Grand Prix

Posted on

| Written by

Fernando Alonso fumed at Felipe Massa for their lap one contact, Sebastian Vettel cursed the loss of the title and the party began for Lewis Hamilton. Here’s the team radio from Austin.

Go ad-free for just £1 per month

>> Find out more and sign up

2015 United States Grand Prix team radio transcript

Lap* From To Message
PR Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton Lewis, constant speed in the pitlane, no burn-outs and it will be race start left-hand side.
PR Pastor Maldonado Mark Slade It’s finally inter conditions. There is no standing water on the track.
PR Mark Slade Pastor Maldonado Ok.
PR Mark Slade Pastor Maldonado Strat 11 is fine.
PR Kimi Raikkonen David Greenwood Struggle a bit with the warm-up and the tyres sliding.
PR David Greenwood Kimi Raikkonen Understood.
PR David Greenwood Kimi Raikkonen The start was good by the way. The initial jump was good.
PR Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo Ok, just coming up to the back of the grid. All is OK from our side.
PR Nico Rosberg Tony Ross The front tyres aren’t working at all.
PR Nico Hulkenberg Brad Joyce I can already see some damage to the front tyres, graining. Both fronts, left-hand and right.
PR Nico Rosberg Tony Ross I mean there is something wrong with the front tyres, yeah? They are not working at all. There are just juddering and a big understeer.
PR Tony Ross Nico Rosberg Yeah Nico that sounds like they are just cold.
PR Tony Ross Nico Rosberg Nico, feedback on the tyre. There is sone abrasion on the front. They do seem to be working. But we have increased the pressure. See what its like.
PR Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington I feel like the fronts are gonna take a beating.
PR Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington Question just to you guys. On the start, on the right it looks like its drier, there’s more water on my side. Do you want me to start downhill and then cross over or head that way and try to get ot the drier stuff sooner?
PR Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton You probably going to want to get yourself onto the dryer line sooner rather than later, rather than pointing yourself downhill. Remember don’t get sucked into the apex in turn one.
PR Dave Robson Felipe Massa One final thing. Apparently here the boards they put up when you come back to form up on the grid show you the row number not the position number. So you’ll see a number four.
PR Felipe Massa Dave Robson Ok, I see a number four on the board.
FL Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington The track is drying out real quickly.
2 Romain Grosjean Julien Simon-Chautemps Oh no, someone hit me, god.
2 Julien Simon-Chautemps Romain Grosjean What happened what happened?
2 Romain Grosjean Julien Simon-Chautemps Someone hit me from behind. There is a rear puncture.
2 Mark Temple Fernando Alonso Rear left puncture. Rear left puncture.
3 Fernando Alonso Mark Temple It’s full of debris from the track. Full of debris.
3 Felipe Massa Dave Robson You need to check my car. I hvae something on the right side of the car.
3 Dave Robson Felipe Massa Ok Felipe. So some damage to the front wing?
3 Felipe Massa Dave Robson Front wing? I don’t know. I cannot see. But on the right side of the car.
3 Fernando Alonso Mark Temple Ah it’s crazy. We need a safety car, debris in turn eight and nine.
3 Tim Wright Sergio Perez Green cal three, there may be debris T1.
3 Craig Gardiner Felipe Nasr Are you ready for slicks now?
3 Felipe Nasr Craig Gardiner I think it’s still a bit wet. How is my front wing though?
3 Craig Gardiner Felipe Nasr It’s broken you have to box. Which tyres? Do you want to go slicks now?
3 Felipe Nasr Craig Gardiner I think it might be the only way to put us back in the race. But it’s still a bit wet.
3 Craig Gardiner Felipe Nasr Yeah you’ll have to just give it a try. Otherwise the race is done for us. Let’s give it a try, come on.
