Reaction to Canadian GP sprint qualifying
Annotations will appear as you listen
0:00
30:52
Term
front wing
The front wing is a piece on the front of the car that helps it stick to the track. It improves grip when the car turns.
Term
Sprint qualifying
Sprint qualifying is a short, high-pressure race that decides where cars line up for the main race. If you crash or damage the car, you may not be able to take part.
Term
free practice
Free practice is when teams and drivers test the car on track before the important sessions. It helps them figure out how the car behaves and how to drive the circuit.
Term
locked up both of his front tires
Locking up means the tires stop rolling and start skidding. That usually makes the car lose traction and can cause you to miss the corner or crash.
Concept
bail out of the corner
Bailing out means backing off when the car isn’t going to make the corner safely. It’s a quick decision to avoid a bigger mistake or crash.
Term
SQ1
SQ1 is the first round of sprint qualifying. Drivers try to post fast times so they can move on to the next round.
Term
Q2
Q2 is the second part of qualifying. Only the drivers who did well enough in the earlier part get to take another run.
Term
position out of it
In sprint-qualifying contexts, a driver’s qualifying result can “secure” a grid position for the next session (like the sprint or the race). The idea is that even if you don’t finish in the top spots, advancing through the right stage can still improve where you start.
Term
P13
P13 just means the driver was 13th. It’s a quick way to say where they stood relative to the other cars.
Term
red flag
A red flag means the race/session is stopped immediately for safety. In qualifying, it can mess up timing because you have to wait and then try again under different conditions.
Term
SQ2
SQ2 is the second part of sprint qualifying. Drivers get a limited chance to set a fast lap, and if you’re quick enough you move on.
Term
clean laps
A “clean lap” is when you’re not stuck behind other cars. In qualifying, that helps you get a faster time because you can drive the line you want.
Term
pit limiter
The pit limiter is a built-in speed limit for the pit lane. It stops drivers from going too fast while they’re near the team garages and pit crew.
Term
love tap
A “love tap” is racing slang for a light collision, often with a wall or another car, that doesn’t fully end the session. In qualifying or sprints, even minor contact can affect tire wear, alignment, and confidence for the next laps.
Term
sprint pole position
A sprint pole means the driver starts the sprint race from the front. Starting first is a big deal because it helps you control the race and score more points.
Term
predictions
“Predictions” here refers to a points-based forecasting game tied to the weekend’s results (who finishes where, who scores, etc.). It’s not a technical F1 term, but it frames why the hosts are discussing outcomes and points.
Term
soft tyres
In F1, “soft tyres” grip the track better, so the car can go faster. The trade-off is they usually wear out faster than harder tyres.
Term
SQ3
SQ3 is the last part of qualifying where the top cars go out to set their best times. Teams may change tires between earlier sessions and this one to get more grip.
Term
mediums
“Mediums” are one of the tire types F1 teams can choose. They’re usually a good balance of grip and lasting long enough to do the job during a run.
Term
softs
“Softs” are a stickier tire option in F1. They can help you go faster, but they may not stay at their best for as long as harder tires.
Term
lock up
A “lock up” is when the brakes make the wheels stop turning and the car starts sliding. That usually slows you down and can make the next corner harder.
Term
hairpin
A “hairpin” is a very tight turn where you have to slow down a lot. Getting it wrong can hurt your speed right after the corner.
Term
P3
“P3” means third place. They’re saying Hamilton would have finished third if that mistake hadn’t happened.
Term
P5
“P5” means fifth place. They’re saying Hamilton will likely start fifth for the race tomorrow.
LIVE
Hello everybody and welcome back to the P1 podcast with Matt and Tommy.
For the nine millionth time we are so back, never been more back.
Finally some formula one to enjoy and lots of competitive sessions.
We've had our first one today already, Sprint Qualley.
We're going to get into all of that Tommy.
But how excited are you to get your teeth stuck back into some formula one?
