2016 Monaco and Spanish Grands Prix team radio transcripts

2016 Monaco Grand Prix

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“I think the whole afternoon [the medium compound] was the slower tyre for us,” reflected Sebastian Vettel after the Spanish Grand Prix.

“I think I said it on the radio, so it was probably broadcast.”

In recent years drivers have become used to assuming that any interesting scrap of information they reveal on their radios will be broadcast to the watching world by Formula One Management. But since the beginning of the 2016 season this has clearly changed.

While new rules have reduced the amount of discussion which can go on between driver and team at the same time FOM is revealing less of the communications which do take place. The result is little more than a few dozen messages are now heard per race compared to the hundreds which were being broadcast 12 months ago.

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2016 Monaco Grand Prix team radio transcript

Lap*DriverMessage
3From Daniil KvyatI am still stuck in a constant speed guys, it doesn’t work.
3From Daniil KvyatWhy does this happen to me all the time?.
5From Kevin MagnussenThe track is ready now we can start racing, come on.
5From Lewis HamiltonThe spray is better now let’s get going.
11From Romain GrosjeanWhat is Kimi doing?.
11To Romain Grosjean

He hit the wall.
11From Romain Grosjean[Censored by FOM] he blocked me.
21From Kevin MagnussenWhat the [censored by FOM] did Kvyat do?.
35From Max VerstappenAh I crashed.
37From Daniel RicciardoWhat the [censored by FOM] was that?.
39To Daniel Ricciardo

OK mate, let’s get your head together, you are quicker than him, let’s do it.
49To Felipe Nasr

Just swap position, Felipe, just swap position.
50To Felipe Nasr

Felipe, if Marcus will not pull away you will gain a position.
50From Felipe NasrFor what reason, give me a reason.
50From Felipe NasrWhy, why him, why? Give me a reason why.
51To Felipe Nasr

He is much quicker at the minute, if he does not pull away you will gain the position.
51To Felipe Nasr

OK Felipe, this is from the top, we need to swap positions now please. Let’s do it, let’s get it done, turn one.
51From Marcus EricssonI guess there is something wrong with his radio.
52To Marcus Ericsson

Sounds like, sound like.
52From Felipe NasrWhy Marcus did that, why?
53From Felipe NasrThere’s some internal smoke in the car.
60To Jenson Button

Jenson there is a small shower on the radar. If it reaches the circuit it would be about eight laps to go.
68To Sebastian Vettel

Debris on the main straight, be careful, stay to the right.
70From Fernando AlonsoSome drops of rain on the visor.
76From Carlos Sainz JnrIt is starting to rain, get ready.
VLFrom Daniel RicciardoSave it. Nothing you could say can make that any better. Just save it.

2016 Spanish Grand Prix team radio transcript

Lap*DriverMessage
8To Daniil Kvyat

Danny we need to give position back to Hulkenberg and Magnussen behind you. Overtake under Safety Car.
8From Daniil KvyatCome on guys, are they serious?
22From Nico HulkenbergI think there’s a lot of smoke in the back of my car. Yeah there’s big smoke behind.
22To Nico Hulkenberg

Pull over, find a fire marshal, find a safe place to stop.
38To Jolyon Palmer

OK Jo we have solid blue for Ricciardo behind, he is the race leader, two seconds behind.
38From Jolyon PalmerI can barely see him in the mirrors.
38To Jolyon Palmer

I know, you’re doing same lap time as him.
47From Fernando AlonsoNo power, no power.
51From Marcus EricssonHe’s moving everywhere in the braking zones, it’s dangerous. Team mates, come on.
51To Marcus Ericsson

Understood Marcus.
51From Marcus EricssonTeam mates, come on.
54From Jenson ButtonWell that’s great isn’t it? Just got overtaken by Haryanto. Get the car out of the way, he’s going to cost us time, I know he thinks he’s quick but he’s not.
59From Sebastian Vettel[Censored by FOM] if I don’t avoid that. He’s just going straight to my car. Honestly, what are we doing? Racing or ping-pong?
65From Daniel RicciardoI got a puncture or something. Left rear’s really weird.
VLTo Valtteri Bottas

Great job, Valtteri, ended up P5. Pit stops helped us there they were great today. Nice drive so finishing order was Verstappen won, from Raikkonen, Vettel, Ricciardo, yourself, Sainz, Perez, Massa, Button, Kvyat.
VLFrom Valtteri BottasThanks guys. Yeah we were not quite quick enough but we maximised today so well done. Well done on the pit stops and the strategy I think was a good job with the car we had. Shame with Ricciardo in the end it was really close. But thanks guys.
VLTo Valtteri Bottas

