2017 Singapore Grand Prix team radio transcript

2017 Singapore Grand Prix

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The slowly drying Singapore track demanded utmost concentration from the drivers, several of which were not happy at the distractions coming at them over the radio from their engineers.

Carlos Sainz Jnr told race engineer Marco Matassa more than once to keep quiet but the pair were ecstatic when he delivered a career-best fourth place at the chequered flag. This came on the same weekend Renault had confirmed Sainz would leave Toro Rosso to join them in 2018.

Singapore Grand Prix in pictures
Sainz’s team mate Daniil Kvyat also hushed up his engineer at one point. Mere moments later his STR12 was in the wall.

However the driver-to-team conversations took on pivotal importance in the middle of the race as drivers began to ditch the intermediate tyres for slicks. Red Bull were eager to switch Daniel Ricciardo in the hope of closing the gap to race leader Lewis Hamilton but were concerned about dropping him back into traffic.

Hamilton could afford to let others take the risk before committing to a tyre change himself. He was more concerned early in the race when Ricciardo took the opportunity to pit during a Safety Car period, though his team reassured him they had done the right thing by staying out.

The defining moment of the race was of course the first-lap collision. Out of the four drivers involved the only one who was heard apologising to his team was Sebastian Vettel, an indication he realised his tactics at the start had been too risky given how much was at stake in the championship.

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2017 Singapore Grand Prix team radio transcript

Lap*DriverMessage
PRTo Daniil Kvyat

See you on the grid, Danny, please confirm.
PRFrom Daniil Kvyat

Yeah confirm.
PRTo Daniil Kvyat

Copy that. Cool the car and see you on the grid.
PRTo Kevin Magnussen

We need to reduce as much as possible pulling forward with the clutch.
PRTo Lewis Hamilton

Cool the car. Go to the back of the grid.
PRFrom Kimi Raikkonen

I think it’s raining already now.
PRTo Kimi Raikkonen

Understood Kimi. We saw the wet track coming at eight and nine. Maybe also 15, 16, 17 Kimi.
PRTo Lance Stroll

OK looks like the exit kerb at turn 14 is wet, just be careful going through there.
PRTo Kevin Magnussen

We have also a report in corner 14 that you are approaching now. And then…
PRFrom Kevin Magnussen

From the drivers or from the stewards?
PRTo Kevin Magnussen

Again from the stewards until the exit of…
PRFrom Kevin Magnussen

Can we say from the stewards?
PRTo Kevin Magnussen

OK absolutely I will do it.
PRFrom Max Verstappen

Yeah it’s raining a bit down here in the last corner.
PRTo Max Verstappen

OK.
PRTo Marcus Ericsson

The rain we see now will last for the next half an hour or longer.
PRTo Marcus Ericsson

This message came several minutes later.
Less than ten minutes. Safety Car lights are not on so we expect a conventional start for now.
PRTo Marcus Ericsson

This message came several minutes later and involved two different members of Ericsson’s crew.
Can you confirm that the track condition is everywhere on the grid, the rain?
PRTo Marcus Ericsson

Yes, and it’s getting stronger the next couple of minutes.
PRTo Kimi Raikkonen

Kimi we’re going to go for inters. If they cancel the start to go behind the Safety Car it’ll be [full wets] but for now I think if we just get a normal start we have to do inters.
PRFrom Kimi Raikkonen

Do we expect that it’s going to rain like this? Cause it’s not going to take long before it’s full wets.
PRTo Kimi Raikkonen

It’s not going to rain like this for very long.
PRTo Lewis Hamilton

All cars ahead on the inter.
PRFrom Kimi Raikkonen

Do we think it’s definitely inters? Here’s is always going to be more drier-looking because it’s very rough but around some places the water stays on top of the asphalt. We’ll be careful it could go either way.
FLFrom Kimi Raikkonen

A lot of spray, very difficult to see, even at this speed.
FLFrom Romain Grosjean

Mate the visibility is terrible back there.
FLTo Romain Grosjean

OK understood we will report it.
1To Stoffel Vandoorne

Safety Car Stoffel you can take the launch map off, yellow G10. Stoffel did you hit any debris? Any debris or damage?
1From Stoffel Vandoorne

I think I ran over some debris in turn one but I think everything is OK. No major concern for me. But it’s worth checking, I’ll try to go close to the pit wall.
1To Stoffel Vandoorne