Felipe Nasr Craig Gardiner Ah it’s too early. Too early.
Craig Gardiner Felipe Nasr Do you want to switch back Felipe? Are you sure? Do you think you can get it? Ok and box Felipe. We go back inter then.
Tim Wright Sergio Perez Vettel and Verstappen are through on Nico. He is struggling.
Nico Rosberg Tony Ross I am dying to push more now.
Tony Ross Nico Rosberg Copy that, copy that. We think you should just close the gap.
7 Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington Very slippery out here guys, Is Nico suffering from the same thing?
7 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton I’ll see what feedback i can get, looks like tyre temps are at the very top of their operating window.
7 Fernando Alonso Mark Temple We need a Safety Car. The track is undrivable. It’s full of pieces now in turn 11.
7 Gianpiero Lambiase Daniil Kvyat How’s the balance?
7 Daniil Kvyat Gianpiero Lambiase All OK, bit general grip lack but I am going faster than him so I will try to get him.
7 Daniil Kvyat Gianpiero Lambiase Why Lewis is so slow?
7 Gianpiero Lambiase Daniil Kvyat I’m not sure. You’re only a couple of seconds off what you could be able to do, that’s been fairly consistent since you caught him. So don’t worry at this time, just make sure you’re right up behind him.
Jonathan Eddolls Valtteri Bottas Virtual Safety Car. We are going to box, go back on the inter.
Daniil Kvyat Gianpiero Lambiase I am going faster than him. So I will try to get him.
Gianpiero Lambiase Daniil Kvyat Ok understood. Pick your moment wisely.
Tony Ross Nico Rosberg Seeing marshals coming off the track. So it may not be long. Just think about that delta.
Valtteri Bottas Jonathan Eddolls The suspension broke again. Like in qualifying. The rear suspension is broken.
Jonathan Eddolls Valtteri Bottas Copy. Box. Straight back into the garage.
Sergio Perez Tim Wright Yeah the track conditions are improving.
8 Daniel Ricciardo Simon Rennie How the [censored by FOM] did Nico pass us?
8 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo We’ll double-check.
9 Gianpiero Lambiase Daniil Kvyat Ok Dani, there is not a lot you could have done about that, mate. So just keep your head down and let’s get back into the groove.
9 Marco Matassa Carlos Sainz Jnr How long before a dry, Carlos, you think?
9 Carlos Sainz Jnr Marco Matassa Five laps.
9 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg No more rain expected. Just think about the tyres. But obviously you can make a move.
10 Jenson Button Tom Stallard We’ve got to do something soon because this is embarrassing.
10 Tom Stallard Jenson Button So Jenson. Do you think this set will last until the track dries?
10 Jenson Button Tom Stallard It matters what you mean by ‘last’, obviously now they are pretty awful but I wouldn’t want to put a new set on. Definitely not a new set.
Mark Slade Pastor Maldonado OK Pastor. How are the tyres?
Pastor Maldonado Mark Slade [Unclear]
Jenson Button Tom Stallard I’m starting to find a bit more grip now, obviously because the tread’s running down.
Tom Stallard Jenson Button OK Jenson that’s good. Grosjean’s just tride a [soft], I’ll keep you updated.
11 Mark Temple Fernando Alonso Sector one and sector three look close to crossover. Sector two looks still inters to us. Grosjean has just pitted for [softs], I’ll let you know how his pace looks.
11 Fernando Alonso Mark Temple Possibility of rain? Zero?
11 Mark Temple Fernando Alonso At the minute zero chance of rain.
11 Fernando Alonso Mark Temple Thank you. That is unbelievable. They ruin our race and no rain, Safety Cars or nothing.
11 Mark Temple Fernando Alonso Looking at other cars the graining on the inters is clearing a bit so we should keep pushing through that and lap times should pick up again.
12 Julien Simon-Chautemps Romain Grosjean OK Romain we will box and retire the car.
12 Romain Grosjean Julien Simon-Chautemps [Sighs] Yeah. Who hit me in the first corner?
12 Julien Simon-Chautemps Romain Grosjean Yeah sorry we tried to… I think it was Bottas. OK box, box.
