They’re talking about the hybrid car’s stored electric energy. If you have more charge left, you can add power later; if you run low, your speed drops.
F1 timing splits the track into three parts called sectors. “Sector three” is the last part of the lap, and it’s where they’re seeing the biggest differences in speed.
They’re talking about a special weekend schedule in spring where teams get less practice time than usual. With less running, it’s harder to dial in the car and plan the best strategy.
A sprint is a shorter race weekend session in F1 that helps decide where cars start for the main race. Since it’s shorter, drivers push hard and also have to manage their limited energy and grip.
A “sweeping” corner is one that changes direction smoothly and often carries speed through a long arc rather than being a tight, slow turn. At a track like Silverstone, the first corner’s geometry can make close racing risky because cars can run out of room or get pushed wide during side-by-side entries.
Term
apex sunk
This sounds like a description of a driver taking the inside line very deep toward the corner’s “point of closest approach.” In a fight for position, that can help you block the other car from getting a clean pass.
An overtake zone is the section of the track where passing is most likely. It depends on things like where you can brake and how close the cars are when you arrive there.
Wheel-to-wheel means cars are racing right next to each other. When that happens, both drivers can lose time because they have to defend and can’t take the ideal line.
Lap one situations refers to the specific chaos and positioning battles that happen at the start of a race—when cars are bunched up, braking points are crowded, and drivers are trying to secure track position. In F1, early-lap outcomes can strongly influence the rest of the race because gaps form quickly.
Different tires use different rubber mixes. Softer tires usually grip better but wear out quicker, while harder tires last longer but may not feel as fast until they’re warm.
“Warming the tires up” means getting them hot enough to work properly. Too cold and they don’t grip well; too hot and they can start to lose grip and force the driver to slow down.
This means the car is running too hot, so the team has to cool it down. That can require backing off a bit so the tires and other parts don’t overheat and lose performance.
“Race pace” is how fast the car can go consistently during the race. Qualifying is one fast lap, but race pace is about staying quick lap after lap without ruining the tires.
Qualifying often comes down to how quick you can be for one timed lap. That setup can be different from what you need to stay fast for many laps in the race.
“Side-by-side racing” is when two cars are side-by-side at the same time, instead of one pulling away. It usually means the cars are close enough that both drivers can fight for position.
The braking zone is where drivers slow down before a turn. Passing there usually means one driver brakes later or harder and gets the position going into the corner.
Place
cop
“Cop” is the name of a specific corner at Silverstone. Drivers use it as a reference point for where they can brake late and try to pass.
Place
stow
“Stow” is a specific named corner at Silverstone. It’s where drivers often position their cars to set up an overtake or defend.
Concept
quality of the overtaking
They’re talking about whether overtakes are actually impressive and well-timed. It’s not just “how many passes,” but whether the passing move is properly executed.
Place
village corner
The “village corner” is a named section of the track at Silverstone. Drivers talk about it because it’s a key spot for setting up a pass.
Place
Wellington Strait
“Wellington Strait” is a named straight at Silverstone. It’s where cars build speed, and where you can see whether a pass attempt will work.
Place
Brooklyn
“Brooklyn” is a named part of the track at Silverstone. The speaker is using it to say the overtake battle effectively ends after that point.
They mean overtaking isn’t the same everywhere. Some tracks naturally make passing easier, while others make it harder because of how the corners and straights are laid out.
“New regs” means the new Formula 1 rules. The hosts are suggesting those rule changes might not be delivering the exciting racing they were promised to create.
Pole position means starting first on the grid. The driver who earns it is usually the fastest in qualifying, so they get a big advantage at the start.
Car
Mercedes
Mercedes here means the Mercedes Formula 1 team. The hosts are saying their car has been very fast and consistent, which matters a lot for who can start up front and win.
Ferraris means the Ferrari race cars in the field. The point being made is that if Ferrari gets cars ahead early, it can help their drivers control the race and keep a lead from being closed down.
A “two-on-one situation” means two cars have the advantage over one car. The idea is that the two can help each other control the race, especially right after the start.
“Break the gap” means getting far enough ahead that the cars behind can’t close in quickly. It’s about creating a bigger time cushion early in the race.
Term
slow you down
“Slow you down” here means you lose time because you’re stuck behind other cars. Even a quick car can feel slower if it can’t get clean space to drive.
Term
first call
Teams in F1 have to decide when to come into the pits. The “first call” is the earliest big decision about when that first pit stop happens.
Place
Corse
“Corse” sounds like a named part of the track. F1 commentators use these names so everyone knows exactly where on the lap they mean.
Stoke Corner is a specific turn on the track used for the British GP. Drivers have to brake and turn in a particular way there, and it affects how fast they can be through the next part of the lap.
Lewis Hamilton is a legendary Formula 1 driver who has won the world championship seven times. The hosts are talking about how big his fan following is at races.
Audi is a well-known car brand. The hosts mention it as another German name associated with racing, even if the current driver lineup doesn’t create the same national momentum.
Hockenheim is a well-known race track in Germany that hosts Formula 1. It’s the kind of track where braking and tire wear matter a lot for how the race plays out.
The Nürburgring is a famous motorsport venue in Germany. It’s known for being challenging, and in F1 it’s a track where tires and car control really affect race performance.
Term
clear of that battle
“Clear of that battle” means the driver got far enough ahead that they weren’t stuck in the same fight anymore. That usually helps them drive more smoothly and manage tires better.
Term
scrappy battle
A “scrappy battle” is when multiple cars are fighting very closely for position. It can slow everyone down and wear the tires, so escaping that mess can help you run your own race.
In racing, “traffic” means slower cars on track that you have to navigate around while still maintaining speed and tire/brake management. The hosts say Norris got through traffic early, which helped him break away from the immediate battle and manage the car to the end of the sprint.
A “one-second gap” means one car is about one second ahead of another. The hosts are using it to show Norris finished with a clear but not huge advantage.
“17 laps” is how many times the cars complete the circuit in the sprint. Because it’s a shorter race, drivers have to manage speed and tires carefully to stay competitive.
A pit window is the time in the race when teams decide to come into the pits. If you pit at the right moment, you can keep better track position and make your tires last longer.
An undercut is when one driver pits earlier than another and gets fresh tires. With the faster laps from the new tires, they can come out ahead when the other car finally stops.
F1 tires come in different “grip vs. wear” levels. The medium tire is usually a middle option—good grip without wearing out as fast as the softest tires.
A two-stop strategy means you pit twice during the race. It can keep the car faster because you’ll have fresher tires more often, but it takes extra time in the pit lane.
Verstappen is a top Formula 1 driver. The hosts are comparing his usual style of defending to Russell’s, and saying Verstappen didn’t object to how the move played out.
“Elbows out” is a way of saying the driver is defending very aggressively. They’re trying to keep their position and not give up space when racing wheel-to-wheel.
Concept
racing rules work nowadays
They’re talking about how the rules and how officials judge racing today affect what drivers do in tight battles. If you’re on the outside and you don’t protect your space, the inside car may force you wider.
Term
shoved out wide
“Shoved out wide” means one car gets pushed toward the outside of the track. That can make the driver lose control of their line and potentially run wide or off the racing surface.
Antonelli is the name of the F1 driver the hosts are talking about. They’re saying his recent results (including a retirement and a podium) change who leads the championship.
A “setup change” means the team tweaks the car’s settings to make it work better for the track and conditions. Here, they’re saying they can still adjust it now before qualifying.
Point scoring positions are the places that earn championship points. If you finish outside that range, you get nothing, so drivers try hard to land in the points.
