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Person
George Russell
A highly talented British racing driver who drives for the Mercedes team in Formula 1. He is known for being very smart and strategic while driving at over 200 mph.
Person
Max Verstappen
An incredibly fast Dutch racing driver who has won multiple Formula 1 World Championships with the Red Bull team. He is famous for his aggressive driving style and relentless speed.
Person
Kimi Antonelli
A young Italian racing driver who is considered a future superstar. He was signed by the famous Mercedes Formula 1 team at a very young age because of his incredible speed.
Term
virtual safety car
A system used during minor track cleanups where all drivers must slow down to a safe speed immediately, but they stay spread out across the track instead of gathering behind a real safety car.
Term
undercut
A racing trick where a driver stops for fresh tires earlier than the car in front of them. The new tires make them go much faster, allowing them to take the lead when the other car finally stops for tires later.
Term
tire degradation
How quickly a tire wears out and loses its grip as it gets hot and used during a race. When tires degrade, the car starts to slide around and go slower.
Term
downforce
The invisible force of air pushing down on a race car, acting like an upside-down airplane wing. This helps the tires stick to the road so the car can take corners at incredibly high speeds without sliding off.
Concept
ground effect
A design trick that uses the airflow underneath the car to suck it down onto the track, making it stick to the road. This allows cars to follow each other closely and pass more easily.
Term
brake regeneration
A system in hybrid and electric cars that captures the energy normally wasted when slowing down and turns it into electricity to charge the battery. It also helps slow the car down, which can make managing brake temperatures tricky.
Car
Lola T292
A classic, open-cockpit race car from the 1970s built for endurance racing. It is small, extremely light, and very fast, designed purely to win races on historic European tracks.
Car
Ford Mustang
A famous American sports car known for its classic styling and powerful V8 engine. It is a favorite in historic racing events where drivers slide them around corners.
Part
crossply tires
An old-fashioned type of tire design used on classic cars. They don't grip the road as tightly as modern tires, which makes the car slide around in a fun, predictable way.
LIVE
The second Grand Prix victory of the season. George Russell wins the Austrian Grand Prix.
It's gonna take that pressure off to a certain extent. Once you release some of that pressure
you can start performing at a very high level again.
Toto said it was a cold blooded victory. I could very conceivably see George Russell
pull up to Silverstone and absolutely dominate. I wonder if Kimmy hadn't made those mistakes.
I think he could have won this Grand Prix. You've got to have him believe he could have
won that race if it wasn't for outside factors and then he'll go to Silverstone with confidence.
Max Verstappen saying after the race that he's finally got a car that he can fight with.
He went off into his chrysalis and now has become a beautiful butterfly.
What aspects of this car's performance impressed you guys the most?
The driver. The seven-time world champion and the four-time world champion separated by millimeters.
The very limit of acceptable, wasn't it? I love the fact that they're so aggressive on strategy
now but I just wonder whether they did overcook it a little bit today. It's a bit like doing a
bicycle kick into the back of the net in a school football match, isn't it? You're gonna try and do
it again next match but Ferrari couldn't keep hold of its time. Hello everyone and welcome to
Spielberg, the F1 nation's review of the Austrian Grand Prix. I'm Tom Clarkson and joining me in the
Red Bull ring in the Red Bull energy station are two F1 TV experts, Indy Carr race winner James
Hinchcliffe and two-time Le Mans podium finisher Alex Brundle. Now guys, I thought that was a hum
ding of a Grand Prix. What are your headlines? takeaways from that?
I think takeaways are Russell back on top, finally getting that second victory this season. Verstappen
once again just proving why he is really at another level at times from the rest of the field
and then I think some of the other headlines are more the misses, right? Ferrari not having the pace
we were expecting. McLaren really just kind of missing the mark a little bit this weekend so
a couple pluses maybe a couple minuses. I think it's a race that got away for Antonelli firstly
with the breaking issues at the start and then secondly they didn't manage to capitalize whether
it was by positioning of the cars on track for the VSC where Sainz stopped or not quite calling it
as quickly enough but when he looked at his pace towards the end of the race actually he was relatively
quick he maybe could have been passed Verstappen whether he could have challenged Russell. I don't
know but that would have meant the point swing would have been considerably different. Russell
back on top but under heavy pressure from Verstappen who appeared to come from nowhere in a red bull
which has been upgraded but demonstrate the pace of an upgraded car until he delivered that lap he
didn't finish in qualifying which converted into speed in the race and we've got a hell of a season
on our hands if that's going to be the battle for the rest of the year which I don't think it
will be because this circuit is so specific and we're on to some very different ones next.
