For the second race event of the season, the heavens opened at the worst possible time for the drivers ahead of qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix
While the rain led to a flurry of on-track activity, the activity over the radio waves was just as frantic, with tempers sometimes running as hot as Pirelli’s wet rubber.
Both drivers and their engineers agonised over which of the two wet compounds to use during each of the three qualifying segments, with teams reacting to their rivals as well as to the conditions on the track.
This year’s rookies had to contend with their second successive wet qualifying and all three had at least one heart-stopping moment during the session. Daniil Kvyat provided some of the more colourful radio moments of the afternoon.
But it was Lewis Hamilton who prevailed in the tricky conditions, as he did in Melbourne, as as the Mercedes driver struggled to see the track and his rivals as conditions deteriorated.
See how the session unfolded after the Malaysian monsoon via the team radio broadcasts.
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2014 Malaysian Grand Prix qualifying team radio transcript
Phase | Time | From | To | Message |
---|---|---|---|---|
Q1 | 18:00 | Simon Rennie | Daniel Ricciardo | We’ve got nine timed laps worth of fuel in the car. |
Q1 | 18:00 | Xevi Pujolar | Jean-Eric Vergne | OK Jev, so looking at the Safety Car, the weather and also from your feedback I’ve got from Ollie, we’ll go for Inter tyre. |
Q1 | 18:00 | Daniil Kvyat | Marco Matassa | Radio check, radio check. |
Q1 | Marco Matassa | Daniil Kvyat | OK, radio check. Multifunction, rain position two. Position two, for tyre compound. Is it clear which one? OK, be ready to go out straight away. Three minutes and a half until green light. | |
Q1 | 18:00 | Tony Ross | Nico Rosberg | Cars are queueing at pit exit So, you need to work the Inters. None of the gears are learnt at the moment. |
Q1 | Nico Rosberg | Tony Ross | Should we do a start? | |
Q1 | Tony Ross | Nico Rosberg | Nico, do one if possible. But… | |
Q1 | Nico Rosberg | Tony Ross | With a bite-point find? | |
Q1 | Tony Ross | Nico Rosberg | Afirm, but we’ll call them when we want to do them, Nico. | |
Q1 | 18:00 | Lewis Hamilton | Peter Bonnington | Should I do a bite-point? Let me know. |
Q1 | Peter Bonnington | Lewis Hamilton | OK Lewis, we do expect rain in the session. So make the early laps representative. | |
Q1 | 16:50 | Angel Baena | Marcus Ericsson | Ericsson is stranded at pit exit We have a problem on the car, raise your hands. Raise your hands so they know and turn the car off. Turn the car off, OK? So raise your hands so everybody knows. |
Q1 | Marcus Ericsson | Angel Baena | What’s happening? | |
Q1 | Angel Baena | Marcus Ericsson | Hold on a second. We have the [?] in error, we will have to power cycle the car in the box. Raise your hands so everybody knows. | |
Q1 | Marcus Ericsson | Angel Baena | OK Marcus. So, we saw an error. We’re going to reboot the car. It should be ready to go. | |
Q1 | 15:43 | Mark Slade | Pastor Maldonado | How is the track, Pastor? How is the track? Is it suitable for dries, or full wets? |
Q1 | Pastor Maldonado | Mark Slade | I think it’s OK for Inters at the moment. | |
Q1 | Mark Slade | Pastor Maldonado | Roger that. | |
Q1 | 15:07 | Dave Robson | Jenson Button | McLaren initially send both their cars out on full wet tyres OK Jenson, these are good conditions for this tyre. Let’s set a time on this tyre and then get ready for Intermediates. So just keep warming the brakes, and it’s Yellow G3. Yellow G3. |