“Code Brown” is a joking-but-serious way to say something was really dangerous and could’ve gone badly. In this context, it means the drivers were too close for comfort.
A penalty is the punishment the race officials give when a driver breaks the rules. Here, they’re arguing whether this move was serious enough to warrant that kind of punishment.
The braking zone is the part of the track where the driver has to slow down for a corner. If you brake too late or too early, you’ll either overshoot the corner or lose too much speed.
The Hangar Straight is a long straight where the cars go very fast. After that, they have to slow down hard for the next corner, so it’s a critical part of the lap.
“Fourth gear” is one of the car’s gear settings. Using it while braking suggests the driver is slowing down but still keeping the car in a relatively ‘fast’ gear rather than dropping all the way down.
The racing line is the ‘best’ route around a corner that helps you go faster. In racing, it also matters because if you take a different line at the wrong time, you can put another driver in danger.
Fernando Alonso is a well-known Formula 1 driver with many years of experience. In this clip, he’s the other driver in the collision that caused Pérez’s penalty.
A “lunge” is a very aggressive move—like a sudden dive at another car. The idea is to get alongside or force the other driver to react. Here, they’re saying it wasn’t even a proper attempt to go side-by-side.
“Alongside” means your car is next to the other car, not behind it. In racing, that matters because it can be the difference between a legitimate pass and a move that forces the other driver off their line.
Term
brakes were on fire
It means the brakes got extremely hot. In racing, that can happen if someone brakes too hard or too often, and you may even see smoke or flames. When that happens, the car may not slow as well as it should.
A “lock-up” is when the wheels stop turning and start skidding. That usually means the driver braked too hard for the available grip. It can make the car harder to control and can increase stopping distance.
Term
overtook
An overtake is when one car passes another to move ahead. Here, they’re saying the pass happened before the pit stop, so it wasn’t just strategy timing.
A pit stop is when the car pulls into the pits to change tires (and sometimes do other quick work). When you pit can determine who is ahead on track afterward.
They mean “pole,” which is the first starting spot on the grid. It’s awarded to the fastest car in qualifying, so you get the best position at the start.
Race tracks are split into sections called sectors. The “last sector” is the final part of the lap, and if someone is great there, it usually means they’re accelerating well out of the last corners.
Term
first lap scrap
“First lap scrap” just means the messy fight for positions right at the start. If you get stuck in it, you can lose time; if you avoid trouble, you can set yourself up for a better race.
A “lead battle” means the cars at the front are fighting each other to be first. If you get pulled into that fight, it can affect your tires and how much time you spend defending or attacking.
Term
runs turn one
This is about what happens when the cars reach Turn 1 right after the start. If that corner is quick and close, there’s less time to set up a pass, so getting the right position early matters a lot.
Term
inside of that corner
The “inside of that corner” is the shorter path near the apex. Drivers use it to defend or pass, but whether it’s faster depends on how the corner is laid out and how much speed you can keep.
Term
carry momentum
“Carry momentum” means keeping your speed and flow through the turn so you can accelerate out strongly. Different lines around the corner can make it easier or harder to keep that momentum.
Pitwall is the wall next to the pit lane where the teams watch the race. Drivers use it as a landmark, because it’s right next to the track and space can get tight there.
Person
Kim Antangeli
Kim Antangeli is the driver being talked about in this segment. The hosts are judging how fast he was and how well he recovered after a scary moment.
Woodcutt is the name of a specific right-hand corner at the British GP track. It’s a tricky part of the lap, so mistakes or car problems there can quickly get serious.
In F1, the wing refers to aerodynamic elements (front and rear) that generate downforce to keep the car planted. Striking a wall can bend or damage the wing, which can immediately reduce grip and make the car unsafe or uncompetitive.
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Thank you for listening to the Late Breaking F1 podcast.
Make sure to check out new episodes every Wednesday and every Sunday.
Hello, everyone. Quick message before we get going on today's review.
You might hear for the first two-thirds-ish of this episode that we're actually at a different venue, believe it or not.
We were invited to Portionomics, a private event.
Very glad to be there.
You might hear some background noise, some random cars.
You might do, but it's just bathing.
You might hear some random cars.
I might. You'll definitely hear a Spitfire taking off at one point.
But other than that, it's going to be all groovy.
Yeah.
Ben, take one side. Ben, guarantee it.
Expanding my vocabulary.
You might hear that for the first 30 minutes or so, and then the next 15 minutes you'll hear as we kind of are right now.
Yeah, but it also is a different environment because we're in an Airbnb in Oxford.
It's a strange episode, folks.
We're all over the shop.
Hello, and a very warm welcome to the Late Breaking F1 podcast presented by Harry Eude, Sam Sage and me, Ben Hawking.
And of course, Saturday of a sprint weekend means we've got a lot to get to.
First of all, of course, the sprint race that has just happened as we're talking now.
Antonelli beating Lewis Hamilton by a slender margin.
Very interesting 117 laps.
What did you make of that, Sam?
It was quite a bizarre session, actually.
I think his sprints go.
And we commented on this in our sprint qualifying review that battery looked like it might be impactful here around Silverstone.
Immediately it comes to fruition that battery does play a major part.
We see that Lewis Hamilton is mega through sector three able to maintain the gap to Kimmy Antonelli, the fast charging Kimmy Antonelli.
And yet we come around on that final run and Antonelli finally gets close enough to deploy.
And it looks like in defense, Hamilton has run out of that battery.
Kimmy Antonelli flies by and realistically there's no challenge after that point.
So battery playing a major part, hopefully with the fact that this is a sprint and got the main ground pre,
a little bit more management deployment, bigger strategy going on.
And it's not just going to be a push the battery down past the straight over an hour.
It feels and I guess this is the case with F1 a lot now.
In previous years, it was very cyclical, let's call it.
Like where every lap sort of looked very similar to one another.
We're now getting, you know, one lap where Antonelli looks much quicker than Hamilton.
And then it reverses back.
We think as soon as Antonelli gets by Hamilton, he's gone into the distance.
And then suddenly there's half a second between them.
It's very tough to predict, it feels.
It is tough to predict.
And a lot of it is just down to these drivers working out their battery management and where to deploy it.
Because we saw Hamilton was so good in that final sector, has been all weekend long,
which took Antonelli quite a while to work out, I think.
And once he had to start that, I think when we saw, was it Antonelli like half a second behind in that final sector going into the lap,
you knew it was on them because he was so much quicker in the rest of it.
So, yeah, it's an interesting way of going about the Formula 1 on the moment.
But it's exciting to watch.
So we can't really complain.
Yeah, it did very much feel like all of the drivers were learning as they went out there.
Felt very much the same with spring qualifying yesterday and through practice.
Because with these spring weekends, of course, you do only get that one practice session
rather than three to properly get yourself embedded, work out what is the quickest way around this lap with those new battery rules.
I still think going into certainly this afternoon's qualifying session and then tomorrow's race,
we are still going to get drivers trying to figure out exactly where they want to deploy that battery.
Antonelli and Hamilton yesterday very much felt like a class of two.
They were quite comfortably clear at the rest of the field.
I think about three temps back to Max Verstappen and company.
Very much a repeated story here.
Just take us through the start of the sprint and how that first lap went.
Lewis Hamilton, a solid enough start, but still had to get the elbows out.
Yeah, immediately under pressure.
And it's very clear that Lewis Hamilton is a wildly old contender.
He's been around for a while or two now because the way that Antonelli gets up alongside him,
and you know that that sweeping first corner of Silverstone,
it can be so easy to come together or you can come out and be pushed wide.
Hamilton squeezes Antonelli all the way up to kind of...
He's not having it.
He's not having it, is he? He's not having it. He's an apex sunk. You have a bite of that.
I'll come back out all the way round. He holds on. He holds on really well.
And actually it looks like very quickly they have pulled away from the two.
About halfway round the lap, there's about two seconds I think between the battle of Antonelli and Hamilton
and then the battle behind, which is all over the shop.
You've got Verstappen succeeding, Norris is through, Piastri turns up for a bit,
Russell's hanging out of the battle, Charlotte Clarke is, I guess, existing somewhere in all of this that's going on.
You got there in the end.
Eventually did he turn up, but it just felt like those two were able to run away and almost work together
by not battling right at the front. Hamilton was able to deploy the pace of the Ferrari successfully,
Antonelli was tucked in behind, and was happy there, about a second back, just within that overtake zone.
But because the battle behind was so... You take the lead, you take the lead.
I'm going to come back. I'll have a go at you next time. We're going to go side by side through a corner.
Not only are the pace of the cars slightly slower than Hamilton and Antonelli,
the wheel-to-wheel actually is also causing them to drop time, and after four or five laps,
the gap is already at four or five seconds. They are comfortably slower.
And in a sprint race, you're just not going to bring that gap back down again.
Is it a concern for Merse? I know they got there in the end, and we'll obviously talk about the overtake
and how Antonelli goes on to win this in a little bit.
But in terms of those lap one situations,
Ferrari do seem to have a bit of an advantage there, because whilst Antonelli
lost out, of course, to Lewis Hamilton,
he also added a bit more work to do than he was anticipating with some of the other cars behind.
Yeah, it's something that Mercedes haven't quite sussed yet. They've got better at first laps this year.
Although Russell was pretty punchy on lap one.
Yeah, so maybe it's more of an Antonelli thing than overall Mercedes, but
yeah, it's something they still need to work on, because
it was fine today for Antonelli. Obviously, he did have to fight off a few
early contenders with the Stapler and Norris, etc. But
you look at Austria, for example, in the main race, that
compromised the rest of his race for him, because he was
battling away in those first early laps. So
it's definitely one for them to still address, I think.
And whether that's actually the car or just driver,
you know, how the drive is deploying on lap one,
it does seem maybe it's a bit more driver specific, I don't know.
But yeah, it's something for them to definitely work on.
I was just going to say on that, something that is very different from Austria to here is that compound of tyre.
And Ferrari are very good at warming up the harder compound of tyre.
They run at a higher temperature. Just to remind people exactly what the compounds are looking like.
So the, if I get this the right way around, the hard tyre in Austria
is the equivalent of the soft tyre here at Silverstone. So we have gone from one end of the range to the other.
We are a whole spectrum harder right now in Silverstone.
Yeah, laugh if you wish, child. But my point here is that Ferrari are immense
at warming their tyres up and getting temperature in quickly. So if we do a lot of racing on the hard compound of tyre
for the main Grand Prix, I think Ferrari might have an overall pace advantage.
And that backfired for them in Austria because we're on that much softer compound,
it meant they just overheat the tyre. They can't maximise the performance.
We saw that with the chassis and the aerodynamics, they had to let temperature out of the car, which slowed the car down also.
Here at Silverstone doesn't seem to be the case. So there are much closer match
from a Mercedes car throughout multiple laps, not just the one-lap in qualifying,
but the race pace seems to be much, much closer.
I thought it was fascinating to see that battle unfold again as soon as Antonelli got back into the second place
where he started this sprint. Then he could go about, you know, how can I catch Lewis Hamilton?
And it felt like, I'm not going to say it was inevitable because I think there was maybe a version of events
where he doesn't get that, but it kind of felt like lap after lap, he was getting there and getting there.
Hamilton was unable to necessarily pull off into the distance.
That Mercedes over a longer stint, it's not the first time we've said this about Ferrari,
who over one lap looked pretty good. And to be clear, it's not that they look poor over multiple laps as well,
but maybe that's just where Mercedes at the moment have that little bit more.
Yeah, I think it is. And like I said, it doesn't really affect them too much.
It's only in situations like they had in Austria where it compromises them.
So if they are near enough to the front, and for example, George Russell in Austria, it was fine.
So I think it's just the danger of slipping into that scrappy, you know, middle of the top 10 battle
that always seems to happen in the early laps that they need to be wary of.
Can I say something about the Antonelli overtake a bit more generally?
Because there's a real combination, like there's a real, let's call it a juxtaposition at the moment
between overtakes that we're seeing and battling on track.
We get, I think now with these new regulations, some wonderful side-by-side racing
that we have been lacking for a number of years in F1.
We are also seeing, and we saw plenty of this today, just flying by someone
before you even get anywhere near the corner.
And whilst we obviously want to see overtaking, we want to see good overtake.
Like it doesn't do much for me when there's a driver like Antonelli gets by Louis Hamilton,
and it doesn't even go to the breaking zone.
So fight for the lead.
So fight for that.
That's between Championship League in third place.
It's between a Ferrari and a Mercedes, two of the oldest competitors that we've got in modern Formula One.
And I want to see them put it all on the line.
I want to see the likes of Antonelli going down the inside of Hamilton through cop,
through stow.
And then all of a sudden, he's not.
Hamilton is moving at the pace of what feels like a laps car,
and Antonelli is just breathing by.
It's so anticlimactic.
It's so underwhelming.
It's just not good enough for a Formula One race.
We've had this discussion before as well about not necessarily the number of overtakes that happen,
but it's the quality of the overtaking.
It feels like there's still maybe a bit to iron out there.
Yeah, it's interesting because you get the first half of that battle with Hamilton and Antonelli was brilliant.
He was lining him up into the first part of the village corner,
all the way down the Wellington Strait, Hamilton defends brilliantly.
Because Hamilton's had to use all of his battery to do that, it cooks the rest of that like it's done.
Into Brooklyn.
So that was brilliant.
Yeah.
And that's what I mean.
It's generating that first part of the battle, which is brilliant,
but by the time you get to it in the lap, at least here at Silverstone, it's done.
Whereas if we've seen other tracks like Canada, for example, where that doesn't happen,
but it's definitely track specific.
You say that the new regs are blue-balling us.
Oh, you said that, not me.
I think I heard you say that.
I heard you say that very clearly.
Sounds a lot like a how are you saying it.
Sure.
We're getting right there.
Oh, it's a let down.
Yes, I've been blue-balled by the new regs.
Knew it.
Didn't think we're quite so good to be back.
Yeah.
A quick one looking ahead to qualifying later on.
Based on what we saw in the sprint, does Hamilton essentially need to repeat the pole position
or at least hold the lead into that one tomorrow to have a chance with this?
I think so.
The raw pace of that, Mercedes is so strong.
It's a beast everywhere it goes.
It's been proven to be such a consistent machine that I think for Hamilton to have a chance of winning,
firstly, he needs his teammate there.
I think the Clare has to do better.
Has to make sure that we've got almost a two-on-one situation where if both Ferraris can get in front of the Mercedes right at the beginning,
Hamilton, all the Clare, whoever's in front, can kind of scamper off and break the gap.
As we saw with the fighting between third, fourth, fifth, sixth all the way through,
it can really slow you down round here.
And if that means that one of the Ferraris is holding up Antigali or Russell,
then that means there's a gap to be made and strategy can be on.
If Antigali gets ahead on that first call or first lap,
we could be, I mean, you brought it up in the preview,
there could be an absolutely dominant display.
Let's work slightly further back.
Rounding out the podium, we had Lando Norris of McLaren.
Before we get onto his race, can we first just talk about what is now known as the Lando Stand?
Just off of Corse.
Stando.
Stando.
Stando.
Stando.
Just off of Stoke Corner.
He's generated a lot of support.
Obviously, I'm not saying that the other British drivers haven't got the same
because they definitely do, but for someone who went into the sport not that long ago,
it's not like he's been here for decades.
He really has managed to get a lot of attention.
He's a very talented, very talented young man.
Obviously, it's his home ground pre and good lord.
Good lord.
That's just a spitfire, guys. Don't worry about it.
There's just a bit of fire taking off behind us. Don't you worry about it.
Chris Mordio, that's what we're all about.
The only thing louder than me is a spitfire.
Get off the stage, Sam.
Shut up.
Lando Norris is an incredibly talented young man.
He's a world champion now as well, which helps.
He's driving for a really recognisable brand, of course, in McLaren.
He's, of course, going to be popular.
I actually saw someone say on Twitter, well, hang on a minute.
Lewis Hamilton has seven and Lando has one.
Why does he have his own stand?
Rightfully, someone said...
Man's got his own straight.
Well, watch Hamilton walk round the track.
Every stand is a Lewis Hamilton stand.
Because no matter who you support, you get off at your seat if he turns up.
But, yes, Sir Lewis Hamilton straight is there as the start, finger straight.
But it's great to see such big support.
And we've seen a lot of fans take a lot of praise in the sense of...
...the Orange Army for Max Verstappen is the main one you can call out.
But the Spanish fans, they come out for a long time and have done for 20 odd years now.
It shows that when your nation gets behind you, it can create real impact.
And not just in a stand. By signing onto circuits.
We don't have a German track right now because we haven't got a highly successful German driver.
Hülkenberg flying that flag, but not, obviously, William Grand Prix.
Despite having Mercedes-Benz Audi in the sport.
So it can really go a long way for those people within those nationalities...
...turning up and celebrating their drivers.
Bring back Hockenheim.
Bring back the Nürburgring.
Bring them back.
Yeah.
You can have the Hülkenberg stand at Hockenheim.
The Hockenheim.
Yes.
Yeah.
Make the whole circuit. Just rename it. The Hülkenheim.
Or, alternatively, we don't do that.
Boo.
Ben Hights fan.
Yeah, I do.
What about his race, though?
He seemed to get clear of that battle that included the Stappen Russell...
...and was very thankful that they were battling behind because he could go about his business.
Kind of about one second clear of Russell at the end.
So it might well have helped him to that podium in the end.
Yeah. The thing is, he did it...
I'm not going to say that he wasn't as quick as Russell, but I think probably Russell was quicker...
...but he just got out of that scrappy battle at the start.
Which, like I was just saying, if you can get out of it and get ahead...
...then it will benefit you greatly going into the remainder of the race.
So, Russell might have got him if had it been an actual full-length proper race.
But for the sprint, it worked for Norris.
And I think he was pretty impressive.
I think because of one point yesterday McLaren didn't look good.
No, no, no.
And obviously, he had a problem in Call of Fine, which they fixed, allowed him to start better.
But, yeah, overall, it was a solid race.
I'm quite surprised they ended up beating the rest.
I know the battle had helped, but I am surprised that he held on from Russell.
Well, it's plus three positions on where he qualified.
Is this more of a positive rather than a negative look for McLaren given?
They are trying to get into that lead battle.
And based on today, they're still not there.
You know, Antonelli and Hamilton are still very comfortably clear ahead of Lando Norris,
but equally, like you say, they are clearer as some of the riders they weren't qualified.
I see what you're coming from. I do.
I actually think this is driver-led.
I think we saw Piasco struggling. He had stinky, stinky pace.
It was a bit wiffy. He was unable to really hold it with those in front of him.
Honking, right?
Honking is correct, sir.
We're using the technical terms today.
Honking, stinky, all the good observations here.
But Lando Norris was able to kind of get through that traffic early on,
get ahead of the battling and managing the car well
to ensure that at the end of the 17 laps, he still had that one-second gap to Russell.
And I'm going to assume there are thereabouts.
It's going to be the opening of the first pit window, action, the main ground point.
So if Norris could do that again and have a one-second gap to the likes of Russell behind,
he might then be able to get an undercut and extend that again further.
So just being savvy behind the wheel has allowed him to get ahead.
Piasco not able to replicate that in the same way.
Yeah, a reminder that the sprint itself was 17 laps today.
The full Grand Prix tomorrow will be 52.
So it's essentially one-third race distance.
And based on today, I think with the medium tyre, of course, that nearly everyone used,
if they are to then go on to the hard tyre for that second stint,
we might be looking at a one-stop, the return of a one-stop race.
You love that.
Yay.
I'm actually off again for two months now.
Are you off?
Yeah, that's it.
I've had enough.
I only come back for two-stop races.
So it looks like it will be a one-stop though.
I mean, based on Antonelli set his fastest lap on the last lap of the race,
Lance Stroll did a one-stop in the sprint.
So there's still hope for a two-stop.
Hope and Aston Martin should not be associated together.
So the wrong way around, and he's still managing to pass it before that pit stop happened.
The goat!
But it's still irrelevant.
It is still irrelevant.
It's still irrelevant.
Yes, still irrelevant.
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Slightly further back again from Landon Orris, we have Max Verstappen, George Russell,
sort of in that little battle, Charlotte Clair, had to work a little bit to join it as well.
Oh, hello, it's me, Charlotte Clair.
Yeah, it's a great impression.
It sounds just like that.
What did you make of that battle?
It was fascinating to watch.
I thought there were some really great moments, wheel-to-wheel between them.
And just so you had scope of this, folks, we were watching this on a phone in the back of Harry's car.
So it was really an atmosphere with a coat and chic.
High energy. We live the high life.
But if you were going to put money on either two drivers, potentially running the other person off the road,
Russell and Verstappen are generating high intensity entertainment.
I thought they helped themselves pretty well.
I thought it was very polite, very friendly, but still enough to keep it entertaining.
Just not enough for Charlotte Clair to actually get it.
Oh, my goodness me. The stage is falling over in front of our very eyes.
What is going on?
Anyway, yes.
So, yeah, I thought that Charlotte Clair would be able to get more involved in how well Lewis Hamilton was able to drive.
But we've heard from comments from the Clair.
It's all about feel this car. Hamilton's got it.
The Clair doesn't.
You OK there, pretty disgusting?
Have you fixed the stage?
She's a star on many things.
Nothing she can't do.
Farrow keeper.
There was a moment where Russell and Verstappen were side-by-side into turns 12 and three.
And I think, Harry, you said with Russell's defence it was...
Bit cheeky.
Bit rude, actually.
Bit rude was the word.
Yes.
He's learning from the person he's overtaking.
Because Verstappen wouldn't defend that way, you see.
No, he's actually really polite.
He's holding the door and welcoming through.
The thing is, I think...
We had no complaint from Verstappen on that one.
So, I think it was rude but fair.
It didn't force him off the track or anything.
He still could be alongside.
But it was elbows out from Russell, which you need to do against Max Verstappen.
Otherwise, he will...
They'll have your elbows off.
This is what we often see with the way in which the racing rules work nowadays,
is that if you are on the outside of a corner,
you're going to get shoved out wide if you don't do anything about to get out of the way.
We saw the same sort of thing with Hamilton versus Verstappen at Austria last time out.
Verstappen versus literally anyone 2015 to now.
So, it's not a surprise to see that from Russell.
Any concern on Russell's side that whilst he does get clear of a couple of those guys,
it's still a long way off for his team-mates.
It shows that qualifying is still incredibly important in this sport,
regardless of the new regulations coming in.
You need to be further up the grid.
It's not like the first couple of races where we saw Ferrari starting third through to fifth
and getting to the front on the first corner.
You now have to be further up to be fighting further up.
That's no surprise, realistically.
Otherwise, what's the point in qualifying?
But Russell does get caught up and he's not caught up against some scrubs.
He's caught up against real world-class drivers.
I say world-class because they're world champions.
That is how that works.
Not bad.
Not bad at all.
And it is worrying me that Russell, seemingly more often than not,
is unable to find that extra two or three tenths that Antigelli can find.
And it's letting him down in the race.
You need to make sure that when it comes to qualifying later on,
he really is able to deliver a lap that matches his teammate.
Otherwise, he might end up being caught up in the same situation.
And there's far more points on the table for the main race
than there is for the spring-groom pre.
Right, that one done.
That is, obviously, the best analysis you'll hear today.
Insight, folks. Insight.
I think that's what Martin Brundle was saying that Antigelli did well as the championship leader.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
If you didn't know that already.
Favourite.
Co-com's role coming for you, mate.
Favourite's a wing.
I hope so. Silverstone, FIA, Formula One, whatever it wants to call me up.
You never know who's listening.
I'm here.
I feel like Russell, as well, going into this weekend,
needs to capitalise on the last couple of races in that he had plus 18 to Antonelli.
Barcelona, thanks to Antonelli's retirement from that one.
Of course, winning in Austria with Antonelli on the podium as well.
But, again, eating into that championship lead that he has,
it would be a bit of a waste to then, if form follows through from the sprint to the main race,
that could almost completely disappear again.
Irrelevant.
Yeah, he needs to keep it up, right?
Well, yeah, it's a worrying weekend, pace-wise, for Russell so far.
I don't, I'm not convinced he's going to be able to do anything about it.
There's no practice in between now and qualifying, obviously.
They're straight into it.
You can do a setup change now, of course.
Can do a setup change, which, you know, maybe he will, may well do.
It's kind of a, it's not like he's nowhere,
so you don't want to do a setup change and, you know, risk it and end up worse
because he's still picking up decent points.
But at the moment, he needs to be gaining on Antonelli,
and I just don't think he's got the pace to do it around Stubblerstone,
which is odd because he's gone well over there.
Oh, well, he's a pole position holder here.
Yeah, and it could work like 24 races, could well have won it.
So, it's an odd one.
And again, maybe it's battery deployment, more than actual pace around here,
which I think a few drivers are struggling with more than others.
In terms of sprints, maybe a bit more generally,
because obviously we've covered the top teams here
and they sort of get seven of the eight point scoring positions down to Piastri and Seventh.
It's actually Lawson that picks up P8 just ahead of Hadjab in the Red Bull in ninth.
But it's a bit of a repeated thing,
especially with an added two cars on the grid this year that we are often seeing.
The Williams of Alex Albon starting in the pit lane today, there's no chance of points.
Astorbine and Cadillac are pootling around on the back, as George Russell might say.
No chance of points. Does this need a rethink, or is this just the way in which we should get a race for sprints?
I think so. We had an almighty scrap for that last point,
and actually it was one of the best parts of the entire sprint race that we barely got to see.
But Hadjab has a calling star, he's caught up with Colin Pinto in about 13th place.
At one point, Gasly has charged forward and he's sitting in eighth place,
only for it to all be turned over because Limb Lager Lawson takes a step forward.
Hadjab is recovering well and he gets with him about a second of Lawson,
coming in at his sprint Grand Prix. And yet there's no reward for any of these drivers.
Lawson rightfully does deserve that one point.
But what if he got three, and it was two for nine, the one for ten thing, a sprint race.
And we went ten straight down to one, which I think would compensate a little bit for the fact that we've got more cars trying to compete.
It's a minuscule amount of points for a sprint race anyway, and I understand why.
But you've got to make it a little bit more enticing, because if you are a fang of one of these teams that are further down the grid,
let's say you're an Audi fang, we were going great, we finished what? 12th and 14th place today.
That's really dull, it's a waste of my time, I'm not going to bother turning up.
So unless you're in the top four or five teams, it honestly is a waste of an hour.
And it speaks to the gap that's between the top teams and the midfield teams right now,
because those top four teams, I know Hadjab again didn't get clear of Lawson,
I just so far clear that racing balls are fighting for a point.
Audi, Hans, Hans, Williams, and you've got a lot of teams there that are essentially practicing for tomorrow's Grand Prix,
which I don't think is a great look.
Speaking of that Hadjab and Lawson battle, we saw a very close moment between the two of them going into Stowe.
Code Brown, I think is the official term.
If you're one of those two drivers, do you think it was fair?
No, it was at those speeds, even the slightly reduced speeds we have now in Silverstone,
that's an airplane crash if Lawson moves anywhere any further over.
And I appreciate it's not a massive braking zone into Stowe these days,
but still you can't be moving in the braking zone anyway, closing down so rapidly.
And we've seen already this year in Suzuka with Bearman and another Colobinto.
We saw the closing speed, what happened there, and that was almost an airplane crash,
so it's not on. I don't know whether they'll penalise him for that.
By the time this goes out, you will know that.
But it's a tough one, it was pretty harsh, but I think maybe a penalty is worthy just as a slap on the wrist to Lawson
to not be doing that again, because it's dangerous.
It is deceptively heavy, the braking zone in that corner.
It looks like it's a real flowing turn, because obviously you're at full chat coming down the hangar straight,
it's the fastest point at the racetrack, and suddenly you're having to drop down into a really heavy right-hander.
Whilst you don't drop below maybe fourth gear, you are really coming down on the brakes.
Lawson will try to claim that he was following the racing line, I think here,
the way he's gone from the kerb on the left over to the right.
He's done it much earlier than he normally would, of course, but I do think that will be his effect.
A shallow line. It really is.
It's a real niche line to Stowe, he's picked there.
I can try it, I give it a go, see what happens.
Oh, there's another car there, hello mate.
Equally, he's dug it up against his essentially part of his own family, rather Red Bull family driver.
Tom Toretto is that?
He's got kids, dammit, come on.
The Fars and the Furious family.
Yeah, family.
Yeah, I thought it was a bit cheeky, a little bit naughty.
Deserves a penalty.
Yeah, it's not the move across, it's when he does it.
Like if you want to defend the inside into Stowe, that's completely fair,
but make that call far earlier than when Lawson did,
because aeroplane crash appropriately based on where we are.
What because the aeroplane is behind us?
We are an excellent airfield, so...
We're not manifesting here, we are not manifesting.
Do you want to listen to this podcast if you're in an airplane right now, thank you.
No.
So I think that could have been incredibly dangerous going into that corner,
and I know maybe Stowe has slowed down a little bit with these regulations,
but again, we're just seeing such differences in approach down that hangar straight,
that there are cars coming into that corner far quicker than others,
depending on where your battery is at.
I think we do need to be careful with that sort of thing.
Harry, I wanted to get your take on Sergio Perez versus Fernando Alonso.
Oh, this will be good.
It's still on.
What's going on?
No other F1 podcast is giving those two teams coverage at the moment.
We are making sure that they get the attention they deserve.
I hope they're listening.
Perez is probably not very happy that we're giving him that attention right now,
because a 10 second penalty for him going into the side of Alonso.
Checkers have better moves in his career.
Yeah, I'd say.
Yeah, that one.
I mean, those two teams are scrapping at the back for literally no reason,
just for the joy of being an F1.
Love of the game.
Love of the game.
