Japan GP race review turns into a debate about F1’s new regulations after a terrifying 50G crash for Ollie Bearman involving Franco Colapinto—highlighting dangerous closing speeds and “harvesting”/battery deployment gaps. Matt and Tommy also break down Oscar Piastri’s strong drive and McLaren’s race pace, plus the Mercedes story: Russell’s setup issues, Antonelli’s win aided by a safety car, and whether Mercedes are truly beatable. They praise Pierre Gasly’s Alpine form, question Aston Martin’s “turning point,” and finish with winners/losers and predictions.
We saw the best (and the very worst) of these new regulations out at Suzuka, with the title contest taking another intriguing early twist!
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"What's your overall vibe after watching Verstappen be behind Gassley for 53 laps? [123.0s] My first vibe is shut up, and my second vibe is that I think that race, we definitely"
Verstappen is a top Formula 1 driver. When they mention what he did in the race, they’re usually talking about the biggest moments.
Max Verstappen is one of Formula 1’s top drivers and a frequent headline contender. In race reviews, his position changes and overtakes are often used to illustrate how the race unfolded.
"the drivers have said multiple times, that the closing speeds are incredibly scary, and it's a crazy thing to say that a 50G crash"
Closing speed is how quickly one car approaches another—especially important in F1 when faster cars catch slower ones. When closing speeds are very high, even small mistakes or unexpected contact can escalate into severe crashes.
"the thing in 130R, seen people losing up to, you know, 60 kilometers an hour through there"
130R is a well-known fast corner at Suzuka. They’re using it as an example of a spot where cars can slow down a lot, creating big differences between cars.
130R is a famous high-speed corner at Suzuka Circuit (Japan), known for its long, fast approach and heavy braking/turn-in demands. The hosts cite it as a place where drivers lost significant speed, illustrating how track sections can create large speed gaps.
"whether that's less battery kind of being as much of a thing"
The “battery” here likely refers to the energy storage used in F1’s hybrid power units for energy recovery and deployment. The hosts suggest that limiting or changing how much battery/energy is used could affect speed behavior and reduce dangerous closing-speed situations.
"he hopes that the FIA will make the right decision. The only solution is to take the importance of the battery and reduce it."
The FIA is the organization that runs and regulates Formula One. They decide the rules and can change them when safety problems show up.
The FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) is F1’s governing body that sets and enforces the technical and sporting regulations. In this segment, they’re expected to make a rule decision to address the safety issue being discussed.
"They've tried to appease the likes of Audi and other car manufacturers that need to have technology that is linked to road cars"
Audi is a big car company. In this discussion, they’re mentioned as an example of a manufacturer that wants F1 tech to connect to what people drive on the road.
Audi is a major automotive brand referenced here as one of the manufacturers whose interests relate to road-car technology. The speakers suggest that accommodating that kind of tech agenda has influenced F1 rules in a way that harms racing.
"what I've always said is when they're battling into apexes, when they're battling side by side, that's what I love to watch"
The apex is the “turning point” in a corner where you aim to go through near the inside. The speakers like it when cars fight for position right as they enter that part of the turn.
An apex is the point in a corner where a driver aims to pass closest to the inside line. The segment says the most enjoyable racing is when cars battle side-by-side into apexes, which highlights how close-quarters driving and positioning matter in corner entries.
"Motorway passing for the majority. That's not what I like to see. It was DRS times 10."
DRS is a Formula 1 system that briefly reduces drag on the car. That makes it easier to build speed and pass, but it only works in certain places on the track.
DRS stands for Drag Reduction System, a Formula 1 feature that temporarily reduces aerodynamic drag to help cars overtake. It’s typically activated only in specific zones and under certain conditions, which is why fans often notice “DRS trains” during races.
"that it's not like they're out breaking them, they're just flying around the outside of them
into the corner because they've got so much overspeed"
“Out breaking” means you brake later than the car in front to get the position. It’s one of the most skillful ways to pass because it depends on braking and grip.
“Out breaking” refers to overtaking by braking later than the car ahead, forcing the opponent to slow earlier. It’s a classic racing tactic because it combines braking performance with confidence and tire grip management.
"Ferrari is a perfect example when they're racing together because it's not done.
500 meters back, which would have been on a straight, it's going round a curve,"
Ferrari is one of the biggest names in Formula 1. The speaker is pointing out that even when Ferrari is racing closely, the passing can still be driven by speed and aero rather than clean, sustained overtakes.
Ferrari is a historic and elite F1 constructor, often central to discussions about race pace, strategy, and on-track battles. Here, the speaker uses Ferrari as an example of side-by-side racing that still resembles the same underlying “passing” problem.
"that's Formula One. The Ferrari battle in China was the perfect example of it."
Formula One is the highest level of open-wheel racing. The cars are very fast and the racing is often about close battles where drivers fight for position lap after lap.
Formula One (F1) is the top tier of open-wheel racing, known for cars that are extremely sensitive to aerodynamic balance and tire management. In this segment, the speaker uses F1 as the benchmark for side-by-side, apex-to-apex racing rather than single-pass “motorway” overtakes.
"one car was fast in one sector, one car was fast in another and they were constantly overtaking each other"
In F1, the track is divided into timed “sectors,” and drivers/teams compare performance across them. The speaker uses sector-by-sector pace differences to explain why one car may be faster in one sector and slower in another, enabling repeated overtakes.
"Minus the safety car, I really do think he could have won... and I genuinely think without the safety car, Oscar Piestri was driving so well..."
A safety car is when F1 slows everyone down because something unsafe happened on track. It can completely change the race because it closes gaps between cars.
A safety car is deployed in Formula 1 to slow the field when there’s danger on track (like debris or an incident). It can dramatically change race strategy by bunching cars up and resetting gaps, often affecting who has the best chance to win.
"...the pre-race start and the lights seem to be a little bit longer than usual... the lights going out."
In F1, the lights going out is the official signal that the race has started. Drivers react instantly, and that reaction can affect who gets ahead right away.
“Lights going out” refers to the official start signal in F1 when the starting lights extinguish. The timing and the driver’s reaction are critical because the start is measured and can lead to immediate position changes.
"...Oscar's drive was brilliant, he led from the front at the start and was of course unlucky with the safety car..."
“Led from the front” means the driver was in first place right away and stayed there for a while. It’s usually a good position, but race events like the safety car can still change things.
“Led from the front” means the driver was in first place from the start and maintained the lead through the early race phase. In F1, leading from the front can be crucial because it reduces the need to overtake in traffic, though it can still be affected by safety cars.
Term
P2
"But for Oscar, still P2 great for him to finish the race, also brilliant, so well done to Oscar."
P2 means the driver finished second. It’s a strong result even if they didn’t win.
P2 means second place in the race classification. The hosts are praising Oscar for finishing second despite the safety car changing the outcome.
