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The McLaren 12C GT Sprint is a race car version of the McLaren 12C. It’s made for track events, not everyday driving. The podcast brings it up because it’s a serious racing machine that fits into big motorsport talk.
This means how well the car was using its tires’ grip. Good “deployment” is when the driver can get the tires to work effectively instead of wasting grip or overheating them.
The front row is where the first two cars start on the grid. Starting there usually helps because you’re closer to the front and often get a better line into the first corners.
A “fastest lap” is the quickest one lap someone did during the race. If a driver sets it, it usually means their car was working really well at that moment.
“Consistency lap over lap” means the driver can keep similar lap times repeatedly rather than only having one or two fast laps. In F1, that often reflects stable tire management and a well-balanced car setup.
Term
P1
P1 just means first place. It’s the shorthand commentators use to say a driver is currently leading.
Pole position means you start the race from the very front. It’s usually the result of being fastest in qualifying, and it can make the race easier because you’re not stuck behind other cars early on.
The start is the first few seconds of the race when everyone launches and tries to gain places. Getting a good start can help you stay ahead and avoid traffic.
When cars are very similar, the driver’s skill matters more. Things like braking at the right moment and choosing the best line can help you gain or close gaps.
On a sprint weekend, there’s a shorter race before the main qualifying and race. Teams have to plan differently because sprint results can affect where you start on Sunday.
Concept
grid positions
Your “grid position” is where you start the race. Where you start can strongly affect your chances because it changes how much traffic you have and what strategy you can run.
“Pressure on” describes a driver repeatedly forcing the car ahead into defensive driving—changing lines, braking points, and timing. That sustained pressure can lead to mistakes or create a window for an overtake later.
“Tyre whispering” means a driver is really good at making the tires work well for longer. The hosts are saying Hamilton usually has that skill, but this time the tires still didn’t cooperate.
“Ultimate Lap” means the best lap you could make if you stitched together the fastest parts of multiple laps. It’s a way to judge raw speed, even if the driver didn’t nail one perfect lap.
A five-second penalty means the race officials add five seconds to the driver’s time because of a rules violation. That can drop a driver down the order even if they drove well on track.
“Revs” means how fast the engine is spinning, measured in RPM. If the engine speed drops too low, the car may not accelerate as well, especially when you need to get moving quickly.
Track limits are the rules about staying within the track boundaries. If you cut too much—like going over the white lines or using curbs improperly—you can get penalized.
A “scrappy race” means the racing is messy and close—drivers are fighting for position a lot. That kind of race can lead to sudden changes in who ends up ahead.
“Balance” is how the car feels when you’re pushing it—whether it’s stable and turns the way you expect. If the balance is better, the driver can drive harder with more confidence.
This is about what the back wheels do when you brake. If they don’t stay stable, the car can feel harder to control and you lose time because you can’t slow down and turn in as confidently.
It’s describing how the track layout flips which side you’re on from one corner to the next. That can change who has space to move over or pass safely.
“Three wide” means three cars are trying to race side-by-side at the same time. It’s risky because there’s very little space if anyone makes a mistake.
Brand
Isaac Hajar
Isaac Hajar is another driver in the race. They’re saying he was making up places, and that affected what happened to Colapinto after a position change.
“Wheel-to-wheel” means cars are racing very close together, often right next to each other. It usually makes the driving more intense and more likely to lead to contact.
Lando Norris is an F1 driver. The hosts conclude by praising his sprint performance and race management, implying he was one of the strongest drivers in the session.
If a driver passes in a way that breaks the rules—like pushing someone wide or using track limits—they may have to let the other car back through. That costs time, even if the pass was “legal enough” to start.
To overtake means to pass another car. In racing, it usually happens by getting a better corner line and using speed to get alongside and then clear the other car.
The braking zone is where drivers slow down before a corner. Passing often happens here because one car can brake later and get ahead before turning in.
Corner exit is when the car straightens up and starts accelerating out of a turn. Getting a good exit helps you carry more speed for the next section of track.
A “sector” is a timed portion of the track; the “first sector” is the opening segment of the lap. The hosts repeatedly stress that Antonelli’s early-sector speed (even after a mistake on a later run) was crucial because it set up the rest of the lap and helped him win the session.
Sprint qualifying refers to the weekend format where a short race (the sprint) and/or sprint session determines grid positions and influences how teams approach qualifying. The transcript discusses how Antonelli’s performance in sprint qualifying and Q3 pace relate to each other when comparing pole times.
A setup change is an adjustment to the car’s configuration (such as balance, wing settings, and suspension behavior) between sessions. The hosts suggest that Mercedes may have altered their setup, and that this could explain why performance shifted compared with earlier parts of the weekend.
Wind is a major performance variable in F1 because it affects aerodynamic downforce and car stability, which changes grip and lap times. The hosts argue that the windy conditions explain why results differed between qualifying sessions, including a historical example where a wind direction change in Q3 swung pole-winning outcomes.
Concept
Q3
Qualifying is split into parts. Q3 is the last and most important part, where the quickest drivers go out to set the lap that decides pole position.
Drivers constantly choose between going all-out and staying safe. If conditions are tricky, taking risks can make you faster—or it can ruin your lap with a mistake.
“On board” is footage filmed from inside the race car. It helps you see what the driver is doing—like where they brake and how they steer—during the lap.
“T cam” is a specific camera view used by F1 that’s placed so you can clearly see how the cars move through a corner or braking area. It’s meant to make the racing line and car positioning easier to understand.
