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Max Verstappen DOMINATES 🏆 Should McLaren be concerned? | U.S. Grand Prix Post Show
Max Verstappen DOMINATES 🏆 Should McLaren be concerned? | U.S. Grand Prix Post Show
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About this episode
Max Verstappen showcased dominant form at the U.S. Grand Prix, closing the championship gap and reigniting his title hopes. The race featured strategic battles, notably Lando Norris' patient drive to second and Charles Leclerc's solid third. McLaren faces pressure as Verstappen's Red Bull continues to improve post-summer break, while Ferrari shows flashes of competitiveness but remains behind the front runners. The discussion also touched on Oscar Piastri's struggles, team dynamics at McLaren and Ferrari, and the upcoming challenges at Mexico City. The hosts reflected on the race atmosphere and key moments, highlighting Verstappen's commanding presence and the evolving championship fight.
Topics:
max verstappen performance
us grand prix results
mclaren challenges
ferrari strategy
lando norris race
charles leclerc podium
oscar piastri struggles
red bull car development
mexico city grand prix preview
driver rivalries
Cars:
Dodge Challenger
Liz Loza, Nate Saunders, and Laurence Edmondson react to an exciting United States Grand Prix! Max Verstappen wins in convincing fashion, putting even more pressure on title rivals Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. Charles Leclerc continued his strong weekend, getting his Ferrari on the podium. Can Oscar Piastri bounce back? Tune in for the latest reactions!
(00:00) Intro and Welcome In
(01:10) Max Verstappen wins US Grand Prix
(07:38) Carlos Sainz DNF
(10:18) Charles Leclerc and Ferrari strategy
(12:18) Lando Norris and track limits
(13:27) McLaren managing their drivers
(15:05) Can Lando win the WDC?(
15:50) Oscar Piastri's weekend
(17:35) Ferrari gaining on Mercedes
(20:20) Who's under pressure in Mexico City?
(24:06) Favorite moment from the weekend
(26:28) Thanks for watching!
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"...h Brown said they thought the staff was a genuine challenger. You know, there was a few wins."
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For this day.
There he is, a Max Verstappen, the four-time, potentially five-time world champion, celebrating
to the throngs of fans here and Austin after dominating the race joined in the cool-down
room by Lando, who takes second place, and Charles Leclerc, who comes in third.
A bit of a surprise there.
Look at them on the podium enjoying it, soaking in both the heat and enjoying the
breeze, since it didn't seem to affect them negatively in this race.
Max smiling.
We love a smile.
It's, you know, a bit of a cunning grin, I would say, interesting, because today was
the first time that Max admitted that there might be, quote, a chance that he could
bridge this gap and finish as the world champion once again.
I am Liz Loza, joined by Lawrence Edmonds and Nate Saunders.
Hi, gentlemen.
What a thrilling race.
Yeah, exactly what we're expecting.
Carnage, fireworks, everything.
It calls every bit of it.
Yeah.
It wasn't quite the sprint race or the race the sprint race suggested we'd get, but yeah,
pretty fascinating I thought, like tents, one of those tents, but maybe quite dull F1
race.
Well, I think we were all waiting for a bit more, especially at turn one, this historic
turn that brings chaos that we saw at the sprint.
Nothing much happened, but I will say that there was a lot of intelligent strategy
employed, and then ultimately undone even more intelligently.
We'll get to that in a bit, but we have to start at the top.
Max Verstappen always at the top, at the top, rather, interestingly, the last three
winners at Coda did not start on pole, but Verstappen ever the anomaly.
Lawrence, what did you think of this performance?
And you cannot use the word masterful.
Okay.
I won't use masterful, but I mean, it was very much Max full.
Max, Max.
Max to full.
Max to full.
Is that a word?
Because this is what he does.
He goes out and he did the same in the sprint yesterday, so perhaps we shouldn't
be surprised that he just leads from the front and gets it done.