"...if they pull off the perfect strategy, it's something that we discussed..."
Strategy is the plan teams use during the race—when to pit and what tires to run. On tracks where passing is hard, strategy can be the difference between winning and losing.
Strategy in F1 usually means tire choices, pit-stop timing, and how to respond to race events. The speaker ties “the perfect strategy” to staying ahead on a difficult-to-overake circuit like Japan.
"...God, may as well just save the tyres, Mercedes are half a second out clear, it's no point defending."
“Save the tyres” means driving in a way that makes your tires last longer. If the other team is far ahead, sometimes it feels pointless to defend because you’ll lose anyway.
“Save the tyres” refers to managing tire wear to preserve performance later in the race. The speaker contrasts Mercedes’s ability to be “half a second out clear” with the idea that other teams might not bother defending if the gap is too large.
"...once Mercedes have a clean weekend with both drivers and the setups and not having any gremlins..."
“Gremlins” just means random problems that nobody planned for. In racing, even small technical issues can ruin your pace.
“Gremlins” is racing slang for unexpected problems—things like reliability issues, sensor glitches, or setup-related bugs. The speaker is saying Mercedes needed a trouble-free weekend to maximize performance.
"Confidence is everything in the car. I wouldn't have..."
In racing, how confident a driver feels in the car matters a lot. If the car feels weird or unstable, the driver won’t take the same risks.
This is a common racing idea: driver confidence strongly affects how much they push the car. If the setup makes the car feel unpredictable or unstable, the driver may hold back even if the car is capable of more.
"...I just think he was lacking a little bit of speed. And he still went for moves..."
“Pace” refers to how quickly a driver can go consistently—often tied to lap times and tire management. The discussion contrasts Russell’s ability to make moves with the idea that he lacked a bit of outright speed.
"...I think he went for a good move on Norris, into the chicane."
A chicane is a sequence of turns designed to slow cars and create a technical section where overtakes can happen. The speaker mentions Russell attempting a move into the chicane, which is a common overtaking zone because braking and car placement matter a lot.
"...because if we are in this situation... So he doesn't want to stick a nose in loser front wing..."
The front wing is a key aerodynamic component that helps generate downforce and manage airflow to the rest of the car. In the segment, the hosts mention avoiding damage or risky contact (“nose in loser front wing”) because it can ruin performance.
"...the way they deploy and harvest their energy is the case of go for a move..."
F1 cars have a hybrid system that stores energy. They use that stored energy to go faster (“deploy”) and then refill it during braking or other moments (“harvest”).
“Deploy and harvest” refers to how F1 teams manage energy from the hybrid power unit. Drivers use energy in bursts (“deploy”) and recharge it under braking or specific conditions (“harvest”), which strongly affects race strategy and overtaking.
"It's not been a perfect weekend for Antonelli, despite the fact he got pole
and he got the win."
Pole is when you qualify fastest and start the race from the front. Starting first usually makes it easier to lead and avoid getting stuck in traffic.
Pole position means starting first on the grid, awarded to the fastest car in qualifying. In F1, pole is a major advantage because it helps the driver control the race start and track position.
"It is a small baby step which should have been made at the start of testing,"
Testing is when teams try out changes to the car before they show up on race day. They’re saying Aston Martin’s improvement seems small and maybe should have been found sooner.
Testing in F1 is when teams evaluate upgrades, setup changes, and reliability before and between race weekends. The hosts say the improvement is a “baby step” that should have happened earlier in testing, implying the car’s development timeline.
"I think there's even a point where they're interviewing someone on the grid and you could hear the Mario Kart music playing in the background. It's just brilliant."
In Formula 1, the “grid” is where all the cars line up before the race starts. It’s based on qualifying, and TV coverage often shows interviews and music while the cars are waiting.
The “grid” is the starting lineup for a Formula 1 race, arranged by qualifying results. When the podcast mentions the grid and onboard cutaways, they’re talking about what viewers see during pre-race coverage and the start sequence.
"If you missed it, they post a social clip of Antonelli's qualifying P1 lap, but they cut away before he gets to 130R..."
A “P1” qualifying lap means the driver set the fastest time and starts from pole position. Starting first can make the race easier because you’re at the front at the start.
“Qualifying P1 lap” means the lap that earned first place in qualifying (P1 = pole position). In F1, pole position is a major advantage because it puts you at the front of the grid for the race start.
"to get points because they looked quick. And maybe Colopinto, just how far behind"
In Formula One, drivers and teams earn points based on finishing positions. The hosts reference “getting points” as the goal, and they judge predictions by whether the chosen drivers finish high enough.
"Pole position. I went for George Russell and then he had problems. Great. Well done, George."
George Russell is an F1 driver. They’re saying he was expected to do well (pole position), but something went wrong during the race.
George Russell is a Formula One driver who has driven for top teams (notably Mercedes in recent seasons). The hosts mention him in the context of pole position and race problems, implying his qualifying/starting advantage didn’t convert into a strong result.
"And knows there's no time for managing multiple suppliers and no room for shipping delays. That's why Granger offers millions of products and fast dependable delivery..."
Granger is a company that sells industrial supplies. This part of the segment is an advertisement, not related to the racing discussion.
Granger is an industrial supply company that advertises products and delivery services. While not automotive-specific, this ad appears in the podcast and is part of the broadcast rather than the race content.
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Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the P1 podcast with Matt
and Tommy. Let's enjoy every second of this because it's the last race review for five weeks.
We have only one race in two months coming up, which I think is even more painful to think about.
Of course, the reasons for the cancellations are absolutely correct. We have five weeks
to Miami. Then we have another three-week break after that. Come on, guys.
Japan, we need to talk about it. The race, Tommy, thoughts and feelings. What's your overall
vibe after watching Verstappen be behind Gassley for 53 laps?
My first vibe is shut up, and my second vibe is that I think that race, we definitely
overarching feelings that we saw the best and worst of the regulations, one of them being a
lucky escape, which we'll get into. It was a mixed bag, I'd say.
