2016 Belgian Grand Prix team radio transcript

2016 Belgian Grand Prix

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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.

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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.

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Belgian Grand Prix data

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    Keith Collantine
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    2 comments on “2016 Belgian Grand Prix team radio transcript”

    1. My favourite bit from the radio that weekend to Valtteri Bottas
      “Alonso is a sitting duck!!!”

    2. Someone make a compilation of Kimi’s best radios….

    Comments are closed.