F1 cars use a battery to store energy and then release it for extra power. If teams rely on it less, the timing of that extra power changes, which can make racing feel different.
“Regulation changes” are rule updates that affect how F1 cars are built and how they’re allowed to run. The hosts are saying the new rules might be making driver skill show up more clearly.
On sprint weekends, qualifying is broken into stages. SQ3 is the last stage, where the quickest cars set times that strongly affect where they start the sprint.
Race pace means how fast the car can be over the whole event, not just one hot lap. A team can qualify poorly but still be competitive if their race pace is strong.
Disqualified means the team’s result doesn’t count because something broke the rules. In this case, it sounds like the car had a technical problem and wasn’t functioning correctly.
The engine is the main power source of the car. In F1, teams can use different engine suppliers, and having your own engine affects how the whole car is built and tuned.
Disqualification means the race or qualifying result doesn’t count because of a rules problem. It can happen if the car or the lap doesn’t meet the regulations.
Turn 17 is just a named corner on the track. If something goes wrong there, it can affect the whole lap because you have to brake and turn correctly to keep speed.
A lock-up happens when the brakes are so strong that the wheels stop turning. That usually makes the car slower and less stable, especially while turning.
They’re talking about a small time difference measured in fractions of a second. In qualifying, that kind of gap can be the difference between positions.
Brand
Ayrton Senga
They’re talking about Ayrton Senna (the transcript says “Senga”) as another famous driver who achieved a similar qualifying streak. It’s meant to show the accomplishment is rare.
They’re mentioning Michael Schumacher as a past legend who did something similar in qualifying. It’s just to show how rare that pole streak is.
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Hello and everyone, welcome to the late-breaking F1 podcast presented by Sam Sage and me, Ben
Hawking, on Miami Saturday, which means we have two sessions to review today. The sprint race
that happened earlier on and the qualifying session that has just happened as we're recording.
Now, before we get to both of those sessions, though, we do want to pay our respects to Alex
Zanardi, XF1 driver, multiple-time car champion who sadly passed away at the age of 59. I'd like
to think, Sam, that there are billions of people on this planet and I don't think there is a story
that is comparable to Zanardi's. He's so unique in what he's achieved and what he's overcome.
Yeah, it's tough to be a champion in one event, one sport, right? But the way he was able to
conquer both car and then, of course, he got to be a Paralympic champion in the sense that he
used those, the bikes that he managed to program and change to fit his disability after he had
that WDaptation. He's a real hero. He's a real someone that we looked up to. He's a real icon of
Formula One and sport generally. He also always came across as a really genuinely lovely guy who
represented everything that he did so well and it's such a difficult loss to lose someone like
him in our community. I thought to this family, we're going to miss Zanardi because he was an
absolutely fantastic person to having our sport and we're just sad to see him go.
100%. Great to see F1 pay their respects earlier in the day before the sprint race that we'll
have a look at first of all. We'll have a look at the sprint, take a break and then we'll look at
this session a bit later on. The sprint race, a 1-2 for McLaren with Lando Norris taking his
first win sort of of the season ahead of Piastri and Charlotte Clair just behind.
An interesting one, Sam. We were asking ahead of the weekend, would these new regulation changes
with these upgrades, would they change the pecking order at all? At least in this sprint race,
McLaren were able to answer that with a yes. The amount of times that we had predicted something
bold to happen in a Formula 1 event and this has come along and you're like, you know, if you
said to me in the preview, McLaren 1-2, I've laughed at you, actually laughed at you. It
would have been hilarious and yet we have just seen it happen. I'm not entirely sure what the
reason is. Maybe it's a combination of reasons but it definitely was a shock to see such a
comfortable 1-2 victory for McLaren in the spring. Lando Norris ended up a couple of
seconds ahead of his teammate, Oscar Piastri, who in turn has a small but comfortable gap to
Charlotte Clair. The attack was never fully on there but the car looked very solid, very comfortable,
good deployment on its tyres. It felt good as well. It looks really well rounded in the
sprint at least because we haven't got to qualify and made some wrong but in the condition for the
sprint, McLaren looked really, really good and yet Mercedes, who of course we thought would come
along and dominate this weekend, really since you're taking a step back in comparison.
Yeah, I was really impressed by the way Lando Norris was able to manage that race because
sure, he got the start he needed and Antonelli alongside him on the front row definitely
didn't but we saw from there on out with his teammate behind. At least Norris was quite easily
able to manage that gap. It never felt like he was in a lot of danger. He had the fastest lap
in that sprint as well implying he might have even had a little bit more left in the locker if
he needed it but he just didn't. I think with Piastri, Piastri's pace has been a bit up and down
this weekend whereas Norris, and you could say that about Norris to an extent as well but it felt
like Norris's consistency lap over lap just gave him the advantage. Whilst there was some action
behind Norris and Piastri, there wasn't much in the battle for the win at all. There wasn't much
of a battle for the win. So congratulations to Lando Norris and it remains to be seen. We've
already obviously got a qualifying session to review as well and it remains to be seen going
into future races how much this holds and whether they can even build on this but it's encouraging
for McLaren that they were able to lock this out first and second. Yeah, it's also really difficult
to know how much the drivers have played a part in this with the way that we've come in with,
you know, the developments of the regulations, the upgrades that all the cars have received.
