Pole position means you start the race from the very front of the grid. It’s usually a big advantage because you can lead early and avoid getting boxed in.
Pit stops are when the car comes into the pit lane during the race, usually to change tires. When you stop (and how often) can make a huge difference to who wins.
DRS is a system that helps a car go faster in a straight line for passing. “DRS range” is basically the distance where you’re close enough to the car ahead to use it.
Tire wear is how fast the tires get worse as you drive. If you can make the tires last longer, you can often go farther between pit stops and stay fast.
The Chevrolet Corvette is a sports car made by Chevrolet. It’s designed to be fast and fun to drive, especially compared with regular cars. When people mention “C6,” they’re usually talking about one specific generation of the Corvette.
New regulations are rule changes that can affect how the cars work and how teams set them up. That can change who’s fast and what strategies work best.
Braking zones are the parts of the track where drivers decide when to start slowing down for a turn. If those zones are hard to judge, it’s easier to mess up your corner entry speed.
A hairpin is a very tight turn, usually taken slowly. Drivers often have to brake a lot so they can make the turn safely and still set up the next corner.
Racetracks are split into sections called sectors to measure performance. The final sector is the last part of the lap, so getting it right matters a lot for your overall time.
Gear choice affects how the car accelerates out of a corner. If they say it’s in fourth gear, it usually means the corner is taken fairly quickly compared with very slow turns that require lower gears.
F1 cars can store extra energy and use it later. If a track doesn’t give you many chances to slow down hard, it can be harder to build up that stored energy.
“Getting off the line” is how well the car accelerates right at the start. If you launch better, you can reach the next important part of the track first.
Momentum is basically how smoothly and quickly the car keeps moving. “Getting momentum back” means recovering your speed and rhythm after something didn’t go perfectly.
An overtake is just passing another car and getting in front for real, not just pulling alongside. In F1, it usually depends on the track spot where you can make the pass.
Starting software is the car’s computer settings for how it launches at the beginning of the race. If it’s not right, the car can bog down or lose traction when it matters most.
Downforce is what makes the car feel “heavier” on the road. More downforce usually means better grip in corners, but it can come with extra air resistance.
“Upgrades” are improvements teams bring to the race car to try to make it faster. Even if the parts look promising, they might not work as well as hoped on track.
“Start software” is the computer program that helps the car launch at the start of the race. If it’s tuned well, the car can get off the line faster and with better traction.
In F1, the “power unit” is the car’s main engine system, including the hybrid parts. If someone says it’s not the power unit, they’re saying the problem is probably not the engine itself.
Term
factory related
“Factory related” implies the root cause is tied to how the team’s car is built or configured at the factory—such as calibration, integration, or production-spec components—rather than a track-specific setup issue. In F1 discussions, this often points to a systematic team-side problem that can be corrected with updated parts or revised software.
This is an engine setting change that affects how tightly the fuel-air mix is squeezed before it burns. That can change how much power the engine makes and how it feels to drive.
That’s about how the car’s shape and wings push the car down onto the track and how much it resists air. Better aerodynamics can make the car stick better and go faster.
Term
chassis side
This is about the car’s frame and how the suspension is set up. If the chassis is improved, the car can handle better and feel more stable.
A rev limiter is a safety limit that stops the engine from revving too high. In racing, drivers may reach it when they’re trying to get maximum speed, but it’s not something you want constantly.
An undercut is when one driver pits earlier than another to use fresh tires and go faster. If it works, they can come out ahead because they gain time before the other car makes their stop.
The constructors championship is the team standings for the whole season. Teams earn points based on how their cars finish in races, not just one driver.
Energy recovery is how F1 cars store energy (often from braking) and then use it later to go faster. Some tracks make it easier to collect and use that stored energy than others.
Wet weather racing means the track is slippery because of rain. Cars can’t grip the road as well, so braking and turning are harder and drivers have to be more careful.
Runoff is the extra space next to the track meant to catch cars if they go off. If it’s not very forgiving, crashing into the wall becomes more likely.
Thunderstorm warnings are alerts that bad storms might hit. In racing, that can change when the race starts because rain and lightning can make the track unsafe.
Term
crash software
“Crash software” means the car’s computer can detect a crash and respond quickly. The goal is to improve safety and help protect the driver.
