Alonso’s unusual brake problem and more unheard Miami team radio

The Miami Grand Prix was a memorable one for several drivers – not least of which race winner Lando Norris.

But beyond the top spot, emotions were high across the field, from Esteban Ocon holding onto Alpine’s first point of the season to Oscar Piastri being left with a bittersweet feeling as damage dropped him out of the points.

Here are some of the most interesting team radio snippets from the Miami International Autodrome.

Jump to:

Hamilton and Hulkenberg’s shared problem
Perez’s near-miss
Alonso’s phantom brake press
Ocon’s “perfectly timed” VSC
Magnussen misses out at restart
Piastri’s unplanned pit stop
“No time” for Ocon switch change
“Well done to Lando”

Hamilton and Hulkenberg’s shared problem

The minutes before the formation lap before the start of a race give drivers and their engineers their final opportunity to go over those crucial details before they are committed to the grand prix.

Nico Hulkenberg was unhappy with the state of his rear-view mirrors and politely pointed that out to race engineer Gary Gannon.

Lap: 1/57 HUL: 1’40.159
Hulkenberg	You good on radio, Gary?
Gannon	Loud and clear. Nico. Four minutes till we go. Track temp is bouncing between 44C and 48C, depending on the [unclear]. Four minutes till we go. Four minutes.
Hulkenberg	Four burnouts, yeah, you want? Four?
Gannon	That’s correct, Nico.
Hulkenberg	There is some shit on this mirror lens. It’s not clean. It’s patchy.
Hulkenberg	Haas mechanics begin wiping his left-hand mirror Like in the middle.

The driver one place ahead of Hulkenberg on the grid – Lewis Hamilton – had the same problem:

Lap: 1/57 HAM: 1’39.924
Bonnington	And Lewis, just got you. Radio check?
Hamilton	Yeah, loud and clear.
Bonnington	Okay, thanks.
Hamilton	There’s a lot of mediums around me..
Hamilton	Can you just clean my mirrors, please? Mirrors are dirty.

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Perez’s near-miss

At the start, Charles Leclerc did not get as good a start from second place as Max Verstappen ahead, or Carlos Sainz Jnr and Sergio Perez behind. However, Perez’s attempt to dive up the inside into turn one almost ended in disaster as he came within centimetres of hitting his team mate and pushed Sainz very wide in the process, allowing Leclerc to retain his second position through the first corners.

Lap: 1/57 LEC: 1’35.697
Leclerc	Freaking hell, Perez…
Marcos Padros	Yeah, copy that. We saw it.

In the opening laps, Hamilton and Hulkenberg put their freshly-cleaned mirrors to the test by battling each other over seventh place. Hamilton had held the position at the start but the Haas driver passed Hamilton with a bold move around the outside of the first corner on lap two.

Hamilton passed Hulkenberg into turn 10, but then locked up into the turn 17 hairpin and ran wide, handing the place back. The two drivers continued to spar for several laps, before Hamilton eventually got ahead on lap 10.

Lap: 6/57 HAM: 1’33.679
Bonnington	So 0.6 ahead, 1.7 behind. So 1.9 behind still. Turn 17 exit, maybe think about magic.
Hamilton	Okay.
Lap: 7/57 HAM: 1’34.466
Bonnington	Think about strat mode ‘seven’ when you’re ready.
Hamilton	Hamilton passes Hulkenberg into turn 11 We nearly just had a big crash there.
Bonnington	Yeah, copy. We saw that. Hulkenberg 0.8 behind. You’ve got 3.5 ahead to Norris, still focus on that turn 17 exit. Hamilton runs wide under braking for turn 17 and loses position
Lap: 8/57 HAM: 1’34.621
Hamilton	Very poor grip on these tyres.
Bonnington	Copy that.

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Alonso’s phantom brake press

The majority of the field were planning to complete a single pit stop during the race, which required them not to burn through their starting tyre sets so they would not be left with too much distance to complete the second and final stint. But some drivers were experiencing vibrations on their medium tyres.