Copy.
1From Max Verstappen

I got damage, got damage, argh. I’m out, I’m out.
1From Kimi Raikkonen

The [censored by FOM] did they do?
1To Kimi Raikkonen

No idea. You OK mate?
1From Kimi Raikkonen

Yeah I’m OK but it’s just ridiculous.
2From Fernando Alonso

I have been hit massively, I don’t know the car condition.
2To Fernando Alonso

Yeah OK we’ll try and get what info we can. What damage can you see?
2From Fernando Alonso

From here, not much from my position and the car feels OK but it was a huge hit. What a start, why they start like this, so crazy.
2From Sebastian Vettel

I spun, lost the car, I think I have damage on the front left.
2To Sebastian Vettel

Yeah big damage on the sidepods. Stop the car.
2From Sebastian Vettel

You sure?
2To Sebastian Vettel

Yes. We know, we are looking at water pressure.
2From Sebastian Vettel

OK confirm I stop the car, correct?
2To Sebastian Vettel

Yes, stop the car now.
2From Sebastian Vettel

OK Sorry guys. P0. Sorry. I’m really sorry.
2To Sebastian Vettel

Understood.
3From Fernando Alonso

Two cars in front of us is a Haas and they don’t have the rear light flashing. It’s a little bit dangerous with the visibility.
3To Fernando Alonso

OK understood we’ll pass that on.
3From Daniel Ricciardo

Is the rain still falling? Can’t see.
3To Daniel Ricciardo

Yes, but it’s reducing in intensity. So still falling but it is raining less.
4To Lewis Hamilton

So Lewis just remember this race is all going to be about getting the car home in one piece.
4From Lewis Hamilton

I realise that, Bono. I realise that. I’m doing my best.
4To Sergio Perez

Checo try and use the brakes more from high speed to bring up tyres temperatures and brake temperatures. We do need more.
4To Daniil Kvyat

You’re doing a good job on the front tyre Danny, very good job, keep going.
4From Fernando Alonso

We’ll see. What a shame. I don’t know what is the car damage. Sometimes high speed I feel a little bit strange, maybe.
4To Fernando Alonso

There is damage to the left-hand side of the rear. But everything else looks OK to us. It’s going to be a fight so we’ll just do the best we can. Safety Car is in this lap.
5To Felipe Massa

Use overtake start of the straight, use overtake.
5To Sergio Perez

Palmer on full wet behind has passed Bottas on inters. Hulkenberg ahead wet, two leaders inters.
5To Daniel Ricciardo

Rain has now stopped in the pit lane.
6To Daniil Kvyat

Slippery track reported in turn five.
6To Romain Grosjean

Watch for debris out of five, possible debris out of five. You can go to spark three when you want.
6To Daniel Ricciardo

What do you think of the conditions, Daniel? I know it’s early, what do you think? Tyres are still improving.
6From Daniel Ricciardo

Yep, inters the right tyre.
6To Daniel Ricciardo

Hamilton could be getting issues on his front inters so watch your fronts.
8To Daniel Ricciardo

Fuel 14 when you can.
8From Lewis Hamilton

Pace still good?
8To Lewis Hamilton

Affirm Lewis pace still good. Gap to Ricciardo five seconds. Eight-tenths to Ricciardo last lap.
8From Lewis Hamilton

Already feeling the fronts starting to grain a little bit.
9From Fernando Alonso

Again I have no power. So there are some kind of issues that I think we have to stop unfortunately. The state of charge is crazy and other things. Even in G8 I ran out of battery.
9To Fernando Alonso

Yeah we see the problem, we’re looking at it and discussing now. OK Fernando we see too many problems. We need to retire the car, bring it back to the pits.
9From Fernando Alonso

OK mate.
10From Esteban Ocon

I’ve fighting quite a lot with traction.
10To Esteban Ocon

Copy that. Push the braking more. Turn seven and turn ten.
10From Esteban Ocon

The intermediate’s faster guys.
10To Esteban Ocon

Yeah copy that we just don’t want to afford the pit stop ’cause you’ll drop to the back f the pack.
11To Carlos Sainz Jnr

Well done Chilli, well done. Next target Vandoorne.
11From Carlos Sainz Jnr

Leave me alone, leave me alone. I need to focus guys. Don’t talk to me.
11To Daniil Kvyat

Consider coming back to diff mid four. Come on Danny, you can do it.
11From Daniil Kvyat

Please leave me alone.
11To

I’m driving to the grip of the tyres. Traction’s really weak. But front’s starting to drop a bit.
11From Daniel Ricciardo

