Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Jeddah Corniche Circuit, 2022

Transcript: How Verstappen fought Leclerc on his radio and on the track in Jeddah

2022 Saudi Arabian GP team radio transcript

30th March 2022, 7:173rd April 2022, 12:59 | Written by Keith Collantine

Max Verstappen won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix by patiently working himself into a position to take advantage of his Drag Reduction System on the start-finish straight.

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Until that decisive move was made on the 46th lap of the race, the Red Bull driver had spent the best part of 80 minutes staring at the F1-75’s rear wing.

That gave him plenty of opportunity to observe what Leclerc was up to. He tried to turn that to his advantage as well, highlighting any possible infringement by the Ferrari driver which the stewards might pick up on: The lights on his car, his line on the main straight, his observance of yellow flags.

Eventually Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase urged him to “calm down” and “let us do our work.” But Verstappen always seemed to have his driving under control, and eventually teed Leclerc up for a race-winning pass.

Before that, the pair of them had to get into position to win the race. Pole-winner Sergio Perez led the opening laps, but behind him second-placed Leclerc was eager to apply strategic pressure, urging his team to consider a pit stop in an attempt to get ahead of the leader. But Red Bull pre-empted the move, bringing Perez in first.

Lap	Red Bull speaker	Message	Ferrari speaker	Message
1	Lambiase	Mode seven what you can.
1	Lambiase	And brake bias offset Max, brake bias offset. Display eight when you can, display eight.
1	Lambiase	Strat six please Max, strat six.
1	Lambiase	Bias is still minus two.
1	Lambiase	So just forwards on your tools for the moment.
2	Lambiase	And display five position three for increased diff support, display five position three when you can.	M.Padros	Take care of the tyres at turn 22. Gap to Verstappen behind 1.6.
3			M.Padros	And we need to look after the tyres at turns six, seven, 10 and also 22. Gap to Verstappen behind 1.5, Perez in front of 1.8.
4	Verstappen	The lights of Leclerc don’t work on the back of this car.	M.Padros	At the moment we are thinking plan A, plan A.
4	Lambiase	Confirm, they do not work? Question.
4	Verstappen	Yeah, they don’t work.
5	Lambiase	Understood. Thank you.	M.Padros	Tyre phase update when you can.
6			M.Padros	And tyres are good to push.
7			M.Padros	You are doing a good job on tyres, continue like this.
8			Leclerc	Stop speaking in the first corner, please.
8			M.Padros	Got to Verstappen behind 1.5. We are going plan A and our degradation is better than Red Bull.
9	Verstappen	Mate, front starts to slowly give up.	M.Padros	And try to increase pushing status.
10			M.Padros	You are doing a good job, continue like this.
10	Lambiase	Think about the pull toggle at turn 16 if it’s convenient.
11	Verstappen	Ah mate I can’t do shit, it’s just understeering.	M.Padros	And tyre phase update when you can.
11	Lambiase	Okay so come back on some of the tools that you closed up before.	M.Padros	An increase pushing a status a bit more.
11			Leclerc	I can’t.
12			M.Padros	And tyre life is plus four compared to pre-event, plus four.
13			Leclerc	Consider box to overtake.
13			M.Padros	Understood.
14	Lambiase	Can I have a front wing update for the next stint please, Max.	M.Padros	And box to overtake, box to overtake.
14	Verstappen	The tyres just have died, the front wing is actually okay.	M.Padros	And stay out, stay out, stay out.
14			M.Padros	Push for over-cut.
14			Leclerc	Copy that.
15	Lambiase	Okay so Checo in pit lane.	M.Padros	And Perez pitted for hard.
15	Lambiase	Leclerc 35.2, 35.2.	Leclerc	What are we doing?

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, leads behind the Mercedes FIA Safety Car, Jeddah Corniche Circuit, 2022 — Early Safety Car handed the lead to Leclerc

“We were ready to pit,” Leclerc said afterwards, acknowledging that he would have come in had Perez not done so. “We basically went for the opposite to Checo in front, and he boxed that lap, so I think we did the right choice.”

