A pit stop is when a race car pulls into the pit lane during the race. Teams use it to change tires and sometimes adjust the car, and when you do it can make a big difference to how well you finish.
These are different types of race tires. Softer tires grip more for speed but wear out faster, while harder tires last longer but usually aren’t as quick.
Valtteri Bottas is another Formula 1 driver. The hosts mention him because they’re comparing how fast Pérez was versus Bottas, especially around qualifying.
Aston Martin is a racing team in Formula 1. The hosts are saying Pérez managed to beat their cars using strategy, and they didn’t all make it to the end.
“Deployment issues” means something on the car didn’t work the way it should when it was supposed to. That can make the car feel slower or less responsive during the race.
Cadillac is a car brand mentioned as part of the competitive picture. The hosts are basically saying someone associated with Cadillac was faster in this race context.
A “team game” is when drivers work with their team’s plan instead of just trying to pass everyone. It can mean controlling pace and timing so teammates don’t interfere with each other.
In F1, strategy is the plan for how you run the race—like when you pit and how you manage tires and speed. Two cars can have different plans, so they may not race the same way.
Pierre Gasly is an F1 driver. The host gives him a strong rating because he drove well, avoided penalties, and the virtual safety car timing helped him gain time.
A virtual safety car is like a “controlled slowdown” period during the race. Everyone has to drive slower, and when it happens can change who gains time compared to other cars.
Person
Gabrielle Bortoletto
Gabrielle Bortoletto is a driver being graded here. The host notes she improved from P-12 to 11th, but thinks she had a tough weekend overall.
A kill switch is an emergency button that shuts the car’s power off fast. If it gets triggered by mistake, the car loses power and can’t accelerate or race properly.
Hard tyres last longer, but they usually grip less than soft tyres. That can make them a bit slower each lap, which is why teams choose them for strategy.
Oli Berman is a Formula 1 driver being graded by the hosts. They talk about how well he did in qualifying and the race, and how smart timing during the race helped his final position.
“Classified” means the race officials still counted the driver in the final results. Even if they didn’t finish normally, they’re placed based on how much of the race they completed.
Brand
Hass
“Hass” is the Haas F1 team. The hosts are saying the team’s car isn’t working as well as it used to, which makes it harder for their driver to do well.
VSC is when race officials tell everyone to slow down using electronic rules, without deploying a real safety car. It can create opportunities to gain track position, which is why the timing matters here.
A “penalty” is a punishment for breaking the rules in a race. It can cost a driver time or position, making it harder to finish where they otherwise could.
“Retirements” means cars had to stop racing and couldn’t finish. If other cars retire, it can make it easier for someone to place higher even if they didn’t pass as many cars on track.
In F1, qualifying decides where each car starts the race. “Front row” means your car starts right at the front, in one of the first two spots, which is a big advantage.
Pole position is the best starting spot in F1. It goes to the driver who qualifies fastest, and it usually helps because you’re at the front when the race begins.
In F1, teams choose when to pit and what tires to run. An “aggressive strategy” means they’re willing to take more risk—like pitting earlier or driving harder—to try to gain an advantage.
Term
VSE
They mention “VSE” as something that affected the race, but the clip doesn’t explain what it means. It sounds like a rule or system that can change how the race plays out.
Kimmy Antonelli is another Formula 1 driver in the championship. They mention he didn’t finish the race, which changes the points gap between him and the leader.
Ferrari is one of the big Formula 1 teams. When they’re mentioned like this, it means people are talking about how fast their race car might be at that track.
Person
Isaac Hachar
Isaac Hachar is a Formula 1 driver. They’re talking about how his qualifying was strong, but how things went wrong early in the race and hurt his final result.
In racing, a “window” is the short period where the car feels best—like when the tires have the right grip. If that timing is hard to hit, it’s tougher to go fast.
Term
procedure
“Procedure” means the steps a driver has to follow to get the car into the best state for speed. If it’s too hard to do consistently, it can hurt lap times.
Red Bull Racing is the Formula 1 team associated with Max Verstappen. In this segment, “Red Bull drivers” is used to compare how the team’s two cars performed relative to each other and to the rest of the field.
They’re talking about reducing the car’s weight. A lighter car can accelerate and brake better and may help tires last longer, which can translate into more speed over a race distance.
“Retired” means the driver had to stop and couldn’t finish the race. That usually happens because of a problem with the car or an accident, and it often means losing out on points.
Race pace is how fast the car can go consistently during the whole race. It’s different from a one-lap speed test because tires and strategy change over time.
George Russell is a Formula 1 driver for Mercedes. In this part of the show, they’re talking about how his speed and results were affected by the team’s car setup during the race.
The wing setting is how the car’s spoiler angle is adjusted. It changes how much grip the car has in corners versus how fast it can go on straight sections.
A stint is the time you spend on one set of tires before you pit again. The final stint is the last tire set of the race, so it can strongly affect how fast the car feels at the end.
Fresher tyres are newer tires that usually grip better. When a driver gets fresher tires, they can often go faster—if the car is set up correctly for them.
Hot conditions means it’s warmer outside than usual. That can make the tires wear out faster or lose grip, so drivers have to manage them more carefully.
A teammate is the other driver on the same team. Hosts often compare teammates because it helps show whether one driver is getting more out of the car than the other.
