The first radio message ever broadcast during a Formula 1 Grand Prix

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Team radio is now an integral part of Formula 1 broadcasting. Selected clips feature on the world feed, while fans can also access a driver’s entire feed while they’re out on track.

While drivers have been communicating directly with the pit wall since the 1980s, though, the audio didn’t feature on the global broadcast until the 2004 Chinese Grand Prix, round 16 out of 18.

Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher had sealed his seventh and final world championship around a month earlier. The Scuderia had also romped to the constructors’ championship.

So while the race itself was something of a dead rubber, it marked a significant moment in F1 history.

Jenson Button received the first radio message during a Grand Prix

The first radio message broadcast during the race coverage went to BAR Honda driver Jenson Button. Button had qualified third on the grid and went on to finish runner-up behind Rubens Barrichello.

Button’s race engineer that year was Andrew Shovlin, who is now the trackside engineering director for Mercedes. BAR were one of the forerunners of the Silver Arrows.

“Okay, start warming the brakes,” Shovlin told Button, in what would now be considered a fairly run-of-the-mill message.

ITV held the UK broadcast rights in 2007, with James Allen joined in the commentary box by Martin Brundle.

“We’re going to have team radio throughout this Grand Prix and future Grands Prix, delighted to tell you,” Allen said after the Shovlin clip played. “We’ll try and shut up whenever we see that symbol!

“That’ll certainly add some insight to today’s Grand Prix. There’s an awful lot of thinking on their feet to be done today by drivers and teams.”

Brundle wasn’t expecting the drivers to be given such ‘obvious’ instructions from the pit wall.

“What’s surprised me so far with the team radio is the obvious information that’s being passed across,” he said. “Maybe it’s just good common sense, good housekeeping.

“Button being told there to warm his brakes, I’d be surprised if he needs to be reminded of that, but I guess at the same time it’s a good way of having a radio check. Are we in communication, can you hear me?”

Rubens Barrichello’s team radio at the end of the 2004 Chinese Grand Prix

Barrichello was Ferrari’s number two driver, but with Schumacher starting from the pit lane due to an engine change, he had a clear path to his ninth race victory. The world champion only finished 12th after suffering a mid-race puncture.

Barrichello’s win proved to be his last for Ferrari. Fernando Alonso and Renault toppled the Scuderia in 2005, and the bosses at Maranello soon turned to Felipe Massa.

“Woo-hoo!” he shouted over the radio as he celebrated the win. “Well done boys! We did it! I was having some trouble at the end with the graining. The graining wasn’t disappearing at the end, but well done!

Technical director Ross Brawn, who oversaw Barrichello’s next win at his eponymous team in 2009, replied: “Well done, Rubens. Great drive. Under a lot of pressure in this race. That was a fantastic drive, well done.”

Barrichello is one of the greatest Brazilian drivers ever and ranks joint-fourth with compatriot Felipe Massa on the list of most wins without a world championship.