An “impeding penalty” is when one driver gets in the way of another driver during qualifying. If the officials think it ruined the other driver’s fast lap, they can penalize the offender.
They’re reacting to how qualifying went for the Canadian Grand Prix. They talk about who’s doing well or badly and what it means for points in the race.
Reliability means whether the car can keep running properly through the race. If it’s not reliable, the team can lose positions or struggle to finish well.
Term
Q3
In F1 qualifying, Q3 is the last and most important part. The fastest cars go out and try to set their best lap time.
Before a fast lap, drivers do a warm-up to get the tires working properly. The goal is to make sure the tires are hot enough to grip when it’s time to push.
Qualifying is when drivers set their fastest laps to decide who starts where in the race. The results usually depend on track conditions and how the car is set up.
Red Bull is an F1 constructor team (and brand) known for strong recent competitiveness. The hosts suggest Red Bull and Ferrari aren’t likely to win “anytime soon,” implying their qualifying pace wasn’t at the very front in this session.
F1 cars can store energy in a battery and use it for extra power. The recharge rate is how fast the car can refill that battery while you’re driving, so it changes how much extra power you’ll have when you need it most.
The hybrid system can only use a limited amount of stored energy in qualifying. “Six megajoules” is that limit, and teams plan their driving so they spend the energy at the right times to set the best lap.
They’re talking about how rain and cold weather can change who wins. Wet or slippery track conditions affect tire choices and can make the race strategy play out differently.
The FIA can officially warn that rain is likely to make the track slippery. That matters because teams may change their setup and decide when to switch tires to stay fast and safe.
F1 has different tire types. “Soft tyres” grip more for speed, but they usually don’t last as long, so teams have to choose the right moment to use them.
When the track dries up, teams switch from wet tyres to dry tyres (slicks). The timing is important: slicks are fast on dry asphalt, but if there’s still moisture, they can lose grip.
A “green track” is a track that’s not fully “rubbered in” yet. The tires have less grip at first, and things usually get better as more rubber gets laid down.
Low grip means the tires don’t stick to the track as well. When that happens, the car can slide more, so drivers have to brake and turn more carefully.
Kimmy Antonelli is the driver the hosts are talking about. They’re saying his style is very aggressive and he’s likely to keep attacking rather than play it safe.
“George” here means George Russell, another F1 driver. The hosts are describing it like a direct rivalry that could influence who tries harder to pass.
A “clean move” is a pass done safely, without bumping or pushing the other car. The goal is to take the position while still leaving room and staying in control.
“Boost” is extra engine power the driver can use for faster acceleration. It’s something teams control so it’s available when it matters most for passing or defending.
“Turn one” is the first corner of a race start, where the field is bunched up and speed differences are small. Because everyone is accelerating and braking almost at the same time, it’s a common place for overtakes—and also for incidents—especially in low-grip conditions.
Let's go to a question from P1Pit remember our sport
what made the difference for George in that last lap?
He didn't look like he had that pace until the end.
I think we all felt that and I said this on the watch long
but I'll say it on the podcast as well for those of you that didn't tune in.
It felt as if George in his first run in Q3 that he messed up
and then came into the pits and then was out of sync
actually worked in his favour in some ways
because he did a lap then of course coming out the pits
does the warm up procedure, does the lap wasn't particularly great
but he had enough time to be basically the last across the line
to set that final lap when with the cars and the drivers
struggling to get tyre temperature
you can do another lap on the soft tyres
and it'd be right up there with that first lap
so George has worked out perfectly for him
I can't believe he's on pole I really did not see that coming
but then that purple sector I think the middle sector maybe came up
and all of a sudden he was right back in it
that final chicane though thought he'd lost it
I thought he'd lost pole position there because he was sideways out of it
he was risking it all but it turned out to be enough
and yeah I think the difference was that he was the only one that was out of sync
and I firmly believe that that really did play into his hands
yeah he had a very bizarre session to be honest
you look actually just like looking through kind of the order of Q3
it's absolutely crazy how it changed
you know we made the joke at the start of this podcast of how
you essentially had the same top five as last time out
but that does not tell the story of how like up and down this session was
you had obviously that Hadjah doing amazing things at one point
two minutes ago in the session the order is Norris Hamilton, Piastri, Antonelli, LeClaire Verstappen, Limblad, Colopinta, Hadjah, Russell
so it completely changed you know the order at the end
Russell obviously getting that lap in that counted
and another kind of strange thing that we saw
and it's just a kind of a quirk with these cars is
when Karun was on the sky pad showing the side by side
Antonelli is actually ahead coming out that final corner
