The center of gravity is basically the “balance point” of the car. If that balance point is higher, the car is more likely to feel like it’s tipping or rolling when you turn or corner.
Rollover potential means how likely the car is to tip over. Cars with a higher balance point are more likely to tip when cornering forces push the weight to one side.
CFD sims are computer simulations of how air moves around the car. Teams use them to estimate how much grip (downforce) and resistance (drag) the car will get from its shape.
Airflow over the car changes how the car grips the track and how much it slows down. That’s why teams and broadcasts focus on airflow—because it’s tied to speed.
Term
Wiener Robles
This sounds like a name of a specific computer-graphics or simulation setup used in the presentation. The transcript doesn’t make the exact name clear, so it’s hard to pin down what it refers to precisely.
A “primer” is a beginner-friendly explanation. Here it’s about Formula 2, the racing series that helps develop drivers who may later move up to Formula 1.
The Suzuki Samurai is a small SUV built for off-road driving. It’s known for being tough and relatively simple to maintain. People often talk about it because it can handle rough terrain and is easy to work on.
Fernando Alonso is a famous Formula 1 driver with multiple world championships. Here, the hosts say he made a mistake in qualifying, crashed, but his lap time was still good enough to move on.
SQ2 is the second part of qualifying. Drivers who make it past SQ1 get another chance to set a faster time, and those times decide who starts higher up.
A red flag means the race/qualifying is stopped right away for safety. If it happens during qualifying, it can interrupt everyone’s lap attempts and change who qualifies.
SQ1 is the first part of F1 qualifying. If you don’t set a fast lap in that first part, you get knocked out and don’t get to try again in the next round.
“Locked up” means the wheels stop turning while braking. That usually happens when there isn’t enough grip, and it can make the car slide and lose control.
Park Fermet is a rule that restricts what teams can do to the car after a session. It’s like the car is “locked down,” so you can’t just make big changes right away.
Term
Groundhog Strike
A “Groundhog Strike” is the hosts’ way of describing a car hitting something on the track surface. They say it caused damage to the car’s floor, which can hurt how the car grips and how it stays stable.
A sprint in F1 is a shorter race than the main Grand Prix. It matters because it helps decide where cars start the main race, so teams push hard even though it’s not the full-length event.
Mercedes is one of the Formula 1 teams. Here, they’re talking about whether Mercedes is getting off the line better than before, because starts can decide who leads early in the race.
Ferrari is another Formula 1 team. The discussion is about how well they’re getting going at the start, since that can strongly affect track position right away.
A boost pad is a special spot on the track that gives the car a short burst of extra power when you drive over it. If you hit it at the right time, you can suddenly accelerate and pull away from other cars.
Oscar Piastri is another Formula 1 driver. The hosts say Hamilton overtook him right after the start, before they reached the first corner.
Person
Colpinto
Colapinto is a Formula 1 driver. The hosts say he had a small incident on the first lap with another driver, which can affect how the rest of the race goes.
Hülkenberg is a Formula 1 driver. They’re saying there was a small coming-together on lap one involving him, which can be important because early contact can cost time or cause damage.
A chicane is a part of the track where you have to turn left-right (or right-left) to slow down. A “back” chicane is one that comes later in the lap, so mistakes there can easily send you wide.
“Fine margins” at the front means the fastest cars are separated by very small time gaps, so qualifying, tire choice, and race execution have an outsized impact. When the field is that close, one mistake at a corner complex or chicane can swing positions quickly.
Top speed is how fast a car gets at its fastest point, usually on the straight. If a track has very high top speeds, the car that’s efficient on straights often has an advantage.
Ovals are tracks shaped like an oval, with long sweeping turns. Drivers often focus on keeping the car moving smoothly and consistently through those turns.
Person
Elio Castroneva
Elio Castroneves is a famous IndyCar driver. The hosts mention him to illustrate that some drivers can stay strong on oval tracks for a long time.
“On the radio” means the driver is talking to their team while driving. The team can tell them what to do next, especially during incidents or when they need to focus on safety.
A “wide line” is when a driver steers wider than usual at the start of a turn. It’s usually done to set up the next turn so they can keep more control and speed.
“Checks up” means the driver slows down quickly—usually by lifting off the gas and possibly braking. It’s done to avoid crashing when something unexpected happens ahead.
“Running off the course” means the car goes outside the track. It usually slows the driver down and can be risky for the car and the race.
Person
Kimi
Kimi is the driver who was able to slip through after Russell slowed down. The description makes it sound like it was a very close pass right in front of Russell’s car.
Person
Bono
Bono is someone on the team communicating with the driver over the radio. They’re trying to keep the driver focused and not let emotions affect driving after the incident.
Person
Wolf
Wolf is another team voice on the radio stepping in with a stronger message. The point is to get the driver to concentrate on driving instead of arguing about what happened.
Term
risky one
Saying it’s “a risky one” means that corner often leads to mistakes or close calls. Drivers may try aggressive moves there, and if timing or spacing is off, it can go wrong fast.
“Locks up” means the wheels stop turning while braking. That usually makes the car harder to steer and can cause it to slide wide, especially into a corner.
Going over the grass means the car leaves the pavement. Grass is slippery compared to asphalt, so it slows you down and makes the car harder to control.
Norris is the driver who gains positions because the cars in front make mistakes. When a driver loses speed or traction, the next driver can slip by more easily.
A back marker is a slower car near the back of the pack. If they don’t move aside quickly, faster cars behind them can get stuck together and lose their spacing.
Antonelli is the driver trying to pass and make up positions. The story here is that he goes for it, but the car doesn’t slow down enough, so he has to run wide and settle for a lower spot.
Term
Lap 20 per Canadian government mandate
That line is about a rule that kicks in at a certain lap number. In races, rules like that can change what teams and drivers do next.
Team etiquette means teammates are expected to race in a way that doesn’t intentionally hurt each other. If someone “breaches” it, the speaker thinks they crossed a line in how they handled the battle.
Intermediate tires are special F1 tires for when the track is wet but not fully flooded. They have grooves to help push water out from under the tire so the car can still grip.
The simulator is like a high-end racing video game plus real engineering data. Drivers use it to practice and learn how the car should feel and behave before and during the race weekend.
Term
targeting computer
A targeting computer is the car/team’s information system that helps the driver hit specific goals, like when to brake or what lap times to aim for. If it’s off, the driver may be flying more by feel than by data.
Term
communication drift
Communication drift means the driver and team aren’t fully on the same page. If the feedback and instructions get out of sync, it can slow down how fast they improve the car.
Max Verstappen is one of the best drivers in Formula 1. Here, they’re saying he starts the race from 6th place, which is important because starting position can make the race easier or harder.
Concept
Q2
Q2 is the middle part of F1 qualifying. Drivers use it to try to qualify for the final qualifying session, and it affects where they start the race.
Concept
Q1
Q1 is the first part of qualifying. If you don’t do well enough in Q1, you can get eliminated and won’t get to the later rounds, so problems early can ruin your whole qualifying.
A pit lane start means the driver doesn’t start from their normal spot on the grid. Instead, they start from the pit lane, usually because of a penalty or a change that forces them to line up back there.
Term
additional power elements
“Power elements” are parts of the F1 engine system that help it make power and recover energy. If a team uses extra ones, the rules often penalize the driver—like starting from the pit lane.
A wet race means the track is damp or rainy. Cars grip differently than on a dry track, so drivers have to be more careful and tire choice becomes a bigger deal.
Slick tires are race tires with smooth rubber and no tread. They grip best when they’re hot, so if the track is cool or the race starts slowly, they can feel slippery at first.
A formation lap is a slow, controlled lap before the race really begins. Cars use it to get lined up safely, but it can also make tires cool down or take longer to get up to temperature.
A safety car comes out when something unsafe is happening on the track. The race slows down behind it, which can shuffle positions and make teams change their pit-stop plans.
“Up the inside” means a driver tries to pass on the side closer to the inside of the turn. They’re usually aiming to brake and turn in so they can get ahead before the corner finishes.
“Around the outside” means trying to pass on the outside of a corner, farther from the apex. It can be harder because that path is longer, but it can succeed if the other car gets compromised.
“Breaks quite early” means the driver starts slowing down sooner before the corner. That can help them stay in control and set up a safer path through the turn.
A “cascading effect” means one move causes problems for other cars too. If one driver has to slow or change direction, the cars around them often have to react as well.
Slicks are Formula 1 tires with no tread pattern, designed for maximum grip on dry track. Switching to slicks at the last possible moment is a high-stakes strategy choice because it balances tire warm-up and grip against the risk of losing performance if conditions change.
This means making a risky strategy choice that usually won’t work, but could help if things go your way. It’s the kind of move you try when you’re not in the best position.
Red Bull is the name of one of the Formula 1 teams. The hosts are saying they expected Red Bull to be bold with strategy, but they didn’t do it this time.
“Plays the percentages” means making the choice that’s most likely to work out, even if it’s not the most dramatic move. They’re saying Russell often prefers the safer bet.
“Higher risk” means making a bold move that could pay off, but could also go badly. The hosts are saying Russell didn’t go for that kind of move and it cost him spots.
A “wedge” is when cars get packed together so tightly that it’s hard to move out of the way. The person in the middle often gets squeezed and loses out.
Term
chickens out
It’s just slang for “they didn’t go through with the move.” In this case, it sounds like the driver hesitated at the last second instead of committing to the corner.
Term
launches like a missile in reverse
This describes a car moving backward very quickly after a mistake—typically from a bad start/gear selection, a spin, or losing traction and control. In F1 commentary, it usually signals the car is effectively “reversing out of trouble” rather than continuing forward normally.
Russell is a Formula 1 driver. The hosts are talking about how he fights hard when the race situation gets tense, and how that pressure can change how other drivers behave.
Senna is one of the most famous Formula 1 drivers ever. The hosts are bringing him up to represent an aggressive style—taking risks to make passes—compared to a more cautious approach.
Prost is one of the most famous Formula 1 drivers in history. The hosts are using his name to represent a smarter, more controlled style of racing compared with a more aggressive approach.
“Pits” means the car comes into the pit lane for a pit stop, usually to change tires. In F1, when you pit can make a big difference because track conditions can change quickly.
“Intermediate runners” are the cars that are still using the intermediate wet tires. When they pit, it can shuffle who is leading and who is stuck behind whom.
“Turn one” is the first corner on the track. It’s a common place to try passing because cars are coming in fast and braking hard, so there’s a chance to get alongside—if you’re brave enough.
The “12 complex” is a section of the track made up of several corners near corner 12. Passing through a corner sequence is tough, so holding the lead through that section can be a big deal.
Cutting a chicane means taking a shortcut through the chicane area rather than following the intended racing line. Drivers do it to avoid a collision or regain control, but it can trigger penalties depending on the series’ rules and whether track limits were exceeded.
Term
snapping in fourth
It means the driver shifts into fourth gear quickly. In racing, shifting at the right moment helps the car accelerate smoothly and stay stable going into the next part of the track.
“Modes” are different computer settings for how the car behaves. Switching modes can change how the car responds to your inputs, and the host thinks too much of that can make racing less fun.
