Lewis Hamilton is one of the most successful F1 drivers ever. Here, the hosts are saying his driving style—especially how he brakes—helped him go faster and keep the tires from wearing out too quickly.
In F1, a “three stop” means the team plans to change tires three times during the race. It’s done because tires wear out, and fresh tires can make you faster—so teams time the stops to lose the least time.
Barcelona in Catalonia is the location of the Spanish Grand Prix track. The way tires wear and how hard you brake can really affect how fast you can go there.
“Tyre wear” means the tires get worse over time as you drive. In F1, once the tires wear out, the car usually feels less grippy and you can’t go as fast.
“Extracting lap time cleanly” means driving fast in a controlled way that doesn’t ruin the tires too quickly. You’re trying to get the best speed without paying for it later.
“Brake material” is what the brake pads are made of. Changing it can affect how well the brakes work and how they feel when you’re braking very late and very hard.
“Entry speed” is your speed at the moment you start turning into a corner. Going in faster can help you be quicker, but it can also stress the tires and brakes if you don’t manage it well.
“Front tyres” are the tires at the front of the car. In F1, they often take a lot of the work when you brake and turn, so keeping them from wearing out helps the car stay fast.
A pit stop is when the car comes into the pits to change tires (and sometimes do other quick work). When you do it during the race can make a big difference to how fast the car is.
In F1, “strategy” means the team’s plan for how to run the race—like when to change tires and how to manage speed over time. The goal is to be fast at the right moments, not just all the time.
“Extracting the lap time” means squeezing the best possible speed out of the car in each lap. It depends on how well the driver handles the car and how the tires are working at that moment.
“Save tires” means driving in a way that makes your tires last longer. If you don’t have to save them, you can push harder because you’ll be switching to fresher tires sooner.
Term
Q3
Qualifying is split into timed sessions. Q3 is the last and most important one, where the quickest drivers set their best lap to decide who starts at the front.
A lap is split into sections called sectors. If a driver is really fast in multiple sectors, it usually means the car is performing well in the key parts of the track.
FP2 is one of the practice sessions on a race weekend. Teams use it to learn how the car behaves, especially over longer runs that resemble race conditions.
“Softs” are the stickiest (but fastest-wearing) tires available in an F1 weekend. They help you go quicker, but you can’t usually use them for as long as harder tires.
“Rear” means how the back of the car behaves in a turn, especially under braking. If the rear is in the right spot, the car is easier to control and less likely to get loose.
Charles Leclerc is a Formula 1 driver. In this part, they talk about his qualifying problems and crash, and how Hamilton tries to understand and respond to what Leclerc is doing.
In racing, “data” means the car’s recorded measurements. Teams use it to compare what each driver is doing—like where they brake and how the car behaves—so they can figure out what’s going wrong or right.
Entry speed is how fast you go when you start the corner. Apex speed is how fast you go at the point where the car is closest to the inside of the track.
The “front row” is where the two cars start at the very front of the race grid. It’s a big deal because it usually helps you avoid getting stuck in traffic and makes strategy easier to execute.
“Verstappen” is Max Verstappen, one of the top drivers in F1. Starting near the front (like the front row) usually gives a big advantage because it makes it easier to control the race.
“Austria” means the next F1 race in Austria. The host thinks Mercedes might be stronger there than Ferrari, based on how the track tends to suit their car.
“Qualifying” is the session that decides where cars start for the race. If something goes wrong during qualifying, it can hurt your starting position and make the race harder to manage.
F1 tires come in different “types” of rubber. Some types grip harder but wear out quicker, while others last longer but may not be as fast at the limit.
Ferrari is a top Formula 1 team. In this segment, they’re talking about how Ferrari’s race car seems to do better with certain tire choices and conditions than Mercedes.
“Warm up” means getting the tires hot enough to work properly. If they don’t heat up quickly, the car may feel slower at first because there’s less grip.
Mercedes is a top Formula 1 team. Here they’re comparing Mercedes to Ferrari and saying Mercedes may not match Ferrari’s speed when the race switches to different tire types.
This means the driver changed to a different tire type during the race. Since different tires grip and wear differently, the car can suddenly feel faster or slower after the change.
Term
hearts
This likely means “hards,” which are the tougher tires. They usually aren’t the absolute fastest at peak grip, but they can stay usable longer and can work better when conditions aren’t ideal for the softer tires.
A stint is how long a driver stays on one set of tires. As the tires age during that time, the car’s speed can change, so teams track how the car performs across the stint.
Fernando Alonso is a famous Formula 1 driver. Here, they’re talking about a 2010 Ferrari moment where he seemed very far behind, yet still believed he could win the championship.
They’re talking about the 2010 Formula 1 year. The point is to explain how Alonso and Ferrari went from a bad situation to being very close to winning the championship.
Felipe Massa is another Formula 1 driver who raced for Ferrari. Here they mention a moment where he let Fernando Alonso go ahead near the end of the race.
Vitaly Petrov is a Formula 1 driver. They bring him up because an Abu Dhabi race result had a big impact on the championship situation they’re describing.
A “pace deficit” just means one team is not as fast as the other. The hosts are saying Ferrari is usually slower than Mercedes, so they’d need Leclerc to be exceptionally fast to close that gap in the points.
Michael Schumacher is one of the most famous Formula 1 drivers ever, and he raced for Ferrari. The hosts are pointing to the time he joined Ferrari as part of the team’s long-standing approach to having a clear top driver.
A “number two driver” is the teammate who’s supposed to help the main driver win. Instead of racing for themselves, they may have to follow team instructions to protect the lead car.
Eddie Irvine was an F1 driver who raced for Ferrari. The host is talking about how some teammates are expected to support the main driver instead of racing for the top spot themselves.
In racing, “reliability” means whether the car can keep running without breaking. If it’s not reliable, the driver can lose points even if they’re fast.
F1 drivers earn points in every race. The host is saying there’s a big points gap between two Mercedes drivers, which makes the championship situation interesting.
Antonelli is an F1 driver for Mercedes. The host is saying he and Russell both believe they can win the championship, so it’s unlikely they’ll want to act like a helper.
Person
Charlotte Clair
This sounds like Charles Leclerc, a Ferrari driver. They’re discussing how he might handle the fight in the championship—whether he keeps things controlled or pushes harder.
In F1, this means the driver needs the whole team working in the same direction. It’s about communication—so the engineers and strategists make decisions that match the driver’s race plan.
“Toto” is Toto Wolff, the boss of the Mercedes Formula 1 team. The host is talking about how he might make strategy calls depending on which driver is doing better.
“Pole” means the driver qualified fastest and starts the race at the very front. The host is pointing out that Russell showed he can be fastest in qualifying.
“One lap pace” means how fast the car is for just one quick lap, like in qualifying. The host is saying Russell looked quick over one lap, even if the race wasn’t as good.
A virtual safety car is an F1 rule that makes cars drive slower for a short time. It’s like a caution period, but the track isn’t fully closed like with a real safety car.
To “cover” someone means you place your car so the other driver can’t easily gain an advantage. Usually it’s about protecting track position when cars are pitting.
Maranello is where Ferrari is based. When they say the car feels different in Maranello, they’re basically talking about how Ferrari’s updates and improvements are showing up on the track.
In F1, the power unit is the car’s main engine system, including the hybrid parts. When they talk about power unit performance, they mean how strong and fast the car is because of that whole system.
The Styrian Mountains are the Austrian region where the race track is. Weather and conditions there can affect how the tires work and how grippy the car feels.
The Red Bull Ring is the F1 track in Austria. It has lots of hard braking and quick turns, so cars that accelerate well and brake confidently tend to do better.
“Fast corners” are turns you take without slowing down much. To do well, the car needs good grip and the right balance so it doesn’t feel unstable at speed.
“Power sensitive” means the track rewards cars that have strong acceleration. If your car can put power down well when exiting corners, you usually gain time here.
Braking zones are the parts of the track where you have to slow down for a turn. If they’re hard, it means braking too early/late or braking on the wrong part of the track can make you lose speed and time.
The apex is the “best point” to aim for when turning. If you miss it, you often end up turning too wide and you can’t carry as much speed out of the corner.
A lock is when the wheels stop turning while you’re braking. That usually makes braking less effective and can make the car harder to control through the corner.
Medium-speed corners are turns you take at a steady, in-between pace—not super slow and not fast enough to be flat-out. How well the car handles them depends on grip and balance, so it’s a good clue to overall race pace.
Off-camber is when a corner slopes in a way that makes it harder for the tires to grip. The car can feel less stable, so it takes more skill to carry speed through it.
Breaking uphill is when you slow down while going uphill. Because the car’s weight shifts differently, it can change how late you can brake and how stable the car feels.
Curbs are the raised edges at the track. Drivers use them to guide the car through corners, but if you hit them too hard or wrong, the car can get unsettled.
Downforce is the aerodynamic “suction” that presses the car onto the road to help the tires grip. Less downforce usually means the car slides more and is harder to control.
Low grip conditions are when the tires don’t stick as well to the track. The car slides more, so drivers who are good at controlling that slip can do better.
Racing tires don’t stay perfect for the whole race. Over time they wear out and lose grip, so the car feels less controllable unless the driver changes how they drive.
“Lando” is Lando Norris, a driver for McLaren. They’re saying certain conditions may match how he likes to drive, especially when the car feels less stable.
Person
Oscar magic
“Oscar magic” is a nickname-style reference to Oscar Piastri’s ability to find performance when conditions are tricky. In this segment, it’s tied to cooler conditions and the expectation that he can return to top form.
Upgrades are new parts the team brings to make the car faster or easier to drive. Teams test them and adjust the setup so the car performs better in races.
Hadjar is Isack Hadjar. In this part, they’re saying he’s been very close to Verstappen in qualifying, which helps show how strong (or tricky) the car is.
“Four-tenths” means 0.4 seconds. In qualifying, even a small gap like that is a big deal, so they’re emphasizing how dominant Verstappen’s pace has been.
“Happy place” means the car is set up so it feels great and predictable to drive. When it’s in that zone, the driver can go fast more consistently without fighting the car.
Understeer is when the car doesn’t turn in enough for the corner. The front tires lose grip first, so the car tends to go wide unless the team changes the balance of the car.
A “setup” is how the race team tunes the car for a specific track. It’s meant to make the car feel balanced and easy for the driver to control so they can drive fast consistently.
The steering rack is the mechanism that turns the steering wheel’s movement into the front wheels turning. If teams change it, the car can feel more responsive and easier to place into corners.
In F1, “carbon” often means carbon-fiber parts, especially the brakes. The host is basically saying the car’s braking feel/strategy is going back toward what they associate with Hamilton’s setup.
Monaco is a famous F1 race on city streets with lots of tight corners. The hosts are saying Monaco’s braking conditions don’t really match what you see at most other tracks.
Term
120 peak pressure
This is about how hard the driver is pressing the brakes at the very highest point. Higher peak pressure generally means more extreme braking demands, so the host is saying Monaco doesn’t match the usual intensity you see elsewhere.
F1 tires come in different “types” (compounds). Softer tires usually grip better but wear out faster, so in heat they can make the race more about managing tire wear.
This is the idea that the tires will get worse faster than usual. If that’s true, the teams that can keep the tires working longer (or don’t wear them out as quickly) will often do better.
The Chevrolet Corvette is a sports car made by Chevrolet. The “C3,” “C4,” and “C5” names refer to different versions (generations) of the Corvette made in different years. People bring them up because each generation has different design and mechanical details.
Those C3, C4, and C5 labels are different types of racing tires. Softer tires usually grip better but get worn out sooner, while harder tires last longer. Teams pick them based on how the track will stress the tires.
Thinner air means there’s less air packed into the same space, like at higher altitude. That can change how the engine burns fuel and how the car’s aero works. So teams have to account for it when setting up the car.
At higher altitude, the air is less dense. That can make the engine and the car’s airflow behave differently than at sea level. Teams plan for it so the car still performs well and doesn’t over-stress components.
Full throttle means the driver is asking for the maximum power the engine can make. Doing that for long periods makes the engine work harder and hotter. That can increase the chance of problems, so teams think about it for reliability.
LIVE
I wonder if Lewis Hamilton is now the team leader at Ferrari, am I too early to say that?
Even that comment TC after qualifying of, oh yeah, he was trying to do what I was doing.
That's the first like jab that I've heard, belittling, isn't it?
It is.
I think there's been a kind of lazy narrative that Lewis is scratching Charles at Ferrari
and it's all now his team and this is it.
Nonetheless, I don't think he's going to win the championship.
And with Leclerc's pace, I mean, he could really help out Hamilton.
It's probably the right move right now, but I don't know if Red would have the guts to ask.
There is no part of me that thinks Leclerc is a number two driver,
but that would be such a weapon for Ferrari because Mercedes just cannot do that.
Why not? I think maybe Toto Wolf has to stop them fighting.
Welcome, everyone, to F1 Nation's preview of the Austrian Grand Prix.
I'm Tom Clarkson, alongside our resident double act of Jolien Palmer and James Hinchcliffe.
Guys, how are you both still reveling in that Lewis Hamilton victory last time out?
Very good, TC. Really. Oh, what a race.
Because you had the Hamilton story, you had the Mercedes story and then Lewis to get it done.
Because we sort of questioned whether he'd ever win another Formula One race
with the form that he was on, but he's clearly back and it was pretty special to see.
Yes?
No, honestly, I think Hamilton, I think he won it.
I think he won it regardless.
I don't think the VSC played the most critical factor.
It helped. It eased the pressure a little bit, certainly.
But I think that that car had the pace.
I think that Lewis was driving phenomenally well.
You know, I'm sure we'll dive into it, but I think the conditions and the tires
and everything all kind of played a part.
But I think they called the right strategy on the three stop.
And I think he was he was in absolute peak form.
Well, you mentioned the three stop.
Can we talk now about what Lewis Hamilton did in that Barcelona,
Catalonia, Grand Prix?
It seemed like a master class that we hadn't seen from him for quite some time,
dominated by tyre wear, Ferrari aggressive throughout, starting on the soft tyre.
Now, both of you guys, resident racing drivers,
I want to delve into what Lewis was doing behind the wheel
that gave him the advantage last time out.
It's the magic, isn't it?
It's the magic of extracting lap time cleanly.
So first of all, his is natural driving style.
He was attacking the brakes a lot.
So there's been a lot of chat about Lewis, his comfort on the brakes
and and Charles not being as comfortable on the brakes,
hence his change of brake material for Spain.
And when you look at how he was making up his lap time,
he attacks the brakes really, really hard.
And in Barcelona, you carry a lot of entry speed, you slow it down,
you sort of veer off the corners a little bit more, wait for the exit.
That, in turn, naturally helps you to sort of save the front tyres as well.
But it didn't really matter that aspect for Lewis
because he switched to the three stop.
So then it's just about extracting pace and he was really quick.
And basically, that's what it just was.
It was all come down to his pace.
There's nothing else special in there.
The start was fine, but on a soft tyre, it was a magic.
The Ferrari start advantage is gone.
The pit stops weren't magic, but they were fine.
The strategy was the magic bullet.
Ferrari, I think you have to say nailed it.
Great strategy, great upgrades.
And Lewis just drove very, very fast.
And that's what what delivered it.
Yeah, I think the the ability to just focus on extracting the lap time, right?
I think by going on that three stop, you're not having to save tires.
You can be aggressive.
And obviously, Lewis excels when, you know, he's given the tools
to go out and push and be aggressive.
And, you know, in that second stint,
he was taking two and a half seconds a lap out of the leaders.
So as a driver, I mean, that's the strategy you want to be on as a driver, right?
Look, you want to be on the winning strategy.
But if you're given an option and there's a one second race time
difference between the two, it is a lot more fun to do more stops than fewer
because you can just go out there and push.
And the car had the pace, like you say, we saw that in qualifying.
He was only a couple of hundreds off of off of George.
You know, that that last Q3 lap from George, three tenths quicker
than anything we'd seen, we thought, oh, I mean, that was the death blow, right?
Sign seal delivered easy pole position.
And then you see Hamilton coming around with some incredible sectors
like, oh, my God, this is going to be quite close.
So the one lap pace was genuine.
We'd already seen in FP2 that the race pace was pretty good.
They were taking care of their tires a bit better.
We knew that, you know, Hamilton had said that Ferrari simulations
had the day get about half of what it ended up being.
So I don't think anyone was super surprised when, you know,
they take the covers off on the grid and he's on the softs.
And then, yeah, it just allowed him to do what he's been doing these last few
rounds, which is which is drive aggressive, drive quickly and execute well.
Also, smoothly, though, he's the aggression is coming in on the brakes.
So he's attacking the brakes really hard.
Well documented now, but he is not fighting the car in the same way
as you see, shall often fighting the car.
Hence, you've got quite a lot of incident on the other side of the garage,
whereas Lewis just seems to find the sweet spot of attacking the entry,
but having that rear exactly the position where he wants it, which is where it was
when in his glory, isn't Mercedes.
It's stable so he can attack the corner, drive with a fair amount of input
on the way in, but it's not going to snap.
It's not going to do anything nasty, which is why we're getting quick Lewis
Hamilton, but also consistent Lewis Hamilton again right now.
I think there was a great line in the post qualifying press conference
in which Lewis said he was asked about Charles problems and Charles crash
in qualifying and he said, well, I think he'd had a look at my data, tried
to see what I was doing and couldn't replicate it.
And that's, I mean, I'm slightly paraphrasing how what he said,
but that was that was exactly what he meant.
And you could just feel that there's the competitor in Lewis Hamilton now,
just turning the wick on, on Charles Leclerc a bit now.
I love that because as a driver, you know, your strengths and weaknesses
through the weekend.
So actually, Charles was really quick in the in the Barcelona weekend,
but he made the mistake at turn four.
But Lewis probably will be aware that every single lap at turn four,
they'll come in, get the comparisons between two fairly evenly matched drivers.
And he'll know I've got turn four.
You might be quick any somewhere else on the lap, but I've got turn four
and I've got it on entry and apex speed.
So when you get to Q3 and Charles trying to do his Q3 magic and Lewis sees him
in the wall, then of course you think you're trying to copy my magic.
This is the corner where I've been quicker.
Suddenly you're in the wall here and you kind of do inherently know that
as a driver.
You think you're trying to do what I've been doing and it's not paying off.
And it's a satisfying feeling.
I wonder if Lewis Hamilton is now the team leader at Ferrari.
I'm just starting to sense the pendulum is swinging more towards his side of the garage.
Am I too early to say that?
But just look at the last three races, second, second, first,
compare that to the horrible time that Charles Leclerc has been having.
And I really struggle to hear Leclerc talking about feeling ashamed of his crash.
And he's so hard on himself.
And I actually mentioned it to the guys at Ferrari after qualifying.
I said, you know, do you advise him to stop being so hard on himself?
And he said, yes.
And the more we tell him to stop doing that, the harder he gets on himself.
So just the sort of the juxtaposition of the I mean, it's so rare that you get
two drivers on an upswing together in the same team.
And we're seeing one up and one down very much so at Ferrari, aren't we?
Yeah, I think I think every driver is their own harshest critic, right?
External pressure is one thing.
But when you're at this level of the sport, there is nothing I think that can
surpass the internal pressure that that you apply.
And I think it's just what makes him great.
And what you know, it's what's got him to this point.
I don't think he needs to change that necessarily.
And to the point that whoever that was from the team said, the more
they try to talk him out of it, the harder he is on himself.
So you kind of just need to back off and let let the driver go through
their own process and and figure that stuff out.