Yep, agree with all that.
VLTo Jenson Button

Jenson well done that’s P9, chequered flag. Really had to work for that at the end. Great drive, well done mate.
VLFrom Jenson ButtonWooh. Yeah I mean I knew it was such a long stint I was just looking after my tyres for a lot of it. It came good at the end. A couple of points, not too bad.
VLTo Marcus Ericsson

Well done Marcus, very good end to a good weekend. Well done mate, good one, well managed.
VLFrom Marcus EricssonOK, cheers guys. Good job. Thank you.
VLFrom Esteban Gutierrez(Screams) good job!
VLTo Esteban Gutierrez

Good job, good drive. But this is just the beginning. We are not happy.
VLFrom Esteban GutierrezThank you guys, good effort.
VLTo Felipe Massa

OK Felipe great job, great recovery. Fantastic race. Shame we didn’t get Perez at the end but still excellent job. So we finished P8.
VLTo Felipe Massa

That was a good drive, mate, thank you very much. Got some points and had a better day than yesterday. Got some good points for the constructors’.
VLTo Sergio Perez

Well done Checo, great job, P7, great job.
VLFrom Sergio PerezGood job, guys.
VLFrom Kimi RaikkonenSorry guys I tried but once I got close it was so difficult to follow the car through the last corner.
VLTo Kimi Raikkonen

Understood mate, we saw you were going for it.
VLFrom Kimi RaikkonenThanks for the good tactics I managed to recover after a pretty awful start again. Thank you.
VLTo Daniel Ricciardo

Sorry it didn’t work out today.
VLTo Daniel Ricciardo

It probably feels pretty tough at the moment, Dan, but your time is going to come. It’s going to come big time. It was a good time today.
VLTo Carlos Sainz Jnr

Si Carlos, si! P6. Bravo, Chilli.
VLFrom Carlos Sainz JnrThank you. That’s been a really good weekend. I knew we could do it.
VLTo Carlos Sainz Jnr

Really positive day for the boys today
VLFrom Max VerstappenYes! Yes!
VLTo Max Verstappen

Unbelievable, Max. Unbelievable.
VLTo Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen you are a race winner. Fantastic. What a great debut. Great job.
VLFrom Max VerstappenThank you very much, Christian.
VLTo Max Verstappen

Max you nursed that tyre set home brilliantly, mate. Well done.
VLFrom Max VerstappenIt was like driving on ice the last ten laps. Unbelievable.
VLFrom Sebastian VettelWe tried, obviously the tyres held up much longer than expected. The soft the was really good, we were was easily half a second quicker. On the medium, a match, so we need to understand why we were slower on the medium. Basically the rear was very nervous.
VLTo Sebastian Vettel

Thank you Sebastian, well done, don’t worry.
VLFrom Sebastian VettelAh it’s a bit of a shame I thought we could make it win the race. But very difficult to overtake. Red Bull is quicker than us in the last sector, they struggle less with the rears. They are much quicker in turn 12 and then the last chicane. So that’s where the difference was, that’s why we couldn’t overtake. I tried everything. Grazie.

Lap: Refers to lap message was broadcast on. There may be a delay between messages being said and being broadcast. PR = pre-race; FL = formation lap; VL = victory lap.
Message: Repetitive or irrelevant messages omitted. Notes in italics. Highlights in bold.

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Monaco Grand Prix data

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    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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    58 comments on “2016 Monaco and Spanish Grands Prix team radio transcripts”

    1. So…thanks FOM…nothing to see here!

      1. +1 @robbie.

        FOM are much more the problem than Mercedes/noise/motors/tyres/aero/…

        1. Indeed, I think that is something many of us can agree with @lockup!

    2. F1 has ruined the radio transcripts for the fans.

    3. ColdFly F1 (@)
      2nd June 2016, 12:38

      I see you inadvertently included MV’s radio transcript twice.
      35 From Max Verstappen Ah I crashed.
      35 From Max Verstappen Ah I crashed.

      We all know it should have been 3 times ;)

    4. 49 To Felipe Nasr Just swap position, Felipe, just swap position.
      50 To Felipe Nasr Felipe, if Marcus will not pull away you will gain a position.
      50 From Felipe Nasr For what reason, give me a reason.
      50 From Felipe Nasr Why, why him, why? Give me a reason why.
      51 To Felipe Nasr He is much quicker at the minute, if he does not pull away you will gain the position.
      51 To Felipe Nasr OK Felipe, this is from the top, we need to swap positions now please. Let’s do it, let’s get it done, T1.
      51 From Marcus Ericsson I guess there is something wrong with his radio.
      52 To Marcus Ericsson Sounds like, sound like.
      52 From Felipe Nasr Why Marcus did that, why?.

