“We’re fighting with one arm behind our back”: Hamilton and Russell’s race radio

The Mercedes drivers had high hopes for the first race of the season in Bahrain after a strong first day of practice.

But they finished the first race of the season in fifth and seventh after grappling with overheating problems throughout the race. Their problems multiplied as backing off to cool their power units made it harder to keep their tyres in the correct temperature window.

The problem became so bad that in the final laps George Russell refused to follow one instruction to lift and coast, accepting the loss of performance which came with it.

On top of that he and Lewis Hamilton had to cope with occasional radio problems which interrupted the flow of information from the pit wall telling them which settings to change in order to get their power unit temperatures under control.

Their radio exchanges shed more light on the problems the W15 drivers had to cope with and how much it affected their performance.

Hamilton and Russell’s Bahrain GP radio message highlights

The first indication Russell had a problem with his power unit came three laps into the race, when his engineer Marcus Dudley told him to make an urgent settings change. The team warned him he would start to lose electrical power on the straights due to de-rating.

Lap: 3/57 RUS: 1’36.406
Dudley	Green three, position four – urgent.
Dudley	Expecting a few more de-rates now with that change.
Dudley	And nice job on the overtake.
Dudley	So introduce management turn 12.
Lap: 4/57 RUS: 1’37.738
Dudley	And George, we will need third gear turn 12…
Russell	Does Leclerc have DRS? Affirm.
Dudley	Affirm he has DRS. Sorry, turn one, two – third gear.
Dudley	So let’s just settle now into this tyre management.
Lap: 5/57 RUS: 1’38.116
Dudley	Leclerc does not have DRS.
Russell	De-rates now coming down the straight.

The problem struck Russell soon after he passed Charles Leclerc for second place, and he soon found himself under pressure from his pursuers:

Lap: 6/57 RUS: 1’37.784
Dudley	So Leclerc does have DRS.
Lap: 7/57 RUS: 1’38.082
Dudley	George it’s turn 12 we need to be introducing more.
Russell	Does Leclerc have DRS or not?
Dudley	Just hovering right on the edge.
Russell	Just focus on the important stuff, mate.
Dudley	Perez now car behind, 1.2.
Dudley	And we’ll have a green three switch change over the line. Perez 1.4. So Perez does not have DRS. We’ll have green three, position three.

Meanwhile Hamilton’s race engineer Peter Bonnington was giving him similar instructions about his power unit. The second Mercedes had started ninth and was therefore running in hotter air behind more cars.

Lap: 8/57 HAM: 1’38.221, RUS: 1’37.862
Bonnington	Lewis if you can increase lift-and-coast to turn four by 50 metres. Just turn four only.	Dudley	So now we’ve got a bit of breathing room let’s get on top of this management.
Hamilton	[Unclear]
Bonnington	So radio’s poor out of turn 10.
Lap: 9/57 HAM: 1’38.645, RUS: 1’37.730
Bonnington	So Alonso should be without DRS this time.	Dudley	So Perez 1.3 behind, no DRS. Turn 12 looking better that last lap.
Lap: 10/57 HAM: 1’38.037, RUS: 1’37.782
Bonnington	Lewis we’ve got a yellow at turn four.	Dudley	Perez 1.0, does not have DRS, right on the cusp. That car is moving at turn four.
Bonnington	So you are safety car and VSC window. We have yellow turn four. Looks like they might start moving again. That’s cleared.

Russell was concerned drivers behind might try to jump ahead of him, so urged Dudley to consider an earlier first pit stop. He came in on lap 11. Meanwhile Hamilton was still being told to tweak his power unit settings.

Lap: 11/57 HAM: 1’38.236, RUS: 1’40.515
Bonnington	Can we have HPP three position five.	Russell	Think about plan A minus one.
Bonnington	We have Alonso about point eight of a second. Piastri 2.2 ahead.	Russell	Plan A minus one, think about it.
Bonnington	And when you can if you can give us a balance check, balance check.	Dudley	Box, box.
Lap: 12/57 HAM: 1’40.889, RUS: 1’58.460
		Russell	Fronts are nowhere.
		Dudley	Copy that. Just warm-up slow for the moment. So we’ve got Verstappen in the pit lane now.

Hamilton continued to suffer a loss of power as his cooling problems meant he could not fully charge his battery:

Lap: 13/57 HAM: 1’58.645, RUS: 1’37.167
Bonnington	All clear on exit.
Bonnington	Front warm-up may take a while.
Hamilton	Lots of de-rates. Let me know where our weakest are. There’s a lot of de-rates.
Lap: 14/57 HAM: 1’37.178, RUS: 1’37.571
Bonnington	Copy, we see the de-rates. Currently they are expected. We are trying to improve the situation.	Dudley	Perez behind 0.5 with DRS.
Hamilton	I’ve got no battery, I’m at 1%.	Russell	Cannot get the fronts working.

