2014 Malaysian Grand Prix: The Race in Radio Messages

What better way to relive the past Grand Prix than a transcription of the most remarkable radio messages. Motors Inside offers them to you, based on data from the site F1Fanatic.co.uk.

Training session

The final instructions are given, and the drivers are informed of each other’s choices. « OK Jenson, that’s good. Keep getting the brakes up to temperature » requests Bernadette Collins. Nico Hülkenberg receives information about the tires: « All drivers are on mediums, except for Pérez, in the pit lane. »

Round 1

Jean-Eric Vergne, whose start went badly due to an engine problem, finds himself in the middle of a group consisting of Marussia and Caterham cars and touches the left-rear tire of Jules Bianchi’s Marussia. He complains about it to Xevi Pujolar:

« Stupid Marussia! I think I broke my front wing…

– Compris.

– Je n’ai absolument aucune puissance, rien du tout.

– La puissance revient. Problème de températures. Peux-tu confirmer pour l’aileron avant, JEV ? »

Tour 2

In the battle for 7th place against Kimi Räikkönen, Kevin Magnussen makes contact with the Finnish driver’s Ferrari’s left rear tire:

« I have a flat tire at the back.

– OK, on voit ça. Box, box.

– Je ne sais pas ce qui est arrivé au pneu, car je n’ai touché personne.

– D’après les données, il est parti immédiatement. Comme des débris, ou quelque chose comme ça. Tu rentres pour des mediums, des mediums neufs, » lui indique Antonio Spagnolo.

Round 4

Vergne’s worries continue: « Well, it would be better to have a better engine because otherwise I can tell you I’m not going to get far. It’s really slow. »

On his side, Nico Rosberg, 2nd, sends a warning message: « Really struggling with the rear [tires] at the moment. » A message that is immediately transmitted to the leader, Lewis Hamilton: « OK Lewis, Nico is struggling with his rear tires. Make sure you take care of yours. »

Round 5 and 6

Valtteri Bottas, thanks to a good start, is in the slipstream of his teammate, Felipe Massa. He receives a first instruction: « We need to let Felipe overtake Magnussen, for your information, » Jonathan Eddolls explains to him.

But he decides to put pressure on Massa all the same. The latter reacts sharply: « Did you see that? He touched me!

Eddolls then warns the Finn once again:

« Don’t attack Massa. Don’t be aggressive on Massa; we need to let him pass Magnussen and then we’ll just follow him.

– Eh ben, dis-lui de passer. Je suis plus rapide. »

Tower 7

Pastor Maldonado, struggling since the beginning of the race, receives the dreaded message: « OK Pastor, we need to bring the car in to retire at the end of this lap. »

Tower 8

Tony Ross indicates the number of laps remaining for Rosberg before his stop:

« So, “8 rich” at the end of this round.

– Ca fait beaucoup de tours. La dégradation à l’arrière est élevée. »

Tour 10

Kevin Magnussen is called to the pits after completing more than 8 laps with a broken front wing. He initiates the first wave of pit stops. « Hard tires, hard tires » is directed at Adrian Sutil.

Round 11 and 12

Peter Bonnington informs Lewis Hamilton: « OK Lewis, you’re doing a good job. You’re managing the fuel really well, so just keep pushing. You’re doing an excellent job managing the tires, take care of them. »

Before returning to the pits, Massa is informed of Magnussen’s situation: Magnussen has a penalty. Magnussen, in the McLaren. After his pit stop, Magnussen is given the order to focus on economy: OK Kevin, we are on plan B. Plan B. Let’s focus on consistent driving for the rest of the race – it’s about the tires and fuel. Clean, safe, and consistent driving.

Tour 13

Massa in the pits, Jonathan Eddolls motivates Bottas: « So, it’s time to push, Valtteri. We will continue for a few more laps. It’s time to attack. »

Sebastian Vettel requests some adjustments: « Front wing, minus four. Front wing, minus four. » The following lap, he receives the order to pit.