12 Romain Grosjean Julien Simon-Chautemps Yes I’m trying to some to the box.
12 Julien Simon-Chautemps Romain Grosjean OK, no problem.
12 Romain Grosjean Julien Simon-Chautemps When the bad luck is on your side, it’s on your side.
12 Alan Permane Romain Grosjean Romain just to fill you in on why we stopped you there, the front brakes are going crazy temperatures, there is something damaged on the back, we thought we could clear it and have a gamble on slicks but the duct itself is damaged so you’re not going to finish the race anyway.
13 Nico Rosberg Tony Ross That was not a safe coming back onto the track.
13 Kimi Raikkonen David Greenwood Why I don’t get the DRS if I’m up so close?
13 David Greenwood Kimi Raikkonen OK we will check. Fuel temp for performance.
Marcus Ericsson Erik Schuivens The track is getting drier and drier. My tyres are getting more and more used.
Erik Schuivens Marcus Ericsson Ok, copy that.
Dave Robson Felipe Massa OK Felipe, how is the track now?
Felipe Massa Dave Robson I don’t know if it’s enough. But it’s close.
16 Kimi Raikkonen David Greenwood Raikkonen was unhappy with Verstappen.
That guy keeps pushing me off the circuit every time, when I’m next to him. So if that’s legal then I will do the same next time.
16 David Greenwood Kimi Raikkonen Understood. We’re checking with Charlie.
18 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo Don’t go bananas now. We want to dictate when we stop.
18 Max Verstappen Xevi Pujolar My left-front is completely gone.
18 Riccardo Adami Sebastian Vettel Feedback on tyres when you can – how far to the crossover?
18 Sebastian Vettel Riccardo Adami Yeah, they are pretty done. But I can keep going like that.
18 Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington Struggling out here with the rears.
18 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton OK, we are thinking to switching to [soft] very soon. What do you think?
18 Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington I don’t really have much choice. My rears are going.
18 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton So box box.
Mark Temple Fernando Alonso Ok, [soft] tyres are definitely quicker now. This set seems to be going off so box this lap. Confirm.
Fernando Alonso Mark Temple OK.
Tom Stallard Jenson Button Many cars pitting. Let’s push now. Let’s make these laps count.
Brad Joyce Nico Hulkenberg Thinking about slicks. What’s your thoughts?
Nico Hulkenberg Brad Joyce Some places are OK,but some places still damp.
Daniel Ricciardo Simon Rennie How did Hamilton’s sectors look?
Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo I cannot tell you sectors. He’s quick enough.
Marcus Ericsson Erik Schuivens Box, box.
Erik Schuivens Marcus Ericsson Copy, box. What’s the problem Marcus?
Marcus Ericsson Erik Schuivens I spun in the entry.
Erik Schuivens Marcus Ericsson No reply broadcast.
Ok, copy. Do you want to switch tyres?
20 David Greenwood Kimi Raikkonen OK we’re ready with tyres and a new nose.
20 Kimi Raikkonen David Greenwood OK.
Carlos Sainz Jnr Marco Matassa A lot of clipping still guys, come on.
Marco Matassa Carlos Sainz Jnr Swing four.
22 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg So Nico it will be stint plus five on this set. You’re currently on lap two of the stint…
22 Nico Rosberg Tony Ross Is there another pit stop?
22 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg Affirm.
22 Nico Rosberg Tony Ross Visor clean at the next stop.
22 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg Copy that, Nico, copy that.
Brad Joyce Nico Hulkenberg So we’re in P7. You’re catching Verstappen 1s a lap.
Mark Temple Fernando Alonso OK Fernando we are now P14, Raikkonen comfortably behind at the moment. There could be opportunities for a point if we keep going, there’s been plenty of retirements so far.
23 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg So good job Nico. So just get your head down, build yourself a gap.