Just so glad just to see formula one cars running, running competitively
and being back to actually talk about cars on track finally.
Finally indeed.
Now, something I want to tell you all about, which I think we're both feeling
a little bit smug about the actual name of it because we're quite excited.
But it's our brand new P1 live show tour and it's called Super Podding.
All right, I think it's one of the best super clipping different type name thing
that you could possibly do.
I don't know about you, Tommy, but I'm absolutely buzzing with it.
The graphic, the graphic is unbelievable.
It's so good.
If you're listening on audio, you have to go check out the graphic
if you haven't seen it already.
So we are going to Amsterdam on the 20th of August, the Delamar Theatre.
11th of November, Leeds Geely Club, 12th of November, Cardiff Geely Club.
14th of November, Manchester at home.
15th of November, Glasgow, Geely Club, unsurprisingly.
The 17th of November, Birmingham Geely Club.
And the 18th of November, London, the O2 Forum, Kentish Town.
No, that is not the O2 arena.
We are not playing to tens of thousands of people.
I don't know if we sell out.
Maybe we'll move, move it.
Maybe, maybe we will.
But there you go.
If you want to go and get your tickets, we'd love to have you there.
It's going to be an awesome way to round out the season and have a lot of fun.
And of course, Amsterdam is not that far away, but the tickets are flying off the shelves,
I think, for Amsterdam.
So go and get your tickets if you want to come and enjoy some superpotting banter.
Right, Tommy, let's get into Sprint qualifying and start with SQ1,
where the bottom six were Perez, Stroll, Gasly, Bottas, Albon and Lawson.
Now, we've mentioned the bottom six.
If you didn't watch Sprint quality and you sometimes just use our podcast
to get up to speed, Albon and Lawson didn't even take part.
Albon sadly had a collision with a groundhog, which was actually a massive crash for him.
It took out the front left tire of his car, speared him into the wall
and you could see that pretty much instantly that he was not going to be able
to make Sprint quality only a couple of hours later.
Yeah, it's getting for Albon, particularly when you see what
what Carlos Sainz managed to do in that session and so unfortunate.
We've seen people hit groundhogs before and things at this track.
It's been a problem that's kind of not insane, but it's happened a few times
over the years and it's just so unfortunate for Albon that it wasn't
even like took his front wing off or something.
The fact that it damaged his car, speared him into the wall, big damage
and couldn't even make it out for Sprint qualifying.
OK, mate, emotional there with your voice.
Like you really, these late nights, mate, they're catching up with you.
And then also Lawson as well had problems in free practice one
and also wasn't able to take part in Sprint quality, which I think was more
of a surprise to not see him out there because Linblad was cooking.
And I think racing balls had a phenomenal opportunity to potentially
score points with both cars tomorrow.
But it's all in the hands of Linblad, which we'll get on to a little bit later on.
And then a big scalp apart from the two that obviously didn't take part.
But it was ghastly, you know, considering the fact we had an Albon
and a Lawson not taking part in Sprint quality one, you think, well,
that opens up the door for not many other drivers that are quick to be knocked out
because you'd think the two Aston Martins, you think the two Cadillacs.
And then it's done.
Science Delivered closed the door.
But no, because Alonso did did some Alonso things, drove, was driving
pretty fast, doing pretty good things and then speared into the wall
because he was going too fast and locked up both of his front tires.
At a corner that we've seen so many times, you need that literal point,
one of a second reaction to bail out of the corner.
But Alonso had a little lock up, decided now I'm going to try and make the corner
and it ended in, I was going to say, tears.
He made it out of SQ1.
So maybe maybe he's not too upset about it.
Yeah, yeah, it wasn't as I joked on the watch along, you know, it's not like
a Michael Schumacher Rascals moment where he's done it deliberately.
But it obviously did help him in a weird way.
I think he was very quick anyway, that he could well have got through.
He did a great job.
I love it is into afterwards.
It's just classical Alonso that was like, well, you know, put the car where it
shouldn't be and I've got to drive really, really fast.
