5 of the Most Interesting Radio Messages from Bahrain Grand Prix

In a race where strategy once again dominated proceedings, team radio played a crucial role in last weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Sakhir event, held under lights for the second time, wasn't quite as exciting as last year's race, in which Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg fought head-to-head for victory, but it was fascinating in the sense that no driver knew where he would finish until the 57 laps were completed.

Hamilton, though, didn't seem to know where he stood before those 57 laps began, asking for clarification over Mercedes' fuel strategy as he sat on the grid, preparing to lead the field away from pole position.

Meanwhile, second-placed Kimi Raikkonen tried his best to throw his Ferrari team's strategy in jeopardy by doing the unthinkable, claiming he was faster than four-time world champion team-mate Sebastian Vettel, with the Finn's ever-improving rapport with his new race engineer evident as the race ticked toward its conclusion.

With a look at a reborn Nico Rosberg and Williams' attempt to lift Felipe Massa after the disappointment of a pit lane start, here are five of the most interesting radio messages from the Bahrain GP.

Formula One is as intricate a sport as you could imagine.

Throughout a race weekend, meetings and debriefs are held with dizzying frequency as teams and drivers analyse and examine every squeeze of the throttle, every trace of brake application and every change in tyre condition, among many other minute details.

It is a tiring process, but one which ensures each competitor enters the race with a defined plan, an understanding what they must do to achieve the best possible result.

Minutes away from the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix, however, Lewis Hamilton was still in the dark over his Mercedes team's fuel strategy, despite being strapped into the car and ready to lead the field on the formation lap.

According to the FIA television feed, Hamilton asked: "Do I need to do fuel-saving in the first part, the first stint?"

"Er, yeah, there will be a little lift-and-coast required throughout," replied his race engineer, Peter Bonnington. "But it's only up to 100 metres per lap."

While this could be interpreted as evidence of the reigning world champion's spare capacity and his composure before the start of a grand prix, it also raises relevant questions over Hamilton's pre-race preparation, his attention-to-detail, his integration within a team and even his self-awareness.

As Martin Brundle noted during Sky Sports' television coverage of the event, it is surprising enough that drivers and teams hold conversations of this nature so close to the start of a race, but astonishing to hear these interactions occur over team radio, which is freely released into the public domain.

Although the nature of the Bahrain International Circuit meant all outfits were forced to save fuel during the grand prix, the likes of Ferrari would no doubt have welcomed the information emerging from Mercedes at such a late stage, and on another day, the Italian team could build their own race around their rivals' strategy.

A fascinating trend has developed at Ferrari over the last two races.

While Sebastian Vettel, the Prancing Horse's marquee signing, has had the edge in terms of one-lap pace, qualifying inside the top-three in China and Bahrain, it is Kimi Raikkonen who has been quicker in racing conditions.

Raikkonen was unfortunate to miss out on challenging Vettel for third at Shanghai, where a ferocious final stint on the medium-compound tyres would have seen the Finnish driver catch and perhaps pass his team-mate if it weren't for the late intervention of the safety car.

The safety car period also rescued the team from a potential team orders row, where Ferrari would have either instructed Raikkonen to hold position or forced Vettel, widely perceived to be the team's No. 1 driver, to move aside if the racing had been uninterrupted in China.

Raikkonen, though, gave the team a slight headache in the early stages of the Bahrain Grand Prix, implying Vettel was holding him up as soon as Lap 10, just as the Mercedes' of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg began to scamper away.

"I think I can go a bit faster, but I will try to overtake him," the 2007 world champion said, as per the FIA TV feed.

In the end, Raikkonen didn't really get the chance to overtake Vettel as Ferrari once again avoided a sticky situation by pitting the four-time title winner at the end of Lap 13, with the German then falling out of contention by making a number of mistakes.

Raikkonen's confidence in his ability to pass Vettel, though, was yet more proof the latter won't have it all his own way this season. It's looking increasingly likely there will come a point where Ferrari must face one of their biggest fears.

The best radio message of 2015 thus far came in China, where Kimi Raikkonen became increasingly irate as he made his way through lapped traffic.

Only seven days separated the Shanghai race and the Bahrain Grand Prix, but Ferrari had heard enough from Raikkonen in the Chinese GP and decided to guide the Finn through the backmarkers at Sakhir.

