This is a Formula 1 race in Barcelona, Spain. Teams race there every year, and it’s known for being a big test of how well the car and tires last during the race.
In F1, “strategy” is how you plan your pit stops and tire choices. A “different strategy” means the driver or team did it in a new way, which can help them gain position and finish stronger.
Mercedes here means the Formula 1 racing team. The speaker is saying people expected Mercedes to be fastest, but Ferrari surprised them with improvements that worked.
Ferrari is the Formula 1 team the host is talking about. They brought new parts/changes for the race weekend, and the speaker says those changes worked.
A “stint” is how long a driver stays out on one set of tires before coming in for a pit stop. The host is praising how well Hamilton did during his final stint.
A “penalty” is when the race officials punish a driver for breaking a rule. The host is saying there was concern Hamilton could have been penalized, but it didn’t end up hurting him.
Michael Schumacher is a legendary Formula 1 driver from Germany. The host is pointing out a neat historical parallel involving Schumacher’s first Ferrari win in Spain.
Formula One is the highest level of open-wheel racing, with races happening around the world. Drivers and teams compete for a championship over the season.
Pit stops are when an F1 car pulls into the pits to change tires (and sometimes do quick work). When you pit can make a big difference in who ends up winning.
Pirelli makes the tires used in Formula 1. Different tire types can wear at different rates, which affects how fast cars can go and when drivers can pass.
Fresher tires are newer tires with more grip. Newer tires usually let the driver go faster and turn in harder, especially after the tires that have been used longer start to wear out.
A “tire difference” means one car has tires that are in better shape than another car’s tires. If one driver has newer or less-worn tires, they can usually brake later and carry more speed, which makes passing much easier.
In F1, “medium tires” are a particular type of tire rubber. They’re usually a compromise—good grip, but not as long-lasting as the hardest option—so they affect how fast you can go and how quickly you slow down.
“Clean air” means the car isn’t stuck in the disturbed airflow behind other cars. When you’re in clean air, the car tends to handle better and you can drive more consistently and faster.
In F1, teams can choose when to change tires. A “three-stop strategy” means they plan to pit three times, usually to keep the tires working well and to time those stops to gain position.
VSC is when race control tells everyone to slow down, but there isn’t a real safety car on track. Because the cars are going slower, pit stops can be less costly in terms of track position.
Russell is another Formula 1 driver. In this discussion, he’s the Mercedes driver who got pulled into an early pit plan to help manage where Hamilton would be on track.
Track position is the order of cars on the circuit at any given moment, and it strongly affects a team’s strategy. In F1, teams often prioritize gaining or protecting track position because overtaking can be difficult, especially when tires are worn.
Tyre conservation means you don’t drive in a way that destroys the tyres too quickly. You try to keep them working well for longer so you can stay competitive until your planned pit stops.
Antonelli is the other driver being talked about. The host says he was close to Russell during the race, and Ferrari later needed to catch him to change the outcome.
The soft tyre is the grippier (faster) tyre option, but it usually doesn’t last as long. Teams use it when they want strong pace, knowing they’ll likely need to pit sooner.
Leclerc is another Ferrari driver mentioned in a question about team tactics. The host is asking whether Ferrari would favor Hamilton’s chances over Leclerc’s if they’re trying to catch another car.
Christian Horner is a senior figure at Red Bull. The host is using him as an example of how a team might decide which driver gets priority in a close race situation.
“Traditional circuits” is a way of saying some race tracks are more normal in how they test a car. The car’s grip and overall balance often matter more there than on tracks that reward one specific trick.
“Upgrades” are new parts or changes teams add to their F1 car to make it faster. Teams bring them hoping they’ll work immediately, but sometimes the gains don’t show up the way they expected.
“Canada” here means the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. It’s a track that can make it obvious when a car’s brakes or tire behavior aren’t working well.
“Brakes” here means how well the car slows down. If someone is struggling with the brakes, it usually means the car doesn’t stop as smoothly or as strongly as they need.
Reliability means whether the race car keeps working properly. If a car breaks and the driver can’t finish, they lose out on points that could decide the championship.
The world championship is the season-long title in Formula 1. Drivers earn points at each race, and the hosts are saying reliability can be what makes the difference in who ends up winning the season.
This is the Formula 1 race at a specific track in Spain. That track tends to wear out tires quickly, so drivers have to manage their tires carefully to stay fast.
“Dirty air” is the messy airflow from the car in front. When you’re behind, that airflow can make your car less stable and less grippy, so it’s harder to follow and pass.
To “nurse” the tires means to drive gently enough to make them last. You try not to overheat them or wear them out too quickly so you can stay fast later.
“Oscar” is Oscar Piastri. They’re talking about how he’s had some good moments, like a podium, but hasn’t been as fast as expected compared to Lando Norris.
Audi is a car brand that also races. Here, the hosts are using “Audi retirement” as a shorthand for a car that suddenly has to stop due to something going wrong.
A roll hoop is a safety structure on a race car meant to protect the driver if the car tips over. In this case, something hit near that safety area and triggered an emergency shutdown.
The emergency trigger is a safety system that can force the car to shut down right away. It’s designed to prevent a dangerous situation after a serious impact.
Term
banana peel
“Banana peel” is a joke/slang for something that makes a car suddenly lose grip or get thrown off balance. Here, it sounds like Lawson caused Holkenberg’s bad moment by making him lose control.
A wing on an F1 car is there to push the car down onto the track so it grips better. If parts of the wing break off, the car can lose grip and become harder to control.
A track walk is when drivers physically walk the track to look for tricky spots like bumps or uneven areas. They use that information to plan how to drive the circuit.
Term
Q3
Q3 is the last part of F1 qualifying. Drivers who reach Q3 are among the fastest, and their times decide where they start on the grid.
A two-stop strategy means the car plans to change tires twice during the race. More stops can help keep the tires fast, but each stop costs time—so teams balance both.
The Constructors' Championship is the points race for the teams. Instead of just one driver, the team’s results add up to decide who wins the championship.
A double-point race is when the usual points are multiplied, so finishing positions are worth more than normal. That means one race can change the championship standings a lot.
Some racing series used to give an extra point to the driver who makes the quickest lap during the race. If that point isn’t available anymore, teams don’t have the same reason to push for a fastest lap at the end.
A “free pit stop” means the team can change tires without losing much position on track. It usually happens because of timing—other cars are pitting around the same time or the race situation makes it less costly.
“Softs” are a type of racing tire. They usually grip the track better for quicker laps, but they don’t last as long, so teams pick when to use them.
LIVE
Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the P1 podcast with Matt and Somme.
Today is a very special day, as we all know, in the world of Formula One, Ferrari back
on top. Mixed emotions, you know, for this guy right here. Insanely happy for Hamilton.
So depressed for Chola Clair. But lots of other things to talk about as well in this.
Barcelona-Catalonia Grand Prix Roundup. Tommy, you are in your little Max Verstappen World
Cup football shirt. I think I saw him for three seconds in this race.
He was barely non-existent, but you know, I love Max Verstappen, but it's not the story.
The story is Hamilton and that amazing victory, and it was just epic. We saw a kind of a weirdly
like a reverse of Canada where all the action came at the start and then nothing happened.
And then in this race, we were going, oh no, it's a Barcelona stink and nothing's happening.
And then as soon as Hamilton went on that different strategy, it all came alive. And
just what a thrilling end to the race and what an amazing story for F1 as well.
Absolutely. Now, before we get into everything, a quick shout out to our wonderful P1 Patreons
who will be getting extra chat at the end of every single race review this year,
as well as lots of other things, ad-free listening, access to our Discord and so on and so forth.
Lots of benefits. Come and join the P1 Patreons if you haven't already. A lot to talk about,
a lot to cover as well in the Patreons segment. But right here, right now, we're going to go
straight to my most memorable moment, which is helping double points.
I'm kidding. Hamilton winning for Ferrari. It does not feel real what I've just watched.
I don't know if it's because like so many things have gone on. We all know who my favorite driver
is and he couldn't have had a worse Grand Prix weekend if he tried. But when you isolate that
and look at Hamilton winning for Ferrari, it is such an unbelievably special moment.
It was always going to be. We felt as though, especially with how Hamilton has been this year,
that it might well come at some point this season. Goodness gracious me, I am utterly
just bamboozled that it's happened in Catalonia of all places. I firmly believed,
coming into this, that Mercedes were going to be clear. I thought they were going to be so
unbelievably strong and instead, of course, Ferrari brought a whole host of upgrades into
this weekend and they actually worked. That combining with a Lewis Hamilton 10 out of 10,
Ankh is back. He was just on it the entire weekend, sensational. Combine the two and
it was an unstoppable force. That last stint from Hamilton. I'm sat there going,
all right, maybe Ollie Berman is going to take Charlotte Clair's seat. Maybe this is it. Maybe
my Formula One fandom of Charlotte Clair is over. I don't think it's like that. I'm only joking.
But Hamilton, simply amazing. I could not believe what I was watching that the lap times he put
in at the end just peak Lewis Hamilton. He's not going anywhere. Absolutely not. It was unbelievable.
I mean, we'll talk about the penalties and things later, but there was, of course,
the worry that he might have got a penalty, but he easily pulled away and made sure that
that wasn't even an issue, even if it had been in the end. It was an incredible final stint from
Hamilton, just an amazing race from him to do a complete different strategy. Just in terms of the
victory, it was so, so special and you could see what it meant to him. The thing I loved the most
was how emotional he got during the Italian national anthem and it makes you wonder
how different it hits when you're hearing the Italian national anthem for you driving for
Ferrari. Obviously, he's heard, he's won, this is 106th win. He's heard the British national anthem
so many times up on the podium being on the top step. I think why he got emotional was hearing
that Italian anthem, probably thinking that maybe he'd never win for Ferrari based on what
happened last year. Looking down at the Italian flags, everyone's saying he's made the worst move
ever to go to Ferrari. Why have you done it? He wanted to go there when championship will see,
but even just getting a win is incredible and we questioned whether we'd see it,
and it was just so great to watch him get that win. I also saw a lot of people mentioning
and doing the rounds on Twitter that Michael Schumacher got his first Ferrari win in Spain
30 years ago, so a really cool bit of symmetry there, very nice. Just what an amazing story for
Formula One. Really is. The emotion that he showed on the podium was really special. You could see the
Ferrari crew, they had the flags out, they were proper, the energy was unmatched. You could see
going through those trials and tribulations, having the struggles makes the victories taste
even sweeter. We were saying on our live stream, weren't we, Tommy, that someone asked about
what's been your favorite moment in terms of when you go to a Formula One race? Can you tell us
a memory? The one that always stood out to me, or stood out to me the quickest, was the Hamilton
win in 2024, when he finally won again at Silverstone and for Mercedes, and again he'd had those
struggles and it was an incredible race and he came through to win that one. That was such a
core memory for me, and then you look at this one as well. Formula One is built around stories and
narratives and arcs and journeys and things like that. This one for Hamilton is solidifying
his move once again. People have questioned his moves throughout his career. When he went from
McLaren to Mercedes, people questioned it and looked at what happened there. He then has now
gone to Ferrari and I think he has silenced absolutely everybody that has said he's finished,
he's washed, he just can't do it. Last year was a struggle, we know that, but he's proven today
that the minute he's able to, as he's put it, put my DNA into the team and into this car.
And he is showing that he can push a team in the right direction with his feedback and with
working with one of the greatest we've ever seen. So yeah, it's unbelievable. I can't believe it.
Just utterly unfathomable that I've just seen Hamilton win by 20 seconds in a Ferrari this year
around Barcelona. Like what the hell is going on?
A track that normally the team that dominates wins by a mile.
Exactly, exactly. Next question or the first question in fact,
who on pitch remember F1 Sushi? Would Hamilton's three pit stops work if the safety car hadn't
happened? It would have been absolutely fascinating to watch. Don't get me wrong. Of course, I'm just
glad we saw Lewis Hamilton winning because it's an amazing story. But there is part of me that
would have loved to have seen him come through the pack because I joked yesterday with this whole
talk about the tires. Are we going to see like a 2012 Pirelli race where people are on different
strategies and they've got such a big tire advantage and they're flying through the pack?
And that's exactly what Hamilton would have had to have done where he'd have been on much,
you know, fresher tires at the end, but he'd have had to have got past probably Lando and
both Mercedes drivers. And I think he would have done it. How much he pulled away at the end?
How much you saw people struggling on the tires? We saw, I know it was against his own teammate
who were similar battles, but how much kind of like George was struggling around that final
sector and even like looking down the pack like some people that had tried to stay out longer.
I think it was like Ollie Bearman at one point and things. You just, you can't do anything through
those like corners where people were just passing into corners because of the tire difference was
so massive. So I think Hamilton would have had a massive advantage. It would have been amazing
to see, but I do genuinely think he would have won anyway because his pace was just absolutely
phenomenal this race. Yeah, we can't be too picky with how it all unfolded, but I'm going to be
because I would have loved to have seen Hamilton come through because he would have had to pass
at the time Norris, Antonelli and Russell to win. And I do believe he definitely could have won.
And it's just an unknown, isn't it? Of, yes, he would have rocked up to the back of them,
but how would he have negotiated three cars in the space of, you know, a handful of laps
to win the race? You know, we saw probably more of a discrepancy between newer and older tires,
but two and a half, three seconds a lap sometimes at Hamilton when he went on the medium tires
initially. He was absolutely flying. He wouldn't have had that big of an advantage,
yeah, he wouldn't have had that big of an advantage, but he still would have had,
I think, at least a second in the locker. And he wouldn't have come out particularly far behind,
depending on when he decided to go on that final stint. But either or, I think Hamilton's pace in
that last stint, yes, in clean air, just showed that he had so much margin. So for me, I think he
could have made it work. And more about the strategy, actually, is a question here from
people on Patreon member LW2330, have the Ferrari strategy team finally woken up? Now, on this,
I want to genuinely give a round of applause to Ferrari here, yeah, because...
Doing a really obvious thing.
Not obvious, because Mercedes didn't do it. They went on a three-stop aggressive strategy. I don't
think that's obvious. I think that's... No, I thought you were talking about paying him under
the VSC. No, no, no, no. Because they didn't do that in obviously before.
Yeah, but slightly different circumstances. I think it was a very obvious thing to me.
Yeah, that's what I thought this question was about. But yeah.
No, no, but I think it's just generally, right? Ferrari get mean for their strategies and things
like that. And especially, you know, there have been some very questionable moments over the
years when fighting for the win of decisions they've made. But this one, the three-stop strategy,
I genuinely think bamboozled Mercedes a little bit. Basically, the aggressive strategy from
Ferrari and Hamilton, the first pit stop, as Russell has said after the race as well,
forced him into an early pit stop. So Mercedes, instead of just continuing on their own strategy
and their own plan, used Russell to... Well, they basically pit Russell to stop Hamilton from
getting track position. Russell is then, of course, a little bit angry about the fact that
he's then vulnerable to Kimmy Antonelli. Nothing came of that, of course. But that immediate sort
of pressure from Ferrari forced Mercedes into a bit of a mistake there because Russell was then
saying, well, I was actually managing the tyres quite a bit in that first in, and then you pit me
to keep track position. But I didn't really want that. So I'm genuinely so impressed with Ferrari
because that is exactly the strategy that allowed them to win this race. Yes, there was luck with
the VSC, but it opened up there potentially being some kind of luck with the VSC. They're not just
following suit with Mercedes. They're not trying to beat them on track with the same tyre life.
They're doing something different. And with that, it worked out an absolute treat.
It did, yeah. I love when teams do this strategy of just... Because I think the problem was at the
start of the race and why we were worried it was going to be so boring was it was tyre conservation
mode and it was just... Yeah, they were all kind of locked into a run program and it was kind of like,
oh, okay, the gaps are opening up. Everyone's just thinking about their tyres. But as soon as
Hamilton went on this aggressive strategy and could just absolutely go for it, it gave Mercedes
this huge headache and it put Mercedes under pressure. And what was so fascinating as well
is the fact that Antonelli and Russell were kind of together on track. So they were fighting whilst
also having to think about the others as well. And that's what made it so great. So yeah, the
initial question I thought was about the whole pitting under the VSC, which obviously they didn't
do in Australia. This was such an obvious choice. It was an absolute no brainer. It was the easiest
thing in the world to do. But I will applaud them for the going on that three-stop strategy,
because it gave them an opportunity. I think it would have been interesting to see how the race
would have gone had Hamilton got into the lead, because that was obviously a little bit of thinking
of behind that was going on the soft tyre, maybe seeing if they could get into the lead at the
start and seeing where it went from there. So the fact that they've managed to win by
doing a different strategy, well done Ferrari. Yeah, absolutely. I did question that soft tyre
start, but it also I think very much opened up the, well, he's going to be doing a three-stop,
because that soft tyre is not going to be able to go very far. But yeah, he did a
decent stint to be Ferdinand Lewis on those soft tyres, considering how much they were just
disintegrating after only a handful of laps. So yeah, very, very happy to see Ferrari
deliver flawlessly, it has to be said, with Hamilton and his strategy.
Question from P1Pitch. Remember a chilly ninja. Do Ferrari prioritise Hamilton over Leclerc now
if they have a chance to catch Antonelli? They do have a chance to catch Antonelli,
and that chance, they should do it, but they won't. It's very early in the season, of course,
it's a big point difference, it's not absolutely enormous, and it's still very early in the season.
But I do think that if it was a Christian Horner at Red Bull or something, they'd be
thinking about doing this, and it's tough for Leclerc, obviously. I will just say at the start,
I don't think they're going to do this. I think it is too early, and the points gap isn't too much.
I could see why some people would think, and I do believe that their best opportunity,
because Mercedes are going to be incredibly hard to beat, is to back Hamilton
with every point you can, because Mercedes have how many times have we mentioned before that
the big advantage Red Bull had was it was just one driver scoring the most points every week,
and that's how Max was able to close in on the two McLarens while they were almost
going for the battle together, and they almost lost it. So for Ferrari, Hamilton,
they need to go down the route of upgrading the car to suit Lewis Hamilton, and give Hamilton
everything you want to upgrade wise, because Hamilton's the lead driver now, and showing that
he's on an amazing run of form. Charles Leclerc, sorry to say about that, is on the complete opposite
run of form right now, where his form is horrendous and he keeps crashing, and also doesn't have the
pace of Hamilton. So if they think too much about giving Leclerc an opportunity to go for the world
title, it's tough because it could, in theory, cost them, and Charles hasn't exactly shown
that he's ready to fight for that world title, whereas Lewis Hamilton has already
proved he can win in that situation. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, cool, cool.
