Japanese Grand Prix 2019: Qualifying team radio
42 radio messages were recorded during qualifying at the Japanese Grand Prix 2019, across 18 drivers. 40 of them have a transcript; the rest are audio only. Pierre GASLY had the most, with 6.
These are transcripts of real team radio audio, produced by speech recognition and presented as an archive rather than as edited prose. Radio is clipped and noisy, so wording can be imperfect. Each message is attributed to the driver or their engineer, and the original audio is playable in the archive.
Who was on the radio
- Pierre GASLY · Red Bull · 6 messages
- Nico HULKENBERG · Renault · 5 messages
- Alexander ALBON · Red Bull · 4 messages
- Lewis HAMILTON · Mercedes · 4 messages
- Lando NORRIS · McLaren · 4 messages
- Kimi RAIKKONEN · Alfa Romeo · 3 messages
- Carlos SAINZ · McLaren · 2 messages
- Sergio PEREZ · Racing Point · 2 messages
- George RUSSELL · Williams · 2 messages
- Sebastian VETTEL · Ferrari · 2 messages
- Kevin MAGNUSSEN · Haas · 1 message
- Daniil KVYAT · Toro Rosso · 1 message
- Daniel RICCIARDO · Renault · 1 message
- Valtteri BOTTAS · Mercedes · 1 message
- Antonio GIOVINAZZI · Alfa Romeo · 1 message
- Lance STROLL · Racing Point · 1 message
- Romain GROSJEAN · Haas · 1 message
- Max VERSTAPPEN · Red Bull · 1 message
Every message, in the order it happened
Engineer: It goes green
Engineer: There's a good chance the three cars ahead of Kubica may well come back in the pit lane at the end of the lap. They're on hard tyres.
Pierre GASLY: Steering is a bit bent, right and side down.
Engineer: Copy that, try to sync the gears if you can before turn 9, position is good.
Engineer: OK Checker, so our plan is to reuse this set, we have time to be able to do the programme as planned still so we do have time to basically wait a minute and go again and do our programme again still as planned reduce the same set, so let us know if you've got any early thoughts. No,
Sergio PEREZ: sure, if we keep this plan.
Engineer: OK Checker, we'll have about a minute to our normal end of our programme basically so we've got about a minute when it does restart, so we'll normally get a bit of warning.
Engineer: Check out, so the wind is confirmed as being a strong tailwind from turn 14 all the way through 130R. It's maybe a bit less of a tailwind on the exit of 14, but it's definitely a tailwind once you get on that straight and through 130R all the way through the chicane and all the way into turn 1. So it's a tailwind really all the way through turn 1 until you get to turn 2.
Engineer: Ok Kimi, so everybody on outlap, you're tired now. Can you ask Antonio to let me pass, because I want to go fast.
Alexander ALBON: The steering is quite a lot to the right.
Engineer: Okay, understood. He's gonna have to live with it.
Kimi RAIKKONEN: I've got nasty tailwind in the... in the 14.
Engineer: Copy.
Engineer: Are you able to get the gear? It's a red flag. Okay, yeah, you're in neutral, so you should be able to get reverse now. Okay, so it's a red flag. We're just watching all the vibrations and everything.
Engineer: Okay, weaving as much as you can Danny for tires
Engineer: This new
Nico HULKENBERG: tyre didn't feel as good as a new one, and I don't know, really gusty. The car's getting pushed around a lot.
Engineer: Copy that Nico.
Engineer: And when you can, can you give us some balance feedback as well?
Daniel RICCIARDO: Yep, I had quite a lot of, felt like grouncing, especially up towards T1, so I felt I was bouncing quite a lot.
George RUSSELL: What do we think with surface temps? I think I'm over pushing it a bit in turn one
Engineer: And
George RUSSELL: the tires are maybe going to get too hot for the rest of sector one. Maybe no thoughts
Engineer: Okay, tyre wise we're in agreement with you
Lewis HAMILTON: How far is it? Up two tenths
Engineer: you
Lewis HAMILTON: say? Three tenths to
Engineer: Leclerc, three tenths, three and a half tenths sector one and you are up four hundredths sector three
Lewis HAMILTON: Others have stopped right?