Obviously, Hamilton's gone through a change in his own process
and it's it's working very well.
I don't think it's to the point now where he's de facto team leader.
I mean, you know, Cheryl has years and of of of holding
that role and leading that team.
I think more than anything, it's just now they've got someone else
that can contribute, not that they didn't when they had Carlos, but certainly
last year, it was kind of a one man show in that sense.
But now you've got that that old school, Lewis Hamilton, that's able to to
motivate, I think, and influence the way that that he has so many times in the past.
So it's it's a little bit of a perfect storm.
I do think that if if Cheryl can kind of get things together a little bit,
you might see that second half of the garage come up and see kind of both
drivers operating at a very high level, because clearly the team is
and the car is getting better and better as well.
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Now, JP, you've written a piece on F1.com in title, Can Hamilton mount a title
challenge after that first win at Ferrari?
Can he?
I don't see why he can't at this stage because he's consistent.
The Ferrari car is improving quite well.
The upgrades working in Barcelona obviously sent him towards the win.
Without that, then they're not competitive enough.
But as the season is going on, you look at Melbourne to Japan to Miami.
All the way through, you're seeing what was a massive
gulf between Mercedes and the field come down.
And whether that's McLaren fighting, whether it's Verstappen
starting on the front row for a couple of races and whether it's now Ferrari
with Lewis back on form, being able to win a race and put a strategy together.
I loved hearing Lewis and Carlos Santé's chat on the radio.
It was it was kind of heartwarming.
Santé was loving it, you know, you could hear his excitement in the voice.
And that's what I wanted to hear when I was driving.
So I feel like they're on the same page and inevitably Mercedes will respond.
And I think probably the next couple of races will be maybe more towards
Mercedes track, certainly Austria, more than you'd say on paper Ferrari.
But the season is long and there's only 41 points now between
Hamilton and Antonelli.
You've got one Ferrari guy that can win it.
You've got two Mercedes guys that can win it.
I think a couple of things.
First of all, I think there's been a kind of lazy narrative that
Lewis is kind of thrashing Charles of Ferrari and it's all now his team.
And this is it.
When you look through it, Charles has been very, very close
or even quicker than Lewis on a lot of these recent weekends.
So the outlier is Canada.
Lewis beat him hands down.
But in Monaco, I think it was it was only FP2 that Lewis was actually
ahead of Shell before Shell put it in the wall in in qualifying and then the race.
And in Barcelona, I think it was only Q1 that Lewis was ahead of Shell.
So I kind of think Charles own worst enemies in himself right now,
rather than obviously Lewis is doing a great job and it absolutely hats off to him.
But, you know, nonetheless, I don't think he's going to win the championship.
From this far back.
So do Ferrari at some point start to push the ball towards Lewis's court
because they simply have to if they want to beat Mercedes.
Yeah, I mean, you look at Red Bull vs.
McLaren last year, right?
The only reason that that even remotely worked is because it was one Red Bull
fighting the two McLarens who were taking points off each other.
So if you are Ferrari at this point, yeah, I mean, maybe maybe we're a tiny bit
early, but one or two more weekends where, you know, the the the momentum,
the points are on Lewis's side.
And I think you kind of have to because to your point, two versus one,
you have to put all your eggs in one basket.
Can it be done?
Here's the thing.
Even in those incredible races where, you know, Lewis had three
podiums before we got to Barcelona, they were still beat by Mercedes, weren't they?
And Mercedes has been slightly off schedule with upgrades.
So we know Ferrari were kind of the only ones to bring, you know,
a big package to Barcelona.
It worked.
We'll see what happens at the next time that Mercedes shows up, you know,
with with a strong package.
I think that the conditions at Barcelona temperature wise might be actually
showing us a little bit about some strengths and weaknesses of the car.
That was very hot.
I know up in the air conditioned booth, it probably didn't look too bad.
But down on the racetrack, it was scorching.
And if Ferrari this year is just a little bit better on its tires,
which might be hurting it for warm up at some of the cooler Grand Prix,
especially in qualifying, it may have actually helped it quite a bit.
And you look at, you know, that first in George handled Lewis in that first in,
right, Lewis, obviously on the softs to your point, JP, kind of kind of an average
start, unspectacular for softs and wasn't able to keep pace.
But it's when they switched compounds, the Ferrari was just much quicker
on the hearts than the Mercedes was.
So is it tire compound specific?
Is it condition specific?
This is still a very sort of, again, narrow data set that had Ferrari
comfortably, I think, outpacing, you know, both Mercedes and even even
Kimmy had slightly more pace in that final stint than George did.
So people's opinions and like the the the mood and momentum
and formula one, it can change very quick.
And people see this one result, you know, Lewis wins the race in a very decided
fashion, but it's Kenny win the championship now.
It's like, let's all remember that Mercedes has won everything else up to this point.
So one of my favorite seasons, one of my favorite eras, we've spoken
about it already, was Alonso and the Ferrari is.
And I remember, I don't know if you guys do, the 2010 season.
So there was a moment that stands out.
I don't know why I've always remembered this, but Silverstone, the British
Grand Prix, Alonso was was absolutely nowhere.
He got a penalty for overtaking Kubitsa off the track of Vale, got no points,
was 47 points down on the championship lead.
And at the end of the race, he said, we will win this championship.
And I remember just thinking that is the most absurd quote I've ever heard
from a guy that's not one in nine races is had three podiums out of 10
in a Ferrari that seems nowhere.
And he comes out and says, we will win this championship.
That was 2010.
The next race, you probably will remember the iconic Felipe Massa
gave up the position to Fernando Alonso.
Fernando is faster than you.
And from that moment, you had Alonso with sheer Alonso-esque determination,
the whole of Ferrari behind him.
And what happened right at the end?
He didn't win the championship, but he very nearly did.
We're not for Vitaly Petrov in Abu Dhabi.
And it's amazing because I've done the calculations.
It would be the equivalent of one Ferrari driver being 120 points
off the championship lead with current points.
That's how far away he was.
But a galvanized team behind one driver can give you so much.
You mentioned Verstappen last year, Hinge.
Great.
One Red Bull against two McLarens, which in theory could be tough,
but in reality can be good because you're not taking points of each other.
Problem was, Sonoda wasn't taking points of anyone.
So Verstappen had no help.
So where I'm going with this is if Ferrari could get to a position
where Charles Leclerc can actually just say, right, you're 40 points back from Lewis,
we think this is a long shot with Lewis, let alone with you to try and come back
with the pace deficit we've inherently got against Mercedes.
Could Ferrari pose a threat?
And with Leclerc's pace, I mean, he could be an absolute menace to Mercedes.
He could take wins, take, take, he could take so many points off them
and he could really help out Hamilton.