Yeah, this question... Hard to swally pills right now. Right, this question, if you are playing
like an F1 manager game, with no egos to have to deal with and things like that, yeah, of course,
you know, you're going to be putting Hamilton forward for this. But this is a real life Formula
1, and Leclerc's argument will be, I don't think Ferrari even going to ask this question to him,
I really don't, not at this stage of the season. We've had, what, seven rounds? We have another
15 to go. It's the third of the way through the season. Anything can happen as we know.
Ferrari have the fastest car, then my God, sign me up to the rest of the season. But
we will talk about that shortly. With Hamilton and Leclerc, Leclerc's argument will be,
if there ever is one, I'm 40 points behind Lewis Hamilton and Hamilton's 41 points behind
Kimmy Antonelli. So you're telling me I'm actually closer to Lewis than Lewis is to Kimmy.
Charles closer to Gasly than he is to Hamilton. There's a thought.
Sorry, it's true.
That's not even like... It's just factual information. Just factual information.
There will also be factual information as I come steaming through your front door.
But yeah, it's too early in the season to prioritise Hamilton, albeit I think if we
get halfway through the season and Hamilton is within a race win of the top of the championship,
of course, we imagine that would be Antonelli, then yes, I think that Leclerc would have to
play second fiddle. But right now we have 15 races to go. Leclerc wins Austria, Hamilton has a DNF,
that it's swinging straight back towards being a lot closer between the two Ferrari drivers.
That's me saying if Leclerc wins, which we can't get a break at the moment. But I do agree on the
point that you said of Hamilton being in one state of mind, Leclerc being in another. This is
one of the worst runs of form Leclerc has had in his entire career. So to dream of him...
The best run, one of the best.
Yeah, exactly. Hamilton's got the confidence. You can see he's really happy in himself.
Of course, you're going to be... I mean, Ferrari, yeah, that they would want to in an easy world
to be able to back Lewis Hamilton and just go full pelt with him to try and win the world title.
But it's not as easy as that. It really isn't. But I would like to think Leclerc would help
Hamilton when the time comes. But I'd also like to think Charles Leclerc wins the rest of the
races and then it wins the world title. What's the theoretical scenario then? Just
say we get to Austria. I know what I think. If we get to Austria and Leclerc's leading
and Hamilton's second, I think it would be a case where they wouldn't do anything.
No, no. I've said they probably should, but they won't. However, I think if it was a case where
Leclerc was leading, Hamilton was behind him and there was potentially risk of losing the race
or something, then maybe that's where they step in and do something like that. But in terms of just
a straight fight, we're not seeing like a Charles Leclerc becoming Ribbons Barry Kelly just yet.
The just yet is crazy. I think Leclerc has hearing problems if he gets asked to move out
the way for Hamilton when Leclerc has not won since the US 2024 race. So there's no chance he
gives up a victory at this stage of the season. I think Ferrari would even struggle to do it with
three races to go, to be honest with you. So lots of hypotheticals, of course, but I don't think
Ferrari can prioritise Hamilton at the moment. But I also think they might not even need to,
because Lewis is on such an incredible run of form that he might well be able to challenge
moving forward if Ferrari can deliver a good car. Next question, trying trading one.
Does this mean Ferrari is faster on traditional circuits? Traditional circuits?
As we've been talking about this weekend, this is the circuit that no car can hide.
It's the true baseline. benchmark. It's the test of all tests.
And yet somehow Ferrari seemingly looked fastest.
Ferrari are not 20 seconds clear come the end of the race fastest.
This is Hamilton had slightly fresher tyres. He had a stint of a lifetime at the end. Russell
was really struggling. Mercedes were right there. Let's not beat around the bush here. Antonelli
retired. He was going to be clear of Russell, I think, come the end of the race.
So Ferrari are right in it, clearly at least from this race. But I'm not going to get ahead of myself
purely because Ferrari are slightly out of sync when it comes to bringing upgrades to the car.
Like they've brought a lot of upgrades. Other teams very minimal. Mercedes, McLaren,
I think they were very small amounts of upgrades, if any, for this race. So it might well shift
one way and then the other, depending on, firstly, if you can bring upgrades, but secondly,
if the upgrades actually work. If you remember in Canada, Ferrari bought a whole heap of upgrades
and they were still rubbish. So Hamilton was great, but Charlotte Clair was struggling with
the brakes. We won't get onto that. So, yeah, I don't know how many traditional circuits there
really are in Formula One. But it's definitely a good sign. I did not expect this. I don't think
many people did. No, definitely not. I can't believe that Ferrari have come out with a victory. I do
think there's, you know, you run the race 100 times. I don't think it's a case where Ferrari
are always winning that race. There's other scenarios where Mercedes would be winning that
race. They looked good. So it's not a case where I'm not saying that Ferrari weren't amazingly quick,
which they were, but there was lots of scenarios there that allowed Ferrari to win that race and
also by a huge margin as well. But it's very, very positive from Ferrari. I'd love to know
and we'll wait to see how much this goes on longer. If Ferrari do mount a charge,
the conversation that we had a while back of how Ferrari have potentially been shafted a little
bit by the rules and them changing it and they've built that whole car to have these amazing starts.
And I think we kind of dismissed that at the start of the season going, oh, well, you know,
they're not going to win the championship. It's between the two Mercedes. Can you imagine and,
you know, who knows to think that maybe, you know, they did have an opportunity to kind of
be challenging for this championship when those first races because Hamilton is well in it now,
mainly thanks to some reliability from Mercedes.
Why don't we go over to your most memorable moment, Tommy?
Well, it has to be Kimmio Antonelli with his DNF. Another Mercedes conking out
is shocking to see again, obviously, mixed emotions for George Russell, I'm sure, because
I don't know. I think there's a big old emotion of happiness for Russell.
