Kimi Raikkonen’s furious complaints about Max Verstappen provided the most memorable team radio discussions during the Belgian Grand Prix.
The pair have clashed several times this year, but on this occasion Raikkonen went so far as to accuse his rival of deliberately trying to cause a collision with him.
One of the most revealing messages of the race involved Nico Hulkenberg, who asked whether his team could take fuel out of his car during the race stoppage as he expected he would have too much for the rest of the race and wanted to ensure his car was running as lightly as possible.
Two of his team members showed their awareness of article 30.1 (c) of the Spotting Regulations which forbids this: “Fuel may not be added to nor removed from a car during a race.” But cunningly, the team made a point of periodically firing up their engine to burn off some of the excess fuel weight.
Despite the relaxation in the radio rules at the previous race in Germany there was no appreciable increase in the number of messages being broadcast to fans: just 54 were heard.
Go ad-free for just £1 per month
>> Find out more and sign up
2016 Belgian Grand Prix team radio transcript
Lap* | Driver | Message |
---|---|---|
1 | From Kimi Raikkonen | I don’t know, I have something damaged. |
1 | From Sebastian Vettel | OK check the wing, I don’t think the car is OK. What happened there? |
1 | To Sebastian Vettel | Tyres are fine. |
1 | From Sebastian Vettel | But I have damage. |
2 | From Carlos Sainz Jnr | Puncture, puncture, [censored by FOM] hell, puncture. |
4 | To Kimi Raikkonen | OK Kimi so we are going to get blues for these guys behind unless we can pull away from them. They’ll be, obviously, some guys we can’t pull away from. So we will get some blues, but we’re just going to have to do the best job we can. |
4 | From Max Verstappen | They just turned into me. |
6 | To Jolyon Palmer | Safety Car. For info Kevin had a big crash in Eau Rouge, he’s fine. P7, Safety Car. |
6 | From Daniel Ricciardo | At the moment just struggling with the front. It’s not helping rear on exits. But front’s really weak. |
6 | To Daniel Ricciardo | OK Daniel, understood. |
7 | To Lewis Hamilton | So the incident is at the top of Eau Rouge on the right-hand side. |
7 | From Lewis Hamilton | Is the driver OK? |
7 | To Lewis Hamilton | Yep. It’s Magnussen, driver OK. |
8 | From Fernando Alonso | Listen, I don’t have any more data. It stopped working, so I will follow the car in front, probably. |
8 | To Fernando Alonso | Yep, do that, we’ll get back to you once we investigate. |
9 | From Nico Hulkenberg | So on the super-soft we’re similar pace to the Red Bull, yeah. |
9 | To Nico Hulkenberg | Yeah, similar pace to the Red bull who is on soft. |
9 | To Nico Rosberg | And Nico just let us know can you see anything on the rear tyres at the moment? |
9 | From Nico Rosberg | Negative. |
10 | To Fernando Alonso | So Fernando we think most cars only have a single prime and a back-up remaining so they’re going to be on plan A. But we will evaluate during the stint. |
10 | From Nico Hulkenberg | Can we take some fuel out now and run optimally or not allowed? |
10 | To Nico Hulkenberg | Not allowed. We’re doing fire-ups as much as we can. |
10 | To Nico Hulkenberg | No we’re not allowed but we should be firing up to run some fuel out. |
10 | To Sebastian Vettel | They need to repair the barriers, that’s why, for the crash. |
10 | From Sebastian Vettel | Yeah I thought so. |
13 | From Kimi Raikkonen | Do I have to let the Red Bull past? Because it’s clear his only interest is pushing me off the circuit completely. If I wouldn’t go straight he’s just hitting me. |
13 | From Kimi Raikkonen | Hey come on this is [censored by FOM] ridiculous now, he’s just fucking turning when I’m going full speed on the right. |
13 | To Kimi Raikkonen | Copy, copy, ridiculous. |
15 | To Jolyon Palmer | OK Jo both now your front and rear tyres are too hot. Suggest… |
15 | From Jolyon Palmer | What should I do about it? |
15 | To Jolyon Palmer | Lift and cost. |
15 | To Max Verstappen | Max how is the balance? And front wing update for the next stint. |
15 | From Max Verstappen | I’m understeering high speed but I have very low grip in the low-speed corners. |
18 | To Lewis Hamilton | Nice work, Lewis. So we’ve got Ricciardo. |
20 | From Kimi Raikkonen | Check if I have a [censored by FOM] puncture again on the left-front. |
20 | To Kimi Raikkonen | Pressure is good at the minute, Kimi. |
20 | From Max Verstappen | I have no grip in the low-speed corners. Feels like I’m not having the grip like normal. |
21 | From Lewis Hamilton | Rears starting to slide a lot. |
22 | To Nico Rosberg | So Nico we’re happy for you to push that tyre, go plan B. |
23 | From Lewis Hamilton | Am I in a bad position having to stop so soon? |
23 | To Lewis Hamilton | Negative, some cars are stopping ahead of us now so let’s not worry about it, just get our head down. |
24 | To Nico Hulkenberg | Did Alonso hit you? |
24 | From Nico Hulkenberg | Yes. |
30 | To Daniel Ricciardo | So like I say make his life hard, it’ll help us at the end of the race. |
30 | To Daniel Ricciardo | OK Daniel left rear tyre’s a little bit warm, just watch that left-rear. |
31 | To Daniel Ricciardo | OK Daniel you’re doing a very good job mate, let’s keep it smooth. You’re on top of tyre temperatures now. |
32 | To Lewis Hamilton | OK Lewis it won’t be long now, our pit window is nearly clear. Still Hulkenberg just hovering on the edge. |
33 | From Lewis Hamilton | Not sure that’s the right idea. |
33 | To Lewis Hamilton | We think it is, it’s a good tyre, it’s looking good. |
42 | To Valtteri Bottas | We can get him, he’s going to be a sitting duck, so let’s hunt Alonso down. |
VL | To Nico Rosberg | Woo! Excellent job. Really good drive. That was a stint on that first set of medium, Nico. Top job on that first set of medium, just pulled away from everybody. |
VL | To Nico Rosberg | Fantastic drive Nico, well done. |
VL | From Nico Rosberg | Thank you Paddy, awesome result. |
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.
Follow F1 Fanatic Live on Twitter for team radio highlights during all live F1 sessions.
Belgian Grand Prix data
2016 Belgian Grand Prix
- 2016 Belgian Grand Prix team radio transcript
- Alonso wins first Driver of the Weekend for two years
- DRS blamed as Spa race falls short of expectations
- 2016 Belgian Grand Prix Predictions Championship results
- Top ten pictures from the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix
Team radio transcripts
- Tributes and cheeky doughnuts: How departing F1 drivers signed off on their radios
- Red Bull left it as late as possible to tell Verstappen about his latest penalty
- “Am I dead last now?” Unheard radio from Hamilton’s disastrous Qatar GP
- Verstappen was fighting tyre graining, not his rivals, in title-winning drive
- ‘Being nice f**** me over’: Leclerc’s radio anger and Sainz’s criticism explained
AniS
13th September 2016, 11:30
My favourite bit from the radio that weekend to Valtteri Bottas
“Alonso is a sitting duck!!!”
Kribana (@krichelle)
14th September 2016, 15:25
Someone make a compilation of Kimi’s best radios….