11 of the funniest Formula One radio messages

Russell took the race win after leaders Max Verstappen and Lando Norris collided, marking his second victory in F1. To celebrate, he decided to deploy the vernacular of... The Flintstones: “Yabba dabba doo!”

That it was delivered with a straight face was both impressive and slightly perplexing.

But guess who got there first. That's right, a full 13 years before Russell’s “Yabba dabba doo” moment, Red Bull Racing driver and finger-wagging enthusiast Sebastian Vettel won the 2011 Spanish Grand Prix and said something similar over the radio. When Russell was, coincidentally, just 13!

“Woohoo!” Vettel yelled. “Yabba dabba dee! Ring ding ding ding!” 

Vettel, who won four straight F1 championships from 2010 through 2013, actually said “Ring ding ding” regularly as a celebration. And now you've got the Crazy Frog stuck in your head again. You're welcome.

During qualifying at the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc crashed into the wall in turn eight, ruining his chances at pole. Leclerc’s teammate Sebastian Vettel drove by and avoided his debris, while Leclerc simply sunk into frustration.

“I am stupid,” Leclerc said. “I am stupid.”

You're really not, Charles.

It might be F1’s most famous race, but it's also a bit of a parade. F1 cars have gotten larger over the years, making it much harder for them to pass on such a tight, old street circuit. Often, qualifying in Monaco is more consequential than the race because it’s hard for drivers to finish much better or worse than they qualify.

In 2024, reigning F1 champion Max Verstappen finished sixth in Monaco. And during the race, he radioed his enthusiasm for F1's showpiece race: “This is boring. I should have brought my pillow.” 

The petition to get Max to read out daily weather reports begins here.

In 2017, McLaren F1 driver and chair enthusiast Fernando Alonso missed the Monaco Grand Prix in order to run the Indianapolis 500. Button - who'd long since retired from F1 - stepped into the Spaniard's seat and qualified ninth. Before the race, Alonso came over the radio to wish him luck.

“Jenson my friend, I’m sure you wanted to hear my voice before starting the race,” Alonso said. “Just wishing you the best of luck. We’ll follow you here on television. You did amazing yesterday. So yeah, please have fun. Take care of my car.”

“Oh, thank you,” Button said. “I’m going to pee in your seat!”

Perhaps it was an attempt to understand the complexities of weather systems. Or he was genuinely asking what the weather was doing. Or that he was just massively confused.

During the 2023 Spanish GP, the Mercedes driver asked: “Thoughts on rain?” 

“No rain coming,” his race engineer responded. “Rain on my visor, mate,” Russell implored. “Rain is here, but it’s not very strong. Is anyone else reporting rain? I think it’s sweat from the inside of my helmet.”

“It sounds like it’s just you reporting the rain,” his engineer replied. “I suspect it might be the sweat.”

Apparently, his hair was loose inside the helmet, leading water to flick onto his helmet visor when he braked. He still finished the race third. Top Gear still reckons Russell was questioning the very meaning of rain.

More water-based hilarity. At the 2025 Australian GP, Ferrari hotshoe Charles Leclerc came on the radio to inform his race engineer Bryan Bozzi that he had water in the cockpit. The exchange that followed became an immediate online hit.

"Is there a leakage?" Leclerc asked.

"A leakage where?" Bozzi responded.

"I have the seat full of water,” Leclerc said.

"Must be the water,” Bozzi replied.

Leclerc told Bozzi he would add that to his “words of wisdom”.

In 2001, a deer got onto the track during the Austrian Grand Prix. Because of course. Juan Pablo Montoya’s Williams F1 team radioed him to say they saw the deer on track, and to be cautious.

“Oh deer!” he said.

“Yeah, a deer,” the team responded, not seeming to notice the pun. “Like a horse with horns.”

“I know, I know,” Montoya said. “Oh deer! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.”

Missed pun aside, Top Gear is not entirely certain a deer is really like a horse with horns.

In the mid 2010s, Honda power units in F1 had a bad reputation for failing. McLaren driver Fernando Alonso got unlucky a few times, leading to a very famous set of radio messages at the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix where he compared his F1 power unit to that of... not an F1 power unit.

“It feels like GP2,” Alonso said. “Embarrassing. Very embarrassing. I'll do my best."

Later, he came on the radio and yelled: “GP2 engine! GP2! Agh!” Rumours abound Alonso is still waiting for the VTEC to kick in.

We could have filled this entire list with Kimi and turned it into the Collected Wisdom And Continued Brilliance Of Raikkonen's Radio Messages. One of his most famous radio topics is about “the drink", which is... not that. Water, guys, water. At the 2018 Hungarian Grand Prix, Raikkonen had a rather circular conversation with his Ferrari team where he asked if “the drink” was connected, was told no, and asked again. And again. And again.

"You forgot to connect the drink pipe?" he asked.

"Yes, confirmed,” came Ferrari's reply.

"Is the drink on now?” Raikkonen responded. “I have no idea."

"We forgot to connect, Kimi. You will not have the drink. Sorry."

"Is it on or not? The drink. Let me know."

"No, Kimi, you will not have the drink."

"No, no, no. Is the switch on or not?"

"You mean the slow button?"

"No, no. Is my drink button emptying the bottle or not?"

"No. No, Kimi. You will not have the drink."

It's like Shakespeare.

Often imitated, never bettered. It's perhaps the most famous F1 radio message of all time, and came at the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix when Kimi Raikkonen tried to shush his Lotus engineer Simon Rennie.

Raikkonen ultimately won ahead of Fernando Alonso, but during the race, Rennie said: “OK Kimi. The next car behind you is Alonso. I’ll keep you updated on the pace.” 

“Just leave me alone,” Raikkonen responded. “I know what I’m doing.”

Print it out and hang it in the Louvre.