Category: Behind the Scenes | 5 min read
“Box box.” “Push push.” “Stay out stay out.” “Multi 21.”
If you have ever watched a Formula 1 race you have heard these phrases. Some make sense. Others sound like code. That is because they are.
Team radio in Formula 1 is a carefully developed language built for speed, clarity and secrecy. Every word matters. Every second counts. This guide decodes what is actually being said between driver and engineer during a race.
Who Is Talking?
During a race the driver communicates primarily with their race engineer. The race engineer is the driver’s direct link to the pit wall and is responsible for feeding information, managing the strategy and keeping the driver focused.
Behind the race engineer sits the broader strategy team, the performance engineers and the team principal. They all feed information to the race engineer who decides what to pass on to the driver and when.
The driver is travelling at over 300 kilometres per hour, managing tyres, watching mirrors, hitting braking points and making split second decisions. The race engineer has to deliver critical information in a way that does not overload them.
The Most Common Phrases Decoded
Box box means pit this lap. The word box comes from the German word for pit box. It is said twice for clarity. When a driver hears box box they know immediately to peel into the pit lane.
Stay out means do not pit. The driver may be expecting a pit call but the strategist has decided to keep them on track. Again said twice for emphasis.
Push push means give everything now. Go to maximum attack mode. Use the tyres, use the engine, close the gap. It is the green light to stop managing and start racing.
Manage manage means the opposite. Slow down, protect the tyres, conserve fuel, do not take risks. The driver is being asked to control the race rather than attack.
Plus five plus five means the driver is five seconds slower than they need to be. This is typically a delta instruction during a safety car or virtual safety car period telling the driver to slow down to the required pace.
P1 P2 P3 simply refers to positions. The engineer will regularly update the driver on their position and the gaps to cars ahead and behind.
Gap ahead gap behind tells the driver exactly how far they are from the car in front and how much time they have before the car behind catches them.
DRS available means the drag reduction system can be activated. The driver is within one second of the car ahead and can open the rear wing for extra straight line speed.
The Emotional Side
Team radio is not just tactical. Some of the most memorable moments in Formula 1 history have come through the radio.
A driver screaming in frustration after a mechanical failure. An engineer calmly talking a driver through a problem at 200 miles per hour. A team principal celebrating a championship with a message to their driver.
The radio captures the raw human side of a sport that can sometimes feel like pure technology.
Multi 21
Perhaps the most famous team radio moment in Formula 1 history. At the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix Red Bull told both their drivers to hold position using the code Multi 21. Sebastian Vettel ignored the instruction and overtook his teammate Mark Webber to take the win.
The fallout lasted for months and revealed just how much tension can exist inside a team fighting for the same championship.
What Would You Do?
Scenario: Lap 48 of 57. Your driver is P2 and closing on P1 at 0.8 seconds per lap. You have enough tyre life to make a move. But your driver is also reporting a strange vibration from the front left. Nothing is showing on the data yet.
Do you:
A. Tell the driver to push and go for the overtake while the opportunity is there B. Tell the driver to manage the situation and protect P2 C. Ask the driver to describe the vibration in more detail before deciding
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