Tim Wright Sergio Perez Nico ahead is fastest car on circuit. 46.0.
24 Felipe Massa Dave Robson I got a problem on the car. I got a problem. Box, box, box. The suspension is jumping, some problem, I think it’s maybe the damper or whatever.
24 Dave Robson Felipe Massa Understood. Box this lap. Box this lap.
24 Felipe Massa Dave Robson Check the tyres as well, maybe could be on the tyres.
24 Dave Robson Felipe Massa No Felipe, it’s a problem. We need to retire the car
26 David Greenwood Kimi Raikkonen I am afraid the right front brake temperature is going through the roof. So we need to slow down and box. We need to retire I’m afraid, Kimi.
Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton Think about trying more rearwards on B-Bal to get some temps into the rears.
Mark Temple Fernando Alonso Massa has retired. We’re now P13.
Fernando Alonso Mark Temple He had a penalty for the start, Massa, or no?
Mark Temple Fernando Alonso No, Fernando, no penalty. He has retired. He had to retire.
Fernando Alonso Mark Temple Well I am not sad for that. How far are the points?
Mark Temple Fernando Alonso Ok, Fernando. Points are 50 seconds away. But we’re gaining on Maldonado at P11, 2.5 s a lap.
28 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg Safety Car. You’re staying out. Keep the delta positive.
Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington Is there a big temperature difference between our tyres, because I have no grip out here?
Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton Not a big difference, Lewis, just keep doing what you’re doing, working those tyres. We have fuel to burn.
Marcus Ericsson Erik Schuivens I lost all power.
Erik Schuivens Marcus Ericsson We had a brake by wire fail-safe. Can you continue?
Marcus Ericsson Erik Schuivens No, the engine shut down.
Erik Schuivens Marcus Ericsson Engine shut down? OK, copy that.
Marcus Ericsson Erik Schuivens Ferrari’s power unit can be started using the MGU-K alone/
I need to get the starter working.
Erik Schuivens Marcus Ericsson Can we try with the MGU-K?
Marcus Ericsson Erik Schuivens I tried. Nothing happens.
Erik Schuivens Marcus Ericsson OK if it’s in first gear, remember don’t pull the clutch.
Marcus Ericsson Erik Schuivens It’s completly dead when I press the button.
Erik Schuivens Marcus Ericsson OK, copy that Marcus. No fire up, no fire up. Full switch off procedure, Marcus.
30 Sergio Perez Tim Wright The rear is locking quite a lot, the down shift is extremely harsh.
Daniil Kvyat Gianpiero Lambiase Well that’s what you see, I don’t know, the tyre is still was cold, to be honest. I’d say a bit of general sliding, a bit of the brakes are lacking quite a lot. Seems like the brakes are really cold.
Gianpiero Lambiase Daniil Kvyat Yeah, so temperature wise, we’re at the low end for this [soft] tyre. So I think as lap times come down, energy will come up and hopefully that will improve things.
Jenson Button Tom Stallard Wow. Struggling to warm them up. Hopefuly the [medium] runners are worse.
Tom Stallard Jenson Button Jenson keep working the brakes. Situation is this: You’re P9, Hulkenberg P7, Perez P8. Behind you you’ve got Sainz, Maldonado and Fernando, all those cars pitted.
Tony Ross Nico Rosberg So lapped cars may overtake. So stay on line. There’s three to come through. Alonso was the one immediately behind you.
Sergio Perez Tim Wright The downshift is extremely harsh.
Tim Wright Sergio Perez Ok, Checo, we’re looking into it. Brake temperatures are ok.
31 Gianpiero Lambiase Daniil Kvyat Be aware, it could be fairly tricky on the restart.
31 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg So Nico when it does go we expect the lights to go out around turn 12 and then you would control the pace.
32 Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington Is there a different line into T1 because I don’t know, braking is quite slippery, it’s easy to lock up, are drivers going deep?
