2017 Mexican Grand Prix team radio transcript

There was an undoubted swagger to Max Verstappen as he cruised to his third F1 race victory on Sunday.

Mexican Grand Prix in pictures

“Simply lovely,” he joked after he forced his way into the lead while championship contenders Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton compromised each others’ races. Later on he said he’d “take it easy” by matching the pace of his closest rival Valtteri Bottas – then accidentally-on-purpose failed to reduce his speed.

“Bottas still hasn’t finished yet,” Christian Horner remarked after Verstappen took the chequered flag first.

For Vettel and Hamilton the race was all about whether the Ferrari driver could finish high enough to keep the world championship alive. Hamilton repeatedly asked for updates on the situation, but the title was his the moment his team mate crossed the finishing line in second place. Footballer Neymar was among those on-hand to offer their congratulations over the radio.

Hamilton passed Fernando Alonso, late in the race, who quizzed McLaren on whether the move had been legal. They agreed it was.

it was a different matter when he went up against Romain Grosjean earlier in the race, however. Alonso furiously and repeatedly complained his rival had cut turn 14 and gained an advantage, and later put an ‘elbows-out’ pass on the Haas at turn one. The stewards penalised Grosjean five seconds for the earlier incident, but ruled Alonso’s move was legal, despite Grosjean’s complaint.

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2017 Mexican Grand Prix team radio transcript