I mean, the remarkable thing is, yeah, that third victory in four races, and
just the way he has slashed the gap to Oscar Piastri in the championship.
No wonder he's starting to believe it.
When they left the Dutch Grand Prix, he was 109 points behind.
He is now 40 points behind Oscar Piastri.
So that looks very realistic with five races remaining.
If he continues that form, he's going to be world champion.
Nate, do you have anything to say more specifically or in particular about
this gulf that has been bridged, if you will, that has shrunk between Max?
Yeah, well, I mean, a few races ago, we kind of scoffed a little bit
when Zach Brown said they thought the staff was a genuine challenger.
You know, there was a few wins.
Obviously, there was he won the sprint in Belgium before the break.
Then coming out of the break, we saw him win a Monza very dominant
fashion, one in Baku.
What's remarkable, I saw a tweet from just before we came on air.
He's outscored both drivers combined since the summer break.
So he scored about 94 points.
They've scored 90, which really shows you they've both had a race
retirement in that time as well.
So it's really remarkable.
And if you'd said in the summer break, this is going to be a three-way
fight with Max Verstappen that might have seen plausible in April
when we left the Japanese Grand Prix.
It certainly did not feel plausible.
Kind of, you know, the Dutch Grand Prix time.
So everything Lawrence said is spot on.
And the fact is McLaren knew that Red Bull had made a step forward
and they knew that the situation they're in may be not so great now.
So I think now if you're betting on Max, we're in the title.
It's not that bad of a bet.
Given everything else, right?
Is this going to be Max Verstappen domination?
Easy peasy, as we've just seen us in the media trying to add
a little bit of tension, a little bit of drama.
Will there actually be any white, white knuckling?
Could this give 2021 energy but papaya style?
Well, this is a this is a fight between two drivers looking for their
first championship and now a guy who's won four straight.
And so I think the bar that Max is coming in with,
I joke to you, I think before the race,
that if Charles Leclerc was in the situation with Ferrari,
would say, well, I'm not sure Ferrari are going to do that,
you know, all the way into the run of the season.
This is Verstappen and Red Bull that we're talking about as well.
So that adds such an element to it.
And I think that McLaren is potentially now,
I don't think they're regretting the way that they've operated,
but that has certainly put them into a corner.
And, you know, it's like a shark circling in the water with blood,
you know, Verstappen's there doing that.
We know he can smell it.
Exactly. And with the experience he has with experience,
his team has, and also they're in that great position where really
all they've got to do out, do is go out and do this kind of weekend.
It's McLaren they've put in the position of overthinking of really,
you know, being in that situation.
So if that continues, you can see the gap coming right down.
Do you think the scrutiny that that McLaren is currently under
as is obviously negatively affecting them,
but also creating a situation that makes it almost easier for Max
to move forward?
Yes, certainly with McLaren trying to have this fairness
between the two drivers is opening up opportunities for Max.
But I think the biggest thing that's happened
is that Red Bull have understood this car.
They've unlocked performance from this car
that wasn't there before the summer break.
So that's the main thing that's put Max in contention for victory.
So we know as soon as he gets a sniff of a victory,
he's going to take it.
Meanwhile, the last few circuits haven't really suited McLaren
and so they have been scrambling around a bit behind for points
and you've had the odd Ferrari get in there.
The odd Mercedes, such as George Russell in Singapore,
get in there and challenge as well.
And that has just shuffled them down the order.
The big question, and I think this is one that McLaren
are kind of holding on to for hope,
is that some of the races towards the end of the year
should favor the McLaren again.
They have the types of corners that should favor McLaren.
So we're looking at Brazil, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi,
three races that will likely favor the McLaren.
But they've got to go to Mexico City next
and get the job done there.
And that actually looks like a circuit
that again will favor what's happened.
And an elevation issue.
There's the higher altitude, yeah,
and they've rung big wings,
but just the types of corners there
are likely to favor Red Bull.
