• Radio Ga Ga - German Grand Prix

'That's the last time I'm going to ask you!'

Nate Saunders July 22, 2014
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Wheel-to-wheel racing was back on the menu at Hockenheim, leading to its fair share of tantrums, sarcasm and misunderstanding between drivers and the pit wall during the German Grand Prix.

"Lewis, are you ok?"
"I'm OK. Something... [sighs] hit the brakes and the brakes failed."

A frustrated Lewis Hamilton gathers his composure to respond to a concerned Peter Bonnington after a violent spin into the tyre barriers caused by a brake failure in qualifying.

"Unbelievable. What's happened now?"

Romain Grosjean cannot believe his continuing bad luck as an engine cooling issue forces him into another retirement.

"We need to increase the gap to Alonso."
"Yeah. Tell that to my left rear tyre."

Sebastian Vettel reverts to sarcasm as he finds a unique way to tell race engineer Guillaume Rocquelin he is struggling with tyre degradation during his fight with Fernando Alonso.

"Checo, we need you need to lift and coast."
"What about the rain at the end of the race?"
"We're not expecting any. That's the last time I'm going to ask you!"

Sergio Perez realises he might be a few laps away from a trip to the headmaster's office after getting a dressing down from the Force India pit wall for ignoring their orders to save fuel.

"What do you want me to do? Do you want me to pass him or save fuel?

Vettel isn't impressed with the mixed messages he is receiving from the Red Bull garage. Maybe he should have pressed Red Bull for an answer…

"Yeah I'm burning all I can."
"We need to save fuel!"

Guillaume Rocquelin is stunned to realise Vettel has actually been doing the exact opposite of what he wanted after a misunderstanding in radio messages. Vettel later confirmed he finished the race with fuel in a critical state as a result.

"We need to go to menu magic for pit stop."
"I have never even heard of that switch."
"Ok. Don't worry about it mate."

Peter Bonnington discovers a gap in Lewis Hamilton's knowledge of all those buttons on the steering wheel.

"Amazing Valtteri, fantastic. Beat a Mercedes fair and square. Great drive, P2"

Valtteri Bottas once again receives the plaudits for his driving after securing his third consecutive podium at Hockenheim - this time in between the two Mercedes drivers.

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Nate is assistant editor of ESPNF1

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Nate Saunders Close
Nate is assistant editor of ESPNF1 Nate got his first taste of paddock reporting with British Superbikes and Moto GP in 2012. A stint in rugby followed before Nate, whose childhood hero was Michael Schumacher, found his way back to motorsport when he joined ESPNF1 as assistant editor in February 2014.