43 replies to this topic

[Racer3]

Following the Singapore GP, Adam Cooper had the following Hamilton quote in his F1 blog:

 

"I was really surprised at the end, I didn’t know what position I was in,” he said. “I thought I was third. When I came across the line I thought that was some good points, but then they told me and I was seriously gutted. It was a tough race and I’m absolutely shattered."

 

Cooper continued:

Lewis admitted that he found it hard to understand how the strategy unfolded.

 

There were two things that really amazed me when reading this:

 

Firstly, that in this high-tech, multi-million-dollar business, it is possible that a driver of a top team wouldn't actually know his correct position at the end of a race (except, of course, in case of no radio connection at all and the loss of the pit board).

 

Secondly, the candidness of Lewis in admitting this -- it must be embarrassing surely?

 

I don't know what really went wrong in this particular case, but I am even more interested in this as a potentially general phenomenon since it's not the first time I am reading something like this. Does anybody recall further instances like this?

 

I think it could be interesting to discuss about drivers and their understanding of team strategy here.

Thanks for any input.

 

NOTE: This is definitely no bait for any driver or team bashing, so discuss in a civil way, please!

Edited by Racer3, 01 October 2013 - 15:04.

[Winter98]

Strange.  I can't see keeping LH in the dark being part of MB's strategy.

 

Maybe his engineer thought he had told him but hadn't?  Maybe LH missed something on the radio?

[sopa]

Strange.  I can't see keeping LH in the dark being part of MB's strategy.

 

Maybe his engineer thought he had told him but hadn't?  Maybe LH missed something on the radio?

 

Maybe it wasn't important in the view of race engineer to inform Hamilton, where Alonso and Raikkonen are.

 

I can see, why it would be important to inform Rosberg, because he was behind them after passing them Button group.

But Hamilton was stuck behind Rosberg all the time anyway and the cars further ahead didn't matter, so it is not important to overload driver with information about where each driver at the present moment is. Better let the driver concentrate on the target at the time, which was Rosberg for Hamilton for the whole last stint.

[boldhakka]

I remember something similar happening to Lewis before (soon after Liegate actually). Pretty sure it's unique to Lewis among the top drivers, at least admitting to it.

[Lazy]

Oh dear.

[Raven8]

Following the Singapore GP, Adam Cooper had the following Hamilton quote in his F1 blog:

 

 

Cooper continued:

 

There were two things that really amazed me when reading this:

 

Firstly, that in this high-tech, multi-million-dollar business, it is possible that a driver of a top team wouldn't actually know his correct position at the end of a race (except, of course, in case of no radio connection at all and the loss of the pit board).

 

Secondly, the candidness of Lewis in admitting this -- it must be embarrassing surely?

 

I don't know what really went wrong in this particular case, but I am even more interested in this as a potentially general phenomenon since it's not the first time I am reading something like this. Does anybody recall further instances like this?

 

I think it could be interesting to discuss about drivers and their understanding of team strategy here.

Thanks for any input.

 

NOTE: This is definitely no bait for any driver or team bashing, so discuss in a civil way, please!

Rosberg thought he was 2nd! Not only Lewis was confused with Safety car and Strategy

[RAGE12463]

don't they have that on the steering wheel display?

Edited by RAGE12463, 01 October 2013 - 17:29.

[Raven8]

don't they have that on the steering wheel display?

obviously not. Both Mercedes drivers were disappointed when they crossed the line, because they thought they were 2nd & 3rd.

Rosberg  thought it was only Vettel & Webber (after Webber retired he thought he was 2nd) ahead of him, he did not know about Alonso & KImi. Looks like Mercdes pitwall has some things to work on

[F1Newbie]

I can understand why he thought he was 3rd, Rosberg was 2nd and him 4th before their final pitstop so when he saw himself behind of Rosberg, he automatically thought he was 3rd and Rosberg was still 2nd. Obviously the pittwall didn't tell him about his position at that time.... I remember both were told to make up position after their final pitstop though

[Jerem]

When they used to define the strategy clearly before the race, drivers probably had a clearer picture of what was going on. Now they just have "Plan A", "Plan B", etc, to say how many pitstops they have to do.

From radio communications, it seems drivers are often told who they are racing, what pace they have to go, but not what position they're in.