Question is, of course, where am I going with this?
Would Leclerc ever do that for Hamilton?
He's just off the back of this massive lucrative contract that he's got.
He's not there to be a number two driver, but you think if you're Ferrari,
you've kind of, that is your best asset to try and make a championship fight out of nothing here.
And they've shown before it kind of killed Felipe Masses' morale
and career from that moment on.
But my word, they nearly got a title out of the ashes of absolutely nothing.
Well, and it's been the model at Ferrari since 1996, when Michael Schumacher joined the team.
I am the number one driver.
I will decide who my teammate is and some teammates accept it in the way
that Eddie Irvine did, being the number two driver.
Rubens Barrichello always struggled with it, as did Felipe Massa.
I could see Charles Leclerc really struggling with that, but doing it.
Because I think he's so passionate about the prancing horse, isn't he?
He will do whatever Fred asks.
And there is no part of me that thinks Leclerc is a number two driver.
I've always, I've always rated him.
I think he's one of the best on the grid, could be a champion in time to come.
It's just not going to happen this year because he's had too many incidents.
Obviously, the reliability in Barcelona didn't help him as well.
So probably in years to come, he'll have a shot.
But if you just say for this year, we want to just put everything behind
getting a Ferrari champion for the first time in Eons.
What, since Kimi Raikkonen 2007, can you help us out and be a heroic
second driver for the rest of the year?
I still don't know if he's going to agree to that.
But if he could, that would be such a weapon for Ferrari,
because Mercedes just cannot do that.
Russell and Antonelli are both sure that they can be champion
and there's only 50 points between them.
It's such an interesting question, JP.
And I'm with you.
I have no idea how that one would go.
The racing driver in them will absolutely not want it.
But to your point, TC, the the pride of Ferrari that courses through his veins
might be willing to acquiesce, especially off the back of this big contract.
He knows he's there for a while.
He knows that next year could be his year, but it does take accepting
that this year isn't.
And when you use that Fernando Alonso story or people look back at,
you know, when everybody said McLaren should have backed
Piastri after Zandvoort last year, there are enough examples of that
not being the case and just freak circumstances, you know, allowing
it to go the other direction.
I just don't know.
It's probably the right move right now.
But I don't know if Fred would have the guts to ask or what was so tough
to implement, isn't it?
So you go back almost impossible.
And remember when Norris was trying to come back in 2024 against Verstappen
and then Oscar won the race in Budapest, but McLaren actually got
their sort of the only guy that could win the championship to let the other guy
win the race. And you're like, guys, have you not seen Fernando Alonso in 2010?
You've got to give them everything if you want to win the championship.
In the end, it wouldn't have mattered.
But these are the tricky things.
But what if you're Charles, what you're saying is, Fred, I think I can still
do something magic, give me at least a few more weekends to show that the pace
is there. I've been making too many errors.
That's that's clear to see.
But if I string it together, I can win multiple races in a row.
So he's going to be just begging for time at this stage to get through
the next few Grand Prix.
And then at some point they'll figure it out.
But I think for Ferrari, that's the biggest thing.
And also when you look at, I'll give you one more old example.
1999, I don't know how well my tails from the vault go down here.
But 1999, you have Michael Schumacher, missed a load of the season with a broken
leg, came back to help Eddie Irvine win the championship.
Yeah, nearly did it.
Famously didn't work either.
But he got close and having like a number one driver helping out, it can be so effective.
I remember at the Malaysian Grand Prix that year, JP.
Michael Schumacher holding up the guys behind it.
He was a brilliant number two driver, Michael Schumacher.
It has to be said.
But you talk about drivers, who can galvanise a team?
I can't think of, OK, Schumacher's one, but Lewis Hamilton absolutely is that man.
He is a natural leader.
Look at what Toto Wolf was saying after the race in Spain last week.
You know, I know what he's like when he can smell blood is what Toto Wolf was saying.
And I really don't want him to join this fight because I know how effective he can be as a leader.
So you've got a man in Hamilton who knows how to win.
And just he's so pumped, he's so pumped at the moment.
And that momentum that he can create, I think, will almost become an unstoppable force.
I think Charlotte Clair won't have any option, particularly if he scores more than Charlotte,
the Austrian Grand Prix next week.
Yeah, and I think that's ultimately got to be Hamilton's goal, right?
He has to make it an inevitability.
He has to he has to force Ferrari.
You know, he's got to just eliminate the option of Charlotte staying kind in the fight
and Ferrari not taking that approach.
It's going to be interesting.
But at the same time, it's a great learning opportunity.
This is actually something that Montoya said on our post race show on F1 TV is
this is a great learning opportunity.
Now you're seeing, you know, classic Lewis, you're seeing the driver
that's won all these championships and how he gets it done.
He clearly needs to be in the right mindset
and he needs to be in the right mentality and he's and he's found that that space again.
And now we're starting to to kind of witness the the greatness that is Hamilton.
And even that comment, Tisi, after qualifying of, oh, yeah, he was trying to do what I was doing.
That's the first like jab that I've heard from Hamilton and this it is.
I mean, it's there's that is a very conscious thing.
That was a very deliberate comment.
And that's what a champion has to do.
You've got to get the team to side with you.
You've got to get them in your corner on your side of the garage.
And, you know, that's that's definitely the way it's swinging at the moment.
I mean, JP, you say that Mercedes can't do that at the moment
because both George and Kimmy think they can win the world championship.
Well, George is 50 points behind his teammate now.
And it seems that every race we've been to for the last month,
Kimmy has been faster than George.
I mean, I would say George Russell woke up on Monday morning after Spain
thinking I've got a serious problem on my hands,
even though I've just closed the gap to Kimmy Antonelli by 18 points
in the world championship, I have a serious problem
because he's quicker than me pretty much every every stage of the Grand Prix.
Doesn't matter whether we're at Barcelona, Monaco.
I just you say they can't do that.
But why? Why not?
I think maybe Toto Wolf has to stop them fighting.
It's too early for Mercedes to implement implement that
because I think George, he's earned the right over years
to have a shot at this that's not just evaporated in what seven races this year.
But you could say the same about Charles Leclerc at Ferrari, right?
Yeah, but to see he's so far away.
What's the points difference Leclerc to Leclerc is 81.
Leclerc is 81 behind Antonelli.
George is 50.
Yeah, but George is in a Mercedes, which is still better than the Ferrari.
So my point here is if Ferrari want to win the title,
they're going to do it with fundamentally an inferior car.
They will get closer.
There will be races where they're ahead and Barcelona was great.
But Barcelona was still then beating the juggernaut of Mercedes.
George Russell is in one of those Mercedes.