One of these was Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin, who had locked up his tyres early on. This had the unusual effect of causing vibrations in his brake pedal, so much so that Alonso’s telemetry led his team to incorrectly believe he was making small dabs on the brake pedal along the back straight approaching turn 17.

Lap: 4/57 ALO: 1’34.022
Cronin	As Alonso exits turn 16 So, Fernando, last lap you touched the brake pedal. You’re resting your foot on the brake pedal down here. So just keep your brake pedal foot completely off when you don’t need it.
Lap: 6/57 ALO: 1’34.060
Cronin	Left toggle off, please. Left toggle off. And just so you know, you are touching the brake very slightly when you open DRS, both straights.
Alonso	No. Negative.
Cronin	Okay understood. We’re just seeing a little bit of brake pressure, but we’ll find out what that is.
Lap: 8/57 ALO: 1’33.751
Cronin	Fernando we think one click rearward brake balance is good. One click rearwards from where you are now.
Lap: 9/57 ALO: 1’34.006
Cronin	Albon behind has lost DRS. If you can, avoid the exit kerb of eight, that is good for the tyres.
Lap: 11/57 ALO: 1’35.199
Cronin	Can consider down one click diff high-speed.
Lap: 13/57 ALO: 1’34.657
Alonso	Deployment is strange on the back straight, I think.
Cronin	…brake pressure noise we can see.
Lap: 14/57 ALO: 1’34.618
Alonso	Well… got a sensor fault or something?
Cronin	Yeah, yeah. We’re trying mate, we’re trying. There’s not anything we can do it just yet.
Alonso	It’s only there, or there are more places?
Cronin	It’s only there and a little bit before 11, a little bit before 11.
Alonso	Do you want me to press energy?
Cronin	No, negative. Can you just try holding the brake pressure, holding the brake pedal by point… Like two bar, three bar, just to stop it bouncing? The brake pedal’s bouncing.
Lap: 15/57 ALO: 1’34.350
Cronin	So that was a lot better Fernando. So if you could just hold your foot on the brake pedal just a little bit like that, 0.2 bar, 0.3 bar.
Alonso	Only there isn’t it?
Cronin	So you can do a little bit, we need it at the end of this straight. So at the end of this straight, for the last 200 metres, two bar on the brake pressure, that’ll be good. This straight is not as bad as the other straight.
Cronin	So that’s good. That’s good.
Lap: 17/57 ALO: 1’34.260
Alonso	Yeah, obviously not super happy with these tyres so think about strategy.

Ocon’s “perfectly timed” VSC

On lap 22, Max Verstappen had a twitch of oversteer heading into the chicane, which sent him across the kerb, striking the bollard as he went. The dislodged marker ended up being carried by the Red Bull around turn 16 before falling off and coming to a rest in the middle of the track at the start of the long back straight.

The Virtual Safety Car was eventually deployed and 10th-placed Esteban Ocon was able to take advantage of the opportunity to pit and lose less time as a result. This meant he lost only three places by pitting which would have likely been more under green flag conditions.

Lap: 21/57 OCO: 1’33.867
Peckett	We’ve got a ‘track surface slippery’ warning, back straight. That could be debris.
Ocon	Ocon passes bollard out of turn 16 Yeah, the bollard is in the middle of the track.
Peckett	Understood. Safety Car windows are open, Esteban. Safety Car windows are open – both.
Lap: 22/57 OCO: 1’42.357
Peckett	So, Esteban I think that bollard is on the racing line on the right hand side. You can get past it staying to the very far right.
Peckett	Stick with It.
Peckett	‘The Virtual Safety Car is deployed as Ocon exits turn 17 VSC! Box, box. VSC – box, box.
Ocon	Esteban in.
Peckett	Okay mate, it’s going to be a busy pit lane. Watch the lights, watch the lights. Hard tyre, one turn down.
Lap: 23/57 OCO: 1’51.928
Peckett	Ocon leaves pit box Okay, good. Okay, Esteban. Just positive on the delta. VSC ending – perfectly timed! Okay, let’s get ready for the restart.