32 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton I’m afraid I can’t comment on line, Lewis.
Fernando Alonso Mark Temple The circuit is now completely dry.
Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington Is there a different line into T1. Cause under braking it’s quite slippery, it’s easy to lock up. Are drivers going deep.
Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton Afraid I can’t comment on line, Lewis.
Tom Stallard Jenson Button Fernando has warmer tyres, having pushed to catch up.
Tony Ross Nico Rosberg Pressures are good. But tyres still cold. So grip will be low. But bottoming should be ok.
Xevi Pujolar Max Verstappen Good job, Max.
Nicolas Perrin Alexander Rossi Really great job Alex. DRS is enabled. Let’s see if we can get him back.
Riccardo Adami Sebastian Vettel Good job boy, keep pushing.
36 Riccardo Adami Sebastian Vettel Try to avoid the bump between 11 and 12, it’s quite an important one for reliabiltiy try to avoid it.
Carlos Sainz Jnr Marco Matassa My seat is moving a lot.
Marco Matassa Carlos Sainz Jnr Understood, understood.
Xevi Pujolar Max Verstappen OK Max good job, remember many laps to go.
37 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo Ricciardo and Hulkenbeg collided.
Daniel, if the car is ok, stay out. Otherwise we’re ready for you.
37 Daniel Ricciardo Simon Rennie I have damage, but I’ll stay out.
Brad Joyce Nico Hulkenberg Pits for a front wing. Park it, park it in a safe position.
Daniel Ricciardo Simon Rennie Lots of some oversteer in right-hand corners.
Tony Ross Nico Rosberg So Nico, Information. Vettel, nine seconds behind, is going to the end. We need to make one more stop. VSC, so box box box. Keep the delta positive.
38 Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo We are stacking the cars.
39 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton Ok Lewis, we’ll just have a look at Nico’s tyre conditions and make some decisions from there. So we’ve got Vettel a car behind and we think he might be going till the end.
39 Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington How much of a disadvantage am I in, with the tyre situation?
39 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton We’re going to have a look at the tyres now mate. Make an assesment.
39 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton OK Lewis, you will have ten laps remaining, just keep it nice and clean.
Gianpiero Lambiase Daniil Kvyat That is a new [medium]. Ricciardo behind on new [soft]. This tyre may well suit the conditions better.
Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton We think its going to be a front limitation. Do you think you can get to the end?
Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington I really couldn’t say, man. I have understeer. So maybe not.
40 Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington How big a gap do I need to the people behind?
40 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton So we need to find another ten seconds to Vettel. Not sure if we’re going to be able to do it on this tyre set.
Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington I need you to give me a little more information please so I know what to do.
Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton Ok Lewis, target lap time high 42. We got Verstappen in our pit window, 10s behind. We need to find another ten to push him out.
Tim Wright Sergio Perez The three cars ahead on soft may struggle towards the end. Your temperatures are building nicely.
Daniil Kvyat Gianpiero Lambiase I crashed. Sorry guys. Sorry.
Gianpiero Lambiase Daniil Kvyat Ok, Dani.
Sebastian Vettel Riccardo Adami OK it was my best shot.
Riccardo Adami Sebastian Vettel No problem mate. We do our race.
Gianpiero Lambiase Daniil Kvyat Anything break there Dani, or was that just a mistake?
Daniil Kvyat Gianpiero Lambiase My mistake.
Gianpiero Lambiase Daniil Kvyat OK, understood. P1, P0, mate.