and it's that boost to the line and how they obviously like super clip they lose a bit of the power
George managed to gain just enough and through that lap with how it all works
and got pole position and you know he did not look
Antonelli looked like he was kind of back with a vengeance after what happened in the sprint
and looking like he was just a man on a mission and it was kind of like
yeah there was some bits in that qualifying session where it's like half a second clear of Russell and looked really dominant
and all that matters is that very last lap and Russell got it
certainly did it was very impressive and a massive moment because we were exploring the scenarios
weren't we if Antonelli's here and Russell's down in fourth or fifth then there's a great opportunity
so it's a Mercedes 1-2 and that is exactly how I want as much as that's like a weird thing to say
I want to see them both starting on the front row of the grid into turn one just to see what happens
especially in slippery conditions that we might see tomorrow
let's go to a question from arry underscore 1584
top eight were separated by only four tenths can we expect to be this close regularly in the future
I don't want to be the bearer bad news but I think Mercedes what we saw from them last time out in a normal session
they've George kind of alluded to the fact that they've set up for a wet race as well
so you wonder how much of it was the conditions of course it was a lot closer than yesterday
we thought we might even get you know landing or some on pole here whereas yesterday the Mercedes were just absolutely rapid
and so clear but it's reasonably close between the top guys but it's still a case where Mercedes the fastest
McLaren are next and then it's a case of Ferrari and Red Bull are away off now it seems
so it's not I wouldn't call it really really close between those top teams I think four tenths
maybe it just feels like a small gap because of how big the kind of gaps are this year compared to years gone by
look I don't know tell me I feel like that was a bit of a pessimistic approach to it all
it's four tenths I mean that is it's a quick track it's a short track in the sense of time like one minute 13s
but four tenths covering the top eight is a good qualifying session I know that did Russell did say about the wet weather setup
but realistically it can make changes as well I know but the first thing you said was I hate to be the bearer bad news guys
but we're cooked while saying that like I'm not you know Red Bull and Ferrari aren't winning anytime soon
it's my takeaway from that sorry mate but you know we're just talking about how close it could be and it was close
I don't think it will be regularly especially when we get to the longer tracks you know where different I don't know
I wonder is four tenths close though and I would argue is four tenths close on a one minute in 2026 absolutely
well yeah that's yeah exactly it's yeah so so we will take this Tommy when we go back to Australia
and Mercedes Rompol by seven tenths so let's let's let's take some some positives from this
but I do wonder if like even you know of course the battery that they're trying to limit aren't they the battery recharge rate
the six megajoules this that and the other in qualifying I do wonder if that is almost shrunk the gaps ever so slightly as well
where like Mercedes for example with their incredible engine can't utilize the battery as well when they do limit these these recharge
you know I'm just very much spitballing here but I do wonder if that's the case and then when we get to ones that are energy rich
then then they'll open up the gap again but hopefully fingers crossed you know lots of upgrades still to come this year
but I yeah Mercedes still on top despite all of their problems and and everything they they've still managed to 12 in this quality session
yeah can I just say 18 minutes into the podcast for the word battery is mentioned we're getting better we are learning
we are so back
let's get a question from people on petrol member reach 33 will we see the weather impact the race results tomorrow
well look you I know you will like a little live update of something or other so I'm going to get you give you a live weather report
ah yes the first thing that comes up is FIA declare Canadian Grand Prix rain hazard so that's that basically means they can open up for their setups
but I don't think it's like an entire massive range I think it's like just some right high and yeah they can so if I go to the Met Office
right now and we go to Sunday and we look at it starts at 4pm local time
oh the chance of rain has lowered 30% chance of rain at 4pm local time but it's cold isn't it
it's very cold it's 12 degrees it's more likely to rain a few hours before the race and then the idea is that it will dry
I mean that's perfect start an intense but we need it to rain we need it to rain that's the thing
and also yeah with it being so cold will it even dry that that's the big question as well it could be slippery for a very long time
so there's your live weather update report that you're going to get three hours later when this all goes out so not really that live it might have changed again
but I just want a slippery track just a nice little slippery track for the first 15 laps and then it's the who's going to go for the soft tyres first
who's going to jump to the dries that's that's just that's peak Formula 1 for me
yeah we've had a few races haven't we where sometimes we've prayed for it not to rain because we've got such a good grid or something like that
but I'd like a little sprinkling of rain I think it'd be interesting to see how these new cars handle the wet weather how they race