Yeah, for those who didn't see it, because there was no replay.
You'll have to watch social media.
Go on Twitter.
Sergio went for a bit of a lunge on...
Do you know what?
I wouldn't even call it a lunge,
because a lunge would have at least got him alongside.
It was just there.
It was the excuse that his brakes were on fire, I'm sure.
Yeah, probably.
Yeah, it was a poor move.
Just a poor Alonso in the cockpit, spinging.
I hate my life.
That's a great effect, yeah, sound effect on the move.
I think he'd have got away with it, Perez,
if it weren't for those damn kids.
I think he would have got away with it
if he doesn't lock up right at the end.
They'd have gone through it together, I think.
Yeah, he was looking okay, even from like a...
He can back out at this at this point.
He can back out, he
and then suddenly the car snaps,
and you're like, no, he's not backing out.
That's into the side of Alonso.
And as we know, that really cost both of them,
the 10-second time penalty for Perez.
Absolutely dashed his hopes of victory.
And Alonso's certain podium was also scuppered.
20 seconds down to 20 seconds.
Yeah, but he still overtook Lance.
Before the pit stop.
That needs to be very clear.
It wasn't just because of the pit stop.
He was four seconds clear of him before the pit stop.
Good stuff.
Before we head off, a couple of things.
Firstly, because this is going to make us look very silly
and that when most people are listening to this,
the qualifying session will have already happened.
What's going to happen in qualifying?
Oh, good.
I'm so glad you asked about something
that technically has already happened.
Yes.
I think we're going to get actually a very similar repeat
of what goes on for the spring qualifying.
That is unfortunately the negative of what happened
for the spring weekend.
Yeah, I've gone safe here.
I think it will be a fight between Anthony Ali Hamilton.
I wouldn't be shocked if Russell and maybe Leclerc
do get their act together.
Equally, don't count the stepping out.
What happens if you count them out?
Well, nothing, but do it at your peril.
Do it at your own peril.
Yeah, I think actually with the adjustment in the setup,
the understanding, the battery management,
that top five or six, the gap is going to come closer together,
I think.
What's happening in qualifying, Harry?
You always get things right.
Pepe's poll.
Oh, OK.
He's going to recover from his breaks not working.
Exactly.
They have taken them off.
I would, I'm with Sam, I expect more of the same.
I think we could see Hamilton on poll again here.
He's just that good in the last sector,
but even if Anthony can hook up the perfect lap,
it doesn't matter.
He just teleports through sector three.
He's on the start finish line.
I really don't know what he's, it must be battery related,
because I don't think there's anything Anthony can do.
Use it elsewhere then, man, because you're so much slower.
But Anthony may well have learned this from the sprint,
not to use it quite so much, because he was, you know,
in spring call, he was setting purple sectors in one and two,
and then falling off at the end.
So it'll be interesting.
Can Russell get in there?
I don't know, maybe even a McLaren,
because Norris was looking pretty good.
I would be doubtful, but...
Well, they did bring some upgrades this weekend.
Obviously, only one practice to get them embedded.
Didn't look great in sprint cally.
Looked a bit better in the sprint.
Maybe it's one that keeps evolving throughout the weekend.
One thing we obviously like to do before we finish up
is just the driver of the session.
This might be a fairly obvious one, we'll see.
I'm actually going to give it to Lawson.
No, I'm not.
After that break, I'm going to give him a no chance.
Sorry, I'm going to give him enough praise recently.
I'm going to go for Anthony.
I thought the way he stalked Hamilton right at the start,
good attempt at the overtaking,
and he got the move done really well.
The battery management was clearly very on there.
I hate that that's part of the praise that you have to give him.
That's how good his management was, but he was.
It was really good.
He gets away from Hamilton quite comfortably afterwards
to finish a couple of seconds in front.
So, yeah, championship league takes it.
Harry?
Yeah, Anthony.
I was trying to think of anything more in the top.
Maybe Norris, but I'll go Anthony.
That's probably the easier one.
I'm happy to provide the variety here.
I'll go Lando Norris.
He was very comfortably clear of Oscar Piatri.
Got clear of that group of cars as well.
I do think based on the time gaps at the end,
Russell was probably faster than him.
Leclerc was probably faster than him.
In which case, P3 is a very good result.
But Anthony, obviously, a very, very good contender as well.
So, we're going to be back for main qualifying,
where we'll see if it all goes to plan.
We'll see.
We'll see.
Welcome back, everyone.
Got a bit of a qualifying chat about now.
So, we did 30 minutes of the sprint race.
We've now got a bit of time to talk about qualifying.
We had a good time watching.
Get some random pub in Wichurch.
Wichurch, big up.
The King's Arms in Wichurch.
Yes.
Great little pub garden, actually.
Lovely pub garden.
Great place to watch British GP qualifying, actually.
A very interesting one, where, of course,
Kimmy Antonelli managed to get pole position
ahead of the Ferrari duo.
Of course, I mean, he didn't do in qualifying yesterday,
but, of course, we did a great job.
We did a great job.
We did a great job.
We did a great job.
We did a great job.
We did a great job.
We did a great job.
We did a great job.
We did a great job.
We ended up in qualifying yesterday,
but, of course, we know he overturned that
in terms of the sprint race.
He's got an even better starting spot this time around.
I think we mentioned as part of the sprint review
that was recorded many, many hours ago at this stage
that if the Ferrari is to stand a chance,
they kind of want to take pole position again
to at least give Kimmy Antonelli something to do.
Yes, they do.
They do.
Unsuccessful.
They were unsuccessful,
but the point I made in the sprint review
that realistically what Ferrari needs more is to have both cars in contention.
And the good thing they've managed to do here is split the Mercedes.
Charlotte Clair is really elevating his performance, about a tenth and a half away from Kimmy Antangeli.
Lewis Hamilton is the really kind of the biggest fool from Grace Agilis' top crew here,
he's in third place, three and a half tenths back from Antangeli,
not able to replicate what he did in the sprint qualification.
But Ferrari with the advantage that if they can get a good start, in theory,
both of those cars can challenge Antangeli. And it might be a Ferrari one to you by turns two and three.
It feels like we've kind of gone to Mercedes versus Ferrari again,
which was maybe the case earlier in the season. We've got Mercedes one and four,
Ferrari two and three. It feels like that start and the early proceedings are quite important.
As Ben says, as Mike falls down.
Yeah, it will be. And I think as we said for you,
this is only a few minutes ago, but a few hours ago for us,
not getting involved in that first lap scrap is or first laps,
first laps scrap is really, really crucial for your race. And if Antangeli can get away at the start,
then he's, you know, he's got a very good chance of winning as we saw with Russell in Austria.
If he gets involved with a scrap with the two Ferraris and or his teammate,
and either the likes of Hadjard, Norris, etc. Because even if you start fifth and sixth,
you somehow get involved in this lead, lead battle. Yeah, if he gets stuck into that,
then obviously things get a bit, bit more difficult. So I don't think it's their only chance,
but it's their, it's certainly the biggest opportunity, I think for the two Ferrari drivers to get
the win tomorrow is to get to get past Antangeli at the start and make sure he has to lose time
at the start.
Helps as well that the runs turn one is one of the shortest, I would say,
on the calendar as well. We saw that Lewis Hamilton might well have got away slightly
worse than Antangeli in the sprint, but ultimately, Hamilton able to cover him off on the inside.
As soon as you're on that inside of that corner, you're not able to carry momentum in the same
way that you are around the outside. So Antangeli, who hasn't had the best starts this year at times,
might actually get away with a little bit here. He might, yeah, but I think he's going to learn
from what he had done to him in the sprint. It was pinch. Same thing, right? Same thing.