A mixed bag indeed. Lots of opinions are coming your way. I can promise you that one. Now,
before we get into all of those, it's a big old break, of course, to Miami, but when we are in
Miami, we're not in Miami, but when we get to Miami, we're going to be in Australia because our P1
live show is coming. If you haven't got your Australia live show tickets, Adelaide, Sydney,
Melbourne, Brisbane, or Perth, remember some of those shows are sold out, then head to tix.to
forward slash P1 live. That's an easy way to do it, or just type in P1 live Australia on Google,
and it will show you all of those for you to hopefully come along. Lots of people already
coming. We'd love to see you there. If you're scared, if you're like, I'll be going on my own,
I won't know anybody. We have so many case studies and people telling us after the show at the
meet and greets and things like that, that they came on the road and they've made friends,
which is always a lovely thing to hear. Go get your tickets. We'd love to see you at the P1
live Australia. Now, before we get into it as well, a quick shout out to our wonderful P1
Patreons who will be getting more chat at the end of every single race review this season,
as well as, of course, Adfree listening, which I know a lot of people love,
access to the Discord, and so on and so forth. Get involved in the P1 Patreon if you haven't
already. Now, my most memorable moment, we're kicking it off with me, and no, it's not to do
with the Ferrari drivers this time, is to do with Ollie Bearman and his big old crash, his 50G
crash that he had. A memorable moment, not necessarily, yeah, it doesn't always have
to be positive. Of course, this one is not a positive because it was a very scary one,
a big incident for Ollie. Of course, we saw him limping after the crash as well,
something we never tend to see from crashes, do we? We don't usually see a visual
bit of evidence that a driver's been hurt, and this was, of course, quite a scary one to see.
This came because of Franco Colopinto's big speed difference compared to Ollie Bearman.
Colopinto clearly harvesting, going a significant amount slower than Ollie Bearman was, heading
towards Spoon, and Ollie tries to go around, I guess technically the outside, which then turns
into the inside for Spoon, and Colopinto sees him late, sort of throws a defensive shape,
but it's too late at that point. Ollie's trying to make a big move to not crash into Colopinto,
but there's no more race track, and it's ended in a big one for Ollie. My first thoughts from this
is I'm very glad to see him, of course, walk away. Yes, I think he had a right knee contusion or
something like that. I don't know how exactly he said it, but apart from that, it seems like he
should and hopefully will be okay after the break that we have.
Yeah, it's a really scary incident, and it's something that we've said many times about the new
regulations that could happen, and had Ollie not reacted quicker and made that, unfortunately,
for his own race where he's gone off, but if he'd gone into the back of Colopinto there,
we're seeing like a Mark Webber at Valencia kind of plane crash, and it's something that we've
said many times about these new rules and something the drivers have said multiple times,
that the closing speeds are incredibly scary, and it's a crazy thing to say that a 50G crash
where Ollie Berman's clearly hurt himself, thankfully not really badly, is like a lucky
escape, but it is a lucky escape because it could have been far, far worse, and yeah, it's insane
that to watch a Formula One car close with that speed, it's something that we've seen before in
years gone by where we mentioned how slow they're going and qualifying, and on a blind
corner and people are caught out, and you think if someone collides out it's going to be horrendous,
but now, of course, this is going to happen in the races because people are super clipping and
harvesting in certain points, and the speeds this weekend has been insane, you know, the thing in
130R, seen people losing up to, you know, 60 kilometers an hour through there, and yeah,
this is what happens when you have such a huge difference between speeds, and thankfully for
Ollie, it's nothing even worse. Absolutely. A question from Pop on the pit wall. After the
Berman and Colopinto incidents, do you think the concerns drivers have raised, especially Alonso,
right before the race, are finally being proven right in Formula One, and if so, what can change?
Yeah, I think the drivers' concerns are absolutely, you know, spot on. They've mentioned it. A lot of
them, not just Alonso, have mentioned that the closing speeds is the thing they're most concerned
about, and this incident right here, we've seen exactly that, and you do wonder what they can
change. Now, of course, we've had this discussion before when it comes to not even talking about
safety, but the qualifying and the super clipping, what they can actually do to make this better,
they obviously implemented a very slight change in qualifying where they didn't have to
harvest as much, but it still shows that in the race, you're still getting huge differences between
the cars, which is great for Formula One and their overtaking graphics, but not for the drivers'
safety and sometimes the racing as well. So what can they change? They've got
five weeks to do something, whether that's less battery kind of being as much of a thing
about the battery. I don't know. I don't have the answer, but they definitely need to do something,
because they need to take this as something that can't happen again, rather than a,
oh, this is okay. He got away with it.
Exactly. It was always going to happen. The drivers have seen it coming from, I mean,
Max has seen it coming for years, and the other drivers, of course, have been speaking. Carlos
Sines was very vocal after this weekend's Grand Prix, saying that this was always going to happen,
and he hopes that the FIA will make the right decision. The only solution is to take
the importance of the battery and reduce it. That is the only way in which this can be moved
forward. Formula One will inevitably get slower because of it, but when the trade-off is driver
safety, you have to be leaning heavily towards the safety of the drivers. There's not much more
they can do from a visibility perspective because they have the lights at the back of the car to
flash when it's in charging mode, but it's the case of it can happen so randomly that, and it's
such a big speed difference, that it's dangerous regardless of whether they have flashing lights
or not. I'm not a technical guy, so I don't know exactly what the cars are going to look like if
they do reduce significantly the battery deployment element of Formula One, but that is what's
the issue right now in many regards. Driver safety and the fact that qualifying is quite
difficult to watch through the best parts of any circuit that we have been so excited to watch over
the years. The regulations are fundamentally flawed. I don't think there is a plaster that
they can put on or a band-aid, wherever you're from, to fix this. They have made the wrong
decision with these rules. They've tried to appease the likes of Audi and other car manufacturers
that need to have technology that is linked to road cars in order to put down a significant
investment into a sport like Formula One, but it's been a detrimental effect to the sport.
Yes, the first two races, we've had brilliant racing. When I actually watch the overtakes
and things like that, what I've always said is when they're battling into apexes, when they're
battling side by side, that's what I love to watch that. It's great. Today, what we saw,
just going away from the bearman crash, but I'm on a roll here, is the fact that it was
motorway passing for the majority. That's not what I like to see. It was DRS times 10.
I literally about to say that exact phrase. It was not even close with the differences in
deployment between cars. That was what we saw and predicted from the start of the season.
Yes, F1 was saved in those first two races because it just worked out for whatever reasons,
but Japan, I think, was more of an example of what I expected for the majority of the season.
Yes, the way they were just flying past was very reminiscent of DRS even more extreme sometimes
because you would make a move and then the whole yo-yoing, as we've called it, which was maybe
a little bit exciting at the first and unexpected because we were expecting Mercedes to fly away
and then you had this amazing battle with the Friars and the Mercs and the first race going,
oh, wow, okay, I'll get used to this because at least we're seeing some action.
But when you're more races in and you know that as soon as someone goes for the overtake and they
just fly back past, it gets a bit ridiculous. You want to see them overtaking into the apexes
and things, but even then, some of the moves, it's more just a good fortune and good luck
that they only pass at that point because they've still got massive overspeed,
that it's not like they're out breaking them, they're just flying around the outside of them
into the corner because they've got so much overspeed and it just looks so much more spectacular.
Ferrari is a perfect example when they're racing together because it's not done.