I don't know. We'll talk about that now. I don't know. Relief, maybe. Maybe relief, but
it must be still a weird feeling for George that in a race where Kimmio Antonelli's DNF,
he's not won for a start and got the big points. Equally the fact that in a race that I think George
was looking very dominant and Kimmio looked off the boil, Kimmio Antonelli was going to beat him
again is a big thing for George. But we mentioned about Ferrari and whether Hamilton can go after
the world championship. The thing that could decide the world championship and bring Hamilton into it
is that reliability from Mercedes. We mentioned they're supplying other cars up and down the grid
who are having all sorts of problems, McLaren, which we mentioned all the time.
And it's also hitting the main team at Mercedes. George Russell, not just Canada,
had the problem in China as well. We joked before, I want to say qualifying, where Kimmio Antonelli
was the only one not to have a problem. Well, now he has, and it's knocked him out of a second place,
extend, not extending his lead, but obviously, like he's standing on George Russell, of course,
as well, and looking to have quite a comfortable margin. But his closest competitor, Lewis Hamilton,
has taken 25 points on him. So it's a big thing, this Mercedes reliability, and they
have to sort it out because it could cost them, because we know that they're very, very quick.
Absolutely, yeah. I'm in complete agreement about the reliability. This is something that has
caused a conversation of can Hamilton get his eighth world title at Ferrari because of this
this Kimmio DNF. Had he finished second, Kimmio, this is, you know, it would be a seven point swing,
and Hamilton would be 59 points behind, not 41. It's an enormous amount of points that Hamilton
has gained, of course. I think, yeah, the saving grace for Kimmio is that he's clearly still the
fastest Mercedes driver. Yes, he struggled a little bit over one lap pace this weekend, but
there will be some kind of relief, not relief, but, you know, there will be some comfort in the
fact that he still had the pace over George, who I still ultimately will be, I think he will be
the main competitor this season. As much as I'd love to go down the Ferrari hype train,
Ferrari going to win it all, this, that, and the other. Mercedes have been the fastest car,
or equal fastest car, at every single race weekend so far. Ferrari haven't. So they've yet to prove
to me that they can do it at loads of different tracks as we head through this season. So for
Antonelli, you know, this is a really painful DNF because he did not deserve that in the sense of,
like, he's put down another very solid weekend and it's not got him any points whatsoever.
As for George, yeah, it is a bit mystifying what he's really struggling with in the races in particular.
It's not like he was miles off, but he definitely struggled towards the end of the stints
in this race. And maybe that's due to the fact that he was forced onto that early pit stop and
therefore had to manage the tyres a little bit better. Of course, Kimmy did have slightly
fresher tyres than George to be able to go on the attack. And even sort of 23 laps
difference was actually pretty big around here because of how much the circuit munched the
tyres for want of a better analysis. OK, let's go on to another question. P1Pitch, remember
Emma underscore VK, should George be concerned about Kimmy overtaking him on pace on a weekend
where he looked faster? Yeah, I think he should because at the end of the day, Kimmy was going
to beat him on track again. And I think he looked off of the boy particularly in qualifying. He
in a race where the tyre deck was was massive, maybe you think that the more experienced driver
like in George Russell would would be better. And also the fact that Kimmy was fighting all
over the back of him. I know dirty air is nowhere near as bad as it was. But the fact that Kimmy
was able to fight George and then overtake him and stick behind him for so long and and get passed
shows that yeah, George struggled towards the end. And you also look at the fact that
George that's with George obviously getting preferential, which is deserved, of course,
pit stops because he was the driver ahead. And still didn't man wasn't going to be Kimmy on the
road. So that is a worry for George. He can go away knowing that maybe the luck has been
versed a little bit and gone to the other side of the garage. And he's he's kind of looking a bit
better in the championship. And it's not a disaster of a weekend, certainly. But he's still not not
quite there. And it's still looking like Kimmy Antonelli is the superior Mercedes driver at the
moment. Indeed, yeah. I thought this would be the race that that George would potentially bounce
back qualifying was was brilliant from him. Nico Rosberg was saying in the sky broadcast that
he has some question marks over George Russell's race pace this year. And I think that's something
that we've seen at most Grand Prix this year in comparison to Kimmy Antonelli, of course, you
know, Canada Antonelli was all over the back of him felt like he was slightly quicker. Again,
today, as you say, Tommy, you would think that the driver that has more experience with these
Pirelli tyres would be able to nurse them better in these tricky high temperature conditions.
But it was Antonelli, as I mentioned, obviously earlier, had one or two lap fresher tyres than
George. But realistically, you would still think that maybe Russell would have a bit of advantage
in those kind of situations. But I think it's just proving that Antonelli is absolutely deserving
of a championship potentially this year, if he keeps this up, like there are hardly any chinks
in his armour when it when it comes to what Kimmy is displaying. So I think George is pretty,
pretty concerned. He will take these 18 points that he's gained on Antonelli this weekend.
And he has to take a step forward. He can't be being beaten by Antonelli for the next few races,
if especially if Hamilton's mounting a charge and things like that, Russell could very easily
just fall out of this championship fight. I don't think that's going to happen.
But that that can so easily occur if he has another bad reliability weekend,
if he's just being beaten by Antonelli on pure pace, how is he going to win the world championship
if this is the constant trend? Yeah, absolutely. George needs to find an answer at the moment.
I think the biggest takeaway from that race is that he still needs to find an answer to
Antonelli. It's not a case of, OK, we've got into European season where people thought
Kimmy Antonelli is going to struggle now. Yes, he's of course the one that's come home,
Antonelli is the one that's come home with no points. But there's still a question Mark
Sayer over over George. Next question and a different team. P1Pit remember Amy,
what happened to Oscar? His pace was non existent. Yeah, Piastri, now I'm kind of just going off
my just generally just watching, I guess, last year and things like that.
Piastri is not known, I don't think, to be a tire whisperer, especially when it comes to
very hot, very degrading races in terms of the circuit and the tires just melting.
But he was he was yet not not quick, not quick at all this weekend. Norris was on the back of
Mercedes, had a phenomenal weekend. I think he will be the unsung hero of this weekend,
again, of just having no reliability issues and being able to mount a challenge to cars that I
if we look at Oscar Piastri, Lando, I think is outperforming and outdelivering that that car.
So for Oscar, it's weird, isn't it? Because of course, in Japan, he should have won.