The gearbox is what lets the car use different gears to stay in the right power range. If it’s not working as expected, it can slow the car down and mess with the team’s race plan.
Reliability means the car doesn’t break down. They were worried Norris’s car might fail, but it held up and performed well all weekend.
LIVE
Hello everybody and welcome back to the P1 Podcast with Matt and Tommy.
Driver ratings!
Your favourite series in the world that involves numbers is back and not a sprint weekend to
deal with.
We've dealt with quite a few sprint weekends already this year but this one had enough pit
stops to claim it had many different parts to the race and it was a very intriguing one
at that wasn't it Tom Bellingham?
Certainly was.
A lot of strategy involved and yeah should be a good one this.
Indeed when you look at the strategy graphic which I've got in front of me there's a lot
of different colours, a lot of softs, mediums and hards used by a lot of drivers so that's
a race that I love to see.
So let's get into our driver ratings and begin with Sergio Perez.
Started the race in P19 and finished 14th.
My grade for Sergio Perez is a 6 out of 10.
It was a rather lonely race for Sergio Perez I will say that.
He was faster than Valtteri Bottas once again a bit closer in qualifying and also you know
my goat was also, I love how I say my goat like I'm the one that's been back in Bottas
but he saved a fresh set of softs for the race as well he's thinking ahead he's like
how do I beat the Aston Martins and lo and behold he did because I don't think either
of them finished but he also the Bottas Perez qualifying head to head he actually had some
problems with his car as well which meant that he was a little bit slower than he would
because the key word the key term deployment issues because that's just the standard thing
in 2026 so yeah I would say once again the faster Cadillac driver so I'm giving him
more than a five that most backmarkers always get on driver ratings.
I am going to give Sergio Perez a 5 out of 10 I think it was a good result due to obviously
the DNFs that that happened but I don't think he was as impressive as maybe we've seen maybe
that's the fact that he has been so impressive that maybe just a more normal weekend he's being
downgraded a little more than normal but yeah Perez certainly didn't match the heights of what
he's kind of done in recent times I don't think so I'm going to go for a five for Perez.
Okay the fans they disagree you've not you've come into the Bottas corner by the sounds of it
Tommy because they've gone for a six out of ten as well. Valtteri Bottas started P20 did not finish.
I've gone for a five out of ten for Valtteri Bottas much more comparable to his teammate this
weekend obviously the the big standout for him was a very scary moment whereas brakes failed
in practice which thankfully happened at a corner that he could realise and go into the gravel
and kind of turn in because it had had it happened somewhere else we could have had a very scary
incident indeed but yeah he's much closer in signs of improvement so I'm going to give him a five.
Interesting the fans gave Valtteri Bottas a five out of ten I'm not going to grade him apparently
I just said it well who's the hater now? I went for a five out of ten sorry for Valtteri Bottas
because Perez did beat him this weekend of course Bottas had the DNF and also some problems in
practice but I can't give him the same grade because Perez did look like the faster driver and as I
mentioned with with Czechos qualifying as well he would have had a bigger margin had it not been
for an issue with the car so that's why there's a point difference so Valtteri Bottas gets a five
from me and the fans which technically I am I am a fan of Formula One also went for a five so there
you go Franco Collapinto started 13th finished 10th my grade for Franco Collapinto is a seven out of
10 would have been probably one point higher but he picked up a penalty after the Alonso incident
which dropped him down behind both V-Carbs come the end of the race so that's a shame for him
of course he out qualified Gasly which is which is a really sort of notable thing and it's not
something that's only happened once he's been pretty good in qualifying when you compare him to
Pierre Gasly and overall it was a reasonably strong weekend but sadly for him loses a you know a
chunk of points from a mistake of him not slowing down under the yellow flags I've also gone for a
seven out of ten for Franco Collapinto I think had it been without the penalty I think he would have
got an eight out of ten as well you know very impressive to out qualify Gasly he's done it
quite a few times this year I think they're equal actually if you compare all the sprints and the
Grand Prix qualifying and yeah not as good in in the race obviously there was a few moments
where he had to play the team game because they were on different strategies but it's a shame for
the penalty at the end because it would have been even more points for him and finishing behind his
teammate on the road but what a run of form he is on but still scoring points and silencing any
always Franco gonna lose his seat chat because I think he's solidified himself now at the team
with these kind of performances the fans gave Franco an eight out of ten Pierre Gasly started
14th finished 7th I've gone for an eight out of ten for Pierre Gasly a very strong drive I think
disappointing and qualifying Alpine just did not seem to have the pace thinking that they've dropped
off quite a lot but a really strong race in a car that particularly in qualifying I don't think
was anywhere near maybe the v-carb so to beat them both you know he beat them both on the road
as well and yeah very very strong from from Gasly again to bag some big points and yeah he's
doing very well in the championship now he really is I've also gone for an eight out of ten for
Pierre Gasly I think overall in the race he was he was very strong he was a little bit fortunate
with the timing of the virtual safety car which meant that he gained a little bit of time on his
teammates so I think those two were reasonably closely matched across the Sunday as well but
yeah of course when you look at the the end timings with Collopinto's penalty as well as the
as I say the VSC timed pretty well for Gasly it looks worse than it is between two of them
I think they were very close but of course Gasly did not pick up a penalty so I have gone for an