It turned out that way because the Safety Car appeared moments later, allowing Leclerc to make his pit stop while losing less time, and take the lead.

Verstappen pitted too, discarding his medium compound tyres for the hard rubber. “I didn’t really feel that happy on the medium,” he explained. “All the time, when you would get close to the car ahead the tyres would die.

“So there was not much racing going on there. It was a little bit frustrating to just sit there and wait for the right lap to pit so you could go onto the other tyres, because as soon as we went on to the hard tyre I had a much better feeling.”

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15	Verstappen	My right-front is dead, mate.	M.Padros	Standby.
15	Lambiase	Understood.	M.Padros	Double yellow, double yellow, turn 27, double yellow, turn 27. And debris exit 27 on the outside.
15	Lambiase	Virtual Safety Car deployed, Max, VSC deployed. Box and pit confirm, box and pit confirm. Just keep your dash positive. Dash plus one.	M.Padros	And box now box.
15	Lambiase	Strat… Safety Car Deployed, Safety Car Deployed, strat 12 in pit lane.	Leclerc	Box.
15	Lambiase	Strat eight, white line on the exit.	M.Padros	Box now box.
15	Lambiase	Torque nine, torque nine and white line on the exit.	M.Padros	Charge button on, charge button on.
15			M.Padros	And radio off, radio off.
15			M.Padros	Charge button on, charge on.
15			M.Padros	Okay track is clear, track clear.
15			M.Padros	You can press SOC seven.
16	Verstappen	Did someone start the race on the hard?	M.Padros	So everyone around you is hard, everyone behind you on hard.
16	Lambiase	Yes, they did.	M.Padros	And keep working on these tyres, please, keep working on the tyres.
16	Verstappen	Mate how did that pace look?	M.Padros	We need to work on the front tyres.
16	Lambiase	Difficult to say, really, they were in traffic at the time. All cars around here are on the hard tyre now.	M.Padros	And try to target minus 15 on tyres.
16	Lambiase	Strat five.	M.Padros	And less braking, please, take it easy there, less braking.
16			Leclerc	Can the Safety Car push a bit more in the straights, please?
16			M.Padros	Copy, we’ll ask.
17	Lambiase	Okay Max so you know what the base plan will be at this stage. So like I say, bring these tyres in nicely as they come up to temperature. Watch your slip on the front-right. Let’s try to get the deg down on this set.	M.Padros	Keep working on the tyres as you are doing, good job.
17	Verstappen	How are the brakes?	M.Padros	And good job on tyres.
17	Lambiase	Stabilised. Still a little bit warmer than we’d prefer at this point. If you can try to keep the speed up without using them at the moment. Air speed up.
17	Lambiase	Mode three please Max.
18	Lambiase	Good job on the front brakes, Max.	M.Padros	So on the hard we see warm up on sector one and then stronger tyres than expected after that.
18			Leclerc	Should I stay mode charge?
18			M.Padros	Yes, stay in charge.
18			M.Padros	So when we restart, it will be K2 on and then K2 off at turn one, please.
18			M.Padros	And if anything, we should work on turn two, that’s the only place we are losing. That’s compared to Sainz.
19	Lambiase	Okay Max let’s have some straight-line braking, please. Nice and positive on the brakes. Straight-line braking.	M.Padros	So if it is easier for you after the restart you can do K2 off into turn four.
19	Lambiase	Okay the safety car is in this lap Max, Safety Car, is in this lap.	M.Padros	Safety Car in this lap. Safety Car in this lap.
19	Lambiase	Okay so for the restart it’s just recharge off and your brake bias offset as you need it for the opening lap. A reminder you are unable to overtake until the line. We are racing only from the line.	M.Padros	So next car behind is Verstappen. Behind Verstappen there’s Perez and then Sainz. Everyone on hard.
19	Lambiase	Safety Car is at turn 26.	M.Padros	It will be K2 on for the restart.
19	Lambiase	Safety Car at turn 27.	M.Padros	Safety Car exit 27.

