Unheard team radio highlights from the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

The radio waves were filled with drivers scheming, strategising and complaining during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Aside from Fernando Alonso and George Russell both engaging in a shadow battle over whether the gap between them at the chequered flag would sit at more or fewer than five seconds, there was an interesting discussion at McLaren as they tried to avoid Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris both holding each other up at different points in the race.

Here are some of the team radio highlights you may not have heard from the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Tsunoda ‘passes’ Ocon under the Safety Car

During the Safety Car period, Yuki Tsunoda emerged from the pits as Esteban Ocon was passing by in his Alpine. Ocon went by the AlphaTauri, but Tsunoda re-passed him, leading to some confusion over which driver should be ahead.

Lap: 13/50
		Tsunoda	Tyres are quite consistent.
Lap: 17/50
		Spini	Box, box, Safety Car, follow the reference, box now.
Lap: 18/50
Ocon	I’ve been overtaken by the AlphaTauri just now.	Spini	We are fighting pit exit, so full throttle until Safety Car line.
Peckett	Okay, copy that. We’ll have a look.	Spini	And now you follow the reference, follow the reference. Mode 14, mode 10.
Peckett	We’ll advise accordingly	Spini	Okay Yuki, at the restart the struggle with the front tyres with this compound, so we need weaving as much as possible, and offset four, please.
Peckett	Okay mate so we’re going to hold position where we are. Think Tsunoda was just ahead so hold position please.	Tsunoda	I was close there, Ocon, so please check, make sure I was [ahead]
		Spini	We are checking now.
		Tsunoda	I was in the front though, I think.
		Spini	Yuki we were ahead, so keep the position.

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McLaren manage their battling drivers

It was a frustrating day for McLaren as first Oscar Piastri, then Lando Norris had to pit early in the race for repairs. That left both near the tail of the field.

The team ensured the pair didn’t get in each other’s way, first by telling Piastri (engineer Tom Stallard) not to hold up his team mate when Norris (engineer Will Joseph) was on fresher tyres:

Lap: 23/50
Joseph	DRS enabled, DRS enabled.	Stallard	We want to get de Vries. If we can’t get de Vries, we’ll have to let Lando have a go, so let’s try to get de Vries now.
		Stallard	And if Lando attacks, do not make it too difficult.
Lap: 24/50
Joseph	Oscar is trying to get de Vries, but he would not make it difficult for you	Stallard	Strat seven.
		Stallard	Oscar, do you think we’ll be able to overtake?
		Piastri	If he drops out of DRS, yes.
Lap: 25/50
Joseph	De Vries next on a seven-lap-old hard.	Stallard	Lando’s on new mediums from the safety car, that’s not a problem. We’re [unclear] de Vries, we’ll give you a chance.

Later on as Norris’ tyres began to fade, Piastri moved to pass his team mate who defended his positions. McLaren then told Norris not to lose more time holding his team mate back, and Piastri soon re-passed him:

Lap: 45/50
Joseph	Lando, do not make it too difficult for Oscar.	Stallard	Oscar, Lando has now been told not to make it too difficult. Five laps to go

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Engine drama strikes Stroll

Lance Stroll was leaning on his power unit hard while trying to ensure he got ahead of Carlos Sainz Jnr when he suffered a race-engine failure which led to an urgent call for him to retire.

Lap: 14/50
Michell	Okay Sainz is in our pit window so push
Stroll	Need more strat
Michell	No energy Lance, you need K0, you need to use K0 to come up the pack.
Lap: 15/50
Michell	Lance, we have an issue, so stop pressing energy and use K0 when you can.
Michell	Sainz is pitting, we need everything.
Stroll	I [unclear] deployment
Lap: 16/50
Michell	We know mate, we’re monitoring, do the K0 when you can in the middle of the lap, do what you can. No energy presses, Lance.
Michell	Do what you can with the K0 Lance, we’re monitoring.
Michell	Keep doing what you’re doing, Lance, keep trying to do what you’re doing. We’re monitoring.
Michell	Sainz three seconds ahead is on his new hard tyre, and you’re clear of Albon DRS, he’s 1.3 behind.
Lap: 17/50
Michell	And Lance, you can K0 22 and 27, and 13.
Michell	Stop the car. Lance, stop the car. Stop on track, Lance, stop the car.
Stroll	Okay.
Michell	Lance, stop in a safe position on track, we see smoke, stop in a safe position on track. Stop the car. Stop the car. And then P0 reminder, we must have P0 when you get out of the car. I’m sorry, mate. Sorry, mate. But we must have P0 when you stop the car, please.
Michell	Okay Lance, car is safe. Car is safe