Lando and Oscar clearly did a very good job to make sure they picked up this one too but
are we looking at an incredible drive from Lando Norris here that's cemented a P1 for
the first time this season or are we looking at Lando Norris just doing a good job for Lando
Norris and actually he's come down P1 because McLaren, secondly, have brought up Race to a car
that is now phenomenal. Now it's a title challenge and we don't know yet because we've barely seen
more than two competitive sessions in order to equate what is good and isn't good. So we're really
interested to see when the main race occurs, will that race place happen again or was it a
condition related thing? It's very hard to tell. Well, I think qualifying played a huge part in
this as well as the start as well again with Piastri getting ahead of Antonelli but of course
Norris took a really impressive pole position on the Friday and then was able to lead from the
front there on out. I could be wrong in saying this. I think that if Antonelli, if Verstappen,
if Leclerc, if any of those three guys from three different teams had got pole position and had
led after the first lap, they might have had the pace to win it themselves. I didn't think there
was a huge amount to choose between those top teams but because Norris had got that advantage
in qualifying and via the first lap, that's what he was able to effectively use. I didn't think
there was, they weren't that far back. The likes of Leclerc and Verstappen was looking really good
at the end of the Grand Prix as well. I think this might have come down to qualifying more than
anything. I think that's a fair analysis. I have to say I am still disappointed that Miami hasn't
shifted in its enjoyment for me so far this weekend. The qualifying element which we'll get
on to was more exciting today but the race itself, we discussed this before recording,
I didn't find particularly thrilling. We've got about seven or eight laps in and I felt it very
quickly settled. There was not particularly much action going on. It didn't look like
anything was unfolding. Because the teams are so close together, you would almost expect
someone to make the difference with the driver element here. Someone who can really outdrive
the car should be able to pull back the second gap difference in front of them. Yet they couldn't
and it felt quite processional quite quickly. Unlike Spain in the previous era of the regulations
where suddenly that track came alive, we went from calling it the worst track on the calendar
to saying it was one of the most underrated tracks on the calendar. I hope something similar
happened to Miami as it is here for so long and I haven't seen that yet. Hopefully the race in
the wet might be more exciting but I didn't love the sprint today. I was slightly more positive
about it, at least relatively speaking because we are talking on a scale that includes a Miami
sprint weekend. Miami is definitely in the bottom quarter of tracks that we have on the calendar.
But I was quite happy with or at least reasonably happy with what we had in the sprint in that,
even though it maybe wasn't the most exciting race that we've had so far this year. The style
of racing, I much preferred what we had in that sprint versus what we had before this break.
And it wasn't perfect. That middle stretch, there wasn't a lot going on but I was happy to see
Antony and Russell exchanging positions. I was happy to see Leclerc, even though he didn't get
bi-piastry, he was putting the pressure on and I've always said you don't necessarily need
an overtake for something to be exciting. I was happy for that to be a battle, you know, even
going to the last couple of laps. If piastry would have made a mistake in the same way that
Leclerc did on the final lap, that could have opened the door for Leclerc to get that overtake done.
And I just felt, even though there weren't many overtakes, those that we did see meant something
a bit more. They felt a little less artificial than maybe some of the ones we had pre-break.
I'm not even going to say it was great. I'm not even going to say it was good,
but I thought it at least gave me enough to think, at a better track, I can kind of see
this working better than it has. It's a glass half for latitude, Ben. It's what we love about you.
Yeah, it's a rarity for me. I thought I'd try it out. What about Charles Leclerc who was on the
podium? It gave it a good go against piastry but ultimately came up just a bit short.
But they feel like they're in the mix, Ferrari, even if they're not quite there in terms of winning.
Yeah, which we keep acting as like a positive. But they've always just been in the mix and they
aren't just there to win. And that's been the case now. It feels like not just this season,
but for years. And it's becoming stale for Ferrari at this point. You think you've had
that many upgrades brought in after a month out. The regulations have shifted. They might have
not helped you. And yet we turn up again and you think, oh, your biggest competitor has fallen
to the wayside. You're suddenly finishing in front of Mercedes now and yet you're still not able to
take advantage of the gaping hole that is there in first and second because McLaren have decided
to slot in. The team that could barely start a Grand Prix only two ago are there in front of them.
So it's great that they've managed to maintain the positions that they were before the break.
Don't get me wrong. It could be far worse. It could be solely back in seventh and eighth that we
saw them at the end of last year. But equally, if they ever want to go on and win anything,
they've got to start taking advantage of when other teams are struggling. Mercedes have struggled
and yet it's McLaren, the ones that have seized the advantage here. So I think McLaren is again
doing a fantastic job elevating a car that is maybe slightly worse off than what he's able to
show. I think he's doing a really good job at keeping that car very competitive. I think a
lesser driver would have let Piastri pull away further in that sprint race. We saw Lewis Hamilton
was struggling from time to time, got repass by Max Verstappen, of course, ending up over eight
seconds behind. It was a bad second half of that. I think he lost the will, lost the energy to carry
on with it from totally honest. I know he made some comments about tyres as well. That's the
second time this season he's done that, where tyres have just gone off for him. And that was
usually a bit of a gift for his was that tyre whispering. So the Ferrari still isn't there,
but the Leclerc is again, as always, doing all he can in what feels like a plucky upstart that's
trying its best to overcome its rivals. But actually, that plucky upstart is the old man of the sport
that should know every trick in the book and still can't seem to work it out.
Yeah, I was I was impressed again with what Ferrari had in terms of pace. And I would have been
really interested to see if he was by Piastri into the first corner. And to be honest, again,
this comes down to qualifying. I think Leclerc, Ultimate Lap actually had the best Ultimate
Lap if you put all their best sectors together yesterday in sprint qualifying, but ultimately
couldn't put it together for that one lap in Q3 to the point where he's fourth on the grid.