      Well, why do you reckon, Felipe?

      1. this script and the visuals of the crash are the most memorable Sauber features of Monaco’16. how shameful, as a Sauber fan….

        1. Give me a rea$$$on, why? why oh why?

      2. petebaldwin (@)
        2nd June 2016, 14:30

        I was thinking exactly the same whilst reading it. What a dumb thing to say! It’s as though he expected Ericsson to not pull that type of move because they are in the same team and yet when it suits him, he isn’t interested in teamwork.

      3. It seems shameful but I partially understand Felipe Nasr’s attitude and behaviour. In Brazil there’s a lot of pressure for drivers to be more like Senna and less like Barrichello. The audience don’t want drivers taking orders, and Rubens is not very well respected due to him giving way to Schumacher whenever the team wanted.

        Having said that, Nasr is not Senna, he is not fighting for wins either, and Sauber needs points. Ruining the race of both drivers is not helping the team nor his career.

        1. ColdFly F1 (@)
          2nd June 2016, 17:10

          @lubhz, I don’t think that the lack of respect is due to Barrichello following team orders, but rather due to his never ending list of excuses why he was slower.
          I’ll never get this song out of my head: Sempre atrás do alemão (é o rubinho)

        2. It’s not as if Ericsson was going to grab more points than Nasr by overtaking in Monaco, given how good he is…

      4. Hmm is this opening doors for other drivers who can drive and handle situations better?

        Tough decision especially with Felipe with his 2015 results, but yes truly a shameful event in the race and outside it.

        1. Hmm is this opening doors for other drivers who can drive and handle situations better?

          Only if they can bring the same (or more) money with them, unfortunately.

        2. Monisha has prob already signed up two, or four, or however many she can convince that theyll get the drive, just to pocket the cash!!!!

    5. It’s like the Chinese Government has got hold of the driver transcripts, hardly worth reading.

    6. Pathetic.

      Not you, Keith, just what you now have access to. I used to really enjoy these features.

      1. I was going to use the same word.

      2. RP (@slotopen)
        3rd June 2016, 3:57

        Indeed. What in the world. Maddening.

        How can there not be a live stream for each driver or team?

    7. To Daniel : Sorry Danny, the we let you down today, whole team wants to apologize to you. Lets have a talk after the race.

      From Daniel Ricciardo : Save it. Nothing you could say can make that any better. Just save it.

      Just assumed something up to make myself satisfied !

      1. petebaldwin (@)
        2nd June 2016, 14:40

        I hope for his sake, his team are a bit more mature about it when it’s his mistake that costs the team a win.

        “Save it Daniel – Nothing you could say can make that any better!”

        Imagine it was Verstappen who was acting like this – the internet would go into meltdown! Luckily however, it’s Ricciardo so despite driving for Red Bull, despite throwing a strop that Lewis would be proud of and despite recently saying “I’m 27 very soon and I don’t even have anything close to a world title and I believe I should have something like that very soon”, he’s still OK.

        1. Eh? The team literally threw away his win 2 races in a row with poor strategy choices coupled with literal simple errors.

          Red Bull have been seen to be less than supportive of their drivers on radio before. How about last year when they told Kvyat after his podium that he got more than he deserved and they’ll talk after the race…?

          I think it’s an entirely fair call to show some tough love sometimes.

        2. Well said !

        3. RP (@slotopen)
          3rd June 2016, 4:23

          The guy just spent an hour hurtling around Monico, inches from the barriers, in the rain. Then the track partially dried, so there was a racing line with slippery wet pavement waiting to deliver anyone erroring by a few inches into the barrier. As his team demonstrated.

          All this and he was faster than Hamilton’s Merc.

          In fact, anything more polite than “its [censored] Monico, [censored], what the [censored] kind of stupidly was that? I’m inches from death out here and you [censored] heads can’t find a [censored] set of tiresin the garage” is poetry under the circumstances.

    8. The radio messages have really lost any meaningful content with the new rules

      1. ColdFly F1 (@)
        2nd June 2016, 17:17

        I don’t think it is due to the rules, @philipgb.
        I’m sure there is a lot more said which would be interesting for us fans; we just don’t hear/read it anymore. There must have been very interesting strategy discussions going on for each driver. But in the the released transcripts: zero/zip/nada/zilch/nothing

        1. This is what was shown on TV/in the app.

    9. I was defending the call for the radio rule changes at the start of the season. It still can’t be certain that it’s the rules itself has caused this (although Wolff did hint at some point that more data was being sent to the drivers on their screens instead) or its just that their deciding not to broadcast what is said.

