What ON EARTH is going on with George Russell's car? Belgian GP 2026 Reaction w/ Molly Hudson and Sarah Kaye!
The Fast and the Curious
What ON EARTH is going on with George Russell's car? Belgian GP 2026 Reaction w/ Molly Hudson and Sarah Kaye!
The Fast and the Curious · Jul 20, 2026
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Car
Ford Bronco
The Ford Bronco is a type of SUV made for driving on rough roads and off-road trails. It’s known for being tough and capable, which is why people use it in jokes or references about “bucking” or wild rides. In the podcast, it’s mentioned because the name and image match that kind of moment.
Person
Kimmy Antonelli
Kimmy Antonelli is a Formula 1 driver they’re treating as the points leader. They’re comparing how many points she has versus the other top drivers.
Person
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton is a Formula 1 driver. They’re mentioning his points position in the championship after the race.
Person
George Russell
George Russell is a Formula 1 race driver. They’re talking about where he sits in the championship points after this race.
Term
battery fun
“Battery fun” is a playful way to talk about the hybrid system in modern F1 cars. The car stores energy in a battery and uses it strategically, which can change how fast the car feels during different parts of the race.
Term
VSE
VSE is a system in an F1 car that can change how the car delivers power during the race. If it turns on and off, it can make the car feel different—especially when you’re trying to accelerate onto and down the straight.
Term
recharging
They’re talking about the car’s hybrid energy storage. The car can “charge up” energy while slowing down, and if that charging doesn’t work well, the driver later has less boost available when they press the throttle.
Term
power units
In F1, the “power unit” is the whole energy system that makes the car go. It includes the engine plus hybrid parts that store and reuse energy, so the car can feel strong or weak depending on how that energy is managed.
Term
constructors points
“Constructors points” are the points that go to the F1 team, not just the driver. Each team’s two cars can score points in races, and the team wants both cars to finish strongly to climb the team standings.
Term
interview pen
The “TV interview pen” is the spot where drivers stand after the race to talk to the cameras. It’s basically the official interview area for TV.
Term
no power
“No power” means the car suddenly wasn’t accelerating like it should. In racing, that can be caused by the car limiting power or a problem that stops the engine/energy system from delivering what the driver needs.
Term
deploy energy
“Deploy energy” is how a driver decides when to use the car’s extra power. It’s like spending a limited battery charge at the best times so you’re quick now, but still have power later.
Term
charge
“Charge” means the car is building up extra power for later. It usually happens when you slow down or brake, and then you can use that stored power at the right moment.
Term
sector
A “sector” is part of the track used to measure lap times. Saying it happened “less than a sector” in means it went wrong very early in the race, almost right after they started.
Company
Mercedes
Mercedes is the F1 team/engine program being blamed for the problem. If the engine doesn’t make enough power, the car can feel slow—especially when you’re trying to build speed on straight sections of track.
Term
power out on the straights
This means how fast the car can accelerate on straight sections of the track. If it’s not strong there, the car feels slower and can’t build speed the way it should.
Term
championship contention
Championship contention means whether a driver is still in the fight to win the season. They’re saying the bad weekend makes it harder for Russell to stay in that title race.
Term
throttle
The throttle is the pedal that tells the car how much power you want. In F1, it also affects how the car uses its extra energy systems.
Term
deployment
“Deployment” here means how the car releases its extra energy during the race. It’s about when the driver asks for power and how the car decides to use stored energy.
Topic
Belgium
They’re talking about the Belgian Grand Prix weekend. The track there is tough, so driver mistakes show up more clearly than on easier circuits.
Term
unforgiving
An “unforgiving” track is one where it doesn’t take much to mess up. If you’re even a little off with braking or steering, you lose time fast—or you can get in trouble.
Term
balance wasn't right
“Balance” is how the car feels when you push it in corners. If it’s not right, the car may not turn in properly or may feel unpredictable, so the driver can’t go as fast as they want.
Term
downforce damage
Downforce is what helps a race car stick to the road at speed. If it’s “damaged,” the car loses some of that grip, so it won’t handle as well and will feel worse for the remaining laps.
Term
front wing
The front wing is a key aerodynamic element that helps generate downforce and directs airflow toward the rest of the car. If the pit stop doesn’t get the front wing properly fitted, the car’s aero balance can be severely compromised, leading to handling problems like understeer.
Term
understeer
Understeer is when the car turns less than the driver expects—typically the front tires lose grip before the rear. In an F1 context, aero damage or an incorrect setup after a pit stop can cause understeer, making the car push wide in corners.
Term
double stop
A double stop refers to making two pit stops in close succession rather than a single planned stop. In F1, that often happens when the team needs to fix damage or address a problem that can’t be solved with one stop.
Term
flap job
A “flap job” sounds like a quick fix to the car’s wing parts. The idea is to get the damaged aerodynamic pieces working well enough again without losing as much time as a bigger repair.
Term
swap insurance details
They’re using “swap insurance details” as a joke/metaphor for the official steps after a crash. The point is that there are procedures you’re supposed to follow, and not doing them can look like a bad move.
Term
pit stop
A pit stop is when the race team pulls the car into the pit lane to do things like change tires. It has to be done fast, because losing time can drop the car behind others.
Term
flap adjustment
This is an aerodynamic tweak—basically adjusting parts of the wing. Changing it can help the car grip the road better, but it has to be done correctly and on time during the race.
Term
double stack
A double stack is when a team handles two cars’ pit work in a tight sequence. It can be faster overall, but it’s harder to coordinate.
Term
penalty
A penalty is what race officials give when a driver breaks a rule. It usually costs time or position, so the team has to change strategy to deal with it.
Person
Oscar
“Oscar” is Oscar Piastri, one of the Formula 1 drivers. The host is saying he had a strong race pace during the weekend, even if people weren’t focusing on it.
Person
Andrea Stella
Andrea Stella is a senior leader in Formula 1 who helps run a team and oversee performance analysis. Here, he’s mentioned because he pointed out how strong Oscar’s race pace was.
Brand
Williams
Williams is an F1 racing team. The discussion here is about whether their recent results mean they’re getting worse forever, or if they can improve with better updates and race performance.
Term
midfield
In F1, the “midfield” is where teams usually land when they’re not fighting for the top spots. They’re good enough to score points sometimes, but not consistently on the podium.
Term
front runners
A “front runner” is the group of teams that are usually at the front of the race. They’re the ones most likely to win or finish on the podium, not just occasionally score points.
Brand
McLaren
McLaren is a well-known F1 team. They’re mentioned as an example of a team that took years to get back to regularly fighting for the front of the grid.
Brand
Red Bull
Red Bull is one of the big Formula 1 teams. If someone says a driver could go to Red Bull, they mean a top team with lots of money and engineering support.
Brand
Ferrari
Ferrari is one of the most famous Formula 1 teams. If a driver could go there, it usually means joining a team that expects to fight at the front.
Brand
Alpine
Alpine is a Formula 1 team. The host is saying Alpine has been performing well recently and could be a good long-term bet.
Brand
Audi
Audi is a big car brand that’s also involved in racing. Here, the host is talking about Audi as a brand that might become stronger in Formula 1 over the next year or two.
Person
Carlos Sainz
Carlos Sainz is a Formula 1 race driver. The host is saying he’ll be on the show soon, which is why he’s being discussed here.
Topic
Hungarian Grand Prix
The Hungarian Grand Prix is a Formula 1 race in Hungary. The host is just pointing to it as the next big event on the calendar.
LIVE
Hello everybody, welcome to the Fast and the Curious.
My name is Christian Hugheel.
No Betty Glover this week as she concludes her World Cup action over in the USA, but
we can as usual cross live now to Betty just to check in on her before we start.
Hello guys, my producers, oh my God, have challenged me to do the opening to the show
from a mechanical ball.
So here we go, wish me luck.
Hello and welcome to Morning Cup Day.
We've got everything that you need to know.
OK, I'm good.
For those not watching on YouTube, that's Betty falling off a bucking bronco.
Ironically, that's one of her more dignified moments of the competition.
Yes, Betty is back next time.
So helping me keep the show on the road are two...
Well, I was about to say two Fast and Curious favourites and they are.
One is an old Fast and Curious favourite in the sense that she's been on before,
not old as in advancing years, perished the very thought.
A warm welcome back to the Times Formula One correspondent,
Molly Hudson for her first appearance of the season.
Molly, welcome back.
Have I offended you before we've even started by accidentally calling you old?
You have aged me a bit there, haven't you?
I meant that you're a veteran podcaster, you've been on, our audience love you.
They got very demanding when you made your first appearance.
I think it was after a Monaco Grand Prix.
And they told us to bring you back and we have been doing so ever since.
So welcome back, Molly.
It's because we talked about the fact that Monaco smelled a bit, wasn't it?
That was the thing that kept them listening.
That was it. Monaco did smell.
I think if there's anything you can expect from Molly Hudson,
having got to know her even better since those days,
she will tell it straight with the F1 world.
She will tell it how it is, whether that's glamorous or whether that's not so glamorous.
Molly will keep it real in her reporting.
And I like that about you a lot, Molly.
Thank you. Thank you.
My pleasure.
And a new Fast and Curious favorite,
making her debut F1 content creator and Formula One presenter,
Sarah Kay in the USA.
It's not a Fast and Curious if we don't cross to the US at various points in the moment.
Sarah, welcome.
Whereabouts in the world are you?
Hi, thanks for having me.
I am located over in Denver, Colorado.
So very little F1 or World Cup going over here, unfortunately.
But we've got beautiful mountains, great weather, and I'm happy to join you today.
You do have a wonderful background.
If you follow Sarah on social media,
you might know her as the one that does her videos in front of books.
Because I think, Sarah, that's how you came into my sort of feed.
It was like, oh, those books are brilliant.
And then I listen to what you're saying and it's like, oh, she really knows her stuff.
So Sarah has you know yourself because you've read all of those books.
So, yeah, you've got a fantastic array behind you.
I do. I think of myself as the F1 nerd.
And what's funny is that if you look at an AI summary of me,
I think I did that once because it was a trend going around.
My books are listed as part of my AI summary,
known for the books behind her wall.
Yes, and I'm so happy that I have your book here today.
Thank you so much for sending me one.
I absolutely love it.
Sarah, if you are wrangling for a repeater parent,
you've already read books because you've mentioned my book without me having to.
So I'm very grateful to you for that.
Well, I'm grateful that you sent it to me just in time
because in the introduction, you talk about spa.
This was a big race for you.
What a good segue. Yes, that's absolutely true.
I hadn't even thought of that.
Sarah just said before we came on, I'm just making sure everything's silent.
So I said Betty Glover hasn't done that in three and a half years.
So don't worry, you're doing more than the regular presenters.
And then Sarah's just made a segue into the episode that I didn't even think of.
So Sarah vastly overqualified to be on this podcast.
Yeah, my earliest Formula One memory,
which I talk about at the start of the book, you're right,
was the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix.
So it was special for me.
I got back.
We recorded this Monday early afternoon, UK time, first thing Monday morning.
So it's 5 a.m. when you are.
It is 5 a.m. or a.m. Yes, I had to turn on the studio lights
because I don't usually need them, but it's quite early here.
Molly made the extremely valid point that you look the freshest on here.
So, yes, I just smear the drool from the pillow around my face.
So we're good to go.
Now you're filling in for Betty Glover.
Now you're going to bring the chaos.
Look, I have the coffee Betty.
I this is very good coffee, Betty.
It's very good.
I promise you this is Hawaiian solar powered whole brew.
Like, yes, I'm very I'm all about it.
So I'm trying to fill in for her as much as I can.
But I hope she's enjoying the US when she's not falling off of Broncos.
Of course, I think she she'd like you.
Yeah, so she's literally flying back as we speak.
So Betty's back next time.
Yeah, it was lovely for me to be able to go to Belgium
for the first time and we'll talk more about that later.
I really enjoyed it.
And yeah, the place where I fell in love with F1.
So that was really special.
We'll talk about that.
What else will we talk about?
We'll talk about penalties.
We'll talk about engines.
We'll talk about Kimmy Antonelli.
But before we do that, let's just remind you of the top 10
of the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix.
Just in case you've forgotten, Kimmy Antonelli won the race.
His sixth win of the season, but his first win in three.
Charlotte Clare was second for a fourth podium of the season for him.
That's his improved form continues.
Max Verstappen was third with Lewis Hamilton, fourth.
Oscar Piastri, fifth, a strong drive from Oscar this weekend.
He was praised after the race by his team principal.
Isaac had just sixth from all the way at the back of the grid.
Good drive from Isaac.
Lando Norris, seventh from not quite at the back of the grid,
but further back than he qualified in 13th.
Thanks to the wonderful world of engine penalties.
Gabriel Bortoletto was eighth.
Another impressive drive from him.
A second points finish in a row.
Arvid Lindblad was ninth.
Franco Colopinto was tenth,
and that's Franco's first time beating Pierre Gasly since Canada,
which leaves us with a championship that looks like this.
I was about to say the championship race,
but it's starting to feel that we haven't got much of one,
if we're being completely honest.
Kimmy Antonelli is now on 204 points.
Lewis Hamilton moves up to second in the championship on 159.
He is 45 points behind Kimmy,
and George Russell moves down to third on 154 points.
He is 50 behind Kimmy Antonelli.
We will debrief all of it in great detail,
but before we do, some brief thoughts on the race.
Molly, did you enjoy watching?
The start was good, wasn't it?
The first half of it was really quite fun.
I guess you can say it was a bit of battery fun.
Battery fun? Do we have that now?
Are we calling it that?
We do. Whether we want to or not, we have it.
We have it. Sarah, thoughts on the race?
I personally loved watching it.
Obviously, the start was pretty chaotic,
but with all of these sort of choices and the VSE coming on
and off and whether or not to go to the pit stops,
and I think we had some interesting midfield moments,
both with overtakes and with drivers struggling with their cars.
To me, it was, I love that kind of chaos, so.
There was plenty to keep us occupied and entertained.
Well, hello to Sarah, Grace, Rach, Annie, Esme, Mara,
and loads more loads.
If I listed everyone who asked about this,
that would be all of the podcast and probably most of next weeks too.
They all asked, what is going on with George's car?
Right, so the background to this, for those who are unaware,
George is saying he feels he is losing time to Kimmy on the straights.
This I spotted in the paddock this weekend over the course of it
became more and more of a talking point.
They've been confusing messages coming out of Mercedes on it all weekend.
It feels to me comfortably that the biggest question mark of the weekend,
the biggest talking point of the weekend is what, if anything,
is going on with George Russell's car.
Molly, taking into account what we said,
that George thinks he's losing time on the straights,
where fundamentally it's foot to the floor,
so he's thinking, alright, Kimmy's doing a good job,
but I'm not fighting a fair fight here because something's up.
Molly, do you have any explanation for us?
Can you make any sense of this?
Well, sort of.
We're giving our best try,
but given some incredibly clever people
who have spent a very long time studying this type of thing their whole career,
now struggling to work it out, I can't promise,
but we're going to give it a go.
The short answer is yes.
George Russell has a problem in the straights.
We can see that, physically see that on the TV.
You saw it.
Now, there's two slightly different issues here.
There's the one he's had actually since Austria.
He first thought it was a problem,
so that was what this is now, Austria, Silverstone and Spa.
It seemed as though it was a kind of driving style thing
that he had that he maybe wasn't doing as well as Kimmy
because Kimmy doesn't seem to have the issue.
And then there's a separate issue,
which he had at the start of the race yesterday,
where Toto Wolf said all Mercedes cars,
but it seemed to be specifically the actual Mercedes team
rather than the Mercedes engine,
specifically had issues recharging coming out of turn one,
which meant by the time they got to turn five,
or the Camel straight, they just didn't have much energy, basically.
Going up the top of the hill, basically,
struggling by the time they got up there.
Even then, it seemed to disproportionately affect George
compared to Kimmy if there's a great shot
of which F1 had of that whole straight
from sort of helicopter view or drone view or whatever.
And you, I mean, you laugh,
but you must feel terrible when you just sat there.
Like you're in the slow lane of a motorway,
just watching everyone on-pass you and you can't do anything.
As you say, you've got your foot to the floor,
there's just nothing there.
So I think it basically comes down to how incredibly complicated
these power units are,
which for me is fundamentally the problem here,
that if George thinks there's been some kind of issue since Austria,
you know, whatever you think about Mercedes
or what they may or may not be saying publicly or privately,
they haven't just ignored it for three races.
They've been trying to find out what it is
because ultimately they want both of their cars as high
as they can possibly get them for the constructors points.
That's the thing that all the staff in the factory
get the bonuses from at the end of the season.
Everyone wants to win the constructors.
So they've been looking into this problem.
They also seem to sort of be none the wiser.
There was a theory last night that Toto had,
that the algorithm that come,
they're basically the machine that decides
where the car deploys its energy.
That's not done by the driver with these regulations.
They believe that may have been slightly wrong this weekend.
So George was getting more power at the start of a lap,
but then when he actually needed it at the end of a lap,
he didn't have it.
So that's, they believe that was the issue in qualifying.
The problem is it's been a bit whack-a-mole.
They seem to think they found the issue.
They try and change it and then George is like,
hmm, still got the issue, lads. What's going on here?
So I think, as you say,
it became more and more of a topic of conversation
through the weekend.
And I think George got more and
frustrated and that there's a bit of audio
going around on social media at the moment,
which we wouldn't be embedding in here
because it would just be a lot of bleeps out,
as well as of George when he's crashed in the gravel,
because whatever you think of the incident with Lewis,
his argument is, well, I wouldn't have been in that position
if I had some more power down the straight.
George Russell after the race said,
I appreciate everyone is working hard to solve the problem,
but I'm stood here, he means in the TV interview pen,
on lap five of the race.
I felt like I was in a good position to fight for the lead
up to turn one and then suddenly no power and it's gone.
Molly, you said there was the theory on his driving style.
What I've been hearing in earlier parts of the weekend
was a theory of, well, you know,
when to charge, when to deploy energy is in the driver's hands
and it's a crucial skill in driving these 2026 cars.
So is Kimmy simply saving energy better, deploying it better?
That theory seemed to disappear as the weekend went on
and you could, Molly, you said this and you're right,
you could see it on the telly, couldn't you,
that on, you know, so early on in the race,
we're, we're less than a sector into the race
and it looked on the telly like George was being swallowed up.
It really did.
Toto said after the race,
we had an issue on all Mercedes engines
that we lacked power out on the straights.
That bit him, meaning Russell badly,
and it goes 100% on us.
George has 100% of our support.
George had a difficult weekend
and this is the bit where it gets interesting for me.
Half of it is attributed to the power
that wasn't as good as it should have been
and the other half may be on the driving,
which I think is an interesting thing to say.
But we are in this together.
We make mistakes.
Today is the mistake of the team
and another day is going to be the mistake of the driver.
We just need to minimize it and support each other.
Sarah, it's hard to watch, isn't it?
George looked so sad at the end of the race.
Oh, that post-race interview.
Yeah, that was, that was very tough to watch
and I think he's done the math.
You know, George is very smart
and this is putting him further and further
out of championship contention.
So it's no longer an issue of
can I solve this problem for the next race,
but can we solve this problem
and have it mean anything to him?
Because for him, this was the year that he was,
again, hoping to get that championship
and now he's watching it go to his teammate
and it's given me flashbacks to, you know,
Lewis a few years ago
at his final years at Mercedes,
where there's something going on with the car
and or possibly it's not matching his driving style
and he's losing out on that chance for a championship
and that's what it feels like.
And I just, my heart goes out to George
because this must be incredibly frustrating
and I think you're right, Molly.
Obviously the team wants to help him get there,
but I don't know that they had the answers
or they're not finding them fast enough
if it is the car.
Yeah, that's clearly the case.
Molly, it's interesting, isn't it,
that Toto said in the same quotes,
well, half of it's attributed to the power unit,
maybe the other half's the driving.
I've been quite clear on this podcast
and taken a bit of sick from some George fans in places
who are saying, I think Kimmy's been faster this season
when take car issues aside,
I think Kimmy's been faster.
I stick by that, but it is clear
some things up, isn't it?
But I'm a bit confused in a way, Molly.
I don't know whether you are too by Toto coming out
and saying, oh, maybe a bit's on the car,
but maybe it is on George.
George clearly doesn't feel that half of it's on George,
or maybe he does.
Do you match my confusion, Molly?
You're a bit confused.
I'm a bit confused. We're all a bit confused.
Good, more confused.
There's some people, a lot cleverer than us,
that are very confused.
Andrea Stiller, who is, you know,
probably one of the best in that paddock
in terms of explaining incredibly complicated things,
very simply, AKA the best people in that paddock,
we need more of them.
And he said that something very similar
was happening to Oscar,
at least in qualifying,
to explain the big gap between Oscar and Andrea
is qualifying.
And he actually was a lot more sort of
stronger defending his driver,
maybe you could say than Toto was,
he said it's not Oscar's driving.
It's something in the algorithm
deployment forever.
But I think just to try and explain,
and again,
I'm not going to pretend I'm some sort of expert
in this area, but basically these
power units are so complicated
that the tiniest little thing
affects your deployment.
So the way Kimmy likes
to drive, he's more aggressive
than George. George is a smoother
driving style, in the same way that
Lando's a bit more aggressive than Oscar is.
So there is a theory
that the way
you get on the throttle,
the way you break everything affects your
deployment and how you recharge and harvest
in all of these complicated terms that we're
all sick of hearing.
Now, the problem
is it's very hard to differentiate
therefore
what is to do with driving style
and what is simply
some sort of issue with the power unit.
And the problem is that
obviously George,
we know George, he is
probably the most studious,
absolutely desperate, I'm sure he's literally
been pulling his hair out, he was saying
for the last 36 hours, all I've done
is focus on what the hell is going on with this deployment.
Yeah, he's not going to lack the detail, is he?
That's just not George. If anyone's going to dig into
it and do his homework and get the instruction manual,
it's George Russell, let's be honest, and I mean that
in a very positive way. Exactly.
I did a really
in-depth piece with him
or his team around him
before Silverstone and
his
race engineer Marcus was saying
like George is just the most
clued in ever.
And it's interesting
that, you know, clearly George
is trying to exactly copy
what Kimmy's doing and I think
this is where I got quite confused
with the messaging coming out of sort of Mercedes
because it felt like after qualifying
on Saturday night,
they realised that George had done
exactly what he had been told
to do in terms of the way he was
driving, he's trying to do what Kimmy's
doing and yet still something
isn't adding up. And I think that's where
we're all just a bit
well, confused really.
But as Sarah makes
the point, the most important point is
the championship's driving up the road
literally.
Yeah, quite literally. And we'll come back to that.
And Sarah, I'm going to come back to you in a moment.
I just want to one more point on all this before
we move on to Kimmy Antonelli.
I've seen a rise in the last
five years or so
in Formula One
fans when there is a gap between
teammates jumping
into conspiracy.
Now, have there been occasions
in the past in Formula One history
where a team has favoured one driver
over another? Of course
there has.
But more often
than not, if you go back over
this sports 70 odd year history,
gaps between
teammates are not
explained
by
bias, favouritism,
sabotage.
And the reason for that is Molly, you made this point
at the very start of the podcast, they want
to win.
They want to win the constructors. That is all they care about.
But
we always ask the questions the fans are asking
here on the Fast and the Curious. So it is
a question that is being asked, Molly.
Do you see any truth
in sabotage, in favouritism,
in Kimmy being the Toto's
chosen one, the prodigal son?
Is there anything in this, Molly, or is this
just a case of
complicated stuff be complicated?
It is a complicated answer to that question
because
George's issues are not a conspiracy,
they are facts. We can physically see them
and that is the most important
thing that comes out of this weekend.
Nobody can deny that
we physically saw it
with our own eyes.
A fan that has just
turned into a
Formula 1 race for the very first time
watches that opening lap and goes,
hang on, why is George so slow?
That car is driving up that hill much slower
than the other cars, completely.
That is absolutely factual.
Is it a conspiracy?
No. Are they purposely doing it to George?
No.
Do I think deep down
it probably
in the long
term
is quite a nice story for Mercedes that
Kimmy is probably going to be the youngest
driver's champion.
He's been there since he was a little kid.
It's a nice story.
Yes, is he the future of the team?
Yes.
Is George
a bit caught in the middle?
There was sort of Lewis' era,
Lewis seven-time world champion,
possibly the goat.
Kimmy is the next best thing.
And poor George is sort of stuck
in the middle a little bit.
Yes. All of those things
play into this concept of a conspiracy.
It doesn't mean it's a conspiracy.
It's not a conspiracy.
It's just basically
a series of really unfortunate events for George.
he must just be, as Sarah said
at the start, this is supposed to be his season.
What were you talking about
when we got to Australia?
You know, this is George Russell's season.
So I think
I understand why people feel like there's a conspiracy.
But what I will say is
I think, and I have
real sympathy for Mercedes here and for
Toto especially.
I think Naomi Schiff asked
a really good question on Sky
after the race to Toto. She just said
listen, the fans are so confused.
They don't understand what's going on with George.
Please explain to us
how this is happening
or why is it to do his driving style.
And Toto did his best
to answer, but like
nobody really understands.
So I think that is what hasn't helped
that the fans,
George fans rightly feel as though
he's not getting sabotaged.
That's a big word, but you know
he's got this issue and they're not
they're not solving it.
Yes, but it's not because they're not trying to solve it.
Incredibly
ridiculously complicated.
And I agree with everything.
I don't think for a minute there's anybody in that Mercedes team
trying to sabotage George. I think Mercedes
wanted to be a fair fight.
I think if George was
the quicker driver like he was last year,
Mercedes would be cool with that.
But I agree
with everything you said, Molly.
Sarah,
are you team
conspiracy? Do you think this is all
Mercedes deliberately going after George?
No.
No.
No, no, no.
I mean, I agree. I think it's a complicated problem.
I think they can't give us an answer because they don't
have an answer and they don't want to say that.
So they don't benefit from saying,
oh, we're confused that we don't know what's going on.
You know,
Toto's a businessman. He knows better than to say that.
So I think
whatever issues they're having are certainly not
something they want to be having. They had to figure it out.
Was it George's style
or was it the car?
And I think that interview with him
showed how Toto still
has an inkling. It is partly George's
driving style that,
you know, when you talk about these battery deployments
and how the AI learns
from the driver and learns against the track,
it can cause some issues that they don't fully
understand. But I certainly
understand why there are so many
fans who see it as a conspiracy
theory because, like you said, Christian in the past
and even the very
recent past, we've had
teams who have, you know, known to have
extreme favorite drivers.
So when you're a fan of George, it's really
hard to watch something like this. When there's nothing
concrete telling you you're wrong.
Yeah, you're absolutely
right. The thing I would say is in Formula One
the most simple answer is not
often, is not always
the right answer. And yes,
we have seen examples of it,
but they are still rare in the grand
scheme of things when a teammate is faster
than the other. You know, it didn't,
I think if I'm going, I'm sure my age
here, but if you, if you went back to
Micka Hakkonen versus David Coulthard,
very few people at the time
were saying around that
cult, you know, it's a
conspiracy. Hakkonen is just
their, their favoring Hakkonen.