Lewis Hamilton is a very successful Formula 1 driver with lots of experience. Here, he’s mentioned as someone who could benefit if rain changes how the race plays out.
Lando Norris is a Formula 1 driver. The hosts are saying he might like rain because it can make the race more unpredictable and highlight driver skill.
A penalty system is the set of punishments officials use when someone breaks the rules. In F1, it can mean losing time in the race or starting further back next time.
They’re comparing F1 talk to “Mario Kart,” meaning it sounds like a fun game comment instead of serious feedback. The point is that it doesn’t really help explain what should change.
Stewards are the officials who look at what happened in a race and decide if someone broke the rules. If they think a penalty is needed, they apply it.
The FIA is the organization that makes and enforces the rules in F1. Here, they’re being discussed in relation to how penalties and steward decisions are handled.
The grid is where cars line up at the start of an F1 race. If you start on the back row, you’re near the back and usually have more work to do to move up.
“Three-wheeling” means the car isn’t driving or gripping properly like it should—almost like one wheel isn’t working right. The hosts are saying Haas may have fixed the problem so the car feels more normal.
“Points” are what teams and drivers earn for finishing in certain positions. The hosts are saying Haas scored points early, then stopped scoring in the most recent races they’re talking about.
Qualifying is when drivers try to set the fastest lap to decide where they start on the grid. If qualifying is weak, it usually means the car isn’t working as well as it should.
Concept
a car shutting down
“Shutting down” means the car suddenly stops working during the race. If that happens, the driver can’t keep running normally, so it’s hard to judge how fast they really were.
“Sister teams” means two racing teams that are connected through the same organization. If key engineers or designers move from one team to the other, it can change how well each car develops and performs.
A stint is how long a driver drives before the next pit stop. Tires and car setup can change between stints, so it affects how well a driver can learn and perform.
A retirement is when a car has to stop and can’t finish the race. A double retirement means both cars from the team had problems, so they lose a lot of points at once.
A “fastest lap” is the quickest single lap a driver completes during the race. Sometimes it can earn extra points, so it’s not just about finishing first.
Sprint pole, George Russell. Sprint wing, George Russell. Pole, George Russell.
Wing, George Russell. Second place, Kimi Antonelli. Third place, Piastri.
Must say these good. They're very good now. I'm going with sprint pole, Kimi Antonelli.
Sprint win, Max Verstappen. Pole position, Kimi Antonelli. The win, Kimi Antonelli.
Second place, George Russell. Third place, Max Verstappen.
All right. Mine is far more boring. I mean, there's still a lot of Mercedes in both of us,
but let us know what your predictions are at home if you think actually Mercedes aren't going to
triumph as they have done in the first four races, and who will it be instead? There's no Ferrari
representation in our predictions. Maybe you think that Leclerc and Hamilton are going to finish one
two. I'd like to live in your head wherever you are. The Lululan. Yes. Let's take a short break.
On the other side, we're going to be previewing the midfield.
Welcome back, everyone. Alpine had a great weekend in Miami, even with the Pierre Gasly
retirement from the main Grand Prix. He had a great sprint, and Franco Colopinto had a great
main race. It seemed to me that they really distanced themselves from the rest of that midfield.
Hass have expressed a bit of concern about that, that they seemingly have been jumped by Alpine.
Would you agree that they've made a significant jump or you do need to see a bit more yet?
It's tricky, isn't it, four races in, but it did look like the gap was comfortably larger. It wasn't
just like when we say a little leapfrog that you used to play in the playground when you're just
one step in front of them. It's like they went to leapfrog them. They ended up in the next school.
That's how far down the road they managed to go, because the gap was huge. The
Haas guys could barely get near the points playing positions, and it looked like Alpine
were on for a sure five double points finish if it wasn't for the unfortunate incident
between Lawson and Gastly. It looks like Alpine are comfortably ahead of the rest of the midfield
right now. The chassis is working well. They've got that Mercedes power-engine and, of course,
battery and, of course, gearbox. Everything is fully internally working for them,
which is really comfy in the car. I think it's a bit more of a challenge on the driver,
is Canada. I'm expected to see someone like Gastly be able to stretch his legs. I'm hoping
that we can see a great step forward again from Franco in the sense that he's able to continue
that momentum forward from Miami. There is a risk that a wall is touched, I think here,
but no, I think they're comfortably ahead of Haas. Haas has lots of work to do.
