Radio message from Lewis Hamilton during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

How frustrated Hamilton spent 24 laps stuck behind Bearman in “a horror race”

Formula 1

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Lewis Hamilton knew he faced a frustrating Azerbaijan Grand Prix once Mercedes decided to sacrifice his seventh place on the grid so he could take a fresh power unit.

But the team’s hopes he would be able to use that extra power to recover a decent points finish were dashed as Hamilton found it difficult to make any progress in the slipstream of his rivals.

Time and again Hamilton was unable to attack the car ahead of him as his rubber overheated, whether he was on the medium or hard compound. And just as he was starting to make progress in the final laps, the Virtual Safety Car was deployed and his last chances to make any moves disappeared.

Earlier in the race Mercedes predicted he should finish at least ninth, which he did. However he had been aided by the unexpected late retirements of two drivers ahead of him, so the result was clearly less than Mercedes had hoped for. This selection of his radio messages from Sunday’s race shows what went wrong.

Hamilton’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix radio messages

Jump to:

“Overtaking’s going to be difficult”
“This tyre is pretty bad”
“The rear’s just sliding around”
“This tyre’s so much better”
“Am I just slow?”
“Are you seeing how I have to drive this thing?”
“My tyres are ruined now”
“He’s backing me up”
“I’m not even going to say it”
“It was a horror race”

“Overtaking’s going to be difficult”

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Baku City Circuit, 2024
Hamilton knew he faced a tough race starting from the pit lane
Lap: 1/51 HAM: 2’05.704
Hamilton Just bear in mind overtaking’s going to be difficult with anyone with fresh tyres than me.
Hamilton They’ve only just gone through turn one.
Bonnington Er, Leclerc at turn seven now.
Bonnington Okay Lewis so we’ll fire up. No need for a bite point find.
Bonnington And Leclerc at turn 17. And last car, Gasly, turn eight.
Bonnington So Leclerc just pulling up onto the grid. Gasly turn 17. So Ocon will be leaving his garage and joining us in pit lane.
Ocon comes to a stop behind Hamilton’s car.
Hamilton Last car?
Bonnington Not yet. So mid-pack just did burn-outs. And last car approaching the grid.
Bonnington [Into] gear, good to go. And watch the lights.
Hamilton pulls away
Bonnington So Zhou on hard tyre.

“This tyre is pretty bad”

Hamilton picked off the two Sauber drivers quickly. Ahead of him Yuki Tsunoda dropped back through the field after picking up damage in a first-lap collision with Lance Stroll.

However Hamilton quickly discovered his medium compound tyres were overheating in the turbulent air of the cars ahead of him.

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Lap: 4/51 HAM: 1’50.351
Bonnington Gasly and Ricciar…
Hamilton Sliding a lot already.
Lap: 5/51 HAM: 1’50.358
Hamilton Yeah this tyre is pretty bad.
Hamilton Can’t keep up with the cars ahead.
Lap: 10/51 HAM: 1’49.993
Hamilton We just have rear graining. Car’s fast in the high speed, can’t keep it straight.
Lap: 11/51 HAM: 1’50.712
Bonnington Okay copy.

“The rear’s just sliding around”

Pierre Gasly, Alpine, Baku City Circuit, 2024
Gasly frustrated Hamilton’s progress early in the race

After passing Tsunoda on lap four, Hamilton became stuck behind Pierre Gasly, unable to pass despite the Alpine not being able to use DRS after falling too far behind Daniel Ricciardo.

When Franco Colapinto became the first of the drivers ahead to pit on lap 10, Mercedes wasted no time bringing Hamilton in. He asked for his front wing angle to be reduced in an attempt to balance the handling on the hard tyres.

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Lap: 12/51 HAM: 1’55.287
Hamilton It’s just locking at the rear. So I have to take out a couple of holes.
Hamilton The rear’s just sliding around. Nothing I can do about it.
Bonnington Copy, understood.
Bonnington Okay so we’ll box, box.
Hamilton Yeah I mean… in four. I have to lift through the high speed at the moment.
Bonnington Copy.
Hamilton Two or three holes.
Lap: 13/51 HAM: 2’06.757
Bonnington Tight on exit. Stroll car ahead, 11 laps offset, hard tyre.

“This tyre’s so much better”

Oliver Bearman, Lewis Hamilton, Baku, 2024
Bearman made Hamilton work for 12th place

Hamilton was happier on his hard tyres to begin with.

