Transcript: “I need more power” – Hamilton and Russell’s contrasting fortunes at Imola | 2022 Emilia-Romagna GP team radio transcript

The two Mercedes drivers lined up 11th and 14th on the grid for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, but finished much further apart.

George Russell made a strong start, picked up another couple of places and coped with a set-up imbalance as he claimed points for fourth place.

Meanwhile Lewis Hamilton was unsuccessful in his attempts to breach the top 10 and ended up stuck in queue of cars, ruing a lack of straight-line speed which made it difficult to overtake.

Their conversations with their race engineers throughout the afternoon reveal how their races unfolded, and also their contrasting styles on the radio. Russell had an almost continuous back-and-forth with his race engineer, Riccardo Musconi.

In contrast Hamilton’s exchanges with Pete Bonnington were much briefer. This reflects the difference between Hamilton in his 10th season as a Mercedes driver and Russell only in his fourth race for the team. The newcomer often prompted Musconi to confirm whether he was managing his car the way the team wanted him to.

Hamilton and Russell’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix team radio

Russell got away well and profited from the first-corner collision between Carlos Sainz Jnr and Daniel Ricciardo, moving up to sixth place. Although Hamilton also moved up thanks to the chaos, he lost a place to Lance Stroll who lined up behind him.

Lap	Speaker	Message	Speaker	Message
1	Bonnington	So Safety Car, Safety Car, staying out, keep the delta positive. So strat one, got Sainz in the gravel turn three. Get on that delta.	Musconi	Safety Car, stay out, stay out. Delta positive. So currently you are P6. Strat one.
1	Bonnington	Lewis, any feedback on track conditions?	Musconi	So we’ve got Sainz in the gravel at turn three. So it will go on for at least two laps.
1	Hamilton	It’s still very wet mate.	Musconi	Don’t let the tyres get cold. Keep those brakes happy.
1	Bonnington	Okay, Roger just try and keep as much temp as possible.	Russell	Fronts seem okay at the moment, right?
1	Hamilton	It was hectic into turn one, mate.	Musconi	So Sainz the gravel turn three on the outside.
1	Bonnington	Yeah, copy. Sainz on the left-hand side turn three in the gravel.	Russell	Safety Car needs to go as fast as possible in these conditions.
1	Hamilton	What position am I?	Musconi	Understood. We’ll report.
1	Bonnington	Currently P12.	Musconi	Tyres are losing a bit of temp, do what you can. Brakes looking good.
1			Musconi	We could do with more rear brake temps as well.
1			Musconi	Green 12 position four.
2	Bonnington	So we’ll be going around once more.	Musconi	So let us know if that car is being moved. We can’t see much action from the crane so far.
2			Musconi	Keep working the fronts.
2			Russell	It’s basically off the track now. Front tyres or front brakes?
2			Musconi	Front brakes. So the car has been shuffled away.
2			Musconi	So it looks like it won’t be this lap.
2			Russell	Are you happy with this many burn-outs?
2			Musconi	Affirm.
2			Musconi	So it will be one more lap.
2			Musconi	You could do more on brakes, both ends.
2			Russell	I’m on it.

Ahead of the restart, Russell was surprised to note how Charles Leclerc, two cars ahead of him, was treating his tyres.

3	Bonnington	Safety Car will be in this lap.	Musconi	Safety Car in this lap. Everything you can on tyres.
3	Hamilton	Turn five and six, a bit of a dry line. Similar through nine. A little bit through the middle of 12.	Musconi	Green 12 position three.
3	Bonnington	Okay copy. So leader has control. So you can go strat mode five and overtake is available.	Russell	Interesting Leclerc is cooling his tyres. I have no temp in my tyres.
3	Bonnington	Safety Car at turn 17.	Musconi	So Safety Car is at turn 14. It’ll be strat five. You have overtake for the restart. Safety Car at 15. So now Verstappen has got control he’s at 15.
3	Bonnington	Safety Car is in.	Musconi	Safety Car now at 16. Safety Car at 17. Safety Car at 18.
3			Musconi	Safety Car in the pits, be on your toes.
4			Musconi	So gap ahead and behind 1.2. Won’t be DRS in these conditions.
5			Musconi	Green 12 position one, green 12 position one.
5			Russell	Is it in?
5			Musconi	Affirm, yes, it’s in. So you keep up to date with the conditions out there.
5			Russell	Sector two’s almost dry, so far. Just sector one, turn one-two-three.
5			Musconi	Strat six.