You did get, you did get utterings
of it. You definitely did get utterings of it,
but there was a lot more
Hakkonen as the stronger driver. It's something that has crept in.
But as you both said, you can
you can understand why people will go
to that conclusion. This has been very interesting.
Thank you both. Taking
nothing away from Kimmy Antonelli.
He's still really good at Formula One,
and we'll talk about that more in just a moment.
Welcome back to the Fast and the Curious.
We've spoken at length about
Georgia's struggles, but I am really
keen for it to not
distract from
Kimmy Antonelli.
And if I may be as bold
to throw an opinion in at this point, guys.
I just sort of
think with Kimmy
we're in a situation where you wait
for him to show his inexperience
or his youth.
And Belgium is one of those
tracks where that could happen because
it is so on the driver, because it's
so unforgiving. We saw mistakes
in practice from the likes of Hamilton and
Gasly.
But it doesn't happen, does it?
He just rises to every
occasion.
Sarah, I'm so impressed by him this
season. It feels like the only thing
that can really beat Kimmy Antonelli
is Kimmy's car when it packs
up like we've seen. Sarah, how impressed
are you with this child?
I think I'm with you.
I'm still waiting for him to
struggle a bit more. And yet
he still continues to perform
and perform. And I'm looking
around going, where is this magic
coming from? You know, like
you sometimes expect with these rookies
to see the progress up the ladder
but Kimmy just sort of went to
P1 and parked it there and
hasn't left. Yeah.
I mean, I'm somewhat in shock.
You know, only his second year
in F1, he seems to have really gotten
a hold of these new regulations faster
than, like you said, anybody else
because while they are still struggling
you know, he's pushing and pushing
himself further into perfecting
something that everybody else is still grappling
with. So I've been incredibly
impressed. Molly, even
when Charlotte Leclerc got slightly fortunate
with the timings of one of the virtual
safety cars and therefore
came out in front. It was like my
brain hadn't registered that he was in front.
You know, sometimes when someone gets a cheap pit stop
and you're like, hello, that's a benefit
for them. Cheap pit stop. We're in
for a fight here. I just never thought
Kimmy was losing that race
for a minute. To Sarah's
point, it just didn't look like he was going to be stopped, did it?
I think that's the thing that's probably
impressed me the most with Kimmy
over the sort of
what, are we nearly halfway through
the season yet? We don't know, do we? Because we don't fully know
how many racists there's going to be. I can tell you
for a fact there's definitely been ten.
So let's say we're about
halfway. We're almost, we're nearly there, yeah.
I think what
that has proved
is it's not luck, it's
not anything like this.
He's legit.
He's absolutely
go back a few races
to like race three, race four.
Even Mercedes was like, guys
you know, might be a bit too early for Kimmy
here and Kimmy's just gone.
No. This is my year
and I think
what's probably impressed me the most about him
is his race craft and I think
you can't, particularly in that situation
yesterday where
Charles did get a head, obviously with the VSE
that
that relationship between Kimmy and Bono
on the radio is just
so good, it's brilliant.
And we're seeing
as I'm sure we'll get to later in the show
but we're seeing what had happened with
Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri
and
Bono almost basically said
just be a bit careful there
because Charles has been
squeezing people a bit there, be careful
be careful with the track limits
Kimmy takes the information
takes it on board
doesn't put a foot wrong and I think
that's where that maturity
you know, again you forget
he's only 19, I think that's what's
so incredible, yes
he's got
a very quick car. We know that
we know maybe the rules
don't suit other people, whatever
but that doesn't mean it's easy
you know, Lando Norris last year had
the fastest car for most of the season
he still made mistakes
I think it's
that's what's so impressive about Kimmy
the way that, you know, we talk
about the machine learning with the AI
and the deployment, well Kimmy's like
a little machine, he goes to a race
Kimmy's like a little machine I really
enjoy, he is
I really like that
a little AI
Kimmy robot has
took information and he's even better
you know, it's like Kimmy 3.1
charge him up and they let him go
and he scurries out
we're on Kimmy 10.0 at the moment
11.0
and he just keeps getting better
really like that and we're all
on this podcast
fortunate to have spent some time as Paddock
princesses, you know, we've been into the paddock
we've seen what it's like
I do sometimes think you can learn a lot
from a driver, actually I've just
realised what I'm about to say makes me sound weird
which is not, let's be honest for a long time
listening to this podcast, not a new thing is it
but you can get a lot
from just watching the drivers
from just seeing them at work
and Kimmy looks so comfortable
I saw quite a lot of him this weekend
just through sheer love that didn't speak to him or anything
but just you know, when you're walking through the paddock
and the paddock in Belgium is on two tiers
and that you go up the stairs
do they list the death stairs?
yes, so we call them
the death stairs because when it rains
boy are they slippy
which is such a well known thing in the paddock
and it feels like somebody should say we should fix this
because one year they'll kill someone
but anyway we don't and they're just
slippy but on the ground floor
of the paddock you've got all the hospitality units
and then the sort of upstairs of the paddock
you've got the garages
and the more motorsporty bits
and that leads into the pit lane and it's quite condensed up there
so you see a lot of people the time
I saw quite a lot of Kimmy
and he just looks a so relaxed
his body language as he walks
through the paddock it's like he's just
strolling from a meal out
to a bar after
he's just so relaxed
and he's smiling and
honestly I think kids love him
like he's really captured
the young fan base I think because
the amount of kids who stop him for pictures
and credit to him every single time
no matter how busy he looks
he stops, he laughs with them, he takes pictures
you just look at him and think
you are an athlete at the top of your game
you are so comfortable in these surroundings
of this brutal top level sport
and you're just enjoying yourself
and it looks like he's enjoying himself
when he races doesn't it Sarah?
Oh my goodness he really does
and I feel for him anytime it's not going perfectly
because anytime he can
feel like he's in control
it's beautiful to listen to
like you said on the radio he takes it in
he's mature about it, he's not screaming
about things
unless you're going terribly wrong
but seeing him in the paddock I absolutely agree
he comes with a joy and excitement
to tackle the problem
and that freshness
is not something that somebody like George
is having to fight for
he's just got it
he reminds me of an Olympian in a way
very young at the top of his game
at this hugely competitive thing
and yet somehow it seems
like it's normal for him to be there
he feels so comfortable
he's going to be at the top of this sport
for a long time to come
Sarah do you think
anyone can stop him?
it doesn't feel to me
unless an upgrade
significantly changes something
for someone and it would probably be Ferrari
Yeah
the negative from this weekend is it feels to me
like this, me and Betty have been speaking
in recent pods about the championship race
this was a hammer blow for the championship race
it's just starting to feel like
it really is his to lose right?