And then you get to Vegas,
and that's the circuit that Red Bull,
as we saw last year, Max can get the job done there as well.
So yeah, I think they've got to hold on
to what they're doing, McLaren,
knowing that certain circuits are going to come back to them.
But if the performance isn't there then,
then, yeah, I think that's when they're in trouble.
I mean, they also have to factor
against the fact that Max himself,
when I sat down with him earlier in the week,
he said we are, quote, understanding the car better.
Well, what's not to say that the understanding
won't continue to evolve
and only make Max all the more comfortable?
Yeah, and as Helmut Marcos said,
he's not just understanding the car better.
He seems reinvigorated again about the whole thing as well.
So like Lauren said, potent combination.
And yeah, I mean, Red Bull, that's the thing.
You know, other than Singapore,
that's that weird like anomaly
that they can't seem to win.
You would back a team like Red Bull
to continue understanding the car,
continuing to making strides forward.
And we all thought, didn't we?
A few weeks ago, we're like,
well, there's 2026 coming.
All these teams are going to kind of
just throw everything into the bin.
Actually, Laurence, put me right on that a few races ago.
And it's completely right.
These teams are working all the way to the end.
And a team like Red Bull,
there was a lot made of Adrian Newey going,
but it's always been a place
that's been very, very good at developing cars,
understanding cars and we're seeing that again now.
Well, we're obviously spending
a lot of time talking about Max,
but there are race results beyond the first place.
Max Verstappen obviously in first,
Lando Norris in second, Charles Lecler in third.
We saw them in the cool down room together.
Then Lewis Hamilton in fourth.
Nate, you were in the post race show
talking about Lewis and how he might have a shot at things.
In fifth, we've got Oscar Piastri obviously struggling.
George Russell, Yuki Sonoda, Nico Hulkenberg
managing his way into the points
and then Ollie Bergman and the quote,
unluckiest man in racing, Fernando Alonso finishing 10th.
A name not on this list was a racer,
a driver that we thought might squeeze his way in,
had been building momentum.
It's Carlos Sainz.
The only DNF of the whole race happened fairly early.
Yeah.
Did you catch?
Yeah, I saw that.
It was pretty clumsy, wasn't it from Carlos?
I mean, he's been one of the stars
of this kind of part of the season,
but it was a classic.
We kind of all chuckled at it
because in the radio message afterwards,
he said, and then he completely turned in on me.
It's like, yeah, he turned into the corner.
He was trying, you were both trying to make.
It just looked like a quite desperate move.
And what's so disappointing for Carlos Sainz
is obviously such a strong week with the sprint result.
There were good points on offer for Williams again today.
And not just for him, but he's really kind of turned
that dynamic with him and Albon around.
And I think that's still the case,
but this would have been a really strong weekend for him.
Had he, because all the, I mean,
the fact he was fighting the Mercedes drivers there,
I mean, look at that.
That's pretty much as clear cut as you can get.
But the fact that he was up there fighting
the Williams drivers was really quite impressive.
Sorry, the Mercedes drivers really quite impressive.
So yeah, he will feel like he's blown
a big opportunity for some points.
It's tangled with Kimmy Antonelli, as you just saw.
Antonelli able to continue the race,
though not in any spectacular fashion.
What are your thoughts for Sainz
and this Williams team moving forward?
Well, I think there's huge signs that things are improved.
I mean, ever since that Baku result,
and I always felt a bit sorry for Carlos
because the pace was there,
but he wasn't quite getting it together in races
up until Baku, and now that's come together.
But it's still very circuit dependent
with the Williams car.
You know, there's some circuits where it goes
and it comes alive and others where it's less so.
They've said right from the start of the show,
I mean, to go back to this point about focusing on 2026,
that that is absolutely where their focus is
and that's where all their resources gone.
So anything at the moment is just a bonus,
but it does show that that team really
is operating at a very high level right now,
given where it started from a couple of seasons ago.
