Reaction to British GP qualifyingP1 with Matt and Tommy · Jul 4, 2026
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Term
Q1
Qualifying is split into parts. Q1 is the first part, and the slowest drivers get knocked out after it. Everyone is trying to set a fast lap to move on to the next round.
George Russell is a Formula 1 driver who races for Mercedes. Here, the hosts talk about his qualifying moment where he ended up in the gravel but still got the car back out.
A gravel lane is the rough, loose area next to the track. If you go into it, the car slows down a lot and can get damaged, but sometimes you can still get going again if you didn’t hit too hard.
The barrier is the hard wall beside the track that cars hit if they go off. If the impact is big, the car can be too damaged to continue; if it’s smaller, the driver might still recover.
“Reverse out” means backing the car out of where it ended up after going off. If the driver can do that, they may be able to get back to the pits and continue rather than being stuck.
Term
dump the throttle
“Dump the throttle” means letting off the gas suddenly. Drivers do it to slow down quickly and regain control, though it can sometimes make the car behave differently depending on grip.
“Eight tenths” means the car was about 0.8 seconds faster or slower than another. In racing, less than a second is a big deal, so 0.8 seconds is a big gap.
Car
Ferrari
Ferrari is one of the biggest Formula 1 teams. Here, they’re talking about how Leclerc’s Ferrari did in qualifying and what it might mean for tomorrow’s race.
Charles Leclerc is a Formula 1 driver who races for Ferrari. In this segment, they’re talking about how well he qualified and how he thinks changes to his driving and the car could help later in the season.
“Qualifying” is the session where F1 cars set their fastest laps to determine the starting order for the race. In modern F1, it’s typically split into multiple parts (like Q1/Q2/Q3), and track position can strongly affect race strategy.
Hamilton is Lewis Hamilton, one of the most successful F1 drivers ever. They’re saying he’s especially strong at this track, so Leclerc’s performance matters even more.
“Front row” means the car starts in the two best spots at the very front of the grid. It’s valuable because you’re less likely to get stuck behind other cars right away.
“Pole” means the driver starts the race from the very front of the grid. It’s awarded to the fastest driver in qualifying, so they usually have an easier start and better position.
Term
P2
“P2” just means second place. In qualifying, that means the driver will start the race from the second-best spot on the grid.
They mean the main drivers competing for the championship. These are the people most likely to win the season overall.
LIVE
Hello everybody and welcome back to the B1 Podcast with Matt and Tommy.
It is qualifying chat time.
We've had a great day haven't we today.
Big thanks to YouTube for hosting us in an amazing venue and just the whole place we've
been spectating has been brilliant and we're also here doing our podcast.
Screen, view, and content and food.
So thank you YouTube.
Exactly.
Right let's get straight into it.
Q1, the bottom six were Ocon, Bottas, Colopinto, Perez, Stroll and Alonso.
However, that was not the big talking point.
It was a certain Mercedes driver, George Russell,
deciding to go for a little trip, a trip down gravel lane and I cannot believe he got it out of there.
I thought your flop prediction was coming in, you could have just cashed it,
I'd have given you the point, shook your hand and said let's move on.
But instead he somehow got it out of there.
He certainly did.
Yeah, when it cut to him in the war, it was actually quite a long time before we got to see it
and they picked him up and yeah we saw him in the gravel and a lot of the time we couldn't
tell really at the start how hard he'd gone into the barrier.
It was literally just slowed down enough as he hit that barrier so there was only a tiny
little bit of damage and then thankfully for him he could reverse out but if he was carrying
any more speed going in there, it would have been game over I think.
Yeah and even the fact that he got out of there and wasn't beached is I guess testament to his
reversing skills because they can dump the throttle, we've seen it many times,
the rear wheel spin up and then they get stuck.
Do you not remember when Hamilton went off it,
Imelda and he was awarded as the greatest reverser of all time.
So let's give George his credit there but of course a massive error, he gets away with it
and manages to make it through Q1 of course.
Another thing, my boy, not my boy, I don't know why I said that but Lance Strong.
I thought you were going to say Bottas because he hit him as well.
But yeah Bottas actually my boy, P18 but the big talking point and the prediction I had
which has only happened once in the last 44 Grand Prix is that Lance Stroll outqualifies
Fernando Alonso and he thought after the strangest driving I've seen in a sprint race or any race
ever by the way which we saw the clip after we recorded our sprint race earlier today
of him basically going full lock through every corner because I think he was just
raging about how bad the Aston Martin was.
Full lock into cops, I've never seen that in my life.
