Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/764316
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 18 DECEMBER 2016 57 Sport FORMULA 1 The best radio messages of the 2016 F1 season DESPITE the FIA's initially tighter communication guidelines, team radio still provided entertainment over the course of the 2016 season. GPUpdate.net has compiled some of the best messages of the year. "The whole race I'm in front and I'm pulling away, and now you don't let me past, it's a f**king joke, really." – Max Verstappen vents his frustra- tion at Toro Rosso's strategy in Aus- tralia. "Guys, listen to me, this is a win for us, this is a win! Unbelievable for everyone! Unbelievable! I don't even know where we finished, unbelieva- ble! [Grosjean is told he is P6] Oh my goodness! Welcome to Formula 1, Gene. This is the day, this is history guys." – Romain Grosjean expresses elation at Haas' debut result. "OK, I think I'm losing a little bit of water from the drinks bottle. My bum starts to feel a bit wet." – Sebas- tian Vettel encounters an uncom- fortable problem during practice in Bahrain. "That was a good lap, that was a sexy lap!" – Lewis Hamilton airs his satisfaction after setting a new lap record in qualifying. "There's no way I'm going to get past the Manor. It's like a rocket on the straight." – Kevin Magnus- sen finds himself at a disadvantage against Pascal Wehrlein. "Do you really want that I keep go- ing because it's just absolute s**t?" – Kimi Räikkönen is less than enthu- siastic over his practice run in China. "Noooooo. Aaaaaargh. Argh." – Fernando Alonso vents his frustra- tion as a red flag ruins the final Q2 runs. "I made contact, I had no chance to avoid, I had the Red Bull coming up the inside like a madman, and I hit Kimi. Just to copy you again, Kvyat's attack was suicidal, there was always going to be a crash. No way with the speed he had that he could have done the corner..." – Vettel makes sure the world knows his view on Da- niil Kvyat's Turn 1 approach. "Oh I'm out! Crashed! Somebody hit me in the f**king rear, Turn 2, and then somebody hit me in the f**king rear again, in Turn 3, for f**k's sake. Honestly. What the f**k are we doing here?" – Vettel turns the air blue after he is eliminated on the opening lap in Russia. "You like my pace? Do you like it?" – Sergio Pérez produces an almost- comical message for his Force India engineers. "Yeah, something is happening guys, it's just undriveable. You do what you want but I think we are f**king up somewhere." – Grosjean shows displeasure with Haas' VF-16. "Well, that's great, isn't it? I just got overtaken by [Rio] Haryanto. Get the car out the way. I know he thinks he's quick but he's not." – Jenson Button's strategy drops him behind the Manor racer in Spain. "F**k, if I don't avoid that he's just going straight to my car! Honestly, what are we doing, racing or ping pong?" – Vettel vents at Ricciardo's lunge into the first corner. "It was like driving on ice the last 10 laps, unbelievable." – Verstappen relates his feeling after clinching his maiden Formula 1 victory. "Yes, thank you guys. It's my time. My f**king time." – Daniel Ricciar- do delights in securing pole position in Monaco. "What the f**k did Kvyat do?" – The usually laconic Magnussen can't quite believe a lapped Kvyat strikes him at La Rascasse. "For what reason?! Give me a rea- son why!" – Felipe Nasr questions Sauber's team order; his refusal leads to Marcus Ericsson ultimately instigating a collision. "Save it. Nothing [you guys] can say can make that any better. Just save it." – A disconsolate Ricciardo after a pit-stop blunder costs him victory in Monaco. "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, that was for Muhammad!" – Hamilton dedicates his success in Canada to the late Muhammad Ali. "I'm losing tyre temperature like crazy because, I don't know, Alonso is taking a bus tour around Baku." – An irascible Vettel hits out at the McLaren driver during practice in Baku. "You guys need to pick up the pace." – Hamilton urges Mercedes to address his engine de-rating issue. "I might not finish the race 'cos I'm gonna try and change everything." – Hamilton runs out of patience and vows to fiddle with settings. "Err, we don't advise that Lewis," comes the reply. "He's changing direction, five times!" – Wehrlein criticises Mag- nussen's defending in Austria. "Yeah, it wasn't me that crashed." – Hamilton gives his view on the last-lap Mercedes collision after be- ing told it "wasn't quite the result we wanted". "Avoid seventh gear Nico, avoid seventh gear." – Nico Rosberg re- ceives an illegal instruction in Brit- ain. "So the brake pedal going to the floor isn't classed as a safety issue? That's quite interesting. I think someone needs to read up on what is safe and what isn't." – Button suggests the much-criticised FIA guidelines on radio advice requires amendments in Hungary. "I'm driving like a grandma." – Verstappen gives his opinion on his race pace. "He moved right and then back to left when I was going there and took my f**king front wing off!" – Räik- könen is not enamoured by Verstap- pen's defending. "Guys are you sure the aero is cor- rect? I almost spun!... Oh the gear- box! What's is happening with the gearbox? Help me." – Grosjean is all at sea during practice in Germany. "F**k, really horrible. What the f**k is going on?" – A dejected Kvyat is clueless after elimination from Q1. "Can you explain to them that I was on full lock on the steering wheel and that I couldn't steer any more, and he moved in braking. That