Fernando Alonso and his team mate colluded in an unsuccessful attempt to deprive George Russell of the bonus point for fastest lap at the end of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
Earlier in the race Russell drew his race engineer’s attention to the “surprising” traction of the Red Bull. Perez lost time earlier in the race when he went off at the final two corners after making a settings change in his car.
Pierre Gasly was puzzled at the end of his poor race, while two drivers had apologies from their teams after finishing. All those stories and more appear in team radio exchanges which weren’t broadcast on the world feed at the Imola round.
Jump to:“What’s the goal here?”
“That’s all we’ve got”
“Perez came off that last corner like a rocket”
“Defend from him, that’ll help Lance”
“I think it will happen at the end”
“Sorry we put you in that situation”
“Are we fighting with Stroll then?”
“Lance will give you DRS”
“We lost about 20 seconds”
“Apologies for my part in the impeding”
“Have a look at what we saw after quali”
More radio:
Norris chasing Verstappen for victory
Russell resisting Mercedes’ call for extra pit stop
“What’s the goal here?”
Alexander Albon’s race was wrecked within a handful of laps when his team botched his early pit stop by failing to fit one of his wheels correctly. That left him with a damaged car and no obvious objective in the race.
| Lap: 8/63 ALB: 1’26.643 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Urwin | Albon gets a late call to pit Box, box, box. |
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| Lap: 9/63 ALB: 2’43.048 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Urwin | Straight out. Watch for white line on exit. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Albon | Tyre’s not on properly. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Urwin | Understood, checking. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Albon | Front-right. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Urwin | Yeah, affirm, front-right, copy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 10/63 ALB: 1’53.376 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Albon | There was a lot of grinding on the bottom of the floor so I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s damage. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Urwin | Understood. I’ll check. Bottas, blue flag and Alonso two seconds behind him. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Albon | What do I do? Should I create a gap or just stay behind Alonso the whole race? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Urwin | Just hold this for now, I’ll come back to you. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 12/63 ALB: 1’21.558 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Albon | I have a lot of understeer with this car. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 17/63 ALB: 1’22.410 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Albon | What’s the goal here in this race? Because I’m actually quicker than before but I can’t really do anything. So we’re just behind these cars. What are we trying to do? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Urwin | Well, we don’t have a hard tyre, that’s damaged. We’ve got the stint one medium remaining. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Urwin | Yeah. Understood. We don’t have too many options I’m afraid. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 18/63 ALB: 1’22.247 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Urwin | Right so I think you’re three tenths up this lap so it’s coming back to you. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Albon | It’s coming back to me. But I definitely have a lot more to understeer than the first stint. Like, a lot. So I don’t know whether… I don’t believe the numbers. I think there is damage or something. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Just when Albon thought things were getting better, they took a turn for the worse. He managed to un-lap himself from Alonso and pull away from the Aston Martin driver quickly enough not to trigger blue flags to let him past again – but was then told of his penalty for the team’s pit stop error.
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| Lap: 19/63 ALB: 1’22.579 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Urwin | Understood. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Albon | Can we overtake here? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Albon | I guess we want Fernando to get through the other cars, but he’s not quick enough. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Urwin | Affirm, we’re good on battery. It’s a three second gap in front of Alonso. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Urwin | You’re good for overtake. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 20/63 ALB: 1’21.725 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Urwin | Albon un-laps himself from Alonso As long as we can pull away, we’re okay. Nice job. |
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| Lap: 21/63 ALB: 1’22.335 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Urwin | So it’s three seconds to Bottas, it’s two back to Alonso. If we get backed up behind Bottas then we may well get blue again for Alonso. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 22/63 ALB: 1’22.270 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Urwin | Go race, go race. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Albon | Tyres just took a big hit. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 23/63 ALB: 1’26.978 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Urwin | HPP on. Okay. It’s not getting any better. We have a 10-second stop-and-go penalty. We’ll serve it this lap. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Albon | For what? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Urwin | The wheel issue. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
“That’s all we’ve got”
While most drivers started the race on the medium tyre compound, Perez opted for hards, but was unhappy with his car’s balance. He made various changes in an attempt to address the problem, but went too far with his brake balance and locked up at Rivazza 1, skidding off the track. He resumed and eventually found some improvements:
| Lap: 10/63 PER: 1’22.545 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Perez | Yeah I’m trying to open a bit of a gap to… gap ahead. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bird | Copy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bird | So do you want to open the diff in the high speed? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 16/63 PER: 1’21.837 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Perez | Yeah it feels low, the grip all around. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bird | Okay and flap update next stint. Flap update. So gap in front 10 seconds, flap update when you can. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 17/63 PER: 1’26.800 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Perez | Yeah let’s go back on the diff for high-speed. It’s getting a little bit neutral. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 18/63 PER: 1’22.435 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Perez | Perez goes off at Rivazza Oh fuck I went off. I was struggling in the final corner for grip. I went forward with the B-bal. |
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| Bird | Head back down. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bird | To open the diff in the high speed… sorry, close the diff in high speed, display yellow six position nine, display yellow six position nine plus two. Closes the diff turn five, turn 11. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 20/63 PER: 1’22.268 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bird | Lewis’ last lap 21.9. Cars in front generally doing a 21.8. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Perez | I feel the diff is a little bit aggressive on traction. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bird | Copy. You mean pedal map or diff locking? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 21/63 PER: 1’21.940 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Perez | Yeah the pedal map. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bird | Copy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 31/63 PER: 1’23.694 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bird | Okay we can try engine grey 14 position two, engine grey 14 position two, minus one. That will affect 15 also. Let me know. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 32/63 PER: 1’22.259 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bird | Okay. How is that map? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Perez | Okay. Do we have another step? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bird | Negative. That’s all we’ve got. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
“Perez came off that last corner like a rocket”
Russell emerged from the pits behind Perez and was able to pass the Red Bull driver. But even when Perez was still running his original, worn hard tyres, his RB20’s traction out of the final corner impressed Russell:
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| Lap: 22/63 RUS: 1’44.938 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dudley | Russell pits which drops him behind Perez So this will be out-lap normal. And reset EB. Maybe a little bit of traffic with Magnussen on exit. So you can use overtake if you need it. Ocon alongside, you’re ahead of Magnussen. |
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| Lap: 27/63 RUS: 1’20.736 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dudley | So Perez three and a half ahead, still on that hard tyre. We’ve got Sainz in the pit lane. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 28/63 RUS: 1’21.628 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dudley | Overtake available. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 29/63 RUS: 1’21.444 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dudley | So Lewis has now pitted, he’s come out nine seconds behind on the hard tyre. At the end of his stint he had two front lock-ups, one at seven and one at 12, both resulting in him going slightly off track. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 30/63 RUS: 1’22.098 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dudley | So 34 laps remaining. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 31/63 RUS: 1’21.517 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Russell | Russell passes Perez entering Tamburello, then speaks exiting Tosa Perez came off that last corner like a rocket. Surprising. |
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| Dudley | Understood. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
“Defend from him, that’ll help Lance”
As Alonso had to start from the pit lane, Aston Martin used him tactically to assist Lance Stroll, who started nearer the points. First Alonso was brought in for an early pit stop, prompting some of the drivers Stroll would be racing to react.
Later in the race Aston Martin urged Alonso to delay drivers who came out of the pits behind him who could pose threats to their leading car, such as Esteban Ocon:
| Lap: 26/63 ALO: 1’22.911 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cronin | Ocon will be coming out of the pit lane two or three seconds behind on hard tyres, he’s on hard tyres. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 30/63 ALO: 1’22.896 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cronin | Ocon’s 1.3. Please defend from him. That’ll help Lance a bit, defend against Ocon. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 32/63 ALO: 1’22.688 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cronin | Ocon still does not have DRS. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cronin | Ocon has got DRS. You can use energy, got lots of energy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 35/63 ALO: 1’22.783 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cronin | Go strat six as well, strat six. This is helping. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 47/63 ALO: 1’21.045 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alonso | How Lance is doing? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cronin | Lance is doing well. He’s up to P10 already and he’s going to attack Tsunoda soon for P9, he’s doing well. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alonso | Yeah. Let’s go. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
“I think it will happen at the end”
For the first time since he joined Ferrari five years ago, Charles Leclerc had a new race engineer, Bryan Bozzi taking over from Xavier Marcos Padros. The pair got off to an encouraging start, as Leclerc finished on the podium.