OK understood. Think about the tools to help that out.
12From Daniil Kvyat

Kvyat crashed.
I’m sorry guys, I’m sorry.
12To Daniel Ricciardo

What do you think of track conditions?
12From Daniel Ricciardo

Not much has changed. Still inters.
12To Daniel Ricciardo

OK and now you can chill out. Maintain position to cars behind. Just Hulkenberg ahead on his [full wets].
12From Carlos Sainz Jnr

I cannot see the temperature of my tyres.
12To Carlos Sainz Jnr

GPS are gone.
12From Carlos Sainz Jnr

But I was overheating or not?
12To Carlos Sainz Jnr

Danny, er, Carlos, we don’t have data. Based on Danny’s data we think you were OK.
12From Carlos Sainz Jnr

Yep. So I have more grip than the extremes but in traction I don’t know why they have better traction than I have.
12To Carlos Sainz Jnr

Understood.
13To Felipe Massa

Massa stayed out on full wets.
OK Felipe so let’s just keep warming the brakes and keep the rear tyres cool. Any puddles there, use the puddles to keep the rear tyres cool.
13From Felipe Massa

I think I will be holding everybody no, don’t you think so.
13To Felipe Massa

That’s a gamble we need to take now. We’ve got track position. There are other cars have stayed out on full wets.
13From Lewis Hamilton

Has everyone pitted except me? Not sure that was a good idea. Is it? These guys have had a free stop, guys. Think that was a mistake.
13To Lewis Hamilton

Lewis they would have done the opposite to us so we’d be sat in P2.
14To Daniel Ricciardo

Mate so let’s keep getting these tyres ready. Think about your gear sync if you can. They’re still doing some barrier repairs. I don’t think it’s going to be this lap but just get ready anyway, I’ll keep you updated. Yeah it’s not going to be this lap mate they’re still repairing the barriers.
14From Daniel Ricciardo

OK.
14From Valtteri Bottas

There’s something broken with the drink system. It’s not working.
14To Valtteri Bottas

OK copy that. Possibly just give the left-hand a squeeze on the leg pad, see if that pushes it into life.
14To Lewis Hamilton

Safety Car in this lap.
14From Lewis Hamilton

On these new tyres he’s going to have a lot more pace than me now I imagine.
14To Sergio Perez

Checo work on tyre temperatures. Tyre temps are low and the inters will really need work at the restart. It will be race switch ‘race plus’. And you can attack and defend from Safety Car line one which is pit lane entry before turn 22.
14To Daniel Ricciardo

Safety Car now turn 21 and it’s in this lap, let’s go.
16To Kevin Magnussen

Go to mode push please and spark three.
16From Lewis Hamilton

Definitely harder to drop him since he’s on those new front tyres.
16To Lewis Hamilton

OK copy Lewis. Nine-tenths faster that lap, gap is now 2.1.
16To Nico Hulkenberg

Fail B zero one on, urgent.
17To Felipe Massa

OK Felipe how long before it’ll be ready for slicks?
17From Felipe Massa

I think quite a way.
17To Felipe Massa

OK.
17From Lewis Hamilton

This track is drying so slow.
17To Lewis Hamilton

OK copy Lewis. Go strat five that’ll give you a bit more electrical. DRS has been enabled. Ricciardo gap 2.2, you were four-tenths faster last lap.
17From Felipe Massa

Massa and Vandoorne made contact
He touched my car. On a straight.
18From Felipe Massa

Massa wanted to pit.
I think I have to stop guys. I have to stop.
18To Felipe Massa

OK Felipe. And there’s now way we can do the slick, no? Too wet?
18From Felipe Massa

No it’s too wet for the slicks.
19To Daniel Ricciardo

OK Dan what do you think of the conditions?
19From Daniel Ricciardo

Still inters. There’s some parts that are a bit dry but the wet parts are still too wet.
19To Valtteri Bottas

Sector one looking strong now. Sector two and particularly three we need to work on. Consider forward brake balance for there.
19To Lewis Hamilton

You were two-and-a-half tenths faster last lap.
19To Lance Stroll

OK Lance the rears are starting to get hot now so start looking for some damp patches just to cool the rears. Pace is still good.
20From Carlos Sainz Jnr

Yeah you can see the guys on new tyres a bit quicker.
20From Lewis Hamilton

Tyres are sill good. This track is drying very slow.
20To Daniel Ricciardo

So the group of cars behind Bottas, 17 seconds behind you to Sainz, Hulkenberg and Perez.
21From Felipe Massa