eight out of ten for Pierre great stuff the fans gave him an eight as well Gabrielle Bortoletto
started p-12 and finished 11th my grade for Gabby Bortoletto is a six out of ten
p-11 on the road sounds pretty good don't think it really reflects his struggles this weekend
Holkenberg showed that there was a lot more on the table for Audi had it not been for a kill
switch we'll talk about him shortly and how that turned off his car yeah for Bortoletto
just seemed to lack pace in comparison to Nico almost scraped a point with the the late
DNFs but without that you know he's over 30 seconds behind p-10 and in 11th and didn't really trouble
the sort of bottom end of the points so for Bortoletto it's okay it's all right qualified
reasonably well in p-12 but yeah still left I think a bit on the table I have gone for a five
out of ten for Gabby Bortoletto I think it's a disappointing weekend when so many people have
retired top runners of course retiring at the end to give an opportunity for for points and
to still finish 11th particularly when we saw Nico Holkenberg what he could do in that car so
I think unfortunately for for Gabby he was not one of his is better races he was down kind of
struggling towards the back of the field you know fighting fighting with the likes of
Haas and and things during during the race which I think were were much worse cars than the Audi
so one to forget for for Bortoletto I think and I will say as well because I know some people
will be jumping in going ah but Matt Tommy blah blah blah had a late pit stop and went on the soft
yeah and did we see how quick they were in comparison to hard tyres they were 23
seconds a lap quicker so I'm not really considering these late pit stops as like a massive time loss
because I think that there was a lot of time to be made up with with an extra pit stop as we saw
with a certain Lewis Hamilton and how he made that work the fans gave Bortoletto a six out of ten
Nico Holkenberg started ninth did not finish I've gone for an eight out of ten for Nico Holkenberg
so unlucky again not to score points of course we mentioned it in the race review and did a
social clip about it as well the fact that a piece of Liam Lawson's well not even his car some gravel
pulled the kill switch on his roll hoop cut the power and Holkenberg was definitely on for
for some points challenging Lawson and it was a good battle and qualified very well as well to
get into Q3 and just yeah very very disappointing for Nico but got to reward his drive nonetheless
I've gone for an eight I've also gone for an eight out of ten for Holkenberg very unlucky
as we as we've mentioned I mean how many times is that going to ever happen probably only once
for anyone on this grid let alone for many years to come probably although I wonder if Audi will
explore a protective device around that roll hoop now because that was ridiculous I doubt it because
of course it will cost some time aerodynamically but for Holkenberg Q3 for the first time this
season great performance on Saturday on Sunday he's fighting Lawson as we mentioned that's how he
picked up that random rogue bit of gravel so he was definitely on for some points one maybe two
but yeah I think an eight out of ten reflects a very solid decent weekend from Holkenberg and
hopefully the first of many but my god is he pummeling my F1 fantasy team like how is he still
not scored any points he's going to be worth 50p in like five races time the fans gave Holkenberg
an eight out of ten Esteban Ocon started 17th finished 13th I am going to go for a five out of
ten for Esteban Ocon it's you know I'm having to shift where I place Hass now is only seven rounds
in but you look at the start of the season they were picking up points especially in the hands of
Ollie Berman and you could argue that Hass were the fifth fastest team maybe sixth fastest team
at worst now I think they're only just ahead well not only just ahead but I think they're ahead of
Cadillac and Aston Martin and that's probably it so for Hass they've fallen behind about Williams
I mean Williams I think I would even place probably as fast as Hass if not you know marginally quicker
in the hands of signs we saw maybe I mean Ocon finished half a minute behind signs so yeah obviously
had an extra pit stop at the end but also had time to be fair not a huge amount of time I think he
had like six laps to make the most of the soft so perhaps there was a bit of margin that he lost
there but still Hass are looking shocking so I've gone for a five out of ten because it's nothing
special from Ocon but also nothing special from the team I've gone for a five out of ten for
us about Ocon as well yeah I think you do have to disregard Ocon's pit stop in this one because
he pitted right towards the end and obviously there was a safety car and thing so he didn't get
any time to to make up that but that being said I've looked at the time he was behind Berman before
Berman retired and he's 20 seconds off you know Berman's put half a second on him in qualifying
again Ocon's just having a shocker and still just looks like it's going to be potentially
disappointing end to his career if his pace doesn't kind of pick up the fans gave Esteban Ocon a five
out of ten Oli Berman started 17th finished technically 15th because he was classified but
obviously he stopped he did indeed I've gone for a seven out of ten for Oli Berman which may seem
incredibly generous but I think the Hass as you kind of mentioned when I'm talking about Ocon
is absolutely awful he was going to finish 11th on the road without his car breaking down
as we mentioned half a second on Ocon in qualifying 20 seconds clear of Ocon he was he was fighting
you know you mentioned about the fact that and I think rightly that the Hass have just fallen off
Ocon was in that pack at the back where it's Berman wasn't he was he was fighting some midfielders
in that race didn't have anywhere near the struggles Ocon did with with Tyredeg and
just a bit of a segue here formula one is all about being in the right place at the right time
and there I hope it's I hope I'm wrong here but I really hope Oli Berman his career still
continues to thrive and he manages to kind of get that opportunity because I think he's a
really really really good talent and it would be such a shame if Hass don't deliver the car
for him to be able to deliver the hype that he had at the start of the season because of course
