Reaction to Las Vegas GP practice

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Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the P1 podcast with Matt and Tommy. I'm just going to

straight up say it before I have comments saying, Matt, you look unwell. Yes, I am.

I'm very unwell right now. I have slept for about two hours.

I'm supposed to sleep for FP1, catch up on that, couldn't get to sleep. So I actually

watched the end of FP1, which I said I wasn't going to do in predictions,

and then I couldn't get back to sleep. So we watched three practice too as well.

Just to cover that all off, I feel horrendous, but I still turn up for

Formula One and for the P1 podcast. Tommy, you're the energetic one today.

I'm the backseat. So over to you. You're the presenter for this one.

Energetic as much as I can be at this time of the morning, but

yeah, an unusual day of running in Vegas again. Problems that continued from the first

year, which is probably going to be the thing that is the biggest talking point of the day.

Lots of problems at Las Vegas to keep us certainly on our toes. Let's start with

free practice one, where Leclerc was fastest from Alexander Albon and Yuki Sonoda.

The thing that I sort of gathered from this, there wasn't any big issues or big moments

necessarily, but there are a lot of mistakes, if you can call a moment a mistake, I guess you can.

Where drivers are just not able to spot their breaking point, struggling with tire temp,

and yeah, plenty of mistakes out there. They're not really punished so much around Vegas

because there is so much runoff area where they can just bail out, which I like and also

don't like because I like the fact that there's repercussions and that drivers have to find the

limit without going over it around some tracks. But I guess on the flip side of that, if we'd

had closer walls and no runoff, then we probably wouldn't get any action whatsoever because

of the, of course, cold conditions, what time they run these sessions at, it makes for a

rather difficult driving experience right now. It does. Yeah, they were finding the limits.

You get a lot of, it is basically a session where everyone's just locking up

so many lockups, everyone going deep into runoff areas.

And that's about really all that happened in FP1. There wasn't a huge amount of action.

And then we went into FP2 thinking, okay, now we're going to get to see some lap times and

things, but of course, as we'll get into that also got interrupted. So very strange, strange day.

Spoiler alert, Tommy, we're not on free practice too yet and you've already gone and dropped the

bombshell. Well, look, I wasn't ill and up for FP1. So all I know from the highlights video

is that there were some new liveries. You always notice a good session when they reel

that one out the stuff. Yeah, you know, when Alex Jakes seems fed up to do the

voiceover that you know it's not the best highlights. But when it starts with

there's some new helmets on the grid, you're like, okay, I know where it's going.

It's been a ball fest. But thankfully, I guess for the fans, they actually saw

running throughout FP1 and FP2. Well, ish, we'll go on to FP2 shortly. But I think there's

something that we noticed in free practice one, maybe not so in FP2 or perhaps with the

results in FP2, it sort of looks better for them. McLaren, of course, you know, sixth and eighth in

free practice one and Lando specifically was making a lot of mistakes out there. A lot of times he

was snatching the break and it looked like McLaren were struggling quite a lot after that first

practice session, although they have by the sounds of it skinnied down their rear wing

for FP2 to try and find a bit more pace. At least that's what I heard unless I literally

had a fever dream and that was Ted Kravitz telling me in my two hours of sleep that I've had.

But that's free practice one wrapped up and done and dusted. Let's go to FP2 where

Lando Norris was fastest ahead of Antonelli and Leclerc, but it was heavily interrupted.

We sort of it's kind of such a terrible time to have had the problems with the manhole cover

because you do this sort of 45 minute warm up for then the final 15 minutes of chaos and

soft tyres and fast running, representative running as we like to call it. And that was the

moment where they flew not just one red flag, but two red flags in the last 15 minutes and

basically as much as Norris is fastest at the end of FP2. I don't think that tells the picture

at all with Charles Leclerc third. I know his gearbox broke. Shut up. But on the medium

tyres, he's in for Paul. Come on, talk to me. Yeah, it's very bizarre that basically we've

gone into this weekend. It's the most unpredictable session. We mentioned in predictions that how

hard it is to kind of know the pecking order. And weirdly, we've ended up with the same top

two that we've had in the last two competitive sessions with Norris and Antonelli. But that

doesn't tell the whole picture because of this drain cover issue or reported drain cover issue.

Of course, it was very confusing. A lot of the drivers were confused at why this red flag had

actually come out at first. But my initial thought was, how has this happened? Because

we thought we'd got on top of this. Obviously, what happened in the very first practice

session we had here back in 2023, it was okay. This could be an absolute disaster of a race.