Sergio Perez passed Russell on lap 14, and as the Mercedes driver ran in the Red Bull’s slipstream he also found his power unit temperatures rising.

Lap: 15/57 HAM: 1’37.264, RUS: 1’36.922
Bonnington	So Lewis main losses are just the straight line as we get up the pack.	Russell	Something going on with these temperatures? PU.
Hamilton	How can I get the thing to charge more?	Dudley	So George we’re going to need more lift and costs for these PU temps.
Bonnington	That’s the best mode.	Dudley	George we suggest pushing brake balance forwards to work those front surfaces. Leclerc 0.9 just in DRS.
Bonnington	Lewis go HPP seven position eight. Seven position eight.
Bonnington	So seven position eight, HPP seven position eight.
Lap: 16/57 HAM: 1’37.091, RUS: 1’36.683
Bonnington	And we’ll go HPP three position two. Three position two.	Dudley	So it’s 0.9 to Leclerc. He has DRS.
Bonnington	So Alonso’s just exited the pits he’s over five seconds behind.	Russell	Guys you need to advise me what to do I can’t fight when I’ve for all this PU overheating. Trying my best but totally stuck.
Bonnington	We’ll go strat mode seven now, strat mode seven.	Dudley	Affirm. Going to need more lift-and-coast for this PU temp. Once we get this PU temp under control, we can start charging more. So it might get better next lap, it’s coming to us. Leclerc 0.8 with DRS. Green seven, position eight. Green seven, position eight.
Hamilton	Where am I losing? I’m very slow.
Bonnington	It’s turns six, seven and 12, but we’re happy with the management. The straight line should be coming back.

Hamilton was trying to get on terms with Oscar Piastri while coping with his high power unit temperatures.

Lap: 17/57 HAM: 1’37.111, RUS: 1’36.234
Hamilton	In my sectors, let me know where I am down.	Dudley	Sainz now called behind. Sainz behind 0.8 with DRS.
Bonnington	So Piastri’s a 36.5. To Piastri it’s all straight line.
Bonnington	So, Sargeant, car ahead, is traffic.

Russell’s race engineer told him how to minimise the problem by changing his use of the power unit and avoiding the ‘overtake’ power boost. Dudley conceded this meant they were “fighting with one arm behind our back at the moment.”

Lap: 18/57 HAM: 1’36.850, RUS: 1’37.819
Bonnington	And last lap biggest loss braking 9-10, Piastri.	Russell	Got no power.
		Dudley	So George, we need to avoid using overtake then de-rate into the final corner. It’s causing an issue.
Lap: 19/57 HAM: 1’36.694, RUS: 1’37.233
Bonnington	So Piastri a 37.1, gap at 3.6.	Dudley	So Leclerc behind now 1.5.
Bonnington	Only lost to Piastri turn 12 management.	Dudley	George we need more management 12 for better 13. Understand we’re fighting with one arm behind our back at the moment.
Lap: 20/57 HAM: 1’36.264, RUS: 1’36.732
Bonnington	And Piastri was a 36.6.	Dudley	Leclerc still 1.2.
Hamilton	Where am I slower than him?	Dudley	And George can you just feed back on the front axle now?
Bonnington	Six, seven and 12, six, seven and 12, but that is the management.	Russell	Feeling better.

Hamilton remained stuck behind Piastri, eventually passing the McLaren after his second pit stop.

Lap: 21/57 HAM: 1’36.510, RUS: 1’36.769
Bonnington	So gap to Piastri at 3.3. Last lap was a 36.6.
Bonnington	And that six, seven and 12 looked better that time.
Bonnington	HPP five positions seven, five position seven.
Lap: 22/57 HAM: 1’36.633, RUS: 1’36.992
Hamilton	Starting to lock rears.	Dudley	And George we will be able to give you more energy if we can increase the lift-and-coast. So if we can get up to another 100 metres of lift-and-coast in the lap we can give you more energy.
Bonnington	Okay, copy. Just maintain this level of lift-and-coast.
Hamilton	How’s his pace?
Bonnington	George is doing 36.7. Got Perez and Sainz, they’re 36.1s. Gap to Piastri at 3.2. Last lap 36.5.

Russell had passed Leclerc earlier but now the Ferrari driver came back at him. He made an early second pit stop to buy himself some margin over his rival.

Lap: 23/57 RUS: 1’36.954
Russell	Are you happy for me to take lower gears now?
Dudley	Negative. Negative. And we are still target minus one.
Lap: 24/57 RUS: 1’36.736
Dudley	So Leclerc behind 1.2. If you update your tyre switch please.
Lap: 26/57 RUS: 1’36.801
Dudley	Green 10 switch coming up. Green ten, position eight. Green ten, position eight. Leclerc at 1.3 now.
Lap: 28/57 RUS: 1’36.911
Dudley	So if we prioritise lift-and-coast turn four and eight for energy.
Lap: 30/57 RUS: 1’37.186
Dudley	Green default six-eight, green default six-eight for more energy. Green seven position four, green seven position four.
Lap: 31/57 RUS: 1’39.405
Russell	Consider higher front pressures.
Dudley	Box. Box. Box. Box.