Yeah and ideally it's like something you're doing a simulator for fun but he was doing it in real
life and you could just tell he was raging and then he's gone you know what forget all that
I'm going to go out qualify Fernando Alonso in the next session.
Yeah his kind of driving in the sprint was very Fernando Alonso doing burnouts out of
frustration that we saw I think it was in testing and now Stroll is just driving for fun just full
lock and maybe that was the best preparation for the fact that he was going full lock into all
the corners so then this is this is maybe big brain from Lance Stroll.
Full lock into all the corners so when he drives normally it's really easy and he's really quick
so maybe maybe we'll see.
This is the insight that you subscribe to.
Fp3 next time don't you know Stroll going full lock into all drivers.
Tom Malion driver coach everybody.
Yeah yeah yeah well done Lance Stroll and he's got that tractor ahead of Fernando Alonso
still a second behind Paris yeah a second and a half behind Bottas
in the leading Cadillac they are so far off but we've said it so many times.
And over two seconds away from getting out of QQ1 which is ridiculous and then of course
yeah Bottas as we mentioned out qualifying Perez he did put seven tenths on him which
makes me think Perez had a problem I'll be honest with you like yeah probably but he
beats an Alpine of course the Alpine of Colopinto had a big old spin through Magus and Beckett's
like he's had all the cut the praise of Flavio Breatori and now gone all right I'm a check
out for the rest of the season I'm kidding obviously but he's had a poor qualifying for
sure and you know that Flavio would be having some stern words.
Yeah shocker for Colopinto shout out to Valtteri there's a lot of talk about Lewis Hamilton this
season and remember who you are and clearly Bottas has also taken that advice and remembered
that he is really good at qualifying which we've not really seen all too much this year and
this is what we kind of thought like Bottas in qualifying it's his speciality and has been
so much of his career so now he's got a good lap and maybe Bottas is back.
For P18. For P18. Q2 the bottom six in this session with Bortoletto-Gasley,
Holkenburg-Behrman signs an Albon. Can you imagine an Audi in 11th? Oh yes you can because it happens
every single session without fail Bortoletto P11, Holkenburg in 13th of course Bortoletto was so
close so close to knocking out Lawson to go through to Q3 but the universe went no sorry you're in an
Audi you can only go to P11. And Lando was very close on the bubble there as well. Lawson
yeah was sat there in P10 Bortoletto 0.03 off I mean ironically it didn't matter too much anyway
because Lawson did finish 10th so in the grand scheme of things but I think a great lap from
Bortoletto to put a huge margin on Holkenburg but as we know no matter how good how bad whatever
track it is P11 for Audi. And then potentially lose positions at the start but maybe not because
that appears to be the problem of the red balls doesn't it? Don't remind me. I like to. Just
quickly mentioning on Gasley of course 12th but six tenths behind Bortoletto as you say Bortoletto
great lap from him as you keep messing around with the lap top. Alpina struggling here aren't
they they're nowhere near what what we've kind of seen them as being that best of the rest in
Gasley just racing balls are just the class now of the they really are they're not been on the door
that top four around here they're like hey guys can we come in play a bit like last
year I mean yeah it's incredible what they're doing with their their resources or or lack of
compared to the big team and yeah they're doing an amazing job again and they can start well
where's rubber they can actually get off the line yeah thanks. Williams 15th and 16th again
but Albonnacky you know reasonably close to to signs there are tenths between the two of them
let's not get to the big question session the big question is who's on
pole Q3 the top 10 Antonelli Leclerc sorry did I read that right Leclerc P2 we're so back
Hamilton Russell Hadja Norris Verstappen Piastri Lindblad and Lawson so Kimmy Antonelli on pole
position put a great banker lap in and then improved by a couple of tenths on the final
lap as well one of the only drivers maybe Barle Leclerc where he actually put in a significant
sort of improvement on his final lap you know Russell for example he was right behind Antonelli
after the first runs wasn't able to improve but Kimmy once again just does not want to stop being
really damn quick this year. He's really really good so good he looks unstoppable at the moment
he's so full of confidence especially compared to his teammate he's put nearly four tenths on
the other way around with Russell and obviously Antonelli was a rookie so you kind of forgave
him a little bit but we're like oh he needs to improve and this year it's completely flipped
the other way and Antonelli is just driving so so well it's clear that these cars he's so confident
he's loving and that you do wonder has it been all about preparation for this the new rules
it was a big risk him going into Mercedes but a learning year and then it's all about the year
even though Toto Wolf will still probably go we're not going to win the championship in our
second year he very well cut and if he keeps driving like this he will because he is just
the the class of the the field at the moment he's driving so so well and so much more confident
to his teammate. Leclerc's behind, relax yourself. Leclerc's in the past as well, 0.175 so I see a
one so I'm going to say one tenth all right yeah perfect sorry where's max oh god nearly eight tenths
back crazy actually eight tenths we'll round that one up as well less than a second crazy
but let's speak about Ferrari quickly. Charles Leclerc he said coming into this session he was
going to change something philosophically about the car and the way he drives it.