500 meters back, which would have been on a straight, it's going round a curve,
but it's still kind of very, very similar in that sense. But this is also the same problem that
we had with DRS where there was never a perfect solution. How many times we said with DRS,
oh, the DRS is too powerful or oh, it's not powerful enough and they don't know because
every single overtake is different, every car is different. So when they're passing,
when they get into the corner, it looks fantastic and we go, oh my god, that's amazing, wow, you
stand up, you super excited when the Ferrari is going side by side in turn one, but then
two turns later, you could have the same incident and it's just passing it on the straight and it
just feels really numb and almost kind of farcical. It is such a fine balance because I look at an
example, we talk about yo-yo racing, everyone hates yo-yo racing. I don't hate yo-yo racing if the
yo-yos are not, if the yo-yo is what we've seen today where it's pass and then it's a big gap and
then they come back and there's a pass and it's just motorway passes, I don't like that. The yo-yo
racing where it's back and forth action, side by side, trying to beat the other person into the apex,
that's Formula One. The Ferrari battle in China was the perfect example of it.
Yeah, that was brilliant. That was one of the best pieces of racing that we've seen in a long
time in my opinion and also we talk about, it's so funny that obviously the sentiment of these
regulations are terrible, terrible this, terrible that. Back in 2022 when the regulations came out
and Max and Charles fought at Saudi, it was yo-yo racing. They were back and forth that one car was
fast in one sector, one car was fast in another and they were constantly overtaking each other
because they couldn't escape the other driver, but because of the fact that there's this energy
element to it that perhaps it leads it more towards the fast school point.
My point here is that we want to see them overtake and not be able to escape each other.
That's the whole point of Formula One. It's just, you could clearly have people have problems for
the way in which it goes down, but I think Japan was on the lower quality of overtakes today
without a doubt and I hope that this doesn't become a trend around tracks that may be
slightly more difficult to overtake. Back to my point, there was million years ago,
glad to see Oli Bearman. Hopefully he's going to be all good for the foreseeable and the fact
there is a break is probably good for any injury that he might well be carrying at the moment.
Tommy, let's head to your most memorable moment please.
Mine is Oscar Piestri, one actually just driving, which was nice to see because he's not done it
this year in a Grand Prix. Full stop, well done. Boy was it a great drive, absolutely incredible
from him. His start was very surprising. McLaren looked pretty good. I've always said the McLarens
are good when they're on the grid. We did say it, but I think the fact that for them to get as good
of a start of Ferrari, maybe a little bit worrying for Ferrari that if McLaren do catch up, they've
also got great starts. We did have a little teaser of it, didn't we, when we were watching testing
and I think when they were doing the practice starts and we saw an amazing start from Landon,
we thought, okay, McLaren maybe have got this figured out. Oscar Piestri was absolutely brilliant
today. Minus the safety car, I really do think he could have won and it's obviously open for debate,
but how we saw George Russell and Antonelli at the start of the race struggle in the pack,
the Mercedes don't fly through the field anywhere near as much as kind of we expected and with
their advantage. Had Russell got into second at the end, I would maybe sat here questioning whether
it was all just a ploy and they're just almost like sandbagging to stop them catching up with
but he couldn't get past, he only managed fourth and I genuinely think without the safety car,
Oscar Piestri was driving so well that he had an amazing opportunity and could well have won that
race. So it's kind of bittersweet, isn't it, for I'm sure Oscar Piestri and all his fans
that he's finally got to do a race, but I think that could have been a victory.
It could have been, I think Oscar Piestri fans will be celebrating a P2 anyway because it was
a really strong weekend for McLaren, it was particularly strong for Oscar.
Your point on the starts, yeah, McLaren showed once again that they do have a decent starting car,
probably worth mentioning as well, the pre-race start and the lights seem to be a little bit
longer than usual, well I say usual, the other one being 0.1 of a second, the lights going out.
What's with the weird lights, this race we had two at the same time and then three, four, five.
Which was strange, but the pre-race starts seem to be longer so perhaps that does then work
more towards the other teams and their engines compared to Ferrari. I would love to see in Miami
where it goes out at 0.1 of a second again, just as a comparison once again. But Oscar's drive was
brilliant, he led from the front at the start and was of course unlucky with the safety car
and I am of the opinion that it would have been close, I don't think it would have been a slam
dunk win for Oscar had he remained in the lead because Russell was clearly struggling more than
Antonelli, Antonelli was coming through at a rate of knots and there's part of me that thinks that
Kimmy could have even still had a chance of winning despite him being what would have been third on the
road, had the safety car not come out, I think it would have been a brilliant watch. Once again
we've been robbed of seeing the two Mercedes fight each other, it feels very reminiscent of last
year where we were like, oh we've got to Canada and we still haven't had a McLaren fight,
so I hope we don't have to delay that long. We're Formula One fans, we just want everything,
don't we, where we're like, oh it's so boring that Mercedes always won too and then a McLaren
Ferrari get in the mix, it's like get out the way, we want to see them fight each other,
could never have it all. You know we talk about the Mercedes domination, they can't seem to fight
each other, they're the two fastest cars and we still haven't seen much action between the two of
them. But for Oscar, where am I going to lean towards in terms of whether he would have won or
not? I think, yeah, I think he would have had a really good shot, so I'm going to say that Oscar
would have won the race had it not been for the safety car. But again, yeah, I think we all,
you know, when we're doing our live stream watch along, there's so many people in the chat going,
I really want a safety car, give us a safety car. Sometimes the safety car ruins the race and it
gives big advantages to some drivers and the fact it gave it to the driver that was clearly the
quickest this weekend. It was not ideal because he absolutely cleared off after the safety car
restart. But for Oscar, still P2 great for him to finish the race, also brilliant, so well done to Oscar.
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Question. Craig Tilly 95. Have McLaren and Ferrari proven that at this point in the season,
Mercedes are in fact beatable in a Grand Prix? I think so, yes. In race trim, they are definitely
closer. McLaren have taken a big step forward in Suzuka, still hesitant as to whether this will
be a recurring thing. Fred Viser, let's not forget, has said the championship will be entirely
different. Come, Miami. I wish he hadn't been so vague because I'm sat here. Initially, I read that
and go, all right, Ferrari winning it. Oh, they found something. But then I'm also going, hold on.
He's not actually said it's going to be different in a good way or a bad way. But different all the
same. Of course, the teams are going to have a lot of time to digest the first three races.
Maybe the FIA are going to make changes as well. But I think round tracks that are more
difficult to overtake, Suzuka has always been one that has been quite difficult to overtake.
Yes, if McLaren or Ferrari get a good start, there is a chance that Mercedes can't just
breeze through. Perhaps reminiscent again of when Mercedes used to dominate back in 2014,
but if there was a car ahead of them or if they had a poor qualifying or something that went wrong,
meant they were put back in the pack, they can't just breeze through. Maybe that's just
Formula One in general. I think Oscar was saying that about overtaking being difficult and so on.