If he had managed to get on the front row and he was battling with Norris,
I don't know whether he would have been able to challenge, but I think it would have been
maybe a bit closer than what Piastri was able to do. I know this is stupid and I'm going to
regret saying this. I'm not saying it will happen. I can see him winning tomorrow, Leclerc. I don't
think it's impossible. I saw and it depends on what happens with the weather. It depends what
happens with the start and so many other things from what I've seen from him and Ferrari this
weekend. They are right in the mix and you are correct in what you're saying. They've been
close quite a few times. They need to put it all together. I do think the ingredients are there
for Leclerc this weekend. It's arguably the closest that he's been in a full-feature race.
We'll talk about the qualifying again as we go on to it, but this is the closest I think an
outright pace he has been to being number one in the event so far this season. It's going to be
horrific tomorrow. Let's see if the Ferrari can actually go in the race. That's a big if,
big if, but the two drivers he lost to in the sprint will be starting behind him in the main
race. Who knows? What about Mercedes because Antonelli picked up a five-second penalty for
exceeding track limits but wasn't even set to be on the podium anyway. George Russell, who was
behind Antonelli, ended up ahead of him because of that penalty as did Verstappen, but this is by
far in a competitive session the most vulnerable we've seen Mercedes so far. This was kind of woeful
from Kimmy Antonelli. Start again is poor, loses multiple positions off the start, and it seems
to be affecting him still more than pretty much anyone else. I don't know if it's a Mercedes setting.
I don't know if he ended up being saved by the new regulation, of course. It gives you that little
helping hand if you drop too low on the revs. It'd be interesting to hear some further feedback
about that, but he still can't get these cars started aggressively. What's the point in starting
pole position if you can't get off the line quickly? He was lucky not to lose the spot to
Russell at the start as well, and it's not a long run down to turn one. 130 meters. That's all you
get. It's a very short run going to turn one, and yet he still finds himself outside of the
podium positions by the time he gets to turn one. It's really, really difficult to see for him because
he's doing the job in qualifying, but he can't seem to do it off the line in the race. They need
to work on something there because even Russell had that better start. It's not just car-related
if Russell can get something out of it. Then, of course, he picks up the time penalty later on
in the Grand Prix. I'll get to the back thing and we'll discuss that, I think. In only 19 laps to
pick up four warnings and pick up an actual time penalty, that shows some real carelessness. I don't
think he was ever at serious risk of losing a position that he needed to put himself at risk
of gaining the penalty. It just feels like a real misjudgment. I'm surprised with only four or
five corners on the track where you can cut enough to be detected going over the lines
to get an actual time penalty. I was really surprised out of all the race tracks that's
happened here. I think it was a tough day for Kimmy. Lucky he picks up again later on in the
end of the day. I feel I can get away with saying this because we're going to be complimentary
to him after the break and have also been quite complimentary about him so far this year.
This was the most 2025 Antonelli we've seen so far this year in that it wasn't slow. Not that it was
particularly great either in that even though he put pressure on Charles Leclerc for the first
couple of laps, after that, didn't really assert much pressure on the top three at all.
But it's more about the scrappiness of it. Russell did get by. He did get back by
and then picks up all of those infringements for track limits to the point of picking up a penalty.
Now, we've seen before where drivers have gone off on a track like you remember a few years ago,
it was the Austrian GP where seemingly everyone and their mothers had a time penalty.
This wasn't that. No one else as far as I'm aware picked up a penalty for this.
So we can pretty much pinpoint this as an Antonelli issue. And again, there's been a lot more
good than bad for Antonelli so far this year, but it felt like he was a bit, I don't know, out of sync.
If it's the worst that Kimmy Antonelli gets, I'll take it. I'm sure he'll take it. He barely loses
out. And I think actually that's the worst sign for George Russell at this point, that he needed
a terrible start. He needed a scrappy race. He needs a time penalty. And only then does he beat
him by what two places? He gets three points on him in total. That's not a good sign for George
Russell so far this weekend. There have been points throughout this weekend. And we're going to get
onto one of those points in the qualifying review where it's felt like Red Bull are starting to get
back into the mix a little bit. And one of those moments, Q the Jaws theme was late in this sprint
where suddenly Verstappen is clear of Lewis Hamilton and he's looking at the Mercedes up the road
and he is catching them fairly quickly. At the end, he is just behind George Russell on track.
A few more laps. There are only a couple more laps. The gap was coming down quickly.
Again, when Max Verstappen gets a car that he's comfortable in, he said that the balance was
better. Despite some issues with the rear axle under braking, he can just extract lap time that
others cannot. And someone like George Russell, who is struggling on weekend, doesn't seem to be very
aware that it's not just any driver behind you. It's four-time world champion Max Verstappen
gaining very quickly. He cannot afford to lose faces a lot in the race tomorrow because he needs
to make up as much as he can, especially if other teams are about to pick up their pace and this
transfers race to racing isn't just a Miami thing. Anything from the midfield that particularly
caught your eye in this Grand Prix? We had the hash drivers scrapping away towards the end of
this race. The Williams drivers as well somewhat in contention, even if it's not for points,
they're at least fighting midfield rivals. And I guess Alpine as well, rising above all of that.
Yeah, this feels like the first time that Alpine are properly taking a step away.
Clearly, a step away. We've seen moments where, you know, like Gasly, for example,
will put in a great qualifying lap and it will elevate him away from maybe the Haas QO,
who might be around eighth through to twelfth. But here it felt like both drivers, Colla Pinto
and Gasly, have really moved away comfortably from this Haas, Audi, racing balls in theory,
Red Bull battle, because Hajar is still back there as well. It feels like they're comfy.