(L to R): Max Verstappen, Red Bull; Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Jeddah Corniche Circuit, 2022 — Leclerc made life difficult for Verstappen at the restart

After the Safety Car came in, Red Bull played the long game with Verstappen, expecting his superior straight-line speed would eventually offer him an opportunity to get past.

“I tried to stay close with Charles after the Safety Car restart and I was just trying to keep the gap more or less the same,” he said. “And that was basically it, just trying to match the lap times, trying to get a bit closer, then he was pulling away a bit. I got a bit closer again.”

Their cars’ strengths lay on different parts of the track, Leclerc noted. “It was very difficult because we had two cars that were in a very different place. I was very strong in the first sector, in all the corners, and basically much less strong in the straights.”

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20	Lambiase	Car behind is Sainz.
20	Lambiase	And brake bias offset Max.
21	Verstappen	Leclerc crossed the white line on pit entry.	M.Padros	And SOC 6 when you can.
21	Lambiase	Understood, thank you.
22	Lambiase	DRS are enabled.	M.Padros	And DRS enabled, Verstappen behind 1.5.
24	Lambiase	Strat four. strat four.
25	Verstappen	It’s pretty hard to follow. I think we’re quite quick but hard to follow.	M.Padros	And we need multifunction D O position four, D O position four.
25	Lambiase	Understood. just look after the front-right.
25	Lambiase	Watch your braking and traction metrics as well for the rear.
25	Lambiase	All of Leclerc’s lap time is in that first sector. Five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, as you’d expect. Let’s see how long he can keep it up.
26			M.Padros	And diff in plus one, suggestion.
27	Lambiase	Okay Leclerc 33.2, you 33.0. Sainz 33.7.
29	Lambiase	Engine 13 position five, when you can. Engine one three position five, when you can, Max. Trying to improve energy.	M.Padros	And tyres are good to push, continue like this, you’re doing a good job.
30	Lambiase	OK, that’s 30 laps complete, Max 20 remaining.
30	Lambiase	Hamilton has completed 30 laps on his first set of hard tyres.
30	Lambiase	Strat three, please Max. Strat three.
31	Lambiase	Leclerc 33.0
31	Lambiase	Let’s just keep it sensible in the high speed for now, we can put pressure on later in the race. Let Leclerc use up his tyres for the moment.
31	Lambiase	Engine one, position five. Engine one position five, when you can.
32	Lambiase	So Hamilton and Magnussen still yet to pit on their start tyres. They are green on their last laps.
33			M.Padros	And good job on tyres, continue like this.

The race’s second interruption came when Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo slower, the latter coming to a stop in the pit lane entrance, triggering a Virtual Safety Car period.

Start, Jeddah Corniche Circuit, 2022 — **Gallery: 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in pictures**

For the pair contesting victory at the front, this meant ensuring they brought their tyres back up to operating temperature after cooling at slower speeds. Meanwhile Leclerc was watching Verstappen just as his rival watched him, at one point alerting his team the Red Bull driver suddenly seemed closer than he should be while the race was neutralised.

Verstappen said he hadn’t been trying to game the system to get closer to his rival while obeying the delta time intervals applied during the VSC period.

“To be honest, I was a little bit surprised myself that it did look a little bit closer, but I don’t know how close Charles was to zero with the delta,” he said. “That’s always a bit of a question mark.

“But also, sometimes it depends a bit where the restart is: If it’s in a corner for somebody in front or not. I think I was still on a bit more of the straight side and I had a bit of a better run into turn four as well.”

