Ladies and gentleman, damas y caballeros, bienvenido a un nuevo episodio de Formula 1 Radio. 

Okay, you get it, we are live from the Barcelona- Catalunya Circuit in Spain, another race track conquered by Mercedes and their brave warriors, Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton. Sunday’s Grand Prix was judged boring as hell by several fans, but we can assure you that Formula 1 Radio: Barcelona edition will not!

“Okay Kimi, straight out and radio check pit exit please.”
Kimi Raikkonen - “It’s okay.”
“Okay, good for me too.” (FP3)

Yes, Kimi, thanks for the excitement and for joining us. We know that the Ice Man loves to be left all alone in the car, but thankfully not every driver is like him on the radio. Someone loves to talk, someone loves to know everything, while others… need to fix their radios or steering wheel’s dash.

Nico Hulkenberg - “You said we box this lap?”
“Yes, Nico, box this lap, please, can we have a aero P4, 5th gear cruise exit Turn 9?” (FP1)

“For your info, we will correct that issue for the next run, so continue like this for this run.”
Pierre Gasly - “You’re really quiet on the radio, I didn’t… could not hear anything, can you repeat?”
“We will correct your issue at the end of the lap for the next run.”
Pierre Gasly - “Okay, copy.” (FP1)

Nico Hulkenberg - “Okay like now I go to scenario 8, but the display shows scenario 14.”
“Okay Nico, it’s showing you the recharge on selection moment for some reasons. Don’t understand why.”
Nico Hulkenberg - “It lasted for a while, actually.”
“Okay, copy.” (FP2)

“Push through to exit 9 and then max cool from exit 9.”
George Russell - “Repeat that?”
“You can push through exit turn 9 and then max cooling from there.” (Pre race)

Williams is still facing some hard times in the circus, as we saw in Baku, where everyone literally tried to destroy both FW42. It’s no surprise, then, that George Russell worries so much about his car, and not because of him being narcissist. 

George Russell - “I lost the mirror. [….] Do you copy regard the mirror?”
“Yes, copy.” (FP1)

But George likes to give feedbacks about everything when he is in the car. 

George Russell - “Struggling a lot with the rears sector 3… more front wing.. traction very poor.”

George Russell - “I’m really struggling on high speed, mid exit, traction, the rear feels light, it’s like I’m losing load through mid to exit turn 16, don’t have support.” (FP1)

George Russell - “What’s going on with the rear? Entry of the corners…” (FP1)

We appreciate the commitment: despite the lack of… well, everything from Williams, this rookie really believes in his team. 

George Russell - “Thanks everyone again for making the car ready, and apologies for FP3.” (Q1)

How sweet are our younger drivers? 

Another young driver had something to complain during the weekend, even though he’s a veteran. 

Max Verstappen - “Jesus Christ!”
“Yeah, understand Max.” (FP1)

And no, we know that Valtteri Bottas is really threatening Hamilton's domain, but Jesus Christ might be a little too much, Max.

Max has a close shave with Valtteri 🧔 #SpanishGP 🇪🇸 #F1 pic.twitter.com/b7LqA3QRtM

— Formula 1 (@F1) 10 maggio 2019

Max Verstappen - “There’s something when I’m accelerating..”
“Norris behind, outlap, coming through. We need to box Max.” (FP1)

Max Verstappen - “I.. I.. I lost power suddenly. I was accelerating and, wow.. I hit the paddle and it was not accelerating.”
“Okay, stand by.” (FP2)

And something similar happened to his team mate. 

Pierre Gasly - “Can you check a loss of power out of the last chicane?”
“Copy we’ll look.” (FP1)

Max Verstappen - “It’s still the same. I try all the things, but it’s the same problem.”
“Display 11, position 5.” (FP2)

Max Verstappen - “Unbelievable, again the last scheme.” (FP3)

The marriage between Honda and Red Bull has been discussed for so long, but the bulls made the best choice: all those issues gave them the second podium of the year! Max Verstappen is a hungry driver, he is looking for the Championship and knows that it will take a little bit of time to take it, but he is on the right path.

“Okay look out for Stroll now, starting his timed lap.”
Max Verstappen - “F**k him, he also f**ked my lap, so he can wait as well F**k.” (FP3)

Well, sometimes Stroll gets in his way, but whatever. 
We all have to accept him, Max, you are not alone.