Q1 | 13:45 | Mark Temple | Kevin Magnussen | OK Kevin, we think Inters are the right tyre. So box this lap. Box this lap, confirm. |
Q1 | 11:31 | Guillaume Rocquelin | Sebastian Vettel | Box, Sebastian. Box. Issue with car. Box please. Currently… P7. And careful of Daniel [Ricciardo] behind you. |
Q1 | Sebastian Vettel | Guillaume Rocquelin | Is there anything I can do now? | |
Q1 | Guillaume Rocquelin | Sebastian Vettel | Negative. Bring the car back please. | |
Q1 | 10:54 | Guillaume Rocquelin | Sebastian Vettel | OK, watch out for Daniel. There’s a decent gap behind Daniel. We need to reset the car basically, Sebastian. So back in the garage, please. We’ll reset the car. Are the tyres still holding up? Can I keep them? Or do you want new tyres? |
Q1 | Sebastian Vettel | Guillaume Rocquelin | Keep the tyres. Tyres are OK. | |
Q1 | Guillaume Rocquelin | Sebastian Vettel | All right. | |
Q1 | 10:24 | Tony Ross | Nico Rosberg | Brake temperatures are coming up now. Tyre temperatures are… nine all round. Good. |
Q1 | 10:02 | Ayao Komatsu | Romain Grosjean | OK, rain is getting heavier. Rain is getting heavier. |
Q1 | 9:38 | Guillaume Rocquelin | Sebastian Vettel | OK Sebastian, we’ve got an issue with the energy store. We think a reset might fix it. We’re working on it. Do you want to change the front wing, possibly? |
Q1 | 8:44 | Daniel Ricciardo | Simon Rennie | Is this still a cool down lap? I feel like the fronts are getting a little bit hurt. |
Q1 | Simon Rennie | Daniel Ricciardo | Torque five. Torque five. Charge 14. Charge one-four. You’ve got 15 seconds behind to Raikkonen. We expect the weather to stay the same Daniel. We expect the weather to stay the same until the end of the session. | |
Q1 | 8:08 | Guillaume Rocquelin | Sebastian Vettel | OK Sebastian, the pace is currently low 59s. The track is improving. |
Q1 | 3:11 | Daniel Ricciardo | Simon Rennie | Yeah, second sector’s raining quite a bit more. |
Q1 | Simon Rennie | Daniel Ricciardo | OK Daniel, box this lap please. Box this lap. | |
Q1 | 2:23 | Box, box, Sebastian. We’re safe. | ||
Q1 | 0:35 | Marco Matassa | Daniil Kvyat | Ericsson has crashed, prompting the session to be red flagged and, ultimately, ended OK for the next session, Daniil. |
Q1 | Daniil Kvyat | Marco Matassa | OK, the balance was very poor. I don’t know how much we’re missing but the rear is all over the place. | |
Q1 | Marco Matassa | Daniil Kvyat | OK, understood. | |
Q1 | 0:35 | Mark Temple | Kevin Magnussen | OK Kevin, remember – between the bollards at pit entry. Pit entry will be slippery, so be careful. |
Q2 | 15:00 | Marco Matassa | Daniil Kvyat | OK Daniil, we are fitting new Inters on the car. So give me one second and we’ll come back to you. So, regarding standing water – some comment, please. |
Q2 | 15:00 | Marco Matassa | Daniil Kvyat | OK, we reckon that this level of rain will stay for a while. |
Q2 | 15:00 | Xevi Pujolar | Jean-Eric Vergne | Jev – when you came in, do you still think it was Inter conditions? |
Q2 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Xevi Pujolar | Yes I think so. Yes. | |
Q2 | Xevi Pujolar | Jean-Eric Vergne | OK, copy that. Set two-three. Set two-three, to the car. | |
Q2 | 15:00 | Tony Ross | Nico Rosberg | Just checking there’s nothing major I’m doing wrong with low revs out on track? |
Q2 | 13:55 | Mark Temple | Kevin Magnussen | Magnussen again begins the session on full wet tyres Ferrari in front [Raikkonen] is on Inter. We think that is the wrong tyre for these conditions. So try and get in front of him if you can. |
Q2 | 13:11 | Kimi Raikkonen | Antonio Spagnolo | I’m aquaplaning when there’s even a little bit of water, so box to change to the other tyres. |