So these things happen.
And yeah, I think if you you mentioned at the start of, you know, if you're
listening to this podcast and you've not watched the session, one of your first
thoughts is probably, where's Alonso in that list of SQ1?
Because we've not seen any of the Cadillacs or Asta Martins make it into
a Q2 or an SQ2 this year.
But Alonso, good surprise, gets in into the session, doesn't he?
Tommy's good surprise.
He also ended up in the world.
So we will be discussing that, of course, on Sunday, depending on how
all unfolds from here.
But yeah, a brilliant job up until that point for Alonso.
But of course, it also secured him a position out of it.
However, which way you see that, we will leave that up to you.
But yeah, apart from that, of course, Perez actually, you know, we speak
about Perez being knocked out.
He was very close to making it through as well.
And I think that was a phenomenal job from Czecho.
Eight tenths he put on Bottas, which is a big old margin.
If you speak, I will bring up the P13 from Bottas in China.
So, you know, I've got a backvaltry where I can.
But yes, Bottas is definitely struggling for raw speed at the moment.
So question, people on Patreon remember Justin, if not for the red flag,
could we have seen Czecho into SQ2?
I think there was definitely a chance, I guess, with no red flag,
everybody's getting clean laps in.
There was, of course, a manic rush right at the end,
because there was about 35 seconds of leeway between a fast lap
and then the prep time.
Which became 15 seconds when Hamilton didn't get it.
When Hamilton was like, you know what?
I'm a chill. I'm a chill, guys.
I am in no rush.
But I think Perez probably still would have missed out.
But it's not to take anything away from his performance.
I think he's just hampered by what that Cadillac can do.
But he's certainly got everything out of the car.
Yeah, definitely.
He seemed quite gutted about not making it into SQ2,
which maybe shows, you know, how much Cadillac have improved already.
And he's having a fantastic season.
You know, he's been able to do things this season
and put in decent performances and race midfield cars.
You know, we've mentioned it quite a bit in drive ratings
that he's managed to put in these good performances.
And this was another one from Perez.
He's having a really good season so far,
despite the limitations of the car.
And yeah, it's a shame for him.
But at the end of the day, realistically,
had he got into SQ2, he's finishing like 16th anyway.
So it's not making a huge difference,
even there would have been like a nice feel-good story.
Yeah, it would have been.
But if Cadillac keep on this sort of trajectory,
I think they will have their moment in the sun
because they are certainly improving.
They've improved a lot since the first race of the season.
And I think they can all be very proud
of what they've achieved so far.
Question from P1Patreon member Lex Wakeman,
otherwise known as maybe a Pierre Gasly slash Checo fanboy, maybe?
Why on earth did Lewis go out on the final bit of SQ1?
Because he and anyone else can do whatever they want.
And that is just part of the game.
And yeah, you could argue that why did he need to do it?
Because he was comfortably through,
he was in actually in first, wasn't he, at that stage,
looking very, very quick in SQ1.
And yeah, it was kind of amusing,
not for the people that wanted to do a time,
it was Lewis that was quite far,
I think it was third in the queue
and was slow kind of starting.
So anyone that was already very close didn't make it.
But I think, you know, you can blame Lewis,
you've got to question why a lot of the people
that were so desperate to get through
and on the bubble weren't further up.
And I know Alpine, it's difficult for them
because as far as I'm aware, they're quite far down the pit lane.
I think they're the first garage with where, you know,
they finished in the Constructors' Championship.
So it doesn't help, but you do wonder if it's possible,
had they just kind of gone early and waited there
or what they can do to make it happen.
And I know Gasly, we saw him overtaking cars like crazy,
but it was all a bit too late.
It certainly was.
I really don't think there's much that Alpine and Gasly
could have done in that situation.
I think they are just hampered by the position
that they are in the pit lane
and the fact that they're not allowed to just go out
and queue for minutes on end,
especially if there's been a red flag.