A handful of laps later, Kevin Magnussen collided with Logan Sargeant at turn three, pitching the Williams into the wall and putting him out of the grand prix. Soon after, the full Safety Car was deployed, benefitting all of those who had not yet pitted, just like leader Lando Norris and Yuki Tsunoda, running in seventh, who was able to pit for hard tyres without losing any places.

There were no radio messages broadcast between Sargeant and his race engineer following the crash – perhaps reflecting the frustration of the Williams driver to be taken out of his home grand prix.

Lap: 28/57 TSU: 1’47.670
Spini	Safety Car is deployed while Tsunoda exits turn 16 Safety Car. Safety Car. Follow the reference.
Tsunoda	It’s good timing, no?
Spini	It’s good timing. So stay close to zero and we are boxing. Box, box, Yuki. Box, box, box.

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Magnussen misses out at restart

After colliding with Sargeant, Magnussen had to pit for a new front wing. He was then struck with a ten-second time penalty by the stewards for being “wholly to blame” for the clash. Haas chose to take the penalty under the Safety Car, but the race went green at the end of the next lap. Magnussen pushed to catch the pack, but was too late to reach the rear of the field before the race resumed.

Lap: 28/57 MAG: 2’26.123
Slade	You’ve got front wing damage, Kev, you’ve got front wing damage.
Lap: 30/57 MAG: 1’43.269
Slade	Track clear turns two and three. The problem we’ve got is Norris is well ahead of all the rest of the cars, so everyone’s going fast. So you’re still 22 seconds behind Bottas, he’s now seven seconds behind Stroll. Norris has just caught the Safety Car so the pack is going to start closing up shortly. And we have a 10-second time penalty. Mode ‘push’, Kev, mode ‘push’ to catch up with the pack.
Lap: 31/57 MAG: 1’40.373
Slade	Box, box, box. We’re taking the penalty, Kev, we’re taking the penalty. So it’s a 10-second penalty.
Lap: 32/57 MAG: 1’55.086
Slade	Magnussen leaves the pits after serving his penalty We’re 30 seconds behind the pack and they are restarting at the end of this lap. Pack’s 21 seconds ahead. Norris is dropping back from the Safety Car. Gap is 16 seconds. Okay, you’re not going to catch them, they’re going. Gap ahead is 14 seconds.

Piastri’s unplanned pit stop

Oscar Piastri ran strongly throughout the race but a relatively late pit stop just before the Safety Car allowed his team mate to jump ahead of him into the lead. Piastri dropped to fourth between the two Ferraris.

After multiple laps of battling, Carlos Sainz Jnr passed the McLaren into the turn 17 hairpin but slid wide and clipped Piastri’s front wing, causing damage that forced the McLaren to pit.

Lap: 40/57 PIA: 1’40.795
Piastri	Sainz passes Piastri after contact There’s a massive vibration.
Stallard	Copy.
Stallard	We see front wing damage. We see front wing damage. So we think we should box and replace the front wing.
Piastri	I feel like I have more than front wing damage but I have a massive vibration.
Stallard	So we’ll box this lap, Oscar. Box this lap.
Piastri	Copy, box.
Lap: 41/57 PIA: 1’53.723
Stallard	And launch map. Launch map.
Stallard	So we’ve replaced the front wing. We removed some debris from the rear wing. Let’s see if the vibration’s cleared up.
Piastri	Yeah, vibration’s gone now.
Lap: 43/57 PIA: 1’30.634
Stallard	So Oscar that that was purple. Lando last lap 31.0. Magnussen four seconds. We don’t want to take any risks with contact on these cars you’re going to have to drive through.

Once the race restarted on lap 33, none of the 19 drivers intended to pit again before the end of the race. A few DRS trains formed throughout various points in the pack, but the biggest one was behind Alexander Albon in 13th.

Daniel Ricciardo was one of the cars behind the Williams and he struggled to be able to make progress due to the dirty air effect.