And any doubts that James Valls
might have had about signing Sainz completely gone now,
even with today.
I think that was the biggest fear for Williams,
a bit like with Ferrari and Lewis,
the two big guys that switched teams,
struggled early on.
But there might be fallout
or there might not be, he might not.
Just that they might have adapted so quickly,
doubt creeps in.
I think Carlos Sainz has shown the fact
that he's finally understood the car
and he didn't want any of that doubt going into 2026,
which maybe you might have still with Lewis at Ferrari.
I think with Sainz now, we know what they've got
and we know that he's fit into that scene very well now.
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So we talked about McLaren.
We're gonna continue to talk about McLaren
probably all the way through Abu Dhabi
because this does seem like a challenge as,
I'm sorry, I wanna talk about McLaren
but you just talked about Ferrari.
I wanna talk about Charles and Lando Norris.
That seems to be the competition today.
Much less than Max, who again dominated
watching Charles and Lando battle it out.
At first, you know, you think about Ferrari strategy
and the, for lack of a better phrase maybe
or maybe it's unfair to say misnomer
that the word strategy and Ferrari have had together.
And yet when the clerk starts on these softs,
it seems to be brilliant.
It's working and working.
And then I thought Lando was brilliant
both strategically and in terms of patience
to let the tires cool, stay level headed
despite the track limit and fractions
and ultimately overtake Charles.
What did you think?
I'm curious Nate because of your fascination
with Ferrari to see this narrative
being bucked a little bit
and then ultimately it got work.
It's a nice reminder that Ferrari
does have a strategy team and does do it very well.
You know, I think that when I did the interviews
last year for the Ferrari book
that I always plug shamelessly like I am now.
You may.
One thing that a lot of people said was like,
look, Ferrari do get strategy right a lot of the time.
It's just that when they get it wrong
it's much bigger headlines usually.
And often it's because they're fighting up at the front.
But really good aggressive call
I think Ferrari should do more of that.
And actually, I think on your point about Lando
as much as this is a great result for Max Verstappen
I think it's a fantastic result for Lando Norris as well.
I don't think he was ever going to beat Max Verstappen
and too very, very patient like you said,
patient and disciplined moves on Charles Leclerc.
And I think Leclerc can be really happy
with third position.
I wasn't sure if I actually changed him
in our pre-race prediction.
I had Leclerc in third when we did it earlier in the week
and I changed it to Lewis.
As soon as Leclerc got into turn one in second
I was like, oh, I've backed the wrong horse here.
And it's a reminder again,
just how good Charles Leclerc is and has been.
And yeah, that was really fun.
It's just a shame that we haven't seen a lot of that
from Ferrari this year.
We haven't really seen them in that mix so much
because what we do is a lot of fun.
And taking bold strategy.
But again, Lawrence, I'm going to ask you about,
we talked about in the pre-race show track limits
and how they'd be a factor here.
It was a factor for Lando
but not one that negatively impacted him.
He never took the penalty.
He was able to skirt that last.
It got very close.
And it was because that battle with Leclerc was so intense
that he ended up going off
and getting his third track limits warning,
which is when you get the black and white flag
and then one more is when you get the five second penalty.
He didn't get three?
I thought he got three.
Yeah, he got three and if you get the fourth
you get the five second.
So three you get the warning flag,
fourth one you get the penalty.
So he did well to avoid that
because that was early in the race,
that was I think lap 19 that he got.
And Charles was calling for them, wasn't he?
It was like, he's just, you know,
it's just gone over, just gone over.
Yeah, Charles saw him in his mirror on the second one go wide
and managed to pick that up,
which is quite impressive considering
what they're doing at the time.
But no, I think that also speaks to how measured
Lando was throughout that race.
You know, he lost the position at the start.
I feel like he got a little bit suckered in
with trying to pass Max,
didn't keep an eye on what Leclerc was doing.