But still the team needed Russell to simultaneously juggle his power unit and tyre temperatures. Leclerc made his pit stop and caught the Mercedes quickly.

Lap: 32/57 RUS: 1’57.267
Dudley	We have Alonso alongside, Alonso just gone clear. He’s a pit stop down.
Dudley	Currently 1.5 safe. And green default one-seven.
Dudley	So Leclerc has stayed out. So safe to Leclerc 2.5 seconds now, 24 laps to the end of this one.
Lap: 34/57 RUS: 1’35.241
Dudley	So George we need to keep on top of lift-and-coast four and eight for energy. We’ve got this clean air. Currently safe to Leclerc, 3.8.
Lap: 35/57 RUS: 1’35.772
Dudley	So Leclerc in the pit lane now. Expect him to be four seconds behind.
Lap: 36/57 RUS: 1’35.434
Russell	Laps remaining?
Dudley	21 at the end of this lap.
Russell	Let me know on turn 12.
Dudley	We’ll feed back. So we are happy, turn 12 looks good to us. So Leclerc has hit the tyres hard first lap, 34.1 for him. We’re happy how you brought these tyres in.
Lap: 39/57 RUS: 1’35.204
Dudley	So Leclerc still pushing quite hard on those tyres, we’re happy to start pushing it a little bit more now.
Lap: 40/57 RUS: 1’35.065
Dudley	Leclerc now at 1.3. 18 laps remaining.
Dudley	And, George, we can drop the lift-and-coast turns one and 14 for tyres, we can drop that.
Lap: 41/57 RUS: 1’35.093
Dudley	And George we’re seeing Leclerc going flat in turn 12. The gap at the DRS there was 1.1.

For lap after lap, Leclerc sat within DRS range of the Mercedes. Eventually Russell locked up and ran wide at turn 10, which allowed Leclerc through:

Lap: 42/57 RUS: 1’35.136
Russell	Does he have it or he doesn’t?
Dudley	Does not have DRS.
Dudley	Now Leclerc has DRS. We will keep the lift-and-coast turn eight.
Lap: 43/57 RUS: 1’35.193
Dudley	Leclerc has DRS.
Lap: 44/57 RUS: 1’35.162
Dudley	Leclerc has DRS.
Lap: 45/57 RUS: 1’35.276
Dudley	Leclerc has DRS.
Lap: 46/57 RUS: 1’36.657
Dudley	Leclerc has DRS.
Lap: 47/57 RUS: 1’35.805
Dudley	So it’ll be 10 laps remaining end of this one. We’re not hearing any radio messages from you, just engine noise.

Again, running behind another car worsened the cooling problems for Russell and he had to back off even more:

Lap: 48/57 RUS: 1’36.059
Dudley	Norris behind currently doing 35.3, 35.4. Need to increase lift-and-coast 100 metres.
Russell	Why?
Dudley	For energy reasons whilst we’re in traffic. So it’s four and eight that we need it.
Lap: 50/57 RUS: 1’36.181
Dudley	So George we’re happy with that level of lift-and-coast.
Lap: 51/57 RUS: 1’35.852
Dudley	Seven laps remaining, seven laps remaining.

With a handful of laps remaining, Russell’s patience with the amount of management he had to do wore thin:

Lap: 52/57 RUS: 1’36.186
Dudley	And George if we can keep on top of that lift-and-coast four and eight, I understand on the tyres.
Russell	Negative. Lift-and-coast, I have too much understeer.
Russell	Poor upshift.
Lap: 53/57 RUS: 1’35.979
Dudley	So we got five laps remaining. If we don’t do the lift-and-coast we’ll need to switch off ACS, that’s the trade-off.
Russell	Just tell me what to do, mate. I don’t want to do lift-and-coast. I can’t hear you in the straight.
Dudley	Understood.
Russell	That’ll be green seven, position eight. Green seven, position eight.
Lap: 54/57 RUS: 1’36.013
Dudley	So let’s drop management at six, seven, 12.
Dudley	Strat five. Strat five. Three laps remaining.

Lando Norris closed to within two seconds of Russell over the final laps, but wasn’t close enough to mount an attack. The pace management cost Russell significantly over the race, which he finished 46 seconds behind winner Max Verstappen.

Lap: 57/57 RUS: 1’36.440
Dudley	One more lap.
Dudley	Okay so P5 in the end. Difficult afternoon. Lot to learn there. Need to look at that data and understand what happened with those temps. That was quite hampering in the end. Green one, position 12.
Russell	Yeah, really [unclear] afternoon. That first stint-and-a-half was very, very tough.
Russell	Were temps an issue on both cars?
Dudley	Yep, affirm.

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