Russell quickly found his way past Kevin Magnussen, while Hamilton was boxed in behind the Aston Martin ahead of him.

6	Bonnington	Think about coming down on HPP 12 if you need it.	Musconi	So gap ahead and behind 1.8 Verstappen, the leader 30.1.
7	Bonnington	Think about driving off-line to keep the tyres cool when you need it.	Russell	When do we start cooling tyres?
7	Bonnington	Losses to George, initial braking turn 14, turn 17.	Musconi	Affirm, start looking for water off-line.
7			Musconi	And George is all right-hand-side tyres, the left are good.
7			Musconi	Gap ahead 1.3, behind 2.7.
8			Musconi	Keep cooling right-hand-side tyres where you can. So tailwind at five kilometres into turn two. Prepare a green nine change, green nine.
8			Musconi	Gap ahead 0.7, green nine position three.
9	Bonnington	HPP nine position five when you can, Nine position five.	Musconi	Consider diff mid one.
10	Hamilton	[Unclear] with the tyres?
10	Bonnington	I think others are just mostly managing with the temps. Front-right maybe.
11	Bonnington	We’re seeing peak temps at turn seven. Just think about management there. Updates on track conditions?	Musconi	Overtake.
11	Hamilton	Still very damp mate.	Musconi	You have DRS. Er, you have overtake. DRS not activated yet.
11			Musconi	Magnussen still the car behind.
12	Hamilton	The pressures are real high.	Musconi	So Norris five seconds ahead. Magnussen 0.4 behind.
12			Russell	[Unclear]
12			Musconi	And let us know about dry conditions.
12			Russell	[Unclear]
12			Musconi	Gap behind 2.2. Norris, 32.9 free air.

George Russell, Mercedes, Imola, 2022 — Bottas hunted Russell down

Now running in free air, Russell felt more confident with the conditions and urged his team to consider taking the opportunity to be one of the first to put slick tyres on, and potentially make up places. However Mercedes were concerned he would immediately emerged in traffic if they did.

Russell couldn’t understand why other drivers behind him were reluctant to take the slick tyres. “I was asking to go slicks three laps before we boxed but nobody else was pitting,” he said.

“I would have just come out in the middle of the pack behind guys on intermediates. So I don’t know why nobody else at the back was taking the gamble because, for me, it was clear slicks I think three laps before I pitted.”

