Unheard radio messages from the Canadian Grand Prix · RaceFans

The Canadian Grand Prix was one of the most challenging of the year for drivers as conditions varied between wet and, at the end, almost fully dry.

With so much going on several significant moments and collisions were unseen during the broadcast. Here are the highlights from the drivers’ radios.

2024 Canadian Grand Prix team radio highlights

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“He needs to be more careful”
“He just pushed me off
“It feels way more than half a second”
“Be quicker with the rain forecast”
“You know rules”
“Now it’s 30 seconds slower”
“Let’s try”
“Blue flag, Hamilton”
“Sorry for that. I was trying.”
“Nothing happening in front of us, eh?”

More:

“He needs to be more careful”

Carlos Sainz Jnr and Logan Sargeant were both destined to retire from the race in separate incidents, but the pair had a near-miss early on.

As the track dried out, Sainz was running 12th, and was initially eager to gamble on staying out on intermediate tyres when the rain returned. However his team mate was struggling with a power unit problem and Ferrari were preparing to bring him in for a long pit stop in an attempt to reset his electrics, which would lead them to gamble on a switch to slicks for him. Keeping Sainz on the more conservative strategy by fitting him with another set of intermediates meant they weren’t risking both cars.

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“He just pushed me off

Sergio Perez and Pierre Gasly clashed on the first lap – the Red Bull driver’s second first-lap collision in as many races, though this time he was able to continue. Later Gasly dived past Perez, who took to the run-off area in avoidance:

“It feels way more than half a second”

Charles Leclerc rose to ninth place at one stage in the opening stint but suffered a loss of power. He became more vulnerable as the track dried and DRS was enabled, which allowed Yuki Tsunoda and Alexander Albon to overtake him.

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“Be quicker with the rain forecast”

Having left it until the last minute to decide which tyres to take during the first Safety Car period, Sainz urged his race engineer to give him information more promptly next time. He was also told a problem with his car had seemingly cleared up.

“You know rules”

Further back, Zhou Guanyu also wanted more information from his race engineer, who felt his driver should have been able to read the Safety Car situation for himself.

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“Now it’s 30 seconds slower”

Leclerc’s pit stop did fix his engine problem but left him a long way behind. At his suggestion – which appeared to be communicated by a switch on the steering wheel – his team switched him to slick tyres. This was a gamble on the rain forecast proving to be an exaggeration, but it wasn’t, and Leclerc struggled enormously with his tyres.

That delay meant he was now being lapped by the leaders, losing even more time. Leclerc had already used more power unit parts than his rivals before the weekend began, so the team decided it was better to retire his car than to incur further wear when points had become unlikely.

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“Let’s try”

After Leclerc, Gasly was the next driver to risk a switch to slick tyres. He made the call by telling his team “let’s try” as he exited the turn nine chicane. His race engineer confirmed the decision as he bore down at the pit lane entrance, the minimal communications reducing the possibility others would realise what they were doing.

Although the conditions proved difficult at first and Gasly went off more than once, he was able to gain positions from others who pitted later.

“Blue flag, Hamilton”

Zhou’s switch to slick tyres was compromised by a long pit stop. He sat in the Sauber pit box with his medium compound tyres cooling, and was extremely slow when he joined the track.

That was bad news for Lewis Hamilton, who was gaining time after an early switch to slicks when he caught the Sauber, and lost well over three-and-a-half seconds in a single corner:

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“Sorry for that. I was trying.”

Sainz’s race came to an end when he spun at turn six and collided with Alexander Albon. Perez had made a similar mistake moments earlier and driven back to the pits to retire.

“Nothing happening in front of us, eh?”

Aston Martin enjoyed their best result of the season to date. But Fernando Alonso was disappointed more drivers ahead of them hadn’t been delayed as he collected sixth place.

2024 Canadian Grand Prix

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