Colla Pinto might be one of the drivers of the weekend at the moment in terms of what you'd
expect of him and what he's actually delivering, because it's been fantastic in all three sessions.
Got seriously unlucky in the sprint as well, in that he has a pretty reasonable start,
where he is on the, let's say it's the inside of turn one becomes the outside of turn two.
And there's so much attention on Verstappen and Hamilton battling away where they touch wheels.
Colla Pinto is right there with them three wide. And Colla Pinto is the one that is
unluckiest in that, that he then loses the position to Gasly, which makes him
more vulnerable to Isaac Hajar, who's coming back through the field. Hajar does get Colla Pinto,
doesn't get Gasly. That turn one, turn two sequence might have changed the whole complex
of that. Sure, it would have only maybe got Colla Pinto a point for PA. It's not,
it doesn't change the world, but it does prove that this weekend he has been far more on it
versus his teammate than what we've seen so far. Yeah, you look at the drivers that he was going
wheel-to-wheel with last year. And yes, I understand that the car was far worse, but then you look
at the drivers he's going wheel-to-wheel with in this race. And you look to your left, you go
one, two, three, four, one, two, three, seven. There's 11 world titles on my outside of a corner.
That's quite intimidating. I actually think he handled a three wide on a tight corner
really quite well. So yes, unlucky, but Colla Pinto last season, I think might have crashed.
So it's a real step forward for him. A driver of the session for just the sprint.
I'm going to, I'll go first and just be boring and say Lando Norris based on how well he managed
the Grand Prix. Anyone else for you or would you also go with Lando Norris? Norris is where I was
going. I will shout out Max Verstappen though, because I do think that the way he fought with
Lewis Hamilton was harsh but fair. I think their wheel-to-wheel battle in that opening moment was
on the line and I expected it to be a little bit rough and ready and it was. And then of course,
he makes the dive, goes off the track. I don't think that's a mistake for Max Verstappen. I think
it's truly intentional. I think he's tried to see what he could get away with. They have this weird
altercation where they don't know where they're giving the place back or not. And then he strikes
back almost immediately and he's off the road. I will say like, I don't think it was either of
their best moments, by the way. Like the going off track from Max Verstappen, we went off track
trying to overtake. He has to give the position back. That's going to slow you down versus the
couple of cars ahead. So that's on Verstappen. And then Hamilton, he's letting you buy. It's
cost them both, multiple seconds. I don't know what Lewis is doing at that point.
Car bar, man. It's clearly going, oh, I don't want to be let by on the exit of this corner
because you'll overtake me instantly going into the braking zone. But that's the game. You just
got to get on with it, haven't you? By that point, they are multiple seconds behind a couple of cars
that a few corners before, they were like Thames behind. Yeah. I think they dropped three seconds
to the Mercedes guys. It probably didn't impact Lewis Hamilton much of how much he was struggling
later in the race. But again, Max Verstappen, you might have had a chance to overtake Russell
or Antonelli at the end. So yeah, interesting one. But yeah, Norris is who I've got for him.
Alrighty. Well, that's the first of two sessions reviewed on the other side. We'll be looking at
qualifying. We've all been there. You're away for the weekend. The big game is on and you realize
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Welcome back, everyone, to the second part of today's review. We'll now look at qualifying where,
goodness me, I mean, it's a shakeup versus what we've seen earlier on in the weekend.
We asked Sam in the preview, with China, the last sprint we had, there was such similarity
between what the sprint portion of the weekend looked like and then the main race portion.
Here, quite a few differences. Kimmy Antonelli gets pole position, about a tenth and a half ahead of
Max Verstappen, and it's actually four different teams in the top four with Charlotte Clair
and Lando Norris on the second row. It's interesting.
Yeah, it's very interesting. And this is what we've always wanted from sprint races. If we're
going to have sprint races, you want the two sessions to be almost unidentifiable from each
other if you were to look them up and down on kind of a results page. And it is. This is really
good. This is interesting that we might see a completely different race unfold in the main
Grand Prix, even with the fact it's wet, sure, take that for granted for a minute, that actually
the four battles that we could see going from sprint race to full race might be different.
The cars are in different places. We've got different setups going into things.
I wasn't expecting this much of a shift. Kimmy Antonelli on pole position feels like a
return to normality. And you think, okay, yeah, great lap, really good lap. But you think, oh,
man, where's his teammate? He's outside the top four. So there's problems there. And it tells
you that Kimmy Antonelli's done a stellar job. And alongside him isn't Norris, isn't Clair.
It's the struggling Red Bull that we have all been absolutely dissing the last few Grand Prix,
because Verstappen is only, what, less than two tenths away from pole position. It's a phenomenal
lap from Max Verstappen. Red Bull had managed to pull something back. I don't really know what's
going on, but it's all changing. Yeah. I mean, Antonelli, I was really impressed with the pole
lap. And he completely messed up the first sector on his second run in Q3, meaning that first run
needed to be good enough and it was. We said this about sprint qualifying, where he was a little bit
down in the first sector and then was able to make it back throughout the rest of the lap.