Tower 14

Xevi Pujolar sees Vergne getting closer to a Marussia. But apparently, the race engineer was thinking about his hotel room: « OK JEV, if you get closer to Chilton, it’s OK to use the overtake. Overtake for two laps. Get closer to Hilton… Chilton. »

Tower 16

Just before his stop, Hamilton is informed of the length of the stint to do: « It will be a similar stint for the next tires. So it will be mediums – no wing adjustment. » When he comes out, he is behind Nico Hülkenberg’s Force India, he has free rein: « We have a two-second per lap advantage, use the overtaking button if you need it. » He will quickly gain the upper hand on the German: « OK Lewis, just take care of these tires. Gap to Nico [Rosberg]: 7.6 seconds. »

Tour 17

Daniel Ricciardo is less than two seconds behind Vettel. His pit crew is asking him to increase the gap.

« OK Daniel, we suggest you back off a bit to take care of the tires. Aim for two seconds on Vettel. Alonso is three seconds behind you.

– La Mercedes est plus près. Si quelque chose se passe, je veux en être.

– OK Daniel, compris.

– Je serai doux avec les pneus, mais je ne veux pas perdre de temps inutilement.

– OK mon pote, compris. »

Tower 19

Like many, Vettel has to be attentive: « OK Sebastian, you have a 2.5-second lead over Ricciardo. Keep in mind the gap with Rosberg. Don’t damage your tires. »

Tour 20

Race over for Vergne: « OK JEV, it’s going to be box and straight into the garage. »

Tower 21

For Rosberg, increasing the pace against Vettel won’t be easy:

Uh, the gap with Vettel is currently at 2.5. We would like to increase the gap and then we will move towards more savings.

– Difficile d’aller plus vite. »

Tour 22

As in Australia for Rosberg, Hamilton wants to ensure he’s managing his engine well when asked:

« We will monitor the engine. We will just make it run a little less. It will be HPP2 on “position two”. It’s for both cars.

– Juste pour être sûr: j’ai bien fait ça ?

– Compris, c’est correct. »

During the next round:

« Is there anything else I can do to take care of this engine?

– Non. Tu fais du très bon travail en ce moment, Lewis. Nous te dirons, mais continue de faire ce que tu fais. Et Nico, plus rapide d’une demi-seconde le dernier tour: il essaie juste de creuser l’écart avec Vettel. »

Tower 25

Mark Temple continues his series of good advice to Kevin Magnussen: « And Kevin, remember to drink. Drink. »

On Rosberg’s side, the gap is not enough: « Gap with Vettel is 3.6, we would like it to go up to 5, please. » Moments later, he indicates that he does not want any changes to the front wing.

Tour 27

Small communication in the style of a fighter jet cockpit between the stand and Red Bull No. 3:

« OK Daniel, what do you think of the front wing? And charge 5. Charge 5. Do you want to change the front wing settings?

– On est toujours sur 3-3-3 ?

– Ouais, je confirme.

– Je pense que nous pouvons augmenter de deux ou trois clics. »

Tower 29

Massa receives the order to return to the pits. Once the stop is completed, Andrew Murdoch gives him the instructions: « OK Felipe, we need to take care of the rear tires in this stint. We need to make them last. Back to standard mode, standard mode. »

His teammate, Bottas, continues his stint:

« How many laps are left at this pace in your tires from your point of view? How many laps in the tires?

– Deux ou trois. »

Tour 30

The weather seems to be getting worse around the circuit. Rosberg is warned: “There is some rain nearby, not absolutely imminent, but we can see it on the radar.”

On Sauber’s side, Sutil is 14th. His engineer questions him:

« Adrian, is stability an issue everywhere, or just in high-speed, low-speed corners?

– C’est seulement à haute vitesse.

– OK, OK. »

Tour 32

Hamilton has been informed of the risk of rain. His strategy will be adapted for this possibility: « OK Lewis, we will try to extend these stints as far as possible to protect against the rain. » He will come in at the end of the 33rd lap nonetheless.

