"Unnecessary sometimes, poorly broadcast ... Misunderstood 99.9% of the time". Fernando Alonso was scathing about the choice of F1 radio messages heard in race coverage, and he wasn't the only driver expressing concerns
Fernando Alonso has reignited calls for Formula 1 to improve its in-car radio broadcasts, saying they are “misunderstood 99.9% of the time”.
Alonso has become somewhat infamous for his radio messages transmitted by series promoter and broadcaster Formula One Management (FOM) on the live feed, often sparking controversy and debate.
His sharp, sometimes sarcastic remarks – such as telling his engineer, “If you speak to me every lap, I will disconnect the radio” in Singapore – have been widely circulated and sometimes misunderstood due to being taken out of context.
Alonso has repeatedly criticised FOM for selectively airing radio clips that misrepresent drivers’ private conversations, which he believes often omit the strategic discussions held before races.
Alonso’s radio was in the spotlight again at the end of the Singapore race after he complained about Lewis Hamilton cutting through the corners as he struggled with the brakes of his Ferrari.
“F***ing hell, man,” Alonso said. “I cannot believe it. I cannot f***ing believe it, I cannot f***ing believe it. I mean, I cannot f***ing believe it. I cannot f***ing believe it. Is it safe to drive with no brakes?”
After last year’s finale in Abu Dhabi, Alonso said FOM had a fixation with him.
“Some comments are good, some comments are bad, but FOM has this fix with me, with bad comments – but I’m happy with that. It’s their job,” he said.
Alonso’s Singapore radio messages were one of the highlights of the race
Aston Martin
“I had some positive things [to say] as well but as I said, FOM, they have to sell that I’m the grumpy guy. They tried for many years and they will not succeed.”
The Spaniard has argued that when radio chatter becomes the focus, it reflects poorly on the race’s entertainment value.
“Unnecessary sometimes, poorly broadcast and chosen by the one choosing which radios to broadcast,” said Alonso ahead of the United States Grand Prix.
“Misunderstood 99.9% of the time because they are private conversations with your engineer or your team that maybe you went through on Sunday morning in the strategy meeting.
“‘What happens if we come out of the pitstop in this scenario?’ or ‘What happens if on lap one we overtake two cars or we miss two positions?’
“So you have alternative plans on the strategy that, obviously, when you only broadcast one sentence, it’s impossible to understand at home and the repercussions that it has.”
He added: “But, yeah, sometimes when the radio broadcast is the protagonist of the race, that also is very sad, that the race was so poor in terms of entertainment.
“So that’s something we need to improve all as a group in the sport.”
Haas driver Oliver Bearman echoed similar concerns about the broadcasting of team radios, pointing out that the adrenaline and pressure drivers face mean their radio exchanges with engineers are candid outbursts not meant for public consumption.
“I don’t think it’s ideal,” Bearman said. “It’s that age-old thing: I think if a footballer or another sportsman had a mic on and was able to broadcast, the views would be very different. It’s tough.
“We cannot open the microphone and say it in our head, but with the amount of adrenaline and pressure we’re under in this sport, when you open the radio and want to share your frustration or feelings with your engineer, you’re not thinking about the other people, the whole population of the world that could potentially hear it.
“So it’s a shame that it’s broadcast, and for me, it should be cracked down a little bit.”
As his radio messages were highlighted again, Fernando Alonso told F1 after the Singapore GP to focus on improving its TV coverage instead – and judging by what fans didn’t see, he might have a point
By
Pablo Elizalde
Alpine ‘s Franco Colapinto believes the unique challenges F1 drivers face compared to athletes in other sports contribute to the radio outbursts.
“It’s tricky to measure as well sometimes what we say,” the Argentine added. “I think it’s a sport that has very different things compared to other sports. Two minutes before we jump in the car, we are with fans, with people. We are not fully focused on what we have to do.
“Any other sportsmen – tennis, football – they are fully focused before, they don’t see anyone, they are with their team, and they are just focused on what they have to do next. We have many external things we have to deal with.
“The radio is one of them, and to get the chance for it to be open for all the world and everyone being able to listen to what we say — it’s sometimes tough. We never think about it being broadcast to the whole world.
“It’s tricky, but I think we have to measure some of what we say a bit too much. Should we also measure what the TV puts out or not? Sometimes it will sound a bit too wild, what we say.”