we were talking about the fact that he's going to go to Ferrari but now Hamilton's on amazing form
Charlotte Clairs signed a new contract I hope for Oli's sake Hass can pick up the pace because
Oli was one of the stars of the season at the start and I think again even though you look
at it on paper and go that there's nothing special I think he is over driving that that
Hass compared to in a good way like outperforming the Hass compared to his teammate massively so
I've gone for a seven for Oli my grade for Oli Berman is a six out of ten I think that the margin
he had on Ocon is slightly increased what would the word be it looks slightly better than maybe it
it it actually was on track because Oli had a reasonably well timed VSC to to capitalize on
that that being said I think he was doing very well on the softs to be taking them
as long as he was because he went on to the softs at lap 39 when the VSC came out
and and then was extending until his car broke down so for Oli he definitely is the faster
Hass driver that's been consistent throughout this entire weekend but it is such a shame as you
say Tommy to not be able to actually demonstrate his talents any further than you know sort of
20 odd seconds behind the V-Carbs which is not something we we thought would be happening so
quickly I know we were concerned about Hass and their development but my god it's been
it's been a poor run of races for Hass in terms of what they can actually offer for their drivers
the fans gave Oli a five out of ten wow not happy at all with Oli's performance
Lance Troll started 21st did not finish
I'm going to give Lance Troll a six out of ten because he out qualified Fernando Alonso then
broke down so I can't give him a five I know he was like 3.1 seconds slower than the fastest time
in Q1 but he was half a tenth quicker than Fernando Alonso and then he broke down so there you go six
out of ten I've gone for a five out of ten for Lance Troll
what he out qualified Alonso he's salty this man this Fernando Alonso lover is salty
Alonso is great yeah and yeah obviously out qualified Alonso which deserves some credit
even though it was 0.05 still out qualified him how is five out of ten credit it is a credit
because he because he's still he's but he's qualified I'm sorry it's qualified 21st and
being his teammate by the tiniest margin he is in a dustbin and beat a two-time world champion
in qualifying for the first time in 43 races exactly to give him some credit I have five no
because you get in fives when he doesn't out qualify him so how is that credit I can't even
defend normally I know crazy but no I've gone for a five I think it is a five out of ten performance
he didn't do a huge amount in the race he was ahead of Alonso of course but he was in the race
for like eight laps oh yeah I'm not gonna give him a six and we're gonna give him the same
grade as like Ollie Berman no absolutely yeah he's in a tractor oh yeah okay enough
all right well I'm looking forward to a two out ten for Fernando Alonso then the fans gave Lance
Troll a five out of ten Fernando Alonso started well he qualified 22nd he started from the pits
and he did not finish it's a ten out of ten for Fernando Alonso no I've gone for a four
for Fernando Alonso driving obviously an absolutely horrendous car but I do have to
take into account that he was out qualified by his teammate stroll who is one of the worst
qualifiers in formula one and of course stroll was ahead of him during the race we didn't see
anything from Alonso even though he is driving an absolute tractor you know couldn't do anything
heroic at the start like we've seen before and yeah just a disappointing weekend overall even
though yes he's driving the worst car on the grid but you can only compare to your teammate and I
can't give him the same grade as his teammate and maybe there's a bit of stroll tax on there because
we're so used to him not beating him um but that's why I've given Alonso a four fair enough I've
gone for a five out of ten for Fernando Alonso so still that point difference but I thought you
know what this is probably the only time Lance Troll is going to get a six out of ten this entire
year so I'm going to give it to him right now um Fernando was beating Checo uh which is obviously
you know the big the big fight uh in this in this championship um although I think that you know
Perez did pick quite a few times um so maybe that's just slightly out of sync from where I I looked
but actually no to be fair he was he was fighting him I think actually he was um probably a little
bit behind either or it doesn't really matter those two were fighting right at the back um it's
it's just a horrible car how on earth do you actually grade these drivers in this in this
Aston Martin that was a second off Cadillac in qualifying just utterly embarrassing um so yeah
I've gone for a five for Alonso uh shame the EDNF but also not a shame if you're a Lewis Hamilton fan
because Alonso essentially secured that that W even if I do think Hamilton had a great chance
anyway the fans gave Alonso a five as well
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Arvid Lindblad started the 11th finished 9th I am going to go for a seven out of 10 for Arvid
Lindblad I think he did pretty well in qualifying I think he had some issues with his car as well
especially on that final lap because we were surprised to not see him improve after that
first running Q3 looked really really strong deployment issues you'd be shocked yeah I
didn't want to say it again it's just not fun is it but yeah I think it was
a decent enough decent enough run sorry he didn't not Q3 Q2 he had a good run in the first
in the first lap but then wasn't able to improve due to problems and then in the race
I think he was you know slightly slower than than Lawson I think both of them are reasonably
comparable but another strong weekend for for Lindblad and I think he could be happy with his
current I know he's had a few dips but he's also had some some really standout performances this
year and it's a very good rookie campaign I'd say he's putting together so far in a very
sort of predictable car as the v-cars known it's a really good car to for for rookies to
learn in I still don't really know or understand or even believe that if that's true or I just it's
such a strange thing to go around like oh the v-cars just really easy to drive it's just such
an easy car to do really well in although to be fair the evidence of the last few years has