How is it compared to the others?
21To Felipe Massa

Closing on Wehrlein quickly. But the key to this is going to be getting onto slicks as quickly as we can so let us know.
21To Lewis Hamilton

Gap to Ricciardo at 4.1. You were five-and-a-half tenths faster last lap. Let us know when the track will be ready for dries.
21From Lewis Hamilton

My guess is probably ten laps.
21To Lewis Hamilton

Copy. How’s the balance?
21From Lewis Hamilton

A little bit understeery. The balance actually feels nice. Just right.
21To Lewis Hamilton

Copy.
22To Valtteri Bottas

And when you can just let us now how the tyres are.
22From Valtteri Bottas

Some drop-off. But we really need to keep this to a minimum otherwise I will go off.
22To Valtteri Bottas

Copy.
22To Kevin Magnussen

How much are you losing staying behind?
22From Kevin Magnussen

Half a second, three tenths.
22To Kevin Magnussen

OK get as close as possible please.
23To Stoffel Vandoorne

Good job Stoff. You’re still closing on the cars in front. No more rain expected.
23From Lewis Hamilton

How’s the gap now? Slowed down this lap.
23To Lewis Hamilton

Yeah copy. Gaps’ now closed to 4.3
23From Lewis Hamilton

Understood.
23To Lewis Hamilton

Seven-tenths in the middle sector. Ricciardo does have signs of deg.
23To Felipe Massa

OK Felipe this is good. Gaining on Perez, two seconds a lap quicker.
24To Carlos Sainz Jnr

Half a second faster than Bottas in front. Really good pace.
24To Stoffel Vandoorne

You took one second out of Palmer last lap. This is good Stoff, let’s go and get Palmer, let’s go and get him.
24To Nico Hulkenberg

OK Nico we think in the event of a Safety Car it would be dry tyres, please confirm.
24From Nico Hulkenberg

I’m sceptical about that. Especially behind the Safety Car, you lose all the temperature. Still a lot of damp patches. Not a good idea.
24To Nico Hulkenberg

Message understood, OK Nico.
25From Kevin Magnussen

Guys box now, box for dry tyres.
25To Kevin Magnussen

OK we are ready for you. SOC 1, give everything.
25To Daniel Ricciardo

OK Daniel what do you think about conditions now? How far away from dry tyres do you think?
25From Daniel Ricciardo

Still greasy, not ready yet.
25To Daniel Ricciardo

OK understood
25To Carlos Sainz Jnr

Track update now. Cars getting quicker. Beware behind us. Track update.
25From Carlos Sainz Jnr

Let me know about the splits. It’s very close.
26To Lance Stroll

OK Lance for information some cars pitting now for slicks.
26From Lance Stroll

OK keep me updated on how they’re doing, there seems to be a dry line.
26To Lance Stroll

OK.
27From Daniel Ricciardo

The last lap it did dry up quite a bit. I still think it’s not quite there, but getting closer.
27To Daniel Ricciardo

OK understood so at the moment we’ve got Magnussen, also Massa he’s just a few seconds ahead of you, on dry tyres. There’s two cars now on dry tyres. They’re both on ultra-[softs].
27To Felipe Massa

OK so let’s make the most of this now. So Ricciardo is the next car, he’s still eight seconds behind, so let’s make the most of this tyre now.
27To Felipe Massa

Is this the correct tyre? Is the track dry enough for this?
27From Felipe Massa

Yeah it’s OK now. Some of the corners a bit wet but it’s OK.
27To Stoffel Vandoorne

OK Stoff that’s a great lap. Magnussen’s looking close to crossover now.
28From Daniel Ricciardo

Think it’s getting very close just ’cause the inters’ plateau’d.
28To Daniel Ricciardo

Understand what you’re saying. We’re watching the gaps behind.
28From Lewis Hamilton

The track’s still very greasy. And these tyres are still doing good.
28From Daniel Ricciardo

These tyres are starting to go in the rear.
28To Daniel Ricciardo

Understood. We’re watching the gap behind. There’s a traffic of traffic there, I think it’ll be difficult to overtake on dries now, we’re just watching the gaps..
28From Daniel Ricciardo

OK copy.
28To Daniel Ricciardo

It is going to be close, though, it’s going to be getting close.
28To Lewis Hamilton

Let’s go strat five, we’ll just keep building that gap.
29To Daniel Ricciardo

Box, Daniel, box.
29To Sergio Perez

Traffic ahead, box, box.
29To Daniel Ricciardo

You’ll be close to Palmer at pit exit, Palmer still on his inters.
29To Lewis Hamilton