Q2 | Antonio Spagnolo | Kimi Raikkonen | Session has been red flagged following Kvyat and Alonso’s collision OK, OK. Box, box. | |
Q2 | 12:46 | Daniil Kvyat | Marco Matassa | I touched with Alonso. Err… check my rear wing – my front wing. |
Q2 | Marco Matassa | Daniil Kvyat | OK. | |
Q2 | Daniil Kvyat | Marco Matassa | I feel like I can carry on. | |
Q2 | Marco Matassa | Daniil Kvyat | OK, carry on. | |
Q2 | Daniil Kvyat | Marco Matassa | …no. Need a new wing. Need a new wing. | |
Q2 | Marco Matassa | Daniil Kvyat | OK, copy. | |
Q2 | Daniil Kvyat | Marco Matassa | Or maybe I could try one lap? I think should be fine… Red flag, red flag, red flag! | |
Q2 | Marco Matassa | Daniil Kvyat | Red flag? OK, Daniil. Box, box, box – box, box. | |
Q2 | Daniil Kvyat | Marco Matassa | OK, check front wing. Suspension… suspension is OK. Just the front wing. I saw one piece flying away. | |
Q2 | Marco Matassa | Daniil Kvyat | OK, no problem. We check everything. We are looking into the data, no worries mate. No worries. | |
Q2 | 12:46 | Andrea Stella | Fernando Alonso | OK, you’ve confirmed the suspension is broken? Try to come in, try to come in, red flag, try to come in. No overtaking. Yeah, we saw the images. We saw somebody just entering… ignorance… inside. |
Q2 | Fernando Alonso | Andrea Stella | Yeah, it’s unbelievable. I mean, how long with these conditions? It’s unbelievable. | |
Q2 | Andrea Stella | Fernando Alonso | OK, try to make it. Try to make it. It’s red flag. | |
Q2 | Fernando Alonso | Andrea Stella | I’m in the pitlane, so. | |
Q2 | 12:20 | Tony Ross | Nico Rosberg | Session has resumed So, straight away, just warming the brakes up again. |
Q2 | 11:07 | Ayao Komatsu | Romain Grosjean | OK, good job on the brake temperatures. It’s coming up. All switches are OK for timed lap. |
Q2 | 10:37 | Tony Ross | Nico Rosberg | So Nico, expecting six timed. Lewis will back off from Gutierrez, so just be aware of that. |
Q2 | 10:07 | Andrew Murdoch | Felipe Massa | OK, go engine mode position one. Engine mode position one. And we need to “dog” learn eighth gear. “Dog” learn eighth gear. |
Q2 | 9:40 | Simon Rennie | Daniel Ricciardo | OK, fail 21, fail. Fail 21, fail. Torque four and charge six. Torque four, charge six. |
Q2 | 8:58 | Simon Rennie | Daniel Ricciardo | Remember, downshift early and quick. Downshift early and quick. |
Q2 | 8:44 | Tony Ross | Nico Rosberg | Use overtake out of 14 now, and out of 15. |
Q2 | 8:30 | Ayao Komatsu | Romain Grosjean | OK Romain, boost-two. Boost-two. |
Q2 | 8:15 | Xevi Pujolar | Jean-Eric Vergne | Open the gap, open the gap. Get space. Daniil will stay behind. |
Q2 | 7:54 | Marco Matassa | Daniil Kvyat | Do not overtake Jev, Daniil. Do not overtake Jev. |
Q2 | 7:42 | Daniil Kvyat | Marco Matassa | You’re completely confusing me! I was on my fast lap! |
Q2 | 7:00 | Peter Bonnington | Lewis Hamilton | OK Lewis. We can back off and control the pace for one lap. Let’s cool it down a bit. |
Q2 | 6:03 | Esteban Gutierrez | Craig Gardiner | We box for Inter. |
Q2 | Craig Gardiner | Esteban Gutierrez | Copy. We’ll do one timed. | |
Q2 | Esteban Gutierrez | Craig Gardiner | And two front wing. | |
Q2 | 4:59 | Valtteri Bottas | Jonathan Eddollls | How are we looking? |
Q2 | Jonathan Eddollls | Valtteri Bottas | Slow at the moment, Valtteri. We are slow. Massa has pitted for Inters. Rain is expected to stay until the end of the session. | |
Q2 | Valtteri Bottas | Jonathan Eddollls | Can we still lap with the wets? | |
Q2 | Jonathan Eddollls | Valtteri Bottas | If we pit in this lap, we’ll have one timed lap available to us. | |
