“You need to be more on it”: 12 unheard radio exchanges from the Chinese GP

Un-broadcast radio messages from last weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix reveal how Aston Martin blamed Carlos Sainz Jnr for the collision between Lance Stroll and Daniel Ricciardo, how Haas played a strategic masterstroke at the start, why Pierre Gasly was frustrated with his team’s tactics and more.

Plus, why did it take so long for the race to restart following the two Safety Car periods, and how Zhou Guanyu was unaware Formula 1 planned a special post-race celebration for him.

Hulkenberg’s early stop

Whoever was first into the pits stood to claim an advantage by getting onto fresher tyres before their rivals. Haas made sure Nico Hulkenberg pulled it off with a very late call for him to pit – so late, in fact, he admitted he anticipated it.

“We’re Racing Ferrari, no?”

Early in the race, McLaren discovered to their surprise their pace was strong compared to rivals Ferrari. Lando Norris encouraged his team to forget about covering off rivals such as Fernando Alonso and George Russell and focus on out-running the Ferrari pair. It paid off.

When Valtteri Bottas came to a stop, Norris was braced to pit if a Virtual Safety Car or Safety Car period began. To his frustration, the VSC was called moments after he passed the pit lane entrance.

To his relief, the VSC period continued for over a lap, and he was able to pit without losing time to the Ferraris.

Leclerc queries Alonso

Several drivers darted into the pits to change tyres when the VSC period began, including Leclerc. He was surprised to emerge from the pits slightly behind Fernando Alonso, who got to the crucial Safety Car Line Two before him. Leclerc urged his team to check Alonso had followed the rules, and as no action was taken, it appears he did.

Gasly’s Hamilton frustration

Another close call occured at the pit exit line between Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly. After examining footage of the moment the pair reached the line, Alpine told their driver they had to let Hamilton by. Gasly was unimpressed:

Gasly could console himself with the fact Alpine had at least advised him what to do. In another similar incident, Williams failed to tell Logan Sargeant he needed to let Nico Hulkenberg overtake him, and he ended up collecting a 10-second time penalty.

“It was maybe Sainz”

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At the end of the subsequent Safety Car period, the field bunched up approaching turn 14, and Lance Stroll clattered into the back of Daniel Ricciardo. He struck the RB with enough force to send it into the McLaren of Oscar Piastri in front of them.

Stroll and Ricciardo blamed each other, but the stewards held the Aston Martin driver responsible. He was given a penalty, but at the end of the race Stroll’s race engineer suggested Carlos Sainz Jnr had been at fault.

Oblivious Piastri

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Meanwhile Piastri was unaware he’d been hit, until he experienced the degraded handling of his McLaren resulting from his damaged diffuser.

“I’m passing him anyway”

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Ricciardo’s frustration over the Stroll incident got the better of him. Hulkenberg had passed him while contact was made, and behind the Safety Car he chose to re-pass the Haas driver without waiting for his team to advise him.

This was a costly mistake. The stewards penalised Ricciardo for overtaking under the Safety Car, and he will have a three-place driver penalty at the Miami Grand Prix.

RB tried to keep Ricciardo in the race, but to his obvious disappointment he was forced to retire. He remains yet to score a point this year, and had been ninth before Stroll hit him.

Debris delay

Some driver queried why it took so long for the race to restart after the two interruptions. On each occasion it was because other drivers had reported debris on the track:

Alonso had good reason to want the Safety Car to stay out longer as he had switched to the soft tyres while others were on hards. But he wasn’t the only driver drawing race control’s attention to debris on the track:

Leclerc’s misunderstanding

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Towards the end of the race, Leclerc was puzzled by a message from his race engineer:

Norris’ pit error

Having finished in the top three, Norris was supposed to park on the pit straight, but drove into the pits instead. His team discouraged him from reversing back onto the track. In a series of messages which weren’t broadcast, Norris ribbed his race engineer about the error.

Gasly’s concern

A mechanic was knocked over during one of Pierre Gasly’s pit stops when he was incorrectly told to leave too soon. After taking the chequered flag, Gasly checked up on his condition:

Zhou unaware of post-race plan

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For Zhou’s home race, Formula 1 arranged a special celebration to take place after he took the chequered flag. Although it was mentioned in the pre-race notes, it came as a surprise to the local racer, who emerged from his car on the start/finish straight to the cheers of the crowd: