WATCH: Sebastian Vettel Given ‘Insane’ F1 Orders Over Team Radio at Azerbaijan GP

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix action started with the drivers and teams having their first taste of the track on Friday. The two initial practice sessions concluded with the teams gathering invaluable data about the track. However, Aston Martin had their eyes on a different data point.

The team radio footage from the practice session reveals Sebastian Vettel‘s race engineer, Tim Wright, asking him to drive the car with no hands. At a circuit where the top speed of a Formula 1 car is 340kph+, it rather seems like a strange request from the German’s race engineer.

Tim Wright asked the four-time world champion, “You think you could do safely the video for the hands?”

Vettel, amazed by this request, first asked, “What was that sorry? release the steering wheel?” to confirm if he heard his engineer correctly at such high speed. In reply, Wright provided affirmation to his driver.

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This is not a usual setup change or some information about the track that the driver receives from his engineer. Naturally, Sebastian replied to this request by saying, “Are you insane?” However, the German soon realized the reason behind the odd radio message and cooperated by adding, “I don’t want to let go of the steering, okay I can let go a little bit.”

Sebastian Vettel and Aston Martin build towards another successful outing in Baku

In this new era of Formula 1, every constructor on the grid is constantly learning about their cars at each race weekend. It is the first time that the racing action unfolds on the streets of Azerbaijan with these modern-day cars.

The safety of the driver on track has been an important aspect of the sport in recent years. Formula 1 constantly pushes ahead to incorporate better safety features on the car to minimize the impact of any crash. Considering this, the words of Tim Wright on the team radio might sound unusual.

Wright did not make this request to get a clip for social media but to help the team understand the AMR22. The clip of Vettel driving with no hands was essential to learn about the mechanical calibration of the car and how the engineers can work to improve it.

Even though the four-time world champion was dumbfounded on receiving these instructions, he soon realized the purpose and tried to assist the team with the same.

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The Silverstone-based team returns to Baku after scoring a podium finish in the previous season. Ahead of the Grand Prix on Sunday, Aston Martin stands hopeful to have another strong result and walk away with a solid chunk of points from the venue.