2016 Bahrain Grand Prix team radio transcript

2016 Bahrain Grand Prix

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It was another quiet race on the team radios in Bahrain which again suggested the restrictions on what information teams can pass onto their drivers is having a significant effect.

That was certainly a concern for Marcus Ericsson, who wasn’t sure whether his team could tell him if the information he was getting from his dash display was correct.

During the race there were occasional bursts of activity on the radios followed by long silences. A spate of messages around laps ten and eleven were followed by fourteen consecutive laps of silence.

It’s doubtful nothing was broadcast during this time – one message from Rosberg during the race indicated he was receiving updates most laps. Formula One Management may simply have chosen not to broadcast any or could have been experiencing technical problems. Certainly many of the messages broadcast during last year’s race would remain legal under the new rules.

A lot of the team’s post-race discussions were broadcast, included a revealing message from Romain Grosjean after his combative drive to fifth place. Complimented on the quality of his overtaking moves during the race the ex-Lotus racer replied “well I’ve got brakes this year, that helps!”

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2016 Bahrain Grand Prix team radio transcript

Lap*DriverMessage
PRFrom Sebastian VettelOkay I’m not sure, I think I might have an engine failure. Yeah I’m losing power.
PRTo Sebastian Vettel

Yeah we do see it.
PRFrom Sebastian VettelYeah i think that’s it, do you want me to stop the car?.
PRTo Sebastian Vettel

Yeah stop the car, stop the car, big smoke.
1From Lewis HamiltonSomething feels wrong with my rear.
1To Valtteri Bottas

Critical message: We saw an accident, how is the car from your side?
1From Valtteri BottasEverything feels okay from my side, have a look at the front wing from TV or something, but so far all ok.
1To Valtteri Bottas

Copy that.
1From Carlos Sainz JnrPuncture puncture.
7From Jenson ButtonI think we’ve lost ERS.Or something, I think we’ve lost ERS.
7To Jenson Button

Jensen there’s nothing we can do.
7From Jenson Button[Censored by FOM]. Agh!
9From Carlos Sainz JnrI feel a very strange thing in the rear. Yeah I cannot turn right, the car over-rotates when I turn right.
10From Carlos Sainz JnrThere is something, for sure.
10To Esteban Gutierrez

Nobody behind, box Esteban box. Nobody behind.
10To Esteban Gutierrez

Okay sorry Esteban, we need to retire the car, very good job so far.
10From Max VerstappenYes.
10To Daniil Kvyat

Okay Verstappen ahead last lap a…
11To Lewis Hamilton

Raikkonen third.
11To Kimi Raikkonen

Hamilton lap time 39.1
25From Kevin MagnussenThere’s no way I’m going to get past him, He’s like a rocket on the straights.
25To Kevin Magnussen

Okay understood, the Manor is like a rocket on the straights, understood.
25To Daniel Ricciardo

Okay mate, it’s time to push now.
32From Felipe NasrYeah the car is terrible to drive, very difficult.
41To Kimi Raikkonen

Rosberg is also on option tyres, it’s not all over yet Kimi.
41To Nico Rosberg

So Nico, 15 laps to go, you’re going to the end on this set, gap to Raikkonen is…
41From Nico RosbergDon’t tell me every lap, just tell me every four laps or something.
46From Marcus EricssonYou must be able to tell me if there’s a failure on my dash or not.
46To Marcus Ericsson

There is no failure, there is no failure, your dash is correct.
47To Romain Grosjean

Awesome, absolutely awesome
48To Kimi Raikkonen

OK Kimi just keep pushing, keep pushing. Gap to Rosberg is coming down slightly. It’s not over, remember last year.
57From Nico RosbergYeah! Awesome, guys! Yeah!
57To Nico Rosberg

Great job, Nico, great job.
VLTo Kimi Raikkonen

Okay great job Kimi, great job, good recovery from a difficult first lap. Good job.
VLTo Kimi Raikkonen

Well done Kimi, great great job, well done.
VLFrom Kimi RaikkonenYea thanks, I got a pretty poor start, I think my finger slipped a little bit. It was really odd what happened. But good race and good tyre choices so thanks.
VLTo Kimi Raikkonen

Copy Kimi, great job.
VLTo Lewis Hamilton

Great effort Lewis, great effort. Awesome recovery considering the amount of damage you had, mate.
VLTo Daniel Ricciardo

Okay mate that’s it, nice job, good effort.
VLFrom Daniel RicciardoOkay understood, cheers guys.
VLTo Max Verstappen

Okay Max, good job, solid drive.
VLFrom Max VerstappenYeah thank you guys. This was a good race I think. Also I think with the strategy this was the best we could do so yeah, good job. Think it was a really good result.
VLTo Daniil Kvyat

Well done Dani, good effort mate. P7, that was a nice fight, mate.
VLFrom Daniil KvyatThat was a good fun, cheers guys.
VLTo Daniil Kvyat

Great recovery Dani, good deg, great race, good moves. A few points out of that, well done.
VLFrom Daniil KvyatThanks Christian, thanks very much.
VLFrom Felipe MassaYeah okay so, very disappointing race to be honest. The balance was really, really bad on this tyre so couldn’t get a grip on anything, so very disappointing.
VLTo Valtteri Bottas