It was already a lot of talk about how it was going to be a nightmare. And actually,

the rest of the weekend was fine. Last year was great as well. And you thought this problem

had gone. And as you mentioned, it's like the worst time for it to happen because it was just

as we're about to get the running, we're about to get to see who's doing what. And this

is where all the action's happening. And then it didn't just happen once. We thought,

you know, once it happened, we thought, at least we're getting a five minute shootout now.

And then it happened again. It did. Yes. Also worth mentioning at the start of the session,

there was drizzle, there was a slightly slippery start to free practice too as well.

But yeah, Norris fastest. Yeah, the track isn't underwater like that viral

video that went around on Instagram that everyone thought was gonna be.

A lot of people thought F1's cancelled. It's done. It's in the bin. Vegas,

we're going to skip this weekend. Now, if you actually looked at the weather forecast,

you could see that it was going to brighten up and be a lot better come the weekend.

So yeah, free practice too. Let's get into a question from Grady underscore Ripple.

How many drain covers can we expect to impede the race?

I would like to say none after the Carlos signs massive incident a couple of years ago,

which thankfully he was fine as much as there was a lot of damage to the car.

You know, with that happening, of course, there was a lot of uproar,

a lot of criticism to make sure that this doesn't happen again.

And to be honest, yes, it has happened. Yes, there's been concerns about track

maintenance and things like that and these becoming loose.

But I also on the flip side sort of commend how they've gone about it.

There was a report from a marshal. They clearly vary on it in terms of if there is

something that goes wrong, they make the call and they have to step in.

So on that side, we've not had a catastrophic incident that is now

meaning we're talking about it. But that being said, it's a very high speed track.

It's, you know, there's two parts of it for me, really.

There's the one side where it goes, okay, they've obviously tried to do as much

as they can to prepare themselves for Formula One cars.

But then on the flip side of that, how do you actually test these manhole covers?

Without Formula One cars flying out of the back of the house now?

Yeah, you can't have the suction of the ground effect Formula One cars

until you're there. That's not an excuse. Don't get me wrong.

But I can sort of understand why these things can happen.

But look, there's going to be a big investigation throughout the whole of,

I guess, tomorrow now, because it's nighttime in Vegas or maybe even overnight.

So I don't think it will impact the race.

I really hope not because we thought this problem was basically squashed after what happened in

FP1 two years ago and it hasn't resurfaced until now.

It is a worry that it's happened again because, yeah, it's a very scary thing to happen.

It was a very close call back in 2023.

And we have seen it before, you know, it is not just Vegas.

We've had some street tracks in the past that have had these problems.

But what is worrying is the fact that it's happened and it happened twice by the look of it.

Is it just a case in practice where they're being super cautious and it is like almost

a marshal watching it like a hawk and the slightest bit of movement and they're like,

okay, we need to just make sure this doesn't happen again.

But please let's not have a four qualifying session where it's constant red flags and

things because however much it would make it fun for maybe a mixed up grid and things,

it's not what we need or want for the spectators and things.

No, no, for sure.

We don't want a four hour qualifying session and to be honest with you,

you know, we're judging this on hearsay.

We're judging it on the hearsay, but in the fact that like we don't have it confirmed

that there was a manhole just loose and just hanging out.

It could be a very small weakness in it, which is what the marshal was called in

and they're being overly cautious, which I think is the correct way of going about it.

But then again, you know, if they're taking this cautious measure into Saturday and Sunday,

that's when competitive sessions could well be impacted.

But fingers crossed, not.

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Next question and away from drain covers as you'll be very pleased to hear.

P1Patreon member Patrick, have McLaren been overlooked this weekend?

Maybe. Obviously, we predicted that they were going to be terrible.

I said McLaren, of course, to my predictions, you said Landon Orris.

They have struggled.

I do think that if you've woken up or wherever you are in the world

and you've just tuned in and seen that Lando is fastest,

you just would assume, oh, same old situation.

But they were struggling.

Lando was trying to find the limit, making a lot of mistakes, lockups, things like that.

But then we go into, you actually look at that session

and it was interrupted at the final part.

So we didn't get to see more people doing quick laps.

Antonelli, of course, very, very close behind and George Russell was actually on a very quick lap

that was probably going to go even faster.

So I don't actually think McLaren are the strongest just because Lando is fastest here.

No, I completely agree.

I think that if you just, and I don't blame you, by the way,

if you live in Europe and you didn't really watch Free Practice

because they're on pretty unsociable hours.