      Either way, I’m very much meaning to chime in to the chorus here. These transcripts are very much a sad thing :(

      1. They arent allowed to send anything to the screen thats not safetyrelated and heavily regulated.

        1. I wish I could remember where I heard the quote, maybe team principals meeting? But he definitely said that more was being communicated to the drivers via screens now.

        2. And how is the FIA going to police this? It’s really easy to enter an encoded message between two parties. FI a brake or engine temperature reading with a .5 ° could mean something completely different, while all other values are real data…

    10. So, neither can we be sure if LH didn’t in-fact, ask the team to be let past; nor if Nico said anything at all when told to move over… Thanks FOM.

      1. I will admit I am definitely not a HAM fan but he confirmed in an interview after the race that he never asked to be let through. Mercedes also confirmed that ROS never asked ‘why’ etc, they (Paddy Lowe) radioed him and said that he would need to pick up his pace or they would have to let Lewis through (this was a lap before he moved over) then when his next lap was within 1 tenth of the last one they got on again and asked him to let HAM through. Mercedes said that he didn’t question it or say anything and moved over straight away.

        Fair play by both drivers and Mercedes in the circumstances they were in really.

    11. When you see two race radio transcripts in one page says all about how much FIA/FOM rules are killing the sport

    12. The radio calls during the race used to be one of the most engaging aspects of the race, I loved it. I wish FOM (and the FIA too) would stop making such poor decisions. I’m getting so fed up with the illogical thought processes (trying to stop HAM from posting to social media from the pits!?) and poorly conceived changes (elimination qualifying) to the sport. It’s like Bernie and the politicians are trying their hardest to ruin this sport and they don’t even realize it.

      1. It’s like Bernie and the politicians are trying their hardest to ruin this sport devalue the sport to buy it (or allow someone else to buy it with a backhander) and they don’t even realize it know exactly what they are doing

        Cynical, I know, but this is Bernie…

    13. WilliamB (@william-brierty)
      2nd June 2016, 16:27

      F1 fixing what isn’t broken…again…

      This mess all stemmed from free practice in Hungary in 2014, when Nico Rosberg asked Tony Ross for some on the spot driving advice to close the substantial gap to his teammate. It became David Croft’s flimsy soapbox, and together with Johnny Herbert, plenty of support was whipped up amongst the fans, much of which was voiced here at the time. I’m sure many of those who now denounce team radio descriptions as part of some catastrophic FIA agenda supported the idea two years ago.

      But limitations on “driver-coaching” was always a terrible idea. The intention was to reward those who had the natural ability versus the drivers who arrived at a laptime through analytic means. Sport is about exploiting the tools available to you, the athlete: so why was Rosberg being reprimanded for doing exactly that? Did we not spend most of the races last year wishing Rosberg was closer to Hamilton? And how simplistic an understanding of F1 do you need to put a clean divide between the “natural talents” of Hamilton, Alonso, Verstappen etc, and the somehow inferior “grafters” of Rosberg, Button and co. And remember, comically, these limitations were only in effect when the car was on the track, so we were never actually restricting “driver-coaching”, just making the fans deaf to it.

      I take no joy in saying this, but, I told you so…

      1. Yep me too @william-brierty, as you say most of the coaching and comparing telemetry happens in the garage and factory in any case.

        1. WilliamB (@william-brierty)
          2nd June 2016, 17:18

          @lockup – If it hadn’t resulted in these absurd limitations, and if an idea so brazenly awful hadn’t been endorsed by such a broad cross-section of the fan community, then it would almost be funny.

          1. Yeah what does F1 do @william-brierty? On the one hand they have to consult their customers the fans, but on the other hand collectively we are totally clueless and contrary!!

            Though I did think radio was one of the more obvious times to ignore us and think logically about it. Hiding the coaching is just more of the shallow instinct to fake it, which seems to have taken hold in the circus generally atm as Bernie smokescreens the effect of pay-tv.