Pinch your opponent up against Pitwall and then compromise their line through turn one,
because you can still sweep through in the lead, even if you've not had the best start. So
it'll be interesting. What did you make of Antangeli in terms of how he performed out there?
It's quite quick, isn't it? Oh, it's mega. It's actually annoying just how talented he is.
Because how young he is. 19 years old. Why am I first?
Well, carry that into every session pretty much part of this weekend. It rolls Kim Antangeli's
way again, but let's not out like that's down to luck or down to fortune or anything other than
his own doing. He comes out nearly four attempts faster than George Russell, a gang's teammate who,
let's face it, had quite a session filled with trials and tribulations. We saw that run off.
Do you want to shout about that Q1? Yeah, I mean, one cut there. I'm never seeing an instant like it.
He has. I think he was confused. Yeah, it looked like the car had a genuine problem,
actually, coming into that braking zone throughout the long right hander of Woodcutt.
The way he just straight lines into the gravel and bumps his wing on the wall,
really lucky to not be out of that session, I think. There's every chance that he goes into it
suspension first and it's wheel off. It's a rare double lockup as well, because you had the
sort of initial lockup that saw him very wide of what would be the optimal racing line.
Then I felt it was almost like a second puff of the tires almost that saw him go straight off and
almost very nearly go into the barriers. Fortunately for him and the team, he was able to
carry on. Obviously, the lap was completely dead at that point, but enough to give him time to do
another one later in the session. That could have gone very easily, slightly differently.
I must admit, he recovered really well. A lot of drivers might have fumbled on that pressure. It
might have happened in their full fast lap at the end. It might not have been good enough,
but to come back and be fourth place, getting four attempts away from Rantanagli, who is
flawless around here. He's doing so well. I have to really give Craig its Rantanagli how
quick he is. Russell being fourth is not downing out for the count here. He can make something
work. If Ferrari don't get away off the line well and Russell can get a good start, there's
every chance there can have P1, P2. Sorry. Good. P1, P2 come the end of the first lap.
Fascinating to see what Russell could do. He was not great at making overtakes in the spring.
I'm keen to see what he's able to do in the main ground print.
On lap one, maybe. You might be relying on somehow being alongside his teammate early on in this one.
Yeah, credit to Rantanagli because he went over three attempts faster in Q3 than he was in Q2.
We saw that continual improvement. I guess it's maybe what we saw in spring qualifying was whilst
Rantanagli wasn't on pole. Lewis Hamilton, who was on pole, didn't necessarily have the fastest sector
across all three sectors. It was Rantanagli who was fastest in the first couple.
It felt like Rantanagli probably had the best perfect lap out there if you could put it together.
He couldn't yesterday. I feel like he could today.
Yeah, and it's what we were saying earlier on. I think he learned from the sprint where
Hamilton was quick. Whilst maybe he wasn't still ultimately fastest in the final sector,
like I said, he was then able to put the full lap together where he had been struggling
in spring qualifying yesterday. As mentioned, he was getting purples in sectors one and two,
and then falling off at the back end of the lap with no battery left. He learns quick, doesn't he?
Annoyingly quick for the rivals of him, yeah.
Yeah, and it's a great trait for him to have, but it's not taking very long to work out how to
accelerate this track. He saw what the seven-time world champion did and was like,
you know what? I'll copy that.
Seems good. Yeah. Yeah, so I mean, can't fault him for that whatsoever, and it's paid off.
Charlotte Clair is qualified second here, which matches what he was able to do last time out in
Austria. A bit of a clean sweep for him versus his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, in terms of he was
faster in Q1, Q2, and the all-important Q3. Is this an encouraging sign for him? Is it finally
coming together? I don't know, but at least he's had a good session, because before that,
he had five in a row, FP won all three, SQ1, Q2, and Q3, and the sprint race where he was
comfortably slower than Lewis. So the fact that he's able to go away in between sessions, remember,
Park Fermi rules are lifting. You can change the setup between the sprint race and our qualifying
session. He has clearly learned there. And what I think has happened is I don't think Hamilton has
gone backwards. I think that actually everyone else has stepped forwards. And I think La Clair
especially is taking a big step up in the way he's handling the car between these two race sessions.
Now, we'll be interested to see what happens when the race gets going, because the last couple,
Hamilton has managed to get the better of La Clair off the line, and on that one, he's managed to
really get through him quite quickly. But this is a good spot for La Clair. It's nice to see that
he's recovered. Wasn't looking good the first half of the weekend. Let's see if he can actually
challenge Kimmy Antonelli and not be swallowed up by the likes of Hamilton and Russell in behind.
I think it might be a similar situation to the sprint race where Antonelli was again kind of
pinched to the inside of the corner, which allowed a couple of other drivers to kind of be interested
in his second place spot. La Clair needs to ensure that doesn't happen to him in tomorrow's main
Grand Prix, because if it does, then Hamilton again could sweep around the outside of him,
and then suddenly the other teams might well become interested. But a good session for
Chalde Clair, a much needed one as well, being able to out qualify Hamilton again across all three
qualifying sessions. Now, I'm not sure that was necessarily on the cards, but it happened. But
something that was maybe even less on the cards, not something we're used to seeing at all,
is Max Verstappen, not only being outqualified in Q3, but consistently outqualified in Q1, Q2,
and Q3 by, of course, by the Rizla, Isaac Hacha, booming his way around the circuit.
I mean, yeah, Hacha, like he said, it's not something you hear very often.
No, it doesn't sound right to say, or hear.
Measure of Max Verstappen all weekend, and it was only in Spring-Caulay,
session three yesterday that Verstappen decided to wake up, but it didn't work for him today in
qualifying. So, there played to Hacha. He's been excellent here all weekend. And yeah, he was well
clear of his illustrious teammate, who didn't look like he had massive problems. Just...
Yeah, he said something about the engines at Q1, but not...
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of potentially clean air in front of him if he can't handle the top four, which wouldn't surprise me a great deal.
But so often the Stappen versus Hatch are we've seen it in qualifying. We haven't really seen it in the races because at least one of them has a bit of an issue early on or I really want to see that.
McLaren. Sam, if I remember correctly, we've gone from sixth and seventh in qualifying yesterday to sixth and eighth. That's not progress.
The worst part is the time difference between their position and pole position.
So a lot more than yesterday.
It's a lot more. You've got to consider that Hatch are who is in fifth place is six and a half tenths behind the pole time.
Remember the top five, I think top six yesterday were separated by only three and a half tenths.
So it's really increased and there really is now a big of a gulf between the top four and now the next four cars.
But yeah, you've got Hatch are on 0.6 Norris 0.7 for Stappen 0.7 the Piastry 0.9.
Which is that brand a couple of times throughout the session and he was kind of like, oh, you know, nothing 11.
We did. It's gone come together.
When we asked why so we I mean we're watching the telly and they made it back.
You know, you know, not that it's a representative of our place. Right. But what this is?
This is a little bit. Yeah, it's not quite the same.
Sixth and eighth is not quite as bad. But it isn't also particularly great either.
It feels really rubbish. Really.
Those upgrades clearly not a bedding to the car.
Well, the engine does clean.
He's an upgrade in the stage are much closer to the competition with Ferrari's latest upgrade coming in as well.
Piastry is really quite stinky.
It's really falling off.
That's the second time today. Piastry's performance has been referred to as stinky.
But it is. I'm sorry.
It is a couple of times behind his teammate, but he was really poor in the sprint race.
And with the staff in between you, I'm not sure he's going to be getting much further.
