2015 Mexican Grand Prix team radio transcript

42 comments on “2015 Mexican Grand Prix team radio transcript”

1. 

   Traverse
   4th November 2015, 12:07

   Has any solid evidence emerged to back up Bonnington’s “we are (the tyres) down to the canvas” claim?
   1. 

      Frans
      4th November 2015, 13:08

      Fwiw, Ros inlap was 1:26.4, Ham was 1:28.2. Either he make a huge mistake on the inlap or the tyres just fell of the cliff.
   2. 

      BasCB (@bascb)
      4th November 2015, 14:08

      Sigh. I am pretty sure that we heard Rosberg being told that his tyres from the first stint were down to 10%. Lewis Hamilton did an extra 2 laps on his set, and as Frans mentions his times clearly went off the cliff by the end of that second lap.
      Therefore I see no good reason to doubt that that set was indeed completely used. The second set of both drivers (the one they had on when pitting for the second time) was later reported to have been still 60% good after 20 or so laps, and might have been fine to the finish. Then again, the team didn’t know that for sure and they had enough time in hand to be on the safe side with this extra pitstop.
      1. 

         ColdFly F1 (@)
         4th November 2015, 23:21

         30 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg Nico just information on tyres they were worn down to ten percent so managing the tyres you’ve got good position.
         29 Tony Ross Nico Rosberg So just information Lewis at the end of that stint where he did two extra laps, he dropped off quite a lot, so his tyres were very worn like yours.
   3. 

      Ian Bond (@ianbond001)
      4th November 2015, 14:41

      No, and i don’t think we will have any because tires would have been good to the end, without the safety car.
      Mercedes just wanted to be super sure, they had enough of a gap to do a free stop; they couldn’t stop just one of them because whoever remained on the track had an advantage (like in Monaco). So the difficult part was to convince Lewis to pit and not take advantage of Rosberg making an unnecessary stop. It took 2-3 laps on the radio but he complied. Not the racy thing to do, but good for the team.
      1. 

         uan (@uan)
         5th November 2015, 3:52

         @ianbond001

         Ironically, Lewis would flip a switch if the positions were reversed? Imagine, since he’s usually ahead in the race if Mercedes decided to give the driver behind a contra strategy for a shot at the win? And than Lewis loses a race because of that. Or Lewis wants to go extra lap so they pit Rosberg instead. For instance, in Spa, Lewis said he wanted to keep going, so the team said if you don’t pit, we’ll pit Rosberg, at which point Lewis complied. Imagine they don’t tell Lewis, they just say “affirm” and they then pit Nico and with fresher tires jumps Lewis and wins the race. I can hear it all day “you should’ve pitted me man, you should’ve pitted me.” “Ah, sorry Lewis, but you want to call your strategy, so we let you.”

         Kind of like Monaco (“I thought Rosberg and Vettel pitted under the VSC” – when his unspoken thought was – “I thought the team would just do me wrong so Nico would win and not me, so I whined until they pitted me, but I didn’t want to just asks the team if they pitted Rosberg because then I’d look paranoid and weak…”)
         1. 

            JerseyF1 (@jerseyf1)
            5th November 2015, 13:14

            @uan I think so many people are missing the point here. As @ianbond001 mentions Mercedes had to pit to be “super sure” and in doing so they removed the one chance (albeit slim) Lewis had of winning the race which was that Nico suffered less than him. Nico had everything to gain by this strategy – both cars on safe easy tyres to the end and guaranteeing his lead. Lewis had nothing to gain by this strategy and something to lose and therefore was irritated.

            The mistake was made by Mercedes – they should have discussed the two stop with Lewis before pitting Nico rather than pitting Nico and then forcing Lewis into a poor strategy disguised as a safety call (and then having everyone say it was only fair since Nico had already stopped). Lewis was right to argue and be annoyed, the call might as well have been a team order to not challenge for the race win and we expect drivers to be unhappy about that.
            1. 

               pH (@ph)
               5th November 2015, 17:58

               @jerseyf1 I do not think the previous post missed any point, as yours does not make sense. To quote:
               “the one chance (albeit slim) Lewis had of winning the race which was that Nico suffered less than him”
               If Nico suffered less than Lewis, then Lewis’s lap times would get worse than Nico’s. So where is that small chance you are speaking of? If indeed Lewis’s tyres would suffer more (and I am not sure that is the case), that putting both on fresh rubber actually helped Lewis.
            2. 