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Leclerc’s exasperation

The Safety Car triggered by Stroll’s retirement was bad news for Charles Leclerc, who had already pitted. He was then infuriated by a late instruction from his race engineer to stay close to Lewis Hamilton, who got ahead of him through the pits:

Lap: 17/50
Automated message	Safety Car deployed, stay positive.
Marcos Padros	And stay out, stay out. Stroll stopped at turn 13. Stay out. Charge button on. Charge on.
Leclerc	Agh..
Lap: 18/50
Leclerc	Tell Carlos to stay close to the delta.
Marcos Padros	Copy.
Marcos Padros	And the only car we will lose to is Max, okay. And we need mode Safety Car.
Marcos Padros	Double yellow turn 13.
Leclerc	Who is behind us, who will be behind us?
Marcos Padros	I will come back to you.
Marcos Padros	So it will be Ocon behind us.
Marcos Padros	Charles, at the moment behind us will be Sargeant, 17 lap-old hards for Sargeant.
Marcos Padros	And try to push from Safety Car line one for Hamilton, he just pitted.
Lap: 19/50
Leclerc	Xavi, you should have told me that before!
Marcos Padros	Copy.
Leclerc	No, but come on!
Marcos Padros	And charge button off. So Hamilton is on the medium

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Hulkenberg’s balance struggles

Nico Hulkenberg was another driver grappling with a damaged car after the start of the race.

Lap: 1/50
Hulkenberg	There’s some big piece of carbon went into my front wing. Check front wing
Gannon	Understood, checking front wing. Mode push when you can.
Gannon	Aero is all okay for now.
Lap: 2/50
Gannon	Possible debris turn two to turn five.
Gannon	Okay, you’re P12. That’s Verstappen behind, let’s get into a rhythm.
Lap: 3/50
Gannon	DRS enabled.
Gannon	Tyres are looking good. Both McLarens had to pit for nose changes, they’re both on hard now.
Lap: 18/50
Hulkenberg	Low speed is funny. Turn one I feel very light on the rear at entry, then a lot of understeer mid-corner.
Gannon	Okay. Yeah. Copy that. We’ll look at it. Anywhere else you need help? Special problems
Hulkenberg	Well turn 13 just feels very low-grip. I can’t push the entry, I’m just sliding. It’s not easy to get early on the power of the exit.
Gannon	Yeah. Copy that.
Lap: 25/50
Hulkenberg	I need stability at turn 13
Gannon	Understood, we’ll get you something.
Hulkenberg	On entry, especially on entry.
Gannon	Shape three, and you can use right toggle.
Lap: 27/50
Hulkenberg	I have a crazy amount of understeer in turn nine.
Gannon	The biggest loss to Kevin is six, seven. Nine you are a little slower, but 10 you’re gaining.
Gannon	Func[tion] two could help nine.
Lap: 28/50
Hulkenberg	Six and seven I’m managing a lot, I’m saving my tyres. But nine is just understeer-crazy.
Gannon	Understood.
Gannon	We think you can use the tyre in six-seven for lap time.
Race end
Gannon	Good lap there Nico and good job. Didn’t get any luck with the Safety Car timing. But holding off Sergeant was really impressive with no DRS, that was a good run. Kevin got 10th, So we got that first point for Haas today.
Hulkenberg	Yeah. Great. Good job guys. Happy for that. Kevin did a good race. Not bad for us either. A couple of things didn’t go as good as they should, maybe, but all fun and learning, eh? I felt it was not a bad effort. Let’s do it again.
Steiner	Good job Nico, it’s Guenther. Next time we have got both in the points, it’s possible. Good job. Thank you for hanging in there.
Hulkenberg	No worries Guenther, that’s what we’re here for. Thank you. Good job.

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Mercedes pressure Alonso

In the final laps of the race Mercedes told their fourth and fifth-placed drivers to push on in pursuit of third-placed Fernando Alonso, hoping he would get a penalty. George Russell’s new engineer, Marcus Dudley, encourages his driver to “push like a madman”.