I don't know how much Mercedes have done in terms of setup change, but that's reversed a little bit
because Antonelli was absolutely nailed through the first sector. He was brilliant through there
to the point where he wasn't, instead of sprint qualifying, where he's trying to make up the
time, he's already got the time based on how good he is in that first sector and is able to
take advantage of that. He was fastest in the first part of qualifying and then fastest crucially in
Q3. It was just about quicker than what Lando Norris' pole position time was in sprint qualifying
just to show how good that lap was. With all of the changes in positions, any thoughts as to why
we've seen such a big discrepancy between one qualifying session and the other? Well, as you
all know very well today, Sam, the answer is wind. Yes, gas. A lot of gas in the air. You know, moves
very quickly. It was a really windy session, wasn't it? And I think the session that immediately
sprung to mind was qualifying Hungary last year, when Piastri and Norris and McLaren at that point
looked very, very good. They looked really good through Q1, really good through Q2. Then the wind
changed direction in Q3. That's what got Charles Leclerc's pole position and that the order seemed
completely out of whack. I think here those windy conditions have really changed things up because
we saw Oscar Piastri, for example, he's seventh and he is seven tenths away from pole. I can't
remember if he held it, but his fastest lap in that second run of Q3, he went no improvement in
first sector, powerful middle sector, no improvement in final sector. We saw a lot of drivers really
struggle to put together that ideal lap. There were great sectors going on here and there,
but there wasn't a lot of green, green, green, two tenths faster, green, green, green, three
tenths faster. And that's what you do come to expect with qualifying. That final run is the
pinnacle and someone actually in our discord, which you can join the links in the description,
it said, you know, oh, I waited the whole way through qualifying to see no one improve on
their final run. And there's a fair bit of analysis that I think eight of the top 10 drivers didn't
improve on their final run. Yeah, yeah, a lot of them didn't. And I mean, one of them that did,
of course, Max Verstappen, to be just a tenth and a half away from Antonelli at the top there,
he seemed to be one of those just two drivers who was able to get something out of that final run.
When he went to the top of the timing board, well, actually, just before he was about to go to the
top, sorry, because of course, Kimmy Antonelli fluffed his final run. I was on the edge of my
and I felt like qualifying and come back a little bit, which we haven't had for a while
in the whole season, to be honest. I've not been like that. And I was watching those sectors and
he went right out of the death. And I was thinking Kimmy Antonelli's much up is he can't do the final
run. And Max Verstappen bangs in a purple sector. And then the second sector is only 0.08 slower
than Kimmy Antonelli. Do you think he's going to do this? He's got the capabilities to do it.
And the fact that he's actually ending up 0.17 behind Kimmy shows you just how well Kimmy Antonelli
did on his first map to really pull out the bag. But this felt like qualifying. It felt better.
Okay, the laps are slower. Okay. So much better. You've got cars all over the place. You've got
braking is harder. You've got flat out for more of the actual straights, which is what we want.
It felt like risk versus reward is back. Drivers are pushing and mistakes actually cost you.
So I was I was here for it. Yeah. And to be clear, folks, I'm not just going to say here everything
solved because it's not. But if we saw, I don't know if you picked up on this as well. And this
applies to the sprint as well as qualifying, perhaps more so to the sprint. The first half of the
sprint, F1 were doing their usual tricks of no on boards, a lot of camera shots from far away
into corners. And then the further the sprint went on, the more confident they got to show on
board footage. We had particularly Ocon and the Haas. We had a real on board there throughout.
And a lot more of the battles were covered that way. And I think that then carried on into qualifying.
And that might be somewhat track specific as well, because Miami isn't one of the more difficult
ones to recuperate energy. But it did feel like F1 were getting more comfortable in saying,
when we can actually show some of this. Yeah, I actually said it out loud in my lounge. I said
that they're understanding that the confidence is coming back, that they can show some of this.
And this let's kind of get the stick that they were going to get, even on Max Verstappen's last
lap. Yeah, just watching him. We went on board with him over the shoulder, proper T cam. And
it wasn't horrific. It's not good, but it was not horrific. So it's a step in the right direction.
Who knew that reducing the reliance on battery might actually create some better racing?
Yeah. And it does feel like, at least with some of these driver pairings that may be,
one thing I found quite tough in the first few rounds is actually determining who's having a
really good session or who's having a really good race, because it feels, and it still is,
don't get me wrong, it feels less driver specific at the moment and more what the computer is telling
you to do if I want to quote Nigel Mansel. But Max Verstappen in particular, like he is
eight tenths ahead of his teammate, Hajar here in Q3. And he's really shown maybe with, maybe as
a result of these regulation changes that a driver can seemingly make a bit of a difference. And
hey, I mean, again, it could be a one race thing, but the preseason prediction that Verstappen
will be world champion, we might be back. We might, we might be back.
Simraden, boys. Simraden, just that harp, just put it on the simmer rather on boil.
Yeah. Yeah. But before it was off, now it's just on one.
Oh, sure. You just started to light the gas, have you?
Speaking of Verstappen though, he managed to find huge gains session to session. Q1
time is 1.2 slower than Q3 time. So it really shows you the way he was able to pick up.
I think Hajar here is a very lucky boy that the field spread is so wide because if he
does that gap to Verstappen last season, he is P16. He's where it's known it was.
There you go. There you go. And that's a worrying thing. Let's hope that this is a one off and that
the regulations are a bit tricky and something needs to be altered in the calm of the setup,
because I don't want to see him suddenly struggling outside the points on a regular
basis again. You know, if he drops back in a bad start, it'll be no point score for Hajar again.
A really odd session from McLaren. I'm not going to say they were outright slow because
they were still pacing there at times, but it felt a lot more inconsistent versus what they
had the day before. Lando Norris, sorry, Oscar Piastri, struggling to get out of Q1. If Arvid
Lindblad or Gabriel Bortoletto's car wasn't on fire, if either of those two things happened,
like he's getting knocked out in Q1, Lando Norris is then in trouble towards the end of Q2,
and then ultimately Niver are then able to get in the top three in Q3.