I think they have to wait for a call
to be able to enter the pit lane,
to be able to then go out on track.
So I'm sure that they are switched on enough
to know that they weren't supposed to be languishing around
and allowing other cars to go out there.
Back to the Lewis question.
Completely agree with you, Tommy.
You can do whatever he wants.
I think that the comical slash annoying,
depending on who you support thing,
was the fact that he was just trundling down the pits
when it was a moment of pure rush.
Why didn't the people behind overtake him, though?
I don't know if they're allowed to at that stage.
Gasly did, didn't he?
No, he did it on the exit.
So once he went past the pit exit line,
whether you turn off the pit limiter,
I think that's where he started to stay.
Yeah, but I feel like Lewis has already passed
and stood quite slow, but I guess you can't overtake him
in the pits when he had stopped, I guess, yeah.
Yeah, I think that was where most of the time was lost anyway.
But I mean, realistically, you look at the...
I know that you know not much has gone on in SQ1
when Corin Chandox on the Skypad
analysing Bottas missing the line by about eight seconds.
So it wasn't like there was a driver that missed it
by a really small margin.
You know, Gasly was nowhere.
So as much as Gasly passed about six cars
on the outside of the pit exit,
which I found to be very entertaining
and almost F1 game-like, to be honest with you.
But yeah, Lewis can do whatever he wants
and it was just a bit of an unfortunate time
for Fernando Alonso to have put it in the wall.
Question from M-Sully 013.
Gearbox, I assume that means.
I am of the opinion that if you start...
I mean, as much as it's such an unfortunate moment,
I don't think you can have these external factors
to be brought in when it comes to allocation
because where do you limit this?
Where does it begin? end?
You know, if a bird flies across the circuit,
a driver has to take avoiding action,
hits the wall, their PU is broken.
You know, it's just the nature of Formula One.
It's like having a failure.
As much as it is really annoying,
really unfair on Alex and for Williams,
I just don't think it's something
that can really be introduced.
I'm trying to think back to when we had the drain cover stuff.
That was the Carlos Sainz one that comes to mind
that he got a penalty for that, actually.
He didn't take Carlos because he damaged his car
and had to essentially replace the parts,
and then I think it ended up with a grid penalty,
potentially, or something along those lines,
and there was a lot of outrage over it
because it wasn't his fault, but you're right.
Unfortunately, it is just the luck of the game
or bad luck of the game,
and it's just part of Formula One.
You sometimes have good luck
and sometimes you have incredibly bad luck,
and you to groundhog and go straight into the wall
and don't even qualify.
It's just really unlucky for Albin,
but it opens a can of worms
if you start allowing for these things
because then teams start going,
oh, well, this was an external factor,
or we did it on this curb that was loose,
and teams would just try and find loop holes everywhere,
and it just would be a bit of a mess.
Yeah, I do think that when it comes to circuits
and perhaps a lack of surveying
their own track conditions,
that there is a financial link there
where teams can start chasing circuits
to be like, well, the circuit
literally wasn't up to scratch,
but when it comes to allocations for stuff
and the actual effect that it has on the sport,
I don't know, I just...
I think there has to be a hard and fast rule.
There's a lawyer side of damages and things,
and then there's a sporting side.
When they had the...
Was it Lotus?
I think ran over a drain cover in Malaysia,
and then they were chasing damages from Sipang,
and maybe that was actually one of the reasons
why they were able to continue on, I don't think,
but yeah, it was...
Those kind of things I can understand
where teams will go after financially,
but from a sporting perspective,
I think it just has to be a...
Just bad luck.
Yeah, exactly, as much as it is very, very annoying.
This episode is sponsored by Cozy.
Race weekend, friends over, snacks out,
drinks that will inevitably end up spilt
while watching the final lap.
You need a sofa that can handle it,
and that's where Cozy comes in.
Cozy makes furniture that's actually built for real life.
Modular pieces you can rearrange however you want,
like an F1 strategy call,
except this one won't cost you a podium.
