2017 Canadian Grand Prix team radio highlights: Race

2017 Canadian Grand Prix

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Daniil Kvyat turned the airwaves blue after a frustrating Canadian Grand Prix for the Toro Rosso driver.

Felipe Massa made it three corners into the race before he was taken out by Carlos Sainz Jnr.

Massa’s car was wrecked by Sainz
Massa: “Unbelievable. I have no idea what happened. Somebody just hit me completely.”

“Kvyat had a problem. He will try to recover his position by Safety Car one line.”
Alonso: “He didn’t. He was behind me.”

After contact with Max Verstappen at the start, Sebastian Vettel’s front wing collapsed. He wanted to stay out but his team ordered him in.

Vettel: “Check the aero numbers, front-left. I have quite a lot of understeer. Little grip on the front-left. There seems to be an issue. I think I have damage on the front wing.”
“Yeah the front wing, we change it.”
Vettel: “Maybe we can delay that, stop a little bit…
“There is a risk to damage the car and it is too dangerous, so box now.”

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Lacking straight-line speed from his Honda engine, Fernando Alonso was vulnerable to other drivers.

Alonso: “Will be difficult to defend on the straights so think about the strategy.”
“Understood. At the moment we’re still thinking Plan A around the target stop lap.”
Alonso: “OK there is a lot of headwind on the straight so it’s difficult to keep the position.”

“OK Fernando this pace is good. We’re looking at Plan A plus five.”
Alonso: “You are not giving me useful information. I need the pace of Magnussen. I need other things.”
“Magnussen is still plus 7.7. We are matching his pace. He’s doing 18.2s as well.”

With Vettel stuck in the pack, Lewis Hamilton had an easy run to victory.

Hamilton: “Where’s Vettel?”
“So Vettel back in P6.”
Hamilton: “Is he coming through the pack?”
“Negative he’s still on used super-soft tyre.”
Hamilton: “Do you think he’s going to make it to the end on those tyers?”
“We’re not sure how he’ll get on but your level of management is excellent.”

It was a very frustrating race for Daniil Kvyat.

Kvyat didn’t have a happy time in Canada
Kvyat: “What a [censored by FOM].”

“Danny, box for drive-through penalty. We have a drive-through penalty. We were not in front of Alonso before the…”
Kvyat: “Ah, [censored by FOM] sake.”
“Just push Danny, we’ll see what we can do.”

Kvyat: “I had some strange vibration in the engine. Exit of turn three.”
“Box Danny. You will have a ten second penalty. Don’t worry, we are still fighting for P10.”
Kvyat: “What for?”
“Don’t worry. Box box.”

“Box Danny box. We will retire the car. Sorry for that.”
Kvyat: “[Censored by FOM] hell, guys.”

Force India put their drivers on different strategies but Esteban Ocon, on fresher tyres, got stuck behind Sergio Perez, who was in turn chasing Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull. Perez was unwilling to play the team game.

To Perez: “Checo, Esteban is saying he can overtake Ricciardo.”

“Checo at the end of this lap we would like to give you three laps to attack Ricciardo. Otherwise we will have to switch. Ferraris are closing.”
Perez: “It’s a waste of time, man. Ricciardo is degging off. I want the chance to overtake him. I mean, let us race, man. Please.”
“Checo the plan is we want to attack before the Ferraris arrive behind us so we are on that plan. If we switch and Ocon couldn’t get past we would switch back.”
Perez: “Ricciardo, I want the chance to go into the lapped cars. Just leave me along now. Give me a chance. We will pick up some traffic. There will be an opportunity.”

Kimi Raikkonen was closing on the trio when his car developed a brake-by-wire problem.

To Raikkonen: “OK Kimi you know the score. The front of this group is the podium. Let’s push on.”

“OK Kimi so when we get within DRS we’ll have engine five and OBR will be available. But it’s important to catch quickly.”
Raikkonen: “Yeah what’s wrong with my brakes? Losing the bite.”
“OK we’re checking on data.”