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13	Bonnington	Stroll ahead saying his tyres are starting to drop off.	Musconi	We have EB2 to help front right.
13			Russell	I don’t think it’s far off, to be honest.
13			Musconi	So it’s a good time to go strat six.
13			Russell	[Unclear] a lot of grip.
14			Musconi	George please verify if you lost a lot of grip or you’ve got a lot of grip.
14			Musconi	Lost a lot.
14			Russell	I think we can go this lap.
14			Musconi	Understood.
14			Russell	But we don’t need to be the first, I don’t mind.
14			Musconi	Affirm.
14			Musconi	So George we will be staying out.
14			Musconi	Nobody on slicks yet.
14			Musconi	So, George, a lot of traffic in our pit window so we’re going to go another five laps.
15	Bonnington	And remember to drink.	Russell	Understood.
15			Musconi	Remember to drink.
15			Russell	It’s dry. If it wasn’t for the traffic I’d box this lap.
15			Musconi	So you’re pulling two seconds a lap on of the cars in your pit window. So it will clear soon.
16	Bonnington	First car in the pits for medium tyres. He’s in last position at the moment.	Musconi	George, we still have Gasly in our window. It’ll be four laps.
16	Bonnington	Let us know what you think about the change to dries.	Musconi	So Ricciardo first car in for medium.
16	Hamilton	Still too early, unfortunately. It’s not far off though.	Musconi	He was at the back of the pack.
16			Musconi	So you can open diff entry to help with balance.
17	Bonnington	And if you can go menu wet one. Looks like we have reached the transition so George in this lap.	Musconi	So push hard now.
17	Hamilton	It’s still very slippery out here mate.	Musconi	Green 12 position three, green 12 position three.
17	Bonnington	Copy Lewis. Ricciardo is faster so we will box, box. Box, box.	Musconi	Blue 14 position one, blue 14 position one and box box box.
17	Bonnington	So box, we have your pit confirm.	Musconi	Give us a pit confirm, box box box.
17			Musconi	It will be slippery into the pit lane. Slippery into the pit lane. Box is slippery. Go clutch position shallow. You’re going to be on a medium.
18	Hamilton	Everyone’s in, man.	Musconi	Side by side with Valtteri down the pit lane. You’re going to be racing cars on exit.
18	Bonnington	So caution as you leave. You’re okay.	Musconi	All clear on exit. Diff entry up.
18	Bonnington	HPP 12, position four.	Musconi	Diff high speed to nine, you’ve got Perez 19 seconds up the road.
18			Musconi	So Norris very likely will box this lap, he was six seconds ahead of us.
18			Musconi	Norris is at pit exit. He will have warm-up.

Russell still changed tyres earlier than Lando Norris ahead of him, who he briefly closed on when the McLaren driver switched rubber the next time around. He was satisfied with the team’s decision not to bring him in sooner.

“I would have came out in P13, I think, in a load of traffic of intermediate runners. We were pulling in two seconds a lap on these guys, you needed them to pit to clear up the space for us to pit.

“I was shocked when nobody else went sooner, it was really strange because it was clearly dry.”

However one setback during his pit stop affected the rest of his race. Mercedes were unable to increase the front wing flap on his car, which was necessary to correct its balance for the move to slick tyres. He was told soon after he rejoined the track.

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19	Hamilton	How many positions have I lost now?	Musconi	Race situation you are P5. Bottas dropped 10 seconds with a pit stop.
19	Bonnington	So we’re now P14.	Musconi	So advise strat five, Norris eight seconds ahead.
19			Musconi	So, George, we didn’t get the flap adjust so you’ll be very shy of aero balance. That was the gun failing.
19			Russell	Understood.
20	Bonnington	And you’re the fastest man on track.	Musconi	So you’re purple sector two. Norris seven ahead. Norris 25.6, still going through warm-up.
20	Bonnington	Check diff entry, it’s in error. Ricciardo’s the car behind at 1.0.
21			Musconi	George we’ve got 41 laps to go. So expecting when the rear’s coming in the front will be the limitation.
21			Musconi	You’re already in green 12, it will be green 12 position one.
22			Russell	How are front brake temps?
22			Musconi	Brake temps are good. So race situation, Valtteri is 12 second behind with a train of cars behind him.
22			Musconi	Brakes are fine, braking for nine is good.
22			Musconi	So a good time to go strat six. Same pace as Norris ahead. Gap at six seconds.
23			Musconi	It’s 40 laps to the end, four zero.
23			Russell	I have under-rotation into 12 this lap.
23			Musconi	George, wind picking up a 10 kilometre tailwind into two.
24			Russell	Are you happy with diff high speed? Starting to understeer.
24			Musconi	Yeah, we are happy with that. It will be a front limitation.

Meanwhile Hamilton had lost another place in the pits to Esteban Ocon. The stewards judged Alpine had released their driver unsafely in front of the Mercedes and gave him a five-second time penalty, though this was only added at the end of the race and he continued to circulate ahead of the Mercedes.