Leclerc went super wide, cut back in,
used those soft tyres to make it work.
And it was a bit of a shame
because we never truly got to see
what the McLaren were doing clear air
because it was always bottled up behind the Ferrari.
And then, of course, they finished where they started
on the grid at the end anyway.
But yeah, I mean, I think Lando's race was measured,
but I think he'll be thinking, you know,
what would have happened if I kept that position
off the start?
And what do you think this does
in terms of the papaya principles
that we were calling it a bit earlier?
We didn't really get to see any consequences
in play here, right?
It was pretty decisive when Orlando
were praising the cool-headedness that he raced with.
So now, do you think that adds a little bit of a wrinkle
or an element to this whole McLaren debate
which driver is the lead driver?
Well, I think maybe the punishment
was a slightly slower wheels going on
for Lando's car, because I'm joking.
No, I think if anything,
it makes it more clear for McLaren, right?
It crystallizes even more the fact
that the two guys have to race cleanly together.
They've committed to this lane now, haven't they?
Like, there's no way suddenly they can turn around and say,
well, we're favoring that guy over the other,
because we know how strong Max Verstappen is now.
And if anything, maybe, you know,
it justifies the fact that supporting both drivers,
there is some logic to it.
If they've supported Piastri since Zanvoort,
he hasn't been the stronger of the two drivers.
And, you know, it might have been
that Norris is further back, you know,
and closer to Verstappen.
So there is some logic to it.
Obviously, we'll talk about in Mexico
what happens after the fallout
from the sprint collision they had,
but I don't feel like that's as kind of difficult
for them to deal with as Singapore.
I think we'll, I think maybe they'll sweep that one
under the rug a little bit differently.
Lawrence, do you think this was
Oscar's worst weekend of the year?
No, I think Azerbaijan was, by some margin.
But certainly in terms of just not having the performance,
there was a worrying one for Oscar going forward.
And I think, you know, we spent a lot of time
on top of this show talking about Max
and his chances to win the title.
Lando will be looking at that 14-point gap,
and he'll be aware of Max behind him.
Of course he will.
He'll be looking at that 14-point gap.
And that's closed a lot, you know,
since, well, since he had the DNF at the Dutch Grand Prix.
So I think, you know, Lando's come away from this,
thinking, this is doable, you know,
to beat Oscar is doable.
Then he's just got a factor in Max as well.
And he has to do it.
The Max factor.
Right, the Max factor.
We are coming up with all sorts of funds
in relation to Max's weekend.
And when you drive like that,
it is easy and inspiring to do.
I do want to talk a little bit more about Oscar,
though, because I feel like, you know,
Nicole and the pre, Nicole Brisco sat down with Oscar
and mentioned that he, Oscar himself,
said that his confidence was a bit shaken.
And this is maybe the first time we've seen
some cracks in that baby Max veneer of Oscars.
I'm interested to see moving forward
how he manages that, or if he,
as I'm assuming he will be based on all of the data
that came before, able to put it beyond him
and just stay cool-headed and drive precisely.
Yeah, and Lawrence, what a great piece
on Piastri coming into this weekend,
speaking to a lot of the guys around him.
And that is the one thing you hear, isn't it,
over and over again, is just how he can switch off
from a bad weekend and go to the next one.
I actually think that Mexico will be very revealing
for that reason.
Max was always able to do that, have a bad weekend,
turn up the next week,
and it was as if it hadn't happened.
He could very easily contextualize
why he'd had a bad week.
We spoke about in the pre-show,
Piastri hadn't always been great here at Cota.
So he might look at it and say,
well, look, okay, I finished fifth.
Could have been worse.
You know, I qualified one position lower than that.
And maybe now it's just get back on,
you know, get back on top of things.
He still has the championship lead.
For all of the things we're saying,
he still has 14 points over Lando Norris.
And you'd rather be in his position
than either the other two guys until that changes.
So that's the first thing he's got to tell himself.