Well I think it would be so hard to
you know connect that gap over
what do we have potentially 12 more races
because there's a 50 point
lead now
I mean Kimmy would have to really
DNF multiple times
and only one other Ferrari driver
would have to win multiple races
to even close
that gap
and with sprints and everything else and I know
Ferrari is trying to bring their upgrades
this was not going to be a good track for Ferrari
Silverstone
wasn't going to be a good track for Ferrari
Monza won't be a good track for Ferrari
and Charles Leclerc spoke to that because of these
big long straights
their car just can't be as competitive
the way that the Mercedes can when it comes to energy
deployment so it feels like
we're losing that championship battle
already
it's just going to be
going to the end like this so
that's a little bit frustrating
Yeah you made a couple of points that I want to pick up on
one is both Ferrari drivers because actually
something does seem to have clicked for Charles Leclerc
it was between sprint race
and main race at Silverstone
where it's just like something has clicked for him
and he was much better this weekend
the Hamilton really on sheer pace
there was nothing in it between those two Ferrari drivers
which makes you feel like the two Ferrari drivers
are squeezing the maximum out of the package
that they can, that doesn't necessarily help
Hamilton with a championship fight
because he's going to be fighting his teammate now
and not necessarily getting
second place, third place
so I agree with you there
and yes there was some optimism at Silverstone
around
well we weren't expecting
necessarily Ferrari to be any
good round here and they were better than we expected
them to be
but Molly I don't feel
we're certainly not going to get it from McLaren
Red Bull would need a sizeable upgrade
it feels
to me it's optimistic to think
Ferrari can properly challenge Kimmy
does it to you
I am
weirdly
not as down on it as I was
interesting
for qualifying
qualifying I thought Kimmy
was just going to drive up the road
see you later
over one of those hills
that's part, never see him again
and I know there was a bit of
VSC and whatever
but you know he wasn't taking
half a second lap
out of Charlotte it was tense
it was steady
but I think
for Lewis particularly
if you look at the way the weekend was going
sort of FB3 you look quite quick
it looks alright
he felt happy with the car
and then what you had is what he described as a domino effect
where basically everything went wrong
he had that big crash
the mechanics did a great job of building the car together
getting it out for qualifying
but the balance wasn't right
he said that could be two or three tenths
he felt so suddenly
he's not starting in
will he start fourth, fifth
he's fifth I think in the end
he wouldn't have started fifth he could have been
second or third
then you're in a completely different race
then he clashes with George on the first lap
he's got 50 points of downforce damage
so that's basically
really his race
then he has the pit stop thing
which is a disaster
he doesn't get his front wing
flat change so he's got understeer
for his final stint
and he still finishes fourth guys
do you know what
good salt this well to me
and there's a series of unfortunate events
and he's still fourth
he's second in the championship now
for me I'm much more worried about
George this felt much more
like the end of George's
that's maybe a bit premature you never know
I didn't even include him in the question
because it just feels so far away so no I
totally agree with you there
it literally doubled the deficit
at the start of the weekend Kim moves 25
points ahead he leaves it 50 ahead
I'm much more down on
George's chances I think
Ferrari they have another engine upgrade
to come in Monza they've got another one of those
a duo magical
beans or whatever we're calling them
let's go with magic beans I like that
I don't seem to know how to do it yet
I'm not
I'm not
I think a few more races I don't think
they're out of it yet
imagine if the FIA did refer to them
as magic beans as it actually
and why shouldn't it do you know what I mean
we're using all these random deployment
harvesting I'd welcome that
I'd welcome that
and you're right Molly Lewis did start
fifth and
yes I
get your optimism slightly more there
my thing is it just still feels
that bit too far away to Kimmy
and Kimmy still has that bit
too much consistency but
to cover to caveat my own point and argue
with myself which again isn't unusual necessarily
on this podcast
if there is a car that can break
twice you know and taking away a 50
point gap it is that Mercedes because
it does break the engine does break nobody
fully knows why so I don't think
it's all over but
I'm not wildly optimistic
if that makes
sense
Lucas asks
did you understand why Charles didn't
get a penalty this is for
his attempted move on
Oscar Piatri Lucas says I still don't understand
the decision of the stewards and Inka
says on Instagram why
did the Claire not get a penalty for his
contract with Oscar Piatri but Hamilton
did get one for his
opening lap contact with George Russell
I got people in my personal DMs very
quickly after the race asking me to explain
this I couldn't Molly
can you
why are you giving me all the hard questions
today because you work
for a proper newspaper
in the Times which is prestigious
you have the word correspondent in your
title it's not 5am
where you are it's not 5am
great point brilliant point
I class you unlike my good self
as a proper journalist Molly
so I shall put the hard ones to you plus
I mean it's normally me who has to do this
and I'm just rather enjoying piling it
after someone else so sorry Molly I sort of
the way it just is really
well all of those things you said
might be true but
you don't know either
that's good
there's two
sort of do we know why they did it
yes because they write their written
reasons in little documents and send them
to us so we know why they did it
do we agree with it
no
not really to be honest
I've got the little document here
listen I felt
that turn one was a very unfortunate
turn one incident
I didn't feel Lewis
didn't give George room
I thought George was swallowed up as
George said I think that was
George said it was a racing incident
I thought it was a complete racing
incident and to me
looking you know the rules say
you've got to leave a cars with
and
char didn't leave a cars with
char didn't leave cars with
char didn't leave cars with
hi char
and therefore they made contact
and I think Sarah Molly said this to
your text I don't know if you saw it
I loved char
watching this back in the cooldown room
because if you know when you walk in on the dog
and the dogs chewed up a cushion
and there's the guilty look
char had the guilty look in the cooldown room
when he watched it back it was like
we got away with that one
yeah I think char
did get away with a little bit there
he certainly wasn't trying it obviously
that face is because in the moment he felt like
he had he felt like he was
properly defending
and I think there was room
for the McLaren to get out of the way
and avoid the collision
so I think the fact that there wasn't
worse damage and there wasn't worse
contact might have influenced
some of why that didn't get penalized so hard
because it should be it should you know
that shouldn't form
the stewards opinions of whether there was damage
or not as whether the move was legal or not
but yes I take your point Sarah
but I think so part of the way that it works
with the FIA for those who don't know is
race control will see something
and these are pretty big moments so it's
pretty easy to choose and then they will
send that moment to the stewards office
for them to review what the stewards
office does is they will pull up
similar incidents so they have a whole database
of rules and previous incidents
and see how those incidents were
called the problem
with this is that you're always
working off a precedent and you don't know
what type of bias was
happening in that precedent
so
you know they try and remove too much
emotion from their decisions
and look at what's happening in the past
to inform how to penalize
for the current you know present
but not every situation is the same
and I think maybe
we could benefit from a little bit more
human intuition not necessarily
just interpreting
how the rules have been done before
I also think
going back to our little documents