Hamilton was finding it difficult to attack any of the cars ahead of him, saying his car was too slow on the straights. He queried why race control hadn’t activated DRS at this stage in the race, something other drivers also asked about on their radios.

25	Hamilton	There’s nowhere to pass on this wet track.	Russell	Feel like I’ve got a lot of brake fade into turn 17.
25			Musconi	Understood.
25			Musconi	Two tenths quicker than Norris, keep chipping at it.
25			Russell	I don’t care about pace at the moment I want to give the tyre [unclear].
25			Musconi	Affirm [unclear].
26	Bonnington	Okay copy that. Go HPP12 position one..	Musconi	So Norris is managing his tyres.
28	Hamilton	They should open the DRS by now.	Musconi	So similar pace to Norris still. Main losses to him five and six and 11 and 12.
28	Bonnington	Okay copy, we’ll chase it.	Russell	[Unclear]
28			Musconi	Copy, we are slightly quicker in a straight line.
28			Russell	Fronts.
28			Musconi	B mig five can help 17 18.
29	Hamilton	I am so slow on the straight, mate.	Musconi	Norris at 21.7. Bottas 21.9.
29	Bonnington	Copy Lewis. Gasly may have battery issues, unsure.	Russell	Would you like to me to push or manage?
29			Musconi	We want to manage it.
29			Musconi	33 laps end of this one.

With more than half the race still remaining, Mercedes’ concern for Russell was to keep him ahead of the driver who occupied his cockpit last year, Valtteri Bottas. Following a slow pit stop due to a temporarily cross-threaded front-right wheel nut, the Alfa Romeo driver was closing in.

Russell, meanwhile, was struggling more due to his shortage of front downforce. “It was doubly difficult because I was already struggling with a lot of understeer on the intermediate,” he explained, “so I would have wanted to make a big step initially for that and then another big step for that inter-to-slick change.”

31			Musconi	Same lap times to Norris and Bottas. They are stable.
31			Musconi	Go EB4 if you need more rotation.
32	Bonnington	DRS has been enabled.	Russell	Are you sure you’re happy with brake balance?
32			Musconi	We are happy with brakes. Can we have a bit of lift-and-coast for fuel saving. So hottest place turn 17.
32			Musconi	An update on wind still 10 kph tailwind into turn two.
33			Musconi	DRS has been enabled.
33			Musconi	Remember to drink. So with the temperatures we are seeing, there will be very little wear. 29 laps to go.
34			Russell	I’m starting to get an increase in the understeer. Keep me posted on your views on the management.
34			Musconi	So the level of lift-and-coast last lap is perfect to get to the end of the race.
34			Russell	I would like to do more lift-and-coast now to be in a better place at the end of the race.
35			Musconi	We are happy with that.
35			Musconi	Diff entry one is available.

Hamilton’s pace was badly compromised, and he soon got a call he did not want to hear: Race leader Max Verstappen, his former championship rival, was coming by to lap him.

36	Bonnington	You’ve got Verstappen race leader at four seconds behind.	Musconi	Norris ahead 21.4, he’s got a tow from Ricciardo.
36			Musconi	Bottas also 21.4 gap behind 10 seconds.
36			Russell	On my pit board [unclear]
36			Musconi	So target pace 21.7.
37			Musconi	26 laps to the end.
37			Musconi	So target 21.6.
38	Bonnington	And we have a blue flag Verstappen at 1.3.	Musconi	This pace is good.
38			Musconi	So Valtteri 20.9. Target 21.2.
38			Russell	[Unclear]
38			Musconi	We’ll come back to you.
39	Bonnington	Blue flag Verstappen.	Russell	I would go a lot quick with no [lift and coast]. It’s still saying minus 12 [unclear].
39			Musconi	Copy that. Gap behind 9.5.
39			Russell	[Unclear]
39			Musconi	Green three, position one, green three, position one. ACS off.