35	Lambiase	15 laps remaining.
36	Lambiase	Okay Max, Alonso is moving very slowly ahead, he’s on the approach to turn 22. Alonso at 22.	M.Padros	And Alonso slow in front, is now at turn 20, be careful with him.
36	Lambiase	We’ve got yellows where you are at the moment.	M.Padros	Ricciardo stop in pit entry. Gap to Verstappen behind 1.3.
37	Verstappen	I don’t think he lifted.	M.Padros	Virtual Safety Car deployed, Virtual Safety Car deployed. Pit lane is closed, pit lane is closed.
37	Lambiase	Okay understood thank you.	M.Padros	And charge button on, charge on.
37	Lambiase	Okay Virtual Safety Car deployed Max. Target positive, dash positive. Stay out, stay out, the pit entry is closed, you are staying out.	M.Padros	So pit lane is closed, Alonso and Ricciardo stopped there.
37	Verstappen	Yeah tyres are fine anyway.
37	Verstappen	Yeah understood.
37	Lambiase	Recharge on. Recharge on.
37	Lambiase	We’re looking into your last comment about the yellow there, Max as well, thank you.
37	Verstappen	There’s oil in the last corner.
37	Lambiase	Understood.
38			M.Padros	They have cleared Ricciardo’s car but Alonso still there pit entry.
38			M.Padros	And for tyres, we can push ’til the end. Try to keep some temperature in the fronts, if you can.
38			M.Padros	Pit entry is closed. And less braking, easy on brakes.
38			M.Padros	They are starting to push Alonso’s car out of the way.
38			M.Padros	And when we restart it will be K2 on.
39	Lambiase	I don’t think this will be too much longer Max.	M.Padros	You are doing a good job on tyre temperatures, they are okay to push on tyre temperatures.
39	Lambiase	Cars look like they’re getting cleared at the pit lane entry.	M.Padros	And we think it will be soon.
39	Lambiase	Be aware we’ve lost quite a bit of temperature in the tyres, biased to the front axles. So fronts will be cool. So think about your braking offset.	Leclerc	Why is Max much closer?
39			M.Padros	It’s okay now, should be fine. And left toggle off, left toggle off.
39			M.Padros	Virtual Safety Car ending, Virtual Safety Car ending, K2 on.
39			M.Padros	DRS enabled, Verstappen behind 1.2.

The VSC period ended with 11 laps of racing to go and now the fight for victory was on.

(L to R): Charles Leclerc, Ferrari; Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Jeddah Corniche Circuit, 2022 — Neither driver wanted to be first to the DRS line

“I knew that the strength of Max and the Red Bull in general this weekend was the straight-line speed,” said Leclerc. “So I basically knew that if I was leaving Max with a DRS behind for the main straight, I will basically be overtaken very easily.

“So, I just wanted that, DRS, so on the first lap, I braked very early and I got the DRS and manage to overtake back on the run to turn one.”

Verstappen took note of his rival’s DRS tactics but also the power of Ferrari’s hybrid system when pushed to the maximum. “Like Charles said you always try to have a good run with the DRS into the final zone, where then you have a lot of fast corners where you cannot pass. So Charles played it very smart there.

“But also it seemed like their defence [and] attack mode is very powerful. So, for me also, even more top speed. It was very hard to nail the overtake.”

40	Lambiase	Okay VSC ending, Max. Recharge off, Virtual Safety Car ending. Focus.	M.Padros	Verstappen behind with DRS.
40	Verstappen	What’s the gap?	M.Padros	Verstappen behind with DRS.
40	Lambiase	1.1.	M.Padros	And SOC eight when you can.
40	Lambiase	Brake bias offset.
40	Lambiase	So you’re on DRS.
41	Lambiase	You have DRS.	M.Padros	Verstappen behind with the DRS.
41	Lambiase	Mode seven Max.	M.Padros	Verstappen behind with DRS again.
42	Lambiase	Press and hold the overtake.	M.Padros	Verstappen behind with DRS, Verstappen behind with DRS.
42	Verstappen	Gap?	M.Padros	Verstappen behind with DRS again.
42	Lambiase	One second.	M.Padros	Verstappen behind with DRS.
42	Lambiase	0.5.	M.Padros	And SOC eight when you can.
43	Verstappen	He crossed the line again.	M.Padros	Verstappen behind with DRS.
43	Lambiase	Copy that. Thank you, we’ve seen it.
43	Lambiase	You calm down, let us do our work mate, just keep your head down.
43	Lambiase	Mode eight Max, mode eight.
44			M.Padros	Verstappen behind with DRS and five laps to go.
45	Lambiase	Okay that’s five laps remaining, Max, five laps.	M.Padros	Verstappen behind with DRS.
45	Verstappen	Mode seven, I want?	M.Padros	Verstappen behind with DRS.
45	Lambiase	Mode seven, yep, mode seven.	M.Padros	And SOC eight when you can.
45	Lambiase	Gap 0.8.