If he just gets the upper hand on on Kimmy again,
then he will start winning races.
If Charles Leclerc starts getting the upper hand over over Lewis,
he still has to beat Mercedes as well.
So for me, that's why I think Hamilton is a long shot.
Leclerc is just too far back in an inferior car.
Russell is 50 points back, but he's in the best car.
So that's why I think it's really tricky
for Toto to stop George at the moment.
Now, of course, that will come if in 345 races time,
George really is too far back and you've got a bigger threat coming from Lewis,
possibly in a miraculous world, shall but realistically Lewis.
Then Toto might have to make a call and prioritise Kimmy if he's still on fire.
But you just I don't think he can make that call at the moment.
50 points.
Russell did take pole in Spain.
I know the race was was underwhelming from him,
but at least he showed that he's got one lap pace again.
And it was three tenths.
It wasn't a small gap.
So I think that's a it's a problem.
It's a good problem for Toto to have, but it's still nonetheless a
it's a strength for Ferrari compared to Mercedes if they want to use it.
Ench, do you think the battle between George and Kimmy in Barcelona
in that second stint cost Kimmy Antonelli
if he hadn't had a technical problem?
Did it cost him the win?
Would he have been ahead at the virtual safety curve
if they hadn't been tripping over each other?
It certainly cost him a shot at the win.
I think it's too strong to say that it cost him the win
just because, you know, the pace of of Lewis at the end of that race.
I mean, what did he pull?
Nineteen seconds or something over George,
who I get didn't have the same pace as Lewis,
but it's still a tremendous pace that the Ferrari had.
So I, you know, the the romantic in me
is wants to believe that Hamilton was going to win that race either way.
But, you know, for sure, it added a bunch of race time to Kimmy's race.
He was the quicker of the two by the end,
you know, the second half of the Grand Prix, for sure.
And it eliminated a shot for him to win that race.
And that's something I know that Mercedes is already looking very closely at.
Because worst case scenario, I mean, we how many times have we seen?
Let him go.
Let him try to catch the leader.
If he can't do it, swap the positions back.
They didn't even have that conversation, or at least not publicly, right?
The only way that race would have been close
is if Mercedes had made the call lap 33, you had Hamilton on his on his
obvious three stop Mercedes both staying out.
You had Antonelli forcing Russell to defend in the middle stint.
And the only way that race would have been close
is if Mercedes had ordered Russell to just let Antonelli through.
So now you've got Kimmy in clear air, effectively against Lewis in clear air
at that stage and then no virtual safety car.
Because I think with the virtual safety car, probably Lewis comes out behind Kimmy.
But we'd have the tar advantage.
We'd have to pass him, but still could be doable.
Would it would another another moment not have been when they covered
when they covered Lewis with George on that first stop pivot to the three stop?
I mean, if you're going to cover the guy, but cover him on a completely
different strategy, it almost it almost didn't make any sense.
They got stuck between a two and a three, didn't they?
They covered as if it was a three stop, didn't cover him the second time.
But I think that's because Hamilton's out lap was so good
that it was a sketchy cover to pit then for Russell.
And they had Norris keeping them in check as well as a, you know,
as sort of second Ferrari driver on the day, just keeping them in check on a two stop.
So tricky one.
But I agree, the strategy for Mercedes wasn't 10 out of 10.
Isn't it amazing?
We're talking about Ferrari calling the shots on the strategy.
The car's fantastic that when they bring new parts to the car, it gets quicker.
They've got two drivers, but particularly Lewis, who's firing on all cylinders at the moment.
It feels like such a different beast in Maranello compared to
even 12 months ago and the innovation on the car.
You can see it from the start of the year.
They've got a duo.
So they've got some power unit performance to bring, so of Mercedes.
So we'll see how that pans out.
If they can get that sorted, they could have maybe the best car by the end of the year.
There's a lot to be positive about for Ferrari.
Well, what about this coming weekend, guys?
So we're off to Austria into the Styrian Mountains.
It's such a beautiful race.
Look, talk us through the challenges of the Red Bull Ring.
4.3 kilometres, a lot shorter than it used to be when it was called the Oster Eichering
back in the 70s and 80s.
Who do you think it's going to favour?
What about the Czech Republic?
It's a circuit of two halves.
It's big brakes and fast corners.
So it's power sensitive, which is why, again, I think Mercedes will be in a strong position.
All of those, the first half is fairly lengthy, straight with a big stamp on the brakes and low speed corners.
Then you'll get into the fast stuff.
It's a brilliantly flowing track, actually.
It's undulating.
The braking zones themselves are really tricky.
You've got turn three, then the downhill turn four.
Loads of people running through the gravel, especially on that downhill braking zone.
And then the fast stuff is really, really nice.
A couple of lefts, a couple of rights.
Use all the kerb, but if you take a little bit too much, it can catch you, particularly in the final corner.
And it's such a short lap as well.
So it's really punishing of any mistake because you've only got like five or six other chances to make up for it
if you have a little lock or a missed apex somewhere.
I agree with you.
I think it is still going to be favored towards Mercedes.
Everybody talking about Ferrari being really good in medium speed corners.
But maybe Charles still struggling with the brakes, getting up the speed there.
It'll be interesting to see, actually, if Hamilton can still maintain that sort of pace.
And if Red Bull find a balance, we know what Max can do at a track where the balance is good and the driver can make the difference.
And because the margins are so small there, because it's such a short lap,
an exceptional run through a sector can actually make quite a big difference.
So we know that Max is capable of that if he's got that car handling the way he wants it to.
So I still think it's advantage Mercedes, but it could be entertaining race.
I throw one more in there, Lando Norris.
He is exceptional around that track.
It took a big pole last year, won the race with that big battle with Oscar.
He was brilliant as well in Spain.
The fact that he was even close to the Mercedes throughout, he was a long way ahead of Oscar.
I feel like Norris is finding really strong form and I think he individually will be really strong.
Why is he so good around the Red Bull ring?
As you say, his pole last year was like half a second on the shortest lap on the calendar, Monaco aside.
Yeah, there was a little bit of yellow flags in there as well from memory.
But his form over the years, whether it's a non-upgraded McLaren and he's busting up to the top three,
an upgraded McLaren, he's absolutely flying there.
It's a circuit of just, I think it's little bits of technique.
So you're lined, you've got some off camber, the really tight hairpin turn three is a tricky one.
You're breaking uphill, you can break exceptionally late.
And then getting traction is difficult.
Again, the breaking in your lines, your curb used down into the hairpin and then just a flow through the second half of the lap.
It's a short but it's a kind of quirky circuit where if you find a flow, rhythm, you pick up the right curbs,
you get the balance so you've got confidence to attack through the apex speed, particularly the faster corners.