Maybe we need anything at this point and he said that if he finds something in this qualifying
session then maybe it'll be able to help him for the rest of the season well what I'm seeing here
is a Charles Leclerc that's we're so back I'll be honest with you. One session around a track
where you cannot deny Hamilton is phenomenal around so you have to give Leclerc's props in
this session as much as I am fanboying hard at the fact he's front row glad he's not on pole we
don't need to add to that pole to win negative ratio so P2 yeah exactly I was there was part
of me right so if I was to take away the whole Charles Leclerc fandom I was quite excited after
the first round of laps to see Antonelli and Russell on the front row because I just want to see them
fight I just want to see those two go wheel to wheel the two main championship protagonists of
course Hamilton is also there or they're abouts but instead Charles Leclerc went no I remember
how to qualify now and I'm going to pop it P2. It did it did a fantastic job and obviously
he's found something whatever that is whatever he's done as he said he's he was strange that he
kind of teased that because if he hadn't you know it would have been a bit like oh so it's not worked
then but yeah clearly it's working for him and it's only one session of course but this is
what what Charles always been good at in his career is qualifying and that's what he's been
struggling with recently so we'll get to the race and see how he performs then I think that's the
big the big test because yeah the racing is where he's kind of tumbled down the order particularly
obviously last time out as well indeed we pray we pray for a Ferrari miracle tomorrow a question
for people in picture remember G-Bot what is happening to George mistaken Q1 and has Ferrari
between him and his teammate is this weekend now a write-off for him I wouldn't say a write-off it
needs to be damaged limitation because if Kimmy if Kimmy ends up having a clean race I don't see
how he's being stopped he's going to be ahead of the fries who doesn't even need to pass the
fries if he gets a good start see later Kimmy's off Russell we saw it in the sprint struggling to
get past people you know he's he didn't make progress he didn't even get onto the sprint podium
and Russell you do wonder if this track is just kind of highlighting all the problems that he
has at the moment with his confidence in that car and compared to his teammate and because he's not
having a strong weekend at all and we've seen races where and had the conversation where
pretty much every single race is here apart from the first one I'd say Kimmy is faster even though
George has sometimes beaten Kimmy or sometimes and obviously like last time at one but we were last
time talking about the antennae mistakes and had he not done them maybe he wins but this George does
not seem to be on the same level as Kimmy and doesn't have an answer for him at the moment
it's the consistency as well I think that you know of course he has had moments in qualifying
he had a you know a decent weekend in Austria it was clean and he was able to deliver on the
pace that he had but then just the mistakes that we're seeing in this you know particular qualifying
session is what you would expect from Kimmy that that's what we thought coming into this year would
be the thing where Kimmy would be fast but he would make mistakes but it's George that's the
one that's that's making mistakes at the moment and to be honest he'd be counting his lucky stars
that he's starting fourth after what happened in Q1 and then of course he was stuck in the sprint
as well so if he can't dispatch of the Ferraris quickly he can go and probably see Antonelli
on the podium if he manages to get one of them because that's the only time he'll see him probably
on Sunday yeah yeah true I hope I'm wrong for the good of the Grand Prix as much as obviously
love Kimmy but yeah he's going to be so quick tomorrow I think we saw weirdly on the second
run that George was actually quite close wasn't he and it was very close between them and George
was in second first run sorry and then yeah the second run just didn't improve and Kimmy found
a massive margin did indeed question not going to enjoy this one at all. Who on pitch remember
F1 Sushi? What happened to Max? I don't know. I know. Seventh and Hadjar his new teammate in P5.
Yeah yeah Leclerc hasn't been. No no no you can't. Leclerc's outqualified Hanson you can't do it.
I'm bulletproof today. Enjoy the money. Yeah bring me back to this moment. Yeah Verstappen
hasn't despite the fact that Max outqualified and I think maybe even got flattered yesterday by the
position that he actually was in to be P3 because it was Hadjar only being a tenth ahead of Max this
time. It's a couple of positions rather than he'll be hoping that was obviously four or five.
