Say what? The best of race radio in Hungary

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New directives from the FIA in Budapest brought fresh restrictions on what teams can and can’t tell their drivers over the radio. That didn’t mean there weren’t any memorable soundbites, however, even if not everyone quite managed to keep to the updated guidelines…

“Something... there's some tape stuck on my front right tyres.” (Haryanto)
“Okay Rio, it may clear. It's most likely a tear-off. It should clear.” (Manor)
“No, it's red tape.” (Haryanto)
“Okay Rio, let's box now.” (Manor)
When Manor heard there were new radio limits, this probably wasn’t the kind of ‘red tape’ they had in mind, as Rio Haryanto picks up some unexpected debris in practice.

HUN Q1 12

HUN Q1 12

Ahh man, I crashed. It's unbelievable.

Felipe Massa

“Yeah, the understeer's a bit better, but we have this floating feeling in the rear.” (Button)
“Guys, I've got an overheating car.” (Hamilton)
There’s ‘rear end’ problems of differing kinds for British drivers in practice. As Jenson Button complains about his McLaren’s handling, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton finds his posterior getting rapidly warmer - the result of a damaged seat from his FP2 shunt.

“Is it okay to continue?”(Sauber)
“Nah, it's over. It's over, sorry.” (Ericsson)
It seems the Sauber crew haven’t seen footage of Marcus Ericsson’s qualifying off, as the Swede parks his car under the Turn 10 advertising hoardings. They got the message when they had to subsequently replace his chassis ahead of the race.

“We're expecting more heavy rain soon, so we need to make these first couple of laps count.” (Williams)
“Ahh man, I crashed. It's unbelievable.” (Massa)
Felipe Massa follows his team’s initial instruction and gets an early time on the board in qualifying. But when the weather shows signs of improvement, he quickly regrets his somewhat premature switch from wet to intermediate tyres.

“Okay, so that was Massa on an out-lap on the inters, in the bazzers.” (Red Bull)
Daniel Ricciardo is informed of the Brazilian’s plight. Translation: In the barriers.

“Ahhhh… f****** hell.” (Palmer)
“Yep, red flag. That's really unlucky.” (Renault)
“That's really poor.” (Palmer)
Massa isn’t the only one disappointed by his accident. It effectively ends Q1 - and Jolyon Palmer’s chance of progressing to Q2.

"You're still within DRS of Ricciardo." (Red Bull) "I'm driving like a grandma." (Verstappen)
Stuck behind team mate Daniel Ricciardo in the early stages of the race, Max Verstappen gives Red Bull a frank assessment of how much quicker he is than the Australian...

“Max, track limits, Turn 4. Track limits at Turn 4.” (Red Bull)
“Yeah, I know I ran wide - but I lost a lot of time.” (Verstappen)
The FIA were also clamping down on drivers exceeding track limits in Hungary, though Verstappen protests that he has gained no advantage - quite the opposite in fact.

Jenson Button (GBR) McLaren MP4-31 at Formula One World Championship, Rd11, Hungarian Grand Prix,

Jenson Button (GBR) McLaren MP4-31 at Formula One World Championship, Rd11, Hungarian Grand Prix, Race, Hungaroring, Hungary, Sunday 24 July 2016.

Oh fantastic, race from hell this is going to be!

Jenson Button

“And Fernando, we've had a final warning for track limits, we've had a final warning for track limits.” (McLaren)
“We are at two or three?” (Alonso)
“We are at three, we are at three. That was a final warning.” (McLaren)
Verstappen isn’t the only one sailing close to the wind in Sunday’s race. Fernando Alonso comes within one warning of a possible drive-through penalty.

“Pedal's going to the floor, pedal's going to the floor. What's the problem?" (Button)
“Okay Jenson, we're looking.” (McLaren)
There’s bigger problems in the second McLaren as a brake sensor issue gives Jenson Button an early scare.

“Jenson, do not shift, do not shift. We've lost hydraulic pressure.” (McLaren)
“So game over.” (Button)
“Jenson, stay out, stay out.” (McLaren)
“Oh fantastic, race from hell this is going to be!” (Button)
McLaren advise their man on how to resolve what sounds to be a fairly critical issue, but in doing so contravene radio restrictions, resulting in a drive-through penalty for the former champion.

“So the brake pedal going to the floor isn't classed as a safety issue? That's quite interesting. Think someone needs to read up on what is safe and what isn't.” (Button)
‘Less than impressed’ is probably a fair assessment of Button’s feelings on his punishment.

HUN Q1 09

HUN Q1 09

It's over, sorry.

Marcus Ericsson

“Okay Lewis, so Ricciardo is about to get on the back of the train, so we really need to open this gap up.” (Mercedes)
“Well I'm driving to the best of my ability with these tyres.” (Hamilton)
“Okay, copy that Lewis, but if these cars bunch up then we'll be bringing Nico in first.” (Mercedes)
“Well why would they do that? It's not like I'm driving slow, I’m trying.” (Hamilton)
“Yeah Lewis, the risk is that we are putting the win in jeopardy.” (Mercedes)
A frank exchange between race leader Lewis Hamilton and his pit wall ignites instant conspiracy theories that the world champion is deliberately backing team mate Nico Rosberg into Red Bull’s clutches. He soon finds the requested pace, however, and the danger is averted.

“So what happened there guys, why were you not ready?” (Perez)
“Understood Checo, understood. Let’s focus.” (Force India)
After a botched pit stop for Sergio Perez, Force India are in no mood for mid-race deliberations on the matter.

“He moved right and then back to left when I was going there and took my f****** front wing off!” (Raikkonen)
“Okay, copy copy. Keep pushing.” (Ferrari)
“If he's not stopping moving, then we will hit each other.” (Raikkonen)
The normally taciturn Kimi Raikkonen is emphatic in his condemnation of Max Verstappen’s robust defence of fifth place. The stewards saw nothing wrong.

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