Raikkonen: “I have a BBW fail. What can you do.”
“OK.”
Raikkonen: “What can I do?”
“I’m going to get back to you. DDC seven on.”
Raikkonen: “Still system is failing.”
“OK let me see what we’re going to do next. It may have come back, Kimi, just try this corner.”
Raikkonen: “No it’s not.”
“So DDD four zero on.”
Raikkonen: “It’s still not working.”
“So DDA four two on. And can you push OBR button to on, push the OBR button, it’s important. And DDA forty-two on.”
Raikkonen: “So is it four D or forty-two?”
“Forty-two, Kimi.”

Hamilton took win number three of 2017
Vettel made it past the Force Indias.

“So keep pushing up to Perez, he will be in trouble soon.”
Ocon: “Vettel cut the track.”
“Vettel cut the track. So push now he’ll have dirty tyres and he won’t have DRS. Use your energy.”

After an untroubled race, Hamilton took his third victory of 2017 and Mercedes’ first one-two of the year.

“Nice work Lewis. Excellent race, mate. Walk in the park for you today.”
Hamilton: “Fantastic job guys. Well deserved. Great points for the team. Well done to Valtteri as well.”

The full race radio transcript will be published here later.

2017 Canadian Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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14 comments on “2017 Canadian Grand Prix team radio highlights: Race”

  1. I mean, let us race, man. Please.

    This quote should be taken by Liberty Media, print it, make a banner out of it, put it a big wall , and prohibit team-orders again. and we could all move on from the non-sense discussions that we around here on the subject.

    It is the sort of thing that depends on the colour and number of the car, and objective opinions on the matter I still haven’t found any

    1. @johnmilk Your beef seems to be with the implications of team orders on the ‘discussions’ fans have and the opinions they thus form on social media rather than with the consequences on the team in question. From a fan’s point of view, that’s fair I suppose.

      Fans and drivers are integral to F1… but so are the teams. If there’s even a slight possibility of a better result, and the team’s interest conflict with the driver’s, then the team should be allowed to have a say in the proceedings. Maybe not orders, but at least suggestions, which was the case with FI. They even offered the swap-back to Perez.

      The radio exchange sounded more like a suggestion/request from FI than an order, and Perez’s response was a firm ‘NO’. No harm done to the driver, but maybe a little to the team. I, for one believe that Ocon should have been given a chance because there is at least some evidence that he was faster.

      What Ferrari has done with team orders in the past is to benefit one driver at the loss of the other, which can be considered immoral. Small teams like FI seek benefit for the entire unit, and need every point they can get.

      1. @neutronstar my beef is with orchestrated overtakes, call me a purist if you want, I won’t mind it and won’t get offended by it if that is what I’m for thinking like this regarding the matter.

        Teams should have two things in mind when fighting for the WCC, build the best possible car, and put the best possible drivers on it. But let them sort it out on track, let them race. Is it a simplistic point of view? Maybe, but most often than not simplicity works.

        This swap back thing I don’t get it, if someone lets his/hers team-mate by and then they succeed overtaking the guy in front for whatever reason, he/she will look like a complete fool, not only there was a failure in defending a position, because essentially it was given away, and there is the embarrassment of failure for not overtaking (mind you there could be justifiable reasons for not being able to, such as strategy and so on). On the other hand if the positions have to be swapped again, they managed only to lose time on a theatre, I personally don’t get it, but then again, I just want to see some racing.

        1. @johnmilk That’s exactly what I’m trying to say. You’re looking at this from the perspective of a fan, and your point about team orders is completely fair as one. :)

          Simplicity works for you as a fan…it works to your satisfaction, but scenarios such as this can’t be predicted before the race, and the team has to take some prompt action when they actually do. FI started with advising Perez to allow Ocon to attack RIC, but in the end they chose to let their drivers race. They chose simplicity, and you saw what happened…Vettel took advantage of their scrap and overtook both in quick succession. You were able to watch them race, and as a purist you were satisfied. But the team? Lost the chance for a possibly better finish.

          You’re talking from a fan/driver perspective, and I’m talking from a team perspective…Really a matter of perspective here. Try switching to the perspective of an F1 team and your last paragraph won’t make as much sense.

          Somewhere, a compromise has to be made, but both sides (Team and drivers/fans) are equally important and have sound arguments. Team orders will always be a subject of debate in Formula 1.