And he's got to just look back at the form
before the summer break.
The narrative was he was just basically unbeatable
at one point, it looked like,
and Norris was the one struggling.
I did say on unlapped ages ago,
and I wonder what you guys think of this.
Maybe Norris getting that form out of the way early
in the season wasn't such a bad thing for him
when he was struggling.
It does seem like the tide has maybe turned a little bit
in that sense, and that's the most worrying thing
for Piastri is momentum.
These drivers always say they don't believe in momentum.
I happen to.
Feels like he's the one struggling
to get the most out of the car at the moment.
So a place like Mexico, if he finishes third there
and Lando wins, I mean that championship race
is basically, you know, effectively at reset again.
So he'll have that in mind as well.
It's more pressure too.
So obviously a little bit of tension,
whether true internally or projected on
by outside observers in McLaren.
Also a bit of tension between the drivers,
potentially in Ferrari.
These prancing horses have been prancing.
We saw a little wheel-to-wheel action today.
We've heard rumors obviously about some might,
I don't want to overstate,
but maybe discontent could be a word used to describe it.
Lawrence, what were your thoughts
about Lewis lunging a bit
and Charles keeping the boundary?
Well, they're on separate, sorry,
different tire strategies at this point.
So you've got to absolutely expect Lewis
to try and make a move stick
because he needs to get a move on
and try and make the best for his race.
Let's clarify that, that Charles started on the soft.
On the soft and Lewis on the medium.
So perhaps, you know, perhaps Ferrari could have said
to Charlotte, you know,
Lewis is behind you letting through.
He's on a different strategy,
but I'm glad they let them race.
And then of course they pitted,
Leclerc, the lap lasers we just saw.
So like, you know, you can't,
you can't have two cars on the track at the same time.
We expect them not to race,
especially in Ferrari's situation at the moment
where there's not a huge amount left on the table for them.
You know, maybe second place in the championship,
but even that is looking relatively slim now versus Mercedes.
So yeah, I'm glad that they allow them to race.
But I think there is, there is a tension building there.
But from Lewis' side,
I think that's actually a positive thing
because for a lot of the season,
he wasn't close enough to Leclerc
for there to be a tension.
I think that, you know, that was really irking him.
In the last few races,
he's got much closer to Leclerc
in terms of performance.
And that's why we're seeing these battles on track.
Leclerc, he pitted on those softs at lap 23,
but it is interesting that there have been no podium finishes
for Ferrari until today in the last five races.
So I think you're right, overall,
especially where they started the weekend,
this does have to feel like a positive result for the team.
Yeah, 100%.
And, you know, we've all been talking about the fact
that since the break, Red Bull and Mercedes
had both won a race.
Obviously Red Bull are back in the fight.
It's not what Ferrari wants to be doing.
They don't just want to be on a podium.
And let's not forget, 12 months ago,
they had that amazing win here that basically,
felt like they were in the constructor's fight.
So I think they still have fallen a long way.
But we're coming up to a few places now where maybe,
obviously, Vegas, they've been strong before.
So yeah, who knows.
But I think this is a year that Ferrari
just kind of needs to get to the end of market done
and just go into 26.
Because there's nothing really that's going to be great.
Even if they win a race at the end of the year,
it's going to be like kind of almost who cares,
given where they are.
I mean, look at that.
I mean, actually doing pretty well, relatively speaking.
But I imagine I'll end up behind Red Bull
by the end of the year, given Max's form.
And what about Ferrari closing in on Mercedes here
as you look at the constructor's standings?
Yeah, I mean, if you told Ferrari a few races ago
that you'd be fighting McLarens for podium positions,
they pretty would have taken that actually.
I think there is positives to take from this weekend.
Even after the sprint, where they look pretty much nowhere,
you know, or relative to the other front runners,
I think they'll take a lot of positives from today's race.
Also, it's a circuit that, you know,
we weren't really expecting them to be that quicker
because the bumps are pretty extreme here
and we know they struggle with ride height issues.