Lap*	Driver	Message
PR	From Lewis Hamilton	Just leaving the garage I had no power when I touched the pedal.
PR	To Lewis Hamilton	OK copy, we’ll have a look.
PR	To Valtteri Bottas	Again tyres struggling to get into the correct surface temp window.
PR	From Lewis Hamilton	My seat is roasting. Really hot on my back. Make sure you cool it next time. It’s so hot.
PR	To Fernando Alonso	Fernando, tyre info: The only other prime starter is Grosjean. Everybody else on options.
1	From Lewis Hamilton	Flat tyre.
1	To Lewis Hamilton	Copy copy Lewis box box.
2	To Stoffel Vandoorne	Great start Stoffel. P13.
3	To Daniel Ricciardo	OK Daniel nice job you’re now P8.
3	To Carlos Sainz Jnr	Is everything OK?
3	From Carlos Sainz Jnr	Yeah, box, box. I don’t know what happened with the car, I don’t know if I have a puncture.
3	To Carlos Sainz Jnr	OK, understood.
4	To Felipe Massa	OK Felipe we have a front-right slow puncture, we’re going to box this lap.
4	From Felipe Massa	I don’t believe it. Really?
4	To Felipe Massa	Yep.
4	From Felipe Massa	OK box now.
5	From Max Verstappen	Simply, simply lovely.
5	To Max Verstappen	Ah simply mate.
7	From Lewis Hamilton	Did he hit me deliberately?
7	To Lewis Hamilton	Not sure, Lewis.
8	From Daniel Ricciardo	Issue I think with the turbo.
8	To Daniel Ricciardo	Fail 1 fail.
8	From Daniel Ricciardo	I think it’s drained all the battery.
8	To Daniel Ricciardo	Yep. We’re looking into it mate, keep pushing. OK Daniel box this lap. OK switch off please. Sorry about that mate, we’ll have a look at it.
8	From Daniel Ricciardo	OK I’m jumping out.
8	To Daniel Ricciardo	Yes mate. You did a very good job mate, it was a good first few laps, sorry about that.
9	From Lewis Hamilton	Is my floor badly damaged?
9	To Lewis Hamilton	Floor looks good.
11	From Fernando Alonso	OK Grosjean cut turn 14 so he needs to give back the position please
11	To Fernando Alonso	We will report him immediately.
11	From Romain Grosjean	Man I had to cut the corner. I couldn’t go anywhere with Fernando pushing me.
11	From Fernando Alonso	Yeah we need the position immediately because he changed the race. Very clear.
11	To Fernando Alonso	Understood, Fernando, we’re working on it.
11	From Fernando Alonso	Yes, please, the position. Please. Please. Race director, look at the race please.
11	To Fernando Alonso	We have reported him to the race director. We will get back to you. Plan A looking good.
12	From Fernando Alonso	Please. Please is very clear. I am losing the race here.
12	To Fernando Alonso	Fernando mate we’re still trying. Concentrate.
12	To Romain Grosjean	OK we believe we have front wing damage and looks like you think so too.
12	From Romain Grosjean	I’ve got no idea. There were parts flying but tight now I’m in traffic so I can’t say.
12	To Romain Grosjean	OK understood.
12	From Romain Grosjean	But we can’t push a car off like that.
12	To Romain Grosjean	OK we’re going to box to fix the nose so box.
12	From Romain Grosjean	Really?
12	To Romain Grosjean	OK if you’re happy stay out. The pressures are ok, stay out.
13	From Sebastian Vettel	Seriously, are we developing auto scooter here? Sort of, it’s fun to push the other guy off the track? I had my nose ahead.
13	To Sebastian Vettel	Seb, stay focused.
13	From Sebastian Vettel	I am focused, don’t worry.
17	To Pierre Gasly	OK try to stay close to him and exploit his overtake to Grosjean.
18	To Marcus Ericsson	OK Marcus we need five quali laps from now, we need everything you have.
18	To Stoffel Vandoorne	He’s got Fernando close behind as well.
18	From Stoffel Vandoorne	Yeah I mean I cannot do anything.
19	From Fernando Alonso	So what do we do now?
19	To Fernando Alonso	We’re working on it, we’ll get back to you.
19	To Stoffel Vandoorne	OK Stoffel we’d like to let positions, let Fernando have a go, see if you can follow him through.
19	From Fernando Alonso	Maybe I can pass the Sauber, I don’t know?
19	To Fernando Alonso	OK Fernando we’ll swap positions down this straight.
20	From Lewis Hamilton	Just to get past these guys is difficult.
20	To Esteban Ocon	Pits this lap, push now.
21	From Max Verstappen	Also under braking left-front is giving up a bit.
21	To Max Verstappen	Copy.
21	From Brendon Hartley	Bit slow out of five.
21	To Brendon Hartley	Copy that Brendon we are looking.
22	From Lewis Hamilton	Hamilton was stuck behind Sainz and about to be lapped by Verstappen. It’s crazy to be fighting for this position. It’d be smarter to let me go and follow me.
23	From Nico Hulkenberg	I had a bit of loss of power I think.
23	To Nico Hulkenberg	Understand Nico we are de-rating. That’s why we need B51 on.
23	To Nico Hulkenberg	PU9 position five urgent.
24	To Marcus Ericsson	OK Marcus we need to keep pushing. If we box now we will be too close to Pascal and Pascal is getting blue flags at the moment. Keep pushing mate.
24	From Lewis Hamilton	Guys I can’t get close to a car.
24	To Max Verstappen	Fail B3 fail.
24	From Max Verstappen	Oh, I think I did it wrong.
24	To Max Verstappen	OK you’ve not activated anything just yet. It’s not urgent Max, we can wait until the start/finish straight.
26	From Nico Hulkenberg	Loss of power, loss of boost. What do you want me to do?