Q2 | Let’s try that while I’m with the wet. | |||
Q2 | 4:02 | Dave Robson | Jenson Button | OK Jenson, we’ve got three more timed laps. Three more laps. |
Q2 | 3:35 | Kevin Magnussen | Mark Temple | Magnussen runs onto the gravel at the final corner I’ve come off. |
Q2 | Mark Temple | Kevin Magnussen | OK Kevin, we’ll stop you for a tyre change in the pit lane… and switch the engine off. Switch the engine off. | |
Q2 | 0:28 | Daniel Ricciardo | Simon Rennie | Censored by FOM Get this ******* Williams out of my way! |
Q2 | Simon Rennie | Daniel Ricciardo | OK mate understood keep up the pace we’re going to get one more timed lap | |
Q3 | 11:37 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Xevi Pujolar | Due to audio quality problems some messages from the end of Q2 were omitted. The messages included Grosjean complaining that Rosberg held him up. Try and get me out in space, I don’t want anyone in front of me. Now it’s Q3, it should be possible. |
Q3 | 10:13 | Mark Temple | Kevin Magnussen | The two McLarens have begun Q3 on Intermediate tyres OK Kevin. Other cars are on wet tyres. What are the track conditions like? |
Q3 | Kevin Magnussen | Mark Temple | It’s too wet. It’s too wet. | |
Q3 | Mark Temple | Kevin Magnussen | OK Kevin, it’s still too wet for Inters? | |
Q3 | Kevin Magnussen | Mark Temple | Yes, it’s too wet. | |
Q3 | Mark Temple | Kevin Magnussen | Understood. Box this lap for wet tyres. | |
Q3 | Kevin Magnussen | Mark Temple | Understood. | |
Q3 | 9:20 | Jenson Button | Dave Robson | [Distorted] |
Q3 | Dave Robson | Jenson Button | OK, another new Inter. Another new Inter? | |
Q3 | Jenson Button | Dave Robson | Yeah, Inter. | |
Q3 | 6:40 | Dave Robson | Jenson Button | OK Jenson, you can keep warming the brakes. Keep the temperature in these tyres and we’ll be in good shape at the end of the session. Let’s make this one count. |
Q3 | 6:24 | Peter Bonnington | Lewis Hamilton | And strat mode four. Strat mode four. Keep pushing. Keep pushing, and use overtake. |
Q3 | 5:45 | Fernando Alonso | Andrea Stella | It seems much better that we stay out and see what others are doing. |
Q3 | Andrea Stella | Fernando Alonso | Italian? OK, OK, we are [?] | |
Q3 | 4:38 | Kimi Raikkonen | Antonio Spagnolo | The traction is so bad, it’s unbelieveable! So how many laps we have left? |
Q3 | Antonio Spagnolo | Kimi Raikkonen | Four left. Four left, but keep pushing, keep pushing. | |
Q3 | Kimi Raikkonen | Antonio Spagnolo | Yeah, but we have to change tyres. These tyres are gone from the rear. I have no traction anymore. | |
Q3 | Antonio Spagnolo | Kimi Raikkonen | OK, OK, understood. I come back to you in one second. | |
Q3 | 4:00 | Simon Rennie | Daniel Ricciardo | OK Daniel, your pace was good until you got traffic. |
Q3 | 3:28 | Peter Bonnington | Lewis Hamilton | So, Nico thinking Inter tyre. Nico is thinking Inter tyre. What do you think? |
Q3 | Lewis Hamilton | Peter Bonnington | From what I can see, it looks like it’s raining more. That’s what I can see. | |
Q3 | Peter Bonnington | Lewis Hamilton | We agree, Lewis. We agree. | |
Q3 | 2:28 | Peter Bonnington | Lewis Hamilton | So Lewis, we’re going to go to the extreme wet tyre. Do you agree? |
Q3 | Lewis Hamilton | Peter Bonnington | From what I can see, yes. It looks like it should be ex-wets. | |
Q3 | Peter Bonnington | Lewis Hamilton | We agree, Lewis. It’ll be the ex-wet we’ll be fitting. | |
Q3 | Peter Bonnington | Lewis Hamilton | Hamilton has pitted So we’re going to hold. We will hold, and it’ll be a normal pull away. We will hold… go, go, go. | |
Q3 | 0:57 | Daniel Ricciardo | Simon Rennie | Will I get another lap? Got traffic. |
Q3 | Simon Rennie | Daniel Ricciardo | Yeah, we’ll get another lap. We’ve got a ten second margin to get one more lap. So you need to keep up the pace, you will get one more timed lap. | |
Q3 | 0:13 | Lewis Hamilton | Peter Bonnington | I can’t see anything out of my mirrors. I can’t see where anyone is. |
Q3 | 0:00 | Lewis Hamilton | Peter Bonnington | Guys, you’ve got to give me a gap. I can’t see anything. |
Q3 | 0:00 | Guillaume Rocquelin | Sebastian Vettel | Vettel has crossed the line after the chequered flag is shown OK Sebastian, you’re currently P2. Some people are recording green sectors. I don’t know which way the track is going. |
Q3 | 0:00 | Peter Bonnington | Lewis Hamilton | All cars have finished their final timed laps OK Lewis, so box in the end of this lap. Box in the end of this lap. |
Phase/time: Refers to point at which message was broadcast. There may be a delay between messages being said and being broadcast. PQ = pre-qualifying.
Message: Repetitive or irrelevant messages omitted. Notes in italics. Highlights in bold.
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Image © Lotus/LAT
pSynrg (@psynrg)
29th March 2014, 21:55
Love this insight. Cheers Will.
Diego (@ironcito)
29th March 2014, 22:07
I like how that has the correct number of * :)
johnny stick
29th March 2014, 22:12
great fun. thank you Will, and thank you Keith for a great website. FIA should pay you for keeping F1 interesting. You’re doing a better job then Bernie:-)
Palle (@palle)
29th March 2014, 23:01
+1;-)
n
29th March 2014, 22:13
Riccardos developing ‘Vettel syndrome’ where he think hes can swear at the engineers to move other cars out of their way ;]
kenneth chapman
29th March 2014, 22:38
i don’t think so. vettel is vettel and ricciardo is his own man. if you look at the revised grid you will see just what daniel was referring to. bottas ruined ricciardo’s lap!
iAltair (@)
30th March 2014, 6:22
Stop making Vettel look bad.
No driver on the track when faced with such situation will look like an angel. This goes for all 22 drivers on track and not only Vettel.
LexBlair (@lexblair)
29th March 2014, 23:01
McLaren initially send both their cars out on full wet tyres
Q1 Dave Robson -> Jenson Button
OK Jenson, these are good conditions for this tyre. Let’s set a time on this tyre and then get ready for Intermediates. So just keep warming the brakes, and it’s Yellow G3. Yellow G3.
Q1 Mark Temple -> Kevin Magnussen
OK Kevin, we think Inters are the right tyre. So box this lap. Box this lap, confirm.
…..
Aditya (@adityafakhri)
30th March 2014, 5:07
it seems like:
– Matassa and Kvyat, Spagnolo and Raikkonen were not blend together yet
– McLaren is rather inexperienced with inters/wet condition
– worries still on Vettel, he and Rocquelin a bit panicking especially in Q1
Shreyas Mohanty
30th March 2014, 5:51
Are you being serious? McLaren do not have ENOUGH wet experience? They have been racing since ’66, that is 48 years – almost half a century!
juan fanger (@juan-fanger)
30th March 2014, 5:12
Have you tried turning it off and on again?
I don’t think cars should run Microsoft Windows.
Mr_Peabody
30th March 2014, 6:12
Ditto. Great insight. Thank you for posting.
Slackbladder
30th March 2014, 8:25
For the first time Ever I am not watching a race in protest of the absurd rule changes this year!
Sorry Advertisers I missed All your Ads, not going to buy one thing you make, produce, hawk or represent!
Until Formula One repeals the silly rules in place this season I won’t be watching or supporting the advertisers.
and this one post is worth 1,000 other’s who feel the same but won’t post!