the funds
they can see these right I think they do
they get published
they do get published it's not necessarily easy to find
I genuinely think most people find them through
there's a twitter account called FIA BOT
or something and by the way
a lot of journalists use that as well
but people I think get them through there
Do you know what I think it comes through on that bot
quicker than it comes through on my email
so we're all
for the bot
the bit I thought was a bit strange
it says car 81 oscar
has some overlap on car 16
char but the front axle of car 81
was not ahead of the front axle of car 16
fair fine factual
then it says and there was no possibility
of car 81 completing an overtake
from that position well that
is where I disagree because
what have we seen all season with these cars
because there's such
a difference in energy
deployment and speed
you're seeing overtakes
in places you never think
there could be overtakes
so now do we know that
if char had not squeezed
oscar the way he did
oscar wouldn't have just had a
surface of speed and could have gone round the outside
I agree and then I'll
pick up on the document which I'm also
looking at says in the stewards determination
car 16 char did not deliberately
crowd car 81 off the edge of the track
now in the cooldown room afterwards
when max went I think he used the word
was it I don't know if it was premeditated
or use a word
calculate
I think that was the word but anyway
and charlton went
so listen
I'm not
sure that one was right but listen
so to answer all the messages
that we've got on the podcast account
my personal account can you explain it
no we can't and with that
level of insight we'll be back after the break
hello friends welcome back to the fast and the curious
let's just stick with the topics
of some list of questions while we're
on the subject
of penalties
Kerry asked us
how did that Hamilton release happen
so this is where Lewis Hamilton accidentally
ran a man over or nearly ran a man
over he's fine don't worry he's fine
why did the green light
go on the
why did the green light go on with the engineer
and loads of people in rdms
asking how that works
Molly
I'm coming to you on this because I'm
not a thousand percent sure myself
but my experience is the
chief engineer who takes an
overview and presses a button
which shows the driver the green button
and the driver goes but there is a
human element to this and mistakes happen
am I reading this right as to what happened there
yes but I think
not to defend
Ferrari because obviously
they were wrong and they were fine
but it was quite a sort of
unique set of situations
first of all it was a double stack pit
stock where both charl and Lewis were
coming in so that
generally is harder than normal
then
to add to the double stack it was
charl in, charl out
fine, Lewis in
then nobody do anything guys
don't touch the clock
there's a lot going on isn't there in such a short
space of time
so then also again in the handy little document
that the FIA told us I don't think we heard
this radio message but Lewis had
asked for a front flap adjust
which is something they do
to change the balance of the car
they just do it like literally
a mechanic does it physically
on the car during the pit stop
when they change tyres or when the fuel is going
round as the race goes on so he had
asked his race engineer for that
and for whatever reason that message
hadn't been passed on quick enough
in all of this chaos to
the pit crew and the people that were
doing it so everything was
fine, served the penalty, changed
the tyres, the green light came
on and then the guy
went to change the front flap
as he should but it was
all too late the process was all
in the wrong order so as he
went to do that the green light was already on
Lewis in the car remember they're so
low in the car they can't see anything
pretty much they only can see the
light as soon as he
hits the guy he stops
just like swears the radio a lot
oh my god he's okay
thankfully he is okay and then he leaves
the front wing still didn't get sorted
so it was again
not to defend Ferrari they were wrong
but it was quite you know how many
of those are you gonna do a season a double
stop with the penalty and a flap job
what's all going off what that many
I'm 34 years of age and I walk into
a room and can't remember why I've gone in there
so I can't remember that one
thing let alone all
that stuff that's going on so much
to think about and I
one thing I did notice is that Lewis had the collision
didn't get out and swap insurance details which I
thought was a bad precedent
but we'll move on from that
same company yeah it's the same come that's it
yeah he's fine
the mechanic is fine which is
great news and of course safety is key
radio radar and under the
radar then I'm famously
when Betty's off terrible at doing
radio radar because something amusing
happens and I forget it
Molly you enjoyed Kimmy wishing
his dad happy birthday on the radio didn't
you that's which is nice wholesome
radio stuff I want more wholesome radio
moments please yeah and he also
you know they write
on the bottle of champagne
he also write happy birthday
to his dad on that oh that's so sweet
wow
Sarah did anything on the radio amuse you this weekend
I just like listening
listening to them yell at their engineers
and back and forth
I mean truly I mean they're
in that moment but I always
feel for the engineers I'm like oof
yeah that that was interesting and I
also loved even that was
terrible Lewis asking about the
wing and the engineer didn't tell him that's
what happened at the pit stop just said no we
weren't able to do it I appreciated
that he just sort of car compartmentalized
that for Lewis
and wasn't harping on that that was
what they were trying to do and had failed
you know like nope like let's just go forward
because this is why I'd be a poor race engineer
I'd sort of probably
Lewis to say why didn't you put the flap adjustment
on and I'd be going oh come on mate we had
a lot on there was a double stack
you had a penalty you literally ran someone over
like you ran the guy over
yeah just give us a break alright you can
make do without your flap crack on
I just wouldn't keep my cool
so yes all good
points and for under the radar
I do want
to shout out Oscar because I think he had a very good
weekend pace wise and
we said at the start of the pod that Andrea Stella
highlighted just how good his race pace was
thousands of people in the DMs
wanted us to shout out Isaac Hadge
for his
pull back from the back and I agree
right I agree and that's why I'm doing so
officially shout out to Isaac Hadge did very well the
only thing I would say is the gap
between the top
cars and everyone else is so
big that I would have been staggered
if he's a could only come
10th or 12th
because the red bull
is a all of those top four
cars are rocket ships compared to any
car that isn't a top four car that gap is big
so for that
reason guys my official
under the radar one if I
have to pick them which I don't I'm just
forcing myself to is
is Gabriel Bortoletto I and I did this
last race I think
Sarah's gone full on yes I think Sarah
agrees with me I think he's doing a great job
this season and yes Nico has had some bad
luck and would have points on the board were it
not for that bad luck
does also strike me there's been
a bit of a turn in Audi this year and
Bortoletto is the faster driver Sarah
you got very excited when I said Gabriel
Bortoletto
you agree with me I absolutely
agree with you I have loved watching
him and he is consistently doing well
against Hulkenberg in multiple settings
it's not just when Hulkenberg happens
to have bad luck which
happens to a lot of drivers we see him
doing really well in qualifying
as well and I thought
it was really special for him to be in the
points this weekend Audi brought out
a ton of their team from their factory
to come and see this race
so that made it a little bit
extra special but he just
continues to have the maturity
and professionalism that we hope
to see from a driver
and seeing him continue
to tackle even when he has car problems
or doesn't I've been loving
watching him race it's been really good
the other one for under the radar
I don't know if
you guys heard the story about how
one of the racing bulls had
upgrades and the other one didn't did it
they did the thing of who gets quickest
in Silverstone qualifying as to who gets the
upgrade oh yeah how good is Arvid