Yes, and it is only one track and one upgrade or one set of upgrades, so we don't want to
overreact just based on that, and things can change quite quickly. No idea if it will be
as relevant here as it was in Miami, but if it is, they're in for a very good weekend at Alpine.
They look very good right now. They made quite a few upgrades at Miami, and Haas, I know, were at
the lower end of those. They've made a couple, but nowhere near as many as the 11 that Ferrari made
or the 7 that McLaren made. I think Alpine were maybe around seven as well. It does feel like,
just based on that one race weekend, Alpine have made some really good progress. It didn't feel like
first three races with Red Bull kind of in the mix as well. It was Alpine versus Haas.
Last race, it felt like Alpine, big gap, rest of midfield, which was led by Williams at the time
rather than Haas. Collapinto was over 30 seconds clear of the Haas drivers at Miami. It was not
a small gap. It was a lot perlap that he had that advantage. I think there is a risk, and I don't
want this to be true. I'm not even saying it will be true. There is a risk that Haas's most
competitive point in this season will be the first few races of the year, just based on the size of
that organization and keeping up with a team like Alpine. We've seen it with Haas before, though.
We have. Yeah. It might happen again. It might do. Equally, they might benefit if Ferrari's power
unit is believed to be at a lesser amount of performance versus the others. Yeah, which is
possible. I think Haas are going to be looking over their shoulder rather than looking forward.
You've got Audi who, I think, if they can put together a solid race weekend, have got the
ability to finish in the points comfortably with both cars. You saw what Bortoletto was able to
do in Miami alone. Yeah. Bortoletto got Ocon, right, and was very close to getting Bearman,
and he started on the back row of the grid. Exactly. And as we've already documented,
one of the worst starting cars in the Formula 1 grid right now, Holkenberg as well, obviously,
will look to finish a race, which would be great for him, because it's actually a real trick against
so far this season. But also, the other problem for Haas before the Oduo comes in here, Williams,
as you mentioned, already beat them in Miami. There's every chance here, if they've got the
chassis sorted, they've lost a little bit of weight, and they aren't three-wheeling their way
around the racetrack. They also could end up beating them. Haas is getting up sitting
13th and 14th, quite comfortably, and really losing out at the moment. So what looked like
a really positive start to a new set of regulations could quickly be gobbled up by fast-moving cars
around them. Yeah. Of course, Bearman, a seventh place and a fifth place, I think, to start the
year, those first two races, but no points since then across the last two races. If we're saying
that Haas maybe have taken a step back versus where they were at the beginning of the year,
it feels like maybe Racing Bulls have taken two steps back, because you look at Australia,
what Limblav was able to do, particularly in qualifying, where he was fighting early on in
that race, they were poor in Miami. It was by far their worst Grand Prix, and obviously,
we couldn't evaluate Lawson properly because of what happened with the car, of course, it's
shutting down on them. I think the issue for Racing Bulls, which Zach Brown has rightly
documented, is because there are no regulations between sister teams. There's no, you know,
gargling leave, there's no conversation of differences in personnel having to transition.
We saw two key members of personnel move from Racing Bulls to Red Bull,
and they are both instrumental, it comes to design and upgrades and aerodynamics chassis,
that you would hate to think that work suddenly stopped on a Racing Bull car because it transitioned
essentially as part of the team up to Red Bull and Racing Bulls were affected, but results show
that might be the case, because this was by far their worst Grand Prix in Miami, and I think
things are set to be the same again in Canada. I do think they're struggling with having talent
moved into the big sister team. That would make sense, and it is important to remember as well
the relative inexperience of that team. I know Lawson's been around for a couple of years,
but it's been quite fragmented. He had the replacement sort of stint at Racing Bulls,
then he had the Red Bull seat for two races, and it's only now that we've really seen him
in an extended period of time at one team, and he's the more experienced driver. Limblad, of
course, is only a few races into his career, and whilst he did show what he could do, I think,
at Australia, there's a lot to learn for him so early in his career. It's not necessarily a lineup
and I mean this with respect to both of them. It's not a lineup yet that is going to be able
to elevate them above maybe where they should be. It's a lineup that's going to be driven by
how good the car is at that point in time, and it does feel like, whilst they are better than
Cadillac and Aston Martin, a team like Williams that they were definitely better than to start the
year. If Miami's anything to go by, they're definitely not at this point. Yeah, that lineup,
if you were to rank all the lineups is surely going to be down against everyone's bottom two or
three at best. We did that to start the year, and whilst I can't remember off the top of my head
what we all said, I think it's likely we all had them last. I think we did. What about Williams?