Lap: 14/51 HAM: 1’48.984
Bonnington So Stroll…
Hamilton [Unclear] deg?
Bonnington We have seen a mix. It’s all surface temp-driven. So just bring them in nice and steady.
Hamilton Yeah this tyre’s so much better.
Lap: 18/51 HAM: 1’48.632
Hamilton How is this pace?
Hamilton The guys at the front, mid-48. Just need some free air to use it.

“Am I just slow?”

Oliver Bearman emerged from the pits in front of Hamilton on lap 15. For several laps Hamilton pressed the Haas driver but was unable to pierce his defences, again despite the car ahead lacking the benefit of DRS for several laps.

He dropped back from the Haas driver on lap 21, his tyres overheating again. Mercedes tried to offer some useful guidance on where he could improve his lap times compared to team mate George Russell.

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Lap: 21/51 HAM: 1’49.616
Bonnington So currently P15, we are battling for P9 or better.
Bonnington That car ahead of Bearman is Ricciardo, he is yet to stop, 20-lap-old hard tyre.
Hamilton Am I just slow or [unclear].
Lap: 22/51 HAM: 1’50.666
Bonnington Front runners are high 47s.
Hamilton Rears are dropping already.
Bonnington It’s all surface temp related. There was plenty of rubber remaining last set.
Lap: 23/51 HAM: 1’48.588
Bonnington Okay Lewis everything you can to get surface temp down.
Bonnington I’m trying!
Bonnington So for info traction metrics 2,000 higher than George.
Hamilton Okay, well, I’ve got [unclear] can’t stop wheelspinning.
Bonnington Okay, we’ll have a look, see what we can do.

“Are you seeing how I have to drive this thing?”

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Baku City Circuit, 2024
The W15’s handling proved a headache throughout the race

Mercedes gave Hamilton some guidance on how to get his tyre temperatures under control.

Lap: 24/51 HAM: 1’48.433
Bonnington Think about diff exit 10. George is doing 48.3. He was 130 metres lift-and-coast, you were 30.
Bonnington Rear surfaces are starting to drop. So George was 48.0, Bearman 48.2.
Lap: 25/51 HAM: 1’48.290
Bonnington If you’re happy with that last diff exit change, you can go to diff exit nine.
Lap: 26/51 HAM: 1’47.828
Bonnington George is 48.2, Bearman 48.1.

Hamilton began to close back on Bearman again but was clearly unhappy with his car’s handling.

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Lap: 28/51 HAM: 1’48.045
Hamilton Are you seeing how I have to drive this thing?
Bonnington Copy that, Lewis. It’s effective, though.
Lap: 31/51 HAM: 1’48.128
Hamilton He’s pulling away.
Bonnington So probably compromise lift-and-coast into one. Surface temps cool there. Just try and do more traction turn seven.
Lap: 33/51 HAM: 1’47.330
Bonnington Good job on surfaces there, Lewis. Gap at 0.9.
Hamilton has a look at the inside of Bearman at turn one.

“My tyres are ruined now”

After 24 laps of trying, Hamilton finally found a way past Bearman, who had spent five laps stuck to Colapinto’s tail. Now it was the seven-times champion’s turn to try to find a way past the rookie in his second race.

But once again, after a few laps in Colapinto’s tail Hamilton felt his tyres starting to give up.

Lap: 41/51 HAM: 1’48.492
Bonnington Hamilton passes Bearman
Bearman 0.4 behind.
Bonnington So Colapinto 1.5 ahead. You are two-lap newer hard tyre.
Lap: 42/51 HAM: 1’47.300
Hamilton What position am I?
Lap: 43/51 HAM: 1’47.679
Hamilton Are we slow compared to the guys ahead?
Lap: 44/51 HAM: 1’48.135
Bonnington Well, the front runners are mid-46 but battling. Mid-47. George 46.7.
Hamilton I’m just slow then?
Bonnington No, it’s just we’re tucked up behind another car. Free air just helps you get the tyre temp under control.
Hamilton Yeah my tyres are ruined now.
Bonnington Yeah it’ll just be the surfaces.
Lap: 46/51 HAM: 1’47.667
Hamilton Where am I slow?
Bonnington So it’s sector two, mostly castle section.

“He’s backing me up”

The complexion of the race changed suddenly in the final laps. Nico Hulkenberg, 10th, began to slow from lap 42, then was suddenly caught and passed by Colapinto.

As Hamilton began sizing up Hulkenberg, Carlos Sainz Jnr and Sergio Perez crashed disputing third place. Hulkenberg hit debris as they passed through the crash scene and Hamilton pounced to take what was now ninth place.