Washable covers, so when race day gets messy,
you're not sweating it, and hidden storage,
so the living room's sorted before anyone even notices
it was chaos just two minutes ago.
The best bit, it arrives in boxes you can easily move.
Comes together in minutes, and if you ever need to shift it,
no nightmare trip up the stairs,
no back injuries, no drama,
just good furniture that goes wherever life takes you.
Comfortable, practical, and built for whatever you throw at it.
Cozy's got your race day HQ covered.
Transform your living space today with Cozy.
Visit Cozy.ca.
That's C-O-Z-E-Y.ca.
The home of possibilities made easy.
Let's now head to SQ2,
where the bottom six in this session
were Hulkenberg, Bortoletto, Colla Pinto,
Ocon, Bearman, and Alonzo.
It was pretty close as well for Max Verstappen.
I had not said his name, although at one point, Tommy,
you thought that I might well have been saying his name,
because he had a very steady lap,
and that's putting things nicely.
It just wasn't really hooked up.
He was down in ninth,
but there was enough of a gap between him
and that next sort of run of midfield cars,
about two or three tenths,
which gave him that buffer,
and that's something we've just seen just in general,
I think, so far in 2026 Formula One,
that the chasm between the top eight,
the top four teams,
and the rest of the field is so big
that even if there are these moments of
poor laps, like Leclerc, for example,
I remember him in those first couple of sessions,
what was constantly backing out of laps
for one reason or another,
and he's a second off the fastest time,
but he's still chilling.
Yeah, and then you're a second off the fastest time last year,
and you're in 16th or something,
so this is the kind of
good fortune for those top teams,
that there is this massive chasm,
and kind of what we saw after testing,
the only driver who we'll get on to
is Limblad, that somehow managed to,
you know, and racing bulls looking quick,
we didn't get to see what Lawson could do,
but yeah, Max was saved very much
by the fact that
we saw just the top four teams
were so clear and Limblad,
and it just meant no one else could kind of touch them,
and we've mentioned kind of, you know,
Gasly and how crazy it was,
but I think even Alpine this weekend
didn't look like they were
well clear of the kind of midfield,
like we saw last time out,
so it does feel like that midfield
kind of pack could well,
even though they're so far off the top teams,
that kind of the fight for ninth
could change a lot
as we kind of see it throughout each race.
Yeah, and I think it's to be expected
with the nature of where we are with these regulations,
there are constant massive halls of upgrades
coming, some teams not upgrading at all.
I'm looking at Ferrari and Aston Martin,
they've brought nothing this weekend,
and then you've got Mercedes bringing
I think eight pieces of upgrades,
you've got McLaren with seven,
even though they're a bit smaller.
One thing you can count on
is Audi being 11th and 12th.
No matter how much the midfield mixes up,
Audi lock in 11th place every week, it feels like.
And then one of them won't start,
and the other one will have issues,
and neither will score points
if Audi's season is anything to go by.
Fast but very fragile.
Ocon, our qualified bearman,
of course Ocon had all of these
incorrect rumours going around
about him being replaced mid-season.
Of course he absolutely wrote off the front of his car
in free practice one,
and we were wondering what was going to really happen
for him for the rest of the weekend,
but he was able to beat bearman
who had a very scruffy session
in SQ2, which was a shame,
because Oli's had a great start to the season,
but maybe a couple of steady weekends
is not what I expected to see,
but Haas may well just be falling
behind already,
which is a very quick turnaround
from what we had seen in the first couple of races.
Definitely, I do wonder
were Haas just really good
around Melbourne maybe,
but they had a decent start, didn't they,
and they did well in China as well,
and we kind of thought that they were
comfortably...
It looked like Haas and Alpine were
like the stars of the midfield,
but Haas, if you like, really
fallen back, it feels like,
and particularly bearman
had that amazing start to the season,
where I think he was scoring
like P7s and P8s and things
and looking really good,
but it's not going his way at all,
and the gap, again,
is just absolutely massive
to the top teams,
and you mentioned this in the watch along,
for a lap that's like
a 113, the field spread
is absolutely enormous.
