5 of the Most Interesting Radio Messages from Canadian Grand Prix
It's increasingly difficult to defend the standard of Formula One in 2015 after yet another dull race in the Canadian Grand Prix.
The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve event can normally be relied upon to produce the most exciting spectacle of a given season, yet last weekend Montreal was reduced to the scene of the latest pole-to-flag win by Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton.
Although it isn't much fun watching the reigning drivers' and constructors' solidifying their status at the summit of the field, especially with a shortage of action behind, one thing this campaign has given us is storylines.
Coming into the season, 2015 was set to revolve around three men and how they could mould their teams around them.
Could Hamilton, with his second championship triumph in 2014, take himself and Mercedes to the next level? Could Fernando Alonso drag McLaren back to the top? And just how would Sebastian Vettel settle in at Ferrari?
In Canada, we heard two very different team radio messages from Hamilton and Alonso, which revealed much about their relationships with their respective teams, while Vettel showed yet more evidence of his comfort atop the Prancing Horse's saddle by coming through the field and surviving several scrapes.
With a look at the elite trio, as well as Valtteri Bottas' management of his tyres and the argument between Romain Grosjean and Will Stevens, here are the five most interesting radio messages from the Canadian GP.
Lewis Hamilton Thanks Mercedes Mechanics Ahead of Parade Lap
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Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes needed a strong result in the Canadian Grand Prix following the disappointment of Monaco, where the team cost the reigning world champion victory with an unnecessary pit stop.
He knew that. He knew the team knew that. And he knew the rest of us knew that.
In an effort to put his colleagues (and perhaps himself) at ease, Hamilton—channeling the "we win and we lose together" spirit he mentioned in the post-Monaco FIA press conference—gave the team a vote of confidence as he sat on the grid waiting to lead the field on the parade lap.
Hamilton had experienced a scruffy start to his weekend by sliding into the barrier in wet conditions in the second free practice session.
And despite only damaging his front wing, a component that can be changed multiple times per weekend, in the accident, the British driver decided to base his public tribute around his mechanics' efforts to repair his car.
According to the FIA television feed, Hamilton said: "Don't know if you boys can hear me (but) I just wanted to say a big thank you for all the hard work this weekend, putting the car back together. I did get to see you all individually, but (I) really appreciate it."
That Hamilton had already thanked the team members in person gave his radio communication a slightly hollow, superficial feel, yet it carried with it a profound message.
After his new three-year contract with Mercedes was confirmed on the eve of the Monaco GP, perhaps Hamilton, now at the age of 30 and with his medium-term future secured, is now making a conscious effort to build a team around him in the style of some of the most successful athletes in sporting history.
Acting as the team's calming influence, while at the same time being their driving force and their primary focus. Reinforcing his gratitude and thanks at every opportunity, yet continuing to ask for this and that, more and more.
It seems Hamilton, an individual within a team environment for so much of his career, is beginning to appreciate the value of unity.
Valtteri Bottas Predicts Williams' Tyre Strategy
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When Pirelli became Formula One's sole tyre supplier in 2011, the sport was transformed.
Fast-degrading tyres presented teams with more thumping headaches than ever before and forced drivers to pace themselves through a grand prix, managing their resources.
And for a while, it worked a treat. Wild races such as China and Turkey '11 produced unprecedented levels of overtaking as everyone seemed to embrace the new-look formula.
Four years on, however, and the product has gone stale, to the point where drivers and teams can forecast with some confidence just when their rubber will go beyond the point of no return.
In the Canadian GP, that was the case at Williams, where Valtteri Bottas assessed the condition of his tyres at the request of the Williams pit wall.
"Just give me some more feedback on tyres," the Finn's race engineer asked just 15 laps into the race, according to the FIA TV feed. "How many laps left on this set?"
Bottas explained that his rear tyres were just beginning to fade away, replying: "Losing a little bit of traction now so maybe between 15 and 20."
Valtteri, in fact, was the first of the front-runners to stop at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, making his solitary visit to the pit lane on Lap 28, meaning he was just two laps shy of his minimum target of 15 laps.
This could, in isolation, be considered a failure to eke out his first stint. But when you consider that the FW37 car is particularly hard on its tyres and Valtteri's comments to Williams' official website that the team changed from a two to a one-stop strategy during the race, there is no reason why Bottas couldn't have got closer to his 20-lap target.
While Bottas' comments were a reflection of his tremendous feel for a racing car, they also confirmed that the Pirelli effect is losing its touch, that the supposedly unpredictable has become too predictable.
It was, in short, yet more evidence that Pirelli have outstayed their welcome.
Fernando Alonso's Frustration with McLaren-Honda Surfaces
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Fernando Alonso has bitten his tongue for much of the 2015 season, refraining from publicly criticising McLaren-Honda despite the team's chronic lack of competitiveness.
But in the heat of the MP4-30 cockpit, the first signs of irritation over his situation became clear in the early stages of the Canadian GP.
