5 of the Most Interesting Radio Messages from Belgian Grand Prix
Formula One moved a step closer to a complete ban on team radio in Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, where a new race-start procedure was introduced.
As reported by Motorsport.com's Adam Cooper, "all pit-to-car communications during any reconnaissance or formation laps" are "limited to safety and sporting information" under the new rules, as the FIA, the sport's governing body, continue their campaign for drivers to perform without the help of their teams.
Although the intercom was banned prior to the start of the race, the radio waves came alive when the five lights went out.
The decisive parts of Valtteri Bottas and Sebastian Vettel's afternoons were played out over the team radio, with Lewis Hamilton receiving a warning from his Mercedes team en route to victory.
With a look at Jenson Button and Daniil Kvyat, here's our analysis of the best team radio messages from Spa.
Williams Let Valtteri Bottas Down Gently After Pit-Stop Blunder
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Valtteri Bottas was running in sixth position when he made his first pit stop of the Belgian Grand Prix on Lap 9.
The Finn would have been expecting to have a fresh set of soft-compound tyres fitted to his FW37, but he rejoined the track with three softs and one rogue medium tyre attached to his rear-right wheel.
It was an elementary mistake that cost Williams and Bottas a top-five finish, and the team were fortunate to escape with a lenient punishment when, in years gone by—and certainly prior to the introduction of Formula One's new penalty system in 2014—instant disqualification may have been the appropriate course of action.
Yet despite getting away with a drive-through penalty—Bottas' car was even allowed to continue with the contrasting compounds—the team seemed reluctant to tell their driver the full story at first.
"We have a drive-through penalty. Issue with tyres," Bottas' race engineer on Lap 15, per the FIA television feed, deciding against revealing exactly what that issue was at that point. "Drive through the pits now. Just drive straight through the pits and back out."
Only after the penalty was completed and Bottas was fully up to speed again did Williams hint why he was handed a drive-through.
"So we'll continue like this," said his engineer on Lap 17. "Your right-rear is a prime tyre, all others are option. (Inaudible) pit stop. Crack on with the race, we can still get some good points."
While it is understandable that Williams initially kept the true reason from Bottas—even though Valtteri has never been one to berate his colleagues over the radio or in public—the way in which they delivered the news is perhaps the latest example of a team using the frustration of a penalty to motivate their driver.
In explaining the reality of the situation in a calm, business-like way, encouraging him to focus on the remainder of the race and not dwell on the mistake, Williams managed the situation effectively—and certainly much more impressively than they handled that pit stop.
Mercedes Threaten Lewis Hamilton with Nico Rosberg
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With the exception of Nico Rosberg's mini-tantrum in the immediate aftermath of the Chinese Grand Prix, the Mercedes drivers have behaved exceptionally well this season.
After tales of forbidden engine modes, supposedly sabotaged qualifying laps and on-track collisions dominated the last season, Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton have enjoyed a more cordial relationship in 2015.
Much of this, admittedly, has been down to the difference in class between the two drivers this season—Hamilton and Rosberg have rarely raced wheel-to-wheel across the first 11 races of the campaign—but the team's management of the situation has been an integral part of the improved atmosphere.
Mercedes were taught some extremely hard lessons in 2014—especially at the Belgian GP, where Rosberg and Hamilton made contact, gifting victory to Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo—and it was fascinating how, upon their return to Spa-Francorchamps, the team forced their drivers to act responsibly.
Hamilton led Rosberg by around six seconds when, on Lap 30 per the FIA TV feed, the team called him into the pit lane for new tyres, with his race engineer, Pete Bonnington, stating: "OK Lewis, so box, box. Box, box. Pit confirm."
The championship leader, however, was content with the condition of his Pirellis and—despite requesting a change of his front-wing angle only moments earlier—begged for one more lap.
"My tyres are still good," he said. "Can I do one more?"
"Negative, Lewis. This is the fastest race," Bonnington replied in an instant, before planting a seed in his driver's mind. "Nico will take the stop otherwise..."
Faced with the prospect of his title rival inheriting the preferential strategy, Hamilton—with the memories of Monaco still very vivid—had no choice but to dive into the pit lane and follow his team's orders.
While other teams may hand their drivers a fine or force them to issue empty statements for disobeying their instructions, Mercedes will openly prey on their drivers' worst nightmares in order to ensure they toe the line.
It's just another reason why the Silver Arrows are on course for their second consecutive title.
Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari Make the Wrong Strategy Call
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Having qualified a lowly ninth in a session dominated by Mercedes-powered cars, which claimed seven of the top eight positions on the provisional grid, Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari had to try something adventurous in the Belgian Grand Prix.