Right let's break it down driver by driver can we start with Russell? He opened up in the press
conference after the race talking about all the mental pressures he'd been through over the last
two months Canada, Monaco and what a release this race was. It's been a tough couple of months
some really tricky races you know with races that felt like everything was going against me then
some races with some tough performances you know obviously I've got a really incredible
teammate next to me who week in week out is delivering some pretty spectacular performances
so for me you know going into Canada going into Barcelona from quite a low point it was
I needed a lot of resilience to be able to get back and deliver some strong performances so to
the last two polls to get the win here this weekend especially on a track which I don't
think is so suited to me I'm really really proud about. How emphatic was this win by George Russell
or have you guys alluded to it already in that in slightly different circumstances you know if
Max maybe had pitted for his second stop a little bit earlier could it have been different for George?
It wasn't a it wasn't a dominant performance right he didn't he didn't I mean he led
lights to flag but he didn't walk away with that as Alex said under heavy pressure
caught considerably by both Max and Kimmy in that in that final stint maybe he's just managing
maybe he had you know pace up the sleeve I think regardless if you can get a win you can get back
on top after what he's been through it is going to help it's going to take that pressure off to a
certain extent he'll sleep well tonight and once you release some of that pressure you can start
performing at a very high level again and if there's been something that's been holding him back
something that's been sitting in the back of his mind maybe that's been a little bit of you know
maybe he was stressing about throwing the win away in that last stint because he was quite
strong in the beginning of the race as you get closer to the end and you can see that it's just
around the corner you know you start tightening up and maybe that was some of it with that win now
that second win two races in a row he's taken a good haul of points out of Kimmy's lead maybe we
can start to see George really hit that sort of early season stride I think for me it was more
it was more the middle stint you know where he's not managing it to the end he's not got a buffer
he's not got a gap he's got Verstappen closing in on him and actually Verstappen manages to drive the
red bull into undercut range of Russell having been you know having started further back on the
grid and not being in proximity with him at the start which is a pace deficit that shouldn't exist
and I'm not convinced that that red bull is a better car in that phase of the race than the
Mercedes in fact I think probably the opposite might have been true so you know the the tail of
the tape will read George Russell poll George Russell victory but the pole position was very
clever usage understanding of the rules management of the situation lightning fast thought process
can't deny him that even still you know I think he probably still had the lap underneath him
in the race as Hincher said he was under heavy pressure lights to flag can you elaborate a
little bit more on the racing IQ if that's the right expression it took to get that pole to see
that it was a single wave yellow when all around him not all around it but Kimmy specifically
didn't when you're doing 300 kph how hard is it to process all that you know we we sat there after
the session and I looked at Hinch and I said would you have lifted fully and he said yeah
and I would have looked I'd have seen yellow and and lifted to discern he did as well he did do that
yeah I mean I'm talking about bought the lap okay right out of out of aboard the lap we would have
kimmied we would have kimmied it we both would have kimmied it right so to look at that and go oh
that's interesting so bearing out there's probably about it's it's rim curve as well as completely
blind on the entry so it's not like you can see the incident either right and take a view yet what
he actually said which I think is probably a fortunate thought is he thought somebody had
gone wide in rim curve and then continued and that's what the single yellow flag was for which is a
which is an entirely logical thought process and a beneficial thought process but yeah to
understand those rules a longer period of time in formula one as well right so in junior formulas
don't get me wrong kimmied's been in formula two and so on and so forth but in junior formulas
most of that's dealt with by flags you don't get the clever light panels so to understand exactly
how the light panels are George has been through a couple of those scenarios with qualifying sessions
ending not ending so on but yeah a huge IQ and I think the other thing and look we've talked about
this with George Russell for years you know his ability to call strategy from within the car during
a race I mean he is a very cerebral driver and I think that there are a few examples you know once
this happened everybody started coming out of the woodworks with examples that had set the precedent
right so there were other examples where a driver gave up a tenth point 12 and were able to
keep the lap George would have known that that was before Kimmy was in formula one I don't expect
a guy in his second year to know all those historical you know situations that that Russell
was around for so he knows that in the past the driver has given up a tenth and kept a lap
and he saw that he was over two tenths up on what Paul would have been so in that moment yes
to process all that in that split second is phenomenal but that's what racing drivers do
it's probably there's a big part of that that's pure experience a big part of it but there was a
moment in the race as well where uh Verstappen got close uh Russell uh Mercedes had done the
right thing I think which is to box Russell and defend from the undercut then
Antonelli and Verstappen are 12 seconds up the road from George Russell
he sitting there with two cars he can't see goes imagines the positioning of both cars and goes