               JerseyF1 (@jerseyf1)
               5th November 2015, 18:39

               @ph *more than him

               Apologies for the error, I’m sureyou could have worked it out if you were looking for the logic rather than avoiding it!
            3. 

               pH (@ph)
               5th November 2015, 22:46

               @jerseyf1 Well that’s the whole point, isn’t it? Was really Nico suffering more than Lewis? I have yet to see any information in this direction.
               Sure, it is possible that Nico might have suffered more, but it makes no sense to speak of “depriving someone of opportunity” when there is no indication of such an opportunity existing, just on a basis that it might have happened.
      2. 

         Patrick
         6th November 2015, 22:37

         It was definitely Mercedes taking advantage of the gap to add a factor of safety but not necessarily because it was marginal. There was nothing to gain by anyone except statistics. Mercedes would be assured a 1-2 if they didn’t take any risk. Hamilton conversely had to take a risk to assure a win, but if he failed, Merc would miss out on a one-two but Hamilton would loose nothing. As for alternate strategy: last year they used it a lot to give Rosberg a chance, but not an advantage. But if you remember Bahrain, Hamilton was on the primes and the safety car came out and gave Rosberg a huge unfair advantage. This year Merc scrapped the practice. It would have been devasting to Rosberg if they allowed Hamilton to continue and he won the race.
2. 

   AntoineDeParis (@antoine-de-paris)
   4th November 2015, 12:13

   Very interesting reading. :)

   Few good comments, but this one is a little shocker to me:

   “Yep. Seb deserved that…”
   Ricciardo seems to be very serious with Seb. Comments like this, “He got lucky…” from Singapore.
   Looks like he’s kinda obsessed with Vettel.
   Can’t wait for ROC lol
   1. 

      Mahesh (@m47e57)
      4th November 2015, 12:58

      Interesting indeed. I did not realise there was any animosity between them above the competition aspect..Or maybe we are extrapolating?….
      1. 

         AntoineDeParis (@antoine-de-paris)
         4th November 2015, 13:26

         I think it’s all about competition, but Ric is taking it very seriously. Strange for such a “cool” guy

         “One of the main things I’m looking forward to when I return to London in November is beating Seb. I shouldn’t start this rivalry to be honest, but I want to win!”
   2. 

      Patrickl (@patrickl)
      4th November 2015, 20:02

      Well Vettel nearly took him out, so it makes sense he feels that Vettel deserved that bit of karma.

      They always feel the need to claim it wasn’t their fault that an incident occurred. Just so the stewards know it was the other guy’s fault.

      In the case of Bottas vs Kimi they even use 3 messages to blame Raikkonen. Would you say they are obsessed? Or just trying to sway the stewards decision in their favor?
3. 

   Excuse me :D (@square-route)
   4th November 2015, 12:15

   Vettel – DoTW

   Kappa :D
4. 

   Park
   4th November 2015, 14:36

   Jonathan Eddolls is very clever.

   “He just cut you up, gave you no space”
   “Yeah you had the line, copy that.”
   He said those to stewards actually.
5. 

   Ian Bond (@ianbond001)
   4th November 2015, 14:45

   Well, looks more and more like Seb is gonna win against Kimi even in the “coolest, no BS-ty guy on the radio” category.
6. 

   Ed
   4th November 2015, 15:47

   Kvyat sure likes to curse on the radio..
   1. 

      zimkazimka (@zimkazimka)
      5th November 2015, 4:18

      Yeah, I noticed that too. It’s very amusing how he doesn’t have any second thoughts about his choice of words that are broadcasted live. Maybe they forgot to tell him that FOM airs the radio, or he just doesn’t give a damn whatsoever.
7. 

   Neil (@neilosjames)
   4th November 2015, 15:56

   30 Brad Joyce Nico Hulkenberg So we are thinking about converting to strategy X, strategy X. It’s 44 laps.

   There’s a small part of me holding out the hope that they’d considered 23 other strategies before going with that one…
8. 

   George (@george)
   4th November 2015, 17:39

   No Rosberg radio about the second tyre stop as expected, sigh.
   1. 