26	To Nico Hulkenberg	Scenario 12. Stop the car please Nico. The car is not safe. You need to get out by climbing onto the front of the car and jumping off.
26	From Nico Hulkenberg	OK.
26	To Nico Hulkenberg	Go to P1 and then P0, then climb onto the front of the car and jump off.
27	From Max Verstappen	The left-front is just giving up a little bit, but it’s still drive-able.
27	To Max Verstappen	Copy Max, thank you.
27	From Lewis Hamilton	Is anyone else making it through the crowd, the chain of cars?
27	To Lewis Hamilton	Copy Lewis. Vettel is making progress but he’s just got single cars at a time.
29	To Sergio Perez	Checo look out for yellow flags before turn one. Respect the flags if you see them. We don’t have them on our system.
29	From Max Verstappen	Is my left-front tyre all good? I can see some blistering.
29	To Max Verstappen	Yeah temperatures are dropping a little bit at the moment Max but nothing that’d suggest we’ve got any concerns at all.
29	From Lewis Hamilton	This close behind, feels like the tyre isn’t going to last.
29	To Lewis Hamilton	That’s not a concern for us Lewis, we do have alternative plans.
30	From Sebastian Vettel	OK Fernando stayed now two times flat out with the yellow flag, DRS open, before turn one.
30	To Sebastian Vettel	Copy.
32	From Kevin Magnussen	You may want to think about doing something else because I don’t think Perez is that much quicker, they’re slowing us down.
32	To Kevin Magnussen	OK copy.
32	From Kevin Magnussen	Ah no he is quicker.
32	To Kevin Magnussen	OK understood consistent laps please.
33	From Brendon Hartley	Losing power.
33	To Brendon Hartley	All OK, all OK.
33	From Brendon Hartley	Mate I’m losing a lot of power.
33	To Brendon Hartley	Stop the car Brendon, stop the car in the same place. P1 P0, jump out. Jump out as soon as possible.
33	To Lewis Hamilton	So box box we’ve got a VSC, keep the delta positive.
33	To Max Verstappen	OK Max that was a 32-lap stint on ultra-softs, we have 39 laps remaining.
35	From Lewis Hamilton	How far behind am I?
35	To Lewis Hamilton	29 seconds to Vettel. Vettel on the ultra-soft now.
35	From Lewis Hamilton	How am I further away?
36	From Stoffel Vandoorne	Massa is holding Verstappen up, he should move quicker.
36	To Stoffel Vandoorne	Copy.
38	From Lewis Hamilton	What tyres everyone else have on. You guys there?
38	To Lewis Hamilton	Affirm we’re there Lewis. Vettel is on the ultra. There’s a mix of cars on super and ultra. You’ve got Wehrlein car ahead on very old soft tyres.
38	From Lewis Hamilton	Are the ultras going to make it all the way?
38	From Lewis Hamilton	Bono when I ask a question please give me the reply.
38	To Lewis Hamilton	Copy Lewis. Yeah most people have already done half a distance on that ultra-soft so it’s likely with lighter fuel they’ll probably be able to make it to the end.
41	To Max Verstappen	OK Max so we’re just going to watch and cover Bottas’s lap times at this stage.
41	From Max Verstappen	Alright so I’ll take it easy.
41	To Max Verstappen	OK so that was the same lap time as the previous lap, Max.
41	From Max Verstappen	I’m really sorry.
42	To Lewis Hamilton	OK Lewis Vettel 20.3. Currently P7. Best-case scenario for him is P4. That’s not enough for him. We’re just going to keep plugging away and get ourselves into the points.
42	From Lewis Hamilton	Understood.
42	To Marcus Ericsson	OK well done you are doing a cracking job. You are P12, there’s points ahead. Keep pushing.
43	To Pierre Gasly	Good job Pierre. Now for Hamilton, he will help us with Ericsson ahead.
45	To Marcus Ericsson	So we can use Hamilton, try to catch Vandoorne.
46	To Sebastian Vettel	Very good pace, keep pushing like this, hang in there.
47	To Lewis Hamilton	We are forecast for P8 if we can keep up this pace.
49	From Esteban Ocon	Are they going to catch me before the end?
49	To Esteban Ocon	Yes, they will.
51	To Fernando Alonso	You have blue flags for Bottas.
51	From Fernando Alonso	He’s miles away.
51	To Fernando Alonso	I know. We have blue flags. Let’s use this as an opportunity.
51	From Fernando Alonso	2.4 seconds. Ridiculous.
53	To Marcus Ericsson	OK Marcus we have blue flag for Raikkonen. But be careful because Gasly is right behind Raikkonen, so we need to be clever there.
54	To Pascal Wehrlein	That’s very good pace now, closing the gap to the guys ahead.
56	To Kevin Magnussen	Driver default bravo 23, it’s important for reliability.
57	From Lewis Hamilton	What position do I need?
57	To Lewis Hamilton	Vettel is currently P5. He needs at least P2.
57	From Lewis Hamilton	Is that possible for him?
57	To Lewis Hamilton	Negative, negative. Valtteri now sat in P2, holding that spot.
58	From Marcus Ericsson	BBW! Brake fail.
58	To Marcus Ericsson	OK stand by.
58	From Marcus Ericsson	Come I need something quick I have no brake.
58	To Marcus Ericsson	We need diag A20. OK Marcus we’re going to retire the car, box, box. I’m sorry mate, something is wrong.
58	To Lewis Hamilton	That’s how you do it, Lewis. Nice work, let’s crack on.
59	From Lewis Hamilton	What position am I?
59	To Lewis Hamilton	So you’re currently P10. We’ve got P8 on the cards for us.