Engineer: Affirm, other cars have stopped
Engineer: So Leclerc still 28.4 P1, he's still P4. So you can try diff high speed 6 and good track ahead. You've got album 7 seconds.
Engineer: currently P4 still cars out there setting times
George RUSSELL: Don't think that was too shabby was it?
Engineer: Yeah well Ricciardo that was P16, you were 2 tenths quicker in sector 1 2 tenths slower in sector 2 and then we lost a bit in sector 3
Engineer: And doing a good job, keep it up.
Engineer: There's a wind, seems to have got quite gusty. It's going up and down on the FIA number. Onslaught is stronger.
Lewis HAMILTON: Just let me know if the wind is picking up, you know, or changing direction
Nico HULKENBERG: That's no good these new tyres.
Engineer: Try to save some fuel please Niko, try to save some fuel, understood about the tyres, new set next.
Engineer: Hamilton 27.8 and Bottas 28.3, Charles 28.179, so like 5,000 slower.
Engineer: F***,
Nico HULKENBERG: I'm in 7th gear man
Engineer: Try coming down to 5th Nico, try coming down 2 gears Just watch out for cars coming past Nico, that is the end of our run I'm afraid
Engineer: Nico, that's game over.
Engineer: Currently P6, I'll keep you updated.
Engineer: So Carlos we're safely through
Engineer: Antonio we have P11 boxeslip, P11 boxeslip Copy
Engineer: OK, give me more charge, more charge, we are out, we are out, P-12. OK, P-13 now.
Engineer: P-12, Lance, P-12, confirmed.
Lance STROLL: Affirmative.
Engineer: OK, remember we are through, we are P10 and through into Q3, good job dude, good job.
Engineer: Ok Lando, you are the lead car so you can drive the Outlap exactly like you want it. Behind you is Gasly, then Bottas, Hamilton and Carlos.
Engineer: Track is clear, you can push.
Pierre GASLY: Ok, more on the steer, high speed, and less rear grip on all the convent traction
Engineer: So
Pierre GASLY: I think let's use tyres, but we need to come back with the aerobalance
Engineer: Copy that, do you think we're going to step too far with the rear tyres as well? Shape 5, offset minus 1, shape 5, offset minus 1
Pierre GASLY: I don't think so, with
Engineer: the rear tyres Copy that, you can push in the in-lap
Audio only, no transcript available for this message.
Audio only, no transcript available for this message.
Engineer: front flap how is front flap question let's go up for one copy
Engineer: Wind is slightly lower, wind slightly lower intensity, same direction.
Lewis HAMILTON: Places to find time again, a little bit at 8, a little bit at 11, 5, 14.
Engineer: So mainly 5, 11 and 14, 5, 11, 14.
Lewis HAMILTON: How far up are we?
Engineer: It's just over two tenths to Vettel in terms of sectors it's two tenths, sector one, tenth and a half, sector two you were purple, sector three
Lewis HAMILTON: Still didn't gain it though lost it, turn eleven still right?
Engineer: To yourself, yes and all cars into the pit lane
Engineer: Yeah, well done Alex very good effort first qualifying here very good lap time
Alexander ALBON: Thanks guys Thank you, Harry
Max VERSTAPPEN: Balance of the car completely changed, we did, so a big shame that we should have had this earlier.
Engineer: Ok, understood.
Engineer: How are we looking? We are P9, so behind the McLaren, in front of Grosjean. Good job guys, I think it's the best we can do at the moment, so good work. Now let's focus on the race, finish the job. Let's keep it up, the race is in 3 hours. We need to push a bit more, we need to stay negative please, stay negative, we need to push a bit more for timings. What is the gap with McLaren? Three and a half tenths, three and a half tenths. Ah, they are too fast.
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