A throttle map is the car’s computer deciding how the engine reacts when you press the gas. Different settings can make the car feel more responsive or more controlled.
They’re talking about how long the car can run in a more aggressive, high-output way. In racing, rules limit how you can use that extra power during the race.
“Burn rich” means the engine is using more fuel than usual compared to air. That can make it feel stronger, but it’s usually limited because it wastes fuel and can’t be used all race.
They’re talking about the battery-powered parts of the F1 power system. The host hopes rule/tech changes will make the car’s behavior less confusing so racing feels more natural.
Throttle mapping is basically the car’s “rules” for turning how far you press the gas pedal into how much power the car gives you. If the mapping changes, the car can feel more or less responsive even if you’re pressing the pedal the same way.
In these hybrid F1 cars, there’s a battery that stores extra energy. The team can’t use all of it at once, so they have to manage it carefully during the race.
The overtake button is the driver’s control for a short burst of extra performance to help them pass. If you can’t tell when it’s active or available, it’s harder to use it at the right moment.
DRS is a system that changes the rear wing to reduce drag. That helps the car go faster in certain parts of the track so passing becomes more likely.
Term
CURS
CURS sounds like another “button” system meant to help passing by changing the car’s performance temporarily. The exact meaning depends on which series rules they’re talking about.
A chicane is a tight set of turns that usually forces braking and careful steering. The “Wall of Champions” is a track landmark, and this spot is important because it’s where cars often set up passes.
Tire wear means the tires get worse as the race goes on. When the tires lose grip, it’s harder to brake and turn sharply, so drivers have to adjust their driving to avoid sliding or locking the wheels.
Locking up is when the wheels stop spinning while you’re braking. It usually happens when you brake too hard for the available grip, and it can damage the tire and make the car harder to control.
“Harvest energy” means the car recovers power while slowing down. Rather than losing that energy, the system turns part of it into electricity so you can use it later for acceleration.
Flat spots are when the tire gets scuffed or damaged so it doesn’t roll smoothly anymore. After a wheel locks up, that tire can lose grip and feel rough, making the car harder to control.
A “deep braking point” is when you brake later, closer to the turn. It can make you faster into the corner, but it’s riskier because you might lock the wheels or wear the tires quickly.
A 10-second penalty is extra time added because of a rules violation. Since F1 is so tight, losing 10 seconds can drop you back a lot in the race order.
“Going wide” means the car doesn’t turn in enough and ends up too far toward the outside of the corner. It usually slows you down and can mess up your next move.
Lock up means the brakes are so strong that the tires stop rolling and start sliding. That can make braking less effective and make the car harder to control.
Race tires work best only when they’re at the right temperature. In very cold weather, tires may not get too hot, so they can still reach the “sweet spot” instead of overheating.
“Clear air” is when a car isn’t being affected by the air coming off another car. It can help the car run more efficiently, but it can also affect how hot or cold the tires get.
In F1, a “wheel” investigation means officials are checking whether the wheel-related rules were followed. If something wasn’t done correctly, it can cost time or lead to a penalty.
In F1, the power unit is basically the car’s engine-and-hybrid system that makes it go. If there’s a power unit issue, the car may lose power or even have to stop, which can end a race quickly.
The drivers’ championship is the main season race for drivers. Points from every Grand Prix add up, and the “gap” is how many points one driver is ahead by.
A new regulation means the rules for F1 cars have changed. When that happens, teams have to adjust their cars, and it can lead to more uncertainty—like more mechanical problems at first.
Reliability means whether the car can finish the race without breaking. When the rules change, teams are still learning the new setup, so failures and retirements can become more common.
A retirement is when a car has to stop during the race and can’t finish. If that happens, the driver usually loses out on points, which can change the championship standings.
Term
Balterys tires
This sounds like the host is talking about a specific type of F1 tire. Different tire types grip differently and wear out at different rates, so choosing the wrong one can hurt the race.
In F1, tires are chosen based on conditions. If a team puts on the wrong tires (or at the wrong time), the car may not grip well and the driver can lose a lot of performance.
“Qualify” means the qualifying session before the race. Qualifying determines where the cars start on the grid, so how you drive and time your laps really matters.
Person
Colopinto
Colopinto is a driver mentioned as having an accident on pit exit. If a driver hits something leaving the pits, it can force race officials to slow everyone down for safety.
Hadjar is another Formula 1 driver in this race. The hosts say he made late or illegal moves during an overtake fight, so officials gave him penalties. Even after serving them, he was still able to keep his position.
Clean air is when a car isn’t being affected by the messy airflow from the car ahead. If you’re stuck behind someone, the air around your car gets worse, and it’s harder to go fast or pass. The hosts say Leclerc should have been able to get clean air but didn’t.
A stop-go penalty means the driver has to come into the pits and stop for a required amount of time, then drive off again. It costs time and usually drops you back in the race. In this case, the hosts say Hadjar managed to serve it and still keep his position.
The suspension is what helps the tires grip the track and keeps the car stable over bumps. If it’s broken, the car can feel out of control, so the driver has to stop.
F1 tethers are safety straps that help keep parts like wings from flying off completely if something breaks. They’re there to stop debris from scattering on track.
VSC means the race is temporarily slowed down for safety, but there isn’t a real safety car driving around. Drivers have to follow a controlled speed limit until the danger is cleared.
The start/finish straight is the main straight section of the circuit where the race start and the official timing line are located. In F1, it’s a common overtaking zone because cars can build speed before braking into the first corner.
“Classified” means the driver is officially counted in the race results. If they didn’t complete enough of the race, they can be marked “not classified.”
Aston Martin is a famous British car brand known for luxury sports cars. They also show up in racing, including Formula 1, so when people talk about talks with Aston Martin, it’s usually about money and team involvement.
Alpine is a car brand that also has a Formula 1 team. In this discussion, they’re talking about Alpine trying to sell part of that team, which changes who owns and pays for the racing effort.
BYD is a big Chinese company that makes electric and hybrid cars. The hosts are saying BYD could expand further into Europe, and that racing like Formula E is part of how these companies get noticed.
The Renault Alpine A610 is a sporty two-door car made by Alpine, a performance brand connected to Renault. It was designed for driving enjoyment and performance. It comes up when people talk about Alpine’s past success and what made the brand stand out.
A “sale of a stake” means someone buys part of a team, not the whole thing. In racing, that can affect who has the power to make decisions and how the team gets money.
Formula E is a racing series where the cars are fully electric. Monaco is one of the most high-profile races on the calendar, so it’s a big stage for EV companies to network and promote themselves.
This is the plan for what Formula 1 will require for the engines starting in 2027. Those rules change what teams can build and how they spend their engineering time.
This is about how much of the car’s power comes from the fuel engine versus the electric system. A 50/50 split would mean the electric and fuel parts contribute about equally.
This is another proposed balance between fuel and electric power—about 60% from the engine and 40% from electricity. The “permanently” part implies it would be set by the rules, not something teams could freely change.
The Nürburgring is a very famous racing track in Germany. The hosts mention it because Verstappen recently did a race there and it reminded him how fun racing can be.
Cadillac is mentioned as one of the engine suppliers in the F1 engine rule discussion. In this segment, they’re described as not supporting the 2027 plan.
Audi is mentioned as possibly the team that could go either way on the 2027 engine rules. The hosts say Audi’s concerns are mostly about money and having enough time/resources to redesign the engine system.
Term
additional development and upgrade opportunities catch up mechanism
This is an F1 rule meant to help teams that are behind get better over time. The idea is that if you’re struggling, the rules may give you extra chances to improve—especially through upgrades.
Homologation is the sport’s way of saying, “These rules for the car are approved and set.” It helps keep teams from changing the most important stuff whenever they want.
A hardware change just means changing real parts on the car. In racing like F1, you can’t always change everything whenever you want—rules decide what’s allowed.
Kyle Bush was a famous NASCAR driver who won the championship twice. The hosts also mention that he died unexpectedly, and they describe the illness that led to it.
Sepsis is a serious medical emergency that can happen when an infection triggers the body to react in a harmful way. It can affect organs and become life-threatening.
Michael Schumacher was a legendary Formula 1 driver. He’s famous for winning a lot and for being extremely fast and consistent. Here, the hosts mention him winning Monaco again in 2001.
Graham Hill was a famous Formula 1 driver from earlier eras. The hosts mention him because he previously held the record for winning Monaco multiple times, and Schumacher matched it.
Launch control is a system that helps a race car get moving quickly and smoothly at the start. If it doesn’t work, the car may hesitate or not accelerate when the lights go out.
Eddie Irvine was a Formula 1 driver. Here, the hosts say he finished third, which is part of the podium results.
LIVE
Sometimes I think it's a sin when I feel like I'm winning when I'm losing again.
Welcome to Shift F1 Podcast, a podcast about speedy race cars.
Those of course are lyrics by Canadian musician Gordon Lightfoot.
Hamilton may not have won the Grand Prix this weekend, but having a Ferrari that
can race must feel like winning. I'm Drew Scanlon joining me. Danny O'Dwyer,
how are you Danny? I'm doing great. Glad to be back on all three of us here.
That's right. Yeah, I was actually in Canada, not at the Grand Prix. I was in
Vancouver, which was... I went to the wrong city. I just thought I was in Canada.
How embarrassing. I know. I'll just go up and, you know, Canada can't be that big,
right? Turns out it's actually quite wide and tall. So I unfortunately was in
the wrong place, but while I was there, I did get to, you know, see some glaciers
and go up to Alaska. I went to Ketchikan and went on a pub crawl with some locals.
In Alaska? In Alaska, yeah. That seems pretty awesome. I went on a pub crawl in Alaska on the
day in which my football team won the league for the first time in 22 years.
Oh, so you just got absolutely destroyed. There was, let me, all my wife's friends
who we were on this short cruise with, let me tell you, they got to see a side of
Danny that not many people do. So shout out. Shout out to the many bars in Ketchikan.
Shout out to Arsenal. Has this caught on enough that people like understood why
it was such a big deal or was it like there is an Irishman here who was just
getting like insanely blitzed and is like seeing songs and cheering. And we're happy
for him. Like I'm curious, like was it just like an alien had arrived in the
middle of Alaska or people were like, yeah, Arsenal. No, it was mostly that. I was
wearing my jersey all day. The one, the one person who was like really cared was
the man United supporting bar man. When I was watching, because we didn't actually,
we won the league because another team didn't win their game. So that's, so we
were, I was watching, I was watching another team lose. But yeah, he was very
shed out to, to, to Dwayne on the boat for, for his support. Yeah, it was a great
day as far as I remember. Anyway, it's been a great weekend too. And I got to
enjoy some races while I was up in Canada. Although when I was at the, I was, I
was actually flying out when the race was on. So I was in the Vancouver airport
and they were showing the Indy 500, but they weren't showing the Canadian
Chrome free, which was weird. But then they turned it on. Eventually I saw
because I heard someone going at one stage during the race, but we'll get to
that later. All right. That is also Rob Zachney there.