HPP four to position four.
29From Lewis Hamilton

How many laps?
29To Lewis Hamilton

33 laps remaining but this will be time-limited. And box, box.
29From Lewis Hamilton

Which tyre are you going for?
29To Lewis Hamilton

We’re going for the ultra, it’s the same as Ricciardo.
30To Daniel Ricciardo

OK Daniel so we expect Palmer to be in this lap.
30To Lance Stroll

That’s Magnussen behind he stopped two laps before. We are same pace. He is three seconds behind.
30To Daniel Ricciardo

OK so Hamilton pitted just now. I’ll give you the gaps when it all calms down but it’s still quite stable.
30To Stoffel Vandoorne

OK Stoff so Palmer’s just exited the pits he’s the car ahead. That was a slow stop but it hasn’t cost us track position, we’ve just dropped back a bit. You’re still P8.
30To Nico Hulkenberg

OK Nico strat mode eight for that extra deployment.
30To Lance Stroll

That’s Wehrlein ahead on an out-lap, he should get blue flags.
31To Daniel Ricciardo

Brake balance one click forwards. Gap to Hamilton 8.7 ahead.
31To Daniel Ricciardo

Looks like his warm-up wasn’t very good. You were one-and-a-half seconds faster than him in the last two sectors. Gap behind to Bottas 16 seconds.
31To Romain Grosjean

Romain started to pick up a bit of pace, he is one second quicker than you. SOC seven to recharge a bit the battery.
32To Lewis Hamilton

Same time as Ricciardo last lap. He was strong in sector one, half a second. You were two-tenths faster in sector two, three in sector three.
33To Stoffel Vandoorne

Keep the pressure on him, Stoffel.
34From Felipe Massa

What’s happened?
34To Felipe Massa

That’s Wehrlein ahead. We will be lapping him so he should get blues.
34From Felipe Massa

OK.
34From Nico Hulkenberg

How many laps or time in this race?
34To Nico Hulkenberg

Confirming race will be shortened by two laps, so 28 laps to go including this one.
34To Valtteri Bottas

We don’t think it’ll go full distance, we think it’ll go three laps short, so 26 laps to go. Expecting to stay on these tyres,.
34From Valtteri Bottas

Copy.
34To Kevin Magnussen

Press red button.
34From Kevin Magnussen

Come on, shut up.
35From Lewis Hamilton

Pedal getting a bit soft.
35To Lewis Hamilton

So brake temps are under control and brake wear is not a problem. We’re happy with the brakes, just looks like a little bit of knock-on.
35To Valtteri Bottas

So fastest lap of the race. Currently three-tenths of a second faster than Ricciardo in font.
35From Valtteri Bottas

How far away is he?
35To Valtteri Bottas

Currently 16 seconds.
36To Daniel Ricciardo

Suggest diff seven to help the balance and you need to shift on the reds gears two, three and four. That last lap was quickest lap so. Within three-tenths in sector two. Sectors one and three are good. Gap ahead 9.5 to Hamilton and 16 behind to Bottas.
36To Carlos Sainz Jnr

Carlos with this battery we are…
36From Carlos Sainz Jnr

Shut up please, please.
36To Daniel Ricciardo

OK mate so that lap you were half a second quicker than Hamilton, Gap now 8.9.
36To Lewis Hamilton

OK Lewis looks like the pace is picking up across the field. Ricciardo half a second faster last lap.
37To Jolyon Palmer

Very good lap, how was the balance?
37From Jolyon Palmer

Good. Say something, please.
37To Jolyon Palmer

0.5 quicker than Vandoorne behind you and 0.5 quicker than Perez ahead.
37To Lewis Hamilton

And we go HPP three to position five.
37From Jolyon Palmer

[Unclear]
37To Jolyon Palmer

Please repeat, radio is breaking up.
37From Jolyon Palmer

Gap to Perez?
37To Jolyon Palmer

Nine seconds.
38To Lewis Hamilton

And seven-tenths faster that lap. Gap is out at 9.7. Give us your TAG mode.
38From Lewis Hamilton

Give us your TAG mode.
38To Lewis Hamilton

Two.
38From Lewis Hamilton

OK we’re happy with that. We just want to keep pulling that Safety Car gap to Ricciardo.
38To Lewis Hamilton

Yellow, yellow. Ericsson has stopped.
38To Marcus Ericsson

All OK Marcus?
38From Marcus Ericsson

Ah I’m done.
38To Marcus Ericsson

Yeah we can see the rear, your rear-left. Switch off the car.
38From Marcus Ericsson