60	To Sebastian Vettel	Kimi 23s in front. Kimi lap time 20.0, 20.1.
60	From Sebastian Vettel	How many seconds, you say?
60	To Sebastian Vettel	23
60	From Sebastian Vettel	Oh mamma mia. It’s a little bit too much
60	From Lewis Hamilton	How far is seventh up the road? I see it don’t worry.
62	From Carlos Sainz Jnr	The car is pulling to the right on the straights. I don’t know if we are losing aero parts or something?
62	To Carlos Sainz Jnr	We’d like to retire the car please so box box.
63	From Lewis Hamilton	How far is Seb from Kimi?
63	To Lewis Hamilton	There’s a big gap between them. Raikkonen P3, Vettel now P4.
63	From Carlos Sainz Jnr	Sorry also from my side. No pace also. Very strange, very very strange.
63	To Carlos Sainz Jnr	We’ll get back in the points at Brazil, mate.
63	From Carlos Sainz Jnr	Yep, sure.
67	From Max Verstappen	Verstappen set the fastest lap on the 65th tour but Vettel beat it three laps later. Was that the fastest lap?
67	To Max Verstappen	Yes.
67	To Lewis Hamilton	Good job Lewis, just keep the pressure on. You’ll break his DRS to Magnussen.
68	From Fernando Alonso	I have no deployment on the straights.
68	To Pascal Wehrlein	Big push now to the end.
70	From Fernando Alonso	Hamilton squeezed past Alonso. What do you think he went off on the track overtaking or he was OK?
70	To Fernando Alonso	It was good racing but fair racing.
70	To Kevin Magnussen	Hamilton now is P9, four seconds behind, come on boy.
VL	To Max Verstappen	Well done Max, that was an awesome drive. Well done.
VL	From Max Verstappen	What a good race. The car was amazing.
VL	To Max Verstappen	Well done Max that was fantastic. Brilliant drive. Couldn’t you go any slower? Bottas still hasn’t finished yet.
VL	From Max Verstappen	Yeah I’m so sorry mate I was cruising.
VL	To Max Verstappen	Kept trying to get them to slow you down.
VL	From Max Verstappen	Yeah I was about to cut the track you know just for fun, maybe I’d get a five-second penalty, then it gets a bit more interesting.
VL	To Max Verstappen	Exactly. And GP will be coming up on the podium with you today.
VL	From Max Verstappen	Ah great.
VL	To Max Verstappen	Yeah Max that was a Sunday cruise. Brilliant.
VL	To Sebastian Vettel	P4, Sebastian, P4. Strong race.
VL	From Sebastian Vettel	Grazie ragazzi. Car was very good.
VL	To Esteban Ocon	Well done Esteban, P5, good job mate.
VL	From Esteban Ocon	Good job guys. Really good job this weekend again. Let’s keep it going.
VL	To Esteban Ocon	So that’s us sealed fourth place in the championship. We are fourth in the championship. Unfortunately the two Ferraris were just a bit too quick for us to hold, really.
VL	From Esteban Ocon	Yeah it’s a shame but it’s not the end of the season. We can get the podium.
VL	From Lance Stroll	Good job. Very good race.
VL	To Lance Stroll	Happy birthday!
VL	From Lance Stroll	Haha yeah I’ll take that as a present,.
VL	To Lance Stroll	Not a bad race for a young boy.
VL	From Lance Stroll	I’m older now!
VL	To Sergio Perez	Good job Checo. Fourth in the championship for us. Well done.
VL	From Sergio Perez	Good job guys, well done, target achieved so thank you and let’s look forward for the next two.
VL	To Sergio Perez	Well done Checo, good job.
VL	To Kevin Magnussen	P8, P8.
VL	From Kevin Magnussen	Well done guys.
VL	To Kevin Magnussen	Well done Kevin fantastic drive.
VL	To Kevin Magnussen	Great job.
VL	From Kevin Magnussen	Good job man.
VL	To Kevin Magnussen	What can I say? Absolutely incredible?
VL	To Kevin Magnussen	Vamos!
VL	To Lewis Hamilton	Get in there Lewis! Champion of the world!
VL	To Lewis Hamilton	Lewis this is Toto. Not the race you wanted but who cares? Four time-world champion.
VL	To Lewis Hamilton	Niki, Lewis. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Four time thank you.
VL	To Lewis Hamilton	Well done mate. Vettel’s going to have to work harder than that if he wants the championship off you.
VL	From Lewis Hamilton	I’d like to say a big thanks to everyone in this team. What you’ve done the past couple of years is just remarkable and I’m just so grateful for all your hard work this year. God bless you.
VL	To Lewis Hamilton	Thank you Lewis mate. Great to have you in the team.
VL	From Lewis Hamilton	Never gave up, man.
VL	To Lewis Hamilton	Hey Lewis it’s Neymar. I’m happy for you bro for all the championship. Winning!
VL	To Fernando Alonso	Good race mate. We were P10.
VL	From Fernando Alonso	Great weekend guys. Car was very, very fast.
VL	To Felipe Massa	OK Felipe that’s the chequered flag. That’s so unfortunate, that was a really good job on that long stint looking after those tyres. Such a shame at the start.
VL	From Felipe Massa	Unfortunate that I lost points in a race that it was possible to score a good amount.
VL	To Felipe Massa	Yep, absolutely.
VL	To Pierre Gasly	P13. Good job Pierre, good effort.
VL	From Pierre Gasly	Yeah sorry for the first lap, there was huge rear locking. During the race I struggled quite a lot with the brake, pedal was really long. I struggled to achieve the maximum pressure on the braking. At least we could do the race and there was no issues, I could keep pushing, and I will get stronger.
VL	To Pierre Gasly	Copy that.