I'm getting a real turning formed. This isn't good for McLaren.
They really are far off. Piastry being nearly a second away from the pole time is not good for McLaren.
No, they looked a little bit better in race trim versus qualifying trim if we're looking at the sprint.
But their objective is not to start so far down.
Like if they can start at some point, obviously not this weekend, fourth and fifth or at least third and fourth,
something like that, then maybe they'll be able to use that slight race pace advantage to do something.
But with this, it feels like they're going to be battling cars that maybe they are slightly quicker than in terms of race trim.
But it will take a while to get by them racing balls again, both getting to Q3 very similar result to sprint qualifying.
I was having a look at the times here.
So Arvid Limblad has actually outqualified Liam Lawson on this occasion.
Liam Lawson, this is a very weird one. We don't see this very often.
This Q1 time was his fastest lap.
No way.
Why? Why have you done that, Liam?
Genuinely, Liam Lawson, Q1, 29-3, which would have been enough to outqualify Limblad and Q3 if he'd repeated that time.
29-4 in Q2 and then a 29-7 in Q3. He actually got slower over every session.
That is odd.
That's not the way to do it.
Also, the gap between the two of them is quite stark.
Four tenths, we gave Liam Lawson real positive praise.
That's the only kind of praise you get.
Oh, no. He's back.
We gave him a lot of praise in the sprint qualifying session.
And here, you have to go the other way.
Limblad's taking a really good job at developing the car, developing the time.
It's the four tenths clear of Lawson.
Anything outside the top 10 that caught your eye?
Gabriel Bortoletto, very close to making it to Q3.
Almost, but Audi aren't allowed in the top 10.
No, it's not allowed.
He's so much faster than the other Wells, though.
Yeah, it was a big gap between Bortoletto.
It's just the gasoline. Six tenths between Bortoletto and Gasli.
But only half a tenth between Gasli and Holkeberg.
That's really impressive from Bortoletto and Audi.
This is a track that does not suit their car.
It's a power track. We know that Audi engine is poor.
I think that's a really good qualifying from Bortoletto.
Yeah, half a tenth away from getting into that Q3 spot.
I mean, 11th. You can't go beyond that.
I'm afraid Audi, but it's still a pretty good session, I thought, from him.
Yeah, a good session for Bortoletto.
I guess he can be too disappointed because realistically, he gets into the top 10.
A tough start as well, because he needs to pull out a lap in Q1 at the very end
to get through as well.
That's true. And I think that's, I shouldn't be overlooked.
Wasn't the smoothest session for him and Audi.
So, props to him for...
Carlos Sainz is seven and a half tenth faster than Alex Albonz.
Someone's got a point to make.
What are you doing, Alex Albonz?
We've obviously watched this in pub Sam's, I've read, I was like, what the...
I could not see anything on that phone.
I'm shocked at the size of this gap. It was massive.
I don't understand what happens to Alex Albonz when we get to Q2,
because in Q1 yesterday, he was faster than Carlos Sainz.
Today, Sainz was faster in Q1, but it's only by, like, a tenth of a second.
And then we get to Q2 and Sainz unlocks something,
and Albonz like, no, they won't do the session.
Pass.
Hard pass.
I mean, that clearly caught your eye, Sam,
in terms of outside the top ten, but anything else?
Colin Pintz, of course, had the real spinger.
So, unfortunately, not able to take part in Q2.
I mean, I'm not sure if he's giving fast enough anyway,
but the fact that Bottas looked like, you know, he was really on the pace of beats,
Colin Pintz, Colin Pintz, and Colin Pintz.
Good for Bottas to have qualified Perez as well.
It's not happened a lot recently.
No, he took a couple of attempts to clear him, which is good to see from Bottas,
but he's down and out.
Ocon again slower than his teammate, Barney, is much closer
than what we saw in the sprint qualifying,
but Fernando Alonso, in 22nd place,
is five seconds slower
than Kimmy Antonelli's fastest lap time.
Absent whisker.
Man, he's almost there.
You get a bit of paper between that gap.
Yeah, yeah, except that it's a paper company.
It's actually done the mission.
It's actually the lorry that carries the paper.
Oh, dear.
Well, I'll ask the mind. Do you have a driver at the session, Sam?
I'm going to go with Antonelli.
I know that's really dull, but the fact that he's been able to step up
and clear another almost two attempts in the next fastest car,
I thought was really impressive.
Limb Leung, as well, great return to form in terms of beating his teammate.
Harry, I'll shout out old Chuckles.
Yeah, Chucky Leung.
Yeah, I mean, just it's still this isn't driving the weekend,
but I think given what's been happening with him
and even the form that Hamilton has showed here all weekend,
so then actually gets qualifying into the direct qualifying.
I think is a good effort.
Not too bad at all.
I'll offer up the third name.
Isaac Hacha out qualifying for Stappen in Q1, Q2 and Q3.
That is no mean.
I'll argue that was a sonic boom.
I'm glad we've got a boom in at the end of this this qualifying review,
which caps a very interesting day of podcasting from us.
Look at what?
Crikey.
It's nothing else.
It's been an interesting day of podcasting.
We've been all around the house has been brought to you from Chichester
and Oxford in the UK.
Via Wichurch.
Via Wichurch.
It's been a lot of houses and we've gone round them to go.
Yes, to give you a review of today that is actually 15 minutes longer
than it normally would.
So you're welcome.
You're welcome.
I hope so.
We don't do it for you.
We've gone with quantity rather the quality today.
Well, of course, we've got for a race review tomorrow.
Just a quick note on that one.
We are actually at Silverstone.
If you haven't listened to our previous episodes, any other episode of the last month.
So first and foremost, if you're there and you want to see us,
we will be outside the Vail Grand stand between half past one and half past two.
Don't be shy to say hello if you see us outside of that as well.
It does mean obviously we'll be traveling back from the track a little bit later in the day.
So it might just be a little bit later in terms of that review
than what you're normally used to.
I don't know anything else to say.
Sam looks ready for an outro.
I am ready for a curry, mate.
Well, if you do an outro, you can get a curry quicker.
The Oxford Cormor is calling my name.
Sorry for the audio quality in part of this show.
It's not up to our usual standards, but producer Kirstie is over there trying our absolute best
to make it sound as good as possible.
Thank you so much for listening.
Thanks for tuning in.
Power ranking to be on Patreon, of course.
And join the Discord if you want to get your submission from moment of the race in.
That's where we take them from.
We appreciate the support.
We'll maybe see you at Silverstone if not, listen to the review afterwards.
In the meantime, I think it's time you're all saying...
I've been Ben Hocking.
I've been Harry Eid.
And remember, keep breaking late.
Get me out of here.
I'm not having any!
About this episode
Silverstone’s sprint weekend gets a chaotic, battery-driven breakdown from Harry Eude, Sam Sage, and Ben Hawking—plus a quick note that the recording environment is a bit unusual (Oxford Airbnb, with background noise and even a Spitfire). The sprint race centers on a late swing: Antonelli’s fast-charging battery timing lets him pass Hamilton after Hamilton appears to run out late. The hosts dig into how one practice session and new battery rules make pace unpredictable, discuss Ferrari’s tyre warm-up advantage on harder compounds, and question Mercedes’ early-lap execution.
A busy day at Silverstone gives us two exciting sessions to unpack! Ben, Sam and Harry are on hand to review the Sprint and Grand Prix qualifying, discussing Kimi Antonelli's dominant day, Ferrari's encouraging showing, and Red Bull and McLaren keeping the pressure on.
Note: The sprint portion of the review was recorded live at an event, so the audio quality may be slightly lower than usual.