Yeah copy,
38To Marcus Ericsson

Remember the switch off procedure.
39From Lewis Hamilton

Why another Safety Car? Surely VSC would work.
39To Lewis Hamilton

OK copy Lewis. So just cancel the RS magic. Staying out.
39To Valtteri Bottas

So just talk to us about balance.
39From Valtteri Bottas

Yeah balance is OK, tyres OK.
39To Valtteri Bottas

Copy.
40From Lewis Hamilton

It seems that at this moment Hamilton saw Ericsson’s car and realised why a Safety Car was needed to recover it.
How many laps to go, guys? Can’t believe we had that gap and now it’s… OK, I thought he had turned around, already. Understood.
40To Lewis Hamilton

So Lewis pace was very good before this Safety Car. The tyres haven’t seen any temperature yet that would damage them in any way so I think we’re good to go.
40From Felipe Massa

How many laps to go?
40To Felipe Massa

OK so could become time limited. Around 20 laps to go.
40From Lewis Hamilton

Where is everyone?
40To Lewis Hamilton

It’s taking a while to close the pack. Stay within ten car lengths.
40From Lewis Hamilton

Bono the Safety Car’s going so slow I can’t keep temperature in.
40To Lewis Hamilton

OK, copy.
40To Esteban Ocon

So they’re going to bunch the pack so you don’t need to take too much out of the tyres. They will bunch the pack so that they can move the car. They won’t try to move the car that’s in the road until they’ve bunched the pack.
41From Lewis Hamilton

Let me know if this is working better temp-wise.
41To Lewis Hamilton

OK just be careful with calipers they’re under control at the moment. Just front calipers is our only concern.
41To Valtteri Bottas

Just come rearward on brake balance to cool the front calipers, please.
41To Daniel Ricciardo

So there is now a crane on the track on the bridge. I’ll keep you updated.
41To Daniel Ricciardo

OK so for info we are now on lap 41. There are only 28 minutes to go at the moment. I’ll keep you updated.
41To Lewis Hamilton

RS magic on. Remember brake balance for turn one. Safety Car currently turn 19. No stop-starting, weaving is OK.
42To Daniel Ricciardo

OK battery is full, use it if you need it.
42To Lewis Hamilton

How many laps to go.
42From Lewis Hamilton

So it’ll be time-limited. We estimate 14 laps to go.
43To Romain Grosjean

Mode push before the end of the lap.
43To Daniel Ricciardo

OK mate so your pressures and temperatures are coming up a little bit. It will get easier.
43To Stoffel Vandoorne

Tyre temperatures and pressures still coming up, they’re still cool.
43To Daniel Ricciardo

B-bal [brake balance] two.
44To Lewis Hamilton

We recommend tag mode one. We want to keep the field compressed. We don’t want to give anyone a free stop if there’s another Safety Car. You are putting purple sectors in.
44To Lewis Hamilton

Gap to Ricciardo at four seconds.
44From Lewis Hamilton

What do you want me to do? Make it less?
44To Lewis Hamilton

Hold that gap. Four seconds is just perfect for us.
44From Sergio Perez

Is Ricciardo struggling?
44To Sergio Perez

Green cal one. Ricciardo still on green sectors.
46From Lewis Hamilton

How far behind are they? Is he slowing up?
46To Lewis Hamilton

Ricciardo has plenty of cars behind him so all looks good at the moment.
46From Lewis Hamilton

I don’t get your tactic. It’s not comfortable to drive off-pace.
46To Lewis Hamilton

OK copy if you’re not comfortable you can dictate your pace.
46To Jolyon Palmer

Torque seven.
46From Jolyon Palmer

Copy.
47To Sergio Perez

Purple mode four.
47To Stoffel Vandoorne

Maximum focus now. Let others make mistake. Hand in the candle.
48To Valtteri Bottas

HPP four to two please.
48To Carlos Sainz Jnr

Fail Charlie 73 fail, when you can.
49From Lewis Hamilton

Something flapping on my left-front tyre.
49To Lewis Hamilton

OK Lewis we are looking. We don’t see anything on vibration metrics at the moment.
49From Lewis Hamilton