All full and satisfied from a weekend of Grand Prix racing and basketball,
watching that Indy 500. It was, and of course the Wiener 500, which I don't
know if y'all caught it, but so Fox has leaned into just having fun with a lot of
Indy car rituals. But the Wiener 500 is where they race the Oscar Meyer Wiener
mobiles around the track of Indy. They deadpan it completely. They do a full
broadcast package for the Wiener 500. Brilliant. And they take it super
seriously, with the exception of it's all double entendre, all that's great.
So like, so in this situation, do you want to like try and like force your
wiener into that gap? Or do you just like tuck in behind the bun? And you got
like Townsend Bell was born for this. There's a point where he's like, Oh my
God, this is beautiful. You're drafting right up on there running tip to tip
down the back straight. So it was it was excellent. They instead of the National
Anthem, they sang the I wish I was an Oscar Meyer. Oh my God. Cut to Townsend
Bell and Hinch standing like they're at a military funeral wearing Oscar Meyer
Letterman jackets and aviators. It was fantastic. So it was one of many
delights at a really tremendous Indy car Indy 500 weekend.
Why? That's that's a mate. I have to go check that out. How many laps is it?
They only run like three laps because the cars are very slow with their high
the high center. I don't know how fast they get, but these things have an
insanely high center of gravity. Roll over potential. It's like right.
But one other thing I'll just shout out here. It Fox has a really good
graphics package where they do like CFD sims to show like how air flow runs
over the cars. They put the Wiener Robles in their software and did a Wiener
Robles CFD presentation. So it was it was excellent.
That's great. Amazing. That's very good. If you are new to this podcast, a very
warm welcome to you. And if you are new to Formula One itself, we've got an
episode just for you. Our preseason primer episode assumes no prior F1
knowledge and explains how the sport works and who everybody is. So if you
would like to go back and listen to that, it's episode 338. Also, this show
would not be possible without our audience over at patreon.com slash shift
F1 where every month we release ad free versions of this podcast early for
patrons along with bonus pods and videos exclusively for those patrons that
cover racing documentaries and films, F1 video games, experiments with other
racing series and a lot of weird things. So if you would like to support the
show and get access to all that fun stuff, head over to patreon.com slash
shift F1 or click the link in the show notes. What do we have going on this
month, Danny? I was going to ask you.
Yeah, Rob and I talked about it. So maybe I'll throw to Rob for programming
notes.
So the last thing we did was the F2 primer. We did a big class. So we could
do the thing. We could do the TV movie about the plane landing at the
decommissioned Canadian Air Force Base or just putting this out there.
Death Race is back on prime.
Death Race 2000 is back on prime.
I've never seen it either.
Neither have I.
It's just an hour.
It's, it's, wait, it's an hour?
Shorter than I would have thought it would have thought.
Great. Okay. There's also a remake. So future content to compare.
So it's, it's 80 minutes on Wikipedia. Are you saying the version you saw
as an hour? No, I'm sorry. It's, it's a short, I think, I think the Amazon
was listed as an hour and seven minutes though. So maybe they're not counting
the credits, but I don't know. It's Corman movie. It's short and sweet.
Great. Wow. David Carradine's best. We could also watch the 2008 Jason
Statham version of Death Race if you were so inclined.
It's a death race. We got to get, we got to race these cars.
Wow. Our fourth member of the pod.
Let's just watch Crank. Let's just watch. Those movies are, those
movies are. He's, he's racing the clock.
Those are movies are some of the most misunderstood movies now every
month for the Patriot, Patriot.
A lot of car themed state.
Welcome lock stock.
Let's start with Snatch.
What's the series that he's the driver, the getaway, the driver, the, the
wheel man. What is his?
The wheel man, I think is a different movie.
Come on. There's a Statham long running series where he is in a car.
What is it? Stay fam.
The beekeeper. Nope.
Lock stock of two smoking barrels. I don't know. The transporter.
That's it. Jesus Christ.
The transporter. I got to transport this stuff.
Somehow I never put together cars with the transporter, but it's a good point.
Yeah, transport things in cars.
They let's talk about the sprint.
Okay. Okay.
Did we read our sponsors?
No, we didn't. We skipped over them.
Our only sponsor this week is Jason Statham.
He's the best.
And yes, shout out to our incredible title sponsors over at Patreon.com
slash shift F1 who support this show and keep it on the track.
DC speed demons.
That's probably some sort of biker gang, racing gang.
Or David Coulthard fan club.
Don't make me noise.
Got to warm up.
Yeah, exactly.
The military industrial complex, War Isle or IP Egberto and Igor Furman.
TV, GP dot TV, that video game podcast.
Let's Margo racing.
Eaching Wells, Dr. V.
Deange, it's a me for audio.
Cryptocurrency, Mojo Nixon, get rich or die.
Ryan, I got VATX, Cypher's training, turf SCX.
Michael Maves, cigarettes, telemetrydeck.com, FTC, BOTASNOTLAST,
Drew Stewart, Peek Super Clippy, Bailey Foote, Abraham Getchell,
E3 Mysteries, hashtag bunny for work, Sniggs, Alex Goucher,
Max Faultar keyboards, Jeff Foster, Troye Stammer.
Sorry, a stammer not your name there, Troye.
William Rumpf, Lackland the Madden Man, Samurai Love Story and Jason Kelly.
Thank you all so much.
E3 Mysteries are a project.
Sounds easy.
I just had to read this last week and I was stumbling right and left over them.
Oh, I was while you were.
I would remember I was walking back from the bathroom in the hotel I was in
and I was doing it along with you.
So that was fun.
They're all burned into my brain.
Yeah, I think we got Sisyphus training, turf SCS.
Oh, very good.
I like that.
Sisyphus training.
Yeah, I've just got to fucking got to work on pebbles first.
One of my way up to the bolder.
All right.
So the sprint, sprint.
Let's get to it.
The grid, the grid for the sprint.
George Russell on Sprint Pole, followed by his teammate, Kimmy Antonelli.
Great.
Two Mercedes behind them, two McLarens,
Landon Norris and Oscar Piazzari behind them, two Ferraris,
Lewis Hamilton and Charlotte Claire.
Then we've got the two Red Bulls, Max Verstappen
and Issac Hajar, as David Croft is now calling him.
Oh, it's probably more accurate.
Arvid Lindblad lines up ninth
and then Carlos signs in 10th,
getting his Williams all the way up to the top 10 in Sprint,
qualifying behind them.
The familiar place for Niko Holkenberg in 11th,
then his Audi teammate, Gabrielle Bordoletto.
And Franco Colopinto lines up 13th, impressive
since he didn't see much of any practice time
after an issue with his car.
Esteban O'Connor lines up 14th.
He had a weird spin in practice that sent him into the wall
and smashed off his front wing.
One of those ones that's like, oh, he got away
with something that could have been much, much worse.
Fernando Alonso also nosed into the wall
after he locked up in SQ1, brought out the red flag,
but his time was good enough to get into SQ2.
He'll start 15th.
Sergio Perez, 16th in the Cadillac.
Lance Droll, 17th.
And then a whole bunch of pit lane starts.
Liam Lawson failed to set a time.
He had an issue in practice that the team apparently
were not able to fix.
Yeah, a lot of cars modified under Park Fermet conditions here.
Oliver Berriman, 19th, Pierre Gasly, 20th.
Valtteri Bottas, 21st.
And Alex Alban, he also failed to set a time
after hitting a Groundhog RIP in practice.
Punks of Tony fails, yeah.
Yeah, or Punks of Tony Francois, because we're in Canada.
I think that happened a couple times this weekend.
I remember they were talking about one car
that had bad floor damage due to a Groundhog Strike,
which I think it was Gasly in the race qualifying.
It is Gasly.
So they just they have a car up on Jax
and they're picking to the Groundhog after that floor.
Little teeth, yikes.
All right, but the sprint, everyone,
the first Canadian sprint.
Danny, do you want to take us through the start?
Sure. I mean, all eyes on Mercedes,
see if they figured out how to get these starts a little bit sharper,
especially Kimmy over the break and also the Ferrari's
to see how they'll do.
And as it happens, Russell and Antonelli have a good start.
But Hamilton...
Russell has a monster start.
He thinks so.
It's like he hits a boost pad and just rockets away.
Maybe he just looks like that when he's compared to Kimmy Antonelli.
I don't know. That's a fair point, though.
But yes, behind them, Lewis Hamilton manages to get past Oscar Piestri,
moving into that first turn.
And that's basically it.
Not many overtakes on the on the start of this one.
It's going to be a little bit different for the future race.
F1, F1, Grand Prix, not the future race, one or two.
Yeah, that first lap,
there was a little brush between Hulkenberg and Colpinto,
where Hulkenberg ends up running off,
I think, on that back chicane before the hairpin,
which happened a lot this week between various drivers.
But yeah, it's it.
This this sprint was the sprint felt like we were going to get two of these races
where the margin was so fine at the front.
It occurred to me through this race.
That's like is Montreal the closest IndyCar has to an oval, not IndyCar F1?
Monza.
That's another good one.
Similar traits where super high top speeds,
few corners and fairly straightforward ones.
But that also means that you have to like be pristine with them
to maximize everything.
And so I think it favors, you know, you see this in IndyCar where drivers
sort of age out of being competitive at the road courses first.
But you have old guys like being competitive on the ovals for ages
because that is just like all flow and like know how and like just being in rhythm.
Like Elio Castroneva has won his last IndyCar
500 Indy 500 well past the point where he's competitive on road courses.
But like he still had it in the ovals.
And this sort of feels like a similar situation where,
you know, it is there's a lot of craft around here.
And it is about like sort of maximizing the
the simple like corner complexes and chicanes and getting the most out of the
straights and and the margins were this was this was a nail biting sprint.
Yeah, lap five, Russell goes wide at the hairpin,
which will be far from the last time I say that phrase in this episode,
which allows Antonelli to get very close as they head down the back straight.
Russell stays ahead through the chicanes,
but it's pretty clear that the gloves are starting to come off.
They head down the start finish straight and we get a bad drone shot.
F1, please the direction across this weekend was horrific, horrible.
I have a bone to pick with the drone shots specifically.
There is a time and a place.
Some of them are great.
Like the overhead shot, you cannot get without a drone, and those are fantastic.
Some shots work.
Anything that requires a Y axis rotation, like a pan, no.
And also, if you're if you're doing like a jib shot here with a wide angle lens,
you need to be close.
Like a wide angle and you're far away.
The cars are tiny.
This is a useless shot.
So it was so bad in the in the main in the Grand Prix
that the commentators were constantly like kept like passive,
aggressive, saying like, oh, well, we missed that.
And well, I'm sure we'll get a shot at that later.
And stuff keeps happening in the hairpin.
And I'm staring to get that huge camera boom there in the hairpin
on the inside of the corner and like, gee, I would love to see what that
camera is saying, but I'm I'm still here in what looks like a drone shot
on the opposite side of the corner with a tremendous amount of like grass runoff
area and then tiny cars infuriating.
Yeah.
The last thing I'll say about the we need to tell about this incident.
I have been assuming there's a ton of AR stuff.