 

In the case of Hamilton, I think Mercedes thought for a long time that he was racing for 3rd because they felt the guys ahead wouldn't make it to the end on these tyres. In the end they were far/fast enough at the end of the race so Mercedes was left behind. Makes sense that Lewis didn't really understand that if in the end he was just pushing as hard as possible and not requesting information about his position on track.

[undersquare]

What I take from it is that Lewis expected to be kept up to date with his strategic situation, by radio.  Presumably that is what's normal, then.

 

I don't get why it should be 'embarrassing' for him that he wasn't this time    .

 

Not sure I buy "it's not a bash thread", since that's the only way the OP makes any sense - ALL the drivers go round and round in a bubble consisting of what little they can see and what their team tells them.

[OccasionalCommenter]

Michael Schumacher was also confused about his track position in Valencia last year.

[Disgrace]

Hamilton complained that his race engineer was keeping him in the dark on the radio, so communication is one aspect. Another is simply the unpredictability of the tyres the FIA has currently blessed F1 with.

[Fontainebleau]

There were two things that really amazed me when reading this:

 

Firstly, that in this high-tech, multi-million-dollar business, it is possible that a driver of a top team wouldn't actually know his correct position at the end of a race (except, of course, in case of no radio connection at all and the loss of the pit board).

 

Secondly, the candidness of Lewis in admitting this -- it must be embarrassing surely?

 

I don't know what really went wrong in this particular case, but I am even more interested in this as a potentially general phenomenon since it's not the first time I am reading something like this. Does anybody recall further instances like this?

 

I think it could be interesting to discuss about drivers and their understanding of team strategy here.

Thanks for any input.

 

NOTE: This is definitely no bait for any driver or team bashing, so discuss in a civil way, please!

Could it be that the pitwall thought it was obvious for the drivers that they had come out behind Raikkonen? No idea of how these things work, I mean, if it is easy for a driver to identify cars passing by as they are exiting the pit lane. But it was unfortunate.

[midgrid]

When they used to define the strategy clearly before the race, drivers probably had a clearer picture of what was going on. Now they just have "Plan A", "Plan B", etc, to say how many pitstops they have to do.

From radio communications, it seems drivers are often told who they are racing, what pace they have to go, but not what position they're in.

 

In the case of Hamilton, I think Mercedes thought for a long time that he was racing for 3rd because they felt the guys ahead wouldn't make it to the end on these tyres. In the end they were far/fast enough at the end of the race so Mercedes was left behind. Makes sense that Lewis didn't really understand that if in the end he was just pushing as hard as possible and not requesting information about his position on track.

 

 

Exactly - drivers are not routinely told which position they are in, as it is at best unnecessary information, and at worst an outright distraction.  They need to know when to come in the pits, target lap times and who they are racing; actual position is often incidental.

 

Remember the 2010 European Grand Prix, when Alonso kept asking about Hamilton's position and whether he had been penalised for passing the safety car, getting more and more angry as he realised the drive-through had not affected his position, with Andrea Stella trying to calm him down on each occasion?  This is a good example of the need to limit the information a driver receives to the essentials only.

[Racer3]

Michael Schumacher was also confused about his track position in Valencia last year.

 

Good find! (e.g., Michael laughing: "Didn't have a clue where I was" etc.)

Apart from understanding what happened to Lewis, examples like this one are exactly what I was looking for.

Thanks!

 

undersquare wrote

Not sure I buy "it's not a bash thread", since that's the only way the OP makes any sense

@undersquare

You won't find a single post by me on this forum where I bash any driver. Not my style at all.

Makes me a bit sad that you can only read it that way, despite my "precautions", sorry about that.

 

But it definitely was an honest question, since, as I said, I remembered reading kind of similar comments by different drivers, but not with this degree of disappointment which really makes you feel with Lewis:

“When I came across the line I thought that was some good points, but then they told me and I was seriously gutted."

It just amazes me that this can happen, and like some of the fellow posters above I wonder if really none of the cars shows the driver's position on the steering wheel. It would find it really amazing given all the state of the art technical equipment that teams are following every detail in the car and on the track.

[Racer3]

Exactly - drivers are not routinely told which position they are in, as it is at best unnecessary information, and at worst an outright distraction.  They need to know when to come in the pits, target lap times and who they are racing; actual position is often incidental.

 

Remember the 2010 European Grand Prix, when Alonso kept asking about Hamilton's position and whether he had been penalised for passing the safety car, getting more and more angry as he realised the drive-through had not affected his position, with Andrea Stella trying to calm him down on each occasion?  This is a good example of the need to limit the information a driver receives to the essentials only.