So, yes, it's exciting because I think after lap one, I was thinking, they're just going to,
the fourth and sixth at the moment, Russell and Antonelli, but they're going to want to it easy
but that didn't happen. It didn't and I think that's a good thing for F1 that
I do worry that when Mercedes get their start sorted, they'll probably be fine
because once Antonelli was in the lead, he cleared off. But we're seeing now,
I think you mentioned it in the watch along that there was a moment where I think it was
Russell went for a move and his lap was like a second and a half slower or something and that
just shows that when you're in the pack, even if you are a Mercedes who are so far ahead in
qualifying and we're talking about how they're going to finish one to every race, it's so easy.
If you are in the pack, you can't get through anywhere near as easy as what we thought it would
be and it wasn't even a case of George got through in the end, he didn't actually manage to get
past the McLaren and the Ferrari. They are beatable if McLaren and Ferrari can make the most of these
starts that they have and then it's a circuit like Japan that's difficult to overtake on
and they can stay ahead and if they pull off the perfect strategy, it's something that we discussed
in, and sorry to bring it up Matt, but it's something we discussed in Australia
about why Ferrari didn't stick with Mercedes under that safety car.
And this kind of shown it again because we've seen another example of where Mercedes,
it wants her in the lead, see you later, off you go. But when they're in the pack,
they really, really struggled. They did at the start and George did at the end as well.
So yeah, there's definitely hope for McLaren and Ferrari to win a race.
I think the most important point here is that McLaren and Ferrari have, there's been evidence
now to suggest that they can fight Mercedes, so that means that they then will defend positions
against Mercedes. They know it's worthwhile. We've seen so many occasions where it's,
God, may as well just save the tyres, Mercedes are half a second out clear, it's no point defending.
Piastri's famous chat with us about the staff then and how when he's behind you,
you're almost like, well, off you go. Yeah. Back in the grand effect here, of course,
not now. Exactly. So thankfully, it seems that they will put up a fight no matter what,
because there is a chance to beat the Mercedes in race trim if they get ahead.
Question from P1Patreon member Piper, MZMimicX,
could George have had a chance at victory without the safety car or was he doomed with the setup
issues? I think he could have challenged for victory, of course. I think he's kind of claiming that,
yeah, I would have won the race without the bad luck. And there's no doubt he did have
bad luck in that race with the timing of the safety car, the fact that he'd just come in.
But it would have been really fascinating. And again, this is going back to talking about the
safety car. Had that not come out, it would have been really interesting to see what would have
happened because George was obviously quick and would have tried to get Piastri for the win.
But Antonelli was really catching Russell when he got the clean air himself when everyone started
to pit and it was just those two out front. And Antonelli looked the quicker of the two Mercedes.
So he was catching, so I don't think it was necessarily a case of Antonelli only beat George
because of the safety car. We would have had a fascinating battle between the two of them, I
think, which I really hope we see at some point because it's going to be really exciting. But
yeah, Antonelli was catching him. So George had a chance at victory. Would he have won? I don't think
I wouldn't kind of state his claim of like, I would have won if it wasn't for the safety car
because I don't think he would have. I think Piastri had a great opportunity and I don't think
you could have written Antonelli off either. Exactly. You know, the part of this question
that we probably need to touch upon is, of course, the George Russell setup issues. This
was something that happened in qualifying. I think we heard some murmurs of it on the
radio where he was saying he felt like something was wrong on the rear and they made a very small
change to balance that out. And turns out it was just not, it just didn't work. And of course,
if you make changes in qualifying, you can't make changes for the race unless you want to
start from the pit lane and brake park fermé. So there's another sort of, I guess, caveat to this
Antonelli-Russell battle where, and I mean, there's so many caveats, there's so many people
complaining about deployment issues and so on and so forth. But it is interesting to sort of
factor this in as something that once Mercedes have a clean weekend with both drivers and the
setups and not having any gremlins, whether that George Russell advantage will come back
once he's happy with the car and setup changes and not potentially causing him
sort of speed per lap. So for me, George said this after the race, he said,
I would have won one lap earlier or the safety car and I would have won. I'm not convinced either
that he would have necessarily won, but he would have had a great chance of winning and he would
have certainly not easily been on the podium. So it did hurt him for sure. But I mean, it was
strange because at the start of the race, George was the one that you thought, ah, he's going to,
he's coming through the field, he's going to romp away and win, but then he couldn't get through
on Oscar. So yeah, it was a tale of not two halves, many halves, halves, many quarters,
many, many halves. Anyway, and many halves. Yeah. Next question, people on page remember
Blackson, was Russell thinking about the bigger picture or why was he looking so tame in his
wheel to wheel? Maybe that was down to the confidence in the car. You know, the fact that he,
as I mentioned, the setup change from qualifying, which caused him to be slightly handcuffed,
as he said, going into the race. Confidence is everything in the car. I wouldn't have,
I didn't really watch Russell's race and think, yeah, he looks tame. I just think he was lacking
a little bit of speed. And he still went for moves. I think he went for a good move on Norris,
into the chicane. So I think to call him tame was, is maybe slightly unfair, but just,
just lacking a bit of pace. Yeah, definitely. I think it was, the way the race went, George was
actually the one that was more aggressive at the start. And it was Antoni really struggling to get
through after the Mercedes poor start. So to say that George, you know, is lacking something in
wheel to wheel, I think it's probably unfair because he was the one that made those moves at
the start. But then Antoni, once Antoni was ahead, Russell, yeah, didn't, didn't make as much progress
as we thought. And there is probably a little bit of, it's a long championship ahead. He's not
going to do something absolutely crazy dive bomb at this stage, because if we are in this situation
where it feels like Mercedes are going to be one to every race, a 25 point swing is absolutely
massive in the, in the championship fight between the two of them. So he doesn't want to stick a
nose in loser front wing or do anything crazy at this stage. But it is just, it's proof that not
just Russell, but Antoni, again, like they, they're not going to have it all their own way
if the Ferraris and McLaren get ahead, because it's incredibly hard to pass and the way they
deploy and harvest their energy is the case of go for a move, but then the other cars got an
enormous advantage behind them and say, thank you very much. I'm coming back through. And it's
about how you kind of stop that from happening. So yeah, I think it wasn't Russell's greatest race
for sure. But I don't think he's been tame and wheel to wheel and just struggled to get through.
Indeed. A question from Umair Wasim 03. Is Antoni a serious threat to Russell's title hopes
or still early to say? Absolutely. He definitely is. I don't, I don't think you can say he's not
based on what we've seen. And had we, the first race, I was a little worried of what, what we'd
kind of seen from him and that difficult race that he had. And yes, he was much better in the
actual Grand Prix in Australia. But had Antoni won that race and obviously won in China, and we
mentioned before that George Russell, yes, had problems in China qualifying. Had it just been
that Antoni has maybe picked up points because Russell has had problems and things like that.