On Rosberg’s side, such a thing is not possible:

« The tires are dead.

– Box, box, box. »

Tour 34

On Hülkenberg’s side, tire degradation is significant.

« I’m really losing the rear now.

– Compris, Nico. Couple 5. Couple 5. Rentre aux stands dans ce tour, rentrée aux stands confirmée. »

Tour 35

The rain has arrived at Sepang: « It’s raining a little on the back part of the circuit, » says Räikkönen. « OK, we stay on track. We’ll see how it evolves, the weather. » Spagnolo replies.

Tower 36

On Ricciardo’s side, fuel consumption is good, he is allowed to be more aggressive: « OK Daniel, go to the “beep.” Fuel is OK, go to the “beep. » The “beep” is the sound at which Red Bull drivers must release the accelerator to save fuel before the corners.

Adrian Sutil’s Sauber has just stopped at the beginning of the pit straight. But Hamilton is mainly concerned about his car:

« I can see small drops of rain on my visor at the exit of turn 9. What can I do to take care of my car a little longer?

– OK Lewis, tu as un double-drapeau jaune dans le dernier virage. Commissaires sur la piste, donc va une demi-seconde moins vite. La pluie que nous voyons sur le radar est très, très légère. Donc, rien d’inquiétant pour le moment, mais tiens-nous au courant. Nico est 0.1 secondes moins vite – écart de 11 secondes. »

Tower 37

As he closely follows Rosberg, Vettel warns his pit crew:

« Rosberg seems to be losing either oil or water for the past two laps already.

– Compris. Il pleut dans les virages 9 et 10, si c’est là que tu as vu quelque chose. Kobayashi devant, retardataire. […] Et Sebastian, tu dois utiliser la deuxième vitesse dans les virages 1, 2 et 9. »

Tour 38

Ricciardo is under threat from Alonso, he asks Simon Rennie for information:

Which tires is Alonso on?

– Medium. Alonso en medium. »

Tower 40

Guillaume Rocquelin tries to warn Vettel:

« Sebastian, there are spots [on the radar screen, ed.] in the corner, turn 14.

– Rocky, plus fort quand tu parles. Parle plus fort et répète.

– Compris. Il y a de la pluie dans l’air, et des averses dans le virage 14, mais la piste est sèche. »

Tower 41

Ricciardo comes into the pits for his final stop. It goes badly:

« The front-left is not fixed.

– OK, stop ! Reste où tu es. »

Tour 43

Vettel comments on Romain Grosjean, whom he is about to lap: « Can you ask Charlie [Whiting] to give him a blue flag? »

After losing big in the pits, Ricciardo’s situation worsens when his front wing comes loose after hitting a curb. At first, he thinks it’s a puncture:

« I have a flat tire on the front left. What should I do?

– Les pressions semblent bonnes Daniel… si tu penses que tu as une crevaison, rentre.

– Ouais, c’est une grosse coupure.

– OK, compris.

– J’ai toujours de l’air, mais ça va partir, je pense.

– Mode 6. Mode 6. Alonso est maintenant 8 secondes derrière toi. Box dans ce tour, box dans ce tour. Nous allons changer les pneus et l’aileron avant. »

Tower 44

After this incident, Lewis Hamilton is informed: « So, you are in the Safety Car window. There is debris on the track, I will warn you where. »

On Vettel’s side, still behind Grosjean, the tone becomes more aggressive: « If you could ask Charlie to tell him in French, maybe he’ll understand. »

Tour 47

Difficulties are piling up for Ricciardo:

« OK Daniel, we have a drive-through, sorry, a stop-and-go.

– On peut dire que c’est une sacrée journée.