 

That's some interesting points you are making here

 

On the other hand, I wonder if, instead of having to use radio communication, just having a look at the steering wheel (assuming track position would be visible there)  would actually distract them, having in mind how many things these guys manage to look at on the driving wheel.

[Raven8]

That's some interesting points you are making here

 

On the other hand, I wonder if, instead of having to use radio communication, just having a look at the steering wheel (assuming track position would be visible there)  would actually distract them, having in mind how many things these guys manage to look at on the driving wheel.

I don't think the dash board is that big. Hamilton recently said they have their delta time there and how much up or down they are .And with all the other informations they get ( Kers, gears etc) IMO track position is not as important to have an extra place for it. I heard drivers say they use the big screens to see where they are during races. I don't think each driver knows always where he is, even with Safety-car and several differnt strategies, not to speak about usual tyre strategies.  After a pit stop , everyone needs time to see where they are, it's very confusing sometimes

[undersquare]

Good find! (e.g., Michael laughing: "Didn't have a clue where I was" etc.)

Apart from understanding what happened to Lewis, examples like this one are exactly what I was looking for.

Thanks!

 

undersquare wrote

@undersquare

You won't find a single post by me on this forum where I bash any driver. Not my style at all.

Makes me a bit sad that you can only read it that way, despite my "precautions", sorry about that.

 

But it definitely was an honest question, since, as I said, I remembered reading kind of similar comments by different drivers, but not with this degree of disappointment which really makes you feel with Lewis:

It just amazes me that this can happen, and like some of the fellow posters above I wonder if really none of the cars shows the driver's position on the steering wheel. It would find it really amazing given all the state of the art technical equipment that teams are following every detail in the car and on the track.

Well I am too lazy to look up your previous posting sorry, and normally "this is not a Hamilton bash thread honest" is a cast iron guarantee that it's a bash thread.

 

And you haven't explained why he should have been embarrassed.  None of them know what's going on if the team don't tell them.  He just didn't check his pit board, something that's pretty common I think. 

 

Learning curve anyway,  Next time Bonno will know to say, and Lewis will ask and look.

[Racer3]

I don't think the dash board is that big. Hamilton recently said they have their delta time there and how much up or down they are .And with all the other informations they get ( Kers, gears etc) IMO track position is not as important to have an extra place for it. I heard drivers say they use the big screens to see where they are during races. I don't think each driver knows always where he is, even with Safety-car and several differnt strategies, not to speak about usual tyre strategies.  After a pit stop , everyone needs time to see where they are, it's very confusing sometimes

Drivers saying they use the big screens to see where they are, right, that's another funny detail in the same vein.

Still, if that is not more distracting than looking at a potential dash board indication, I don't know.

Edited by Racer3, 01 October 2013 - 23:56.

[Rybo]

No driver has full detail of where they are, just a small amount of info delivered to them by their race engineer. However their knowledge of team strategy should be fairly expansive. They should know when to pit, how far to go in each stint, and roughly how fast to push. However that information can be misinformation at times and why drivers need a constant update, because the situation is constantly changing. Will drivers be privy to the information that the race control/engineers see? Of course not, but it's up to the team to filter what they need the driver to know and what will be a distraction to the driver. 

[SpaMaster]

I think this is a rarity. I think Hamilton's radio had some problems and he probably did not pay close attention to the pit-board. But normally drivers are tuned in to the strategy as much as they want.

[CoolBreeze]

I believe the radio on Lewis;s car was an issue as well

[Racer3]

I think this is a rarity.

 

I found three more examples, using Schumi's own words ("[no] clue where I [am/was]", see above) for my search.

 

Sebastian Vettel, after Brazil 2008:

Sebastian Vettel said he had no second thoughts about his decision to race Lewis Hamilton hard during the final laps of the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The Toro Rosso driver overtook Hamilton before the start of the final lap, relegating the Briton to sixth position, which was not enough for him to secure the title.
Hamilton went on to overtake Toyota's Timo Glock at the final corner to win the championship.
Vettel said did not know what position he or Hamilton were in.
"I was just trying to push as hard as I could and overtake as many cars as I could," Vettel told reporters.

"I didn't have a clue where I was after the stop"

 

Adrian Sutil, after Brazil 2010:

"We have seen so many problems caused by lapping cars after safety cars. Singapore for example, the [Mark] Webber/[Lewis] Hamilton incident happened because Webber had to lap another car, a Virgin, and he went out of the corner slower and created chaos.