Certainly is. It can only get smaller
over the next however many years
we have these regulations for.
Let's now go to the final part
of Sprint qualifying
SQ3, where the top 10
were Russell, Antonelli, Norris,
Piastri, Hamilton, Leclerc, Verstappen,
Hajar, Linblad and Sines,
2x2x2x2, and then
Linblad and Sines.
First question, straight into it,
Formula LT 63,
is George Russell back?
Kind of,
but I think it's very...
it's a very kind of quick
thing to jump on and say that
Russell's turned his season around completely,
because at the end of the day,
he was 0.07 quicker than his
teammate,
and it's a very small margin,
could have easily gone the other way.
He looked a lot more
comfortable, even though
he had that spin in FP1,
and we're thinking, oh no,
it's George Russell's season really
unraveling,
but he's got pole position,
but it is just one session, and
at the end of the day, Mercedes are
clear.
We're kind of like, it feels like
reminiscent of the start of the season, saying that
3.10th gap,
when we all thought that maybe
people had caught up, and that
little qualifying trick
that they had that got blocked
would slow them down a bit, but
no, they are rapid again,
miles clear, on a very
short lap as well, to be
3.10th clear of the McLarens.
And yeah,
Russell has improved,
but it's such
a small margin.
We were used to seeing Russell putting quite a
lot of time on Antony last year,
and it was still very close between them, but
it's all going to come down to
tomorrow, not just
the actual sprint race, but also
qualifying again for the big
race, where the big points are handed out.
Exactly.
I think it's very
early to say whether he's back or not, but it's a
strong performance out the blocks from
George, but it's not like he has the advantage
he had over Kimmy last year,
when they were around Canada, but
of course, two very different cars.
So you can't really say that the form
that we saw last year will be completely
translated to this year, but George has done
a great job. This is what he needed to do.
You think about the squeaky bum time
that he had in Free Practice 1, where he
very nearly wrote the front right
suspension off, when he had a spin
into the first couple of corners and
had a little love tap with the wall
to bounce back from that
to get sprint pole position.
It's going to be fascinating to see how
turns one and two go with those two,
if they are side by side into
the first couple of corners, but
let's wait and see.
If I come away with about six
points this weekend in the predictions, because I've
backed George Russell the entire way through,
then George Russell may
well be back. Let's put it that way.
So we shall see for the rest of the
weekend. Question from P1P,
captain of 3420.
Will Ferrari ever
figure out the soft
tyres?
So
I said a few things in the watch
long, very much broken clock,
twice a day type vibes, but
I did 100%
predict that
we were going to see, we saw Hamilton fastest
in the first session
and basically looking incredibly competitive
up until we
get to SQ3 where they go from the
mediums to the softs, and we have seen this
so many times
where they just don't
have the same level of grip
and confidence than they do on the mediums.
I don't understand what it is.
Clearly there's something within
the car and the way they fire up the tyres
that the mediums just work better
and have done for a very long time.
Hamilton wasn't miles off, don't get me wrong.
Half a tenth, he had a lock up into
the hairpin before the long back straight.
Without that, he's P3
and maybe we're not talking about that.
But Lewis was looking incredibly
impressive. He'll be
pretty gutted I would say, starting
P5 tomorrow.
Perhaps a chance in main qualifying
to sneak into
P3. But I said, I was like
when we get to SQ3 I guarantee
both McLaren's will be ahead of the Ferraris
and that is exactly what happened.
And it was
instant as well, wasn't it? We saw Hamilton
mess up his first run.
Huge moment coming out of the
turn to
kind of getting on the traction.
And yeah,
it's the same old story with Ferrari
that they look very quick and as soon as
we get on the soft tyres,
they don't have the same level.
I think Hamilton definitely could have got
the two McLaren's
had it gone his way.