When you look at it on paper, you go, oh, Lando fastest,

but it does not tell the story in the slightest.

The fact that we had those red flags at a really crucial point of the hot laps

and the fact as well, massive track evolution around Vegas.

So it almost felt like a wet to dry session

where it's just the next person over the line will go quicker,

will go quicker, will go quicker.

And Lando was one of those drivers to set one of the last lap times

before we had the problems.

I mean, you've got Nika Holkenberg up there in P4.

So, you know, there's a lot, no disrespect to Nika.

He's had a podium this year,

but I think there's a lot more to be said.

And as I said earlier on, Charles Leclerc,

third fastest on the mediums.

So let's not discount that because I genuinely feel

like Ferrari may well be the quickest car at least from Friday.

I think over one lap, they absolutely have a chance

of fighting for pole position tomorrow.

You know, maybe that is Hopium, but sign me up.

You guys have missed this.

It's been a while since I've actually believed

that Ferrari could get a good result.

And I don't think I'm being delusional, Tommy.

I don't.

Lewis Hamilton, yes, he finished 10th in FP2,

but he was also setting very fast lap times throughout the session.

But just towards the end, before we had the interruptions,

he wasn't able to put one together in time.

Yeah, they looked quick Ferrari.

I do think weirdly, you know, look at the order from FP2

and you wouldn't take this away,

but it is looking weirdly kind of what we expected,

where Ferrari, particularly in Charlotte Clair,

hands are looking very quick.

What we expected or what I expected and put down.

Well, no, I was going to, I was actually,

if you want to finish my point,

I was going to say Ferrari and Mercedes.

I heard Ferrari slander and I immediately came to the defence.

No, no, don't worry.

No, I actually, you know, we'll get onto that later.

But Ferrari and Mercedes, yeah, looking very strong,

which are the two that we've said

have kind of haven't been there as much.

Obviously, it's been a season of,

yeah, Mercedes have had their moments and Ferrari less so.

But they've got, you know, McLaren have been dominant.

Max has had some great results as well

and also like found himself in the championship

and winning races.

Whereas I think this race is that difference

where the Ferraris and the Mercedes can compete more.

And I think even though, you know,

we end this day with landing our fastest,

I do think that the Mercedes and Ferrari

looking very, very quick.

So I don't think McLaren are going to be

jumping from the rooftops thinking

we've absolutely sorted our vagus curse

and, you know, we're going to win the race easily

like we've had the last two.

No, they look more competitive

than perhaps we sort of thought coming into this weekend.

I don't think you can discount them

from fighting for a podium.

But I still also feel quite confident

in my crazy prediction

and the fact that McLaren could well not be on the podium.

So let's see.

Question from P1Patreon member LGD.

Lando P1, Oscar P14 in free practice too.

Championship done?

Look, let's go back to what we just said.

OK, relax everybody.

I love as well that these questions have come in

after the session,

which makes me hope that these people have watched the session.

The red flags have made a massive, massive impact here.

I think Oscar maybe looks slightly off Lando again,

but it's hard to tell, right?

Because we get all that long run.

We're not long running,

but we get the build-up laps.

We get the medium tire runs and things like that.

And then we kind of get baited into thinking

we're going to see the fast laps and then we didn't.

So Oscar, not the greatest thing to write home

about in free practice.

Two in free practice.

One, it felt like he was, yeah,

maybe a couple of tenths back from Lando

every sort of fast lap he attempted.

So it's not Championship done.

I think, I can't remember if I said this in the P1 live shows

or in the podcast, but it is,

the Championship is absolutely in Lando's favour here.

We haven't really spoken about Max Verstappen.

Like Max, again, had moments of looking fast

and being up there.

Of course, he hasn't topped either session,

fourth in FP1 and ninth in free practice too.

He needs to win.

Like Max needs to absolutely win and McLaren to not score

for his Championship hopes to be anywhere near alive.

I will not have people saying the broadcast,

of course, they are paid to hype up

this Formula One Championship.

But Max needs to win.

McLaren need to not score.

And that doesn't look likely at the moment.

So when we're asking ourselves about Championship done,

of course, I'm thinking now between Lando and Oscar

and it kind of works in Lando's favour in some ways

if McLaren aren't that fast because Oscar then

may not be able to challenge for the win or second or third

if he gets his mojo back.

But there's only a limitation to the car

that he can score 12 points

and then Lando might score eight or 10.

And it's a tiny point swing

as we then head into the final two races and one sprint.