Lance Stroll - “Jesus Christ… I hit the grass..”
“Copy that.” (FP1)

I wish you could hear his engineer’s tone of resignation. 

Grassy Stroll

💥😮

FP1 #SpanishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/qem4tPvI3m

— Formula 1 (@F1) 10 maggio 2019

The Honda engine power and the FW42 mirror were not the only things lost in Barcelona. A lot of drivers lost or broke something on their way..

Sebastian Vettel - “Check on board.. It felt like exit.. I looked like exit of Turn 15, there was something coming off, flying off from the front left corner.. can you have a look?”
“Okay, copy that.” (FP1)

Carlos Sainz - “Guys I need to box.. I broke the right… clutch paddle.. I could run, but I can’t find it, I don’t know where it is in the cockpit.”
“Okay, copy.” (FP2)

If the local hero knew exactly what he lost in the cockpit, someone else didn’t know what he was dealing with.

Antonio Giovinazzi - “Can you check on the cockpit… I felt like something on my.. legs.. losing a piece from there, there must be something.” (FP3)

Ehm, Kimi, do you have to tell us something? 

On the other side of the pit lane, Kimi’s replacement at Ferrari is losing something else: not car’s pieces, but tenths. 

Charles Leclerc - “Where am I losing?”
“You’re losing 2, 3 and 13.” (FP2)

Charles Leclerc - “I lost something. What did you say? At first, I lost something.. I think..”
“Okay, we are checking the data.” (Q2)

Charles Leclerc - “Tell me what you’ve see I’ve lost.. so I know exactly how to push. Tell me everything you know from the pitwall now until I push.” (Q2)

The red team has struggled so much since the start of the season: it has been eleven years chasing the Championship and guess what, they are slowly, sadly becoming eleven. Sigh! (Ferrari fans, don’t be mad at me please!)

Sebastian Vettel tried everything he could to make it, you know what they say: if you can’t beat them, join them. Or at least try to be like em. And Sebastian did it, with his aerodynamic haircut in the past seasons; it didn’t work for him (but the beard is working for Bottas!), so Sebastian tried to be like him.. on the radio!

Lewis Hamilton - “Tyres prep terrible… rears are gone.” (FP1)

Sebastian Vettel - “Had a bit of a messy lap, traffic and stuff. I’ll cool down and go again.” (FP1)

Lewis Hamilton - “Struggling… something feels wrong.” (FP2)

They apparently sound like twins. Do you remember all the chats Lewis gave his engineer about vibrations? Well.. 

Lewis Hamilton - “Just checking if everything is good with the floor, both sides.” (Q1)

Sebastian Vettel - “Copy. I am hanging on as good as I can with these vibrations. They are a pain in the arse. I can’t go by now on the main straight. And now look for me for pitting as soon as you can.. even with something, I don’t care, better than these tires.” (Race)

And what about gap from his competitors?

Lewis Hamilton - “Do you know what they’ve done the other side?”
“I think Valtteri just came down half.”
Lewis Hamilton - “So that’s two holes different to us?”
“Yes, Ricky was keen to go further, but Valtteri wanted to stick.” (Pre race)

Sebastian Vettel - “Do you have the gap?”
“Not yet.”
Sebastian Vettel - “You should find one then.. I don’t care if it’s traffic.” (Race)

But Sebastian still can’t find Lewis’ magic. 

Lewis Hamilton - “So just keep an eye on that magic for me, because I may forget to switch it off when I do use it.” (Pre- race)

Or Ferrari doesn’t have that button. Mmm, perhaps it would be better to focus on the car development to find “the magic”. 

Anyway, Lewis apparently didn’t like Sebastian copying him, so he got a little bit polemic. 

Lewis Hamilton - “Vettel’s been driving really dangerously in the pit entry. To then do.. burnouts to the line.” (Pre-race)

Also, Stroll didn’t make it easier. 

Lewis Hamilton - “There’s a lot of gravel there.”
“Yeah, copy.”
Lewis Hamilton - “Safety car goes way too slow.” (Race)

Bernd Mayländer will be very pissed off by this comment, and so will Toto: Lewis, did you forget the Safety Car is a Mercedes as well? 