if we pit Kimmy now it'll force Verstappen to pit which will reduce the tire offset that I have
at the end there's the other way around it was if you keep Kimmy out it's going to
make it harder for me it's going to make it yeah well he presented it that way but what he meant
was pit Kimmy to force Verstappen to pit to prevent yeah like he can't he's imagining two cars on a
different part of the racetrack there while driving his egg car my question is this if he just drove
would he be quicker very good look to quote Toto Wolf again right Toto said it was a cold blooded
victory this one by George I don't really know what he meant by that do you guys have any idea
I think it's the absorption of the pressure right okay of you know and not making mistakes and there
were a couple of mistakes in there but he didn't make one big enough to actually cost him the position
so so do we think George Russell is still acting the team leader at Mercedes you talk about you know
thinking about the strategy even though he's still 40 points behind his teammate in the world
championship do you think they still defer to him more than Kimmy yeah I think so I would I mean
I think that experience is is crucial and it's so it's so important it's such a valuable asset to
have and look Kimmy still made a bunch of mistakes today right that those first two laps were scrappy
and cost him positions so and Toto even acknowledged that he was on our post race show and said you
know scrappy first lap from Kimmy and then that probably hurt his race there are there are still
those you know the youthful exuberance you know issues and errors that are sneaking into his game
George has just so much experience and we just we've talked so many times about how good he is
at reading races from inside the car I do think the team still does lean on him tremendously in
those situations it's a quirk of sort of the amount of resource available to drivers and the
amount of resource engaged in the cars in modern Formula One though that actually when you've got
so much information as the team and I remember Daniel Ricciardo for example in his last couple
of years as a Formula One driver and the team was saying he's trying to apply experience and he's
trying to guide the engineering direction and he's trying to use all of the information he has for
being in championship winning teams and and actually what we'd love them to do is just drive the
racing car because we are capable of setting up we're capable of engineering it we know how much
each different component bends per temperature so do we do they need that amount of info back
from George and when you actually listen to the comments from George and you listen to the comments
from Lewis of late they've both taken a step back right Lewis not using the simulator anymore
focusing more on data George focusing less on other people's data just focusing on his own
so I do think we're in this interesting era of the sport where there is information overload
like we use a term all the time it's over engineering the car right engineers can over
engineer the car they've got too many sensors they've got too many settings too many options
back to basic just in layman's terms you're overthinking basically yes and so so for a driver
you can pump too much information into your brain ultimately you've got to rely on that gut
instinct that that seat of the pants feel that that made you good and got you to this place in
the first they don't have that enough too they've got data but they don't have anywhere near the
resource that you do in Formula One so kind of take a step back and just go back to basics a little
bit engineers will say in as many words I just need to in fact Toto Wolfe said it over the radio
to George Russell in qualifying just drive just drive and I've had engineers to me say to me in
the past um you know in driving with with a lot of information about cars I need you to be considerably
more stupid than you are please and just drive the racing car and stop trying to engineer it
that's my job so George actually admitted didn't he that he's been over driving overthinking over
driving just let it come naturally do what you do trying sometimes is the worst thing you can do
yeah right racing driving quickly in a race car is is such a second nature thing it's it's an
innate ability at this point right it's pre-programmed it's muscle memory it's instinct and sometimes
as soon as you mentally start trying to go faster you immediately go slower but when you are getting
beat by someone it's really hard to not try harder right so it is such a delicate balance and guys
that's why it's hard this is Formula One it is very difficult these are top-level athletes in an
way how um these 2026 cars suit some drivers more than others right Max Verstappen doesn't seem to
matter what sort of car you put him in but you know George is struggling more Lewis is happier
I'm still fascinated as to why that's the case I think what we saw particularly for example from
Max at the beginning of this year is sort of the the pain of transition though you know because
he's on it now isn't he you know he really didn't like these cars at the beginning beginning of
this year but he went off into his chrysalis and now has become a beautiful butterfly in this era of
and this era of Formula One car um and you know exactly as Hintz was saying it's such a muscle memory
for a driver who's been driving a certain type of way for a number of years and then you have to
change everything and it kind of like it feels awkward and it feels unpleasant but all the time
you're being it's not like you can go away and learn a new skill you can go and hide and learn
how to play the piano differently in a room and no one will listen to the piece until you come
out and show them you're being evaluated every step of the way which means that drivers are being
as they're learning to adapt to these new cars are being asked to continuously account for their
performance we ask them so they tell us I don't like it it's hard and horrible but they get there
they get that and there's also there's no testing so to practice to refine a skill
you have to do it on race weekends you have to do it in one of 31 hour sessions and then
you go into quality every lap in a Formula One car counts for something it means something
