Fernando Alonso, McLaren, Circuit of the Americas, 2015

2015 United States Grand Prix team radio transcript

2015 United States Grand Prix

29th October 2015, 17:4815th December 2015, 20:12 | Written by Keith Collantine

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

2015 United States Grand Prix

Browse all 2015 United States Grand Prix articles

Team radio transcripts

Browse all team radio transcripts

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...
Read more about Keith Collantine, find all their articles and get in touch with them

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”

Andy (@andybantam)
29th October 2015, 17:49
Ok, so who else is scrolling straight to the’Nando vs Massa text?
Dan
29th October 2015, 18:34
Super race for all those fans of tyre management discussions!
1. GP2engine
  29th October 2015, 20:41
  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.
HK (@me4me)
29th October 2015, 18:42
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.
René (@renevdkooij)
29th October 2015, 18:44
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. merabella
  29th October 2015, 20:03
  Yeah :D Haha.
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
29th October 2015, 18:46
Drivers still asking for stuff their engineers can’t answer.
1. kanan
  29th October 2015, 20:03
  Well I’m more surprised Hamilton didn’t get an answer though.
WH
29th October 2015, 18:50
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. corap
  29th October 2015, 20:04
  Yeah. He can’t win without Lowe.
Tyler (@tdog)
29th October 2015, 19:37
@keithcollantine I thought that Rocky stood in as Ricciardo’s engineer for the US GP as Simon Rennie was in the UK.
1. Tyler (@tdog)
  29th October 2015, 19:41
  My point being, the transmissions attributed earlier to Simon Rennie are in fact Rocky speaking
  1. sare
    29th October 2015, 20:06
    Ferrari’s power unit can be started using the MGU-K alone
    Is this only true for Ferrari PU? Very interesting.
fernand
29th October 2015, 20:07
Since Hamilton won the championship him asking for racing lines and getting overtaken by Rosberg on track is pretty much ignored…
1. Patrickl (@patrickl)
  29th October 2015, 23:02
  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. trublu
  30th October 2015, 17:34
  All that would do is draw attention to the fact that Rosberg hardly ever passes Hamilton on track.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
29th October 2015, 23:03
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 …
Matthijs (@matthijs)
30th October 2015, 7:32
Jenson Button Tom Stallard He is a bit of a nutter, is he?
Who is he referring to? Perez or Sainz?
1. periwinkle (@shena)
  30th October 2015, 12:55
  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. Matthijs (@matthijs)
    30th October 2015, 13:07
    Makes sense, but why would Button bring this up three laps before the end. What happened then?
    1. periwinkle (@shena)
      30th October 2015, 14:15
      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.
JS (@js)
30th October 2015, 9:46
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. Matthijs (@matthijs)
  30th October 2015, 10:24
  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. JS (@js)
    30th October 2015, 12:28
    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. Patrickl (@patrickl)
  30th October 2015, 11:53
  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. JS (@js)
    30th October 2015, 12:33
    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.