F1 drivers opine about out of context radio messages that are aired on the world feed by Formula One Management and how much it affects them.
The radio conversations aired on F1 world feed is always a cut/past job. They never broadcast it at full length and always select the juicy lines for entertainment purposes. This leaves the drivers and the teams to showcase the full picture later on.
It is especially on the drivers to clarify or give the full context of the radio conversations. With the arrival of F1 TV where it carries onboard of all the cars, it has helped many in getting the full picture as they can go through the full conversation.
But a good chunk of the fans still go by the half conversation played on the F1 world feed. It has its own pros and cons which both the drivers and teams understand which is why they do not push for changes and accept it the way it is.
Here’s some of the F1 drivers thoughts on it –
Zhou Guanyu: “I’m OK with that. I think my highlight was Monaco last year, where I needed to change to new pants after I nearly crashed in the tunnel! In general, I think I’m OK with all of that. Anyway, the teams hear everything, but I think all of that is decided by Formula 1, which radio is being published out to the people watching at home. I think it adds a little bit of entertainment to the sport but of course some of them you say… You always have to be a little bit careful with what you say, because it could be quite bad for you. But it’s fine. It’s the same for everyone.”
Nico Hulkenberg: “Personally, you know, no problem with that. I think we all know that if you say something interesting, worthy, it will be out there. So we know the consequences. And obviously we have control of that. We don’t have to say it. But obviously sometimes in the heat of the moment or an emotional moment, you do have an outburst or whatever. I think it’s fine. You know, we’re racing, but at the end of the day we’re also entertainment. And that’s an extra element of entertainment. So yeah, all good.”
Fernando Alonso: “Yeah, I have no problem at all. Obviously, in Suzuka it has been, yeah… It was difficult to get the point of the media. Even, I think, last Monday motorsport.com still put in the radio. So it was one week after Suzuka, saying that I was in traffic after my stop, which I was a little surprised, because I don’t know what negativity is on that, discussing with the team. And obviously you have no information about how the weekend goes, you know, the meetings that we have on Sunday morning. Even on the grid, you know, the conversation on the grid on Sunday in Suzuka, we were talking, ‘don’t stop too early, because then with our lack of speed on the staights, we will be in traffic and we will get stuck’. So, when the radio comes out, obviously the level of maturity and complexity on the comments, 99% of the people cannot understand.”
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