            1. WilliamB (@william-brierty)
              2nd June 2016, 20:55

              @lockup – But it’s not the layman F1 viewer’s job to check whether the sport’s regulations are watertight. Most people would hope that decisions of that magnitude would be perused by someone with some certified marker of common sense, like a degree/major/diploma/swimming certificate…

              …in F1 that is clearly not the case. Just look at this year’s qualifying debacle: in what way was that farce not foreseeable? If you’re interested Bernie, I have a first-class degree in political science and am available this summer…

      2. Michael Brown (@)
        3rd June 2016, 2:10

        Why is there stigma in coaching? F1 is a team sport, and even in sports with an individual, like tennis, the players still have coaches.

        This soapbox reminds me of the one for helmet design restrictions. “They’re changing the helmets every week!” No, dummy, just Vettel.

      3. FIA took what the fans wanted and twisted/over analyzed it and created this perverted version of radio ban.

        As a fan I wanted only one thing that there be no coaching once the race starts. The reasoning is simple actually, as the race unfolds we want the drivers ability to read the changing conditions of tires, wind speed, track evolution, track position to be rewarded. The best drivers like Alonso, Hamilton, Vettel and Ricciardo would excel in this area.

        Another thing I did not want was sharing of data between team mates to help the guy struggling.

        This did not mean the team cannot dictate strategy or no radio contact.

      4. Perhaps I missed something along the way. I didn’t think the coaching limitation was to try to separate the ‘analytical’ drivers from the ‘natural’ ones. I didn’t believe for a second that NR needed LH’s data and LH didn’t need to bother seeing what Nico was doing at all. I’d suggest that FOM as always cherry picked what we got to hear and made it seem like only NR needed LH’s data. I think they both use each other’s data. Interesting that Johnny Herbert’s name has come up…back when he was MS’s teammate at Benetton JH complained of being treated as a second-class citizen because MS insisted on seeing his data, but JH was not privy to MS’s.

        I thought the ban on too much coaching was due to the fact that the generic forgiving tracks, and the dumbing down of the classic tracks, along with the direction of ultra-conservation meaning these drivers cannot push themselves or their cars to their limits, and the aid of DRS, has made F1 look too easy, and combined with on the spot coaching, F1 has become F1 lite. Imho these drivers cannot be categorized amongst the greats while it takes no great feats to go around in circles as passengers monitoring tires and systems, driving (not racing) to a computer model.

        It just seems strange to me that even with the teams obeying the limitations to what can be said, we don’t even hear a single peep from Mercedes’ Sunday. Why? I don’t need the answer, and I am at least (reservedly) glad there seems to be in play a new direction of making the cars harder to drive, and potentially closer in racing (yes I hope that those who think it is about more aero are wrong and that more tire sways things a bit more to mechanical).

    14. So now two races can fit on one page.

      Nice rule making. But I dont think drivers talk that little, why dont they broadcast more messages?

      I miss hammer time, or singing Box, box, Box this lap, push now hammer time.

      Those are classy.

      Sure I dont want race engineers telling MSC how to set his dif entry setting for turn 5. But a little bit more radio would be just fine. Even if its Vettel crying about Kvyat.

      Gived racers personalities.

      1. I miss hammer time, or singing Box, box, Box this lap, push now hammer time.

        So do I, but I believe (correct me if I’m wrong) this is now prohibited by the “No coded messages” rule.

    15. ILuvSoundtracks (@)
      2nd June 2016, 17:12

      “(Screams) good job!”

      Gutiérrez screamed “AAAAAAA MARACHI”.

    16. Yes the radio transcripts are nothing what they were before…
      but the rules have given us exciting races so far, so I would’nt change it!

      1. Yes I too felt the change, races are getting interesting, but is this due to the radio clamp down? hmm a subject of debate for sure.

        If this change is indeed an effect of the ban then so be it, ultimately we need better racing. Fun from radio transcripts are secondary.

        1. Claire Gorman
          2nd June 2016, 17:42

          Absolutely agree, the radio transcripts are secondary. We need exciting racing. However with an incident packed race, a fuller transcript would be more revealing. Frustrations of crashes or technical problems always enhance the review of the action.

    17. QUOTE: 37 From Daniel Ricciardo What the [censored by FOM] was that?.

      pretty much the the summary of the race report.

    18. why is this even on the internet. I feel spammed.

    19. Looks like Hamilton’s and Rosberg’s radio was not working. :P

    20. Michael Brown (@)
      3rd June 2016, 2:04

      FOM thinks that because of the radio restrictions they can slack off.

    21. Lee Porcelli
      3rd June 2016, 6:00

      Another nonsensical decision by the rule makers.I agree the races are much more improved this year but that is not because of the rule change.Monaco uncensored on radio would have been a real plus.

    22. The accident of Nico and Lewis was due to the radio clamp down.

    Comments are closed.