Bozzi encouraged him throughout, urging Leclerc to be patient in his pursuit of Lando Norris, predicting he would have a chance to attack the McLaren at the end of the race when their tyres faded. But shortly after one of his encouragements Leclerc skidded off at Variante Alta, where he also made a mistake on his last visit to Imola, and dropped back:
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| Lap: 40/63 LEC: 1’20.582 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bozzi | Norris making mistakes. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 41/63 LEC: 1’20.928 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bozzi | Under Safety Car we would lose two positions, for info. You’re doing a really good job. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bozzi | Many lap cars ahead. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bozzi | Solid blues for Gasly. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 42/63 LEC: 1’20.240 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bozzi | Easy traction exit seven. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 43/63 LEC: 1’20.942 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bozzi | You are the fastest car on track. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 44/63 LEC: 1’20.702 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bozzi | 20 laps to go. 20. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bozzi | Switch position red and be patient. You’re doing a really good job. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 46/63 LEC: 1’20.596 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bozzi | Leclerc closes on Norris]I think it will happen at the end. Keep some juice in the tyres. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bozzi | Approaching Rivazza Keep seventh gear into the next corner. |
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| Lap: 47/63 LEC: 1’21.313 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bozzi | Leclerc goes off at Variante Alta [turn 15] after this message This is really good. Just keep the pressure on. |
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| Lap: 48/63 LEC: 1’21.513 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bozzi | Switch position yellow. And let’s get back into the rhythm. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 49/63 LEC: 1’20.798 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leclerc | Yeah tyres are starting to go a little bit. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bozzi | Copy. Track limits at turn 15. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
“Sorry we put you in that situation”
Williams used Albon’s ruined race as a test session, but pulled him in once it became clear there was no more to learn. Team principal James Vowles came on his radio to apologise:
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| Lap: 51/63 ALB: 1’29.784 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Urwin | Alex will you understand any more with these brakes if we fit a new soft? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Albon | No I think I know the direction we need to go in. It won’t change. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Urwin | Okay mate so it is clear behind. We are going to retire the car. Box this lap, confirm. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 52/63 ALB: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Urwin | Really annoying. Stop in box and we’re retiring the car, switch off. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vowles | Alex thank you for giving it everything today. Sorry we put you in that situation, have to come back stronger than that. Hopefully there was some good learning, there’s some things I’ve learnt as well. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Albon | Yeah. It was good to stay out there. Kind of feel what the brakes were doing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
“Are we fighting with Stroll then?”
Yuki Tsunoda had a somewhat lonely run to the final point. His team told him it wasn’t worth trying too hard to keep Stroll behind:
| Lap: 39/63 TSU: 1’22.427 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tsunoda | So now except Hulkenberg who are we fighting with? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spini | Nobody. 25 laps to go. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tsunoda | Copy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 40/63 TSU: 1’22.339 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spini | And info Yuki we have Perez three behind, he’s Hulkenberg, outside our race. he just pitted for medium. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spini | Perez behind, two seconds. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 41/63 TSU: 1’22.288 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spini | For info Hulkenberg 2.8 behind Perez. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 44/63 TSU: 1’22.079 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spini | Okay Yuki again for info Stroll four behind is behind Hulkenberg. He has just pitted for hard. So he is not in our race and he’s the last one. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tsunoda | Are we fighting with Stroll then? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 45/63 TSU: 1’22.241 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spini | Yes we are. But don’t lose time with him. He’s on a different strategy and faster. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
“Lance will give you DRS”
Once Stroll’s points finish was secure, Alonso turned his thoughts to setting the fastest lap. As he was running well outside the top 10, he would be unable to score the point which came with it, but they had the chance to deny Russell and Mercedes the bonus.