They're getting into the broadcast throughout this year,
but somebody else hit me this weekend.
AI AR augmented reality, where you're putting digital
advertising hoardings to the shot.
And I think they're doing a fair bit of that.
But I think something else that makes the racing
what kind of uncanny and shitty in places is they now keep framing shots
to pick up the advertising hoardings and rendering.
You notice that most on the starting line where they always make sure you can
see whoever is the the sponsor for that event this weekend.
It was the Lenovo sponsorship.
So you have all the cars on the grid,
relegated to the lower like right one third of the screen.
And the rest is dedicated to the Lenovo ad.
And only when the cars are rolling off do they begin to zoom into the cars.
But also it's not the best view of the action for the start, right?
But it's so many moments like that where I feel like you're choosing shots now
to maximize like ad impressions rather than showcasing
the most useful angles on the on the action.
So, yeah, like bad presentation in a lot of places this weekend.
It made it hard to figure out exactly what had happened in an incident
that quickly became controversial, because Antonelli was on the radio
from that's like three laps talking about what happens here,
which is he has this great run on Russell and they're approaching turn one.
And turn one is the last but it goes right
immediately into the right hand turn two.
Antonelli was outside on turn one
and tries to get through.
Russell takes a wide line to pick up the inside of turn two
and runs Antonelli off and Russell checks up the car
to let Kimi go rocketing across his nose, running off the course.
And then Russell drives off and Antonelli lost his shit.
Like, you know, said he said he ran me off
and then wouldn't let it drop on the radio.
Bono tried a couple of times to calm him down,
escalates to the point where lap eight, you've got Wolf on the radio.
Kimi, we don't talk about this right now.
Please focus on driving.
We talk about this after.
What was your read on the incident?
I look around the outside on turn one has always been a risky one.
It's always been a weird one that people go, oh, I can't believe they tried that.
Hamilton's good at it.
The difference here, I think, is that Kimi is not ahead of him
nearly early enough to try and make this stick.
So by the time he comes around, like,
Russell is more than entitled to the driving line there.
It was overly optimistic.
He hadn't closed enough distance to make a work.
And he was lucky he didn't damage the bottom of his car more
because that they've added a bunch of grass around the track here.
And it definitely makes a difference, obviously,
the entry to the wall of champions on the final at the penultimate
and ultimate corner.
And here's another spot where there's a bit more grass than there was
traditionally on that little bit.
And yeah, he was lucky and Russell knew what was going to happen, I guess,
and managed to jink back in and get away from him.
But yeah, overly optimistic.
But look, one of the things I'm enjoying about this duel here,
we have between the two of those, we have apparently a really confident,
kind of impatient, but talented young guy
against Russell, who has now become the sort of conservative
standard bearer of the team in a way.
And, you know, it's it's it's setting us up
for a very interesting clash between the two of them.
And ultimately, that was the story of this weekend until it wasn't.
Yeah. So on the on the next lap,
Anthony tries another move, dives up the inside of Russell,
but overcooks it and locks up into I think it's that first chicane
has to drive over the grass.
Losing momentum allows Norris to get by in the second place.
The Mercedes pick crew readying tires in case he has a puncture, but he does not.
Lap 17, the back marker of Alex Albman is slow getting out of the way,
which causes the top three now, Russell, Norris and Antonelli to bunch back up.
Lap 20 per Canadian government mandate, Lewis Hamilton,
former F1 champion, hits the wall of champions,
thankfully for him, escaping without any significant damage.
A touch.
And lap 23, the final lap, Antonelli makes another huge
lunge around the outside of turn one at Norris and has to cut across the grass again.
And to his credit here, he was further ahead of Norris than he was with Russell,
but just could not get the car stopped and has to settle for third.
And simultaneously in picture in picture,
Piaz tri squeezes by Hamilton at the final chicane and Leclerc tags along
dropping Hamilton to sixth place at the finish.
Yeah, it was I would say like not a stir.
I think the weekend goes differently.
I think the conversations around Antonelli are a little different,
like stemming from this race and how it goes.
But things shake out very differently during the the Grand Prix.
But I do feel like you tell Anthony was kind of driving angry,
but also really felt that Russell had done him dirty and breached like team etiquette and rules.
But I'm watching it and I'm like, boy, this argument gets less and less forceful
every time he runs off trying one of these moves.
And like you can say he's like, well, he's emotional.
He's on tilt now.
But it's like, no, he just he's not judging this right.
And to me, it sort of felt like the classic.
This is his, you know, he hasn't run this many times before.
And these are these are new cars.
They're all still learning the cars.
And to me, it just sort of felt like, you know, as you're in the process
of like driving at the limit, he he airs on the side of going over the limit.
That seems like, you know, to Danny's point, the the style difference.
He's a very fast driver.
When he airs, he will air on the side of biting off more than he in the car can chew.
And that was happening across this sprint race where he just kept overcooking it
and having to rock it across a corner or a chicane.
But it did mean it was it was slightly grating as he's back on the radio
still complaining about like what Russell did.
And it's like, I think you need to figure out how to judge these corners better.
I don't think you're going to have a lot of.
I don't think we have a persuasive argument when we can run like the game
tape and there's like six incidents of you just like launching the car across the track.
But all those things become like useful data for him.
And he calmed down at the time they had the the ceremony at the end of the sprint.
And I do think contributed to a much stronger looking Antonelli in qualifying.
Yeah, yeah.
He did say something as they, you know, across the line is his sort of
message to the team at the end.
He said, if we need to race like this, then good to know.
Nice. So I think that bodes well for us as as viewers.
But yes, the result of the sprint in Canada, George Russell on top,
Landon or a second Kimmy Antonelli rounding out the sprint podium.
And we've got Oscar Piaz, the fourth, Charlie Claire, fifth, Louis Hamilton,
sixth, Max Verstappen, seventh and Arvid Lindblad in eighth,
the last of the points, paying positions.
Behind them, we've got Franco Colopinto in ninth, Carlos signs in 10th
and Liam Lawson, Gabrielle Bordeletto, Esteban O'Conn, Sergio Perez,
who received a 10 second time penalty for forcing another driver off the track.
Nico Holkenberg in 15th, who also received a 10 second time penalty.
If we're leaving the track and gaining an advantage,
then we've got Stroll, Botas, Bearman, Albonne, Gasly and in 21st,
Hajar, who had an engine problem, I think brought him into the garage
and sent him back out. Am I right about that?
Yes, they did.
And then Fernando Alonso not classified.
All right, that is it for the sprint.
We're going to take a quick break, but we will be back with the race.
All right, the race grid.
The top five here are going to sound pretty similar because they're the
same as the sprint. George Russell on pole position, followed by Kimi
Antonelli, Landon Norris, Oscar Piastri, Louis Hamilton.
I'll take the start, if you want.
Yeah, well, I mean, there's drama before we even start because the track
is still a little wet from some pre-race rain, and a third of the field
decides to start on intermediate tires, including both McLarens.
So Landon Norris in third, Oscar Piastri in fourth on the intermediate tires.
Louis Hamilton not on intermediate tires, although I did want to point out,
he qualified fifth in both the race qualifying and the sprint qualifying.
He attributed this to not using the simulator.
Wow, Louis, you switched off your targeting computer.
That's kind of goofy.
Like, it doesn't seem like the vibes are bad with him in Ferrari.
They seem better than they were last year.
He was calling out the team, you know, very positive.
But I do feel like it's hard to be like, I'm crushing it.
And I'm not using that vital tool that our team possesses.
And it's a little bit like, huh, what's that?
He had been complaining about the same, but he also said, I think after the sprint,
that he had finally gotten his engineering team the way he wanted.
So I think maybe there's some other stuff going on there where he's,
you know, feeling closer to the car because there was a significant amount of drift and
communicate.
He's experienced a lot of communication drift at Ferrari, I think it's fair to say.
There is a, he goes at length about the simulator.
I'm going to link to a race fans article that I thought was pretty interesting.
People want to read up on his comments there.
Max Verstappen lines up sixth.
Isaac Hadjard seventh.
He had a killer Q2 time.
And I thought for a moment that we were going to get a wild grid.
But no.
Charlotte Clair eighth.
Arvid Lindblad in ninth.
And Frank Caldepinto tenth.
And what do you know, Nico Holkenberg in 11th on the intermediate tires,
Liam Lawson 12th.
And then the other Audi of Gabrielle Bordeletto also in intermediate tires.
Pierre Gasly in 14th after, as you mentioned, Rob, his team says that
hitting a groundhog in Q1 affected his performance in Q2.
Carlos Sainz also on the, I don't think he noticed actually.
15th is Carlos Sainz on the intermediates.
Oliver Bearman in 16th.
Esteban O'Conn 17th.
Alex Albon 18th.
Fernando Alonso 19th.
And then two more on the inter Sergio Perez and Valter Botas.
And then Lance Stroll the pit lane start after additional power elements were used.
So intermediate tires.
The race actually, the-race.com had an article before the race about how unnerved the drivers
were about the prospect of a wet race, especially given the low temperatures here,
which make it even harder for slick tires to warm up and grip.
But so it was, I think this was a gamble before we had two extra formation laps.
Because we line up, the lights go on and then it feels like an eternity.
Oh my God.
And then we get a formation lap because Arvid Lindblad's car does not go into gear.
And so we do a formation lap and then we do another one while they get his car.
They had the roll of all the way back.
Yeah, they couldn't, they decided to push him back and then it took a long time to clear the track.
Yeah, so our official race distance goes from 70 laps to 68 and it's about six or seven minutes
before past the time that we would have actually gone racing.
And that really didn't help McLaren in his intermediate time.
And on this lap, Piatri is saying to the pit wall, I think we need to swap now.
Yeah.
You know, which in hindsight was probably the wise thing to do is to eat it.
And it would have pit lane start maybe and not lose so much time.
But would you, I mean, this is interesting.
Would you rather have a pit lane start being at the very, very back?
Or would you rather come out, you know, a few cars ahead?
The other thing is there's a, what is an 80% historical chance of safety car here.
Opening laps, that push, that gets pushed up even more because that's where you tend to have,
I mean, we literally just had one.
Well, you know, they had a full start.
And Lando noted that like the intermediate tires and we'll see
have great grip at the beginning.
They do, but yeah, should we get into it?
Let's get into it.
Okay, sure.
Let's take us through the start.
So yeah, the Mercedes have a good start.
Lando though has a much better one.
He goes up the inside, which forces Russell into a sort of defensive posture,
which allows Kimmy to go around the outside of him.
Russell actually breaks quite early for turn one as well,
perhaps anticipating that he might be able to get a better line
than both of them.
You know, Lando sort of taking it tight.
Kimmy may be going around the outside.
So he sort of halts up a little bit in doing so.
So Piastri's slid back a bit, or Piastri's fighting at this stage,
but he slid back a bit because of what he, Russell does,
is a bit of a cascading sort of effect.
Hamilton then manages to get, gets up or any inside of Piastri into turn one
manages to get past him.
So Piastri's fallen back.
Norris has gone forward.
And then in the background, because Lindblad was out,
Colopinto got a great start, which then put pressure on Isaac Hajar
and forces him into a defensive position there,
which allows Charlie Clair to get around him.