I'm struggling to work out why, but they just didn't have it altogether.
Yeah, I wish I was a mega brain that had all the data that could analyze every point for you
listeners and actually understand entirely what happened. The wind was a bit different,
the temperatures were slightly different. We spent more time on the soft tyre, of course,
but you think, well, Norris managed to get pole on the soft tyre in spring qualifying
to have such a big deficit in comparison to the qualifying times from yesterday
is truly bizarre. I think Piastri especially can count himself lucky that the difficulty to get
out of Q1 is very low right now. Realistically, you're writing off 22nd, 21st, 20th and 19th,
and at that point you think, all right, do I get a little bit unlucky? I'm the person who gets
knocked out. Borsaletta had the problem, and it's Limblard that's one that falls short today,
which in the racing balls, they tend to be one of the cars that will get picked up in that Q1.
The fact that we are all a little bit, oh, this is a bit touch and go,
ends up two tenths away from elimination. It's not good for McLaren. This up and down is what we've
seen almost throughout the whole season for them. One day they go from about to start a Grand Prix,
the next they can put themselves on the podium, then they can't start another Grand Prix or they're
getting knocked out, and then they're winging a sprint race. It's very much top and tails for them.
The consistency doesn't seem to be emerging so far, and I think that will worry a few of the
senior heads at McLaren. Yeah, and whilst their issues presented itself in slightly different
ways throughout qualifying, the end result is kind of the same, in that they're both
about four tenths slower than what they were able to do in SQ3. Of course, that is exactly the same
tyre. That was the one sprint qualifying session run on the softs. That at least seems to be
consistent across both of them, and it's really hurt them in the pecking order all the way down
in fourth and seventh. The race pace was good enough that they might not be out of it. Of course,
the weather conditions mean they might not be out of it either, but a really curious loss of speed
throughout. Further down Q3, we do need to mention Franco Colopinto has got you two
thirds of your way to a bold prediction point. I'm trying to remain very calm right now,
because all he's got to do is finish in the top 10 tomorrow, and I've actually got a real point,
not a fake Bahrain Saudi Arabia point that we made up. Ah, Colopinto in the rain, what could
possibly go wrong? Come on, Prime Time Sanger, please. Come on. Come on, just one day, because
I have one day where you're really great. That's all I'm asking. Beat his teammate, Beat Hacha.
Two qualifying sessions in a row, where he's beating Pierre Gasly. That doesn't happen very
often at all, and he's beating a Red Bull, which, you know, that's good stuff. That's good signs
here. He seems to have really started to master the car, and the impressive thing I think actually
is it's clearly very close between him and his teammates. So, to find those five margies over
Pierre Gasly, who is such a strong qualifier, it shows that he's actually able to understand the
car after this long break, and I was expecting him to be one of the ones that will fall foul.
Hence why I put him under pressure when going into this weekend. There was a real risk that he would
struggle here. It's a tough track to get right. Currently, he's had three competitive sessions,
all three, he's been in the top 10. That's very impressive for Franco.
And a clean sweep over Gasly as well in terms of qualifying today, quicker in Q1, Q2, and Q3,
which is no mean feat against the guy that we wrote very highly based on what he's done
over the last few years. And good work from Alpine as well. As we mentioned earlier, they do seem to,
at least this weekend, have distanced themselves from the likes of Haas and Racing Bulls, who
they've been battling with in that midfield, at least to this point. They feel like, even though
they are still probably fifth, which is back to their rightful place from about four years ago,
it's better than what temp was last year. As we go out of Q3 into maybe some of those teams and
drivers knocked out in Q2 and Q1, obviously, Audi was a bit tough to judge because, again,
one of their cars was on fire. But they can't have a normal session coming. They just can't
have a normal day. It feels like, again, same story with Audi. Their pace isn't too bad. Like,
they are reasonable enough, but the reliability is a bit all over the place. Yeah, when the car
is going, it seems like it's okay. When the car is going very slowly, when it's starting or when
it's hot, it just cannot exist on the road track. Or when it's disqualified. It's disqualified for
not working properly either. Yeah, this isn't what you want, but hey, this is teething. This is going
through early signs of development. They are still technically a new team, and they're trying to
do something radical. They've got their own engine in there, of course. They haven't bought a Mercedes
engine or a Ferrari engine. They're being a bit radical. They're side pods as well, which might
be difficult for airflow to cool the engine in the back as well. So the fact that Holgerberg has
still managed to be the classic P11 from EcoHolgerberg tells you that when the car does work,
it's still pretty effective. Yeah, I'm bored to that, so I know it ended in a disqualification,
but a very comfortable 10th place in the sprint. He wasn't really under pressure from the
hash drivers behind or the Williams drivers behind. Sure, he also didn't have the pace
to get up to the Alpines and Isaacadja, who overtook him relatively easily. But again,
it feels like that's where they're living at the moment. It's sort of 10th and 11th
when they can actually put a car in a race and have it not be disqualified.
Liam Lawson, a good effort from him in qualifying, I thought, because yesterday he can feel slightly
aggrieved by not making it through to Q2 with Alex Albans' disqualification or his lap time
being deleted, not coming until after the session. But here, he's put half a second on Limblad and
Q1 and then taken advantage of that with a P12. It doesn't feel like racing balls
are brilliantly quick this weekend, so I think 12th is a pretty good result.
