Bahrain Grand Prix 2014: The Hamilton/Rosberg battle in radio messages

What better way to relive the past Grand Prix than with a transcription of the most notable radio messages. This time, Motors Inside dedicates an entire article to the battle between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in Bahrain, based on data from the site F1Fanatic.co.uk.

Training tour

The Mercedes cars leave the starting grid for the first time. The formation lap begins and the drivers receive important information. Peter Bonnington indicates to Lewis Hamilton: « The rear tires are gently warming up [in temperature]. The front brakes need a bit of working. » « The brakes are starting to warm up, the tires are at 108.5°C at the front, 109.5°C at the rear, » is specified to Nico Rosberg.

The start is given and the battle begins between the two men as Hamilton has managed to take the lead at the start.

Tours 3 to 18: The duel engages in the first relay

After a first skirmish, the two men only attack each other through lap times. The instructions are meant to motivate both men. « Nico is 9 tenths behind, he has the DRS » Bonnington announces to Hamilton during the 3rd lap.

From the 5th lap, Nico Rosberg inquires about fuel consumption:

« I need information about the fuel consumption compared to the other car.

– Tu économises plus d’essence que ton équipier, mais continue de le faire. L’écart avec Massa, 2.7 sec. Tu as le DRS » lui répond Tony Ross.

On Hamilton’s side, who has to attack aggressively to make up for his lack of pace, it’s the tire degradation that’s causing problems, especially in comparison to his teammate: « OK Lewis, watch the front-left. It looks like we have a bit more understeer than the other car. »

From lap 7, the foundation for the rest of the race is set: « Remember Nico, we have an alternative strategy we’re heading towards, which requires you to go further on the first stint, watch the tires. » The alternative strategy mentioned seems to be the pre-planned strategy by the team for the car that would end up behind the other. The only way to change it might ultimately be to overtake Hamilton.

In this same loop, the concerns in car no. 44 are still the same:

« Let us know if it’s the front or the back that hurts.

– Avant-gauche et arrière-gauche. J’ai trop d’appui à l’avant. »

In the 12th passage, two radio messages demonstrate how equally the two drivers are treated, particularly concerning management instructions and adjustments to be made. Here, for example, the “strategy 7” is likely related to fuel economy or engine preservation:

Tony Ross: « Nico, switch to “strat-7”. Both cars are on strat-7. Try to brake 5m later at the first corner. »

Peter Bonnington: « And go to strat-7. Strat mode 7, both cars make the change. »

At the 16th lap, Rosberg gradually returned to the DRS zone of his teammate. On the 18th lap, he launched an attack at the end of the straight. He dove to the inside, but Hamilton cut across his path. The German had to make a quick steering adjustment to avoid contact:

« Warn him, it wasn’t far!

– Compris Nico, nous avons besoin que tu passes sur strat-10, tu ne peux plus utiliser strat-6. »

He will try his luck again on the 19th lap, managing to maintain his position until exiting the 4th turn.

Tours 20 to 24: First pit stop

Then comes the moment of the first pit stop: Hamilton comes in on the 19th lap to switch to a second set of soft tires. Rosberg must take advantage of the two laps he has left before his own pit stop to give it his all and try to lose as little time as possible, but also to limit the duration of his stint on medium tires, which are slower: « Attack, Nico! Attack! The fuel is good, the fuel is OK. But you can always lift and coast to save your tires later in the second stint. »

The “lift and coast” is actually the strategy of lifting off the accelerator pedal at the end of a straight to save fuel while maintaining high speed approaching the corners.

The driver with number 6 will go through the pits, Hamilton is informed on the 21st lap: « OK, Nico is pitting this lap. You have a four-second margin. » Indeed, a few moments later: « Box, box, box. […] So, Nico, it will be a stint on medium tires. »

For the Brit, the issue is the same, namely to stay on the soft tires as long as possible to minimize the stint on the medium tires: « OK Lewis, we need to manage these tires. Get the most out of them, minimize our time on the mediums. »

As a result of these instructions, Rosberg goes faster for a short moment: « Currently, you are faster than Lewis. You are on mediums, he is on softs. So remember: take care of the tires during the stint. » But it won’t last…

Tours 29 to 40: Hamilton escapes

Hamilton enters the 29th lap with a 7.5-second lead over his teammate. His engineer indicates where to improve: « OK Lewis, so relatively speaking, sector 1 is a weakness. »

Six laps later, the concerns of the pit wall and the driver collide, and Hamilton doesn’t want to push too hard on his tires:

« We’re good on fuel. So, no more need to do “lift and coast.”

– Je t’ai entendu, mec ! Je prends soin de mes pneus.