It’s red, red or orange.
50To Lewis Hamilton

OK Lewis we don’t see anything at the moment.
50From Lewis Hamilton

It’s clearing up.
50To Lewis Hamilton

And we think everything’s OK with the tyre.
50From Lewis Hamilton

Yeah it’s cleared up. Just watch the tyre pressure.
50To Lewis Hamilton

Copy Lewis, we’re all over it.
51To Kevin Magnussen

Slow down, slow down.
51From Kevin Magnussen

Why?
51To Kevin Magnussen

We have lost MGU-K.
51From Kevin Magnussen

Oh [censored by FOM] sake.
51To Daniel Ricciardo

Remember to breathe and drink.
52To Daniel Ricciardo

OK seven laps to go.
53To Lewis Hamilton

Ricciardo’s a 47.1 last lap.
54To Daniel Ricciardo

OK five laps to go.
54To Sergio Perez

Palmer behind is not under pressure from cars behind. Vandoorne is five seconds behind Palmer.
54From Sergio Perez

Yeah I don’t care about him. I want to put pressure on Sainz in the last lap.
54To Lewis Hamilton

Looks like Ricciardo’s sorted out whatever problem he had. Gap at 4.5.
55To Sergio Perez

Checo three laps to go. The race will end on time so it could be two laps but at the moment three expected.
56To Valtteri Bottas

Strat eight, please.
56From Valtteri Bottas

How many more laps?
56To Valtteri Bottas

We’re going to have roughly three more to go.
56From Valtteri Bottas

Need a drink.
56To Valtteri Bottas

Copy that.
56From Valtteri Bottas

Have you tried it again?
56To Valtteri Bottas

Yeah. Takes a lot of effort. I can only have a drop or two.
57To Lewis Hamilton

And we can go strat 11 to the end.
57To Daniel Ricciardo

Two more laps to go, two laps remaining now.
58To Daniel Ricciardo

OK so you’re starting the final lap. This is the last lap.
58To Sergio Perez

Green cal one. Palmer one second behind.
VLTo Lewis Hamilton

Get in there, Lewis. What an awesome drive, mate. What an awesome drive. Absolutely stellar result. Can’t wish for better than that.
VLFrom Lewis Hamilton

Guys, what can I say? What a turnaround today. Fantastic job with the strategy. Thank you so much for all the hard work and continuing to believe in me. What a great day.
VLTo Carlos Sainz Jnr

P4 Carlos! Boom Shack-A-Laka!
VLFrom Carlos Sainz Jnr

Vamos! Vamos vamos vamos vamos vamos! Vamos!
VLTo Sergio Perez

Great job Checo. Points again in Singapore and P5. Well done. Run switch ‘end’, take the pick-up.
VLFrom Sergio Perez

Well done guys, good race, well done guys. Good points out of a difficult weekend so not bad.
VLTo Lance Stroll

Yes, good job.
VLFrom Lance Stroll

Yes! Get in there.
VLTo Lance Stroll

Nice work, P8.
VLFrom Lance Stroll

Yeah baby, awesome.
VLTo Lance Stroll

Great job.
VLFrom Lance Stroll

Great opportunity, we took it, two times in a row.
VLFrom Felipe Massa

OK guys, strategy didn’t work for the tyres, I’m happy for the position for the team. Good for our championship. Not so bad compared to yesterday how we started.
VLTo Felipe Massa

Absolutely. Nice job.
VLTo Jolyon Palmer

Excellent job Jo, excellent job. P6. Well done.
VLFrom Jolyon Palmer

Yes, great race. So happy guys.
VLTo Jolyon Palmer

Nice work Jo, nice work.
VLFrom Jolyon Palmer

Thank you.

Note: Only includes messages which were broadcast in the race coverage.
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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Singapore Grand Prix data

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    Keith Collantine
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    22 comments on “2017 Singapore Grand Prix team radio transcript”

    1. Strange there doesn’t seem to be any mention of Ricciardo’s gearbox trouble.

      1. He was given an instruction regarding his gearbox here. But if he was told anything about it on the radio earlier on that wasn’t put in the broadcasts. Perhaps it got overlooked amid the first-corner drama.

        1. Could that have been the Fuel 14 message on Lap 8?

      2. tgu (@thegrapeunwashed)
        26th September 2017, 8:35

        @altitude2k I was looking for that too. There’s two messages –

        Lap 14: “Think about gear sync if you can.”
        Lap 36: “…and you need to shift on the reds gears two, three and four.”

        Lap 36, they also tell him he’s 0.5 seconds quicker than Hamilton, so he doesn’t seem to have any problems.

        I think the L14 message just tells him to change gear when the car asks him to. The L36 message is telling him the same thing (assuming red lights signal ‘change now’). It’s not obvious he has any problem.