"That was very similar in Sao Paulo, even worse. I had no clue where I was, I was also getting lapped by [Fernando] Alonso, but nobody told me, I had no blue flags. I was trying to understand who was behind, if it was [Felipe] Massa or Alonso because Massa was still behind me [in the race order]. Then I thought 'okay I think I have to let him by.' It was just a mess."

 

Jenson Button, after China 2011:

"Nowadays, getting strategy right is very important. I didn't have a clue where I was going to finish: I could have been seventh, I could have been second."

Edited by Racer3, 02 October 2013 - 10:00.

[redreni]

obviously not. Both Mercedes drivers were disappointed when they crossed the line, because they thought they were 2nd & 3rd.

Rosberg  thought it was only Vettel & Webber (after Webber retired he thought he was 2nd) ahead of him, he did not know about Alonso & KImi. Looks like Mercdes pitwall has some things to work on

 

Not necessarily. If you tell your driver he's been jumped by a pair of cars that are running 33 laps on one set of tyres, he will push and attempt to pass them. If Mercedes had worked out that pushing would be futile, and would only wreck their tyres and make them vulnerable to attack from behind, then not telling the driver about the Ferrari and the Lotus ahead may have seemed like the smart thing to do.

[Racer3]

Not necessarily. If you tell your driver he's been jumped by a pair of cars that are running 33 laps on one set of tyres, he will push and attempt to pass them. If Mercedes had worked out that pushing would be futile, and would only wreck their tyres and make them vulnerable to attack from behind, then not telling the driver about the Ferrari and the Lotus ahead may have seemed like the smart thing to do.

 

Interesting theory. Together with other possible reasons mentioned in this thread, it goes to show how difficult it can be at times for the drivers to know their actual position. I hadn't looked at it from that many angles before, so thanks for your input @all.

[techspeed]

During a race surely it's pretty irrelevant for the driver to know exactly which position he is in. The important information is to know whether you can catch anyone in front, whether anyone behind can catch you, and what strategy you need to run to finish the race distance as fast as possible no matter whether you are first, third or ninth. Anything else is pretty irrelevant during the race itself. Telling Hamilton and Rosberg that Alonso is 30 seconds ahead of them and they won't be able to catch him is pointless in the middle of the race, if Mercedes thought they had a chance of catching him they would have been told as soon as possible.

Although there is nothing stopping the drivers themselves asking which position they are in.

 

I guess Mercedes doesn't stick the drivers position on the top of the pit boards then, as a lot of teams seem to do.

[Rinehart]

In defence of Hamilton and other drivers, its quite obvious that the teams sometimes don't have a clue either during the race. A race unfolding is a dynamic, sort of living thing, not all calculable, as human and mechanical intervention be it incidents, track changes, tyre life, rival strategies and actual racing, lets not forget, all play a part in influencing this moving picture.

 

Even 48 hours after the race plenty of people on here demonstrate they didn't really understand what they were watching (even in hindsight) so a driver can probably be forgiven for not grasping it all in the heat of battle every time.

 

That said some are better than others in this area and whilst unfashionable, its massively important part of a drivers package.

[Kvothe]

The full radio transcript is very interesting, especially considering it's only a record of what's been broadcast, and not everything that's said:

http://www.f1fanatic...dio-transcript/

 

Lewis asks at the beginning of the transcript for person holding the pit board to change the angle, yet as Keith alludes to, Lewis' last statement about not having any information, and his race engineer's apparently sarcastic response to Hamilton not looking at the pitboard might suggest that nothing was done to make it more visible. There is also evidence of Lewis having to demand more information such as traction metrics, and laps remaining, hence his dissatisfaction.

 

With Nico (who believed that he finished second) not only does he have radio issues (breaks up when he speaks) but he is told twice that Alonso will be pitting at the end, and being told to push to create a buffer, and so not to get leaped when Alonso stop again.

 

The evidence from such a small sample would suggest that Mercedes (especially with Nico) just got it wrong on strategy but failed to mention this to the drivers before the end, perhaps trying to avoid the drivers losing concentration. It also appears that both drivers may have had communication issues, one with the pit board and one with the radio, which may have aided the confusion.

Edited by Kvothe, 02 October 2013 - 13:28.

