If you have watched Formula 1 on tv before, you will have noticed all the back-and-forth radio messages between drivers and their teams. These are a vital part of the race and are essential for good team performance. However, I’ve always wondered whether drivers can talk to other drivers during a race, particularly their teammates. This led me to investigate whether F1 drivers can speak to each other.
Formula 1 drivers can’t talk to each other during a race. The closest they can come to this is teammates asking their race engineer to give the team’s other driver a message (usually words of encouragement or helpful information about the race).
While F1 drivers can’t talk to each other during a race, it doesn’t mean the team radios aren’t crucial to a successful race weekend, and there is a lot to discuss. So, read on to find out why F1 drivers can’t talk to each other, how messages are passed between teammates and the role of team radios during the race weekend.
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Can F1 Drivers Talk To Each Other?
Formula 1 drivers cannot directly talk to each other. However, teammates can communicate with each other through their race engineers. In instances like these, the driver will ask their race engineer to tell their teammate something. This driver’s race engineer will then speak to the other driver’s race engineer, who will then communicate with their driver.
These are usually not complex conversations and are often words of encouragement or information about the race. Ultimately, while drivers compete in teams, F1 is fundamentally an individual sport, so having teammates talk to each other during the race would not be conducive to fair racing.
The same thing applies to non-teammates. Suppose drivers could communicate with each other while racing; they could use it to try to put the other driver off or unfairly complain to them. That is why drivers have no direct lines of communication with each other.
However, other teams have access to what all the drivers from the other teams are saying. Some of these will also be broadcast to the television audience. If the team deems this information relevant to their driver(s), they will inform them. This is generally when a driver of another team reports car or tire issues, which could lead to an opportunity to overtake them.
How Do F1 Drivers Talk To Their Teams?
Formula 1 drivers and their teams have radio systems that allow them to communicate. This allows the team to give the driver instructions, essential information, and encouragement while in their car.
The steering wheel on an F1 car is equipped with a radio button. When this is pressed, the driver can talk to their race engineer. This is done through a little microphone in the driver’s helmet. Drivers also wear earphones to hear their team speaking to them. The earphones and microphone are part of the same system, plugged directly into the car.
The race engineer is their primary point of communication and is who drivers speak to throughout the race. However, the rest of the team sitting in the garage and the pit wall, including the strategists, will be able to hear what the driver says.
In the garage or pit wall, all the essential members of the team will have a direct line of communication with both drivers in their team. They also have communication links to other people in the garage, which is essential, as F1 is a team effort, and different people need to be alerted about what they need to do.
These team members each have a radio terminal that feeds into their earphones. The audio will come through here, and if they want to reply, they must press a button and talk into their microphone on their headset. Some team members who move around the garage and between the garage and pit wall will use a portable radio. However, this offers fewer communication options than the stationary ones, but its portability and ease of use override this setback.
Each team’s specialist setup crews set up the whole communications system before a race. They ensure that everything is ready to go and is precisely the way it needs to be by the time the rest of the team arrives at the track ahead of the race weekend.
Why Communication Via Team Radio Is Important In F1
A lot of information needs to be shared when the driver is on track, which means communication is vital during a race. A breakdown in effective communication can be the difference between winning and losing a race.
It is important to note that this isn’t a one-way process, where information only flows from the garage to the driver. Firstly, the driver must provide feedback about specific changes to the car’s setup or strategy decisions. Drivers also tell their team about any issues they have.
Their first point of contact is their race engineer. Their race engineer will then talk to the relevant team members, which might be the drivers, other engineers, mechanics, or other people involved with the technical running of the car. The race engineer is also responsible for alerting the pit crew about the driving coming in for a tire change and what tyres need to be fitted.
These people will then devise a solution to the problem and relay that information to the driver. Sometimes this can be resolved by the driver manually changing their car’s settings via their steering wheel. Other times, it might be a terminal issue that will require the driver to come into the pit lane and retire the car, as the driver cannot fix the problem.
What Are F1 Team Radios Used For?
Team radios are a vital part of F1 as they are the drivers’ only link to the outside world. They are used to communicate with the driver about everything they need to know during the race. While the primary communication with the driver is done through their race engineer, other senior team members, like the head of strategy and the team principal, also talk to the driver during the race.
Read on to find out what is communicated over the team radio in F1.
Communication About Safety During A F1 Race
The team radio is used to communicate with drivers about all sorts of things that will affect their safety or other drivers’ safety during the race, including:
- Debris on the track.
- Stricken car on or off the track.
- Yellow flags (drivers need to reduce speed).
- Deployment of the safety car (drivers need to reduce speed and follow safety car).
- Red flags (race is suspended, and drivers must return to pits).
- Issues regarding their car (sometimes the driver may have to retire the car).
Communication About Strategy Decisions During A F1 Race
Another important use of the team radio is for strategy decisions. This will be communicated by the driver’s race engineer or a strategy team member, usually the head of strategy. Some of the communication involves:
- Telling a driver to make a pit stop.
- Telling a driver how close the trailing car is.
- Giving team orders (drivers in the team swap or hold position, depending on the circumstances).
Encouragement Via Team Radio During A F1 Race
Sometimes the communication via the team radio during a race isn’t about complicated strategy decisions or vital information to do with safety. This is because drivers are also provided with words of encouragement throughout critical points of the race. This is usually from their race engineer and the team principal.
Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer, Peter Bonington, provided the most famous words of encouragement in recent F1 history. His well-known words of encouragement to Hamilton are the phrase, “It’s hammer time Lewis,” which essentially means he needs to push his car to the maximum and drive at his very best to win the race.
Conclusion
Formula 1 drivers cannot talk to each other during a race. This includes direct communication between teammates. However, drivers can speak to their team in the garage and tell them about various important things during a race. Teams also regularly talk to their drivers about strategy decisions safety issues and provide words of encouragement.
References
- https://www.redbullracing.com/int-en/bulls-guide-to-team-radio#:~:text=The%20primary%20task%20of%20that,the%20private%20garage%20comms%20network.&text=Driver%20Communication%20Is%20Important%20Too
- https://headlinermagazine.net/audio-in-sport/riedel-f1-german-gp.html
- https://motorsport.tech/formula-1/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-f1-radios