But yeah, it's a
disappointing one for Ferrari
for sure because
I guess that only saving grace
is the fact that McLaren aren't
miles ahead of them, which I thought
might be the case.
It's a small win I guess.
A small win to be behind them,
so not really a win in the slightest,
but I think a weird small win
and I can't believe I'm saying this is that I'm happy with
the Charle-Claire P6,
800's off Hamilton because
it was going to be so much worse
than that. LeClaire looked like he was on the
back foot the entirety of the qualifying session
and then, yeah, to be four tenths
off Poland starting P6
is obviously not what I was hoping for
after Bahrain pre-season testing, but
it's kind of the best
I could have hoped for. For him to be alongside
Hamilton when Hamilton, yeah,
you were thinking Hamilton
would have been three or four places
ahead of him, so, yeah. But it was not
so a great bounce back
from Ferrari P5 and P6 on the grid.
Love that. It's not even like I can
really rely on their fast starts anymore
because McLaren have literally the same starts
as them nowadays, so maybe
all four of them will be ahead of the Mercedes
come turn one. Don't think so, it was a very
short run. Next question,
actually, completely linked with it.
People on picture remember Cece Hollister. Who leads
after turn one?
I'm going to be boring and say George Russell.
I know that
the McLaren's will be strong.
Lando has given himself
an amazing opportunity to think that
he was actually P9 in that first run.
Looking like he
messed up his lap completely to start
third.
They start quick. He'll be on the
clean side, so I think a lot
of people will say that Lando has a good chance.
But I just see
a really short run down to turn one.
I do think Mercedes
may have
figured it out
based on, you know, George Russell hasn't had
particularly bad starts
anywhere near as much as Kimi Antonelli,
even though they've not been amazing
compared to the likes of McLaren and Ferrari.
And it is a short
run down to turn one.
Then even after that,
there's not really
many places to
pass. And I think by the time we get halfway
around the lap, you think
Mercedes should have kind of
fired up
everything and be fine. So
I'm going to say Russell
leads.
But I'm still very hyped
for it because I think it's still very,
very tasty indeed to
see just
how much Antonelli
risks, I think,
to get into the lead where they plays it safe
because it's only
a point.
It is only a point.
I think
it's Antonelli.
Yeah, exactly. I really don't think that
Kimi, judging by all
the things we've seen so far this year and the
fact he's on the dirty side of the grid,
I think it'll be Russell leads
out of turn one just from
Norris. Then it'll be Piastri
and Antonelli will be fourth.
Then it'll be the two Ferraris. That's
how I see it.
Unless Antonelli has sorted it out, Mercedes
have said they've found fixes and this, that and the other.
They'd also said they'd found things in
the simulator I think prior to this weekend.
if McLaren can get off the line
which they absolutely can,
then Antonelli will be under pressure.
Despite it being a short run,
it doesn't take much to lose a position or two.
So we'll see.
That will definitely
challenge Antonelli once again, being the championship
leader. Does he just settle for a third
or fourth? Doesn't really matter too much.
Two or three points lost to George.
So yeah, let's see. That's going to be interesting
isn't it with Antonelli?
When he manages...
How he manages this? Is he thinking
about the championship already
and thinking that it's better
just to lose a couple of points to George here and not do anything
silly? Or
is he going, no, I am
absolutely sending on my teammate to turn one?
Yeah, ideally Antonelli gets a
slightly better start than Russell when they're side by side
into turn one. That's what I want to see
and how that would unfold. That's the best
scenario, apart from Leclerc, of course
leading out of turn one.
And finally,
I guess a quick shout out to Limblad.
I think he deserves
one of those for sure because he was...
I don't think he really got his
plaudits, at least from what I could hear
in the broadcast
of not only being P9,
but just so far
clear of the rest of the midfield.
It was like he was in a red bull.
Yeah, it was such a great
performance from Limblad.
And he's been off the back
of a couple of pretty steady races, it has to be said.