[Racer3]

The full radio transcript is very interesting, especially considering it's only a record of what's been broadcast, and not everything that's said:

http://www.f1fanatic...dio-transcript/

 

Lewis asks at the beginning of the transcript for person holding the pit board to change the angle, yet as Keith alludes to, Lewis' last statement about not having any information, and his race engineer's apparently sarcastic response to Hamilton not looking at the pitboard might suggest that nothing was done to make it more visible. There is also evidence of Lewis having to demand more information such as traction metrics, and laps remaining, hence his dissatisfaction.

 

With Nico (who believed that he finished second) not only does he have radio issues (breaks up when he speaks) but he is told twice that Alonso will be pitting at the end, and being told to push to create a buffer, and so not to get leaped when Alonso stop again.

 

The evidence from such a small sample would suggest that Mercedes (especially with Nico) just got it wrong on strategy but failed to mention this to the drivers before the end, perhaps trying to avoid the drivers losing concentration. It also appears that both drivers may have had communication issues, one with the pit board and one with the radio, which may have aided the confusion.

 

Thanks a lot, that's really very helpful for understanding the Lewis quotation.

[Winter98]

The full radio transcript is very interesting, especially considering it's only a record of what's been broadcast, and not everything that's said:

http://www.f1fanatic...dio-transcript/

 

Lewis asks at the beginning of the transcript for person holding the pit board to change the angle, yet as Keith alludes to, Lewis' last statement about not having any information, and his race engineer's apparently sarcastic response to Hamilton not looking at the pitboard might suggest that nothing was done to make it more visible. There is also evidence of Lewis having to demand more information such as traction metrics, and laps remaining, hence his dissatisfaction.

 

With Nico (who believed that he finished second) not only does he have radio issues (breaks up when he speaks) but he is told twice that Alonso will be pitting at the end, and being told to push to create a buffer, and so not to get leaped when Alonso stop again.

 

The evidence from such a small sample would suggest that Mercedes (especially with Nico) just got it wrong on strategy but failed to mention this to the drivers before the end, perhaps trying to avoid the drivers losing concentration. It also appears that both drivers may have had communication issues, one with the pit board and one with the radio, which may have aided the confusion.

I'll second racer3.   Nicely interpreted. 

[SanDiegoGo]

Thanks OP. I promised myself a Cornetto if I guessed who this thread was about and what d'ya know...

 

So, predictable.

[PayasYouRace]

Just one Cornetto?

 

Sorry.

 

Anyway, it's an interesting thing to think about. Many of us have no doubt been brought up on racing games and sims, and even the most realistic of them tend to tell you what position you're in and such. Information that would be pointless or sometimes impossible to put on a real F1 car's dashboard or steering wheel.

 

Now I think if I was an F1 driver that I'd regularly be asking what my position is because I like to know these things. I remember we used to hear a lot about how Michael Schumacher used to take particular interest in how the race was unfolding and that was one of his great strengths as a driver, to have the spare mental capacity to think about these things and still drive fast.

[Raven8]

The full radio transcript is very interesting, especially considering it's only a record of what's been broadcast, and not everything that's said:

http://www.f1fanatic...dio-transcript/

 

Lewis asks at the beginning of the transcript for person holding the pit board to change the angle, yet as Keith alludes to, Lewis' last statement about not having any information, and his race engineer's apparently sarcastic response to Hamilton not looking at the pitboard might suggest that nothing was done to make it more visible. There is also evidence of Lewis having to demand more information such as traction metrics, and laps remaining, hence his dissatisfaction.

 

With Nico (who believed that he finished second) not only does he have radio issues (breaks up when he speaks) but he is told twice that Alonso will be pitting at the end, and being told to push to create a buffer, and so not to get leaped when Alonso stop again.

 

The evidence from such a small sample would suggest that Mercedes (especially with Nico) just got it wrong on strategy but failed to mention this to the drivers before the end, perhaps trying to avoid the drivers losing concentration. It also appears that both drivers may have had communication issues, one with the pit board and one with the radio, which may have aided the confusion.

Answers to OPs question very well!

IMO this sys all : LH : This whole time you haven’t given me any information. I thought I was racing with Perez.

 

Hamilton also was unhappy with the tyre choice of the team, he wanted softs instead of mediums in the end

[ANF]

Michael Schumacher was also confused about his track position in Valencia last year.

Nice captions.

