2017 Spanish Grand Prix team radio highlights: Practice

Gusts of wind caught several drivers out in second practice but Fernando Alonso had a more familiar problem in the first session.

First practice

Drivers didn’t stay on the hard tyres for long.

“Magnussen: “There’s absolutely no grip.”
“OK copy. We have another set for the next run.”

To Hamilton: “OK Lewis do a start in the pit lane, right hand side. Second gear this one.”
To Hamilton: “DRS pulsing exit nine. No [gearbox] sync first or eighth.”

Just two corners into his first lap Fernando Alonso’s McLaren speared sideways into a run-off area.

“Stop the car.”
Alonso: “Engine problem.”
“Understood, can you switch the car off completely please. Right-hand side then left-hand side.”

“VSC. We’ll come through the pits so you can push entry and exit.”
Stroll: “I’m really having trouble keeping temps in the tyres.”

Sebastian Vettel had problems too, but they were less severe than Alonso’s.

“Vettel: “There’s an issue with the gearbox. There’s something broken. I parked the car at the pit exit.”

Grosjean: “Yeah I got blocked by the Force India.”

To Ricciardo: “Stop in the box for a nose change. It’ll then be a slow pull-away.”

“Sirotkin: “Can I go backward through the brake map? A lot of locking in the end of the braking, inside-front.”
“Just 1% rearwards.”

To Magnussen: “We need to improve the section one to three.”
“Box this lap.”

For the second time in as many practice sessions, Sergey Sirotkin also came to an early stop in his Renault.

Sirotkin: “Coming. Do you want me to do the aero cruise?”
“Go slowly please, no aero cruise, we have an issue with the car.”

“For your info Sebastian’s first lap on mediums was a 22.6, Bottas 21.5.”
Verstappen: “Tyres are cold at the front and too hot at the rear.”

Wehrlein: “The rear is really bad. Don’t know what happened.”

To Raikkonen: “Maintain position with Seb, don’t overtake him.”

To Vandoorne: “OK Stoffel consider using the handbrake if you need, handbrake turn ten.”

Stroll: “These tyres are really not working.”

Second practice

Conditions became trickier in the second practice session as gusts of wind forced several drivers off-track.

Magnussen: “The rear suddenly lets go completely. Look at the last corner on the launch.”

Palmer: “A lot of understeer mid-corner. Huge.”
“Yeah, understood, we’ve seen that.”

Magnussen: “Honestly it feels so bad. It might just be the wind but it honestly feels like something broken on the car.”
“We are checking.”

It was the other Ferrari’s turn to exhibit problems in the second session.

Raikkonen: “I have a hot water warning.”
“OK we need to cool the engine then Kimi. You have a big gap behind to Sebastian.”

Hamilton: “Very gusty.”

Verstappen: “Just suddenly lost it mid-corner.”
“That was a wind gust, Max.”

“Do you think about the car if you need another understanding of the car?”
Magnussen: “The car is back to how it felt in P1.”

Stroll: “Ah, I made a mistake.”

Kvyat: “Balance feels a bit more in the ballpark.”

Raikkonen: “Do we have something on the rear?”
“We have an engine problem I believe, I’ll let you know.”

Raikkonen: “There’s some debris almost on the driving line in the exit of turn nine.”
“Understood Kimi we’ll feed back.”

Raikkonen: “Am I allowed to push?”
“Stay as you are for now, I’ll get back to you. Stay out but easy on full throttle.”

Alonso: “The engine was going much slower than before. Amazing.”

Raikkonen: “That Force India squeezed me off the circuit.”

Magnussen: “Unbelievable traffic now.”

Perez: “It’s just quite weak all around. Basically lacking grip. The front is not working, traction is very bad.”

To Vandoorne: “Launch map on. Apply the brakes during the stop. The new wheel’s ready to go. Don’t wait for the dash to boot.”

Raikkonen: “Is the lap time very bad?”
“It’s quite comparable to the others, Kimi, we’ve seen quite a big drop.”

Valtteri Bottas and Vettel went off late in the session.

Bottas: “Have a look at the rear, stability feels a bit weird.”
“Copy.”

Vettel: “I must have had a massive gust going into turn four. I am into the gravel.”

2017 Spanish Grand Prix

• Second Driver of the Weekend win for Wehrlein
• Tense Spanish Grand Prix gets solid rating
• 2017 Spanish GP team radio transcript
• 2017 Spanish Grand Prix Predictions Championship results
• 2017 Spanish Grand Prix team radio highlights: Race