In qualifying, Verstappen superbly exploited a tow from Nico Hulkenberg on the pit straight to take pole position. Now Alonso urged Aston Martin to have Stroll help him in the same way:
| Lap: 47/63 ALO: 1’21.045 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alonso | How Lance is doing? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cronin | Lance is doing well. He’s up to P10 already and he’s going to attack Tsunoda soon for P9, he’s doing well. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alonso | Yeah. Let’s go. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 52/63 ALO: 1’21.176 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alonso | Who stopped in front of us? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cronin | It’s Russell Fernando, Russell who’s going to go for the fastest lap. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alonso | Copy. We can do it as well | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cronin | Copy Fernando, copy that. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alonso | I mean, I don’t know the race situation. Maybe the leaders, they will go at the end of the race. They are pretty slow. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 53/63 ALO: 1’20.474 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cronin | Yeah we’re watching all that. We’re watching. Lance is P9 at the moment now. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 59/63 ALO: 1’28.385 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cronin | Box this lap Fernando. Box, box. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alonso | Copy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 60/63 ALO: 1’45.749 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cronin | Fernando the track will be clear. Lance is just coming around turn 18 now. So we’ve got this out-lap and then two laps of racing left. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alonso | What is the time lap to achieve? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cronin | So it’s an 18.59. 18.59 by Russell. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alonso | Is Lance free of competition? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cronin | Yeah he’s free of competition. He’s free of competition. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alonso | Okay I will let him go, take the DRS. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cronin | Fernando you can stay here because Lance can’t just tow you and move out of the was. So stay ahead of him. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alonso | No I take the DRS and I overtake, that’s what I mean. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cronin | Okay. Yep. Okay. Yep. We’ll do that. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alonso | I mean it’s too late, I don’t do it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Once Stroll was told his team mate was attempting to set the fastest lap, he volunteered to help out.
It wasn’t enough, however. Even with a fresh set of soft tyres and the benefit of his team mate’s slipstream, Alonso’s best lap was over four-tenths of a second slower than Russell’s on medium rubber, which no doubt caused long faces at Aston Martin:
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| Lap: 61/63 STR: 1’21.647, ALO: 1’24.389 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vizard | Fernando is a lap down as well, lap down. | Cronin | And you can go to Strat five. Strat five for. You can use energy on the straights. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stroll | Do I have a pit window for fastest lap? | Alonso | Ah, I cannot achieve it, man. I will let him through. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vizard | Negative. We did not have a pit window. We’re staying out. | Cronin | Alonso lets Stroll past approaching Piratella And then you go to strat seven. Go to strat seven. Let Lance through before nine. |
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| Vizard | So Fernando will let us past and we can tow him, or he might let us past. | Cronin | So Lance will give you DRS and you can go past him on the next lap. Use the K0. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alonso | Ah, he is too far, mate. I will take the tow later. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 62/63 STR: 1’22.751, ALO: 1’19.004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stroll | If he wants to do it next lap I can give him DRS and let him go again. | Cronin | Stroll lets Alonso past him approaching Tamburelo Press energy on the straights. |
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| Vizard | I think he’s going now mate so he’ll just go, so don’t worry too much. Two laps to go. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stroll | Alonso lets Stroll past approaching Piratella I’ll give him DRS, let him go. |
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| Vizard | Okay Lance so as you guessed we will give him DRS on the main straight, he’ll come past us, okay? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vizard | That’s okay. So he’s in DRS now. So he’ll drive past us. You just carry on. You’ve got a lap to go. Let’s do strat five, strap five, okay. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 63/63 STR: 1’23.832 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vizard | Stroll lets Alonso past approaching Tamburello We want to stay ahead of the leaders, they’re for seconds behind Fernando. |
Cronin | Alonso says nothing at the end of the race That’s chequered flag. |
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| Vizard | Cars behind have taken the flag, so just close the lap. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
“We lost about 20 seconds”
Gasly lost a significant amount of time having to let the leaders lap him in the second half of the race:
| Lap: 40/63 GAS: 1’23.459 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Howard | And gap to Norris behind, 1.4. We’ve got a solid blue for Norris. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Howard | Behind Norris is Leclerc, 1.5 seconds behind Norris. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 42/63 GAS: 1’23.721 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Howard | Okay Pierre car behind is Piastri, he’s 1.7 back. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Howard | And we’ve got a blue flag for Piastri. Watch out behind… | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gasly | Interrupting We have damage on the car? |