Because a very tough start to the year, obviously, seemed to turn around a little bit in Miami with a
double points finish. James Vows has actually had some recent comments about how the year has
started. He admitted that they had a really messy winter. They were going with a really
complex design that ultimately held them back. Some parts that, in the first instance, didn't
pass crash tests and had to be replaced last minute, but he did say that the break gave them an
opportunity to reset, take a breath, catch up, and then ultimately form a plan. It looked like in
Miami the start of that plan was a success. Yeah, I mean, if any team who were going to be
competitive going into this new regulation suddenly needed to have a seven week break with
only one race in the middle of that, Williams were that team. From early signs, it looks like
they were able to utilise that well. In qualifying, they were still poor. In the early part of Miami,
they were still off the pace. They were still struggling to really push themselves outside of
the Audi, Haas Window racing balls. They were very much hanging around that group. It's got
like they'd taken massive steps. It's only when we got to the main race portion of the weekend
were they able to slowly extend that advantage. I also think the seniority and expertise of
their brilliant drivers allowed them to make that step up again. We talk about how racing
balls drivers were probably at the bottom end of where we would rank them so far. The Williams pairing
are definitely actually on the higher echelons. It's a good midfield lineup. It's a great midfield
lineup. I do think that realistically having those two in a car that is struggling to
maximise its potential, it's struggling to get lap time out of it, it's tricky to drive,
as we've heard from both drivers. They are the two guys that you want in that car. We saw that
in Miami. Hopefully, they've continued with that weight reduction and the development of the car.
Hopefully, they're not freewheeling around Montreal as they were around the likes of
Miami beforehand. Even with the Miami difficulties, they still show great competitive ability in the
main Grand Prix. They need to have this across the whole race though. Qualifying needs to improve.
They need to get a car into Q3 now at this point. It's been really tricky for them.
Let's hope they can see a proper step forward. Otherwise, maybe daddy Vow is in trouble.
The only good thing about them potentially freewheeling around Canada is that if one of the
wheels is off the tarmac, they might be able to avoid a groundhog that just goes straight
under the wheel. Those poor little groundhogs. Yes, but that one might survive if it comes
across the Williams. You can just go straight under it. I think we're like one a year at the
moment, aren't we? Yes, it's not good. It often also...
It's also said to be Charlotte Clair. It's a point Charlotte Clair.
He's actually targeting them. He leads the I hate groundhogs membership.
Come on, Charles. What are you doing, man? God, focus on your racing.
Even with the Miami result, this has been a very tough start to the year for Williams based on
expectations. They started 2025 so well. After four rounds in 25, they had 19 points. Even with
the Miami result, they have five so far this year. They have been brought back. I understand his
point on the complexity of the car in that they went into the off season. They went really early
into the wind tunnel to try and deliver something that has the potential to succeed not only this
year, but across multiple years in this set of regulations. I understand his point that
this is the first time that he and a lot of the team members at Williams will have done this.
Anyone new over the last few years, that's Stephanie the case. We know Williams have gone through
quite an upheaval and quite a heavy recruitment strategy. There is still going to be some ironing
out there. I think if they turn this around, and this is maybe the start of that turn around,
and it all ends up with a lot of success in a few years time, we will say that this pain that
they've gone through to start 26, so what? It's irrelevant. If for the end result, it ends up all
okay. It won't matter, but that's reliance on there being that end result. I have some sympathy
for James Valls. I have some sympathy for Williams. I don't have complete sympathy because
you knew this was coming. You knew that the complexities of this car were going to go far
beyond what we've had in previous years. They had lessons that they could have learned from
a couple of years ago when they had another awful winter. They need Colopinto back in the team,
honestly. My man has the best winters. Yeah, he has the best winters. The cool bit is back as
Aston Martin, but it could have been as good as maybe someone like Alping. I cannot believe I'm
using Alping as the positive. It's because I've got Colopinto. It's because they got Colopinto,
keep saying it. I don't have complete sympathy because they knew what was coming,
but they have at least started on this weight reduction journey. I think that's the compromise
that James Valls says in these comments, by the way, that they needed to make. They knew that not
everything was going to pass crash tests. They knew that they were going to have to compromise
somewhere. They decided that we're going to create a car that we know is going to be overweight
to start the year, but we know we can tackle that throughout the year. That's quite a direct source
of reduction in lap time that we can target. It's good to know where the problem is.