But Antoni's got serious pace now. We're not seeing that kind of he's four tenths off in
qualifying and he's not, can't really match George at all in the race. It's quite the opposite.
In, you know, that race when, when Antoni was, was catching George in that mid stage of the race,
when everyone else had kind of pitted and the Merckx had got into the front and we're trying
to do something different. So Antoni, yeah, isn't going to just let George run away with it. And
I think he's found a lot more pace compared to, compared to Russell. The key is going to be that
consistency. That is something with Antoni obviously had the bad start again. Had a few issues here
and there, even in China when he brilliantly won the, you know, his first race, he had that lock
up at the end. And you just think these little things almost has to be like, perfect in the
championship if he wants to beat Russell to the title. But I think he absolutely can, based on
what we've seen so far. But it's going to be a tough ask with the, the reliability, the consistency
of the championship. And reliability as well. And reliability. Yeah, that could, that could
literally flip the whole thing. It could, it certainly could. Yes, Antoni is 100% a serious
threat to Russell's title hopes. However, for me, George Russell is still the favorite. And I think
in my mind, you know, once we see, and again, it comes down to clean weekends at the moment. And
I just don't think George has really had the cleanest of weekends these last two. So I still
think George Russell's consistency is something that has been proven, but for Kimmy has not.
If you think about last year, for example, yes, it's his rookie season, but he had moments where
you're going, wow, unbelievable. But then he had a slump of a, of a good few races. And if he has
a slump this, this season, that's championship over. You know, we were saying last year, halfway
through the season that Oscar Piazza is going to win it. Yeah. Oh, he's absolutely the favorite.
And then look how that ended with a just a few races where he didn't perform. So
for Kimmy, the pressure will only build from this point. And
there was no guarantee that he would have won today's race, but he was the fastest car out on
track because of the massive error that he made at the start. He's even said it himself that he
just did the clutch wrong and he got too much wheel spin. And he went down to sixth. So that is a
driver error. It's not been a perfect weekend for Antonelli, despite the fact he got pole
and he got the win. It doesn't tell the, doesn't tell the whole story. So without that fortunate
safety card, yeah, we wouldn't, we maybe aren't speaking about his second win in Formula One.
So there are things he needs to iron out, especially with actual mistakes that he is
making, especially at the start. Thank you, Kimmy, for making the mistakes, because it makes it
more interesting for us. Don't really want a Mercedes 12 leading at a turn one. But no,
but that being said, not to take away from his, his race pace, because I think China is a great
example that once George Russell got through on, on the other cars and got through to second,
didn't really gain on Kimmy in the race pace. I think they're going to be very close and it's
going to come down to qualifying and essentially who maybe even leads after turn one. But I want
to see a fight between the two of them so we can actually see who comes out on top in a bit of
wheel-to-wheel combat and maybe it'll open the door for Charlotte Glow MP3. I can't wait till we,
yeah, for him to do like what was happened last year, almost. We, we, I can't wait for the,
the race when you'll know later in the season, when they line at one two and they start pointing
their cars at each other, that's when it's serious. At the moment, it's all fine. But as soon as,
since the angle of their cars pointing towards each other is going to get more and more as we
get throughout the season. I think it's going to be like that. Yeah. And he'll go straight through.
Yeah. The McLaren surprise like, well, thank you guys. See you later.
All right. Let's head a little bit further down the, the grid and go to a question from
P1Patreon member Patrick. Is this the turning point of Aston Martin season?
Right. Let me remind you all of what's happened. This is the question.
Finish. Fernando Alonso finished the race. Lance Troll did not. And this is the turning
point. Did he finish 18th? If I'm remembering correctly, was it? Where did Alonso finish?
He finished 18th, I believe. Yeah. He did. Yes. A lap down. You know, no pace to,
to really suggest. I've even seen POV videos of him driving down the straight towards 130R with
one hand on the wheel. So it's not as if Aston Martin has found something apart from a little bit
longer running. How much of that is Fernando Alonso? And the fact that they're at Honda's race
track and they've gone, you will finish the race, Fernando. I mean, this is our home track. One
of us has to. I doubt that's probably the case because there's health and safety involved. But
for me, it's not much of a turning point. It's not as if they've shown much speed.
It is a small baby step which should have been made at the start of testing,
not three races into the season. Well, look, they said that they could only probably do
like 21 laps. Now they've finished the race. So the only logical next step and the next
Grand Prix is to them to win the race by 20 laps ahead of the whole field, right? That's how it
works. That's another baby step. Yeah. But it's certainly not the turning point for Aston Martin.
Yes, they've got some good data, but they're still miles off the pace.
They're doing, their fastest laps are still slower than Cadillac, way off the pace of even
the Williams who are probably the third worst car on the grid. And yeah, it's still going to be a
time until we see anything from Aston Martin. Yes, it will be an achievement at this stage in
the season to be like, wow, we finished a race, but that's more just showing just how bad it is
for Aston Martin than it being a good thing. Yeah. Yeah. To say it's a turning point is
if you'd have said Adrian Newie comes on board and all this talk of like, well,
Max go to Aston Martin, they're going to be really good in 2026. I've got Adrian Newie,
the cheat code. If you said we'd be celebrating alongside finishing the race in 18th.
Yeah. Is it really a celebration? Not particularly. Speaking of like finishing
races and things like that, I think it was worth pointing out that the only
DNF was launch strolled due to mechanical issues. Of course, Oli Berman had his crash,
but we had 20 finishes today, which I think is that's a big step forward for just generally
Formula One teams getting a handle of the cars, because that's not what any of us probably was
expecting. Only three races into this season after the first two weekends that we'd witnessed.
So it's a well done to the teams for figuring it out. Well done. Question for people in the
picture. Remember Tony Soprano. Why didn't they mention that Jack Black is playing Bowser in a
new Mario movie in brackets sarcasm? I love this, right? I just have visions that Formula One have
done all this stuff to hide the fact that it's like Mario Kart. And then remember just before
the Japanese Grand Prix that last year they signed off some kind of like movie deal with a new
Mario Kart movie and gone, oh no, they're all coming to the race, aren't they? So they've done
all this stuff where we didn't, we mentioned before that we didn't get to hear Sergio Perez saying,
I need the mushroom. I need the mushroom. And Charlotte Clair saying this is like a mushroom
in Mario Kart. And we've not heard any of these messages on the broadcast because they kind of
worried about the comparison. And now they've literally got the whole cast of the Mario Kart
movie there going like, yay, we're here for the race. I think there's even a point where they're
interviewing someone on the grid and you could hear the Mario Kart music playing in the background.