      Fudge Ahmed (@)
      4th November 2015, 19:03

      Probably went something like;

      Rosberg: ‘Am I going to win? What do I need to press on the steering wheel? Did you tell Lewis the same? Can we put more tyres on in case something happens? Can you please make Lewis do the same please? ‘

      Im kidding. Uncharacteristically great drive from Merc’s number 2, semi fair and square (corner cut to break DRS notwithstanding but I think the result would have been the same regardless.’
      1. 

         EF1
         5th November 2015, 1:09

         @offdutyrockstar – :-) he (Rosberg) actually lifted after he rejoined the track there, to make sure the gap to Lewis was less than before he had run wide, you can clearly hear it on the onboard + saw it on the timing screens at that point.
   2. 

      Dave (@)
      4th November 2015, 19:15

      No Rosberg radio about the second tyre stop as expected, sigh.

      No radio broadcast; not all messages are available for the transcript.
      1. 

         SatchelCharge (@satchelcharge)
         4th November 2015, 19:54

         Well yes that’s what he meant; we want to know what all was said when Nico got called in. I think George is smart enough to know that Merc didn’t telepathically beckon Nico to the pits.
         1. 

            ColdFly F1 (@)
            4th November 2015, 23:24

            We still might get something from the onboard compilation Canal+ tends to do.
9. 

   @HoHum (@hohum)
   5th November 2015, 0:22

   Tyres, tyres, bloody tyres, I’m sick and tired of hearing about these lousy tyres.
   1. 

      EF1
      5th November 2015, 1:19

      + infinity. Also, know its not related in terms of product quality as Pirelli road tyres are actually good, but purely out of protest of what they have done to F1 I haven’t bought a Pirelli tyre since they re entered the sport. So 2 cars at roughly 15-20000km each year for 5 years. Bet I’m not the only one to think like this when they consider tyres on their roadcar. How on earth is this good business practice/advertising for their company, and on that note, why not just tell Bernie, ‘no’ its not in our interests to make your silly degrading pencil eraser tyres that are unable to be pushed and cop flak for it anymore?
      1. 

         Dave (@)
         6th November 2015, 19:16

         You say

         Pirelli road tyres are actually good

         but then say

         purely out of protest of what they have done to F1 I haven’t bought a Pirelli tyre since they re entered the sport

         with zero consideration to the fact that those in charge of F1 want tyres that are designed to degrade.

         And this is why I am totally sick of hearing about the tyres.
10. 

    Stubborn Swiss (@stubbornswiss)
    5th November 2015, 1:00

    My PERSONAL take on the tyre saga….. Mercedes decided to play it safe with Rosberg by pitting him a second time. To be fair to Rosberg, they thought it necessary to also pit Hamilton a second time. Unfortunately, in being fair to Rosberg, they were not being exactly fair to Hamilton. Again, just my OWN opinion.
    1. 

       uan (@uan)
       5th November 2015, 4:02

       @stubbornswiss

       But both drivers know this, and over the course of the season, it will benefit Lewis more than Rosberg, since Lewis is usually ahead, and Mercedes won’t do a contra strategy for the second driver (unless they have lost positions and need help getting back up – like Lewis in Spain).

       Not sure why Lewis whines about it.

       And Mercedes always pits their drivers whether they need to or not to make they win (and they have way more than a pitstop in hand over the 3rd place driver).

       It’s interesting no one thinks Merc can’t give the choice to Rosberg – “Okay Nico, we want to pit you to be 100 percent on your tires, but Lewis is going to jump you and stay out until the end of the race and will probably hold on. Are you okay with that?”

       Now if Nico wants to pit anyway and ends up losing the tire management battle, fair enough. But if the team decides for one driver, than both drivers will get the same decision.
       1. 

          lockup (@)
          6th November 2015, 0:41

          Not sure why Lewis whines about it.

          It’s not obscure @uan. You just suggest an agenda by calling it ‘whining’. Lewis wanted a tyre usage battle, because in that lay his only chance of beating Rosberg. Chance. Not certainty but chance, as opposed to No chance with a second stop. Seems pretty simple to me I gotta say.

          To start with he didn’t know why Rosberg had pitted, because Bono didn’t really explain on the radio. It could have been a puncture or a flatspot for Nico then it would have been legitimate for Lewis to stay out and win with a one-stopper. “Worried about wear” didn’t really stack up because there was no threat from behind so from his point of view he could have waited to see how the wear developed.