As the race drew towards its final phase, Russell was growing increasingly concerned about his tyres. “That front-right was just falling to bits, it was so far out of bed on the set-up.”

He asked the team if it would be possible to make a pit stop at the end of the race, but they were wary of surrendering places to their rivals.

40			Russell	[Unclear]
40			Musconi	Gap behind 8.7.
40			Musconi	So a very small level lift-and-coast required.
40			Musconi	So Valtteri 20.8, we need to be three-tenths slower at least, 21.1 pace.
40			Russell	I have a load of understeer. Can we go for tyres at the end?
41			Musconi	So we’ve got three cars in our pit window. At this pace we’ll clear them only around the last lap. Stopping would lose position to Valtteri.
41			Musconi	Ricciardo two seconds ahead. He’s a backmarker.
41			Musconi	You need to be within 1.2 to get the blue flag. Gap 1.5.
42			Musconi	Gap 1.4.
42			Musconi	Gap 1.2. They’ve got blue flags.
42			Musconi	George, give us a lap to show us what your pace is.
43	Bonnington	Lewis can you go HPP3 position four when you can.	Russell	I can’t go that much quicker because of the understeer.
43			Musconi	Affirm.
43			Musconi	So behind Bottas, 17 seconds, we got Vettel, Magnussen, Tsunoda in our window.
43			Russell	I can see the inside shoulder front-right [unclear].
43			Russell	Copy.

Russell was told he would have to tough it out until the end. Meanwhile Hamilton was also entertaining similar thoughts about an extra pit stop.

44	Hamilton	Nothing good.	Musconi	So, George, the best option is defending with Valtteri to the end. You have both your windows.
45	Hamilton	How many laps left, mate?	Musconi	18 laps to the end.
45	Bonnington	It will be 16 laps.	Musconi	Gap to Valtteri 5.1, he still goes through Ricciardo.
45	Bonnington	We’re going to have Perez and Leclerc coming through soon. You’ve got Perez 2.5.	Russell	Are you happy with my [unclear] deployment? Or we need some [unclear] for the end?
45			Musconi	So we are OK with fuel to the end.
46			Musconi	Tyre temps are still in a good place, we can push them hard later.
47	Hamilton	This car is something else, man.	Musconi	So 16 laps to go. Gap behind now is Bottas 4.5.
47	Bonnington	Copy Lewis. We have blue flag, Perez, 1.1 behind.	Musconi	Let us know how the tyres are on the blue switch.
47	Bonnington	Blue flag Perez.	Musconi	So the gap behind Valtteri is still 17 seconds.
48	Bonnington	Got Leclerc behind at two seconds.
48			Musconi	So target pace -0.2 on your dash, just stay ahead.
48			Musconi	And for dry, shift is green 13 position seven. That will help also with fuel.
49	Hamilton	If we pit can we jump any of these guys?	Musconi	That’s green position seven.
49	Bonnington	Stand by, we’re looking at it.	Russell	The tread looks very thin, the inside shoulder.
49			Musconi	Understood.
50			Musconi	Gap behind at 2.4, Valtteri’s pace 20.8.
50			Russell	Update on wind.
50			Musconi	So still the same five kilometres of tailwind into two.
50			Musconi	And still stopping not an option, we’d lose position also to Vettel and Tsunoda.
51			Musconi	12 laps to go. Gap behind…
51			Russell	Are we inside the VSC window?
51			Musconi	Affirm, you are in both windows.
51			Musconi	So don’t worry about using the tyres, you have 19 seconds behind Valtteri.
52	Bonnington	Maybe debris exit of the chicane, turn 15.	Musconi	Gap behind 1.7.
52			Russell	[Unclear]
52			Musconi	Affirm.
52			Musconi	Gap 1.5.
52			Musconi	Double yellow, double yellow ahead, Leclerc spun at the chicane.
52			Musconi	Leclerc four ahead.
53			Musconi	Gap behind 1.7.
53			Musconi	Gap 1.6.
53			Musconi	Gap behind 1.4 Green three position two, more performance.