It's just brilliant. So yeah, I do wonder how much they were happy about that one,
whether they could have cancelled it last minute. I don't know, but they probably got a lot of money
for it. Oh, mate, they're not F1. They'd take the money over a bit of embarrassment, wouldn't they?
Yeah, it was so funny. It was so funny to just be hearing the Mario
theme tune when they were on the grid. I'm like, so hold on. We have F1
hiding like fans replies from Australia. You have them even replying after that whole
Antonelli cut away from the onboard. If you missed it, they post a social clip of Antonelli's
qualifying P1 lap, but they cut away before he gets to 130R and then even replied afterwards,
four hours later saying, oh, by the way, there was just an issue with Kimi Antonelli's.
Anyway, it's all this sort of like trying to save face with certain things and then boom,
Mario in Japan. We've got mushroom jokes and everything. It was quite funny.
Even Piazzari said it, didn't he, in the cooldown room. I think he said to Charlie,
it was like, you're right, it is like a mushroom. He was like, now I know what the
mushroom feels like or something like that. Yes, it was a very strange F1 grid, the pre-raised stuff
with them all. Imagine if they had absolutely gone, because we've seen this before with
Lego where they go for a really big activation. Imagine if they'd like decked the whole grid
in the start with the Mario start font and everything.
And just put them for their lap to the grid in Mario carts and stuff like that. That would have
been so good. That just reminded me of something complete, just caveat here. Do you remember when
they did that Heineken thing and they super imposed stars onto the track and they drove
through the star? You imagine if they'd got this whole thing planned where they were going to do
Mario cart overlays and stuff and then got to the race and go, oh no. Yeah, we're going to have to
get rid of that. That would mean to be fair. Who knows what they actually had planned.
All right, two truths and a lie. Here we go. I went to college with college football coach Jim
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business. Okay, let's move to another chat which was around Gasly and Verstappen. I think Verstappen
still is looking at the back of that Alpine. It was a brilliant little ding dong between the two
of them, but my main takeaway from this is that Pierre Gasly, P7, what a drive to be taking that
Alpine already from what was quite a disastrous first race of the season to now that easily
best of the rest. Can we even say Red Bull are part of the rest? I don't really know where we
can really put them right now, but Gasly stayed ahead of Verstappen. The entire race, apart from
sometimes when they ran out of battery and the other one went through and there's a great clip
as well if you haven't seen Verstappen waving to Gasly as he didn't have any battery to defend
down towards turn one, but Pierre Gasly, phenomenal drive from him.
Yeah, another brilliant drive from Gasly. It'd be interesting to know how much the Alpine is great,
how much is Gasly overperforming, how much is Colopinto maybe underperforming as well,
because we have seen a big gap between the two of them, but Gasly has been really consistently
good. It's quite clear that the Alpine with that Mercedes power in the back looking so much more
competitive this year, particularly they've been saved their blushes from maybe teams we've seen
in the past that have gone all in on a new regulation set and it not worked out. Well,
it's definitely worked for Alpine if they'd have said, yeah, you're going to be four nil up on
Max Verstappen in qualifying and then battling him in the race and staying ahead. On to Max,
we saw him basically probably another step towards him retiring because he saw the worst of the
regulations where you can't really go for a move because then you just get overtaken again,
which will no doubt be frustrating for him. There was a moment that I've just seen that got
posted on social media where GP was basically telling Max that he was quicker than Piastri,
Hamilton, Leclerc and Russell and then Max was like, well, yeah, the Alpine's really fast as
well and they can't get past. It was another great drive from Gasly and looking very nice for Alpine.
Indeed, the head-to-head battle between Gasly and Verstappen rages on. That's going to be an
interesting battle to keep an eye on and also I think it's worth mentioning Lawson once again
in the points. I think he did a phenomenal job again. He's having a good start to the season,
is Lawson and Ocon. Ocon in the points. A point in P10. Good to see him score in the house,
of course. Bearman, even before the crash, had his problems in qualifying, didn't he? Ocon flew
the flag for Haas pretty well this weekend. Yeah, definitely. Ocon's had a bad time of it recently
compared to his teammate Bearman, but he delivered in this race and did well for Haas to get the
points. Liam Lawson again just quietly going about his business, picking up a lot of points.
He must be doing quite well in the standings now, Lawson. He's got 10 points already and I
put racing balls way down the order in the championship, but they are delivering on points
at the moment. Speaking of racing balls, it's also worth mentioning that Hajar and Limblad
had a constant battle throughout the race and Hajar was very, very upset by some of Limblad's
defensive moves and things. Really? Getting quite angry over the team radio.
Back to the law? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, Hajar, despite his heroics in qualifying,
out qualifying, Max, he really dropped back, didn't he, in the race?
Over 20 seconds behind Max at the end and out of the points. So, yeah, not the best Sunday
for Hajar by any stretch of the imagination. Right, let's head to Biggest Winner, where we crown
Biggest Winner to a driver or team. I mean, McLaren, they started the race and they scored points,
so that's got to be a shout. I mean, to be fair, generally, their pace McLaren was much better
than perhaps we anticipated. Piastri was, yeah, is a really big shout for that, I think.
Antonelli won with the safety car. Alonso finished the race.
Biggest Winner asked Martin, yeah, Deb. Gazley's a good shout as well.
There's not like an out and out. Yeah, let's go with Piastri because he could have very much won
the race. Yeah, and it's kind of weird to say Biggest Winner when he kind of almost not got
robbed by the safety car. Yeah, lost his chance to win, but he's still a great result.
Let's go with Oscar. And then Biggest Loser, driver or team. I mean, Olly Bearman is right
up there with that one just purely because of the crash and having to withstand a 50G impact.
It turns to someone that just did poorly. Yeah, it's hard to say. There was no, I mean,
Red Bull underdelivered, didn't they, with what they maybe we thought might, they might promise,
but Max still managed to get a whopping eighth place in the end.
And I love how Aston Martin finishing 18th in DNF is not a Biggest Loser in 2026,
if anything, that's Biggest Winner. So yeah, not really too many standouts. I think, again,
like a sort of honourable mention is Audi and the fact that they looked really quick and the
head didn't end up scoring any points. Yeah, I think Audi definitely missed a big opportunity
to get points because they looked quick. And maybe Colopinto, just how far behind
yeah, Colopinto is after, you know, having a good race last time out and people going, oh,
you know, maybe we've been too harsh on him. He's, yeah, way off, way off Gasly's pace.
Colopinto is literally like last of the runners.
Last of the Formula One cars. And then Gasly is their best of the rest.
Okay, so who have we actually gone for? Let's get Colopinto, I think. Yeah, Colopinto.