there's no meaningless running anymore there's no extra time to play around with your natural style
and and that is what I think change there are certain drivers that get the speed they get the
lap time a certain way different phases of the corner suit different styles different cars different
regulation sets get the lap time through different phases of the corner and being driven in a different
style and the you know the the real greats the the maxes can seemingly adapt a much easier
but for a driver that's been doing it a certain way for 10 years at this level not just I mean
never mind all their junior career at this level to try to ask them to change when every lap is
televised and covered by media and means something and making a mistake costs valuable track time
on a race weekend it is so so it's like asking a basketball player's right handed to start shooting
with their left it's also kind of a moving target as well right you know you go to Barcelona all of
a sudden not pushing the front left tire in turn three is really important because that'll elongate
the stint turn up at red bull ring suddenly it's the rear left or the rear right or none of that
matters and it's actually now the break temps to the problem that you need to make sure those are
right that wasn't a problem in Barcelona wasn't a problem in Monaco wasn't a problem you know
and so these continuously moving targets going to take really the full season before we actually
find out who can really drive these cars so we're seeing who can engineer them we're seeing who's
got the best one but who can really drive these cars is still playing out on track and a win from
poll and closing the gap what is he he's taken 28 points out of Kimi Antonelli in the last couple
of races all that helps doesn't it and then your boss comes out and says yeah yeah we're going to
keep the same driver line up for 20 27 surely it's a confidence game isn't it and it always has been
it always will be and and that's why I said I mean this this win now even if it it did seem at
at times in the race he was maybe driving a bit tight I can I could very conceivably see George
Russell pull up the Silverstone and absolutely dominate that event lead every practice qualify
in pole and dominate the race that is the kind of thing that a weekend like this that he fully
executed Barcelona he nearly fully executed this one was a true full execution start to finish
right what about Kimi Antonelli let's just deal with all things Merck before we we come on to
to Max Verstappen what what about Kimi as I just said George's closed the gap to him by quite a
margin over the last couple of races Kimi's making a lot of mistakes as he's on his way back
this evening what's he going to be thinking on the plane he got beat by George and qualifying
right I think we looked at the data even without backing off he wasn't going to be George that lap
George made it happen in the other races where George has done that kind of thing back to Montreal
certainly late in the race in Barcelona Kimi's race pace has kind of been better his race craft
has been a little bit better his race pace has been a little bit better but it's peppered in
with all these mistakes Kimi can look at this weekend and think you know in his head he's
going to think oh I would have got pole if if that yellow hadn't happened he's not right but he's
also going to look at that first lap and the positions that it cost him even if winning wasn't
really on the cards for him today he probably could have been second had he not made those mistakes
so he still has to look at the little things that he's he's missing and giving up time on
it'll be interesting to see how Mercedes actually handle this because I think the right way to handle
it with Kimi would be for them to say the braking issue at the beginning wasn't your fault you've
had a problem we've tried to mitigate it to whatever percentage that's true and then we maybe could
have pitted you when science stopped and maybe could have given you the opportunity to win the
Grand Prix and you were faster than George Russell at the end that's what I would tell Kimi Antonelli
if I was his engineer and I would try to have him leaving feeling like he won in terms of
performance even if he didn't win in terms of finishing position we saw from sort of after
the early couple of races where George was super strong we we saw that Kimi was going to be lightening
fast and a new because I watched him in Formula two do exactly the same thing every so often he
has and he's got better at recovering from them he has a little mini meltdown on track
where he loses a couple of positions or you know he'll have a spin or a moment
and then that I always thought would be what cost him the championship in comparison to George
if it played out who I think is way more experienced consistent understandably as Kimi's engineer
you know as Bono you've got to have him believe he could have won that race if it wasn't for
outside factors and then he'll go to Silverstone with confidence I wonder if Kimi hadn't made
those mistakes in those opening couple of laps I think he could have won this Grand Prix
me too me too we looked very very hard at the stop potentially for science around the virtual
safety car and if they'd absolutely gunslinger called it they might have got him in which would
have been a cheaper pit stop and would have put him in the would have put him in the battle at the
front though honestly if it absolutely fell for him he could have battled George Russell for the
win today so what do you think he's thinking about the championship now Kimi he still thinks
he's leading it by a long way I would imagine um you know he's not necessarily had this experience
of just how far there is to go in a Formula One championship before I mean look at look
at Formula Two when you got to this position in in the Formula Two championship it's almost over
right so this number of events to have to defend a championship you know a championship
lead is huge um so I suspect he's still feeling pretty calm about the whole thing but like I said
he needs the people around him to manage the mind guys 19 you know he's going to turn up to every
single racetrack send it and see what happens he's got to get everyone around him taking his mind