So by the time we've gotten around the first turn,
it's looking, you know, it's McLaren, Mercedes, Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren,
Red Bull, Ferrari, Red Bull.
So we've sort of shuffled the deck already.
And they've barely done two turns, I guess.
I think for me, the McLaren thing, and to Norris's credit,
he was out after the race saying like it wasn't that bad a decision.
Like there were, there were reasons to do it.
Obviously I had a better start because I was on, I had better grip coming off the line.
It wasn't totally irrational.
After the race, Hamilton and Verstappen were talking and Hamilton said
he came this close.
Like they switched to Slicks at the last possible second
before, you know, it was time to roll off.
And so like Ferrari were also like right on the cusp of trying the interest thing.
But ultimately, I can't help but think McLaren's car has been so good this year.
And to me, the interest play felt like one of those.
If you know you have the inferior position,
then you start trying these like lower percentage plays to just try to gain back.
You're taking big swings, right, to gain back a lot of advantage
because in a straight fight, it's sort of predetermined where it's going to end up.
I don't know the McLaren really needed to be that desperate.
And this felt like a desperate move a little bit.
And especially early in the season.
Yeah. And like they had a really good starting position.
You know, you're pretty far up there.
Yeah, that's got two good cars that are fast down straight.
It's got two good drivers.
And I think like everything that happens from here, like, you know,
getting this wrong also meant that you were plunging these guys into dense traffic.
And that, you know, that becomes a piastries curse for the for this race.
So I don't love the call.
I think it was a, I think it was a pretty bad one.
Understandable, maybe how they get there.
But for me, I'm just like, I think a lot of other teams looked at this
and made the right call.
And so you kind of have to evaluate like, why did you make the wrong one?
Yeah, exactly. I'm with you.
I think, I think there, you could be really, really judgmental about this and say,
this was a ridiculous decision.
There's two things I feel about this.
One, this is Canada.
Canada is a track where you can get back a decent amount of track position with pace,
with straight pace.
And I think, you know, we've seen people come back from the dead of Canada many, many times, right?
And have great victories in fact, or just like do quite well.
Also the nature of safety cars here means that there's often weird tire strategies
sometimes plays into your hand and certainly having to pay it on,
you know, the opening for your laps is going to do that.
The other thing is we criticize McLaren a lot over the past few years
for not making the ballsy decision that we would see from someone like Red Bull.
And in a weird way, this kind of was one of those calls to like do something
that no one was expecting to not be overly conservative,
which they have been in years past.
But I'm with Rob.
I think that the main difference you see here is they were in such a great qualifying position
that I just, it felt like the risk was way too much to do at the start of a race.
Like maybe this is the type of thing you do a little bit into the race
to try and make the call that gets you over the edge.
In a weird way, this might have been something we expected Red Bull to do,
not just because of the pace of their car at the moment,
but also their qualifying position.
So to me, when I saw Red Bull not doing it and I saw McLaren doing it,
I was like, ooh, I don't know.
Maybe McLaren have overplayed their hand on this one.
And ultimately, like you guys said, those opening two formation laps
or whatever we're going to call them, they were the last maybe 10, 15%
of the damp track that then got cleared up.
The other thing is we talked last week about, we're in two weeks ago,
that Russell is sometimes the driver who plays the percentages, plays within bounds
and isn't going to be the person who does the max commit higher risk thing.
I think once again, that shows up here and creates a moment that shows him
in a really unflattering light where he bales out of that first corner
and concedes two positions basically because he's in a wedge.
On the other hand, the center driver in that wedge rarely survives.
Like you can say, well, he should have shown more commitment in that moment.
The sheer number of times that the person in the middle just doesn't survive
that first corner seems really, really high.
And so the only way out of it is it looks really dramatic.
It looks like he chickens out because you throw on the brakes on these cars,
it goes backwards relative to everyone else.
It just launches like a missile in reverse.
But that wedge was getting pretty narrow.
I don't know that it was going to fully close.
I think Norris coming up like that did startle him
and put him a little bit in a panic mode, but I can't.
I don't know that I actually think it's one of those things.
I know why he did it.
It may have been the right move, but also it's kind of evidence of like,
this is kind of George's fatal flaw in some ways of the he doesn't have the fuck it.
We both die in him.
Yes.
It's more he's like, in order to finish well, you must first finish.
And that is his guiding light.
And this I think is the interesting dynamic between him and Kimmy,
Kimmy who in a way you would think these roles would be reversed,
considering Russell's somewhat of a veteran of the sport,
ridiculous considering his age, but certainly compared to Antinelli.
But what we also should remember is that the sprint race happened.
And I think without the sprint race, we got a very different grand prix.
First sprint race we've had in Canada.
He knows that Antinelli is going to throw it up the inside or throw it out
around the outside.
He's going to go for it.
So does he want to be the one who forces that because there's only one place
where Antinelli is going to go if he misses that turn.
And that's right back into traffic with speed as they're coming around that corner.
So yeah, I'm with you.
I think it was the right call, but it does sort of highlight something.
We are probably hopefully going to enjoy a lot this season,
which is Russell's battle with being the do or die guy.
And I think throughout this season, we're going to see him do it both ways.
Yeah. I mean, what do you do when you when you put someone,
a conservative driver on the back foot and make him desperate?
Prost, Senna, let's go.
Yeah. Well, yeah.
So for all the excitement, you know, the McLaren's are still on those intermediate
tires, which start to degrade quickly in the almost dry conditions now.
So Piastri pits at the end of lap one and Norris a lap later,
by which time Antinelli was already challenging him for the lead.
The rest of the intermediate runners stop soon after, which helps the McLaren's,
but Piastri and Norris shake out after all of that in 15th and 14th respectively, I think.
Back in the front, though, Russell gets a run on Antinelli at the start of lap three
and tries it around the outside of turn one.
But Antinelli keeps his advantage through that 12 complex and retains the lead
for the moment because three laps later, Russell again gets a run on him on the back
straight and swoops around just before the braking zone.
Antinelli then locks up and has to cut the chicane to avoid hitting Russell,
coming back onto the track in second.
Three laps later, lap nine, we're snapping in fourth.
Himself gets a run on Hamilton on the start finish straight and dives up the inside of
turn one. A nice clean move to take third. This is a battle, a pair that I hope we see
more battles of this year.
And again, so as that move is happening, Hamilton gets on the radio and you hear this
a lot this weekend, like I need more power, power from the drivers.
If there is a thing, we've talked about this before, but if there's a thing that is
turning me against these regulations, it is less the power dynamic or clipping.
It is the sheer number of times the drivers seem to be negotiating to make the car do
what they want it to do. And I really do want it to move like I badly want to be a thing where
let the drivers manage their power, like stop like having it be so optimized via mode, like,
you know, modes and throttle maps. And if the driver wants to burn through, like push to pass
is beautiful in the car, right? You have like what is 120 seconds of like simplicity of fuel you
can give the give the car. And once you burn through it for the race, that's it. That's it done.
And the driver, if they want to, can just mash that button down at the start of the race and
just like burn rich fuel for like two minutes and be done with it. And if they want to do that,
that's on them. I kind of like that mode more, especially because I think the psychology of
it is more interesting. Like the drivers who are just like, I don't care about optimizing
pace over the lap or anything. I want the power now. But it's a little bit like it's a little bit,
well, tedious hearing these radio calls, but also a little bit dispiriting to have the drivers
continually sort of reacting to their car. Like why car not go? I hit gas, car not go. And this
is not ideal for racing series. I think some of the battery stuff hopefully will get shaken out
a bit in the coming months because I agree. I think I don't like the throttle mapping and all
that sort of stuff. I understand the nature of it. These batteries probably are right on the limit
of being able to do what they're being asked to do, especially now where we're changing the
brakes a little bit and giving them a little less power. Those margins are probably smaller.
And maybe you don't want a formerly E situation where people, angry drivers, young drivers,
accidentally just don't have their eye on how much gas is left in the tank,
how much battery is left in the... And because I imagine the fall off if you manage that incorrectly
is pretty hazardous. But the other thing is, I feel like I have absolutely no visibility on the
overtake button. I don't really know when... I think the commentators sometimes do a good job
of interpreting what's going on and where they're harvesting. And we certainly saw that with the
Verstappen Hamilton fight later in this race. But you mentioned push to pass or other racing
series that do this. Or we had DRS obviously in the past at ours and CURS and things like that.
I feel like, yeah, we don't have as much visibility on this as we'd like.
No. And that one second gap doesn't feel as critical as it is. Or it doesn't translate to
me as like, what advantage are you really getting from that? Where DRS was.
But in a way, that's awesome. And the story of the first 28 laps of this race, because I mean,
for all of the crap that people have given these regulations, have you ever seen cars follow each
other this close for this long? It's a tale of two halves this race, unfortunately, and we'll
get to it. But I was just mouthwatering, enjoying every moment of this Mercedes battle.
And part of it was also they had different parts of the lap that they were strong in.
Where Russell makes that overtake, heading into the chicane by the wall of champions,
he seemed to have that unlocked. Like he seemed to be able to effortlessly get performance on
Kimmy at that part of the lap just every single time. He was just sort of dump Kimmy at that moment.
But both of them were struggling mightily with that hairpin. But George was struggling a little
bit more. And that's where you had. And a lot of people were saying that it felt like this weekend,
Kimmy felt faster throughout and that George was like barely keeping him at bay.
I don't know that I fully agree, especially because like the trailing car has some
real advantages and Kimmy spent most of this like race in pursuit. But it like
it did feel like there wasn't much between them. And you just had this absolute again,
like white knuckle race where they are fighting every, every lap, you know, to the end, you know,
you have lap 12 is where Russell goes really wide in that hairpin. And Antonelli gets this like
launch off, launch out of the hairpin. But both of them are struggling with tire wear heading
into that corner. And so both of them are consistently locking up in there. And the other
thing I want to mention about this, I feel, I feel like this is going to be prime for
jolly and Palmer analysis at some stage, but because of the regulations and because of the
nature of Canada, like this was very different to Miami. That is basically the one place you have
to harvest energy. Like that is the one like there and to a certain extent turn one, but like
really that hairpin is the one breaking zone on this track where you need to get some, you know,
energy back into that battery. And so I feel like that was probably playing because we, we don't,
that hairpin is not like a spot where we see people go wide multiple times in a race. It's,
it's not, it's very generous hairpin. Yeah. It's like, there are different lines to it. And sometimes
we have contact or we have, you know, there's been some horrific crashes, Kubits, of course,
in the years past and stuff like that. But we generally don't see people with it that hard
because like Russell went really, and Antoinette does too. So I wonder if that is a big part of
it where they are so on the limit with the battery recharge, especially getting into the,
the back straight that they are, you know, that normally you would, you would have less dramatic
breaking events, but exactly to be so greedy to get that battery back up to survive that even
though they both now had flat spots to worry about, right, they both still had to keep attacking
these like deep breaking points to maximize. Yeah. Especially if you're the lead car, because if
you're the lead car going into that hairpin historically, you can slow it down almost as
much as you want once you get the right exit onto the straight. Like because you're, you're
compressing so much there, the concertina is so dramatic that you can like, or you can force somebody
the wrong way, or you can like, you know, there's a lot of control there in the front, I feel like,
but now they don't have that because they're, they need to do the recharge that's required to
get them down the rest of the, the lap. So yeah, I don't know, but I suspect that
there's something going on there. Russell got a little bit of a respite too. He's so vulnerable
in that hairpin and it seemed like, you know, he managed to get away with there and, and you
know, Anthony got him on the straight following that, that error from Russell, but Russell quickly
gained the position back, but he was spared having to contest the hairpin the next lap,
because Albin had just pulled off and we discovered later that Piestri had speared him
heading into the hairpin and they, I don't, they didn't put a VSC out, right? They just,
they just did a local yellow while they pushed Albin behind the, behind the wall.