I think it'd be really fascinating so I'd be I'd be all for a bit of wet weather fun
yeah and even just with the cold temperatures I think it will be a max of course yeah but even the cold temperatures I think in general
even if it is dry will be will be really interesting if we've had rain overnight as well washes the track clean we've got a green track it's going to be really low grip
I think it could still be a banger even just with it being dry and cold so sign me up
let's go to a question from P1Patreon member Piper MZMimicX how much of a repeat of this morning will we see tomorrow
will Kimmy play it safer or be even more aggressive
I don't think we can see Kimmy Antonelli be any more aggressive than he was today you know this morning because it was
he was yeah he was driving like a man possessed when they had that incident and then the move that he made afterwards
and going over the grass and even the move on land day
I think there'll have been words definitely said whether Kimmy abides by them he's got for me Kimmy has that kind of Max Verstappen
Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher kind of vibe where you can tell him not to go for a move but he will go for it
and we're already seeing that we've seen it a lot in F2 and he's one of those drivers that will go for it if he's got an opportunity
could be famous last words but I don't think he'll do anything stupid but if he's got famous last words
but if he's got an opportunity I don't think he's going to just let Russell go I think he will want
if he can particularly if he you know there's an opportunity to do a clean move he gets a big opportunity
he gets a run or has you know big power advantage with the boost
he's going to go for it because he wants to get one over on George because so far you know despite I think Antonelli
looking very strong in qualifying and in the race Russell's the one that's come home with the P1 so yeah
I think Kimmy will go for it
I firmly believe that as well I really do think that Kimmy and playing it safe is not in his armoury at the moment
just from a level of you know a lack of experience and I think he's 19 years old and I know there's not an excuse for him
popping off on the radio and things like that but also I just feel as though his emotions will be pretty fiery
and he'll want that revenge on on George for sure even though it was costing him a point or two in the sprint
I firmly believe that he's going to yeah he will he will want to get past George and he will want to win the race tomorrow
because I think that's just the way he is as a racer as we've said before like he's he feels like another Max Verstappen in some ways
like the fact he tried to go around the outside at turn one today at the sprint
that was such an aggressive move and something that you don't see from from a lot of drivers on the grid
there's only a few that would go for that kind of move and I think he would do it again
I mean he did it again literally later on in the race to Lando and outbraked himself
so I don't think Kimmy and safe is in is in his locker and that's what I want to see
that's why Tommy loves watching Kimmy Antonelli and Max Verstappen because they are so unpredictable
but then again let's see let's see what the pace is like
we need to have them side by side we don't need one of them to be much better than the other in the rain
or in these cold conditions so fingers crossed they will be closely matched
let's now head to a question from vengeance 347 if we have to
what is happening with Charles this whole weekend
so I've just seen a lovely quote from Charles saying
it's possibly the worst weekend of his career
so that's always good and anti Alonso comment that's always good when you see that pop up
he's a tenth of Hamilton in qualifying of course Lewis basically drove off the track in his final
final attempt which I think cost him a big chance for at least P3 for Hamilton
but for Leclerc he's been struggling massively more so than in sprint qualifying where he managed to
somehow extract a bit of a performance and then even beat Hamilton in the sprint
but it's sad to see from a qualifying master like Charles Leclerc to be in this era of Formula One
where I'm concerned that he won't be able to display his skill in a way that we have seen in the past
because qualifying was always his specialty it's where everyone's memed him for is the fact that he has loads of poles
and not that many wins
to not see that same driver with the confidence that I've watched for many seasons now is pretty disheartening
so I really hope he's able to find his mojo again to find the confidence within the brakes
which he's been struggling with massively this weekend
it's a very bumpy track as he said so I can understand where you would lose time if you don't have confidence in the car
but this is Charles Leclerc
I'm not tuning in each weekend to see him P8 in a session where his teammate was right up there and challenging until those final runs
so yeah it's full blown depression Tommy I'll be honest with you
or is it a George Russell this isn't the kind of court that he likes because you know I joked in the big flop thing that this is his
worst head-to-head and he's kind of proved that maybe it is one of his more difficult circuits
and I think it's also a little bit that Lewis Hamilton just loves it around here and is very very strong
but look Charles you know we've seen some good predictions on this podcast and Charles said I'm going to be P8 or the wall
and he was exactly right he got P8 so well done Charles
good alright let's move on as I'm sick of your rubbish
next question people on picture member S Mitchell 8 should Red Bull fans be doing a rain dance tonight?