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| Howard | We’re checking, mate. Sergeant is 1.5 seconds behind Piastri, so be careful with him once you let Piastri through. Car behind is Sergeant is 1.2 back. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 43/63 GAS: 1’21.633 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Howard | We don’t see any damage, Pierre. Just in an unfortunate position with traffic. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
He was dissatisfied with his team’s tactics, though nothing like as annoyed as he had been after final practice, and questioned why they hadn’t expected to lose so much time to blue flags:
| Lap: 63/63 GAS: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gasly | Where did Ricciardo finish? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Howard | So Ricciardo finished P13. Esteban ahead in P14 on the one-stop. So Verstappen won the race from Norris and Leclerc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gasly | We lost about 20 seconds with all the blue flags and we didn’t even mention it once ahead of the race so a bit confused with what we’ve done. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Howard | Yeah, cars all the way up to P10 were lapped by the top three. So plenty to review. A few issues out there today. But good driving yourself. It was a fairly incident-free race. But we’ll regroup and see what we can do next week. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gasly | Yeah. A very tough one today. Didn’t expect that. Quite a lot of bouncing and the balance was quite poor compared to the rest of the weekend. So let’s see what we can learn from it. But next week is going to be very different so keep your head down and we know everything is possible in Monaco. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Howard | Yeah. Copy that. Very different week next week. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
“Apologies for my part in the impeding”
While Norris in one McLaren chased after Verstappen, Oscar Piastri the other jumped past one Ferrari and ended the race behind another SF-24. It was a case of what might have been for Sainz, as he originally qualified second ahead of Norris, but was given a three-place penalty for impeding Kevin Magnussen. Footage of the incident indicated the driver had been largely blameless for an error on his team’s part, as his race engineer Tom Stallard acknolwedged:
| Chequered flag | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Piastri | Thanks everyone. I think that was the most we could have done today. Yeah. Good weekend. Very, very competitive car. So thank you very much for that. Let’s have some more weekends like that. We’re getting closer. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stallard | Yeah pace was really strong mate. Apologies for my part in the impeding incident in qualifying yesterday. We’ve had pace this weekend and can look forward to more. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
“Have a look at what we saw after quali”
Behind Piastri, Sainz hadn’t been happy with the balance of his Ferrari, but was more curious about something they’d noticed the day before. Team mate Leclerc referred to how Red Bull and McLaren appeared to make better use of their hybrid boost during qualifying:
| Chequered flag | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sainz | I didn’t feel comfortable at all with the car there, guys. Something to look into. A lot of snaps. Very difficult to drive. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Adami | Yeah. Saw you were struggling there. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sainz | Yeah. Let’s have a look at what we saw after quali. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Adami | Copy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2024 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix
- Ferrari expect qualifying gain after spotting rivals’ power strategy tactics
- How Alonso and Stroll copied Verstappen’s tactic plus more unheard Imola radio
- Verstappen beats Hamilton’s winning rate with Emilia-Romagna GP victory
- How Russell resisted losing position to Hamilton “for no reason” with extra stop
- “Lando’s found some pace”: Unheard radio from Verstappen-Norris Imola duel
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
22nd May 2024, 14:07
I hope one day F1 starts discussing what’s in it for everyone involved to give 1 point for fastest lap. It’s about time already. How long have we had that? 6 years now? It never worked, and it only brings “battles” like these between Mercedes and Aston Martin, two teams that were no where in the race, using 3 drivers in total and 2 set of tyres just to get that lone point…
Ross Brawn said it’d be exciting to watch when he masterminded it. Go figure…
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
22nd May 2024, 14:45
@fer-no65 I couldn’t agree more. I’m not interested in a contest between a random selection of drivers who happen to have a 30 second-ish gap between them to see who can put on fresh tyres and set the fastest lap. Hopefully they get rid of it before we see a title decided that way.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
23rd May 2024, 5:05
the reason it doesnt matter, is because the new power units introduced in 2014 effectively ended any real competition in f1, except by those who are major share holders looking for ways to fulfill their timetables. which team who is going to win in f1 is decided by comitee and rule changes, with Pirelli’s endorsement.
thats whats boring. midfield teams struggling for points, i think the rule works great.
GmP (@gmp)
23rd May 2024, 6:23
Funny. I like it. Not for the tension of who gets the point, but just to see how fast they can go if going fast is the only goal, because no need for tire management or position. And to see if an outside top10 team dares to try.
But maybe I just like to see cars racing around, instead of looking for things I do not like.
Fer no.65
23rd May 2024, 7:40
Well, you already saw how fast they can go if going fast is the only goal in qualifying…
I prefer battles on track. Not seeing who was out of position so he can pit for new tyres.
GmP (@gmp)
23rd May 2024, 6:28
I like these longer audio transcripts. It shows that F1 racing is really teamwork. Yes, the driver is the most important factor, together with the car, but the in-race “coaching” also plays a serious role.