Yeah. With Aston Martin, so many cars we've had throughout history, you go,
we don't know what the actual problem is. We've got 83 different problems that all contribute
a little bit. Fix one, you might create another problem or you might make another problem worse.
Here, weight is their main issue. In theory, the chassis could be good
if they could strip it down. We'll see how Williams' progress gets on at the weekend.
We're going to take a final break on the other side. We're going to be doing an under pressure segment.
Welcome back, everyone. It's been a while since we've done under pressure. Obviously,
we've only had one in the last two months or so, so we thought we'd do a bit of an extended
under pressure here. We're going to do a top three rather than just one driver or one team,
we think it is under pressure. Do you want to kick off a list, Sam, with a third place here?
Yeah. I'm going to go with Ferrari on this one. I know Ferrari are always under pressure,
but when you start a season so well, it felt like the new regulations had gone their way,
and they took so long to get the car into shape. I know we've had a seven-week break,
as we mentioned, with only one race in the middle of it. You would think that, arguably,
they could get the car at a place where it could challenge the saying is,
they need a weekend where that really goes in their direction, and it allows them to,
maybe they could pick up a sprint wing. If the fact that a pole position has gone another way,
Leclerc starting from the front maybe might be really positive, there could be a real chance
they could disrupt the status quo. I think they need something. Otherwise, they are going to fall
back into a third place championship again, and it's the same Ferrari.
I actually had Ferrari third as well, because there is a lot of pressure on them to succeed at
this point. They are only 16 points clear of McLaren. That could easily disappear at a sprint
weekend if that doesn't go well for them. They didn't have a top five finish in the Miami GP,
even before the penalty that Leclerc got towards the end of that race. It's that sort of result
that we haven't really seen from them so far this year, but you look at that result sick for
Nate and say, oh, they've accidentally put that in the wrong year. That's a 2025 result.
Why did they put that? Or a 2024 result. Or a 2023 result.
Yeah. I'll know that's actually a 2026 result. It's just far worse than what we've had so far
this year. I actually went back to look at 2025 and thought sick for Nate. That sounds really
familiar for them. They actually finished in those two spots at some point in the year 13 times
last year. Oh, gosh. Well, at least it wasn't Canada, because they obviously have done really
well with Canada recently, right? Brilliantly done to bring me on to my next point, which is last
three years, no podiums at Circus Shieldville Nerve. 2024, of course, featured a double retirement for
them, which they didn't know it at the time. In hindsight, you could easily say that was the
result that cost them the Constructors' Championship that year. It was. That was it. If they even scored
standard points, they would have won the title that year. Oh, I can't do it. Second place on my list.
That's the ban on. Oh, no, he's not doing so good. He needs a result, man. He's 17-1 down to
Oliver Berman so far this year. And I know it's early. And I know that's only a couple of results,
but he has been second best so far this year, following on from last year, where he was often
also second best. Something that Ocon has kind of made a career out of. And I don't mean this with
disrespect. It's just being a really solid and competitive second driver. Like he kind of was
that to Gasly. He was kind of that to Perez, as well, early on in his career. He's pretty much always
been really competitive with his teammates, even if he's not beating them. But Matt beat Alonso
for crying out loud. He beat Alonso. And in the other year, where he didn't beat Alonso,
he only narrowly lost to him. He's always been this sort of competitive feature of a midfield car,
which he hasn't ever been competitive enough to get a chance higher up, but equally,
he's been able to stick around because of that. But we're not seeing that this year. We're seeing
so far Berman have a pretty comfortable advantage on him, and that's not going to cut it. And I
think Ocon knows that as well. I think over the next, we're talking Canada here, but I think over
the next six to eight races, he really needs to show why he's been in the sport for a decade at
this point, what's got him here and what's kept him here because we haven't seen a great deal of it so
far. What's number two on your list? Similar vein. And we spoke about this earlier wrong as well.