You can just get into that zone and it seems to just thrive there.
And can we explain the difference?
I mean, we've talked a lot about Hamilton versus Leclerc, Russell versus Antonelli.
What about the gap at the moment at least between Norris and his McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri?
Oscar seems having come out of the blocks pretty well at the start of the season.
He seems to be struggling relative to Lando at the moment.
Yeah, I mean, we've always known Oscar to be good at, you know, fast tracks and obviously his first Grand Prix that he actually participated in this year.
Japan, you know, raced quite well and had the better of Norris.
So you almost would have expected Spain of all places to maybe be a little bit more in his wheelhouse.
But again, these cars have a lot less downforce, they're sliding around a lot more, they're moving around a lot more.
We know that that is something that Lando sort of excels at in these quote unquote low grip conditions.
I'm not by any stretch trying to say a modern Formula One car has got low grip.
But the temperatures being what they were, the tires degrading like they were, that's still a little bit more towards Lando's wheelhouse.
So there's a chance that it's just, you know, he's still getting used to how to get these cars to go super quick when they are moving around a little bit more.
It could be something as simple as that.
It could be something as, you know, as simple as once the conditions are a little cooler and closer to what he likes.
That, you know, we'll see that Oscar magic return.
But it is interesting that kind of so far Lando really has had the upper hand.
Do you think McLaren are close to winning a race?
I think they are.
When you look at the pace they had in Barcelona, if they'd qualified better or got the leader to start, they could have won that race.
Norris is there right with Russell and Antonelli.
He was on the same strategy as them, so it's difficult to compare him to Hamilton.
And I think they will get more opportunities as well with upgrades working, fine tuning the parts they've already bought.
They will win a race in the next handful of races.
No, we've mentioned Verstappen, four-time winner, of course, at the Red Bull ring, Red Bull's home race.
Quick word on Hadjar, very close to him in qualifying.
Is he the most convincing teammate that Max has had in the last few years?
By far, by miles.
I mean, since Daniel Ricciardo at the moment, the stats are so interesting looking at Verstappen versus anyone.
Because I think pretty much no one's comfortably got within four-tenths of him as a qualifying average.
The outlier here is that Max is troubleshooting a tricky car.
They're not absolutely on the best of it yet.
And when Max does a much better job, the gap is there a little bit compared to Isaac Hadjar as well.
So when the car seems to be a little trickier, we're seeing Hadjar very close to Verstappen.
When the car is better in the hands of Verstappen, if Max is on the front row, then you're seeing a little bit more of a gap.
But either way, I think this is really impressive from Hadjar.
We've talked in the past, you know, past 23 seasons when we've had some rookies.
And we kind of compare them to their more experienced teammates, right?
And the trend kind of was always when a car is good, then the rookie can be close to the experienced driver.
You know, when the car is not in a great window, the veteran's able to kind of piece it all together and extract a bit more pace.
It's kind of been the opposite.
It's like you said, when Max is in his happy place, he's still absolutely untouchable.
And I don't think the qualifying gap is actually that much smaller than what we've seen over the last, you know, 234 teammates that he's had.
But Hadjar is doing a great job navigating a new rule set and trying to, you could say, trouble shoot the car, figure things out.
And when it is tricky, he's able to kind of match Max, which I think is very impressive.
But yeah, I just, I wonder if they get that car into a more consistently happy place for Max as that gap start to grow.
I don't know.
That's what I would expect to happen from the little trend that we've seen, even if Hadjar stays closer than Senoda or Perez.
But do you remember Checo was exactly the same?
You know, the start of their time in the later set of New Regs was 2022.
And the car was a bit understeer, it was a bit heavy, and they were quite evenly matched for the first four or five races.
And it was really good.
And then they improved the car generally.
And Max, when he finds the setup that he can drive, no one else can drive it, and he can drive it exceptionally quickly.
And that just makes the difference way bigger.
And it makes Red Bull way more competitive.
So we will see, because I think they will get towards that at some point.
But I thought we'd reached that moment in Miami when Red Bull upgraded, you know, was it the steering rack?
And Max seems suddenly much happier.
And yet here we are a handful of races later.
And Hadjar is still hanging on to his coattails.
Yeah, he wasn't that close in Miami, was he?
You know, and Max is still complaining quite a bit about the car.
So the Miami update worked for Miami, certainly.
But it's not been sort of the universal fix.
And I agree with JP.
I think the closer they get the balance to where Max wants it, the harder it is to match what Max is able to do.
And Monaco as well. Max was on the front row.
So again, that's when the Red Bull suddenly starts talking to Max.
And again, I don't think Isaac did badly there.
But you do just see these glimpses where Max can suddenly look like a race winner and Isaac isn't quite there.
Or they're both fifth and sixth or seventh and eighth.
So when it starts talking to Max, I think we'll see the best of him.
And we'll see maybe then a really clear picture of how good Isaac is compared to the predecessors.
OK. And who else to look out for in Austria?
I mean, we saw both Alpenes back in the points last time out in Spain.
We saw both racing balls back in the points as well.
Any reason to think that they won't be knocking on the door again?
I mean, the racing balls, I think, are a really interesting one.
You know, that's a track that a lot of the...
I think to Linblad, you know, a lot of the junior categories race there.
So he's got a lot of experience there.
I think that the racing balls points in Spain were maybe a touch more legitimate.
You know, it was a high attrition race.
The Alpenes didn't qualify particularly well.
They weren't shocking, but they weren't terrific.
Both, you know, Lawson was in Q3.
Linblad should have been in Q3.
So I think that pace is pretty genuine.
And I could see them pulling off another double score there, which could be interesting.
It's, you know, what happens with the Hauses of the Grid?
Does Audi's, you know, engine deficit really hamper them at this track?
Or can, you know, Hülkenberg still pull out some magic on Saturday
and just finish outside the points on Sunday?
But no, I think there's a couple of question marks in that midfield.
Lawson's been brilliant this year, hasn't he?
As an aside, only two races.
He's not just ended up in the points by the check of flight.
He's done such a good job.
So I expect racing balls and him to be there and with Alpenes.
I would say Williams will be better in Austria.
Barcelona's always a difficult race for them.
And I would expect Mercedes power unit to go quite well in Austria
and those two to be back towards the edge of points.
And I reckon this is points for Audi.
They haven't scored since Melbourne,
but they've had all manner of bad luck, all manner of hopeless starts.
But if they can get on top of the starts and avoid some bad luck,
Audi have got some pace in hand in Austria,
I think, to get one of their drivers back to the points.
It was Bortoletto who scored his first World Championship points
in Austria last year.
