The Austrian Grand Prix raised further questions over whether Formula One’s new radio restrictions have gone too far after Sergio Perez crashed out in the closing stages due to a brake problem.
Force India were concerned they had been unable to advise him about the extent of his braking troubles, which had already led the team’s other car to retire.
Teams are allowed to warn their drivers about “critical” technical problems with their cars. Force India did this earlier in the season at Melbourne, the first race under the new restrictions, advising Perez his “front brake wear is critical” and he “will not make it to the end like this”.
Perez retired from the race while trying to stay in touch with Romain Grosjean’s Haas.
“I was pushing hard to stay close to Grosjean because I knew he had a five seconds time penalty,” he explained. “Then, on the final lap, going into turn three, I had no brakes and went straight on.”
While the new radio restrictions has led to a reduction in the amount of radio traffic, it still seems there are many more messages not being broadcast. Messages involving just eight drivers from the 22-strong field were
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2016 Austrian Grand Prix team radio transcript
| Lap* | Driver | Message |
|---|---|---|
| 12 | To Daniel Ricciardo | We’re going to be stopping soon – push now, push now. |
| 14 | From Pascal Wehrlein | There’s some light rain. |
| 16 | From Pascal Wehrlein | Some rain drops in turn two. |
| 18 | To Jenson Button | Good job Jenson, let’s get Nasr now. |
| 24 | From Pascal Wehrlein | He’s changing the direction five times. |
| 24 | To Pascal Wehrlein | Yeah, we’ll get on to Charlie. |
| 27 | From Sebastian Vettel | Yeah I think you’ve seen rear-right exploded. Nothing I can do. Engine off, that’s it. Sorry guys. |
| 27 | From Nico Rosberg | I went over the debris so check the pressures. |
| 36 | To Jenson Button | OK Jenson’s lets try and make some progress. Maximum attack through these cars, maximum attack. |
| 39 | To Daniel Ricciardo | OK Daniel there may be light drops of rain in turn two. |
| 45 | To Lewis Hamilton | OK Lewis suspension loads at turn nine are critical so just be careful on the kerbs. |
| 49 | From Nico Hulkenberg | Guys think of bailing out, I have so much vibration. |
| 54 | To Lewis Hamilton | OK Lewis close that gap as much as you can. It’s Hammer time. |
| 57 | To Lewis Hamilton | Nico car ahead, he is on the super-soft tyre. 16 laps remaining – need to attack and pass on-track. |
| 57 | From Lewis Hamilton | Why is he on a softer tyre than me?. |
| 58 | To Lewis Hamilton | So Lewis we think that this is the right tyre to get to the end. |
| 61 | From Kimi Raikkonen | Come on, blue flags. |
| 61 | To Kimi Raikkonen | Copy copy he’s getting them. |
| 61 | From Kimi Raikkonen | He is not getting the blue flags. |
| VL | To Lewis Hamilton | OK Lewis well done mate not the race we were after but good result. |
| VL | From Lewis Hamilton | I was on the outside. It wasn’t me that crashed. |
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
2016 Austrian Grand Prix
- Long stint didn’t cause Vettel’s tyre blow-out in Austria
- Point earns Wehrlein Driver of the Weekend win
- 2016 Austrian Grand Prix team radio transcript
- 2016 Austrian Grand Prix Predictions Championship results
- Why boo that? Strong rating for suspenseful Austrian GP
Team radio transcripts
- Ricciardo’s brake woe and why Perez thought he had an engine problem: Singapore GP radio
- ‘Perez is only quicker when he has DRS’: How Hulkenberg’s Haas beat a Red Bull – again
- “Sometimes I wonder why I do this”: How Hamilton endured a slog to sixth in Singapore
- “The car is just jumping”: Why Verstappen couldn’t stop Norris catching him
- How frustrated Hamilton spent 24 laps stuck behind Bearman in “a horror race”
Miki
7th July 2016, 12:52
“OK Lewis suspension loads at turn nine are critical so just be careful on the kerbs.”
How this message was severe but Perez Brake failure message wasn’t :((
IJW (@)
7th July 2016, 15:07
Maybe they need to include the word “critical”? ;-)
Friederike (@rike)
7th July 2016, 16:09
I guess the Team decides if the Problem is criticsl and make the call and then they hope the stewarts (or whoever judges this ) think the same
ColdFly F1 (@)
7th July 2016, 12:59
“70 To Lewis Hamilton OK Lewis well done mate not the race we were after but good result.”
Did they say this on lap 70? clairvoyants.
Understeer (@abdelilah)
7th July 2016, 13:58
Man, I miss the old radio transcript before the ban.
ColdFly F1 (@)
7th July 2016, 14:58
I’ll solve that for you @abdelilah:
55 To Lewis Hamilton OK Lewis strat 5, BB +1.
69 To Nico Hulkenberg turn 5 brake 20m earlier and setting special ST
Or more seriously. It’s not the ban that has reduced the transcripts. It’s because FIA/FOM has decided not to broadcast or share as much communication with the press/fans.
Trust me, there is a lot more communication going on. And I strongly believe it would be better than before the ban, as we can now understand what they are talking about (rather than settings and coded messages).
Robbie (@robbie)
7th July 2016, 14:21
Would have loved to have heard what all LH had to say besides what we’ve been made privy to, once he realized Nico was fully ahead and on softer tires after undercutting him. My goodness after all the crying for extreme strategies from the team we heard from LH last year after he had won the WDC and Nico started his 7-race win streak, LH must have been absolutely fuming this past weekend. Even if FOM was still allowing us more access, even post-race, they probably would have had to bleep most of LH out.
Claire Gorman
7th July 2016, 16:55
What utter rubbish! We do not get the story of the race by radio like we used to. FOM are really starting to hack me off with this; Perez had a brake failure which is a safety issue! Why can’t the team warn him? If someone spears off track due to that and gets injured… Madness. Utter madness. Come on Bernie sort it out!
Andy (@andybantam)
7th July 2016, 17:47
Another unnecessary and short sited rule destined for a shoe-in on the way to ridicule.