And that feels like a lifetime ago now. Because we've also seen the other side as well, where,
as I mentioned, when Lando's had good reliability, Lando seemed like the faster driver across the
weekend. We've not got many pieces of evidence to go by because you went through all of Norris's
problems in the Monaco podcast. But yeah, it seems like a not the best of seasons so far for Oscar and
perhaps not adapting as well as some people might have hoped to these new regs of cars.
No, definitely not. You do wonder if there's some underlying struggle there similar to what
Russell has had where the new cars don't suit him as much as his teammate, because it has to be said
that after Japan, where he was the star of the show, deserved to have won the race without an
unlucky safety car, he's really not been anywhere near Lando's pace and has really, really struggled,
you know, who's a long way behind him in this race. 75 seconds, I think it was in the end.
Yeah, exactly. So the same can be said about even Miami, where Oscar picked up that podium,
you know, he's 25 seconds down the road from Lando and Canada as well. You know, he had a
really difficult race there. And yeah, Oscar at the moment is having a bit of a struggle,
McLaren nowhere near where they need to be at the moment. But it is Lando who's the one
at the moment that's able to kind of salvage something for McLaren.
Now, a driver that makes me sad to talk about, but we're going to have to do it,
is Nico Holkenberg, who I need to share some information. Oh, no, what's the information?
Have you seen how Nico Holkenberg retired from that race?
I have not. It has just been announced by Audi. So if anyone wants to know how
unlucky Nico Holkenberg is this year, and just generally, I guess in Formula One,
if anyone knows about it, there's a lever on a Formula One car that kills it immediately if
you pull it. That's a kill switch. Yeah, And Liam Lawson hit some gravel and a
car pulled it off and it killed this car. You are joking. No, no. And he was running in the points.
That has to be the most unlucky thing I've ever seen. That is mental. That is absolutely
preposterous. Yeah, insane. Absolutely insane. Well, that makes me feel even worse. I thought
it was just a standard Audi retirement. Is there like a replay of it?
So Holkenberg, his quote was, what was it? So he complained about a lot of gravel,
somehow one stone pulled the emergency trigger on the left of the roll hoop and it killed the car,
just total switch off and game over. That's absolutely insane. Yeah, that is so unlucky.
So Lawson quite literally deployed a banana peel and just moved you in a green shell.
Oh, mate, that's devastating for Holkenberg because he was running in the points. He was.
Had a phenomenal weekend and then he's a gravel man. It's not even his fault. No.
That's tough. That's really tough. He was fully deserving of scoring his first points of the
season. He's not got any and it's been always about reliability and this is reliability in a very
different way. So, yeah, poor Holkenberg. Let's now go to biggest winner driver or team where we
crown someone from this weekend. That is in fact the biggest winner. I think
Charlotte Clair was pretty good for halfway through the race. Yeah, he almost beat the
tractor. It's not a tractor, mate. It's a best engine actually.
Oh, sorry. Yeah, best engine. Yeah, they shouldn't want the race.
Yeah, Lewis Hamilton is the biggest winner for sure. First win for Ferrari and just generally,
I think this will solidify his motivation to stay in the sport for as absolutely long as he can.
Because before then, you never know what he might be thinking, especially with some of the lows he's
had. Obviously, not this season necessarily, but last year was a struggle. But yeah, he's bounced
back in some fashion. Yeah, it's got to be Lewis Hamilton. What a performance when
will this narrative continue? It's going to be very fascinating. I think next race is a big one, but
you know, Lewis does something special again. It's going to be like, I still think it's between
the two Mercedes, then Hamilton finishes a second. I still think it's between the two Mercedes,
then he wins the race by 20 seconds. I still think it's been... Yeah, Hamilton leads by 60 points.
I still think the Mercedes are going to bounce back. Yeah, we'll see. So yeah, fascinating to
find out, but Hamilton easily the biggest winner, got fastest lap as well with his amazing run at the end.
Indeed. Let's now go to biggest loser driver or team. I mean, Holkenberg's a good shout for,
I mean, just being the unluckiest driver by quite some margin.
Charlotte Clair. It's got to be. He crashed in qualifying and then
retired with a mechanical failure. And we've had a conversation on this podcast if he has
to be Rubens Barrichello. I think that's a pretty poor weekend. Wow. No disrespect
to Rubens Barrichello. But he was a number two driver. He was. Yes. Okay, biggest loser Charlotte
Clair. Fine. I will happily not happily. I will be very sad to accept that. Thank you so much.
I will sadly accept the correct answer.
Let's now go look at our predictions that we made on Wednesday to see how we did. It is currently
22.19 to Tom Bellingham. Three points to the gap. And I just want to say before we get into this,
this changed an insane amount with four laps to go. I was cooking like no tomorrow and things
changed so badly so quickly. So first and foremost, a good surprise. I went for Nico Holkenberg.
So look, let's talk about this one. I think I have a real, real shout here. You're
not finished because of a piece of gravel that's pulled his kill switch. He got Q3.
He was going to get his first points this season. Can I please argue this one?
Grovel some more and I maybe give you a pity point. Grovel about the gravel.
Grovel more. I just groveled so hard. Yeah, we can open this one up to the comments because I do
think it could potentially be. You think there was a shout for it? He was going to finish,
where was he going to finish, wasn't he? He was up there but that is where Audi have been all the
time, haven't they really? Oh, behave. They usually lose seven positions at the start. He didn't lose
one. He didn't actually lose any. I mean to be fair, yeah, he was seventh actually. Go on then.
Yeah, you're going to allow it. Go on. Okay, thanks. It's only because the points swing
massive. Let's see the others. Yeah, cool, fine. Okay, thanks Tommy for the generosity. You went
for? I went for Bortoletto who had a pretty shocker of a weekend. It has to be said, P11 again.
Yeah, back to back P11s since speaking to us. Sorry, sorry mate. Sorry. Now let's go to a big
flop. I went for Ferrari, which was half right, but half very, very wrong. Very wrong, yeah.
Yeah, and I went for Haas, which had an absolute shocker. They didn't collide,
but they were wonderful. Ocon P13 though, my goat. That's a good result for Ocon this season.