Despite Pirelli's official website forecasting a two- or three-stop race, the team opted to experiment with just a single visit to the pit lane, with Vettel discarding his soft tyres on Lap 14.
That, however, meant the four-time world champion had to spend 29 laps on a set of mediums on one of the most demanding circuits on the calendar due to the sheer speed of the Spa circuit and the long-winding nature of its corners.
And just 14 laps into the stint, Ferrari and Vettel were beginning to wonder whether they had been too bold for their own good.
"Think about an extra stop if it makes sense," Seb advised his team on Lap 28, per the FIA TV feed.
"OK, we are looking into it," acknowledged the pit wall.
As noted after the race, it was curious that Vettel didn't take the initiative and demand an additional pit stop when he had completed less than half of his required stint length, especially since drivers—as we saw with Valtteri Bottas in Canada—can now predict the wear-rate of their tyres with astonishing accuracy.
Yet, Ferrari made the decision for Vettel, and on Lap 32 his race engineer said: "Tyres on the data look pretty good to go to the end."
The tyres, of course, were not at all good enough to go to the end, and when Romain Grosjean's Lotus caught Vettel in the latter stages, it was too late and too illogical for the team to pit and lose third place without a fight.
That fight came to an end on the penultimate lap, when Vettel's rear-right, after 29 laps of pain, exploded on the Kemmel Straight, resulting in a war of words.
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Jenson Button Offers Strategy Advice to McLaren's Rivals
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The Belgian Grand Prix was humiliating for McLaren-Honda, who arrived at Spa boasting about how their new engine would take them toward the front of the grid but left the circuit further off the pace than before.
Indeed, Jenson Button—who, along with team-mate Fernando Alonso, has been one of the few people to remain patient with the team over the course of 2015—couldn't even hide his frustration, telling Sky Sports' William Esler: "It was pretty embarrassing to be fair."
A true indication of just how embarrassing it was came on Lap 39 when Button—four laps after making his last of three pit stops for soft tyres—found himself closing in on a bunch of cars.
Unfortunately, however, those cars had lapped the McLarens long ago, and the 2009 world champion couldn't resist ridiculing his team.
"Wow, these cars are going slow in front. Even we're catching them!" he said, per the FIA TV feed. "I think they're making a mistake not pitting. It's so much quicker on new tyres."
That Button was more interested in what those a lap ahead were doing, rather than focusing on running his own race, was a reflection of how grands prix have become a waste of time for McLaren this season.
Yet it did, perhaps, suggest Button—who later told Esler how catching those cars "was the only bit that was fun"—could make a fine team principal in the future.
Daniil Kvyat Delighted with Move on Felipe Massa
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Do you want to know the exact moment Daniel Ricciardo made the jump from being just another race winner to one of the elite drivers on the current Formula One grid?
It came with three laps remaining of last season's Hungarian Grand Prix, when the Australian lunged past Fernando Alonso at Turn 1 to claim the lead. His second grand prix victory was not yet assured, but Ricciardo knew the race was his.
"That's how you do it, ladies..." he said over team radio, per F1 journalist Tom Clarkson, in the most casual, charming of fashions after overtaking one of the fiercest competitors in the sport.
After claiming his maiden win in Canada, and producing several other exceptional performances over the first half of 2014, it felt as though that was the point Ricciardo believed he belonged at the summit of F1, racing alongside drivers of the calibre of Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.
There was a similar feeling when Ricciardo's new team-mate, Daniil Kvyat, embarked upon his late charge in the second half of the Belgian GP.
After pitting for soft tyres on Lap 27, 10th-placed Kvyat passed Valtteri Bottas, Max Verstappen, Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Massa and Sergio Perez to ultimately finish fourth, continuing his impressive run of form.
And it was his bold pass around the outside of Massa at Les Combes on Lap 40, which saw Kvyat lock his brakes but still make the corner and keep the Williams behind, that left the Russian pleased with himself.
"That's how you f-----g do it!" he roared down the intercom, according to Sky Sports' television coverage of the event.
Give or take the expletive, Kvyat's battle cry was a carbon copy of Ricciardo's exclamation a year ago, perhaps offering an insight into why Red Bull's junior-driver scheme has produced so many exciting talents in recent times.
Are the young men within the program encouraged—or even actively trained?—to flaunt and constantly draw attention to their achievements, developing an unwavering self-confidence and allowing them to perform without fear?
That would explain why so many Red Bull juniors, despite their general lack of experience, have made seamless adjustments to F1 and provide a deeper meaning to Sebastian Vettel's trademark finger-waving celebration.
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