Jenson Button Tom Stallard I’m worried with the amount of front graining we have on the left, because we have massive oversteer, that we will lose those positions anyway.
Tom Stallard Jenson Button Jenson, there is 13 laps to go. If you are sure you need to pit we can pit. It will cost you four positions. P5 to P9.
Jenson Button Tom Stallard How does Fernando feel the tyres are?
Tom Stallard Jenson Button Little graining, a little graining. All other cars on the same age of tyre. Just keep driving to the delta. We’ll see if we catch the safety car.
Jenson Button Tom Stallard If we don’t, if we think we can make it, I think we should pit. Only losing two places isn’t a problem.
45 Mark Temple Fernando Alonso Jenson pitted. His graining was worse than ours. He was struggling with the tyres more.
45 Xevi Pujolar Max Verstappen We do not want to damage the tyres with Vettel. Tyre lift still on the limit.
46 Tom Stallard Jenson Button So the cars that pitted, we are ahead of. Perez in front on old [medium]. And Fernando stayed out as well.
46 Jenson Button Tom Stallard How old are their tyres?
46 Tom Stallard Jenson Button 19 laps, Jenson. Ricciardo 7 laps. Fernando from that first safety car. Ricciardo from that Virtual Safety Car.
46 Jenson Button Tom Stallard This is good, I feel, guys.
46 Tom Stallard Jenson Button Yeah Jenson we’ve passed Perez before, this is good, got good tyre delta, got time to make this work.
46 Tim Wright Sergio Perez Checo, all tyres will be fine to the end. So you can just push to build temperature on them. McLaren have split their cars. Button now behind Ricciardo on a soft. Alonso still ahead.
46 Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton Ok Lewis. You’ll have ten laps remaining. Just keep it nice and clean.
Tom Stallard Jenson Button Jenson, red button. red button.
Riccardo Adami Sebastian Vettel Keep your head down, till the end.
Marco Matassa Carlos Sainz Jnr Scenario five available. Come on, chilli, push.
49 Sebastian Vettel Riccardo Adami What happened there?
49 Riccardo Adami Sebastian Vettel Rosberg went off and lost the lead to Hamilton.
He had a problem. Went off-line. Try to catch him now. But he went just off-line once.
Jenson Button Tom Stallard The gear shifts are really bad on the back straight.
Tom Stallard Jenson Button OK Jenson normal problem should be OK now.
50 Marco Matassa Carlos Sainz Jnr You are on fire, mate. Keep pushing.
51 Fernando Alonso Mark Temple Strange vibration coming from the engine on the power. Anything to do with the [unclear] deformation, maybe?
51 Mark Temple Fernando Alonso All is OK, we think, for the moment. We will keep checking. Keep going. Keep focused.
51 Fernando Alonso Mark Temple It is not ok, no power. What we can do?
51 Mark Temple Fernando Alonso For the moment nothing. We are still investigating. I’ll let you know if there’s something we can.
51 Fernando Alonso Mark Temple Ok I’ll come in.
51 Mark Temple Fernando Alonso Fernando stay out, we’re still in the points.
51 Fernando Alonso Mark Temple Not any more. In lap.
51 Mark Temple Fernando Alonso Stay out, we are still in the points.
51 Fernando Alonso Mark Temple OK when I am not in the points, I come in.
Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo Alonso ahead in P10 is slow. He is in the last corner. You might catch him up.
Simon Rennie Daniel Ricciardo OK, Rossi ahead is a position.
Fernando Alonso Mark Temple How much is a pit stop? I think I need a new set of tyres.
Mark Temple Fernando Alonso Fernando, that would drop us to last, we need to stay out. There’s only three laps to go after this.
Tim Wright Sergio Perez Button behind is in your DRS. He is racing Sainz behind him.
Jenson Button Tom Stallard He is a bit of a nutter, is he?
Tom Stallard Jenson Button OK, Jenson. Two more laps. We need to be within five seconds of Sainz and there may still be the opprotunity with Perez.
Marco Matassa Carlos Sainz Jnr And now we need the two quali laps. Big push to open the gap as much as possible.
Jenson Button Tom Stallard I need a gap at the end of this lap.