          1. @neutronstar I get what you are saying from the team perspective, but it play with possible scenarios that most of the times don’t pan out.

            At the end of the day I’m the most important one in the situation, I’m a fan, I want to be satisfied. Entertain me peasents

  2. I remember earlier in the race, Perez was on the radio asking the team about Ocon’s position on track. Ocon was in P2 at that time. It seems Perez was worried about Ocon from early on in the race. No bias, just an observation.

  3. Ocon was clearly faster and on the better tires, so the team-order is valid, imho.
    Perez’s action, or lack off, costs FI a certain fourth position and a possible third. How much money is involved with those points? For a small team every point is important, certainly in the hard fight in the middle of the pack, this year.

    1. the loss of money from those lost points, is way less then the sponsorship from Carlos slim, therefor Perez can keep doing this. if FI fire him he will go to williams and lose 20 millionof sponsorship

    2. I disagree about third being on the table George. If you think about what happened, it’s pretty clear, to me at least, that swapping the two drivers wouldn’t have been a good idea in the end, and certainly wouldn’t have resulted in Ocon reaching the podium.

      When Vettel caught Ocon, he was stuck behind him for a few laps, unable to pass easily, thanks to Ocon being in DRS range of Perez. This held Vettel up for long enough to cost him a shot at third. If FI had swapped their drivers, Ocon would have likely got past Ricciardo too, but Vettel would have caught Perez, who was out of DRS range of Ricciardo by the time Vettel was behind Ocon, so he would have breezed past Perez without losing precious laps like he did behind Ocon. He then would have made quick work of Ricciardo, who likely wouldn’t have been able to stay within a second of Ocon. After that, he would have had a number of laps to catch and pass Ocon, due to not spending laps being held up by a DRS train. Ocon would have been a long way behind Bottas, so Vettel would have caught and passed him in 2 or 3 laps.

      Vettel was lapping consistently 1.2 seconds per lap faster than the two FIs and Dan, so without Ocon being stuck behind Perez, he would have passed all three with DRS. Ocon sitting right behind Perez getting DRS every lap is what helped Dan to a podium.

      I think if Ocon was allowed past Perez, he would have finished 4th, with Vettel 3rd, Ricciardo 5th and Perez 6th.

      1. The reason I think it would have been a bad idea, is because the FIs would have finished 4th and 6th, instead of 5th and 6th, and I don’t think the extra couple of points would have been worth the tension that would have been created within the team. Perez quite clearly wasn’t happy with being asked to move over.

      2. If Perez had let Ocon pass, then you agree that Ocon would have got by Ricciardo then there’s no reason why Ocon wouldn’t have been further ahead of Vettel than Ricciardo was – ie a good chance to finish third. Also during Ocon’s overtake of Ricciardo there might well have been an opportunity for Perez to get by as well, as often the overtaken driver is baulked. Also by not fighting with each other they wouldn’t have been dropped by Ricciardo so Perez would have kept in the DRS zone. Worst case they finish where they did, most likely 3rd and 6th, but best case 3rd and 4th (and assuming they stuck to the script that would have been Perez in third!) I think Perez was both selfish (and what F1 driver isn’t) but also short-sighted here.

  4. The dialogue between Kimi and his engineer should go a long way to silence the mutterings of fanboy conspiracy theorist that have already sprung up.

    1. Unlikely Bob. The conspiracy theorists don’t base their opinions on anything more than pure conjecture. They never let facts get in the way of their irrational hate of Ferrari, even when presented with facts, and the simple reality that other teams have been using clear team orders from way earlier in the season than Ferrari have in recent years, they just ignore it and act as if Ferrari are the only team who issue team orders. I especially like the ones who think Kimi is actually faster than Seb, but is being somehow sabotaged by the team lol.

      If they wanted a driver who’d never challenge Seb, why would they pay Kimi millions of dollars, and then sabotage him? They’d just get someone like Palmer or Stroll, who’d never get close to Seb anyway, and would bring millions to the team.

  5. Hmm… (looks at Kvyat’s radio transcript) no one cares about children this year… how strange.

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