Lap: 49/51 HAM: 1’47.947
Bonnington Hulkenberg ahead looks like he has a problem.
Bonnington Maybe front-right puncture for Hulkenberg.
Hamilton He’s backing me up.
Hamilton He’s picked up the pace.
Bonnington ‘So big crash exit two to three. So there’s yellow, yellow. Double yellow. It’ll be left-hand side.
Lap: 50/51 HAM: 2’21.579
Bonnington So yellow, yellow. Incident on your left so stay right. There are cars going very slow. Lots of debris.
Hulkenberg hits a piece of debris and slows. Hamilton passes him on the inside of turn three.
Bonnington Strat mode five. So VSC, VSC, keep your delta positive. We are staying out.
Bonnington So there’s…
Hamilton Is everyone alright?
Bonnington So now P9. So one lap remaining when you cross the line.
Hamilton Who crashed?
Bonnington So go strat mode one.
Bonnington So this is the final lap.

“I’m not even going to say it”

But with the Virtual Safety Car now deployed, a glum Hamilton reflected there would be no time left to attack the remaining cars ahead of him.

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Lap: 51/51 HAM: 2’33.777
Hamilton I’m not even going to say it, because you know what.
Hamilton Still P9?
Bonnington Affirm. So close that delta up just in case they do something.

“It was a horror race”

Team principal Toto Wolff came on the radio to offer his consolation. Hamilton alerted his team to the fact Hulkenberg and Gasly were overtaking cars under VSC conditions on their way back to the pits, for which they later received official warnings. But for Hamilton, this had been a race to forget.

Chequered flag
Wolff Lewis. Good to make it to the end. It was a horror race. I can so relate to it. We all can relate to it. At least we’ve taken the penalty now, let’s move forward and look forward.
Bonnington Lewis well done mate. That was a P9 and I understand your frustration. If we can have no overtaking… oh, apart from Hulkenberg.
Hamilton Hulkenberg just overtook me under yellow.
Bonnington Yeah copy.
Bonnington No overtaking whilst this VSC is still active. Just make sure you’re picking up rubber.
Hamilton Another car just overtook.
Bonnington Okay yeah no problem that’s Gasly.

Author information

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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19 comments on “How frustrated Hamilton spent 24 laps stuck behind Bearman in “a horror race””

  1. I don’t quite understand the Hulkenberg incident. Bonnington is talking about double yellows being out, Hamilton passes Hulkenberg and then later, Lewis reports Nico for passing under yellows. Presumably, Hamilton had not done the same, even though it sounds like he may have from the description?

      1. Thanks!

  2. Mercedes is back to a permanent P4 after a few rounds of smokescreen.

  3. Lewis’s team mate finished on the podium in the same car. This will not be lost on Ferrari…

    1. Lewis’s teammate didn’t start form the outline though.

    2. Logic isn’t your strong point, huh?

    3. GR only finished on the podium due to Sergio and Carlos crashing. The merc was a solid P5 car. Stop trying to create a narrative to give you the excuse to ridicule Lewis for not finishing higher up.

    4. Starting from the pit lane as opposed to your team mate starting in top 10 of the grid might have something to do with it. Or do you know something most of us don’t?

  4. *pitlane

  5. This begs the question if Max and Lewis should be replaced by such outstanding prospects such as Lawson and Mick Schumacher.

    1. Maybe just forcibly retire everyone over the age of 21?

      1. Technically anyone over the age of 30 –Carousel. Imagine what it would do for healthcare insurance costs.

        1. You’re not thinking of the personal assistant/gopher/physical therapist/reflexologist labor industry.

      2. Makes sense to me. I mean, if children in Bolivia can begin mining as young as 6, which is a far more dangerous profession, I can’t see why F1 can’t have the same minimum age for drivers + max age of 13 to avoid any of those pesky minimum pay laws.

    2. Mick Schumacher?????

      1. He’s clearly joking, he used the term outstanding, which dare I say is exaggerated even for lawson; I’d like to see mick get a 3rd season, especially now that steiner’s gone (he’s to blame) and lawson in f1, but clearly top teams are not their place (yet in case of lawson).

  6. Some people in the other article thought that 5 was a fair rating for hamilton this weekend (which, with the harsh rating system we have here, is considered an acceptable performance level), some of us argued a 4 would be more appropriate (falling below the level expected), as you see even the author here called it a horror race, so how is a horror race acceptable?

  7. Is Mercedes F1 a reflection of the horrible situation in Germany? ;-)

Comments are closed.