Let me actually look at Ocon's results this season and see if it's one of his best ones,
because if it is, I'm arguing that this is not going to be coming. He literally the only car he
buttes a Cadillac. I don't care. You finished ninth in the last race. Haas shocker. Haas were
literally one of the worst cars out there, which is crazy to think where they were. Struggle time
for Haas for sure. Oh, God's sake Ocon. You've ruined me and not just big flop, but something
else we'll talk about as well. Pole position. I went for Kimmy Antonelli, which was wrong.
I went for George Russell, which was inherited correctly.
Yeah, well, yeah, of course. Yeah, that's really annoying. Third place, I went for Max Verstappen,
which was not right. I went for Landon Orris, which was inherited correctly.
Inherited? No, you took Landon. No, sorry, I was inherited because of Kimmy Antonelli's
car failure. Oh, I see. Sorry, I think we're talking about the blocking that we do in the
strategy. Yes, so I wasn't going to be right for that, but yes, you got up for that one.
In second place, I went for Kimmy Antonelli, which was going to be right, but it wasn't.
No, it was going to be right until his car failed, which gave it to George Russell,
who I predicted second. And in the first place, I went for George Russell, which is
I don't know if that Antonelli, which was incorrect.
Yeah, so that actually means as well that with Hamilton winning, he has defended
Antonelli from beating his win record, a win streak. Yes, very true, actually.
I'm sure that's probably why he's crying on the podium. 100%. Thank God, Antonelli didn't beat
my win streak. So good, Tommy's on a nice roll of points. Let's go to P Watt, where I was genuinely.
Oh, I was buzzing with this with literally like five laps to go. I'm on for two points.
So P Watt, if you're not familiar, is where we there's a random number that comes up today.
Or for this one, it was P 16. We have to say immediately who we think is going to finish
in that position. I went for Ocon. My guy was sat so drastically in P 16. There was no chance of him
getting anywhere further forward or further behind. And then two retirements right at the end.
Three retirements, in fact. Ocon gets up to P 13. And Tommy, he went for.
And I went for Sergio Perez. And it's the funniest thing as well. The wheel knowledge
from us, by the way, on display is that when it was P 16 in Ocon, it was P 17 Perez.
It was lap 63 of 66. Ocon 16th and Perez is 17th. I mean, that's a W. But I get the point for being
closest for Perez. I have been so robbed. So can we just talk about, so what would it have been
without those last three laps? How many less points are you scoring? You're not scoring Russell P
2. You're not scoring Norris P 3. So that's two eradicated for you. I'm gaining one.
Yeah, it would have been a lot closer. And then I would have had P 1. I'd have lost three.
I would have scored two plus three. You just scored two points. Yes, the swing was crazy.
I'd have scored three because Ocon was a two-pointer. Ocon a two-pointer, yeah, massive
movement. Grace. Anyway, one crazy prediction. I went for Norris as a clean reliability weekend.
And I want to say to each and every one of you that went, oh, Paul Ando now is not even going
to get out of the garage. Came in, didn't it? Came in. Norris had a clean reliability weekend.
You're welcome, Lando. And I went for, there's a teammate collision, which almost happened with
us. Well, Antonelli lost a bit of his wing in that Russell incident. I'm joking.
Which we've not spoken about, actually. The Russell versus Antonelli kind of move. He went
for the move. He went onto the inside. Russell kind of, I mean, he gave it everything. He was
a sitting duck, wasn't he, at the end of the day. But really weird that, yeah, Antonelli,
just watching it again, he basically goes for the move. Russell squeezes him somewhat,
and Antonelli is ever so slightly on a bump or something on the inside. And it just lifts his
car up. And I mean, dare I say, is it a coincidence that his car jumps, lands, and then one lap later,
it goes, it breaks, like it could be very interesting to see.
Yeah, I don't know if Mercedes will come out and say, ah, yes, it was George Russell's
defensive manoeuvre that broke Antonelli's car. No, of course they wouldn't. But very interesting,
because we have seen it before, where cars having a bit of a jump. Actually, I'm actually watching
the replay, and his wing is actually hanging, the little end plate on his wing
is actually hanging off before he goes for the move. So interesting.
Oh, very strange. He's already got the damage, but yeah, it looks like he jumps a little bit,
or there's some kind of issue there. So I'm not sure where he got the damage.
I did wonder, I was like, how has he picked up damage from that? It's hard to tell,
the off-board. Yeah, so it wasn't that, because you can say it's already lifted.
But anyway, back to George's defensive manoeuvre. I thought it was, as Martin Brundle so beautifully
says, a day late and a dollar short. That was a very strange defensive manoeuvre from George,
because he didn't shape for the defence anywhere near early enough, gave the inside to Kimmy,
and that was the move done. So I don't know what George's thinking was there. Maybe he wanted
to squeeze him to the inside and hope that Kimmy would make a mistake on the dirty side of the
track. But yeah, I did find that a bit of a bizarre defence from George and one that ultimately
didn't work. But if we think that Kimmy's car bounced and then at DNF, maybe it was an
absolutely brilliant ploy. Maybe he did. He did this track walk. He saw a little bump and when
Kimmy comes to pass me, I'm going to push him onto that. Over the bump, kills the engine.
That would take some planning. So okay, there you go. That is that done. We now go to our
Patreon prediction, where I went for Patrick's, which was Nika Holkenberg makes it into Q3.
Come on! And I went for... He scored so many points this weekend.
Yeah, you could have had him out too.
Run. I went for Lex Wakeman, V-Carb to outscore McLaren this weekend, which they did not,
and they were on obviously... V-Carb did well in the end, all things considered.
More points again. They must be looking pretty good. Like Liam Lawson is 10th in the World
Championship and Racing Bulls are P6. So yeah, 38 points. A big, big old shunk for V-Carb are doing.
They've got a very good car underneath them and they're picking up points all the time,
it seems, after I said in my entire championship table, they always leave points on the table and
don't maximise. Lawson in particular has been really, really solid this year. Like he's been
a consistent point scorer and once again, yes, scoring some points. Had it not been for, I guess,
Antonelli and Leclerc out, then they wouldn't have scored any points and it would have been a P9,
P10 for Alpine. Yeah, I saw Lawson got screwed with a pit stop. He was actually running quite
well. Pit stop was slow, wasn't it? Yeah, he had like a six and a half second pit stop,
so that may have cost him for Colopinto. I need to beat him, the Alpines. So yeah, it's tough,
but I mean, yeah, they got their points in the end and yeah, Lawson's having, in particular,
Lawson's having a really good season. Yeah, he really is. And Limblad made a two-stop work,
I think, which was... He went very long in that first stint and did a pretty good job.
