A round-up of the best radio soundbites from the Singapore Grand Prix, after Sebastian Vettel’s championship took a turn for the worse and the subject blue flags made a number of drivers see red.
“Lewis, this is Toto. That was the most epic lap I have ever seen around here.”
A rare cameo from Mercedes boss Toto Wolff to congratulate Lewis Hamilton on his pole position in Singapore.
“I got hit by Sergio badly. Badly, badly.”
Esteban Ocon drops out of the race after a collision with his Force India teammate Sergio Perez.
“Sorry guys. There was no room. I basically did not even see him. Just felt the contact.”
Perez’s version of events from the same incident
“There’s a lot left on the tyres.”
Lewis Hamilton reports that his tyres are looking strong in the first stint…
“Hamilton reporting there is not a lot left on these tyres. That is what he has reported…”
“I don’t believe him.”
… and Ferrari misinterpret the radio call before being corrected by Vettel, who at that point had a front-row view of the rear of the Mercedes.
“OK, no chance. We were again too late … these tyres will not make it to the end … is there anybody else tight or any one else I should know about before it’s too late?”
As his race (and championship) unravels before his eyes, Vettel questions the logic behind his strategy.
“Charlie is not doing anything about him, huh? He really wants me to crash?”
A few laps before he drove into Sergey Sirotkin while passing him on track, Perez radios his team to complain about the Williams driver. FIA race director Charlie Whiting reported his actions to the stewards, who in turn gave him a drive-through penalty for his actions.
“What the f— are they doing?”
“Yeah, watching them Max, they are racing.”
Verstappen closes on Hamilton thanks to backmarkers Romain Grosjean and Sirotkin battling for position directly in front of him. But even though the incident nearly opened a door for Verstappen, he is as suprised as anyone about the positioning of the lapped cars.
“Ignore the brake alarm, ignore the brake alarm for the moment.”
Easier said than done! Ferrari insists there is nothing wrong with Kimi Raikkonen’s brakes midway through the race.
“This is not acceptable! The drivers on the lead lap should have the priority. Not the one getting the blue flags. It’s lost me 10 seconds.”
A rare outburst from Valtteri Bottas, who ended up stuck behind the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg but unable to get close enough to trigger blue flags to order Hulkenberg to let him by. Arguably, it cost Bottas a shot at fighting Vettel for the last podium position.
“Just FYI, you can’t see those flags.”
Hamilton reports that the blue flags are not easy to spot at racing speeds at night.
“Are the marshals having a little bit of fun waving the blue flags or what?”
“Yeah, they have, Charles. Just ignore for the moment, just ignore.”
If some drivers were struggling to see the blue flags, Charles Leclerc believes he was shown too many in his Sauber while on his way to an impressive ninth-place finish.
“Great job Bono, great job everyone. To everyone back at the factory, what a weekend! Keep pushing, keep pushing! We got these guys, come on, we can do this! Big, big thank you!”
Hamilton thanks his race engineer Peter Bonnington and the whole Mercedes team for a victory that his put him in a commanding position in the championship battle.