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Say what? The best race radio messages of 2015

29 Dec 2015

Who delivered the best put down in 2015? What were the best, or most memorable, exchanges between team and driver during the heat of battle? From stinging criticisms to emotional celebrations and everything in between, we bring you best the best sound bites from the 2015 season...

They pass me on the straights like in GP2. It is embarrassing, very embarrassing…"
"GP2 engine, GP2. Aaargh!"

The most memorable quote of the season? Fernando Alonso's patience amid a dismal season snaps, prompting this stinging veridct on Honda's performance at the Japanese manufacturer's home circuit.

"Fantastico. Numero Uno is back - Ferrari is back!"
"Unbelievable... you're magic!"
At the other end of the scale, meanwhile, Ferrari sing Sebastian Vettel's praises after he returns the team to winning ways in Malaysia and Singapore.

"I've lost this race haven't I!?"
Lewis Hamilton did his fair share of winning in 2015, but Monaco wasn't on the list after an ill-fated decision to pit while enjoying a dominant lead.

"Fantastic job, fantastic! Incredible - one of the best races of your career! I'm so proud..."
Belgium, and Lotus sing Romain Grosjean's praises after his stunning podium - but the Frenchman can't respond as he chokes back the tears.

"We need to swap positions okay? Swap positions..." (Toro Rosso)
"NO!"
Across at Toro Rosso, Max Verstappen displays the sort of inner steel and conviction that make him such a formidable competitor when asked to give way to team mate Carlos Sainz in Singapore.

“We need to open this gap right up. Don’t ask questions, just execute.” (Mercedes to Hamilton, Monza)
“I have to say those last few laps were not cool, man...” (Hamilton after the chequered flag)
From one set of team orders to another, as Mercedes mysteriously instruct Hamilton to increase his lead in Italy. A concern over tyre pressures - and the looming threat of investigation - would later transpire to be the cause.

"Lewis is driving very slowly, so get him to speed up..."
Hamilton is at the centre of another mini-storm in China, as team mate Nico Rosberg complains he is being held up and backed into the clutches of the chasing Ferraris.

"I don’t want, I don’t want. Already I have big problems now, driving with this and looking like amateurs."
A different racing concern prevails at McLaren, as Alonso insists he'd rather have fun while there are still cars within his sights in Canada.

"No power. Oh we cannot race like this..."
"Okay Fernando, we are racing Massa behind to the end."
(McLaren)
"I love your sense of humour!"
Alonso in fact became a Say what? favourite during the season, thanks in part to these put downs in Monza and Sochi.

"If you can still hear me, what happened there mate?"
Daniil Kvyat puts in a contender for biggest crash of the season at Suzuka, causing concern at Red Bull.

"Thanks. I'll give him a bit of ****."
On the other side of the Red Bull garage, Christian Horner and Daniel Ricciardo plan to give Vettel a bit of the ribbing after the Australian sets the fastest lap - and finishes second - in Singapore.

"Last lap Kimi, last lap. All or nothing!"
Russia produced this exchange between Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari, moments before he attempted to dive down the inside of Valtteri Bottas at Turn 4...

"What the **** did he do!?"
...a move that didn't go down well with Bottas, who was pitched into the barriers and out of the race.

"I don't know.. .don't know what the hell that was."
Rosberg is similarly confused in Austin, as a mistake costs him victory - and allows Hamilton to claim the title.

"What happened to Lewis at the end of his stint?! Did his tyres degrade?" (Rosberg)
"Affirm. He couldn't keep the pace." (Mercedes)
"I'm faster but I can't get close..." (Hamilton)
Rosberg has his revenge in the later rounds though, with his pace in Brazil in particular allowing him to twist the knife when Hamilton drops back due to tyre issues - although the Briton has a different take on the race.

"Can I overtake? I can do it on the back straight..."
"Too late."

Over at Williams, a team orders row brews at Silverstone as Valtteri Bottas's hopes of overtaking Felipe Massa come to naught.

"I’m so happy with how I raced. Not bad for an old man!"
Bottas and Massa still collect four podiums between them in 2015 - with Massa enjoying some gentle ribbing from his team following his first rostrum in Austria.

"Wow! Well done guys. That was very hard!"
There is delight at Force India meanwhile as Sergio Perez delivers a superb - and against-the-odds - podium in Russia.

"Well done Pastor. Wow. Absolutely brilliant."
"I should have known really that he's mental..."
(Button on clashing with Maldonado)
Pastor Maldonado also comes in for praise after a remarkable pass on Max Verstappen in Austria - but the other side of his driving comes out in Singapore, much to Button's chagrin.

"And rub your tummy and pat your head?"
Button also loses patience with a string of driving requests from McLaren in Singapore.

"P6! P6!" (Laughing)
"That was a good show of where we are - so far away..."

Two differing reactions from Button, but his shock of claiming sixth at the flag in Austin conveys a very similar message to his frank appraisal of the team's performance in the Abu Dhabi season finale.

"Wonderful guys. Thank you so much for everything we have been through. I'll miss you, I love you, and I do hope we work together again!"
Romain Grosjean bids an emotional goodbye to Lotus in Abu Dhabi.

"Who was in front of me in the last three corners?" (Alonso)
"That was Stevens and Grosjean..." (McLaren)
"Idiots!"
Alonso has his own message for Grosjean, and Marussia's Will Stevens, at Yas Marina.

"This is like sending swimmers to swim with weights on their legs."
Vettel comes over all poetic in Monaco, where he isn't best pleased with what the speed of the safety car is doing to his tyre temperatures.

"I did a **** job today."
And a more straightforward appraisal from the four-time champion after an error strewn showing in Mexico.

“Can you now tell me what happened at the start? As [far] as I know, I was in the right position and everything. I just want to understand...”
From one Ferrari driver to the other, as Kimi Raikkonen grasps for answers for his woeful start from second on the grid at Monza.

“Ok Fernando, we understand the issue, we are ok to keep running - it shouldn't affect us.”
Hungary qualifying, and McLaren confidently reassure Fernando Alonso that all is well with his Honda-powered machine - mere seconds before it grinds to a halt during qualifying...

"This is the greatest moment of my life. Thank you guys so much, I'm so grateful. To my family I love you all. Thank you."
The last word goes to Hamilton, who chokes back the emotion after sealing a historic third world championship crown.

AND FINALLY...

Never one to mince his words, Kimi Raikkonen was an obvious Say what? favourite in 2015 - so much so that we've compiled a small selection of his most memorable offerings:

"Come on, get that McLaren out of the way" - on trying to lap former team mate Alonso in China

"Come on, blue flags! They just don't want to move, these people!" - on dealing with traffic in Bahrain

"Do you want me to keep doing laps and laps, because I get nothing out of this..." - on churning out the laps in FP2 in Spain

"What the **** is this Marussia doing? He has been three corners now in the middle of the road" - on the driving of one particular backmarker...

"Did you see what that guy [Ricciardo] did? He just hit me and I went wide and that's not very nice" - taking affront to being barged out of fifth place by Ricciardo at Monaco.

"That guy keeps pushing me off every time when I'm next to him. So if that's legal, then I will do the same next time" - and taking umbrage with Max Verstappen's aggresive style in Austin.