Note: Only includes messages which were broadcast in the race coverage.
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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6 comments on “2017 Mexican Grand Prix team radio transcript”

James (@jimbo0070)
2nd November 2017, 21:32

I used to like Max a lot, was a breath of fresh air. Now his emerging arrogance is starting to grate on me.
1. baasbas
  2nd November 2017, 21:39
  
  Lol. If you think that was arrogance then it obviously is more your problem then his. He was purring and he was genuinely laughing when he was supposed to lower his pace to match Bottas. .. you’d have a point of you’d say it was childish, but arrogant. .. no
2. Martijn (@)
  3rd November 2017, 9:14
  
  @jimbo0070 In the Netherlands we get a lot more coverage on Max including many interviews. He’s confident (rightfully so based on his performances in his life so far) but definitely not arrogant. He’s just having fun and can see the humor of things happening. But yeah, he is a winner, like his 19 collegues are, and they sometimes can come across as such.
3. Pjotr
  3rd November 2017, 20:57
  
  Arrogance? They changed the rules in F1 because of him. He is certainly not kissing all asses in F1 but he surely is kicking them.
Feuerdrache (@xenomorph91)
2nd November 2017, 23:44

I’m surprised that Alonso opening his DRS under yellow flags went unpunished. Vettel got a DT penalty for it back in 2012.
1. Neil (@neilosjames)
  4th November 2017, 14:15
  
  Yeah, I noticed that in the race – in the end I assumed that because race control hadn’t shut off DRS or triggered the usual on-screen indicators, and because I could see no yellow light-boards, that the marshal had just carried on waving for too long and it wasn’t being treated as a ‘proper’ yellow flag.