• Singapore Grand Prix

Drivers react to radio clampdown

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With much of the focus leading up to the Singapore Grand Prix surrounding the FIA's decision to restrict the amount of team to driver radio communications, F1's drivers have been reacting to the changes.

Jenson Button: "Some people have used radio communications more than others. Last year we didn't have anywhere near as much radio traffic and it's because it was a lot less complicated. We have gone to a system - because the braking is so much more complicated - where into Turn 1 if you are locking the fronts 20 metres into braking you ask what is the best option. They tell us three different switches to do and we get on with it. Then the next time we have an issue we tell them again, because they have all the information in front of them and that's the quickest way to go racing.

"Now they've taken that away it's the same for everyone and you just have to prepare a little bit better and can't ask for changes at that moment in time - you've just got to know what to do. By the time we get to the next race we won't even mention it. It'll be done and we will all be used to it again. I do prefer it this way because it's part of our job to do the homework and be prepared for the race. If we have the degradation of a tyre we should feel that and know where it is going. It shouldn't all be down to the sensors on the car. Fuel usage as well is something we should control. I like the idea of the limitations on the radio traffic.

"If anyone is outside of the rules I hope they will be penalised. If they've done it they should be penalised. They have the five second penalty which is being used and I don't see why that shouldn't be the starting point. You get a penalty if you say something on the radio that you shouldn't, but you have to finish the race to get a penalty. If there's a problem the team will tell us we've got a problem and we will take the penalty, so you won't be retiring because you'd rather take a penalty than retire."

Fernando Alonso: "I think this rule has no benefit. It is like basketball or football [if] you don't allow the coach to say anything. At the end of the day it is just a very competitive sport. Some of the messages we receive are for safety, it is not only for performance. In our team, the instructions from the radio are very limited and we will not change our preparations for the race."

Kimi Raikkonen:"Obviously we don't speak a lot on the radio in my case. Usually when there is very small issues, we do. It might get a bit complicated if there's some problems with the car and you have to change certain things to try to finish the race. I don't know what the rule says on those times but it makes it more complicated for us. It's part of the game though so it's OK."

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Sebastian Vettel: "It's a tricky one. I think the difficulty this year is there's a lot of stuff that has to be managed from the outside, the reason why we put the monitors up in the garage and bring so many engineers is because they have to look after the car with it being so complicated this year, or in general over the last couple of years. We don't fly those people around the world just for them to have a nice time in Singapore, Japan, Australia, have a couple of beers and some nice steaks> They have a job to do and it is impossible to leave it to us to do all that which is why I think it is going to be interesting.

"With the telemetry we have we try to monitor what the cars are up to; this year there is a lot more to monitor and to look out for, more management to be done from the outside. A lot of the instructions we get are what they see and what we have to do to keep the car running, to keep the car in a certain state of charge in terms of the ERS system, managing the different components, and I think that could be rather interesting this weekend.

"It doesn't change if you have a big screen or not. The things you can display are largely the same, it just looks a bit more flashy if you have a big screen and colour. Without help from outside you don't know what's going on. You need to make sure you leave plenty of margin and the main difficulty is not necessarily stuff like the fuel, because there is fairly simple to put up and follow a certain target. In terms of managing the components and how they work will be very difficult for us because we have to drive the car. It's not like managing KERS in the past, if that was the case the radio ban would not be a problem, if you have to manage the state of charge throughout the whole race and you don't know what's going on."

Daniel Ricciardo:"[It's more like] Go-karting, which was great, obviously just by yourself with the steering wheel and the pedals and that's it. It was more peaceful. As you grow up through the Formulas you start with radios, that's the first thing, then you get more buttons and this and that so you get used to it and adapt to it. This radio ban I think will be fine. If there's a bit more on us then so be it. I think we'll adapt either way. It's how it's been the last couple of years, there are always changes and we'll have to get used to it.

"From what I understand that is the one we will have the manage the most, that and the charge of the battery. I don't know if it works different between the teams but you can get a number on the dash which can tell you where you are, if it's a plus or minus you've got to get that to a zero. So I guess you have to follow something like this but it's something we need to talk about to keep the battery in a good level, same with the fuel, not to burn too much during the lap but then not to finish the race with five extra kilos. I'm sure there's enough in the car that we can use to help us out with that in terms of displays and readings.

"It's going to be down to us taking a bit more time to look at the display, instead of the team saying 'do this, do this'. I think it will come pretty naturally, I don't think it's going to change the, let's say overall outcome of the race. In some races we're pretty quiet, on my side of the garage at least. I'm not a driver who loves the constant feedback and constant talk. I guess you hear the Mercedes drivers talk a bit more, you know, 'he's three tenths quicker in that part', 'brake here, brake ten minutes later' and all that. We're not going into all that depth so it might not be so difficult to make that adjustment."

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Jean-Eric Vergne: "I don't mind it. I think it will be more or less the same as before, I like to do things on my own and many times this year I've changed the settings before my engineer told me. I will be a bit more lonely on the radio but it should be fine. It's all a bit more manageable and more work but we will handle it."

Sergio Perez: "I don't think it's ideal that they changed it dramatically from one race that you can get certain calls, but it doesn't influence much. I don't see it as a big deal, it's something that we as a driver need to get more used to. We will definitely have more information and will be more busy during the race to keep everything under control, fuel loads and engine modes, all that kind of stuff. I don't see it being a problem to get used to but it's just a dramatic change from the last race to this one."

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