So, yeah, I feel like, actually,
there are quite a lot of positives that Ferrari can take.
It's all too little, too late,
but at least there's something they can take from it.
A little look ahead, Lawrence.
You are going to Mexico City next week.
Who do you think is on the hottest of hot seats?
Does that mean who do I think
is going to be the most competitive?
The hottest of hot seats?
Yes, so who do you think is going to be
facing the steepest challenge and how?
Oh, I see.
Well, I think actually, yeah,
to go back to what we're talking about,
Oscar needs to find that performance
because he just wasn't comfortable with the car all weekend.
And, you know, like you said earlier in the year,
it was roles reversed.
It was Lando saying that he wasn't comfortable with the car.
Didn't have the feeling he needed in high-speed corners.
And now it seems to have come the other way.
And Oscar isn't 100% comfortable on the brakes.
He isn't able to push it right to the limit
for fear of what might happen
and how many points he might give away.
And, yeah, like you mentioned earlier,
the altitude there makes the cars do funny things.
And your bodies do funny things.
And the bodies do funny things.
And, yeah, and everything overheats
a little bit more than it should.
So, yeah, Oscar's got a lot of pressure on him,
just to, I think, just to get back to a level
where he's at least up with Lando
in terms of qualifying pace.
And then, really, he needs to be ahead of him in the race.
And then, look, if Max continues to take points out of them,
he needs to make sure he's the next car on the road behind.
And something you're keeping your eye on,
heading into Mexico City in particular,
doesn't have to be anything precise,
but just a curiosity.
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Well, I was going to say Piastri,
but I don't want to keep going over the same thing.
I actually think, I think given what we've been saying
about the Ferraris and the tension there,
I do think that's an interesting one to watch
with Charles and Lewis, you know,
it's getting a lot closer.
And you almost don't want the,
Ferrari don't want their drivers to be all out at war
if they're in a good place next season.
I think that's very interesting.
Yeah, to be honest,
there's been so much focus on the front,
they haven't properly looked at the midfield.
But again, today, Haas, Oliver Berman
had a bit of a clumsy moment at one point,
but there's a lot of teams in the midfield at the moment
that just seem to be kind of, you know,
getting quite a bit of points.
Williams, I think from the graphic we saw,
looked pretty safe in fifth,
but I think they missed a big opportunity
to really hammer that home this weekend.
So they're going to want to kind of get back on top of that.
I like seeing Yuki do quite well.
That's true.
He's had a bit of momentum.
I also believe in momentum,
even if the drivers don't.
Well, yeah, that's huge for him as well,
because after Mexico's, when Red Bull has said
they're going to make a decision on next year,
and at the moment, it's not looking like it's going to be Yuki,
but, you know...
Well, Hadjard did struggle a little bit today,
so it will be interesting to see
if Yuki can maybe maintain that second seat.
Well, yeah, I think proof to Red Bull
that, you know, there are ups and downs,
and I think Yuki's situation is still much harder
than Isaac's, you know, being up against Max,
that's your benchmark.
That is really tough in a car that he's clearly never got
his head around up to this point.
And even when there's been dreamshoots of recovery,
a bit like there is today,
often at the next race, he really struggles.
So for him, getting a good qualifying position in Mexico
will be absolutely key, just to give Red Bull
that last little question in their mind,
just in case there's still a possibility
for him to get that seat.
Because you do feel that Laura Meckies
is almost begging Yuki to do that,
to make his decision.
He wants him to do well.
He really wants him to do well and give him...
Exactly, yeah.
It was a bit like with Perez last year.
You felt from all this whole stretch down the line,
they're like, come on, Chaco,
there's just one reason to keep you.
A result we can point at and say,
there's where we're keeping him.
So I, yeah, I think Mexico,
that's a really good chat about Yuki,
because I still think at Red Bull,
they know as good as Hajar's been,
the same old question applies.