So it's not Championship done,

but Oscar's not shown enough for me to think,

ah, he's quicker than Lando

and also might be able to get a big point swing

at this point.

Yeah, I'm not sold on Oscar's found anything.

I know that it's an unrepresentative session

and I don't think for a second

we're going to see Lando taking pod position

and Oscar 14th.

However, it has looked like Oscar's still

not on that pace of Lando, which is a shame.

It could work either way, really.

I think you can look at it from two different ways.

And I know this is a very pessimistic view shock

on my version who would have thought.

Welcome back, Tommy.

But look, Oscar needs to find something

and quick if he wants to win this title.

So you could look at it as, well, actually,

it's good for Lando that McLaren are terrible

because Oscar's not going to make any inroads.

You could also look at it in the way that

if they both don't score and have an absolute shocker,

it's probably better for Oscar

that Lando is not extending his lead even more.

Oscar's only hope is just to hope that they're scoring

less points that Lando is not extending his lead

and that is the thing that keeps him closer to Lando

because unfortunately for Oscar, I know it's only practice

but it's so difficult to watch

that the fact that he just doesn't seem to have any pace

compared to Lando

and we've kind of seen a little bit of that again.

He's not made as many mistakes as Lando has in the session

but he's also not looked particularly fast

and I don't see any sign of him kind of getting his mojo back.

Nope, me neither.

I think it's, unless Oscar can find something, we have to.

Like Vegas, he has to outscore Lando.

If he doesn't, then Lando can literally just

finish ahead of him in Qatar on his world champion.

Or pretty much that, of course, you have a sprint as well.

One thing I did want to say about Oscar Piastri

is I'd love to know his thoughts at the moment

because one thing that's kind of happened going into this weekend

is they're now looking at the racing rules again

over what happened in that incident with Oscar

and I do wonder how Oscar Piastri feels

hearing people like Carla Sainz and stuff

who they've had a bit of history in the past

basically calling out the stewards saying

there's no way in a million years

that's a penalty for Oscar Piastri

because it could have been a very different race for him

had he not got that penalty

and just been able to finish second

and he's a lot closer in the championship.

So I do wonder how much that as well

is just another kind of confidence zapper for Oscar.

I'm not sure about that one.

I think that if they do tweak the rules

then obviously Oscar might feel slightly aggrieved

but you've got to play to the rules that are in front of you

and we know what it is which is racing to the apex first

and if you're not there you'll get a penalty

if you make contact.

I don't think it should change Oscar's mindset

because everybody's playing supposedly by the same rules

and so that's what he has to do.

But obviously there are a lot of things

that are working against Oscar at the moment

but the key thing here is

he just doesn't have the speed that Lando does.

So let's see if he can send it tomorrow

because he's going to have to.

We'll be live on Twitch and YouTube

unless I've perished with my illness

but fingers crossed I will be live tomorrow

to enjoy qualifying at the very early hour of the morning.

Tommy what are your final thoughts please?

My final thoughts are well done

by making it through.

Yeah any other job I'll tell them sick right now.

Exactly.

You know I made the commute of 15 seconds up the stairs

and turned up but yeah I apologise if it sounds

absolutely horrendous from my side

it feels very nasally but tomorrow is a new day

I've eaten a thousand pieces of fruit at 4.30 in the morning

I don't know what's happening with my body right now

but we will be there no matter what

we love Formula One we love you guys

and yeah that is that is all.

Also as well worth mentioning

we've been nominated for the Autosport International Awards

not International Autosport

Autosport is the car thing

the Autosport Awards is just the Autosport Awards

where we have been nominated to be Creator of the Year

which is a new award and you know

the other award like it's insane to think

that we've even been nominated for something like that

because I've grown up with you know

obviously watching Formula One and the Autosport Awards

has always been a staple of the sort of end of year thing

and the drive of the year gets given out and things like that

now there's Creator of the Year

I mean you should just call it pleb of the year

to be honest with you with me and you Tommy around

but we've been nominated and you can vote to support us

so we'll be shouting about it a lot

I'm sure over the next couple of weeks to remind you all

but if you want to vote for us it would be amazing

it would literally mean the world

if we were to win something like that

so I'm sure we'll put a link in the description

and things like that

so there you go a final little thought and note from me

we will see you tomorrow lots of love

take care

Charlotte Clair's winning it all

and he will heal me even if his gearbox

is probably how I feel at the moment

no medication will do more to you

than if Charlotte Clair gets P1 tomorrow

oh yeah yeah it doesn't matter what illness I have

oh I'm so back see you tomorrow

bye

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