So the track he goes well at.
It's a great drive, too.
Yeah, that was a really, really good drive for him.
Well, guys, I'm going to ask you for your predictions now,
because I know how much you love sharing them.
Who's going to win?
Hinch, I think you can go first this week.
OK.
Well, for the sake of keeping the championship interesting,
let's say George wins, because I do think it's still going to be a Mercedes track.
I do like JP's thought on Lando, though.
He is exceptional there.
Mercedes power units good.
Yeah, I think that's an interesting one.
So I'll throw Lando up in P2, because why not?
And let's put Hamilton P3.
Let's keep it interesting.
All right.
I like where your head's at there.
But I'm going to go a little bit more crushing for the championship chat,
because I think Kimmy's going to do it.
He just seems to be fast everywhere.
I know he didn't nail qualifying in Spain,
but it's also easier to overtake in Austria if he's got the race pace that he had.
And I just can't see past him at this stage on a track that I think Mercedes would go well out.
So Antonelli wins.
I also think Lando will get a second place.
And I will go George picks up third.
So McLaren splits the Mercedes for a podium.
Which I can tease him.
When I think of Antonelli, I just think of turn three lap one last year.
So do you know what the rules are?
You can't think of anything Antonelli last year,
because we'll write him off all season until we get to like Brazil.
Yeah, you think he's flying.
So you're going for the win with him.
Hinch, you're with George.
Well, I think Hamilton's on a roll, guys.
I could see Ferrari.
I know the cars are very different this year,
but people tell me the DNA is the same.
Ferrari have always been really strong in Austria.
They've had a great record there.
I think Hamilton's got the momentum behind him.
And I can see a Hamilton win.
I'm also a little bit worried about the reliability of the Mercedes as well.
I think that's going to be their Achilles heel all season.
And you know, it's quite a high altitude track.
This one, everything's under a little bit more strain.
So maybe if you have a reliability problem, it might raise its head this coming weekend.
So anyway, Hamilton for the win, two in a row.
Antonely, I think P2 and a Lando Norris P3.
That's me.
You're just nodding.
You like it?
No, I'm liking it, TT.
It's game on if it happens, isn't it?
34 points heading to Silverstone.
Surely that's a Hamilton three in a row by then,
but we're getting way ahead of ourselves now.
And then Fred Vesse, I'm afraid it really is throw the kitchen sink
behind Lewis Hamilton at that point, isn't it?
And Charles Leclerc is just going to have to wait for 2027.
It does feel like a big weekend this one for Charles,
for exactly all of those reasons to make sure that's not the case for himself.
And of course, there aren't any massive breaking zones in Barcelona.
You know, one of the few that there are, he tripped over in qualifying last time out.
Whereas we do, as you said, JP, have a lot of big stops coming up in Austria.
So I feel we're going to learn more about Charles and under breaking this weekend.
But also we're all getting a bit carried away with Charles nowhere,
Charles breaking rubbish, all this.
In Miami, he was really, really quick.
He led the race.
Miami is full of big, big stops.
You know, there is other races where we've had this year, he has been able to break.
So obviously he's now changed back towards Hamilton's carbon industry.
So it'll be a new feeling for him.
So maybe there is a little bit in that, but he's still there.
I mean, you say we're jumping on the bandwagon, JP,
but we're actually only reacting to what Charles tells us after the Monaco Grand Prix.
But that's Monaco Grand Prix is not even the best indication for the brakes around a normal circuit.
You never hit the brakes with 120 peak pressure.
It's a break feel rather than like the first three breaking zones of Austria where it's a break mash and then release.
And just look a couple of races before that in Miami proves in the pudding.
He was ahead of Hamilton all weekend, very happy.
We didn't hear a peep about the brakes.
So I don't know.
I'm keeping feet on the ground about Leclerc at the moment.
I think things will come good for him at some point.
It's just whether Ferrari will still want him to help the Hamilton train.
I've had a look at the forecast.
It's going to be really hot again this coming weekend in Austria.
We've got the softest three compounds.
Oh, I might need to change my prediction there, GC.
I had a look at the weather.
If I'm going to be supporting this high heat, high degradation theory,
favoring Ferrari, I might have to join you on the Hamilton victory there.
Well, I mean, it's going to be race day is going to be 30-odd degrees at the Red Bull ring.
We've got the C3, C4, C5 compounds.
We've got a good few ingredients in here.
And also, I do think you make a very astute point about reliability.
You add in that level of temperature with some thinner air, some higher altitude.
Some long, full throttle stretches as well.
It's going to test the Mercedes-Benz PUs.
Well, in selected countries, you can watch every session of the Austrian Grand Prix live on F1 TV and on Apple TV in the US.
You can also keep across all the action at f1.com, the F1 app, and at F1 on social media.
And in the meantime, do check out F1's other official podcasts.
And my guest on this week's F1 Beyond the Grid is Alpine executive advisor Flavio Breatori.
That's out on Wednesday, and you can watch our chat on the F1 YouTube channel.
Flavio in particularly good form this week.
And on the latest episode of F1 Explains, Audi racing director Alan McNish takes Christian Hugo inside Audi's brand new European motorhome.
That's just below this episode on the F1 nation feed.
Thank you everyone for listening.
We will of course be back on Monday with our review of the Austrian Grand Prix.
F1 nation is produced by Formula One and Audiaboom Studio.
About this episode
Debating Ferrari vs Mercedes ahead of the Austrian GP, the hosts question whether Hamilton’s Ferrari role is becoming “team leader” territory and how much race control (like VSC) matters versus raw pace. They unpack why Hamilton’s Spanish win hinged on a three-stop plan, aggressive braking, and clean lap-time extraction. From there, they challenge the “Lewis vs Charles” narrative, weigh reliability and tire/compound sensitivity, and map out what “difficult decisions” could look like if Ferrari needs Leclerc to help Hamilton while Mercedes juggles its own points pressure.
Tom Clarkson is joined by former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer and IndyCar race winner James Hinchcliffe to preview this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix.
With Lewis Hamilton’s victory in Barcelona putting him just 41 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli, do Ferrari and Mercedes have some tough decisions to make?
If Charles Leclerc doesn’t bounce back in the next few races, could Ferrari ask him to play a supporting role in a Hamilton title challenge? How would Charles respond to that?
And with the threat of Ferrari lurking, will Mercedes change their approach to how they let Antonelli and George Russell race each other?
Plus, the guys discuss what challenge the Red Bull Ring provides and share their podium predictions. Will Red Bull be strong at their home track? Are McLaren getting closer to a Grand Prix victory? And why might reliability be a particularly hot topic in Spielberg?