Of course, the first race of the season was amazing
for him. But then, of course,
he was on the back foot in China. I think he only managed
to get a few laps before they went straight into a sprint weekend.
But Limblad here, with this
sprint weekend, it's worked out phenomenally
well so far. So it's a well-under
Limblad and then for signs as well
to make it into the top ten, although
they need to be in the top eight, just got points.
Indeed, yeah.
It's a shame for them that
it looks like the top eight.
Kind of all things
normal.
We know that doesn't always happen in Formula One, but
the top eight are going to lock it out.
But Limblad's been
it's not even a case where he's just kind of
put in an amazing lap in SQ3
and got into P9, who's
consistently great.
Don't want to take anything away from him, obviously.
We didn't get to see what
Lawson could do to see whether it is
just the case that the racing ball
is fantastic. But at the end of the day
as a rookie, he's delivered a fantastic
performance
and almost beat Hajjar
which
was looking like he might
even beat Hajjar or
even Verstappen
with the pace that that racing
ball had. So yeah,
a great performance from Limblad
and we've not really seen
a huge amount from him since
his amazing debut, so it's nice to see.
And also, you know, you're saying about
we don't know what Lawson could have done
well thankfully we have a sprint weekend.
That means we have another qualifying session.
Yes, Lawson will be slightly on the back foot
in terms of practice running, but
we will see that other racing ball
ideally
in another fast competitive session
qualifying session to see just where
that racing ball
deserves to be. But I really don't think there's much
more that Limblad could have done. Otherwise
they're beating the main team
of Red Bull. So there
you go. We are finally
poised for the sprint race
tomorrow and then of course main qualifying will be
live for every single
competitive session. If you want to come and join us
for our watch along, we'll be live on YouTube
and Twitch. So please come and join us there. Tommy,
final thoughts please. Just bring
on the the race start and
so hyped for it to see
wrestling Antonelli side by side
and what the McLarens can do.
And yeah, it's just great to have
Formula One back finally.
And yeah, looking forward to
the watch along and please join us
because it's going to be a good one.
Certainly as we will see you very soon. Lots of love.
Bye.
This episode is sponsored by Cozy.
Race weekend, friends
over, snacks out, drinks
that will inevitably end up spilt
while watching the final lap. You need
a sofa that can handle it and that's where
Cozy comes in. Cozy
makes furniture that's actually built for
real life. Modular pieces you
can rearrange however you want
like an F1 strategy call except this
one won't cost you a podium.
Washable covers so when race day gets
messy you're not sweating it.
And hidden storage so the living room
sorted before anyone even notices
it was chaos just two minutes ago.
The best bit, it arrives
in boxes you can easily move.
Comes together in minutes and if you
ever need to shift it, no nightmare
trip up the stairs, no back injuries,
no drama, just good furniture
that goes wherever life takes you.
Comfortable, practical and built
for whatever you throw at it. Cozy's
got your race day HQ covered.
Transform your living space today
with Cozy. Visit Cozy.ca
that's C-O-Z-E-Y
.ca
The home of possibilities
made easy.
About this episode
Sprint qualifying in Canada becomes a story of tiny margins and big consequences for P1 with Matt and Tommy. They start with SQ1 and Albon’s sprint-ending groundhog crash, then unpack why red flags, traffic, and pit-lane timing can decide who reaches SQ2. Alonso’s SQ1 progress stands out, while Hamilton’s soft-tyre drop-off and a hairpin lock-up shape the SQ3 picture. They also debate upgrades, midfield gaps, and how sprint results feed into the main-race points.
Original notes
We react to the first competitive session of the weekend, as some changing tyres and a red flag shook up the order throughout sprint qualifying!
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, 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
Follow us on socials! You can find us on Twitter, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and TikTok
P1 with Matt and Tommy is the world's biggest F1 podcast. Subscribe for new podcasts around every single race throughout the 2026 Formula 1 season!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
0:00
30:52