away from anyone closing in on him for the series right we're in the Red Bull energy station because
this is the team that seems to have taken the biggest jump forward this weekend with the upgrades
Max Verstappen saying after the race that he's finally uh got a car that he can fight with
what aspects of this car's performance impressed you guys the most the driver
I was going to say Red Bull have taken a step forward I think Verstappen has
yeah we look at how Charles performs I don't think you can separate the two though can you
I mean I think you can because you look at the other car it didn't have anywhere near the performance
that Max did what's what's so interesting about Max is it seems like when he's not a hundred
percent happy with the balance him and his teammate are much closer once he gets the car the way he
wants which which now again still seems to be something that other drivers struggle to match
the gap tends to grow and I think we saw it in 23 you know I think we saw it in 24 I think we
saw it in 25 when Red Bull was having an off weekend they were closer when Max felt comfortable
all of a sudden one of the Red Bulls was up there now had Charles doing a phenomenal job
next to one of the greatest ever do it but it was a much bigger gap this weekend right and
we've seen that at a couple races whenever Max feels really on
when Max qualifies sixth had your seventh when Max can race his way up to second had your still
sixth what why is that what what is the difference is the driver I think at this point the driver in
in so far as he melds with whatever it is that they've changed on the car and I I genuinely
kind of wait to get into that data and understand what they've given him because I think it'll give
us a huge answer to what has been going on at Red Bull for years they clearly came with a car this
year that again more parity between the drivers and that but Max couldn't get that extreme ultimate
performance like we've seen today they've put whatever it is he wants back in and I think
we'll be able to work out from the data set that we get from this race what that thing is
you know it's been written all over had just faced all weekend I can't stop I can't turn I
can't do this you know and it's been a lot of engines that rpms rebelling it there's there's been
a litany of issues with this upgrade pack there has but you know the main thing appears to be
understood when you look into the data set the main thing appears to be understood that Max
can overcome I think he's hyper precise with the car but for me it could also be venue specific
Tom because I've asked Max that question I said is it track specific and he said well no I've got
more grip everywhere so it should be everywhere although he then did say well we're going to take
it race by race but if you've got more grip everywhere it shouldn't be sure but different
compounds in different corners is just different chemistry right the way the tire engages with
the racetrack it's it's different load it's different chemistry Ferrari brought the upgrade
to Barcelona it didn't translate to hear quite the same way did it so there's definitely an
element of that I think more so this year especially with this generation of car with the
upgrade race the development race being what it is I think it's a lot harder to know at this point
if something you know I think there are more track specific gains than we're used to seeing
that's a really disappointing weekend for Ferrari isn't it because they've used one of two development
tokens on the engine side that they've been given from the aduo they've brought about something which
they said okay they said it's not massive it's module but it's four performance and the differential
on the straight to the Mercedes engine was monumental like 15 kilometers per hour that's the
standout stat isn't it isn't it it's huge and and when you watch the qualifying ghost car the
qualifying back-to-back it just doesn't matter what Leclerc does in the corners the thing just
takes off by three car lengths on on every straight up to turn three down to turn four everywhere it's
incredible the seven-time world champion and the four-time world champion separated by millimeters
nearly on the grass trying to go the long way round at turn number six and they're still continuing
on he brushes the gravel and he still won't yield this is magical as Hamilton stays ahead
pass max to back off no chance from here as the staffing goes again and he jumps across Hamilton
and he gets by this time how much did we enjoy seeing those two champs do what they do between
amazing four turns 45 see it just went on and on incredible and multiple times and I think
there was just the right amount of respect I mean they ran each other as hard as you possibly could
first time I thought the second time they did it max was pretty was was harder yes but I mean
when when Lewis was on the inside and six you know max did drop wheels on the exit so he didn't
give him a full car with max just didn't even give him the opportunity when he got to the inside
to hang it on the outside different style you know different strokes whatever but look those
guys have been they've been doing this for a long time they've been fighting each other like that
for a long time and the the beneficiaries are us and everybody watching at home the very limit of
acceptable wasn't it between the two like 99.9 your fingers just hovering over the investigation
button and then the last minute you just lifted away but that's the kind of racing we want to see
and it was never going to be anything but that between those two you would you would be disappointed
if it was anything else yeah yeah and Lewis is still up for the fight it was you know I
thought the difference between Lee particularly you know in the race between between Lewis and
Leclerc was was was pretty graphic again yeah I mean that win that win is gelled Hamilton with the
team I think he's now the team leader there is that the vibe you're getting ellie wow it's a
quick change isn't it from you know from a Leclerc who's the incumbent I made this comparison earlier
on in the weekend and I think it stands you know when Piastri not immediately but came into McLaren