Tom Stallard Jenson Button So this is the last lap. And gap is 1.8.
VL Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton OK Lewis. I think you’ve done it mate. Just need to see what Nico does. That is it! world champion pal! world champion.
VL Paddy Lowe Lewis Hamilton Three times world champion, Lewis!
VL Unknown Lewis Hamilton You’ve only gone and done it, mate!
VL Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton I’m feeling it, pal. I’m feeling it.
VL Paddy Lowe Lewis Hamilton How good does that sound, Lewis? Three times world champion.
VL Lewis Hamilton Peter Bonnington It’s the greatest moment of my life. Thank you guys so much. That was… I’m just so greatful, thank you. To my family, I love you all. Thank you.
VL Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton Hamilton was told not to get carried away with his post-race celebrations.
Just bring it home Lewis. We got to look after the race car, mate, we’re going to need it next week. So let’s just look after the car, mate, and have some fun tonight.
VL Alexander Rossi Chequered flag, that is P12, well done mate, really good drive.
VL Mark Temple Fernando Alonso OK Fernando that’s the end of the race, let’s go to G2. P11, we’ll have to see what happens, pretty tough one.
VL Guillaume Rocquelin Daniel Ricciardo Good job mate. Eventful race. You did what you could. It was a pleasure. Good job.
VL Daniel Ricciardo Guillaume Rocquelin Thanks Rocky. Cheers, guys. Yeah, worked a lot better on inters. Thanks anyways guys.
VL Christian Horner Daniel Ricciardo Good effort Daniel. If it had stopped at lap 20 it would have looked better. Just looked like we struggled on warm-up on restarts.
VL Craig Gardiner Felipe Nasr Ok Felipe, End of race. P9.
VL Felipe Nasr Craig Gardiner That was a hard one. Anyway two points, we take it.
VL Mark Slade Pastor Maldonado P8 Pastor. So some more points in the bag.
VL Marco Matassa Carlos Sainz Jnr Yes Carlos, yes! P6, bravo! Plus the five seconds we are clear on Maldonado so P7. Really good performance, mate.
VL Tom Stallard Jenson Button Final gap to Sainz, 2.4. So you are P7 on track. Order is Hamilton, Rosberg, Vettel, Verstappen, Perez, Sainz, yourself, Maldonado, Nasr and Fernando. Sainz’s penalty will be applied. That means Hamilton is world champion.
VL Jenson Button Tom Stallard What, Verstappen’s penalty will be applied, that means Hamilton will be world champion? That means we’ll be P6! Haha.
VL Tom Stallard Jenson Button Yes mate. P6. Lovely job. These are your conditions as always and you’ve done a great job today.
VL Jenson Button Tom Stallard Cheers, yeah. I don’t think we can be happy with ourselves, though, in terms of performance. It was a long way off from where I expected. Good job guys, a long way from what we needed but positive day today in terms of points haul.
VL Xevi Pujolar Max Verstappen OK Max P4, good job, very well done.
VL Max Verstappen Xevi Pujolar That was a good race, thank you guys, really good.
VL Riccardo Adami Sebastian Vettel Yes, P3, well done.
VL Sebastian Vettel Riccardo Adami Sorry I tried. I was too far away.
VL Maurizio Arrivabene Sebastian Vettel Bravo Seb, una grande gara, complimentia [a great race, well done].
VL Sebastian Vettel Riccardo Adami Grazie ragazzi [thanks boys]. The car was great. Even if we didn’t have preparation. Is the championship game over?
VL Riccardo Adami Sebastian Vettel Yes, affirmative.
VL Sebastian Vettel Riccardo Adami Ah shit. The first part I should have done a better job judging the conditions, it was ready for dries a bit sooner. After that is was OK, we did everything we could. Grazie.
VL Riccardo Adami Sebastian Vettel Yeah from the wall we had the impression that was pitting earlier but is OK. Think was a very, very solid job again. Another podium.
VL Tony Ross Nico Rosberg Magic off.
VL Nico Rosberg Tony Ross I don’t know what the hell that was.
VL Tony Ross Nico Rosberg OK copy that, copy that. We’ll have a good look afterwards.
VL Tony Ross