shown that you know whoever's gone in there as a rookie or a junior has done has done pretty well
so Arvid gets a seven from me I've gone for a seven out of ten for Arvid Lindblad it's a shame
what happened in qualifying with deployment issues because he was looking very quick
and could have got a great result I think to get into the top 10 and yeah looked comparable to his
teammate did well despite maybe a difficult start where he was one of those that that cut over that
first corner was had to give the place back to Hülkenberg but still managed to come through
to finish not too far behind his teammate and even though yeah he's obviously inherited some
positions but it's still still strong to finish behind his teammate who's performing very well so
I've gone for a seven for Lindblad the fans gave Arvid a seven as well Liam Lawson started
P8 finished P8 I've gone for a seven out of ten for Liam Lawson and I can already see all the oh my
god seven for Lawson you're a hater but I looked into his race and actually his comments about his
race and he was less than happy with his result he was very honest about the fact that a lot of his
result came from the fact that two cars basically retired in front of him and Colin Pinto got a
penalty he himself said he pushed far too hard at the start which put him on the back foot and I
can't be giving him a higher grade or the same grade as Pierre Gasly who I think has obviously
done very well and probably maybe not a stronger car than than that v-carb so I'm going to go for a
seven for Liam oh very interesting I'm not going to go for a seven I'm going for an eight out of
ten for Liam Lawson yes Lawson can be critical there's still room it's not a nine
ten I think it was a very solid weekend from Lawson yes outqualified Lindblad and we'd mentioned
about the problems that Lindblad had in qualifying but that's not to take anything away from what
Liam did in terms of qualifying eighth and yeah he I think he missed some time didn't he in free
practice two as well and qualifying as I mentioned very very impressive I don't know where Alpine
sit in comparison to v-carb personally I think that you know Gasly's executed really really well
but perhaps pretty similarly paced there between the two teams it's so hard like how do you actually
measure it it's just all literally opinion yeah of course the retirements helped him but that being
said I'm not going to take anything away from from what is I would be more happy Lawson I would say
no with you with your performance because that's another point score and adds to the tally of
what has been a phenomenal season for him so far the fans gave Lawson an eight out of ten as well
Carlos Sines started 16th finished 12th I'm going to give Carlos Sines a seven out of ten
Williams are absolute poo poo at the moment that's that's what I'm going to go with PG
PG brand safe phrase there award-winning podcasters yeah yeah yeah exactly clip that up and put that
in the the award-winning evidence but yeah I think Carlos has done a pretty damn good
weekend considering where that Williams is you know he was fighting Bortoletto at the end
in a car that did not deserve to be anywhere near that car yes Gabby had a difficult weekend as we've
graded but I think Carlos deserves some note here for being quick for putting the car into Q2
which I don't think it belonged to be there and when you look at how he performed compared to Albon
I think Carlos did a very very good job so I'm going for a seven I have gone for a seven out of
ten for Carlos Sines I thought that was going to be a hot take but no very much of the same opinion
I think the Williams is an absolutely horrendous car at the moment they're really struggling that
they're not anywhere near where it should be and I do feel like Carlos Sines maybe no no surprise
because he's one of the top drivers in F1 is getting everything out of it don't think he should
have been in Q2 but got his car there put half a second on Albon in qualifying and yeah a very
very strong showing with no reward but as his driver ratings were here to grade drivers
on their performance based on their car rather than just where they finished we're trying out
and it's his opinion exactly as you say like it's where you see the difference between a Williams
and an Alpine and a racing balls and a Haas like that that's what makes these grades different
between everyone exactly the fans gave Carlos a six Alex Albon he started in p18 and well
he technically went over the line but still got beaten by three cars that had retired because he
was five laps behind Perez I think and eight laps down in total that's the longest finishing
position I've ever said an NC technically not classified not classified despite but did it
circulating yeah yeah very very strange and a very strange race for Alex Albon I've given him a
five out of ten I couldn't match science in qualifying I didn't look to have the pace of
of Carlos but very unlucky in the race his FOM camera basically the the t-cam on top that
we get the onboard view from became loose and was wobbling all around I've seen a few people
sharing the onboard footage from his car and how it was like wobbling and going crazy and basically
the rule is in formula one you have to fix that and he had to come into the pits they had to
try and attach it which very interested to know like whether that's something that Williams actually
would probably not do themselves so probably was quite a difficult thing to fix because I imagine
that's that's FOM side or F1 side to maybe put those on the car I don't know but no surely not
I would I would assume you reckon the team would just put together everything right and it's just
like they just get given a camera and they yeah yeah maybe and but yeah either way the second bizarre
retirement not a retirement from from the Grand Prix for Alex Albon but I've gone for a five
yeah I deliberated whether it was a five or or lower but I think I'm gonna stick with a five
out of ten for for Alex it was a course I'm not downgrading him because he was eight laps down
as as mentioned Tommy you know the the camera thing's not not his fault that being said you
know the half a second behind Carlos in qualifying is is a is a big old gap especially around a
place like Barcelona so yeah that that's my sort of main consideration here compared to Carlos maybe
that's why I've given Carlos more but yeah for Alex just a weekend that can just be put in the
incinerator to be honest because he was really didn't show any pace even up until the point of the