I've gone with Alexander album as my under pressure here. I look through six different categories
in terms of how he's performing against Carlos Sainz. And whilst the margins are fine, I think the
results are quite clear. In terms of points, album has won, Sainz has four. Race results, Sainz has
beaten album in both of their main Grand Prix, in the last two Grand Prix comfortably, but all of
the Grand Prix so far. Qualifying, Sainz is threeing it up in terms of, of course... We're ignoring
Australia, yeah. Of course, yeah, yeah. Fastest laps, it's one-all in terms of... Hey! Well done, Alex!
Well done, you got one. Laps in the top 10, Carlos Sainz has got 70 laps, Alex Alberson 52,
and their best result of the season so far. Alex Alberson, of course, has the one 10th place,
but Carlos Sainz has managed to finish the ninth twice. So, it's a clear winner here. In five of
the six Sainz wings, Alex Alberson draws on the fastest laps. Otherwise, you didn't want to win.
No, that don't matter too much, does it? No, that was not too important anymore. So,
yeah, it's not great. Alex Alberson needs a period where he's able to step up against Carlos Sainz.
He has had a many a season at Williams, where he is being comfortable with the dominant driver,
the company, the better driver, and now he has a true big of competitiveness to go up against,
a true rival. Sainz showed at the end of last year just how good he could be in that Williams,
and it has transferred to the start of this season. Alberson needs a couple of really good
race results starting with Canada. Yeah, I don't disagree with that. It has been close. It's been
close a lot. He must be really frustrated for Alberson, how many narrow losses he's had to Carlos
Sainz, particularly in qualifying. I haven't noted down exactly where they've qualified so far this
year, but there have been so many instances of Sainz 16th, Albin 17th, or Sainz 15th, Albin 16th,
but it's always Carlos Sainz that's just ahead. I do have at least some sympathy in terms of the
Chinese GP, which is two of Sainz's points, and at least some of those laps that he's run inside
the top 10, because unless I'm forgetting, Alex Alberson didn't start that race, whereas Carlos
Sainz was able to take advantage of that DNS and many others, but we saw Miami was much more of a
fair fight between them, where they both made the end, they both qualified okay, and it was Carlos
Sainz that won it by, I think it was about 10 seconds in the end. So yeah, Albin could do with
that sort of result against Sainz. It won't take much. Again, it's marginal, but he does need one.
What's number one on your list? Is it the obvious one? It probably is. I've got with George Russell.
By far the most under pressure driver on the grid, I think right now.
I think if he was going up against, not Kimmy Hansen-Elle, if he was up against Charles Leclerc,
Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, anyone that was of that calibre, you'd think, okay,
three to one so far, only four races in, not the end of the world, he's only 20 points behind,
plenty of time to make up, but the fact that he is up against someone who has started so young,
he's still so immature in the world of racing. He's got so much growing up to do still, and yet
he's still so good. And Sainz-Elle, he shouldn't be beating you this well. Does it make it trickier?
Yeah, I think it does, because there's more head room for growth. I think Sainz-Elle,
we see now at race four, will be nothing in comparison to what we see at race 24 of this
season. That's if we do get 24 races. I think he will have grown and developed so much in this
season alone. Look at what Piastri was able to do as an example. Season one, nowhere really here,
Norris. Season two, a lot closer. Season three, the guy who only wins a world title, you know,
and arguably the car that they have here in Mercedes is so much better. So I think Russell
needs to be a little bit worried that the guy he's beating isn't at the peak of his powers. His
races are at the peak of his powers. He's still at the very start of his career. He's at the start
of his journey. So if Antonelli is this good now, what would he be like in a season's time?
Russell needs to grasp the reins. He needs to own this situation. He needs to lead the team.
He cannot be losing to Antonelli again this weekend. I did the same six categories that I
looked at for Albing as I dig for Russell. Antonelli wins in every single category.
There is not anything that Russell has beaten Antonelli in across the four races so far.
There are two categories which Russell does be Antonelli in, which is liking this engine
and liking this car. And I have a chair. My name is Borat.