I genuinely think the only car he'll be disappointed to be behind right now is Holkenberg.
Yeah, I think that's the only thing he's, and I'm being harsh there on him because I do think
it's like a brilliant session. To be 0.6 away, sorry, 0.6 away from the Audi of Holkenberg,
it tells you that when the racing balls can cooperate, when it is working up to speed,
it has got some good qualities about it. I think Lawson was really able to
maximize those qualities. Limblad does seem to be struggling this weekend. This is probably his
most difficult weekend that we've seen from him so far. He's a rookie. It's going to happen.
Those weekends will come about. As long as we get more of the good and less of the bad overall,
that's fine. But yeah, Lawson comfortably bested his rookie teammate today.
Yeah, and Limblad, of course, hurt at least. I know it's not qualifying but hurt by the fact
that he wasn't involved at all in the sprint race. We'll see how they get on tomorrow 12th
and 17th. They should be starting. I do want to mention before we wrap up Fernando Alonso,
because improving on his final run in Q3, that turn 17 doesn't go very well for him,
and he just decides, I'm off. I'm into the pits. I'm not having it.
But then he has the most mega lock-up of all time going into the pit.
I really think it might be intentional. He's like, that just is quite funny.
Yeah, I just want to destroy this car from inside, so I'm just going to lock up.
It was better, and that's not much of a compliment, but it was better.
Yeah, they were about three-tenths away from getting through to Q2, three-four-tenths away.
No, I misread the times. No, a bit more than that.
Oh, no, yes, I have. Were they 1.3 seconds away?
That sounds more like it, yeah.
Yeah, okay. Also, we haven't been on board going to be asking Martin a lot so far this season.
Probably doesn't have a camera. Doesn't know anything else that works.
Arguably, for who'd been shaking off a long time ago. It'd be ugly on board.
Hang on, nothing going forward.
Sorry, it's not even like it's a really pretty car. It doesn't look guys either.
So, yeah, you've got that going for you, I'm afraid.
That's all right. I don't think this car needs any upgrades.
Yeah, thank God they decided to not waste their time.
I don't know if you saw F1 Fantasy quick chat about that, because whilst everything's
provisional at this point in the weekend, I don't know if you saw,
just all about the sprint, not all about qualifying here.
In the sprint, the driver with the most points was Lando Norris.
Tied for second was Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll,
because of how often they just overtook each other.
That is a hack, right?
Yeah, right.
I've got you in my fantasy team.
Can you and Lung just keep going back and forth against each other, please?
Each time they do that, they pick up a point.
I love that. That's so good.
They scored more than Piastri did.
A man's the second place doing nothing.
I just thought that was funny.
Driver of the session for qualifying.
I've gone commu-entering, Ellie.
I hate giving it to the pole guy, but again, it was a phenomenal lap.
I mean, the difference between himself and Russell shows
what he was able to extract from that car that George wasn't able to.
Also, a shout for Max.
Yeah, I mean, I gave it to Verstappen yesterday
when he was nine temps faster than his teammate.
And today, he's eight temps faster than his teammate.
So he's washed Colopinto's in with a shout.
I'll be boring as well, Antonelli.
Very good.
And I know we spoke a lot about Norris's two temps gap yesterday.
This is still a 10th and a half.
Like he really put together a good lap.
There's not been too many drivers
where they've had their first three poles in a row.
As a fact, it was only two before commu-entering,
Ellie, of course, with Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senga doing that.
And it's a pretty illustrious company to be involved with.
So fair play to you, Kimmy.
Quite good as a team, Ayrton.
Yes. And one other thing before we go.
We should say this is episode 666.
What does that make us?
Oh, I don't know.
It makes us the devil.
I guess that makes me the devil.
I feel very good for saying this, Sam.
I do not know what's going to happen tomorrow,
and that is a good place to be at.
That is the perfect recipe for Formula One to have.
The unknown.
What is that?
It's the unknown.
Who thought that'd get a reference?
Not me.
Excellent.
Folks, it could be a downpour.
It could be thunder and lightning.
They might move the time of the session.
We don't know what's going on just yet,
but we will be back after it to do a full review of the race.
So come back, sit down with us, have a little cup of coffee or a tea,
and then just kind of mull over,
hopefully what will be an excellent Grand Prix.
I think if you fancy a little more,
join us on Patreon for Power Rankings,
which we release on our Monday evening UK time.
That will go out, of course, to the likes of the US in the afternoon,
and we break down every single performance of every driver,
give it a rating,
and Patreon members can get involved and rate themselves as well,
not themselves, the drivers themselves.
You get the point.
Ten out of ten.
I'm a great Patreon member.
Thanks for listening.
Thanks for joining us.
We will see you tomorrow for more F1 action.
In the meantime, I've been Sam Sage.
And I've been Ben Hawking.
And remember, keep breaking late.
Find yours at Toyota.com.
Toyota. Let's go places.
About this episode
Miami Saturday delivered a sharp contrast between the sprint and qualifying. McLaren’s surprise 1-2 in the sprint sparked debate over whether track position and qualifying mattered more than raw pace, while Mercedes and Antonelli’s race was messy enough to draw blunt criticism. Qualifying then flipped the script with Antonelli on pole, Verstappen close behind, and the wind scrambling the order. Alpine, Colapinto, Lawson, and reliability issues all added to a weekend that felt unusually open heading into race day.
It was a Saturday full of surprises in Miami, with the Sprint Race and Qualifying sessions seeing different teams rise to the top. Ben and Sam break down the action and explore what caused the shake-up in the order ahead of tomorrow's race...