Do you want the scores on the doors, though? Okay, all right, give us the score on the doors
if you really want to. What is the score? So it's 28. So you scored six points.
And you scored three, so 28-21. Oh, I'm back to seven behind. Shoot me.
Sorry, 22, sorry. Okay, six behind. Six behind. Yeah, please. Please don't
rob me of any points. That would be really quite sad. Six points behind! God damn it!
It should have been like one or two and I would have... So annoying. I hate this game,
but I love it. See you next time. The Constructors' Championship,
family top three. It is 6-5 to the Bellingham's after a double-point score for Tommy's dad,
which I now feel the first ever double-point. But well done. Still, you still deserved it, Dean.
So my dad, and I'm going to get it correct this time, my dad predicted P3 Lando Norris. Let's go.
W. P2, George Russell. Let's go. Oh, wow.
And P1, Antonelli. Two points. Two points from my dad. But I knew coming into this,
if my dad scored points, I've had a stinker because I knew that you were going to...
But I also thought it was going to be the other way around and it was going to be
Antonelli and Russell that you would have scored two points with. But alas, it was Russell and Norris.
It was. And my wife went for the Stappen P3, Russell P2 and Antonelli P1. So
we knew there could only be basically a one-point swing and you got it. So it's all level.
It's all level. It is 7-all. Very, very close. Can we put 7-all to the Gallagher's in the
sheet just so that I do read it out? And I feel like, you know... Okay, I'll do it.
Now, alphabetically, it's me actually. Oh, damn it. Bore and Bellingham's strike again.
Alphabetically. There you go. Right. Thank you, everybody, for tuning in. It's been quite the
Grand Prix to talk about. I think I'm just looking down the order to see if we've missed anyone to
discuss. I think Hadjar had a very quiet race. My goodness gracious me. Finished over a minute
behind Verstappen in the end. He dropped massively down at the beginning.
He gambled at the end with a different stop, didn't he? Because he had
the chasm between... You had the gap.
Yeah, as it was. A lot of runners actually stopped at the end, didn't they?
Yeah. It's funny that there's no fastest lap point anymore, but we're basically in that territory
again where whoever's last at the top runners get a free pit stop just to
why not throw some softs on and just have fun.
Can we also discuss very quickly, and something that we saw when Alonzo I think went out,
this new graphic of a car stopping on track and them showing that before the actual car on track,
it feels like. I appreciate the graphic, but just show me it.
Yeah, is it a bit too... Is it a bit of spoilers? I like the...
Spoiler alert. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Because I feel like... This is a bad example because it's going to make me look like I'm
laughing at your pain, but obviously it is the clear incident.
Well, I am. I am, but it's horrendous to say like, doesn't hit the same.
But it's so true of like, if everything's going, oh, we've heard blah, blah, blah,
is off, whereas that moment when it cuts to like someone's off and it's like, oh my god,
I can't believe it. So true.
It doesn't... It's not as exciting, is it, when you see that, whereas if you're just getting...
Okay, so yeah, if it was a situation where it was like at Antonelli, for example,
it wouldn't have been anywhere near as shocking if we'd have kind of been following on board with
Hamilton and you get a little graphic going. Antonelli is retiring, by the way, and we're
going to see it in five seconds time. Yeah, yeah. It's so true.
Similar to the mini-sectors in qualifying, that's also a spoiler where you see like,
you know, oh, who's going to go fastest, who's not, and that sort of stuff.
So yeah, I'm in agreement, in agreement, actually, because yeah, that hard cut...
Too much information. Yes.
Part of the excitement. This is why I don't like the pit thing sometimes,
whereas like, this is exactly where they're going to come out the pits. It's like, no,
let's watch it. That's part of the excitement of Formula One.
All right, cool. I think that's pretty much it. We will sign off there, unless you repeat on Patreon,
which we're going to answer a few more questions. So please come over there if you haven't subscribed
already. Tommy, final thoughts. Final thoughts. We won't be seeing the Barcelona Catalina Grand Prix
until, well, a couple of years, because I think it's rotating, isn't it?
Is that announced, or is that rumoured? I think it's heavily rumoured that it's going to happen.
There's been so many second announcements. I'm trying to remember what's what with the different
things. But either way, well done for delivering, because I certainly didn't think it was going to
at the start. And yeah, just what a fascinating couple of weeks now to wait for, well, a week
for the next race to see if Hamilton can continue his charge. And a very different circuit, I think,
as well, with it just being very much a power track. No, it has been announced. It was announced in
February. It swaps with Spa. Oh, yes, of course. Because like, Spa is obviously such a legendary
track and people are like, oh, you're really swapping it with Barcelona. We had a great race,
Tommy. When there's already Madrid going to be on the calendar, so yeah. Let's see if Spa can
deliver a banger. That's that's the big question. That's the big test, isn't it? Monica actually was
all right. And it was not overtaking, but it was chaos. Other tracks you've seen, very chaotic.
So I'm interested to see like Spa, they might have to genuinely get out and push the car down
the straights because I don't even know how how they'll be able to recharge around there.
Oh, we almost mentioned the whole whole podcast. I know saying it, but it's a 54 minutes in. I
just thought I'd remind everyone that we're in student 2026. That is it. We'll see you soon.
Lots of love. Take care. Adios. Bye. Bye.
About this episode
Barcelona-Catalunya GP gets a wide-ranging review from Matt and Tommy: Ferrari’s upgrades “actually worked,” and Hamilton’s late surge is pinned on “that different strategy” plus fresher tyres and clean air. They dig into how tyre gaps made passing brutal, why pitting under VSC mattered, and how aggressive three-stop plans pressured rivals. Off-track, they unpack reliability and the big Antonelli DNF, plus the kill-switch incident that ended Nico Hülkenberg’s race. Championship implications follow, with Hamilton framed as the biggest winner.
Well, we didn’t think it would deliver before the weekend - but the Barcelona-Catalunya GP served up an absolute banger. Join us as we recap the biggest stories from right across the grid!
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