The Montreal event was always going to be a painful one for Honda, whose new engine lacks both power and efficiency, two crucial ingredients for success in Canada. Indeed, Jenson Button, Alonso's team-mate, had already complained about the lengths he was forced to extend to in order to save fuel, according to the FIA TV feed.
And Alonso, who despite having no chance of recording his first points finish of the year was actually having one of his more enjoyable races of the season—racing closely with Sebastian Vettel and Felipe Massa, both of whom started out of position on the grid—was also urged to conserve his fuel by the pit wall, per the same source.
"OK Fernando, (Felipe) Nasr is seven-and-a-half seconds back," advised his race engineer, Tom Stallard, on Lap 25. "We must save fuel, we must target zero."
"I don't want...I don't want," begged Alonso. "Already I have big problems now. Driving with this, looking like (an) amateur. So I race and then I concentrate on the fuel."
Alonso's reluctance to follow the instructions could be viewed as commendable, given how frustrating this season has been for McLaren and against the backdrop of the team's wretched reliability record (just one double-finish in the opening six races).
Even if he did save fuel, the likelihood was that his efforts would come to nothing if his car failed for the third race in succession, with Alonso's race coming to an end after 44 laps.
Yet at a time when the team are in desperate need of patience, unity and harmony, Alonso displayed an alarming level of selfishness. His claim that he, not the team, was being made to look like an amateur reflected poorly on the two-time world champion.
Although, according to Sky Sports' Pete Gill, Alonso played down the significance of his outburst, the first cracks in his relationship with the team have appeared. It's up to both parties, as a collective unit, to ensure those cracks don't widen further.
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Sebastian Vettel Pleads His Innocence After Nico Hulkenberg Spin
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Arguably the driver of the day in Canada, Sebastian Vettel was continuing his fight through the field when, on Lap 44, he began to challenge Nico Hulkenberg for seventh place.
Having closely followed his countryman through the hairpin, the Ferrari benefited from DRS down the long back straight and managed to pull slightly ahead, albeit on the outside line, of the Force India under braking for the final chicane.
At a part of the track where any overtaking move requires the consent of both drivers, Vettel and Hulkenberg were hard but fair, with the latter even running over a raised kerb to avoid making contact with the four-time world champion.
That, however, only unsettled his car and Hulkenberg spun mid-corner, gifting Vettel the position.
The live television footage indicated that the two had collided and Vettel, no longer able to see Hulkenberg in his mirrors, could sense something was afoot.
"Where's Hulkenberg?" Vettel asked, according to the FIA TV feed, with a nervous tone to his voice. "I did not touch him. I did not touch him. Where is he?"
"He spun, he spun," came the reply. "In the chicane."
Vettel's pleas of innocence were the F1 equivalent of a footballer holding out the palms of his hands after committing a blatant foul, yet the slow motion replays confirmed he was not to blame for the incident, freeing the Ferrari to salvage fifth place.
It was one slice of good fortune on a weekend of bad luck for Vettel, who suffered engine problems in qualifying and a slow first pit stop, and it served as a reminder of how the drivers are cocooned within the cockpit.
Enveloped by their fireproof balaclavas and crash helmets, with just a couple of flimsy wing-mirrors poking out of the monocoque, it can sometimes be difficult for drivers to make sense of the world around them.
Romain Grosjean, Will Stevens Blame Each Other After Collision
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Romain Grosjean has always played dare when overtaking other cars, leaving as small a margin as possible between himself and his rivals.
The Frenchman has matured beyond belief since he was handed a one-race ban for causing several first-lap collisions in 2012, but his game of brinkmanship was bound to backfire one day.
That day came in Canada, when, while lapping Will Stevens, the Lotus driver edged across the track to reclaim the racing line and tagged the Manor's front wing, causing damage to both cars.
After a pit stop for repairs, Grosjean's persecution complex was alive and well as he attempted to blame Stevens for the collision.
"He hit me, he hit me," Grosjean sobbed over the radio, according to the FIA TV feed, on Lap 51.
Stevens, however, had a conflicting view of the crash, ranting about Grosjean's conduct in wheel-to-wheel combat.
"So stupid, he cuts across in front of me every single time he overtakes," he fumed on Lap 52. "Where does he want me to go, off the track?"
"OK, understood mate. We'll have a look into it," came the reply from the Manor pit wall, which perhaps revealingly decided against encouraging the driver to transport the incident to the back of his mind and get back into the rhythm, a favourite tactic of race engineer's hoping to calm their drivers.
Presumably, Stevens continued with his tirade as Manor, despite not racing directly with Grosjean, felt the need to inform the British driver of the Lotus man's five-second time penalty, telling him, "Grosjean has received a penalty," on Lap 53.
To his credit, Grosjean later accepted blame and apologised for the collision, according to Lotus' official website, but Stevens told Autosport's Lawrence Barretto and Ian Parkes how front-running drivers often take liberties when lapping the Manor minnows.
Certainly, Grosjean's initial reaction suggested that there exists an elitist mindset among the big teams.
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