problem so gone for a five the fans five out of ten as well Lewis Hamilton started second finished
first difficult one this I've gone for a 10 out of 10 for Lewis Hamilton
what more can be said I think you you know if anybody's out there giving him a blemish on
his card because he didn't qualify on pole I think that's ridiculous I think that the fact he even
put it second and so close to pole position was was phenomenal and then in the race
I have to mention it because the other drivers that also got it I have mentioned there was a
decently timed VSC for him which allowed him to get track position for his final stint but that
being said I do I strongly believe that he would have had a very very good chance of winning the
race anyway because of the pace he was putting down the question mark the unknown is that you
don't know how he would have been following other cars and what the tyre attempts would have been
like in such a hot day but that's a that's a hypothetical that's something that didn't happen
what did happen is Hamilton got track position and then won by 20 seconds like I was wondering what
year it was seeing Hamilton so far out in front with nobody else having an answer for him so
yeah it's it's revitalized the championship the fact Hamilton has entered the fray I think
millions of people around the world are going to start tuning in because can he get his eighth
I do understand how some people have turned off this season because of many many reasons of
engines and yada yada yada but we've had less talk about that which is really nice
we have more talk about the narratives and things like that and Hamilton joining the fray is
excellent for the sport and what a performance the best we've seen from Hamilton at Ferrari
hands down but it's not like it's a one-off either because he has been
very quick the last few few weekends as well the easiest 10 you could possibly give
I've also gone for a 10 out of 10 a very easy 10 as you say qualified on the the front row I think
you obviously you are only bantering about the the the blemish in the fact that he's qualified
second I think that is him overperforming the car anyway to be that close to a pole position
when Mercedes have just absolutely trounced qualifying all the time this season and looked
very very good so I think yeah amazing in qualifying which has been something that's
maybe let him down in the latter part of his career and then even when you know he didn't
get into the lead at the start his pace was very good he went for the aggressive strategy
and it was absolutely amazing to watch him just absolutely go for it I think he would have won
the race I wish we could have seen it in an alternate universe to see him come through from
fourth to to win but it doesn't take anything away from his drive either way because for any doubt
of the kind of oh he got he got lucky because of the the VSE the fact that he pulled 20 seconds
on George Russell is just to kind of well watch this and it was absolutely amazing from Hamilton
so an easy 10 the fans have given him a 10 out of 10
Charlotte Clair started 10th finished technically classified 15th I've gone for a 3 out of 10
for Charlotte Clair crashed in qualifying of course the only driver to crash the this weekend
and his race pace wasn't particularly great you know a long way off Lewis Hamilton when he
did actually retire of course the the retirement wasn't his fault again unusual strategies and
things but I think I counted 50 50 odd seconds off of Hamilton before he retired and I think
just the the whole weekend has piled a huge amount of pressure on him going forward which I think
is going to you know be very very interesting to see how he picks himself up from it because we
thought Monaco was bad kind of got worse in fact his teammates won the race and yeah he needs to
turn his form around very quickly and put this one behind him and get back to the driver that
we kind of know can perform so yeah reason I've gone for a 3 is kind of looking at let everyone
else in the fact that that he is the one that's that's made the the mistake to crush out and
underperform so disappointing weekend again for Charles cool nice guy um how many seconds did
you say it was behind 50 53 43 do some maths but anyway um yeah it was 43 ish uh when I've done
that I've done the mental maths I've had a look I've checked the stats um I've gone for a 4 out of
10 for Charlotte Clair there's no way on earth you're giving him a 3 out of 10 if he finishes p6
and doesn't retire there's no chance you've done that because
he's retired as well but that's not obviously his fault I think that I mean we're arguing over
3 and a 4 it's really it doesn't really matter it's more for me that he has to be behind the
drivers I've given a 4 that's fine that's fine um and I hope you're happy with your 3 because I
I'm going to go with a 4 because you know the the positives not many of them the positives were
you know his his start was able to basically turn around a lot of that deficit on lap one going
from 10th to 7th and then he was ahead of piastry are we giving him a 2 out of 10 we'll find out but
for for Charlotte Clair it was it was a weekend to forget again you know the crash was was him
trying to make up time in a corner that he was losing time and this is the pressure that I think
Hamilton's putting on him there's no doubt because Hamilton is showing that he is able to do things
that perhaps Charlotte Clair is like oh hold on wait what you can do that in the same car as I
can well I'm going to try and do it as well I've got him in the wall so it's a really tough pill
to swallow watching Charlotte Clair here because there are points where I'm like he's rapid but
he's being really inconsistent and causing you know and having crashes so the the one small
saving grace for me is that yes there the potential is there I can see it I've seen it in the sector
times but he's not able to actually deliver it and that's the really sad thing so yeah it's it's
tough he is still 81 points behind Kimmy Antonelli for the championship still on because of course
Antonelli DNF'd as well obviously I'm half joking but you never know Ferrari will fastest around
Barcelona so maybe this is the the turning point but it's it's a 4 out of 10 from me and it's a 4
out of 10 from the fans as well Isaac Hachar started 6th finished 6th and I'm going to go for
6 out of 10 for for Hachar uh decent qualifying only well I'd say decent very good qualifying