On his third significant attempt, Verstappen finally executed the crucial move on Leclerc. Soon afterwards, Alexander Albon and Lance Stroll collided at the first corner, bringing out the yellow flags.

Albon’s tangle with Leclerc was bad news for Stroll

This was a double blow for Leclerc. Not only was a key overtaking spot on the track temporarily out of action, but the DRS zone on the pit straight was deactivated, preventing him from closing back up on the Red Bull driver.

“I tried to have the DRS in the last corner, it worked twice but it didn’t the last time, and then obviously there was this yellow flag,” he said. “I think the one where I could have had a chance to at least be alongside was the one into turn one I had no DRS there, so this was a little bit of a shame. But it’s part of the game.”

Now Verstappen sprinted for the line. “Once I was ahead it was really like four laps flat-out trying to stay ahead because Charles was consistently in my DRS,” he said. “It was quite tough out there.”

With one eye on the red car in his mirrors, Verstappen suspected Leclerc had not lifted as much as he did through the yellow flags on the final lap, and warned his team on the radio.

46	Verstappen	Gap?	M.Padros	And SOC six when you can.
46	Lambiase	Showing 0.8. You are fuel free, Max, fuel free.	M.Padros	And three laps to go.
46	Lambiase	0.8.
47	Verstappen	Gas?	M.Padros	Double yellow turns one and two. Double yellow turns one… Now it’s clear, clear, clear.
47	Lambiase	0.7. And that’s a purple lap.	M.Padros	Single yellow, turn one, single yellow, turn one.
47	Verstappen	How many laps?	M.Padros	And SOC five when you can.
47	Lambiase	Three remaining.
47	Lambiase	0.6.
47	Lambiase	0.5.
48	Lambiase	Okay we’ve got yellows at turn one-two. Yellows turn one-two.	M.Padros	And last lap.
48	Lambiase	Track clear.	M.Padros	Double yellow turns eight and nine.
48	Lambiase	Okay two more laps.	M.Padros	And SOC three when you saw three.
48	Lambiase	Mode six.
48	Lambiase	0.7.
48	Lambiase	0.7.
49	Lambiase	0.7.
49	Lambiase	This is the final lap.
49	Lambiase	So we’ve still got yellows, six, seven, eight, nine, 10 double yellows.
49	Lambiase	Double yellows eight, nine, 10.
49	Verstappen	How’d he close up? That’s so unfair.
49	Lambiase	Mode four.
49	Lambiase	Gap a 0.5.
49	Lambiase	0.5. Need a clean exit.
49	Lambiase	0.4. Press and hold the overtake.
50	Verstappen	Haha! Nice! Fucking hell. That was good,	M.Padros	And charge button on, P2.
50	Lambiase	That was good. Okay, 2022 has started.	Leclerc	Yep. Well done to Max, that was nice. Ah, we lacked a little bit of straight-line speed.
50	Horner	Wow, that was close. Wow. Unbelievable. Well done, Max. Great. Great job.	M.Padros	Still double yellow turns six, turns eight and nine, turns eight and nine. Be careful, turns eight, nine please.
50	Verstappen	That was good racing, holy shit. Nice. Good job, guys. We are back on track.	Leclerc	Yeah, copy.
50	Lambiase	Still got double yellows eight, nine, 10, Max. Fail 84, fail 84.	M.Padros	You’ve done a great job. Charge button on. And we have the fastest lap.
50	Verstappen	I mean that last one mate that really difficult what to do because I’m fully lifting in both corners.	M.Padros	Do you want positions?
50	Lambiase	Yeah I understand, Max, I understand. It’s always going to go that way presumably. But there was no outwitting you today. So top job. You played that final stint perfectly.	Leclerc	Well I know. Can I have the fastest lap of everyone please? I mean of the top four.
50	Verstappen	That was exciting.	M.Padros	So Verstappen, 31.7, Sainz 32.6 and then Perez 33.1.
50	Horner	Well done mate that was very tactical, you timed it perfectly, absolutely perfectly.	Leclerc	Copy.
50	Verstappen	What was the finishing order in the end?	M.Padros	Correction Sainz 31.9, Verstappen, 31.8 and Pirelli 32.0.
50	Lambiase	So yourself, Leclerc and Sainz. So spare a thought for Checo today in fourth. So basically what happened to him was I think he came out literally a tenth or two behind Sainz at the Safety Car line two. That was unfortunate for him.	Leclerc	And me 31.7?
50	Verstappen	That’s really unlucky man. But we have a lot of races, we can make it a one-two.	M.Padros	31.6 for you.
50			Leclerc	Okay.
50			Leclerc	It’s not on the track, where do we go?
50			M.Padros	Into the pit lane, into the pit lane.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Jeddah Corniche Circuit, 2022 — Verstappen celebrated his first win as world champion