[Exb]

Raven8 Posted Today, 17:15 Answers to OPs question very well!
IMO this sys all : LH : This whole time you haven’t given me any information. I thought I was racing with Perez.

I bought this up in another thread (about the Singapore race) and put a link to a site that has the audio of the radio transmission, because I think that transcript is wrong, and Lewis doesn't say he thought he was racing Perez but thought he was racing for third. Either way he was obviously not happy with the information his race engineer gave him but he is still new to the team so I guess they are still learning how each other likes to work - all the drivers will have different preferences in what information they like from the team. We saw it with Kimi and Lotus last year at Abu Dhabi where he had no interest in who was around him and what was going on and just wanted to concentrate on driving. I don't think its a big deal or a problem, maybe next time Lewis's engineer will be more aware to keep him informed via the radio. I think Mercedes just read the race wrong in general as they seemed sure Fernando and Kimi would pit again so its no suprise that the race drivers were confused as well.

[SpartanChas]

I think Ted Kravitz said on his Notebook show that after Lewis said he thought he was racing with Perez, his engineer said something like 'maybe you would have known what was happening if you had looked at the pit board'. Something like that. Maybe some drivers are more reliant on radio than others.

[Zoetrope]

The full radio transcript is very interesting, especially considering it's only a record of what's been broadcast, and not everything that's said:

http://www.f1fanatic...dio-transcript/

 

Lewis asks at the beginning of the transcript for person holding the pit board to change the angle, yet as Keith alludes to, Lewis' last statement about not having any information, and his race engineer's apparently sarcastic response to Hamilton not looking at the pitboard might suggest that nothing was done to make it more visible. There is also evidence of Lewis having to demand more information such as traction metrics, and laps remaining, hence his dissatisfaction.

 

With Nico (who believed that he finished second) not only does he have radio issues (breaks up when he speaks) but he is told twice that Alonso will be pitting at the end, and being told to push to create a buffer, and so not to get leaped when Alonso stop again.

 

The evidence from such a small sample would suggest that Mercedes (especially with Nico) just got it wrong on strategy but failed to mention this to the drivers before the end, perhaps trying to avoid the drivers losing concentration. It also appears that both drivers may have had communication issues, one with the pit board and one with the radio, which may have aided the confusion.

Lewis "Keep me up-to-date on my traction metrics please, and how many laps I’ve got left." What a change from Canada   

[Raven8]

I think Ted Kravitz said on his Notebook show that after Lewis said he thought he was racing with Perez, his engineer said something like 'maybe you would have known what was happening if you had looked at the pit board'. Something like that. Maybe some drivers are more reliant on radio than others.

There was obviously  a discussion before between Lewis and his engineer, he couldn't see the pit board the way they hold it and they didn't change it at the race, Bonnington appolgised for it at the end of the race. Looks like they are still at  a learning curve. Hamilton mentioned in a recent interview , that there are things to work on with the team over the winter, in terms of strategy and race preperation

[Goma]

The full radio transcript is very interesting, especially considering it's only a record of what's been broadcast, and not everything that's said:

http://www.f1fanatic...dio-transcript/

 

 

 

Reading the transcripts it seems Alonso never talked to his engineer during the race. Did he have radio issues or that is common? 

[Lucass]

Reading the transcripts it seems Alonso never talked to his engineer during the race. Did he have radio issues or that is common? 

They probably did but in Italian

[Racer3]

Raven8 Posted Today, 17:15 Answers to OPs question very well!
IMO this sys all : LH : This whole time you haven’t given me any information. I thought I was racing with Perez.

I brought this up in another thread (about the Singapore race) and put a link to a site that has the audio of the radio transmission, because I think that transcript is wrong, and Lewis doesn't say he thought he was racing Perez but thought he was racing for third.

 

Ah, great, that was the only thing that didn't really make sense when seen in context with the Lewis quote mentioned in the OP.

[Peter Perfect]

They probably did but in Italian

I must admit I love it when they play the radio transmissions to/from Ferrari on the BBC and there's a silence afterwards.

[midgrid]

Another Schumacher example dates from his famous drive to win the 1998 Hungarian Grand Prix.  He had to push very hard to beat the McLaren drivers on an alternate strategy, and thus did not see them much on track, and was also not always aware of his own position.  At one stage, in the lead before his final stop, he went off at the final corner; during the post-race press conference, he explained that he did not know he was in the lead at the time, and had pushed too hard simply trying to stay in touch.