They also didn't show us the replay for about 20 laps.
Yeah, that scared me. Yes. Yeah. You know, they, they, if they are unsure of whether a
driver is okay, they won't show you the, the incident. But here they just, they just never
couldn't find their cameras or replays. I guess not. Yeah. Piestri earns a 10 second penalty
for that. And then yeah, five laps later, we get another Russell going wide at the hairpin.
It allows Antonelli to close up and pull alongside at the outside on the back straight.
Russell leads through the chicane, keeps the position, but then another five laps from then
Russell goes wide again. And this time Antonelli does have enough juice to pass on the back straight,
perhaps aided by the back marker of Botas and Nab's first place as they head through the chicane.
But two laps, hence lap 24 now is Antonelli's turn to lock up at the hairpin, which allows Russell
through, but Antonelli pulls alongside on the back straight and is narrowly ahead of Russell
as they hit the chicane. But Russell has the inside and does not budge, forcing Antonelli to
cut the chicane. He comes out ahead, but has to give the place back and more on the radio.
Why mate? He pushed me off and I was ahead. What's the point?
I have sympathy here, I think. Okay. With, with that, I think of these, these
were in teammates, you'd have both engineering walls fighting their corner. You know what I mean?
I think I get, I get the nature of the teammate stuff, but like, yeah, I, I see, I see Antonelli's
argument here. I, yeah, I mean, I, for me it's, it's, it's tough. That one's too close, I think,
for me to feel like I can, I can adjudicate. It's good wheel to wheel. And ultimately Antonelli
had to go off to sort of survive the corner and Russell made it and, and got the position.
Something that Bernie Collins did mention that I thought was really interesting. It was really
cold up in Canada. Even setting aside the darkness, it was incredibly cold, really
far end of the curve, a temperature curve for what we're used to seeing in, in F1.
And colder than the sprints last day before. Yeah. And she noted that usually the trailing car has
a major disadvantage because their tires are overheating. But because it was so cold,
your tires aren't over, her theory was tires aren't overheating in the scenario. They're
heating to optimum. Or at least they're doing a better job of getting optimum. Whereas being
up front, you get the clear air, but unfortunately your, your tires are also running colder.
And so her fear, her working theory for a lot of this race was,
it's better to be like closely following behind than out in front and clear air,
because everyone is already battling so hard to get their tires in the operating range.
I hope that's not the case, because that would account for so much of the
wheel to wheel at the front. But yeah, hopefully, I hope that wasn't too much of why that was going
on. Laft 24 is also in Fernando Alonso pulls into his garage, retiring because
the seat was too uncomfortable. I have a quote here from the race.
The position doesn't feel like the right one. And we were obviously out of the points quite
far from the points and no threat of rain anymore. So we decided to stop the pain.
It's just like, we're not going to win this one. Let me come in. in, guys. I gotta
catch up on the pace. The seating position, this is the thing they,
they pretty much dial in exactly before the season even starts. Like this is one of those like,
what's going on? They reclined him too far. Oh, he needs a lazy boy. Does he,
so you can, he can adjust it himself. Sorry. This is the first, for me to be saying this.
Yeah, I would like my bum hip at 40. I feel like I shouldn't be saying this to an athlete who's
still doing this, this stuff, but it is funny. He's carrying a baby around though. Maybe that's
it. He's under new load. Swap arms. You won't have that problem, Drew.
I do like hear the Mercedes pit wall starts radioing the drivers that, Hey,
we're under investigation for that wheel. You'd be careful. We're under investigation.
And they kind of weren't really like the touch had been noted, but it didn't seem like went
anywhere. But they were, they were starting to try to tamp down the, uh, the dual, especially
because the drivers were driving now well past where they were theorizing the first pit stops
with the, the end of the first pit window would, would happen for the softs. And so you're kind
of waiting for, when are they going to stop? But so much is riding on who gets the like
priority for that, especially because I think looming large for Russell is he stopped first
before and the race went straight into Anthony's lap, uh, because of a safety car,
which feels like we've been floating with the whole race. But how ironic it would be Russell,
who brought out the virtual safety car, uh, in one of the most deflating moments of one season.
Yes. He, he is leading the race and then just drives over the grass and pulls over and parks
his car with a power unit issue. He is of course, visibly upset pounding on his car and
throwing his headrest onto the track. Don't do that. Come on, which yet earned him a 5,000 euro.
Fine. Uh, but yeah, I, I get it, man. This was fun. He even said, like in the, in the, uh,
the media pen during the race, uh, I was really enjoying it. You know, so were we.
Yeah. One thing I want to mention about this is that there was a lot of, I don't know,
is this just like F1 trying to hype up the narrative or whatever is going on,
but there was a lot of conversation about it. You know, oh, Antonelli is going to like make
a gap in the, in the driver's championship. And like, it's, it is a big gap, but it's like a race
five for goodness sake. It's race five of what'll be probably 20, right? If we, if we assume a lot
of these, well, maybe less if things in the Middle East don't chill out. Um, but, but there's that.
The other thing is it's the start of a new regulation. Like we talked about this in the
primer, like reliability is going to be a problem. And you'll see, we saw by the end of this race,
what happens when, you know, these, these cars are driving around a fast track for a long period
of time. A lot of them don't make it all the way around. And like, yeah, I, all you need is a few
retirements or a few bad weekends or, and you're, he's, he's also fighting a child. So like,
you know what I mean? Are we saying to Kimmy Antonelli is going to be like a, like, you know,
like a fighter jet pilot for the entire season. And he's going to have ups and downs as well.
You know, so I, I, I found some of that to be a bit overly, I don't know, optimistic about the,
the status quo as it is now remaining for the rest of the season. Although I do, but that's
saying Russell's had, you know, he has had the, the, the bad side of the coin a few times now.
You could say that's going to be the story of his F1 career is getting in F1 and you're at Williams.
That's first race. There's no gaps. Do you remember? And then when he got the Mercedes seat.
Oh yeah. And then they give him the wrong tires. They give him the Balterys tires.
But no, someone's coming from Russell where you sort of, you sort of said like it's
Kimmy's championship to lose. This is a big gap. I'm not fully expecting us to get the
final two races of the season done. It's, it's, it's pretty tough. The other thing is
man, like the contingent of people who are just like really help on time. Like I hate George
Russell. And he's showing his true colors. He threw the head, he threw the headrest
onto the, onto the track. It's crossing the line. Oh, I don't give a shit. But part of it,
I remember drivers like winging the wheels into the track. Like, like,
I also would be fucking pissed and disgusted that my car just turns off in the middle of a duel
with my teammate. And once again, like faulty fucking, like Mercedes issue stuff is costing me
a race win. I think Russell gets like, it's a human reaction at a high stress moment.
And I don't think qualify is a tantrum. It like, you didn't wing it in the traffic.
He just launched it in front of the car and walked away. It's compared to this compared
to meltdowns we've seen. Come on. That's, it's fair, but I also think in those human moments
you show your true colors. And I think one of the things that people react to about George is that
he can be really like sort of short and nasty to the people supporting him when in these moments.
And on the same on the, on the radio sometimes too, like when he loses his rag, he's, there's not
much magnanimity in him. And I think there's an element of that. And also I think like there
is definitely an element of people wanting to see Kimmy do well and Russell is in that,
in that duet is unfortunately the bad guy, you know. Yeah. Though I do, I would also say at a
certain point, just the history of things at Mercedes with Russell. Best point is a,
am I being ungenerous or are you just congenitally screwing up? And that is like, that is kind of,
I don't know how much magnanimity needs to be extended in a situation like that where it's like,
well, not the car just turned off. You know, like I had a race when stripped away because like
we miscalculated the car weight situation. There's a lot of stuff that happens.
I think the, I think the arc for Russell's character in this series of drive to survive
is going from, you know, prefect best boy to being the second son of his father.
And ultimately having his sort of like inversion arc where he becomes, you know,
bad Russell and bad boy Russell. Yeah, exactly. I think, I think that's,
that's where he needs to go maybe with this one. I think that can swing around. I think,
you know, he can't be the bad guy all the time. At a certain point, he will be the underdog,
I think. And then maybe people will come around again. Well, no time like the present.
We get a virtual safety car for Russell, which a lot of people use to pit. We don't see it on
the broadcast, but apparently Colopinto hit the wall on pit exit and nearly took himself out of
the race. That's a relatively smooth pit exit as well. What happened there?
I can put a link in the show. Not the weirdest thing that happened on a
pit entry or exit road in this race. No. Oh my God. So,
oh yeah. Okay. I have one more note and then we'll get to that. So we get going again on lap 35
where Leclerc tries to move on Hadjar on the back straight, but Hadjar moves quite late,
causing Leclerc to slam on his brakes and thankfully retain control of his car.
And I think it's only because there's a little strip of concrete and then it's grass,
but Leclerc breaks just enough early enough so that he can actually use that concrete to
maintain control. The stewards hand Hadjar a 10 second penalty. But they take him forever to do
it. In the mean time, Leclerc did it again with a double move. And what happens is the
stewards end up backlogged with work that they're going through. And so the thing that
bugged me about the Hadjar Leclerc thing is that Leclerc in the meanwhile is stuck behind Hadjar
when he probably should have been able to overtake him and get out in a clean air, but instead like
five laps go by where he is jammed up behind him. And that's a race-altering outcome. And it's one
of those things where Hadjar probably needed to be given the hook a little faster than that,
right? That like he's outside the rules. He just sort of damaged another driver's race and takes
a long time to get to it. In the meantime, he's committed the infraction again. Yeah. And it's
funny because he has gapped the field here. The next car back is Franco Colapinto in sixth place.
And Hadjar is able to serve a 10-second penalty and a stop-go penalty and retain his spot.
Yeah, 41 seconds or something. I feel like Robert Zubal should be coming on the radio saying,
hit the pace car. You've done everything else. I wonder if anyone has gotten a full sweep of
they would have given him a five-second penalty. Like the Gory Howe hat trick in hockey where it's
like you get a fight, you get an ejection. Yeah. I will say in Hadjar's defense, I felt like the
first one was harsh maybe. I felt like the first move at Leclerc. I thought that he was pretty
easily moving from left to right. Maybe Leclerc chose the wrong thing. The second one was the
second one was a late move, but I felt like the first one was a little bit here or there.