was the big problem, that's completely not allowed!" – Rosberg offers his justification to the stewards following his run-in with Verstappen. "Negative, I'm going to take a cou- ple more laps." – Vettel takes strat- egy into his own hands, off the back of several failed approaches earlier in the season. "Esteban's my favourite, I love this guy." – A sarcastic Ricciardo makes known his feelings on Esteban Gutié- rrez's blue flag conduct. "Don't worry, I will lose another position in the next stop and I will recover it myself." – Alonso criticises McLaren's strategy, having dropped behind Pérez in the pits, before re- passing him on-track. "Hey, come on, this is f**king ri- diculous now, he's just f**king turn- ing when I'm going full speed on the right!" – Räikkönen sheds his ice-cool persona when battling Verstappen in Belgium. "Stop the car and switch off, stop the car and switch off, stop the car and switch off." – Wehrlein is told in Italy. "You want me to stop the car?" comes his deadly serious reply. "Really good job, excellent job on that first stint Nicola." – Rosberg's race engineer Tony Ross celebrates victory. "Thank you very much Thomas," comes the equally cheeky reply. "What you do need to remember is that it is Felipe Nasr." – Ricciardo's engineer joins in with the Austral- ian's criticism of the Sauber driver during Singapore practice. "Yeah, there's a giant lizard on the track. I'm not joking. Out of Turn 3." – Verstappen channels his inner Da- vid Attenborough during practice. "Kev jump out, jump out. Get Kev out, get Kev out." – Magnussen's en- gineer acts rapidly when the Renault catches fire during practice in Ma- laysia. "Really, Sebastian is crazy, he f**king crashed into Robserg like an idiot." – Verstappen provides his viewpoint of Vettel's approach to Turn 1. "No way, too much degradation." – Alonso discounts McLaren's strategy of "Plan A plus five". "Oh no, no!" – A critical moment of the season as a wailing Hamilton realises the magnitude of his engine failure while leading. "Oh, the annoying octopus is back. It's quite small, it's a baby octopus." – Kvyat causes bemusement during practice in Japan, later clarifying the 'octopus' as tyre rubber caught in the sensor aerial. "Mate, the brake doesn't brake." – Grosjean unearths a worrying prob- lem after hitting the barriers during practice. "See ya later." – Hülkenberg turns cowboy after rounding Valtteri Bot- tas at the Casio Triangle. "This is ridiculous, honestly, I lost a second, for nothing." – Vettel's blue-flag angst returns. "Hi Nico Rosberg, it's Johnny Her- bert, we are live on air, please do not swear," – A different form of post- qualifying interview is trialled after Rosberg secures Suzuka pole. "I got hit very bad from behind, what an idiot, what a f**king idiot," – Pérez lashes out at Kvyat after be- ing hit in Austin. "I'm not here to finish fourth." – Verstappen replies to Red Bull's re- quest to preserve his tyres. "Yeah, I've known this the whole race!" – Palmer responds to Re- nault's assertion that he is quicker than team-mate Magnussen. "So, they got a free pit-stop basi- cally? That's so f**ked" – Ricciardo is not amused by Rosberg being able to pit during the Virtual Safety Car period. "Keep me posted on Rosberg's times. I'd love to catch that motherf**ker." – Ricciardo demands information from Red Bull soon after his initial message. "Yeehaa!" – Alonso adopts the lo- cal dialect after passing Carlos Sainz Jr. for fifth. "Can I go for a wee?" – Vettel wants to use the facilities after safely securing a Q3 spot in Mex- ico. "Yes, I'm pushing, I'm pushing from lap one, but we have traffic for 15 laps, with a car that should not be in the race [referring to Sainz]. You do your job and I do mine." – Alonso swats aside McLaren's request to up the pace. "He has to let me go, he has to let me go!" – Vettel begins to lose his head over Verstappen's antics. "Am I the only one or are you not seeing what I'm seeing?" "Yeah, you know what, here's the message for Charlie, f**k off, honestly f**k off " – Vettel delivers an astonishing tirade against FIA Race Director Charlie Whiting. "Lewis at the start, that's just… put a f**king wall there and they won't do it. Those f**king guys. F**king kindergarten stuff," – Ric- ciardo airs his thoughts on track limits. "Yeah, we've definitely sorted those problems out, haven't we?" – A sardonic Button having been knocked out of Q1 in Brazil. "Yeah, heartbeat went a bit high- er there." – Verstappen reacts to his huge moment through Subida dos Boxes. "OK Lewis, this is an instruction. We need 45.1, 45.1 for the win." – Hamilton's engineer gives an order during the tense Abu Dhabi finale "I suggest you guys let us race." – Hamilton is in no doubts over what the course of action should be. "Lewis, this is Paddy, we need you to pick up the pace to win this race. That's an instruction" – Pad- dy Lowe makes a very rare appear- ance on the airwaves. "Paddy, I'm actually in the lead right now." – Hamilton does not agree with Lowe's instruction. "Right now I'm losing the World Championship, so I'm not really bothered if I win or lose this race." – With a few laps to go, Hamilton has one last roll of the dice. "We did it! We did it!" – Rosberg revels in achieving his childhood dream, after following Hamilton home in second position to end the season five points clear. "Thank you guys, thank you very much, I will never forget this car, this team, this moment, this job. I love you guys." – Felipe Massa bows out of Formula 1 with a mes- sage for Williams.