Lap: 46/57 RIC: 1’32.845
Hamelin	Okay, Daniel, where’s the limitations? How can we help you?
Ricciardo	Mostly it’s just dirty air. Just the exits and the straight line’s a struggle.
Hamelin	Okay. Copy. So others are able to run closer to each other and we are struggling on exit.
Ricciardo	Yeah so that’s the front. When I get really close, the front goes and I lose the rear on exit.
Hamelin	Okay, use your switches please. Let’s try different things. Push toggle last corner. Let’s be proactive and try to find solutions.

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“No time” for Ocon switch change

The final part of the race was a straightforward affair with only three position changes inside the top ten places across the final 25 laps of the race. One of these was Ocon losing ninth to Alonso.

Alpine tried to give Ocon more power on his power unit, but he was too concerned with watching out for Alonso in his mirrors to defend.

Lap: 43/57 OCO: 1’32.280
Peckett	Okay mate, 14 laps to go at the end of this one. Fourteen laps.
Lap: 45/57 OCO: 1’33.348
Peckett	Alonso is stalking Ocon within DRS range Esteban, fail-B ‘0-0, OK’ – extra performance.
Ocon	No time!
Lap: 46/57 OCO: 1’33.497
Ocon	When you can, fail-B ‘0-0 OK’. Extra performance.
Lap: 48/57 OCO: 1’33.946
Ocon	I’m running out of battery…
Peckett	Okay, mate, stick with it. We need to watch for Hulkenberg, who is another 2.5 seconds behind Fernando as well.
Peckett	Alonso passes Ocon Okay, let’s try and stick with Fernando’s DRS. Nine laps to go at the end of this one.

Although Ocon lost out to Alonso and was being caught by Hulkenberg, putting his and his team’s first point of the season in jeopardy, the Alpine driver managed to keep his pace up enough to lead the Haas to the line by just over a second.

Lap: 55/57 OCO: 1’32.146
Peckett	Three laps to go.
Lap: 56/57 OCO: 1’32.136
Peckett	Two laps to go.
Lap: 57/57 OCO: 1’32.467
Peckett	Last lap. Last lap. Single press overtake available now and after [turn] 16.
Chequered flag
Peckett	And that’s the chequered flag. Well done, mate. P10. First point. Let’s go to scenario-12, please and be saving fuel on the way around. Okay mate, well done.
Peckett	Yeah, sorry. I need to take my breath. I know we should not be happy for P10, but yeah, we fought for that one. Yeah, yeah. Let’s go get some more.
Peckett	Absolutely. Okay, so we’ll be driving off line all the way around, please. Okay and a drinks reminder as well. Hopefully it’s still cold…

“Well done to Lando”

The chequered flag at the end of the race saw Norris claim his first grand prix victory of his career and McLaren’s first win since the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, while Piastri came home 14th on the road after his late pit stop. Amid the whooping and cheering on the McLaren pit wall, Piastri’s engineer Tom Stallard commiserated with his driver who had put in a strong performance across the weekend despite not having the same level of upgrades that his race winning team mate enjoyed.

Chequered flag
Stallard	Okay, Oscar. P13. P13. Can I have recharge ‘on’, ACS ‘off’.
Stallard	Sounds of cheering in background Mate, frustrating afternoon for you. You drove better than that result – much better than that result. The positive is that the stuff that went wrong isn’t on you. The other car won the race, drove away from Verstappen for the whole of the last stint – won by nearly eight seconds. And you’ve got that in Imola.
Piastri	Yeah. Yeah, well done on the win, everyone. We really deserve that, so congratulations. Well done to Lando – first win. Very, very well done. Yep. Feel like we deserve a lot more. I hold my hand up – I’m sorry. It was a shit second half of the race.

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2024 Miami Grand Prix

• McLaren had superior pace before Verstappen’s damage in Miami – Norris
• Sainz ‘struggles to understand’ why he got penalty when Perez didn’t
• Alonso’s unusual brake problem and more unheard Miami team radio
• McLaren’s Miami upgrade success points to even stronger form in coming races
• Norris expects more wins this year and believes “100%” in 2025 title bid

Browse all 2024 Miami Grand Prix articles