          It’s a result of the drivers not having their own strategists more than anything, but Hamilton was quite reasonable arguing his corner.
          1. 

             uan (@uan)
             6th November 2015, 1:22

             @lockup

             It is whining because not once in 3 seasons, and especially in the last two seasons (close to 40 races now) have Mercedes allowed the drivers to do this – allowed tire usage to dictate strategy or to allow one driver to possibly beat the other driver. Merc is never going to risk a certain 1, 2 finish so that one of the drivers can beat the other. You know that, I know that, Hamilton and Rosberg knows that.

             And just imagine, they don’t pit and the SC comes out at the wrong time and they lose track position to RB or the Williams?

             So yes, Hamilton is whining. Yes, it sucks for both drivers at various times as all they can is follow the leader and hope he makes a mistake or isn’t quite as fast (which usually works in Hamilton’s favor). So with two evenly matched cars being forced to run the same strategy and the two of you are really the only competition for the other — well, so be it.

             Or you end up with a situations similar to Monaco where Hamilton was so certain they put Nico on an alternate strategy and pitted him, that he practically demanded to be pitted (“these tires, they’re going off, I’m losing temp, blah blah blah). Now that was extreme, but imagine Nico does stop first while running behind, and Hamilton’s tires do go off and LH loses a victory. He’d flip over that too.

             So the team decided to pit both drivers a second time to ensure a 1-2. Nothing to see here. And Lewis knows that. (Don’t forget Lewis was the same guy who thought he would be able to win Singapore if he doesn’t DNF. After the first SC, Vettel is going slow and the announcers are saying “he’s going slow to preserve his tires”, Ricciardo said later “I knew he going slow as he was saving his tires”, Vettel said later “I was saving my tires” and then we had Lewis going “man, I’m going the same pace as these guys on the Prime, I’m faster than them…”
             1. 

                lockup (@)
                6th November 2015, 9:42

                There were valid reasons why the team called the stops @uan, and also valid reasons why Hamilton queried it and asked for data. Other drivers showed he was correct about stint length options. Calling it ‘whining’ is about you rather than him, along with dredging up and misrepresenting Monaco and Singapore which have nothing to do with it.
             2. 

                Jayd
                7th November 2015, 1:29

                Your knowledge of events in f1 is shocking to say the least. :)
             3. 

                Jayd
                7th November 2015, 1:38

                Also just because you mentioned it. In Singapore vet was fastest but Mercedes were a lot closer in the race than qualifying (still slower) there is no way to know for sure but what Hamilton was referring too was that usually you use the soft tire to pull away knowing you have the slow one to come and then a guy on a different strategy would close the gap when he is on options so the point was if vettel had continued to tire save for much longer Hamilton would have been not far behind at the pit stops and on the faster tire which may or may not have matched Ferrari pace. I doubt it personally but it’s a valid opinion of hamiltions.
    2. 

       pH (@ph)
       5th November 2015, 18:01

       @stubbornswiss I do not understand your reasoning. How can you claim that it was unfair to Hamilton given that after those pits, the situation between drivers has been exactly the same as before piting, that is, they both had tires of similar age and the same position on track?
       1. 

          Stubborn Swiss (@stubbornswiss)
          5th November 2015, 19:21

          @ph Exactly my point! Rosberg was okay with switching to plan B, as he did not challenge the call, and came out in the same position, but with fresh rubber. Pretty fair and favorable to him. Hamilton on the other hand was NOT okay with switching strategies, and he said so, and actually requested to stay out. Although we have been told numerous times how their drivers are allowed to freely race each other, the Mercedes pit wall ordered Hamilton to pit and agree with the strategy change. I DO NOT THINK THIS WAS FAIR TO HIM. As the race has been decided, any thoughts or theorizing about what the outcome might have been is exactly that – thoughts and theorizing. (By the way, I said ‘it was not fair’ to Hamilton, I never used the word ‘unfair’ in my original post).
          1. 

             Dave (@)
             6th November 2015, 19:17

             Did Toto drive the car into the pits remotely from the pitlane?
             1. 

                Stubborn Swiss (@stubbornswiss)
                7th November 2015, 22:20

                I’m sure he would if he could!
11. 

    Kaiser
    6th November 2015, 7:09

    Carlos Sainz talking to himself in third person on lap 35 looks ridiculosly funny… :P (Edition mistake but funny if you think about it that way)

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