Lap: 44/50
		Dudley	So gap ahead 4.7, let’s not let that grow.
Lap: 45/50
				Cronin	Last lap, Russell was a tenth quicker. Gap to him is 4.9 seconds. Six more laps, six.
				Cronin	Last lap Russell same pace.
				Alonso	Copy. Let’s go to six seconds between us.
				Cronin	Copy that. So Russell currently 4.9.
				Cronin	So Fernando it’s five to go. All Safety Car windows are closed. All Safety Car windows are closed. Five more laps.
Lap: 46/50
				Alonso	Copy.
				Cronin	Keeping tyre temp is good, but you have got five… four-and-a-half… 4.7 seconds to Russell.
Lap: 47/50
		Dudley	So gap ahead 4.6, Alonso has just been given the hurry-up, so let’s push on hard, close up to him.	Cronin	Last lap Russell similar pace. Russell similar place.
		Dudley	Four to go. So it could be a possible five-second penalty for Alonso end of the race. Gap 4.5.
		Russell	Maximise battery
Lap: 48/50
Hamilton	What is the fastest lap currently?	Dudley	Yeah copy that we’ll let you know on Strat modes.	Cronin	So that’s Bottas ahead he should get blue flags, you’re 2.1 behind him, Russell 4.6 behind, three more laps, three more laps.
Bonnington	And that’s a 32.2. And just think about running a bit more speed entry turn 27, late entry, more speed	Dudley	Gap ahead 4.4. Got Valtteri in between the two of you now.	Cronin	So currently Russell is 4.3 behind. Be nice to have five seconds just in case. But we think we’re all clean.
		Dudley	Gap to Valtteri ahead 2.7.
		Russell	Let’s get [unclear].
Lap: 49/50
Hamilton	What position am I in?	Dudley	Fastest lap is a 32.2. Gap 2.8 to Valtteri.	Cronin	You can go to strat [unclear] couple of tenths. Strat five gives you a couple of tenths.
Bonnington	Currently P5.	Dudley	4.8.	Alonso	I think we’re okay. How many laps?
Bonnington	And George a 32.8 last lap.	Russell	Is he getting a penalty or not? I’m pushing like a [unclear]	Cronin	Two more to go. Two more laps.
Hamilton	Time	Dudley	There’ll be one to go at the end of this. Just keep pushing like a madman.	Cronin	Russell 4.7 behind, 4.7.
Bonnington	You’ve got 5.2 behind.	Dudley	Gap 0.6.	Alonso	He will find Bottas as well.
Hamilton	My front’s pretty bad.

George Russell narrowly fell short of staying within five seconds of the Aston Martin and Lewis Hamilton didn’t manage to keep inside 10 seconds. It proved moot, however, for although Alonso was initially penalised it was later rescinded.

Lap: 50/50
Bonnington	So just keep the pace up. Don’t know who’s going to have a penalty.	Dudley	Gap ahead 5.0. Strat five.	Cronin	Okay one more lap,
Unidentified	Who’s had a penalty	Russell	What’s the gap?
Bonnington	That’s just traffic.	Dudley	5.0.
		Dudley	5.2.
		Dudley	4.7. Overtake available.
		Russell	Early or late?
Race end
Hamilton	Is that the chequered flag	Dudley	Early. Gap 5.1.	Cronin	You can do a push and hold on the energy button, you can do a push and hold.
Bonnington	It is chequered flag.	Dudley	Okay that’s P4. Gap in the end there was 5.1.	Cronin	Well done mate, well done. Just watch Russell there, he’s fast. 5.1 to Russell, good job. You can go to cool on run switch, take the pick up.
Bonnington	Okay Lewis well done that’s P5. Bit of hectic race but great drive there. Can I have HPP1 position 14 please	Russell	Ah.	Alonso	Well done, guys. Fantastic. Sorry for the start. But we made that time in the first stint.
Hamilton	Fantastic effort today, this weekend, guys, thank you so much for continuing to push. We’re not where we want to be, but we’ll get there. Let’s keep pushing. Thanks.	Dudley	Close.	Cronin	Yeah well done mate, that’s proper driving, well done.
Wolff	Lewis great recovery drive. It’s getting better.	Russell	Did he get a penalty or not?	Alonso	I still need to buy some beers in Australia. Well done guys, well deserved.
Hamilton	Thanks Toto.	Dudley	We’ll have to see after the race.	Cronin	So take all the pick up and stop on the grid.
		Russell	Well done, guys. I think I did a well maximised weekend, especially looking back at Bahrain. Work to do but I think we did a really good job with the package we had. So good job.	Alonso	What happened to Lance?
		Dudley	Yeah nice work all weekend. Well done.	Cronin	So we’re not too sure yet, he had a car problem but not too sure yet.
		Russell	Green one position 14	Alonso	Copy.
		Dudley	Green one position 14.	Alonso	Well done. I cannot believe two podiums, two races. What an amazing car and job you are doing, guys. Let’s go.

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