and you had Norris who was the incumbent and the team leader then Piastri came to form
and Lando had a little wobble you know just by sort of notion of having to suddenly deal with
this guy across the garage who is in my team and now has parity with me and is actually performing
I think that's what you're seeing from Leclerc at the moment as well just
going to sort of re-establishing the status quo and understanding that you know it's now him
Hamilton and Hamilton has you know every time they turn up to a race weekend there is a good chance
Lewis Hamilton can beat him they're 4-4 in qualifying throughout this year now you know you've got to
remember Leclerc you know out qualified him this weekend so I don't think Hamilton's
team leader yet but it's at least parity I'm talking maybe off track in terms of you know
the decisions that are being made I don't know I'm just getting the vibe at the minute that
Charles is a bit flat and that he's probably thinking everything Lewis asked for he's been given
and I wonder whether that's one of the reasons why they renegotiated his contract and gave him a
bit more money just to make him feel a bit of love because maybe they were sensing that slight
change of momentum the pendulum may be swinging more towards Lewis yeah I mean I think it's
certainly swinging more towards Lewis I don't know if it's gone past the center point now and
is fully on his side last year it was very clear Lewis was far behind right it Charles was the
incumbent he was out performing him Saturdays Sundays whatever now I just think they're in a
very fortunate position of having two incredibly quick drivers two very capable drivers you said
it they're 4-4 and qualifying and that's against you know the Claire who's always kind of been
considered and his expertise was you know with Saturdays so I think it shows how much of a jump
that that Hamilton's made he's done a great job gelling with the team it's just now they can have
the conversation both ways rather than just one I think it's the fact that Charles is now
taking setup suggestions and break configurations from the other side of the garage that's almost
a bigger indicator that it's it's Charles that's looking at him almost as the leader rather than
the team even doing it it's such an under the surface kind of battle though isn't it because
you know you put two younger drivers in the same situation they might run into each other
right these guys are established heads they come on track you see them battle wheel to
wheel it's fantastic to watch them battle wheel to wheel but it's it's not a over battle on track
between the two of them so much as a sort of continuous political high ground seeking
in the background of that of that team I don't I don't think Lewis has cleared him yet I think that
you know it's parity but definitely the new relationship with his engineer is strength
of strength isn't it you can go all the way back to China you remember the battle they had on track
in China and Lewis was not going to give you know it was that for me was like oh wow he's back
this is this is incredible to watch and it's just continued all season long so there's a tremendous
amount of respect I do I love watching them race each other because they take that that teammate
you know the golden rule of you know race your teammate hard but fair I think to that perfect
level there's always respect there's always room but it's always great racing bear in mind some
of the strategic mistakes Ferrari have made in recent seasons I love the fact that they're so
aggressive on strategy now but I just wonder whether they did just overcook it a little bit today
was this was the three-stop the wrong thing to do if they'd done something the
two-stop would have it been different I think I mean Alex you said in our post show I don't
think they had a choice I think their tire degradation was so poor I don't think that was
the plan that was probably plan D but by the time they got into it they just they could not keep the
tires under them I think it's a combo of things firstly you know they were so it's a bit like
doing a bicycle kick into the back of the net in a school football match isn't it like you're
going to try and do it again next match and see if it works out they were so
delighted to have pulled that off and won the Grand Prix you know but there's that side of it
second side of it Ferrari couldn't keep hold of its tires today so it was a way of getting Lewis
through the I don't think that's what hinge is alluding to it was a way of getting Hamilton
through the race without falling off a cliff on the second set of tires that he was on
and he and he took the VSC which gave him a cheaper stop and actually I think it was probably
best it looked like he lost positions but I don't think they weren't positions he was
wasn't going to lose anyway well that's just it the fact that Leclerc stopped with a handful of
laps to go just to I mean just to save the misery because he had enough time to do it so it just
shows that they were not going to make it work they were going to be falling backwards so yes
it looks on paper like he gambled from third and finished fifth I think they saved themselves from
finishing eighth ninth or tenth by doing that can we just throw it forward to Silverstone Lewis
has such a love affair with that place do we have reasons to believe that Ferrari will go
better there than they did here I can't see it myself I think that Silverstone in its current
guys I mean I what the main thing I'm interested to see is if these and it's going to sound
outlandishly specific but if these 26 Formula 1 cars are flat in cops corner and the reason why
is because then the run from wood cup all the way to maggots and beckets becomes a straight
and at that point Silverstone's a totally different racetrack so then Silverstone's a low
downforce racetrack if they're not flat in cops corner it's a high downforce racetrack it changes
on a on a dime and that changes completely the runners and riders of exactly which downforce range
it falls in Mercedes will destroy them if cops is flat they'll have all the straight line speed
they'll have all of that performance oh when was it last not flat I mean I know that I know with
the ground effect cars but I'm going way before that we've lost a lot of