Hadjar's looking confident in that car this weekend and we're seeing it from him that
Max, I do, I'm not making excuses, well I am making excuses Max. I'm going to say it's the
bias here it comes. No but you do wonder how much Max is absolutely hating these regulations
when it comes to a track where it isn't about going flat out pushing like crazy and it is about
deployment and management. It's not it's not where his best of his ability comes from
and you do wonder if that's why we're not seeing the best of Max at a track like this
where the battery side of it has obviously been such a huge talking point and such a huge thing.
So that's one side of it but at the end of the day Hadjar is just simply better around it and has
been probably all weekend even with the Max Verstappen's results yesterday where yes he put a
tenth on Hadjar but it was very close again and he only did it at the death in SQ3.
Yeah Max sounded from what we could at least tell on the team radio that we couldn't really
hear from where we are but it seemed like he was pretty frustrated throughout the entirety of
qualifying. Yeah the retirement thoughts are probably going to be creeping in as he's super
clipping round back it's and finishing seven. I mean if you're doing that Max in retirement
thoughts you know what about Fernando Alonso you know that's a different Ketler fish for him just
tuddling around at the back. McLaren six and eighth they really struggled for pace as well
it has to be said absolutely nowhere near the front Norris was three-quarters of a second behind
Piastri almost a second. Shout out to Limblad who outqualified Lawson. Seems like Lawson wasn't
able to get a good lap in at the end so yeah Limblad out qualifying Lawson but once again
VCarb just chilling in ninth and tenth and just taking all the points. They are yeah
they'll be hoping to get another double points finish if the reliability holds up because
as we said they're the class of the midfield so if they they're weirdly hoping the you know not
weirdly hoping but they're hoping that they're going we're going to see like retirements from the
top the top guys because when there's reliability issues there it opens the door for something
like a ghastly podium of Monica I don't think we're going to have that much of a crazy race
well yeah that's not going to happen so yeah exactly but the fact that racing balls are
you know they're in that midfield they're going to be the ones that pick up the pieces
when if when or if top teams have problems because they are just looking mighty and and clear really
of the midfield now they've just found another step up coming to everyone else and not far away
from the top four really well at least the the red balls and the McLaren McLaren's yeah like
piaz tri they're only limblabs only a couple of tenths off of piaz yeah very very impressive
and that is it we are going to see you tomorrow of course where we will be enjoying the race
from from somewhere else it's going to be absolutely awesome cannot wait of course we're
going to be on the main stage 10 40 a.m tomorrow if you are at Silverstone please come along we'd
like more than seven people to be there that'd be good and thank you everybody we'll see you very
soon Tommy final thoughts final thoughts yeah come see us if you're at Silverstone no excuse
because it's not absolutely throwing it down this year and there'll be a freak thunderstorm
I just know the minute we come out on stage I mean great for the race but not for it
yeah yeah for later yeah yeah we very much appreciate the support and yeah looking forward to seeing
more of you tomorrow thanks for everyone that's come up and said hello and absolutely it's been
always fun to come to the British Grand Prix art our home races as well and and soak in the atmosphere
exactly of course we're not going to have a watch along tomorrow but enjoy Charlotte Clair
taking the lead on lap one you've had it here first and we'll see you soon lots of love bye
P1 is a stack production and part of the ACAST Creator Network
About this episode
Qualifying at the British GP sparks plenty of drama: George Russell survives a gravel-lane off in Q1, reversing out before anything serious happens, while Lance Stroll’s chaotic “full-lock” sprint-race frustration seems to pay off as he outqualifies Fernando Alonso. Valtteri Bottas rebounds with a strong qualifying, putting seven-tenths on Perez, and Audi’s usual P11/P13 pattern continues with Bottas and Hulkenberg. In Q3, Kimi Antonelli grabs pole ahead of Leclerc, with Hamilton, Russell, Norris, Verstappen, Piastri, and Lawson filling out the top 10—setting up a Ferrari vs Mercedes storyline for the race.
To cap off an awesome day at Silverstone, we're here with a full rundown of all the surprises from qualifying!
We'll be on the Silverstone main stage TOMORROW at 10:40am - we'd love to see you there and we'll do a meet & greet after the show too.
Our brand new live show 'Super Podding' is coming to the UK and Amsterdam this autumn! Get your tickets here: http:/tix.to/p1live
Sign up to our Patreon for just $5 a month! You'll get access to every P1 episode ad-free, extended versions of every 2026 race review (INCLUDING THIS ONE), early access to tickets & merch, and access to our Discord server where you can chat with us and other F1 fans! Click here to sign up now: http://patreon.com/mattp1tommy