Lap: Refers to lap message was broadcast on. There may be a delay between messages being said and being broadcast. Lap data not available for all messages. PR = pre-race; FL = formation lap; VL = victory lap.
Message: Repetitive or irrelevant messages omitted. Notes in italics. Highlights in bold.

Follow F1 Fanatic Live on Twitter for team radio highlights during all live F1 sessions.

United States 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...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

26 comments on “2015 United States Grand Prix team radio transcript”

  1. Ok, so who else is scrolling straight to the’Nando vs Massa text?

  2. Super race for all those fans of tyre management discussions!

    1. Oh yes, sir! I did enjoy black stuff talks thoroughly. Why not award another uselles trophey likeThe Rubber king trophey for the guy does least pit-stops during a season? With his great sense of humorJenson might appreciate it and fight for the title.

  3. Fernando seems very downbeat. Can’t blame him though.
    I’m sure he looks forward to the winter break. Mclaren should let him of the hook for any sponsor activities and give him some space this winter.

  4. Interesting read as always.. Swing four for Sainz? Magic off for Rosberg? What the hell, haha..
    Also, Alonso asking for new tyres three laps from the end when he’s still in P10 and has a hauling Ricciardo behind him? What’s that all about!?

    1. Yeah :D Haha.

  5. Drivers still asking for stuff their engineers can’t answer.

    1. Well I’m more surprised Hamilton didn’t get an answer though.

  6. Interesting to note that it was Lowe who emphasised “three times” world champion, being the only guy on the pit wall who was with Lewis for all three of them

    1. Yeah. He can’t win without Lowe.

  7. @keithcollantine I thought that Rocky stood in as Ricciardo’s engineer for the US GP as Simon Rennie was in the UK.

    1. My point being, the transmissions attributed earlier to Simon Rennie are in fact Rocky speaking

      1. Ferrari’s power unit can be started using the MGU-K alone

        Is this only true for Ferrari PU? Very interesting.

  8. Since Hamilton won the championship him asking for racing lines and getting overtaken by Rosberg on track is pretty much ignored…

    1. The reason that Rosberg drove by was answered by the radio conversation that his tyres were gone.

      Guess seeing a line when you are behind a safety car is not easy. Al lot of drivers were asking about what other cars were doing though and they did get answers.

    2. All that would do is draw attention to the fact that Rosberg hardly ever passes Hamilton on track.

  9. Funny how Hamilton is told before the start: “Remember don’t get sucked into the apex in turn one.” He made sure he drove a wide line then …

  10. Jenson Button Tom Stallard He is a bit of a nutter, is he?

    Who is he referring to? Perez or Sainz?

    1. Sainz, I believe. Remember last race Button got him penalized for crossing the pit lane line as well. Sainz penalized for breaching all sorts of pit lane rules throughout the season. Numerous times for speeding, missing the weightbridge, crossing the lines, etc. He’s fast but seems quite clumsy.

      1. Makes sense, but why would Button bring this up three laps before the end. What happened then?

        1. Unless someone did something odd at that point, probably Button was just informed about the penalty and it was his reaction to that. Lap 50 was when Sainz started following Button from right behind.

  11. Hi,

    Sort of crazy all kinds of things driver expect from ingineers nowadays. E.g., if we look at HAM:
    _ Is there a different line into T1 because I don’t know, braking is quite slippery, it’s easy to lock up, are drivers going deep?

    _ How big a gap do I need to the people behind?
    _ I need you to give me a little more information please so I know what to do.

    Of course plenty of other examples with other drivers and in other races.

    Weird way of racing we see today.

    1. Why is it a weird way of racing? I don’t have problems with the prohibition of driver coaching through the radio, but why shouldn’t a driver be coached? A football player gets coached throughout the match, so does a racing cyclist. It’s not that a football player forgot how to shoot or that a cyclist forgot how to race a bike. But when a racing driver asks for coaching it’s absurd because he should know how to drive.

      1. Well I call it weird because it very different from what used to be racing. Even not going back to antediluvian times, you can just check how it was in Prost/Mansell era for instance (according to their declarations, it was different).
        I don’t mean it’s good or bad, just saying it’s weird. Maybe one could think the same about passing gear from the wheel for instance. Maybe in some years there’ll be no more pedals and one could find it weird.

        Second, it really demonstrates (not just these quotes, but the transcript of these last couple of years more globally) how much racing is now managing more than pushing, at all levels in the group (1st place, 3rd place, but also 10th and so on).

    2. Drivers have always been warned about slippery parts of track in corners or braking zones. Or about what gap they need to the car behind to make a safe stop.

      What I do find weird is when the pit wall tells drivers to brake later, gives instructions on how to better attempt an overtake or things like that which the driver really should know themselves. Rob Smedley often felt the need to do that.

      1. Please see my answer above, especially regarding gaps vs managing rather than pushing.

        But also, regarding wet parts: I take it some driver informs its team, which can then give the information to the team-mate
        and also the other teams listen to that and can warn their drivers
        (I don’t think the paddock has another way to really see wet parts (besides tv, which probably is not often useful)). It’s of course fine, and any transmission for safety reason should in my opinion be allowed.
        I think it’s a bit different when a driver starts to ask how the others are racing into a corner. I can remember some wet race when one driver took very different lines from all the others… and won.

        But once again, I don’t say it’s good or bad, just noticing it’s different from what used to be, from the habit. Hence weird in the sense “different from what was the custom”, if it can be used that way.

Comments are closed.