Immediately after the race the stewards noted three drivers may have failed to properly obey the yellow flags, but none of them were Leclerc or Verstappen, and no action was taken anyway.

Having been unable to make a pass stick on Leclerc in Bahrain, Verstappen got his own back in Saudi Arabia. He did it by throwing everything he had at his rival, on the track and on his radio.

NB. The transcripts above discount some routine messages such as those about gaps between drivers.

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2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine

Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...
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24 comments on “Transcript: How Verstappen fought Leclerc on his radio and on the track in Jeddah”

Matthijs (@matthijs)
30th March 2022, 7:47
Ah this is pure gold, thank you. Some minor bugs with quoting the wrong person (driver or pit) but we know who said what.
MacLeod (@macleod)
30th March 2022, 7:48
Strange Charles never got a penaulty by crossing the Pitline while Yuki got twice 5 seconds penalty for the same thing.
Rules changed orso?
1. SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
  30th March 2022, 8:43
  From what I understand it was explicitly stated in the race director’s notes that it wasn’t allowed. So I do wonder why there was no reaction from race control on it. Though it could be Ferrari were told to stop doing that, as we’re no longer privy to race director communications, there’s no way to tell.
  1. drmouse (@drmouse)
    30th March 2022, 14:12
    They don’t ban the crossing of the solid white line on pit entry except when entering the pits. If you are not entering the pits, you can’t put any part of the car over the dotted line which angles across the pit entry. AFAIK Charles never crossed that line, just the solid one.
    16.3 Except in the cases of force majeure (accepted as such by the Stewards), the crossing by any part of the car, in any direction, of the painted area between the pit entry and the track, by a driver who, in the opinion of the Stewards, had committed to entering the pit lane is prohibited.
    16.4 The dotted white line at the Pit Entry and at the Pit Exit identify the track edge line. (red arrows in the pictures above). No part of the car may cross this line.
    https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2022%20Saudi%20Arabian%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Event%20Notes%20v2.pdf
2. wsrgo (@wsrgo)
  30th March 2022, 9:02
  @macleod Yuki got a penalty for crossing the line whilst going into the pits iirc. There’s no automatic penalty for one offence of going over the line when you’re racing. Massa got a penalty for this in Brazil once, after he did it 3 times.
jff
30th March 2022, 8:31
I’ve got two questions:
1) were the lights working on Leclerc’s car?
2) what is K2 (not the mountain)?
1. MattDS (@mattds)
  30th March 2022, 9:21
  @jff K2 is a button linked to ERS usage.
  1. petebaldwin (@)
    30th March 2022, 9:34
    Ah yeah – I just looked at their steering wheel from last year and there’s a big K1 button (I guess that’s the overtake button) and then a smaller K2 button which is likely a similar setting for restarts.
  2. jff
    30th March 2022, 9:42
    thank you.
2. petebaldwin (@)
  30th March 2022, 9:29
  As a guess, perhaps K2 relates to the MGU-K – full deployment at the restart?
3. Stan (@)
  2nd April 2022, 20:24
  No, lights were not working for some time, but then they seem to fix it.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
30th March 2022, 9:49
If they are dicing then i guess however its happening doesn’t matter but anybody else have a heart synch reading any of this, which is effectively, coaching. I didnt read it all, too much like pulling back that curtain. Maybe i’m naive but i dont get much thrill from knowing this is how its done
1. M
  30th March 2022, 13:35