for from Hachar half a tenth behind Verstappen um the why there is one gone for a 6 and maybe not
a 7 is because as much as he dropped so he dropped down and some people might go oh
that's just a red ball but his own comments were saying that basically it's too narrow of a window
the procedure's too difficult the window is too small so for me I'm like so there is still a
possibility of making it work and that's what Max did in the race as well uh so he's fallen back
massively he's of course come through back through the field so um a decent recovery drive obviously
miles off by the time he's got through um overall yeah could have been a much better weekend
potentially I think Piastri was there for the taking this weekend uh for Hachar um but yeah
like it's not a bad grade but there was definitely more more to be had I've gone for a 6 out of 10
for Hachar as well uh he his kind of top moment was was qualifying to be very very close to Max Verstappen
which we've not seen uh a lot in in kind of Formula 1 in recent times but dropped back at the start
which which really cost him uh you know fell all the way down the order and had to spend
much of that kind of first start uh fighting midfielders which put him on the back foot
and finished kind of yeah well behind his teammate on the road so not not the best weekend for him but
it as far as second Red Bull drivers go it you know it's more points on the board um and yeah
a decent decent showing but but not the best for Hachar the fans gave Hachar a 7 out of 10
Max Verstappen started fifth finished fourth I have gone for an 8 out of 10 for Max Verstappen
I think he got what he could out of that car he was going to be a McLaren and a Ferrari of course
uh before that Ferrari broke down uh and yeah yeah they were obviously much quicker cars I think this
this weekend compared to the Red Bull um and yeah it's uh one of those weekends where Max couldn't
really do uh an awful lot uh with with what I had the Red Bull is still just too far off to to fire
which is a is a big shame certainly is I've gone for an 8 as well for Max I think he did a really
good job this weekend hardly saw him the entire Saturday and Sunday to be honest with you it was
just such a quiet weekend but one that was solid he ended up fourth decent amount of points but
just nowhere near the pace of of the front well Hamilton and the two Mercedes and of course
Lando as well so Red Bull still have work to do with their best engine and uh that's that's kind
of the story really like how on earth do they really improve they need to shave off more
kilograms by the sounds of it uh the fans gave Max an 8 as well Kimmy Antonelli started third
and finished technically classified p16 I've gone for an 8 out of 10 for Antonelli I think it was
a a relatively poor display in qualifying in comparison to his teammate of course
he literally started third so his blemishes were saved there but I think that there was obviously
with three tenths behind Russell there was a lot more time to be to be made up but in the race
I think he was really impressive literally passing George Russell on track uh with with that
additional race pace he's shown almost all year so of course then retired so it's a shame for him
and lost a lot of points you know there are things definitely to have been improved in in
qualifying for Kimmy um and then also it's hard to say but obviously with without the virtual
safety car and and also his retirement um he might have been able to put up some kind of fight
against Hamilton we don't know but what was clear is that that Antonelli was was uh was quick and
and a lot quicker than George uh come that come the end of the race so a big shame for him uh but
I've gone for an 8 I've gone for an 8 out of 10 for Kimmy Antonelli qualifying was a big letdown
miles off George Russell kind of what we maybe saw more towards last year with his qualifying pace
but in the race much quicker showing again that he's got stronger pace in the Grand Prix
than George Russell and able to kind of put George Russell under a lot of pressure and then
eventually pass him um so yeah I can't can't go for any higher because we do expect obviously a
lot from Mercedes still very much feel like they are the best car on the on the grid um so yeah had
he been on pole position his race pace maybe he'd have just gone away with it and won easily again
but qualifying really let him down so I've gone for an 8 the fans gave Kimmy an 8 out of 10 as well
George Russell started first finished second I've gone for an 8 out of 10 for George fantastic
qualifying but of course you've got to say that should have won the race with
with the pace they had and he was going to finish third on the road now I have seen the
Mercedes Instagram post where they were talking about uh George's race and they put him in on a
weird wing setting for the final stint uh which meant he was struggling a lot more than normal
that being said I still am adamant that uh you know Antonelli was on him in the middle of the
of the race as well so I do think Kimmy showed that that he was quicker overall in the race
but yeah I still think George had a great opportunity to win that that Grand Prix
and it's weird mixed feelings that he's gained so much on his teammate but it's also a race win
that's got away from him so I returned to the podium but still not not a huge amount to shout
about when he's driving you know the best the best car out there so I've gone for an 8
well Tommy still back in the Mercedes being the fastest car after Hamilton dominated by 20
seconds interesting of course slightly different fresher tyres I've gone for an 8 out of 10 for
George Russell as well literally the opposite weekend for Antonelli in the sense of Saturday
was phenomenal Sunday let just left a little bit uh on the table you know that wing setting
stuff I'm sat there like how many times does Mercedes want to mess up something to do with
George Russell's setup this year like we had the whole debacle of Japan I think it was where he was
on the wrong setup the entirety of of of the race and now this one as well it's not something you
tend to hear all that often of like oh they changed the setup so drastically that I'm then struggling
it would make sense as to why George was on the back foot in that final stint but that being said
I think an 8 reflects it pretty well and and I can't really separate the two the two Mercedes