        1. tgu (@thegrapeunwashed)
          26th September 2017, 9:29

          Correction L36, they’re telling him to short shift (blue lights indication ‘change now’), but that might be just to do with traction – certainly, he’s very quick at that point.

    2. I’m very sure that Hamilton’s ‘TAG Mode’ at Lap 38 and 44, is actually ‘Attack Mode’.

    3. Thumbs up to VER for keeping the radio link opened while crashing out. That’s viewer engagement right there

    4. Over 25 years watching the sport but I’m pretty sure I’ve never heard anyone tell a driver to “hand in the candle” before…

    5. Vettel was apologising for spinning when he was still unaware that he had damage on the sidepod.
      It wasn’t for the initial crash with Max and Kimi

      1. He was well aware of the damage before apologising. Did you just try to make stuff up

        1. Did he know he was leaking coolant at the time?

        2. 2 From Sebastian Vettel
          I spun, lost the car, I think I have damage on the front left.
          2 To Sebastian Vettel
          Yeah big damage on the sidepods. Stop the car.
          2 From Sebastian Vettel
          You sure?

          1. @johnmilk I’m with you. I think it is presumptuous to assume SV was apologizing for ‘risking too much.’ Since the race has SV literally said he risked too much? And how would going conservative and opening the door for an always hard charging Max, who said he was going to go for it on the first lap, be risking less? I think much of the criticism toward SV has been with the luxury of hindsight, and because LH was starting in 5th, like there was some guarantee he’d finish there too.

    6. Was I the only one getting frustrated with neither of the Channel 4 commentators realising that the reason the track wasn’t drying was because it was a night race? I’m generally a very calm person but found myself repeatedly shouting at the telly “IT’S BECAUSE THERE IS NO SUN!”.

      1. I think it was more to do with the humidity. Obviously it’s quicker in the day, but at those temperatures at night you would have expected it to dry pretty quickly with cars running over it. With relative humidity being higher than expected there’s nowhere for the moisture to evaporate to.

      2. Well, I’m a little surprised by your comment if I’m honest. It is often the cars that help dry a circuit quite a bit too and the temperature at Singapore is already higher than a lot of other F1 tracks. The sun doesn’t do everything. They were not missing something obvious because it did seem rather unusual. The drivers seemed to say it was taking a while to dry too.

        1. Road tarmac is not as rfficient as circuit tarmac when it comes to drain water

          1. weather humidity (feel of water vapor concentration in the air) levels are very high at night, and without sun, water cant moist fast enough (not enough energy to reach dew points), so harder for water to evaporate quickly i guess?
            like trying to boil water (and evaporate as well) using candle vs proper oven? water still boils at 100 C but it will take candle long time to get same amount of water to boil than you would do with oven!

            and more tech answer i guess would be chemistry, more heat (temp) ignites more kinetic energy hence faster evaporation… colder temp it will take longer for water molecules to get same amount of kinetic energy to be freed from liquid chains to gas form…

        2. It’s not just the temperature caused by the sun that causes evaporation, the sunlight itself contributes significantly. I don’t know a great deal about it, but I do know that scientists have noticed global levels of evaporation dropping even though temperatures have risen, and have attributed this to global dimming – a reduction in the amount of sunlight reaching the earths surface due to air pollution. I guess it’s difficult to prove that the slow drying was because it was a night race because this was the first ever wet night race. It’ll certainly be interesting to see if the same thing happens at the next one.

    7. Kvyat telling his engineer to shut up, then crash out.
      Pathetic.

      1. @edmarques

        I do agree it was a little silly what Kvyat did. Both these drivers at this team do often seem to find team radio a bit distracting sometimes. But I think what Sainz said was very unreasonable and the commentators on Channel 4 though that a bit too. Telling the team to shut up when they were giving what could have been critical information about the battery. If it had been a problem and he interrupted in the way he did, then he will have looked as silly as Kvyat. Both these drivers need to respect the information their team gives them. They both seem to be about the leased respectful when it comes to this. At leased Sainz managed a very good result in the end though.

        1. @thegianthogweed
          I agree with you, i pointed out Kvyat because of the crash. I think it’s ridiculous how a few of these drivers treat their engineers. Kvyat, KMag, they should extremely grateful that they still are in F1. Pathetic behaviour.

          Hamilton said to Bono “leave me to it, Bono” and Bottas said to Tony Ross “minimal talking”, they didn’t yell with them, they dealt with the situation with respect. We don’t see Vettel or Ricciardo fighting either. Maybe this is another reason why theses drivers are in top teams.

    Comments are closed.