My name is George. Oh, yeah. I understand why he's number one here. It is tough. I'm trying to
think what the championship fight would be like if it was him against a peer. And I mean that in
terms of like an age group, sort of like Lando Norris, Russell, like, yeah, like Norris Leclerc,
that sort of group, whether there would be more of an understanding, almost like a self-compassion
of like, these are really tough drivers that I've raced against for multiple years. I can understand
why I'm competitive with them, but not always winning. And I do wonder whether there is a case
of Antonelli who is just 19 years old, who Russell dominated last year, him getting frustrated with
himself that it's not easier. I think so. Yeah. The more I think about it, by the way, with this
Russell versus Antonelli discussion is Antonelli's 2025 season that was tough might actually have
really helped him. A lot to learn, lots of development going on there. I think there's just
maybe less of a, there's a lot of confidence with Antonelli, but maybe there isn't as much of a,
I don't know what it's like to lose. Like he's been through a really difficult year,
which maybe means he isn't taking what he has now for granted. Yeah, we mentioned that stat
where he scored something like, what was it, like four points in nine races or something like that,
ridiculous level. Yeah, it was something like Russell had over 100 and Antonelli had like 19
or something. And most of them came from that one Canadian Grand Prix. Yeah, exactly. Number one is
George Russell, but I knew you were going to put George Russell number one. So for the sake of
variety, I've put someone else number one. I love him. Isaac Hadja. It might be a bit harsh because
Miami was a very standalone result or lack of result as it was. But this feels like a real test
because it wasn't just the race itself. It was the entire weekend that really felt like for the
first time this year, Verstappen against Sonoda or Verstappen against later Sergio Perez. That's
what the rest of the weekend felt like. And I didn't get that from Japan or China or Australia,
but I definitely got it here. And Hadja needs to make sure that that narrative nipped in the bud
straight away. Shut that down. Yeah. And that he is like, even if he's not better than Verstappen,
we've never said he needs to be. He needs to be that reliable second driver that they haven't had
for a few years. He needs that to be the narrative, not a case of Verstappen is eight-tenths clear
of Hadja again, which was the case in the qualifying sessions that we had at Miami. We didn't get
seat in the main race. Just think it'd be far better for it just to be, that was the one off.
Nip it in the bud straight away. Agreed. I think that's a very fair show.
So that's who we've got as under pressure for this Canadian GP. I can't wait. Rain, no rain.
The Sadie's on top. I don't care. F1 action this weekend.
Bring me Montreal. Can't wait. I want all of the Montreal.
All of the Montreal in all of the all. Oh, yes. Very good. I'd like it now and forever, please.
So we're going to be here for the whole weekend constantly, non-stop F1 action,
all of the action, F1 all the time. Look, there's the F1 now.
Yeah. Can't wait. Of course, three episodes over the weekend. So don't go away the moment
that session is done. We sit down and record. It comes out pretty soon after. So
check in with us. We'd love to have you guys as part of our conversation and join the discord.
We're in there for every session. So qualifying, sprint races, the main Grand Prix, we're in that
chat. So join in and come and have a conversation with us about what's going on at the weekend.
If you want extra stuff, of course, Patreon is available to you. Power rankings go out on the
Monday afterwards where we review every single driver in detail. We give them a score and you,
the Patronists, also get to give them a score. You get like a mix score that we have a lovely
form for. And by subscribing to the Patreon, you massively help out the show, produce
better content and go and do better things to give back to you guys. So say thank you for
that amazing support you provide us. We really are grateful. Follow us on social media,
late breaking F1. Follow us on YouTube as well under the same name. And we will see you across
the whole weekend for some Canadian GP goodness. Bring me the Maple. I've been Samuel Sage.
And I've been Ben Hawking. And remember, keep breaking late.
About this episode
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve sets the tone for the 2026 Canadian GP preview: a hybrid of purpose-built racing and street-circuit feel, with “high-speed chicanes” and the crash-prone “wall of champions.” Hosts weigh Mercedes’ early dominance—“They lead both championships. They've won the first four races of the year”—against new regulations and a potentially game-changing start-software fix. Strategy hinges on limited braking, tough energy recovery, and one-stop vs two-stop tire wear. Kimi Antonelli’s momentum and a possible Antonelli win streak add extra intrigue.
Can Antonelli achieve something his teammate never has? Ben and Sam preview the upcoming weekend in Montreal, debating whether Russell can bounce back at one of his strongest circuits, or if Antonelli will make it four straight wins.