But let’s discover who topped our magic Hit Parade for the Spanish Grand Prix! 

Third place for the Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. A bittersweet one. 

“Try to run as on Sunday, before the race..”
Charles Leclerc - “Yeah, yeah…” (FP2)

Ferrari’s engineer are so lacking of solutions that they try to imagine the race happens on Friday? It’s the only way to stay on top right now, apparently. So, so sad. C’mon, Ferrari, you can do it! 

Second place for Carlos Sainz and his engineer Tom. McLaren’s engineers are the best (do you remember Lando Norris’ team radio?) and I’m sure that they’re the kind of person that remember your name after you introduced yourself. 

“Darren, it’s Tom. Sorry Carlos.” 
Carlos Sainz - “Hello Tom, I’m Darren.” (FP1)

CONFIRMED: 'Carlos' is Spanish for 'Darren' 👍😆#F1 #SpanishGP 🇪🇸 @Carlossainz55 pic.twitter.com/Rs5KtxULYz

— Formula 1 (@F1) 10 maggio 2019

We love this kind of team radio!

To Alexander Albon - “Yeah, i don’t know what Carlos was doing there.” (FP3) 

Yeah, we’re pretty sure it was Darren, not Carlos. The Spaniard did a good job, in the end.

“Yes Carlos, get in! P8, great job mate!”
Carlos Sainz - “Ah, ah! Ah, that was fun! We finish the race P8 with no pace! Ah, that was a tough one guys, but well executed. We still score points when we don’t have pace, so.. BRAVO, BRAVO!” (Chequered flag)

Nice way to end his home GP!

This team radio would’ve top easily our Hit Parade, but someone decided to make a Guest Appearance in the “Haas Gate: it’s Gunther here.”
Yes, you got it, Gunther Steiner topped our Hit Parade!

Both Haas drivers, after the Safety Car, raced themselves, causing a little bit of drama. 
Firstly, both Kevin and Romain’s engineers tried to calm them down.

“Kevin, the message from Gunther to both drivers is to calm down, so both drivers calm down.”
Kevin Magnussen - “Yeah, absolutely, but I’ve..”
“Understood, yeah.”
Kevin Magnussen - “Really f**king tyres. If I drop behind him I will drop behind everyone.” (Race)

To Romain Grosjean  - “We need to hold station for now mate, hold station. We just need to calm down, if you do it, it has to be clean.” (Race)

Until the Checkered flag. It was THE MOMENT of the entire race!

Gunther Steiner - “Kevin, the first one to come and see is me, please.”
Kevin Magnussen - “Sure, no problem.” (Chequered flag)

Gunther Steiner - “Romain, this is Gunther. I will, I will.. sort this out, stay calm. Come back easy. Now just, er… we speak afterwards. But please stay calm, thank you.” (Chequered flag)

Oh, to be a fly on the wall in Guenther’s office…#SpanishGP 🇪🇸 #F1 pic.twitter.com/L2uXCE9pg4

— Formula 1 (@F1) 13 maggio 2019

This is unbelievable. F1’s Drive to Survive star has spoken. Just imagine how angry he was! We desperately wanted to be a fly on the wall in the Haas briefing room after the race.
We’re calling F1’s Drive to Survive cameraman and producers: please, tell us you’ve shoot everything for season 2!!!

And now, after this glorious moment, it’s time for another gate: the “Pit me when you can, let Sebastian by” gate.
Every GP Ferrari’s pit strategists give their fans something to complain and talk about.

Sebastian Vettel - “Pit me when you can.”
“Okay, copy.“ (Race)

Everything is still okay, until…

“And let Sebastian by, let Sebastian by, he’s on a different strategy.”
Charles Leclerc - “Yeah but I need to race.” (Race)

Already heard a team radio like this, right? 
But the real winner of our Special Prize: Honestly, what are we doing here? Is none of Ferrari’s driver, but Max Verstappen!

“Leclerc’s last lap was 23.0.”

Max Verstappen - “No way he’s going till the end.” (Race) 

I know that several Ferrari drivers think Max can deliver better strategies than the red pit wall. 

And with the Ferrari gate we close the Spanish Edition of Formula 1 Radio. 
We hope you liked it as much as we did. We can’t wait to spill every secret from the most glamorous track of all: Montecarlo! 
For now.. adios!