Okay Valtterri, P9. That was a great recovery drive there. Really good effort.
VLFrom Valtteri BottasCopy that, very disappointing day but let’s try again in two weeks.
VLTo Valtteri Bottas

Copy, but you really did make the most of it, got those valuable points. Think there’s a lot of positives as well.
VLTo Stoffel Vandoorne

Well done, P10, great job today and yesterday. It’s been a steep learning curve and you’ve done really well.
VLFrom Stoffel VandoorneYeah, good job. Been a good weekend from the beginning. I think we more or less made the most of it. Thanks.
VLTo Kevin Magnussen

Okay Kev, P11. Box this lap, that’s P11.
VLFrom Kevin MagnussenOkay good job guys, That was a good strategy and good car all weekend. Sorry about the penalty, this cost us points I think.
VLTo Romain Grosjean

P5 Romain, P5. Amazing job!
VLFrom Romain GrosjeanUnbelieavable guys! This is the American dream. This is unbelievable. What a great job from all of you. Some places we can improve but what a job guys! I love you. Beautiful.
VLTo Romain Grosjean

Amazing drive, Romain, amazing. American dream, you said it. Think you got enough passes in there. Brilliant job all race, amazing.
VLFrom Romain GrosjeanYeah I love that car, I love that car.
VLTo Romain Grosjean

Romain, your overtaking was fantastic, thank you very much, we enjoyed that.
VLFrom Romain GrosjeanYeah well I’ve got brakes this year , that helps!
VLTo Romain Grosjean

Nice one.

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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Bahrain 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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    18 comments on “2016 Bahrain Grand Prix team radio transcript”

    1. 10 From Max Verstappen Yes.

      Some context would be nice.

      1. The opposite of last years “No!”

    2. I missed the radio. It made the race less interesting for me, with less insight into what was going on. Maybe the drivers were doing more for themselves, but we didn’t know about it so the ban didn’t add anything to the spectacle.

      I was quite happy hearing the engineers competing alongside their drivers, it brought out the team side of the sport.

      1. Know what you mean, I’d no problem with factual messages, but it had got ridiculous when the engineer was telling the driver how to drive. You know what I mean “you’re losing 2 tenths in corner 2” “lift and coast at corner 6”, “Joe Bloggs has a wider line in corner 12” etc.

        1. Yeah @tvr350 but what that radio did do was tell us that the other driver was making time in Corner 2, saving fuel in Corner 6 and using a wider line in 12. We don’t know about that now.

          And after all the drivers still use each other’s telemetry in the garage, with their engineers. It’s true it was absurd sometimes, like back when Smedders was telling Felipe to basically stop doing fast in/slow out, but absurd was interesting, not ‘wrong’ and to be outlawed.

          And now if someone analysed the differences between teammates’ laptimes would they actually be bigger? I doubt it.

        2. Those stuff have been banned since Singapore 2014. The real problem is the new ban, or simply FOM is stupid and decides not to broadcast team radio.

    3. They were having a discussion about this during practice on Sky & I have to say that I agree with David Croft in that I really, Really miss hearing the amount of team radio & some of the messages that we used to get.

      I always liked the extra bits of insight that it used to give us & used to like hearing them discuss things like handling & setup through practice/qualifying & likewise used to enjoy hearing all the good bits of detail we would hear during the race.

      I get why the restrictions were introduced but I think they have gone too far because were now hearing practically nothing & what we do hear doesn’t really add that much or give much of an added insight. Meanwhile in things like Indycar & Formula E which I also watched over the weekend we got to hear a lot of team radio which gave an added bit of detail & insight that is now missing from F1 sadly.

      I’m not necessarily against restricting or banning some elements of communication when it comes to telling the driver how to drive, But I really think they have got way too far with the restrictions that we now have.

    4. Isn’t this message suppose to be “illegal” now? Aren’t the drivers now no longer allowed to know what tyres other drivers are on?
      41 To Kimi Raikkonen Rosberg is also on option tyres, it’s not all over yet Kimi.

      1. Thanks for that reminder.

    5. Very disappointed about the amount of team radio!

    6. F1 continues to come up with a remarkably diverse number of ways to lessen the enjoyment of the fans!

    7. ILuvSoundtracks (@)
      6th April 2016, 15:33

      “[Censored by FOM]. Agh!”

      Not the first time Jenson Button swore. Previously, which I remember: https://www.racefans.net/2013/08/02/2013-hungarian-grand-prix-team-radio-transcript/#25

    8. I noticed a distinct lack of radio messages during the race but didn’t realise the list was quite this short!

      Half the interest in a race was listening to the strategy switches over the radio, and the occasional outburst from a disgruntled driver. Heck, even the now banned driving advice discussions were quite interesting and informative (though I do understand why they were banned).

      This race we got practically nothing, and what we did get didn’t really add to understanding how the race was unfolding.

      I’m just hoping that the FOM guy in charge of what radio messages are broadcast had the squits or something and had to keep leaving his post during the race, and that maybe next race he’ll be feeling better and we’ll get more messages.

    9. Teams could make coded messages to transmit valuable info using nothing but foul language so that all we and other teams will see is [Censored by FOM]

    10. @keithcollantine last year, instead of to/from a driver, we could actually see who the driver was talking to. Sure, in most cases it’s just his engineer, but this feature feels more complete that way.

    11. It would be nice if FOM didn’t censor the driver messages so we could get more of the real show.

    Comments are closed.