Okay, now if we have to, I really don't want to this weekend, talk about our predictions
that we made on the run up to the Japanese Grand Prix. It's currently 8-4 to Tommy,
and you know, I'm going to put a big old asterisk where it says concussion for this one,
not medically, you know, I wasn't actually labelled with it, but I'm pretty convinced
after reading back with what I put down. Good. All right, well, look,
let's talk about it if we have to. It's 8-4 to Tommy. So good surprise, I went for red bull.
Don't even have anything there. They were really bad. Not even a single.
Borderline, a flop point, I'd say. Yeah, probably could argue it. Good surprise,
went for McLaren. You went for McLaren. That's a two-pointer. Oh, what? You said in the stream,
they're not getting it. So what's happening? No, I didn't. I said if Lando is down in six,
they got fifth in the end. And you literally, you literally, they're going biggest winner.
Yeah, I know, I forgot. I forgot that you were. No, Tommy, you can't have the two
points because look at the rest of them. Oh, you're such, nearly swore at you. Right, so
good. Well done. Well done. Biggest good surprise, a good surprise, sorry, from McLaren for second
and fifth. A big flop. I went for Antonelli. That went well. Dropped a P6. That's the point.
An equally bad one for me. I went for Gasly. So two of the stars of the race.
One of the seven predictions that you did bad. Yeah, good. Okay, so no points for either of us
there. Pole position. I went for George Russell and then he had problems. Great. Well done, George.
Thanks, mate. And then you handed over to me to be able to go for Antonelli. Yeah. So I was going
to go for Russell. Correct. So there you go. Antonelli gets a point. In P3, the only thing I
think I'm going to score is for Charles Leclerc, which was touch and go. But thank you, Charles,
for getting me a single point this week. And you went for? Lando Norris.
Incorrect. In second place, I went for Lando Norris, which was not correct. It was actually
another McLaren. Oh, wow. Yeah. I went for Antonelli. In fact, I am almost guaranteed
that in the predictions, you can't wait for Oscar Feastry to finish second. I'm sure you did.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure I said that. And there we go. Antonelli second. No.
And in P1, if I remember correctly. Because you, yeah. Oh, yeah. You were so convinced
Antonelli wasn't going to win. Wasn't going to win. And so I went for Hamilton, who finished sixth.
And Antonelli ended up winning. Oh, I'm so bad at this. No, it's because I smashed my head.
And I wasn't thinking correctly. I'm so back now for Miami. I've got five weeks off. I can
think about it drastically to then put Ferrari one too. So Hamilton, I went for first. I went
for Russell, so no. No. And then P what? So it was P20. P20 was the, if you're unfamiliar,
what P what is, it's where a random, a random number is generated in our predictions. Then
we have to think on the spot who is going to finish in that position. P20 was what it was.
And I mean, it could have been if, if Berman had actually made contact with Colla Pinto.
Yeah, I know, right. We would have been getting this. But I went for Colla Pinto for my P20 and
he ended up P16. And I went for Fernando Lonto, who was P18. Yeah. So one point for that.
So happy for you. Well done. Just literally farming us to mine. One crazy prediction. I went
from a Mercedes pole margin is less than a quarter of a second, and it was three and a half tenths.
Ouch. I went for Ferrari. Don't leave the first lap. Thank you, Oscar. You absolute legend.
Boring. Patreon prediction. If you're part of the P1 Patreon, you can submit one. Don't say
oh, just because, you know, maybe I've scored another point. Joss Verstappen, I don't know if
it actually was Joss Verstappen. He's a Patreon. McLaren on the podium and that came in. So that
saved me a point. We love to see it. What would be more insane, Joss Verstappen being a Patreon or
him going? McLaren on the podium. That's my prediction. Yeah. So a point and another point.
Hazar, all 22 cows start the race. Big dubs from the Patreons. You've had a generational
set of predictions there. I've had a good week. I will shout out the Patreons. That's
double Patreons score. Yeah, that's a double Patreons score. Good real knowledge from the
goats. Yeah, well done. So you have scored six. Oh my God, and I've scored two. So it's 14-6.
Okay. All right. This is a big margin considering how many points we usually score
in weekends. I'm going to have to lock in. Oh my God. I'm pretty sure in the podcast I said if I'm
eight points clearer, I'm using Grace and I'm eight points exactly. But the thing is right,
the current state of my predictions, I'm scared of Grace. She is saying actual front-running
teams now and drivers. Yeah, true, actually. So do I want for you to field Grace and then
there's a potential that she will outscore me? Speaking of Grace. That is concerning.
She went for because before getting family because she did a bonus like prediction that
didn't actually count. She went for Hamilton, Gasly, Verstappen. And if the top five get disqualified
for Plankwear issues, she's got them bang on because there was six seventh and eighth in order.
Wow. So it's still on. Okay. You never know. We'll wait to see if there's any investigations.
Okay, cool. So 14-6 to Tommy. It's a big old lead. What was the end score from last year?
Because I feel like you've got a lot of points. I'm pretty sure I've got about 14 points overall
last year. It feels like we were very wrong a lot of the time. But okay, well done, Tommy.
I will look to mount a comeback from Miami onwards. Let's now go to the family top three.
The only thing that anyone cares about because it's 3-2 to the Gallagher's. That's right.
That's right. So my dad was fielded for me and in P3 he went for Charles Leclerc.
My dad went for Antonelli. No. In P2, my dad went for Lewis Hamilton. My dad went for Charles
Leclerc. And in first place, my dad went for George Russell. My dad went for Lewis Hamilton.
So the Gallagher's extends the margin for 2. Okay, all right. This is the one I live for now.
I'll be thinking about this more than I will my own predictions for the foreseeable.
But that is it. Thank you everybody for tuning in to this Japanese Grand Prix race review. Of
course, we're going to miss you very much over these next few weeks. But don't worry. We've
got lots of content ideas that we'll be bringing to you over the coming weeks. Lots of things to
discuss, some predictions for the future, things to definitely have some fun with. So look forward
to that. If you're a P1 patron, we're going to be carrying on for a little while as we've got
more questions. So come and join that if you want to have extra chat at the end of race reviews.
Tommy, final thoughts. Final thoughts are that, yeah, don't go anywhere because we're going to
have a lot of fun. Sorry, that was a meme there. We're going to have a lot of fun doing our
content in the break. Oh, this is the last race review where we can literally shout out the
P1 live show in Australia. So please get your tickets. Come on, do it. Wow. Tommy said come on.
That means you have to now go and get tickets. Exactly. I can't wait. I'm hyped for Australia,
hyped to go. And we're going to have a lot of fun. I think the energy is going to be amazing there.
Wild. It's going to be a lot of fun. So yeah, I can't wait. Yeah. Okay. There you go.
Thank you, everybody. We'll see you very soon. Lots of love. Take care. Adios. Goodbye.
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