As Bottas closed on Russell, Mercedes became increasingly wary of the Alfa Romeo getting within DRS range.

However Hamilton was finding his DRS was of little use in attacking the cars ahead of him, as they were also able open their rear wings. He told his team he needed more power, and did not agree with their suggestion he wasn’t activating their ‘overtake’ boost as early as was possible.

54	Bonnington	So we’ve got Verstappen…	Russell	You don’t need to tell me the gap if he’s not in DRS.
54	Hamilton	I need more power, guys.	Musconi	Gap 1.3.
54	Bonnington	So Lewis we’ve got Verstappen again, 1.6 behind.	Musconi	Gap still 1.3, remember you have strat five when you’re going to need it.
55	Bonnington	Blue flags for Verstappen at 1.0.	Musconi	You’ve got eight laps to go, eight laps.
55	Bonnington	Lewis, there is a little bit of scope to press the overtake a bit earlier.	Russell	Let me know gap entry of 15.
55	Hamilton	Trust me I would press it earlier if I could, I’ve got no grip out here.	Musconi	Gap 1.1.
55	Bonnington	Okay copy.	Musconi	Gap second he should not have DRS.
56			Musconi	Gap one second.
56			Musconi	He will have DRS.
57			Musconi	Gap still one second.
57			Musconi	Gap 0.7.
57			Musconi	Gap 0.6.
58	Bonnington	Lewis, maybe a little bit of rain at the end of the race, the last couple of laps, it will be approaching from the turn seven region.	Musconi	Forecasting light rain on the last two laps, coming at turn seven.
58			Musconi	Gap 0.6.
58			Musconi	Gap 0.7. Fuel safe to the end.
59			Musconi	Gap 0.7.
59			Musconi	Four laps to go.
59			Musconi	Gap 0.7, use more de-rate where possible.
59			Musconi	Gap 0.7.
60	Hamilton	[Unclear]	Musconi	Gap 0.6.
60	Bonnington	So we’re only going to get one more lap, Lewis.	Musconi	Keep using that de-rate button it will protect you into two.
60			Musconi	Gap 0.6.
60			Musconi	Still 0.6.
61			Musconi	0.6. Got two more laps.
61			Musconi	Getting low pack. As much de-rate as you can.
61			Musconi	Gap 0.5.

Having been lapped, Hamilton took the chequered flag on the tour before his team mate. Russell had picked up another position thanks to Leclerc’s spin, and successfully held off the charging Bottas to the end of the race. The mood was very different on the Mercedes drivers’ radios as they drove back to the pits.

62	Bonnington	Okay Lewis another rough day in the office I’m afraid.	Musconi	Final lap. Can use it.
62	Wolff	Lewis, hi. Sorry for what you have needed to drive today. I know this is undriveable. And not what we deserve to score as a result. So we’ll move from there, but this was a terrible race.	Musconi	Still need some de-rate after this, same as previous laps.
62	Hamilton	Yeah no worries Toto. Let’s keep working hard.	Musconi	Gap 0.8.
62	Wolff	Yeah we will come out of this.	Musconi	Gap 0.7.
62	Bonnington	Can you go strat more one please mate.
63			Musconi	Well done there. I don’t know how you got it. P4.
63			Russell	Ah great job guys. That was so difficult with that front wing. Very good recovery. Sunday is when it matters. Good job.
63			Musconi	Green one position 14.
63			Russell	Are we good for fuel?
63			Russell	We’re fine, we’re find.
63			Wolff	George, well done. We’re missing that front flap, but considering that you really held on well, congratulations.
63			Russell	Thanks Toto.
63			Musconi	So final order, Verstappen and Perez, they stopped a second time for softs. Norris, yourself, Valtteri, Leclerc, Tsunoda, Vettel, Magnussen and Stroll finishing P10.
63			Musconi	So you’re coming into the pit lane.

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