downforce I'm gonna I'm not suggest it's gonna be flat for the whole Grand Prix
we've got some tire we've lost some downforce um yeah I mean should kind of expect it to be
but in which case Merc see you later okay look last team
I wanted to discuss get your thoughts on um McLaren they have a great record at this track
Landon Norris in particular won the race last year I know it's all very different now but
surely they were all all expecting more than a p4 and a p7 yeah I think they were it was
an interesting race I think they were caught out a bit by the conditions because when you look
at the pace of Piastri right at the end wasn't actually bad I think they got them so I don't
think they engineered it particularly well that McLaren this weekend they what do you mean by that
because they overcooked it a bit in practice gave quite a lot of way in terms of their performance
they were top four in every practice session up until qualifying they they looked like they
were in the hunt didn't they um Landon Norris's race run in fp2 looked like the best of anyone
I think um but then the hot temperatures at the start they weren't quite quick enough
but actually as the temperature fell away through the race the pace of the McLaren looked better
so I wonder if you know that gives me an inclination as a driver that actually they've
missed the circuit condition slightly with how they've they've engineered the car
and and had and had to deal with it and I think that you know Landon said after the race as well
that this circuit specifically didn't really suit the car but you know if you're able to
deliver pace at one phase of the race you should be able to deliver pace through the rest of the
race it's just a case of where you buy us the engineering unless it is that temperature sensitive
you know this was the car team I saved the car it was a completely different car
but that had that massive tire advantage last year in terms of thermal control and it seems
like it's almost the opposite this year the hot the two hot tracks we've had two hot races they
they've kind of lost a step haven't they it's tough to judge because in conjunction with that other
teams have brought updates you had Ferrari's big one in Barcelona Red Bull's big one here
it's um it's interesting to hear though I mean the the comments from Lando and the Penn
very kind of defeatist almost he's like yeah this is kind of where we're at and Andrea
Stella saying we're three months behind on development we really got to push the factory to
increase our speed of development here I'm not sure that they're going to be able to
to dig themselves out of this hole in seven days time they do feel like a team under pressure now
I think the expectations coming in at the start of the year were up here and and
for whatever reason especially performing at the level they are with the Mercedes
PU in the back right you know we were earlier on in the conversation we're talking about
15 kilometers per hour talking about a tenth per straight over a Ferrari how much downforce
extra because the because the straight line deficit is not there with McLaren to be clear
so how much extra downforce are they having to carry to make the car work for not a lot of
efficiency to actually not have that straight line delta and still not be delivering the lap time
must be a long way away and I think that's what Andrea eludes to in terms of pure efficiency
with him I haven't heard the post race comments from Oscar Piastri but if I'd been asking him
the questions I would have said to him have you ever driven a better race than this one because
I thought he was outstanding today he was I think he definitely outkicked his coverage right I mean
he exceeded I think with the potential of that car was capitalized on the fact that Ferrari
weren't able to keep their tires under them that's what you have to do on a day when it's not your
day right so that was the kind of that was the kind of race that a seasoned experience
championship caliber driver has to pull off but it doesn't it doesn't make you feel all warm and
fuzzy inside when you know that you're just working with such a speed deficit at the moment
it's one of those isn't it where he'll be on a stage when he's 65 years old and someone will
sit next to him and go what was the best race you ever drove and he's gonna go I can tell you I
finished fourth once hey it happens the red bull ring and it was probably the best I ever drove
and nobody noticed and nobody gave me a trophy I'm gonna ask you to I'll bet you you can relate to
it and you can relate to it I'll bet you there were races you didn't win where you did a cracking
good job right absolutely absolutely that's a huge part of it that's the thing about motorsports
it's not a win or lose proposition right you're not up against one opponent you're up against many
and you can have a great day without winning the race I was mostly brilliant all the time I think
it's hard to pick one of my performance is particularly excellent but uh oh god I hope
that comes across the way it was intended they can't see my face I've just realized I can't wait
for the article brunel brunel says I've always been excellent I can't wait for that to get
ripped up and put on a slate on social media that'll be great guys what a wonderful chat thank
you both very much before we go we have to do our driver of the day now max for stamping
won the vote on the telly what do we think I'm having max uh yeah I'm gonna we can all have
are we all having oh yeah oh god can I put my towel on max and four because he's been
throwing me difficult questions all weekend I have so you've been you've been copping for a while
I appreciate it the magic was is attrition going to be a factor within the top eight
that way he was about to well yeah oh oh in the oh uh I don't mm max is my driver of
the day piaf street comes a close second uh yeah um I'd say yeah max max for sure uh to to take a
take a car with a deficit and be you know within a second of the win I think it's just an unbelievable
performance okay so max is all of our driver of the day but I think we need to have some just
just to continue the debate lads uh what about let's have a mention in dispatches um I mean you