drivers because they both had different parts of the weekend where they were very good so
8 out of 10 from me the fans gave George an 8 as well Oscar Piastri started seventh finished fifth
I am going to go for a six out of 10 for Oscar Piastri a very very quiet one indeed
he was was actually pretty close to Lando in qualifying but he was in that part of the qualifying
order that was bad because there was I think three or four drivers separated by like a tenth
he was on the wrong end of that however the race he left a lot of time on the table
he just really struggled with keeping the tyres in in good nick and I think he ended
like 35 seconds behind Norris come the end of the race I think partly is due to Lando being
really really good this weekend again when he's had a car that doesn't break down
for Oscar I think he'd be slightly concerned that being said the hot conditions I think
is something that doesn't really suit Oscar and just that tyre conservation
I'm not going to grade him any lower than a six because it was a P5 just a quiet one but
a little bit concerned maybe for Oscar in the coming races if this is the kind of
performance he can put down I've gone
for a six out of ten for Oscar Piastri it's close between six and a seven but I'll go for a six
because it is disappointing how how far off his teammate he was in the race very anonymous you
know the only kind of saving grace is he didn't do anything wrong he just didn't have any pace but
he needs to find an answer to what's going on at the moment because
since that amazing almost win in in Japan that he could have so easily won had he got some better
luck he's not really looked on the pace of his teammate and has struggled and been quite far
behind him in a lot of the races we've seen so yeah a step behind what we've seen from from
Lando this this weekend is obviously Sean a lot and Oscar just seemed to yeah just sort of kind of
had we not seen what Lando had done you'd maybe we'd maybe be saying that's just where the McLaren
is but because of what what Lando's done not the not the best from Oscar
not the best indeed the fans gave Oscar a six as well Lando Norris started fourth finished third
I have gone for a nine out of ten for Lando Norris I think it's a brilliant drive yet again
in my opinion no way should the McLaren be on the back of a Mercedes and fighting them and that's
what Lando did he gave them of course a headache with the fact that you know he was right on there
they kind of gearbox most of the race which meant that they couldn't do the the strategy they always
wanted to and they had to think about him and yeah he was hanging on to to the Mercedes which
deserves a big amount of credit and yeah his car worked the whole weekend and he showed exactly
what what he can do even though I think ultimately he is disappointed that the McLaren don't have the
pace compared to the others and and still a little way off but I think he's over delivering with that
McLaren for another really strong result couldn't agree more I've gone for a nine out of ten as well
for Lando not much he could have done more you know perhaps if he had actually got through on
Russell this would be a very easy ten out of ten but for Lando just the fastest McLaren driver
of course was quite close on Saturday but on Sunday he was he was brilliant you know the fact
that he was right there was quite a surprise I think to a lot of us just okay Lando's actually
in the fight for this this is this is something to keep an eye on but he didn't quite have the
the pace to be able to actually make the moves on the Mercedes drivers of course Antonelli
DNF'ing gave Lando an extra position but I don't think that should take away from
from a really brilliant weekend and I'm glad to see that he actually had some reliability
especially when I predicted him to have reliability and it actually came true because everyone was
very concerned that that would be the complete opposite so Lando gets a nine from me and the
fans gave him an eight okay then who is our P1 oh I wonder Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton I think
was the only ten I gave this weekend whereas I gave many tens last time out so a very different
weekend a lot of mistakes out there Hamilton was not one of them ten out of ten indeed the only
ten I've given is also Lewis Hamilton easily the best driver of the weekend amazing performance and
looking forward to seeing what he can do now with those Ferrari upgrades and
maybe just maybe we do get a challenge from the dreams alive yeah shall declare 81 points behind
me I remind once again you know didn't lose any points coming out of Barcelona so that that's
what I'll say you know that that is a safe embrace for me I mean that is the most
glass half full he's crashed four weekends but nah he did lose grant to Gasly though as we mentioned
so okay all right mate all right yes such our god I hate you so much right that is it thank you
for tuning in we will see you not this weekend but next weekend for the Austrian Grand Prix
looking forward to that one Tommy final thoughts final thoughts are yeah excited to see another
race a very different circuit I'm very intrigued to see you know Austria is such a unique track on
on the calendar it's going to be very power focused you'd think so yeah very very interested to see
how that kind of stacks up because it would be kind of the third race in a row that we've
had very different circuits in a row and to see if the pecking order switch switches up which will
be very interesting for our predictions which I'm sure will be all wrong we'll keep Ferrari fastest
please that would be great thanks everybody we see you soon lots of love bye goodbye
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About this episode
Driver ratings roll out for the Barcelona-Catalunya GP on P1 with Matt and Tommy, with the hosts focusing on strategy, reliability, and how timing swings races. Sergio Perez earns a 6/10 after starting P19 and finishing 14th, while Valtteri Bottas is marked down for a DNF tied to a brakes incident in practice. Gasly (8/10) and Holkenberg (8/10) stand out for strong performances despite bad luck, including a kill-switch/roll-hoop gravel hit. Hamilton takes the only 10/10 after a dominant VSC-assisted win.
Join us for another tricky episode of the Most Controversial Series in F1 Podcasting - probably because almost half the grid at the Barcelona-Catalunya GP didn't even finish!
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