Max looks well off at the moment
he is yeah I think I am doing a rain dance just because it's the only chance we've got
what does a rain dance in Tom Bellingham's house look like?
we don't need that clip and living on the internet for the rest of time
alright do it privately later
okay to see and yeah well I think Red Bull is there any hope really that they're off the pace
can't believe you know you're mentioning about what's wrong with Charles this weekend
Max has not looked very strong either I can't believe Max is actually ahead of Hadjah based on how that qualifying went
after all of that if you just said that Max would even be ahead of Hadjah
because he was struggling a lot Hadjah was doing amazing things during that qualifying
looked really really strong but it's Red Bull's only hope for something special
because they're so far off they're looking like comfortably kind of fourth best
and even though they're ahead of that midfield they've not quite got what it takes to fight the other teams
Max is struggling still quite a lot we've not seen kind of a continuation of Miami that I was hoping
when he put it P2 on the grid and thinking wow okay they've made a big step up let's see it again
it's not happened and Max has not been very happy all weekend
he's not I'm also surprised that Hadjah didn't out qualify for STAP
I'm just looking at the times because usually you see a step from Q2 to Q3
and I'm looking so for example Russell from Q2 to Q3 improved by half a second
Antonelli by four tenths Lando three tenths Oscar half a second
Hamilton two tenths but of course he didn't do his final run Max improved by half a second
Hadjah did the same time as what he did in Q2
so you wonder did he peak in Q2 or did he leave some time on the table in Q3
you have to probably think the latter because there's always a step in the track and the evolution
and that sort of stuff so yeah so for Hadjah the only one really yeah to not show any improvement
from Q2 to Q3 and that's what's put him still only what two hundredths behind his teammate
so a brilliant performance from Hadjah despite that for sure to be alongside Max
there's no mean feat as we know but yeah they've just been slightly out of sorts
and they didn't look exactly racy did they in the sprint either in terms of pace
so I think it's going to be a pretty anonymous weekend it's going to be a Verstappen Hadjah Leclerc battle for P6 isn't it
it's going to be a great battle to watch in the in the rain
well you won't be doing a rain dance because my god Ferrari just are so poor in the wet aren't they
yep yep they are they are thanks is that what we're going to leave that because that was the final question
I really appreciate you just sort of I've got a final thing to end the podcast on a negative thought
okay something else yeah I've just seen something quite amazing not not if you're home hero Lance
Troll um but someone has compiled basically the the the kind of head-to-head in qualifying
of like how long they've outqualified them without being outqualified so it's 1-0
um Hamilton Limblad Russell Perez of all basically are on a streak of 1 qualifying ahead of their teammate
Colopinto Norris Verstappen Holkenberg Bearman 2-0 Sainz 4-0 against Albin and then the next one
and the last one is Fernando Alonso 41-0 against Slantz Troll that is actually insane 41 consecutive qualifying sessions ahead
is that including sprints as well no not sprints just main just main that's that's mad
mad like how not a single moment where you've just had a really good qualifying or Alonso's had a problem or that is madness
it's quite the streak that really is quite the streak yeah Alonso's a pretty good driver isn't he he's he's pretty good indeed
there you go all right thank you everybody for tuning in we appreciate you all the love and support in the watch
longs as always come and join us tomorrow for a Canadian Grand Prix that I think will not disappoint I really hope not because so far
this weekend has been very entertaining so Tommy final thoughts please final thoughts I've been eagerly refreshing to see if Hamilton
there's any news on Hamilton but nothing as of yet but yeah please join us for the watch
long tomorrow because it's going to be a spicy one based on what we saw in the sprint the sprint was absolutely amazing it was a really good
welcome back for Formula 1 and yeah looking forward to the main race hoping it's just as good absolutely we'll see you there lots of love take care
Adios goodbye and yes I'm fully aware that my prediction of Kimmy Anthony not topping all competitive sessions might be scuppered by him topping Q
freaking one that's my final thought bye
About this episode
Matt and Tommy run through Canadian GP qualifying and what it really means for Sunday. They question whether sprint-weekend format changes anything, then get into Q1 exits and the Hamilton–Gasly impeding debate. Hulkenberg’s repeat P11s, Gasly’s Q1 struggles, and Colapinto’s tiny Q3 margin highlight the midfield swings. They also connect qualifying pace to race reality—Audi’s poor starts and reliability, plus tire-temperature strategy, Mercedes’ 1-2, and how rain/cold could flip the script.
We're straight back on track with qualifying for tomorrow's race, where some of the frontrunners changed their setups in anticipation of some bad rain... But did it make a difference?
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