say oscoe but let's go further down last top 10 people we haven't mentioned you know uh lawson p9
limblad p i mean racing balls are smashing it this week yeah this weekend this year and what's
what's so impressive about today is you know limblad even said post qualifying and I've
I spoke to a couple different teams you know the midfield teams that are battling with racing
bulls they kind of said the same thing yeah you know what they're good over a lap but their
race pace usually isn't as strong started 9th and 10th finished on a day when
when degradation was a huge issue and temperatures like taking care of brakes engines
like everything was an issue today and you know we were joking about in the post show
they probably had you know the most boring day of anybody they started 9th and 10th they did the
kind of typical two-stop strategy they finished 9th and 10th there was no real drama but in a
field of two halves they were in the middle yeah exactly right they were in the middle they were in
the neutral zone they were in the neutral zone and they were just good enough to be not challenged
for those final two points they were basically racing each other they were in purgatory from the
rest of the the race did you guys get to the bottom of um Liam Lawson's claims that he
had a smoke yeah no we never know I mean seemed to be on fire for a good few laps there and he
wasn't it wasn't alone either everyone was on fire for a minute there it was very talladega night
but um yeah I mean I assume it was okay because he said I'm literally on fire yeah it wasn't
there's smoke it wasn't there's smoke in the cockpit he said fire which is an interesting
comment to make unless you saw something on the front axle that was uh so the difficulty
here is managing the brake system because uh of the regeneration which makes it really hard to
manage the temperature of the brakes and obviously you're then going from cold to working temperature
and there's a chance that you can like if you just got plane got it wrong there's a chance you can
overshoot um to be clear like you can overshoot and it's not just about blanking them how you run
the engines affects the brakes because they regenerate energy from the rear axle only so you
wonder if you know he's relating to a brake he's relating to a brake fire um there because he's
basically relied on one set of brakes too much that's the only thing I can think of that it would
be that you could then sort of put out with the brake duct by asking the the engine system to do
more but any other ideas but good effort to make it last because that was early in the race and
obviously they they managed the issue bro finished ninth and was on fire on lap three so yeah that's
that's impressive isn't it brilliant stuff guys now for more reaction and analysis from
please go to f1.com the f1 app or at f1 on social media and we are heading straight
to Silverstone f1 nation will be back on Thursday with our preview of the British Grand Prix
and don't forget to check out f1's other official podcast this week's guest on f1 beyond the grid
is reigning world champion Lando Norris I thoroughly enjoyed that one and that's out on
Wednesday and you can watch our chat on the f1 youtube channel and the latest episode of f1
explains it's all about the role of driver managers with Carlos sciences manager Carlos Onoro
that's just below this episode on the f1 nation feed so Hinch I never know when we're next going
to see you uh hunger is my next one on on the ground okay well brilliant but you're probably
racing every weekend between now and then pretty much yeah yeah one weekend off but I got to travel
for a family wedding so I'm not home certainly between now and then uh and at a racetrack in
all weeks but one all right well Hitch it's brilliant to see you Alex we're going to see you at Silverstone
yes I'm doing I've done my racing bit and now my yapping bit continues so I am Silverstone and then
Spa and then something else and are you racing doing yeah I did the N24 a couple
of weeks ago and then it's the Silverstone classic what are you driving there all sorts of old tin
boxes Lola T292 and some Mustangs and all sorts of lovely sideways stuff so I'm going to be checking
out Lando Norris's lines around Silverstone to make sure my Mustang on crossplies is going in the
right place all right boys good luck with everything thank you for your time and thank you to you at
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About this episode
George Russell's dramatic victory at the Austrian Grand Prix takes center stage as F1 TV experts James Hinchcliffe and Alex Brundle join Tom Clarkson to dissect a thrilling race. The panel analyzes Russell's high racing IQ and mental resilience under pressure, contrasting his experienced leadership at Mercedes with Kimi Antonelli's scrappy performance. They also debate Max Verstappen's resurgent pace in the upgraded Red Bull, McLaren's missed opportunities, and Ferrari's ongoing struggles. It is an insightful breakdown of driver psychology, team strategy, and the shifting dynamics at the front of the grid.
Original notes
Tom Clarkson is joined in the Red Bull Ring paddock by F1TV experts James Hinchcliffe and Alex Brundle to analyse the Austrian Grand Prix.
George Russell got back to winning ways for the first time since the season-opener in Australia. He retakes second place in the championship standings, reducing the gap to leader Kimi Antonelli to 40 points. How did George overcome the threat of Max Verstappen in the Red Bull? What does this win mean for his title challenge? And how impressive was his racing IQ to take pole position?
On the other side of the garage, Kimi Antonelli overcame a tricky start and brake issues to finish third. But with George taking 28 points out of his lead over the last two races, how will Kimi be feeling about his own title hopes?
Verstappen secured his best result of the season with P2, so why was he back in contention at the front and does this mean he’ll be consistently competitive going forward?
Plus, the guys discuss a frustrating race for Ferrari after winning last time out in Barcelona and whether pressure is building on McLaren having also been off the pace in Spielberg.
F1 Nation
Formula 1
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