After making his last pit stop of the evening for soft tyres on Lap 40, it was imperative for Raikkonen to cut through the traffic as smoothly as possible to guarantee his rubber was still in a decent condition by the time he came to challenge Nico Rosberg for second place.

So on Lap 44, according to the FIA TV feed, race engineer Dave Greenwood reassured his driver that Ferrari would do their utmost to ensure blue flags were shown to slower cars, stating: "OK Kimi, we're gonna have quite a few blues coming up. But we'll be on it—don't worry." 

A lap later, Greenwood informed Raikkonen that Rosberg and race leader Lewis Hamilton were encountering traffic troubles of their own, adding: "The leaders are in blues, let's make hay."

Another encouraging message followed on Lap 47, but Greenwood's efforts were to no avail when, on the 49th lap, Raikkonen's frustrations boiled over once again, above. 

"Copy, Copy. We're on it," is all Dave could offer in response.

After a difficult season for Raikkonen in 2014, when he experimented with different race engineers, the Finn appeared to have established a good working relationship with ex-Marussia employee Greenwood, evidenced by the week-on-week changes in approach as the latter learns more about the 2007 world champion's preferred approach.

Not only was it highlighted as Raikkonen chased down the traffic, it was evident prior to the third stop when the driver was persuaded that soft tyres were a better choice than mediums for the final stint—"the initial laps will be quicker," was how Greenwood justified his argument on Lap 33, as per the FIA TV feed—despite Kimi's reservations.

We saw and heard a very different Nico Rosberg over the course of the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Rosberg showed a level of aggression we have only rarely seen from the German at Sakhir, recovering from a poor start by muscling Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel aside and forcing the latter into errors.

The on-track improvements, though, were almost eclipsed by Rosberg's revised manner over team radio, with the Mercedes man more muted than ever before during the race.

Although there may have been some radio messages that were not broadcast, it wasn't until 14 laps from the chequered flag when we first heard Rosberg's voice—and that was merely to clarify whether the cars in front were lapped traffic or were soon to enter the pits.

Up until that point, Rosberg had just absorbed information from his race engineer, Tony Ross, about matters such as fuel conservation, brake management and wind strength without offering a response.

On Lap 47, though, we heard a continuation of what we heard in China, with Rosberg calling for an end to updates regarding the time distance between his car and those in front and behind as a charging Kimi Raikkonen hunted the German, above.

Rosberg blocked Raikkonen out of his mind, focusing on his own progress—hitting those apexes, nailing the acceleration zones, caressing the brakes—rather than that of his rivals.

After we wondered post-China whether his reluctance to discuss the gaps to other cars was part of a deliberate attempt to change his style or linked to his post-race rant about Lewis Hamilton, it is increasingly obvious that Rosberg is taking steps to become a more independent, shut-up-and-drive racer.

It will only make Rosberg a more complete driver going forward.

Felipe Massa is very much a confidence driver.

An impeccable performer when he carries the momentum and the support of those around him, the Brazilian lets his head drop too easily when things go against him.

The way he was marginalised at Ferrari after the events of Germany 2010, and his slump from pole position to a very distant fourth in last year's Austrian Grand Prix, have been evidence of this in the past.

You feared the worst, therefore, when Massa's car stalled from sixth on the grid in Bahrain as the rest of the field began the formation lap.

Wheeled into the pit lane as Williams fired his FW37 back to life, Massa's chances of scoring a strong amount of points were over before the race had even begun, but the team still encouraged the Brazilian as he embarked upon his fightback.

"OK Felipe, nice job," said Massa's race engineer, Dave Robson, according to the FIA television feed, at the start of Lap 2. "So, we can still get some points from here and we can also have a bit of fun, so let's crack on through and then get through this field as quickly as we can."

Although Massa could only recover to 10th by the chequered flag—the Brazilian, as per the team's official website, blamed contact with Pastor Maldonado for his failure to make even more progress through the field—Williams displayed impressive man-management skills to guard their driver from self-pity.

As many of Massa's performances have proven since he joined Williams from Ferrari in 2014, an arm around the shoulder can work wonders for a driver's confidence.

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