– OK Daniel, on continue. Il pourrait y avoir de la pluie. Continue mon pote. »

Tour 48 and 49

Like all the leaders, Rosberg’s strategy is to delay his last stop as much as possible, waiting for potential rain: « Here’s the situation: there are still 9 laps to go. We still need to switch to the hard tires, we’re still waiting on the strategy. » « It looks like everyone is staying out for this rain. Just keep managing the tires, you’re doing an excellent job » Hamilton is told.

Tour 52

As the flurry of pit stops began, Daniel Ricciardo retires: « We’re retiring, box this lap, box this lap. OK Daniel, so stop and shut off. Just stay in the car for a minute, please stay in the car. »

Tour 53

The already famous battle between the Williams drivers resumed: « OK Felipe. Valtteri is faster than you, do not hold him up. Valtteri is faster than you, do not hold him up. » On Bottas’s side, the order is reversed: « You are faster than Massa, overtake him! You are faster than Massa, overtake him now! »

« OK Felipe, Valtteri is faster than you, he has fresher tires, do not hold him up, » insists Murdoch: « OK Felipe, Valtteri has better tires than you, we need to let him pass. »

Tour 54

On his side, Grosjean encountered a problem. He is in difficulty and under threat from Räikkönen.

OK Romain, keep using the overtake button.

– Je fais de mon mieux, c’est de pire en pire.

– Ouais, compris Romain. »

Communications continue from the Williams side. An unidentified voice addresses Massa:

Felipe, you are slower than Valtteri, let him pass. You are slower than Valtteri, don’t hold him up.

– Je vais plus vite. »

On Bottas’s side, instructions are also coming in to preserve the engine:

« Keep to the right to cool down the engine on the straight line.

– Mon rythme est meilleur mais il lâche tout dans chaque ligne droite, je n’ai aucune chance de passer.

– Compris, nous courons contre lui. »

Same instructions for Massa: « Felipe, we need to cool down the car. »

Tour 55

On Lewis Hamilton’s side, he indulges in a little pleasure by setting the fastest lap twice in a row. Peter Bonnington isn’t a fan:

« OK Lewis, you are the fastest man on track, we can slow down a little. Take care of the car. So, 1.3 faster than Nico on the last lap, 14.7 gap. Ericsson is ahead.

– OK mec, je t’entends.

– Si tu pouvais juste garder le régime un peu plus élevé lors des rétrogradations, ça sera bon. »

He enters the final lap:

« OK Lewis, you are on the final lap, don’t take any risks.

Tour 56

At Williams, they decide to freeze the positions: « OK Felipe, we are maintaining positions, Valtteri will not attack you, Valtteri will not attack you. Just cool the car down, keep cooling the car. »

But on Bottas’s side, the desire is not lacking. He questions the pit wall:

« I can get it in the next round. Can I go?

– Nous devons vraiment refroidir le moteur. Négatif pour le dépassement. »

Arrival

« Great race Lewis. Great race. Flawless weekend. You did the job my old friend.

– Vraiment reconnaissant pour le boulot, les gars. Merci beaucoup ! »

But the serious things continue:

« Strat mode 11. Watch her, bring her home, bring the towers home. You did an epic job, Lewis. It’s a double for Mercedes. P3 for Vettel. Then Alonso, Hülkenberg, Button, Massa, Bottas, Magnussen, Kvyat. Super job.

– Ouais, bien joué Lewis, avec toi, ça paraissait facile, » lui lance une voix non identifiée (peut-être celle de Toto Wolff ?)

Rocquelin congratulates Vettel.

« Good job, old chap. You fought well, we didn’t have the pace, we did a good job.

– Merci les gars. Course bien réalisée. Nous ne sommes toujours pas où nous voulons être. Il y a beaucoup de trucs à améliorer, mais nous allons le faire.

– Bien joué Sebby. Tu as fait au mieux avec ce qui était disponible, bien joué. »

To conclude, final communication between the Williams pit and Bottas:

« So, you finished P8. Great job, we knew there was more to be done, we’ll discuss it afterward.

– Merci les gars, bien joué. Je suis juste à 100% sûr que je pouvais avoir la McLaren. »