Well, Leclerc tries again in lap 40 and this time has a decisive pass well before the chicane.
Shortly thereafter, Norris pulls over behind a barrier to retire with a mechanical issue.
We can do forget for McLaren. And then three laps later, Sergio Perez pulls into the pits
with a broken suspension and on replay, I expected to see him hit something, but it apparently
had been feeling weird to Perez. And then right before he enters the pits, it just sort of explodes.
It's not quite Sebastian when he's in China, but it is in the ballpark. That is one of my favorite
videos that I'll put out there. Yeah, Sebastian barely in China and breaking at the end of the
straight and both of his wheels just going like loony tunes, you know, those tethers,
those modern F1 tethers are doing a lot of work, I think, because they kept
they kept Perez as out of a classic boemi. God stick that one in the show notes.
Lap 46, as much as we've given the race direction some shit, we do get a shot under safe under
VSC of a middle aged marshal trundling across the track to recover a piece of debris.
And then with surprising alacrity, diving headfirst through the little hole in the fencing
to clear the track, it was it was a very good it was a very good beat. My hope is that that is the
same marshal from Canada 2011 who fell in front of the remember in sector two. Do you remember
they're trying to clear a lot debris and the cars are coming down and they're like
falls over in the middle of the track. That is a classic F1 marshal faux pop. But yeah,
this guy killed it. I also thought Russell's exit as well was very smooth. Hard to get your whole
body in one of those little holes when you're wearing a helmet. You know what I mean? I wouldn't
try. I'd be like, I need to find a gap in this fencing. Absolutely. That little gap.
Sorry, do you have a cherry picker? I'm going to get Winnie the pood in that
shit. Then everyone's going to be like, are you the guy who got Winnie the pood in the
the gap in the F1 fencing? And I'd be like, no, that was my brother.
The closing laps here are accentuated by Hamilton reeling in Verstappen who's sitting in second
place. As they start lap 62, Hamilton gets a run on him down the start finish straight and sweeps
around the outside, taking second place as they head through turn one to the roar of the crowd
Verstappen tries fighting back, but is not able to retake second. And that's how it ends, everyone.
Boy, this, this to me felt there's a time there when I was watching a lot of old racing on the F1
TV archives. This felt like a throwback race. Six retirements. That is maybe the most thing
that makes me feel that way, but also the close following, the wheel to wheel battling,
the front runners gapping the rest of the field. And yes, the retirements, including at the front
of the of the field. That's what old racing actually feels like. Kimmy Antonelli comes home
with the victory. No other driver in F1 history took their first four wins in consecutive races.
Wow. Lewis Hamilton, second place, Max Verstappen, third, speaking of a throwback podium.
Fourth place, Charles Leclerc, and then Isaac Hajar in fifth. Look at that. Two red bulls
in the top five. Been a while. It's not bad for multiple 10 second battle days. True.
True. Franco Colopinto finishes sixth followed by Liam Lawson in the racing bulls. That's,
that's quite an effort. Same with Pierre Gasly getting up there into eighth place.
Yeah. We have to asterisk all of this with the fact that like, you know,
what, both McLaren's didn't make it. Six cars were classified. Yes. Yeah.
Carlos Sainz, ninth in his Williams, getting them two points. And then Oliver Bearman in the
Haas in tenth, followed by Oscar Piastri, Nico Holkenberg, Gabrielle Bortoletto, who got a five
second penalty for a VSC infringement, O'Connor 14th, Lance Stroll, Valtteri Bottas, the last of
the finishers, and the not classified were Perez, Norris, Russell, Alonzo, Albon, and Lindblad.
And that was the Canadian Grand Prix, everyone. Shall we take it to the news, Danny?
Yeah. The F1's Skeletor, Christian Horner, he's, he's, dude, I go to so many kids movies now,
obviously, because I have a kid, welcome to that world. And I've seen so many trailers for that
He-Man Masters in the Universe movie, and they are taking that stuff way too seriously. I don't
know what's going on. Has anyone checked in with Vinny Caravella? Is he a big He-Man? 80s cartoons.
Oh yeah. Good point. Good point. Yeah, should have brought back. Particularly transforms.
Mask, I think, would have been better, personally, but whatever. Jason the Weald Warriors, not so
they should have brought back. We should do that for our shift F1, Patreon exclusive pod.
Have you ever seen the intro for that? No. Oh my God. I have to send that to you. Oh my God.
Oh my God. It's basically everything Drew. It's like, it's, it's, it's like, it's a car cartoon
show, but the intro music, you know, they had like just like, like great like glam rock bands do the
intro songs. Yeah. Will Maria. That's amazing. Yeah, I gotta send it to you. Okay. Anyway,
anyway, that's not what we're here to talk about. Christian Horner is a, you know, he's trying to
snake his way back into F1, the dirty bugger. There was a, you know, talks with Aston Martin
at one stage, seemed to Peter out, presumably because he wants to have an ownership and whatever
team he, he, oh, he works at so he can build a second castle, marry some more spice girls.
The other stuff that was going on, I guess, was Alp. Yeah, there's a couple of things here. I
vehicle, manufacture in China. I believe they are the fourth most prolific car manufacturer in
the world, but we just don't know them very well over here because of US sanctions and things like
that. And import law, but they are responsible for making some very successful, both hybrid and
electric vehicles. Sounds like a perfect fit for Christian Horner. Absolutely. Yeah. 100%.
Who knows? We might see BYD enter, you know, more markets. I think maybe there's some stuff
more stuff coming to Europe. Maybe some stuff already exists. But yeah, they're massively
prolific, very, very successful and very, very profitable. They have been looking into the
Alpine situation. Obviously, Renault, Alpine attempting to sell off that team with the Mercedes
Bids coming in now, which talked about at length, you know, that seems to maybe-
Well, that's a sale of a stake. And I think that's exactly. Exactly. Exactly. Yes. They
want ownership. They want to come in and own the team, which makes a lot of sense when they're
talking about this sort of money. So yeah, Horner in recent weeks has been spotted with
BYD officials. He was at the Formula E Monaco race doing some stuff with them. And then Stella Lee,
who is the executive vice president, he was accompanying her to Cannes just last week as well.
Quote from her about Formula One. I like Formula One because it's about passion, culture, and people
dream of being in Formula One. It's something we're discussing. It's a real opportunity to test
our technology. And on the other side of that, I got a quote from Ben Suleyam. You can probably
just imagine this one. If there's a Chinese manufacturer interested and I will speak on
behalf of FOM, they will agree to that because it's about sustaining the business. If there is a team
from China, let's say, and FOM approved, and I am 100%, they will approve it. Wouldn't it make
more money with China coming in? I believe yes. You can see the dollar sign. Shrew businessman.
I love his like, I'll make it happen. I'm sure it will. We saw the pull he
had with the under any bed, right? Which is the, that's nice. Shut the fuck up. And that's going
to be a similar thing here. I do think it's, I mean, if I were to be right, I'd want to start
from scratch, too. I would want to just do it, you know, from the ground up.
I do think, I do wonder like, Horner's theory here is that they would make basically like restore
him to even more power than he had under Red Bull. But it would be their bid. They would be coming
in and they would be like, it'd be their team. And he wouldn't have an ownership stake. I don't
know. To me, this feels like, you know, Machiavelli talks about it. The most dangerous thing is when
you have a power that's founded on like strength that is not your own. And that's the scenario
Horner will be in, where like, yeah, maybe they will give you the keys to the kingdom,
like day one to run this thing. But ultimately, if they're, it's hundreds of their investment,
their operation, you're, you have that power as long as they want you to, and then you're out.
I imagine that that's perhaps some of the reason why he tends to want to go in with that level of
stake or ownership in it. I mean, you know, I think he's a very competitive guy. He's looking
across the, the greatest total wolf co owner, you know, and yeah, I, I'm with
I, I, I also think that if you are an outsider coming in, we don't have that many, you know,
even Asian manufacturers in the sport currently, I think there is a decent knowledge cultural
translation gap that needs to be bridged here. And I think I don't, Horner necessarily,
somebody like Horner, yeah, I think is, you know, you're going to need a lot of those types of
people who understand the landscape in a very complex, very niche piece of technology. And
that's kind of the way I feel like a lot of these companies work is that they,
they hire the best people if they're entering a new market to try and make sure that they get
good grounding. So yeah, I'd be, I mean, I'd be for it. I think, I think diversifying the,
the, the sort of focus of who's coming into this, I really am excited by the idea of a,
you know, electric car company coming in, like almost coming in from the other side
a little bit. Learning how to do combustion. Exactly. Yeah. I find that compelling. I also
find the idea that it's, it's not just somebody who has wrangled together enough money to do it.
Like this would be on an order of magnitude. Like this would be maybe the most profitable
comp F1 team, right? I think so. Probably. I mean, like, just in terms of market cap,
with the, yeah, with the most like resources to do it, you know, might be, it'd be,
it's, it's one of those things where it'd be, how many of the resources they allowed you to bring
to bear. You know, we've seen this with, with Williams where it's like, they're not going to let
you just throw money into infrastructure and then coast along. So it'd be, it would be a very
interesting arc for sure. And then how they build that team would be intriguing as well,
like would they follow the pattern of making the main office like in England, where all the
F1 existing talent is, or would the priority be like, we're going to have this thing run out of
China and we will import what we need to, and then have like satellite offices overseas to
like do some support development. You know, traditionally, obviously, like the, the model
of a lot of Chinese companies was you bring in engineering talent to like the mother ship in
China, and you just sort of like push and push that organization until you can stand on its own.
But F1 is a different beast, right? Like it's like the, the comparison to like a lot of like
specialty or consumer electronics runs out real fast when you're, when you're comparing it to
like running an F1 team. It would be, it'd be fascinating. I hope it happens. Yeah. Not a done
deal yet, of course. This is all just conjecture. Also not a done deal. The F1 2027 engine plan,
believe you guys talked about this when I was out. Basically, we're, we're, we're looking to,
all right, we F1 and the FIA are looking to maybe for 2027 shift to the 5050
electric combustion power split more towards 6040 permanently to sort of give us more of the,
you know, full, full power racing that everyone wants, everyone specifically Max Verstappen,
because he has threatened that, hey, if I don't like these cars, there's too much weird
battery stuff. I think I'm going to walk if, if we don't push this through, through.
That has sounded like sort of blustery stuff to me. The race says that sources close to Verstappen
are clear that he is dead serious. That is a quote from this article. Hell yeah. So, I mean, he just
did that Nurburgring race and apparently was like, man, come back to F1 is rough because that was fun.
So, yeah, could, could, could be real. But this is, as I said, not a done deal.
They are, I think, meeting over the timeline on this stuff is a little fuzzy and apologies. I've
not done most extensive reading on this, but they need four of the six manufacturers, engine
manufacturers to agree. And they are far from being unanimous right now. Mercedes and Red Bull
are on board. Honda is sort of waffling, it sounds like, but Ferrari and Cadillac are firmly
against it. And their thinking is that maybe Audi would be the one to, to flip with Honda,
you know, theoretically voting for it. The, the problem is, it's, it's all about money.