– OK Lewis, c’est toi qui gères. »

On Rosberg’s side, with the gap reaching almost 10 seconds in the 38th lap, the focus is on saving energy to concentrate all his efforts in the final stint on soft tires: « It will be “Rich-6” at the end of this lap. If you can still gain time, that would help. » Two laps later, he receives a driving lesson from Tony Rosso: « Brake later into turn 11 to hit the apex earlier and for a better exit. »

Laps 43 to 46: The Safety Car closes the gaps

But just as the strategies seemed destined to separate the two men and, thanks to minor differences between the tires, seal Lewis Hamilton’s victory, the spectacular collision between Pastor Maldonado and Esteban Gutierrez led to the safety car being deployed. From then on, Rosberg was right on the tail of the 2008 world champion, but with soft tires while the Brit was on mediums.

Neutralization is the time to take stock and ensure that all opportunities are on one’s side, especially for Lewis Hamilton.

« I’m having a lot of trouble with cornering, but I don’t want to revert my brake settings because I’m locking the rear tires.

– OK Lewis, si tu vas sur ‘’Diff. init. 3”. Alors nous aurons 2 ajustement de HPP. Ca sera de HPP 11 à HPP 1. HPP 2 vers le mode 1.

– Nico est en pneus neufs ?

– Affirmatif, Lewis. Nico est en pneus tendres. »

What Peter Bonnington calls “HPP” is a rotary knob located at the bottom right of the Mercedes steering wheel, which, according to the official Mercedes website, is used to control a large number of power unit parameters, such as energy management during the race or MGU-K settings.

On Nico Rosberg’s side, the aim is to lighten up to give himself every chance before the final battle:

« Should I try to burn fuel behind the safety car?

– Tu peux utiliser un rapport bas, des tours hauts pour brûler de l’essence. La température des pneus est… 110°C à l’avant et 110°C à l’arrière actuellement. La température des freins est OK. »

A few moments before the race restart, Paddy Lowe, Executive Technical Director of Mercedes, steps in to call both drivers to caution, without forbidding the battle:

« Lewis, it’s Paddy.

– Quoi de neuf ?

– 10 tours à faire, qu’on s’assure de ramener les deux voitures à la maison. »

« Nico, it’s Paddy. There are still 10 laps to go, let’s make sure we bring both cars home.

– OK. »

Tours 48 to 51: The restart of the race

The safety car comes in and the Grand Prix resumes for 10 laps. As soon as they reach the end of the straight, Rosberg puts Hamilton under pressure. The latter resists for one, then two laps, before having a major concern:

« I have no power!

– OK Lewis, on regarde ça. Tout semble OK sur les données. »

On lap 49, Rosberg is ordered to switch to the most aggressive setting, the “Strat 6,” which corresponds to a short period to make a difference: « When you’re ready to attack, it will be “strat 6,” and you can use the overtaking button. The battery is at 80% [charge].

Two laps later, Hamilton receives the same order and then asks:

Is Nico on “strat 6″?

– Affirmatif, on fait juste ce qu’ils font. […] OK, donc reviens sur ‘’strat 3” quand tu peux. On va juste faire comme eux. »

The two engineers know perfectly and in real-time what the two drivers are doing and they emulate them.

Rosberg tries, in turn 1 of lap 52, a new maneuver, from further away and more difficult to execute. If he gets ahead of Hamilton, the latter easily crosses him and escapes, with the blessing of his engineer: « Use the overtake button where you need it. » The overtake button corresponds, of course, to a boost of charge and therefore power, to escape in this case.

For Rosberg, the idea is simple: accumulate energy to try and have the opportunity to be in a position to overtake one last time. Thus Tony Ross tells him on the 53rd lap: « Nico, “strat 3” to charge the battery. You can always use the overtaking button. »

On the 54th lap, the 2008 world champion receives an instruction: « OK Lewis, you can use the overtaking button at the exit of the corners now. Use the overtaking where you need it. » Then, at the start of the final lap, he has free rein: « OK Lewis. You have the energy. Use the overtaking button everywhere now. Use the overtaking button. » He will no longer be threatened by Rosberg and will win.

After the arrival

Hamilton is congratulated and congratulates his team: « Great job Lewis!

– Fantastique boulot ce week-end les gars ! Nous n’avions vraiment pas le rythme de ce côté du garage, mais nous avons réussi. Travaillons là-dessus. Merci. »

Paddy Lowe speaks up to salute the two men:

Fantastic job, Lewis. Fantastic. And really a great race, well done.

– Fantastique boulot Nico, et le meilleur de tout, une grande course. Très bien joué. »

– Et maintenant, que quelqu’un me dise que le sport est ennuyeux… » lâche Tony Ross, à l’attention de qui voudra l’entendre.