You put anyone against Max Verstappen
and you could just ruin them long term.
I mean, Liam Lawson hasn't done terribly
since he went back.
He's, you know, so I don't know.
I think that that's why it's such a tough decision.
And I'm not even convinced.
Mexico seemed like quite a strange point
in the calendar for them to decide,
because they could go all the way
to the end of the year if they wanted to,
which is what they did with Lawson and Perez.
So I wouldn't be surprised if Yuki has a strong weekend there.
They just say, all right,
we're going to give it a few more races,
because why rush the decision?
You know, it's a driver within their own stable
and another driver within their own stable.
There's no other seats left.
They don't need to put a date on the call itself.
No, I agree.
So we've obviously seen Max dominate.
We know the tension in McLaren,
some tension in Ferrari,
but enough negative talk, enough tense discussion.
What were some of your favorite moments
during this race weekend?
Well, the weekend itself,
I mean, the start of the sprint was fantastic.
I thought that was great.
I loved the random ovation that Sine's got,
the on-core after, you know, just out of nowhere,
you know, finishing third.
It's always a funny reminder to see
that there are certain drivers
that really have resonated with the fan base differently.
And I've got to say, I mean, I haven't seen him yet,
but all the mentions of Leo Leclerc
have been fantastic this weekend.
And I haven't actually managed to see him,
but yeah, the tweet that Kota put up about him
with his little cowboy hat on was pretty fun.
I mentioned him in the pre-show.
I'm going to give a shout out to Oliver Bearman.
I like when the rookies are doing well.
He's done good this weekend as well.
I would say celebrating your birthday with you, Liz.
Oh, thank you.
Well, we haven't done that properly yet.
That's why I didn't say that.
Yeah, section, just happy birthdays to Liz,
for yesterday. Thank you so much.
And yeah, but this place, it's always fun, isn't it?
Like, you come here and it's just gone out of here.
I've never been to Austin,
and I have to say that I love the atmosphere.
Yes, everything is bigger in Texas.
It is an idiom we use in the States,
and it has proven true.
The racing, I loved that chaos at the top of the sprint.
And I also really loved how deliciously tense,
but also not wild, the race itself ended up being.
I think it was a good reminder that, you know,
I think Formula One fans can be incredibly critical of dull races.
You know, if you see a dull NFL game or soccer game,
no one says this isn't the sport terrible,
and it just happens sometimes.
That was very tense for a long time,
and there's a good reason it was tense.
You know, a lot could have happened.
A safety car would have thrown it up.
So, yeah, I think sometimes you've got to have a reminder
that sometimes it's just good hard racing
and that people are just, you know,
the gaps are the gaps, and that's what it will be.
What I've got to say as well, I forgot to mention,
doing the podcast on top of the bull
was probably my favorite moment.
Because Lawrence put me on the download, they're not saying,
because I didn't say celebrating Liz's birthday.
I've got to have a human moment in there to say now.
So, yeah, doing the podcast on there with Liz
and with the cold brisket, and with Lawrence.
Two days before Liz's birthday.
Two days before Liz's birthday.
So nothing to do with Liz's birthday.
It's happened to be Charles Lerke's birthday.
Yeah, so there you go.
So, yeah, I'll claim it for him,
but we haven't celebrated your birthday properly yet.
That's why I'm saying it.
But tonight, if you watched the race
that you saw, Shabuzy waving the flag.
He has a song that everybody knows called the Bar Song.
And I am planning in celebration of my birthday
and having been in Austin for the first time
and working with you two glorious gentlemen
to get a little bit tipsy.
So thank you so much for joining us here on ESPN F1.
Max is our winner.
And there he is grinning so wonderfully.
I love the cunning smile on his face.
It's almost like he knows something we don't.
Or that we do.
Subscribe to ESPN F1 for more F1 content.
Thank you so much.
And we'll see you next time, guys.
See you then.
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