The article states that their Audi's concerns are related to costs and technical constraints.
And that they do may not have the resources or ability to, to redo the power unit that they
just did for next year. And Ferrari and Cadillacs, I'll just read this here, their disapproval is
more related to the implications of opening up engine development for everyone next year,
as it could impact the AUDO or ADUO additional development and upgrade opportunities catch up
mechanism. So right now Ferrari is clearly hoping that it gets granted ADUO, which can help it
improve its power unit to close down the gap to Mercedes. You take that away or open up
homologation to allow everyone to develop their engines. And that could mean Mercedes not only
staying as far ahead as it is now, but also potentially stepping further clear. That is why
Ferrari is eager for more time to understand the implication of any hardware change for
2027 and 2028. So this is still up in the air. And if, if we don't get those four manufacturers to
agree, we might be stuck with this arrangement and we might be losing Max Verstappen. So
watch this space. I think that is, it's really interesting to say these is okay with it. And
then you have the other teams like basically looking at it, like I understand the, the, the
teams that are sort of newer, just because from the standpoint of man, we, yeah, we just, we just
got here, we are building, we're speccing out what our engine is going to be. I do think it's very
very funny that Ferrari is just trying to game this to a degree where it's like, well,
hang on, we kind of want to be like behind, but not by too much so that we can use the ADUO,
like provision to sort of leapfrog. So yeah, very curious how this is all going to, going to play
out. It's like a DRS line. It's entertaining. I feel like I don't have a dog in this fight,
but it's, it's very fun to see how to play out. And I am curious if Max does just say hell of it.
I'm going to go see, I'm driving sports cars. Yeah. You can always come back. That's true. Last
note here in the news and it's a sad one. Oh boy. Yeah, really shocking news. Like early last week,
that Kyle Bush had passed away unexpectedly after a brief and severe illness was the
initial word on that. More details have come out since then. He's the two-time NASCAR champion.
And sort of one of the big personalities in the sport. It's like a half dozen Kyle Bush
fist fights on YouTube if you want to look them up. This was a guy that rubbed a lot of people
the wrong way. And, you know, it's sort of a bit of a day-learn-heart-like figure, controversial.
A lot of people, a lot of other drivers like legitimately like had their issues with him,
maybe outright disliked him, but was one of the stars of the sport and was very, very popular.
But yeah, passed away very unexpectedly last week. More details have come out. He's
that what got him was severe pneumonia that progressed to sepsis. And sepsis is very, very
serious and very, very lethal and doesn't give you much time to respond. And that appears to be
what happened. They had a respiratory bug that became pneumonia and then pneumonia went septic
and claimed his life. So that was really awful. It leaves behind a young family.
And it was, it was clear this was a shocking death for everyone, and particularly in NASCAR.
You know, this was somebody who was competing throughout this year, was having a pretty decent
season. And for this news to come out on the eve of the Coca-Cola 600 was, I think, doubly shocking.
His poor wife and son were there for the minute silence as well. Heart-breaking scenes, really.
Yeah, 41 years of age. You know, I suspect if you're the family member of a NASCAR driver,
you always have it in the back of your head that there might be a bad weekend sometime
where something happens, but this is probably the last thing that you expect to happen to
someone at that age as well, you know? Yeah. Well, yeah. Our hearts go out to his family.
And yeah, some good, there was a great article in the athletic about him, too. So I can put a link
to that in the show. I suspect we will be watching a documentary about his career in the coming years,
I suspect, given how much of a, yes, presidency has been in NASCAR. And there's
been a lot of, yeah, as Rob said, he's always been a character. There's been a lot of outpouring
of very sweet stories about him from sort of the grid and behind over the past few days,
as you would expect as well. But yeah, tragic, tragic. Yeah. All right, let's run down the
driver standings here after the Canadian round. Kimmy Ansonelli is on top with 131 points. That
is 43 ahead of his teammate, George Russell, in second. He's got 88. Charlie Clair is in third
with 75. Lewis Hamilton in fourth with 72. Landon Norris is in fifth with 58. And Oscar Piestri
with 48. Two by two by two. That's right. And then Max Verstappen all by his lonesome in seventh
place with 43 points. Then Pierre Gasly in eighth with 20. Oliver Bearman is in ninth with 18.
Liam Lawson in tenth with 16. Franco Colapinto in 11th with 15. And Issa Kajar, the other red bull,
in 12th with 14 points. Then we've got Carlos Sainz in 13th with six. Arvid Linblad in 14th
with five. Gabrielle Bordoletto is in 15th with two. Esteban O'Connor and Alex Albonn both have
one. And then Holkenberg, Botas, Perez, Stroll and Alonso all have zero. And the team standing's
Mercedes is on top with 219 points. Ferrari is in second with 147. McLaren in third with 106.
Red Bull is in fourth with 57. Alpine in fifth with 35. Then Racing Bulls is in sixth with 21.
Gene Haas in team have 19. Williams has seven. Audi has two. And Cadillac and Aston Martin have
zero. You can join the standings yourself using the link in the show notes to join our officials
shift to one. Fantasy League, here's the top three from Canada in third. Ferrari flap flippers.
Excuse me. In second, Wards team. And in first, Haas effort. Oh yeah, okay,
took me second. Yeah, I got it. Good one. In the overall standings, third place, the Macarena.
Second place, cigarettes.
God damn it. And in first, moving up after this round, Wards team.
You think that's the same cigarettes or different one? I think cigarettes are,
you can only have one team with that name. Okay. It's taken.
Maybe across the entire F1 fantasy program. I think that might be the case because you
can enter many public leagues. Yeah, that would explain all the crazy names.
I'm amazed that cigarettes wasn't taken. Same one down in sixth place, MKUltra.
Yeah, all right. Okay, you can send us an email if you like, shift to F1podcast.
email.com or f1.cool slash emails. And I think next week will be an email episode because it's
pre-monico, right? I don't know. I won't be here. Oh, all right. F1.cool slash emails as well,
if you want to use the form. You can also hit us up on the socials, at shift to F1podcast,
et cetera. Look at the link in the show notes for more of our socials.
And that stuff's around the internet. Do you want to take it around the world, baby?
Okay, the World Rally Championship is in Japan in the Aichi Prefecture. By the way,
I told Rob this, my AYN Thor emulation device arrived and I was playing some
Colin McRae Rally 2.0 for the PlayStation 1. Turn left over Crest. Heck of a game. Yeah,
got a big toka touring car. That's what you got to get. Oh, that's don't worry. That's on the
list. Yeah. Brian's hatch, baby. Let's go. Alphabetically in my list of romps. Nashville,
super speedway in Lebanon, Tennessee for the Allegiance 200. There's a lot of those.
Yep. America. Love it. Kuwait, Idaho.
MotoGP is at Mugello in Italy for the Mugello round. The World Superbike Championship is in
Middle-Earth again in Tuguel, Spain for the Aragon round. The IMSO Weather
Tech Sports Car Championship is in Ditois Street Circuit in Detroit, Michigan for the Chevrolet
Detroit Grand Prix. Been watching a lot of Detroiters reruns. Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah. Oh, my
God. Tim Robinson. It's still so, so good. The NASCAR Xfinity Series. Is that what it's called?
No. The O'Reilly Auto Parts Series. My apologies to O'Reilly. Thank you. And the whole country of
Ireland for the Sports Illustrated Resorts 250. Wow. All right. I want to go there.
Is that like the hard rock? I'm looking this up now.
Casino Hotel Restaurant? That's so weird. They have a resort where champions come to stay.
That's what it says. Nah, can't be right. The Motocross Grand Prix is in,
oh, what? In Toitschenthal for the Liquamalli Motocross Grand Prix of Germany.
And IndyCar is also at the Detroit Street Circuit for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.
The NHRA is in the Maryland International Raceway for the Potomac Nationals. Love it.
The Isle of Man TT kicks off. The qualifying is already happening. The race week starts on Saturday.
Got to beat everyone. Yes. And we got NASCAR. Y'all. Also in the Nashville Super Speedway for the
Cracker Barrel 400. That's a good one. Whole barrel of crackers.
And that's what's going on this weekend. Danny, what happened this day in history?
Oh, nothing good. Let me tell you. Nothing good. We've done this one before as well.
This is a classic. Oh, okay. All right. Do you want to, is it, are you reading today's?
26. I'm reading today's. Do we then want to skip to the 27th for posting?
Yeah, let me skip to the 27th. Let me just tell you that today was a particularly
tragic day for Alberto Ascari, which you don't need to get into. Four days after he survived that
Monaco dip as well. Tragic stuff. Okay. Yeah. Anyway, mate 27 will go with Michael Schumacher
won yet again at Monaco today in 2001 to join Graham Hill as five-time winner on the circuit,
but he was helped by a failing launch control system on David Cooltars McLaren.
The Scott qualified brilliantly on bull, but his car did not move off the line at the start,
putting him to the back of the grid. He spent 34 laps behind the slow arrows car of Enrique
Bernoldi unable to pass him. The young Brazilian was under no obligation to move over for Cooltard,
but the Scotsman was not impressed. He said he was trying to wallow in some kind of glory
by holding me up. The sporting gesture would have been to pull over, but he kept turning
across me. He's not a man. He's an idiot. The race also saw the first podium for the Jaguar team
with Eddie Irvine taking third behind Schumacher and Barrichello Irvine.
The swerve said, we have two Ferraris and a Jaguar on the podium. That's what motor racing
is all about. And that was also probably one of the times they played the British National Anthem
when, oh no, that would have been Lotus, wouldn't it? Sorry. I'll take it back. I think
or I forget. Yeah. All right. Well, we're running a little long here, so I'll just have to guess
your final thoughts. If you would like to support the show and get access to all of our bonus
episodes, the early entry version of the podcast and the official Shift F1 discord,
you can do so over at patreon.com slash Shift F1. Have a good race week and everyone. We will see
you all next week.
About this episode
Montreal’s sprint-weekend chaos sets the tone, from Russell’s “monster start” and Hamilton’s first-turn overtake to the hairpin drama and a string of penalties and lock-ups. The hosts dig into why Canada plays like “oval-style” racing—momentum, rhythm, and tiny front gaps—then zoom out to broadcast tech, AR sponsor overlays, and even how teams handle wet-to-dry tire timing. Late-race energy management, VSC calls, and reliability concerns shape the bigger picture, alongside standings and F1 business talk.
F1 returns to the great white north for it's first Sprint weekend. So how will the teams fair after the latest break? And might weather or safety cars define what is often an exciting race weekend?
SHOW NOTES
The most important race of the weekend
30-minute Indy 500 highlights
Why HAM didn't use the simulator
Why drivers were wary of a wet Canada
COL apparently had a tricky pit exit
A classic: Sebastien Buemi in China
Intro to Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors
Why Audi is the key to the 2027 engines
The Athletic's Kyle Busch article
Support the show on Patreon and get all our bonus episodes!
Follow us on the socials
Email us at [email protected]
Join our fantasy league with invite code C8YVREIUT10
New to F1? Check out our primer episode
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