  F1 it’s a team effort but there’s still a large difference between how well certain drivers are able to execute the strategy. For me it doesn’t take away anything from what we’ve seen
  1. JustSomeone
    31st March 2022, 17:39
    For me it a actually does… Drivers should not get hints on tire and brake temps telemetry, and ideally not on engine modes – – but that’s where the manufacturers will NEVER concede.
    (I.e. I agree with an old Ham qoute about getting rid of going back to “driver feel”)
2. David BR (@david-br)
  30th March 2022, 13:54
  @tonymansell TBH, yes, a bit too much information – for us and for Max and probably all the other drivers: it does seem to verge on coaching or having a virtual co-driver. I think they should be left on their own bar exchanges for safety reasons (warning of some imminent failure, VSC etc.) or instructions to pit.
  1. The Dolphins
    30th March 2022, 15:30
    I agree, I don’t like this driver coaching/virtual co-driver and there was a point in 2014/15 where instructions like which racing line to take were banned and the driver was expected to drive unaided but, obviously, they returned. Nico Rosberg comes to mind as a driver who relied on this quite a bit.
    1. Robbie (@robbie)
      30th March 2022, 16:03
      I don’t disagree, but I don’t know how they would stop this, and let’s be ever mindful that during races pit to driver communications are revealed to us selectively to create a narrative, so sometimes it may appear like a certain driver is getting or ‘needing’ more coaching than others, when they all are likely having equal communications all race long. Did Nico Rosberg really rely on it any more than any other driver, or is that just the narrative we were fed?
      I realize that this isn’t just about what we hear though, and is also about what we get to read such as in the article of this topic, where after the fact we get to glean it all. Just as it would be interesting to see them racing without DRS, it would also be fascinating to see how the teams and drivers would do if much of this communication could be eliminated and the drivers left much more on their own, like F1 has been in the past.
    2. baasbas
      30th March 2022, 19:09
      @The Dolphins:
      It was actually Rosberg in 2016 in Baku who managed to select the correct mode in the Mercedes and Hamilton who failed, while his team were not allowed to tell him. He had a miserable race from then on while Rosberg won.
      I’d say roughly all drivers are basically nowhere if they are not told what to do. I don’t like that. I don’t mind the ‘radio silence’ trialed in 2016. If the drivers can’t handle all these settings, then the engineers will just have to simplify the cars.
      1. Avto
        31st March 2022, 15:30
        Seconded! Nico definitely looked better during that short period of radio communication/coaching ban. Only after Lewis got schooled by him did he begin putting more effort into those technical aspects of the car.
Asanator (@asanator)
30th March 2022, 15:59
But Red Bull pre-empted the move, bringing Perez in first.
you say pre-empted….I would say we’re forced.
1. erikje
  30th March 2022, 17:03
  Nope, that was only the impression the director created. Perez pitted as planned.
erikje
30th March 2022, 17:04
Interesting that the fight max had with the tear off stuck in his cockpit did not resulted in any remark.
roadrunner (@roadrunner)
30th March 2022, 21:36
Great work, thank you very much. It’s always funny to see the difference between the drivers on the radio. Leclerc barley talks or gets emotional whereas Verstappen is going through all the highs and lows with his engineer.
Stan (@)
2nd April 2022, 20:21
Quite telling how much more spare mental capacity Max has when driving. His communication with GP are not only much more extensive but also productive. He can process more information without being distracted from driving.