which was
which was great and then
I also
loved a bit where Alan Permane was
just like and we did say you know
neither of you could get it and they looked at me like
I was some sort of weirdo
no one of us has to have it
you can't just wait
it's F1 guys come on
and they flew back with each other
on easy jet
which I love did you see
this and even better
they had a bit of a tussle
but I don't think it was on the main
feed
I didn't see this
they were wheel to wheel
in each other's way
and then only Arvid got points
so I don't know whether
of all the times you want to fly home
on easy jet
I don't know that you would have
by all accounts
they're good mates, they're hilarious
on social media and whatever
so I'm sure it was fine
but they also only one of them got points
there was a bit of a
you know a bit of a
you sort of feel in that midfield battle
and we kind of heard
I think on the McLaren radio
where it was either
Lando to Oscar or Oscar to Lando saying
don't waste your time yoyoing
we don't want to get into an argument now
but we'll tell you after
it does sort of feel like the margins are so tight
in that midfield
those sort of few seconds you spend
bickering
you know
can cost you a little bit
but we didn't see that on the main feed
so again, under the radar racing balls
quite a fun team I think
they are good fun and both drivers doing very well
I saw a bit of online discourse this weekend
saying that people aren't giving
Arvid enough praise for the job he's doing
as a rookie, well those people aren't listed to this podcast
because me and Betty bang on about how much of a good job he's doing
all the time and Liam
they're both driving really well in a team
that's making the most of its resources
so yeah, I agree
wholeheartedly Molly and just to go back to Gabriel Bortoletto
briefly
he gave me this pasta this weekend
you got your bow type
pasta
yes, so on my other podcast F1 explains
I said on it that I
didn't know what faffale was
faffale is the shape of pasta
honestly the reaction was like
had said I don't know who Michael Schumacher is
like it was like how do you
not know that
so I don't know
anyway, Audi saw all the reaction
and got Gabriel
and was then back to interview Gabby for F1 explains
so they got Gabby
to give me this pasta
and it is
faffale I'm delighted to report
Gabby looked very confused
as to what was going on
why am I giving this random Englishman a box of pasta
and why have Audi taught me to do this
but he approached it with very good humour
even though I clearly baffled him
so thanks Gabby and thanks Audi for my pasta
by the way, it's Barilla Pasta
which is the official pasta supplier
of Formula One
you'd never know
that Formula One is run by an Italian man
would you, that it has an official pasta
supplier
you'd never know that would you
yes, thank you very much
a couple of other bits before we go
Isabel says question for Christian
why do you watch the race on TV
when you're there
because I quite often pop up
to show where I'm watching the race
usually it's sat at the back of McLaren
or Cadillac recently, thanks Cadillac
the answer to your question Isabel
is because
my pass gets me into the paddock
where I do my job
and I'm there again, usually to make F1 explains
it does not guarantee
that I can see a car on the track
and there are many paddocks
no, and Sarah you've been there Molly you're the same
just because we're in the paddock
where we do our job it does not mean
there's anywhere for exciting for us to watch the cars
and that is something I get a lot where people go
where did you watch the race and I say on my laptop
in the office
and also I, Molly
watches it from the media centre Sarah
I guess you're the same when you're there
I haven't been to the media centre but I do it
from the FIA hospitality
or just from the general seating area
yeah
so no, there are general seating areas in the paddock
but also it's sort of easier
to know what's going on because I'm acutely aware
I then have to go on to podcasts and act like I know
what I'm talking about and I love watching the cars
in the grandstands but it's much harder
to know what's going on
so that's that one Isabel, thank you for that
Michaela says, I'm feeling sad as a Williams fan
should they now focus on
2027 and is Carlos going to stay?
The future of Max Verstappen
we've done a lot which felt like
it was going to be a talking point
into this weekend and then
wasn't really, it's still
starting to feel like it'll just stay at Red Bull
because I'm not sure what other options he's got
but we'll do that another day
Molly, on Carlos
what do you think on that
for that question from Michaela
should they just focus on next year
and do you think he'll stay?
I think
the problem with focusing on
next year is that last year they abandoned
the entirety of last year
to focus on this year and that
hasn't gone so well
so I think and this is probably
the answer to both of those questions
is if there is
a scenario where Carlos
is thinking about leaving
and maybe that's too strong, maybe he's just
thinking
which he's allowed to do, let him be
absolutely
I think the thing that will be in the back of his head
is
I came to this team
I knew it wasn't going to be easy, I wasn't expecting
wins, podiums, whatever
but I was expecting a trajectory
of forward movement
they had that until this year
this year has been the sort of
stoppage of that
basically and I was speaking to somebody
at Williams about this
at Silverstone I think
and a lot of it is really
dull
dull, dull, boring
background issues where
what they're trying to do is overhaul
the factory so that the factory can make the parts
basically what they wanted
to do with the car this year, what James
Valves was trying to do, what the drivers had brought into
was almost too
advanced for the systems at the factory
so what they're having to do is to go back
and
get all of this ready, now
should they focus on next year, yes
if they think the
factory is capable of doing so
or if they're going to be
in the same situation again then no
why not develop for the rest of the season
so I think that's probably
more of the concern of Carlos
and not just Carlos as well by the way
Alex, who is a very good driver
are they going in the right direction
do they believe in the project because
it's fine having a long-term project
as long as you see progress in the project
I will come out and defence
of Williams as well and say
the struggles of the likes of Aston Martin
this year have shown how
difficult it is in these new
rule changes, the gap between
the top four and the rest
of the grid, the top four teams
shows you how difficult
it is and actually, Williams aren't
that far away, you know
they have had weekends where they look like
double points finishes, I think
an upgrade or two
and Williams, and people say
well he'll go to Audi, so well
they're not that far away
from Audi and I think
I
don't think this is a sign of terminal
decline for Williams, I think
it's a sign of how tough it is
to take a team
from the midfield
to be a consistent front runner, it took
McLaren years to get back there
and there were highs and lows along the way
and I don't necessarily think it's
realistic for James Valls to come in
and everything to be rosy and positive
until, guess what, we're on the podium
I think there are going to be ups and downs
and I think there
might be wrong, but I think
they've got to be Spec Car or
the Diet Car
as someone called it a
from Williams to me at Silverstone, the Diet
Cars on the way
so let's see how that goes
server very quickly
I think that Carlos, I think
I've even seen him looking at the Alpine
Car which was a consideration for him
before he went to Williams
and I think, you know
he can certainly feel like he's not
quite having the car that he wants right now
but I would like
to see him stay at Williams to see
what they can do because like you said Christian
it can't, James can't turn this around
overnight for Williams and they're coming
from really far back, not just
on performance but on the business
and the infrastructure side
For me, if Carlos gets the opportunity to go to a Red Bull
or a Mercedes or a Ferrari, go
like, well I wouldn't you
but to me, do I think Alpine
and Audi and this is no criticism of Alpine
and Audi, I think both of them have done great
jobs this season, do I think
they are a better bet long
term to break
the top teams
than Williams, not necessarily
I think by this time next year
I think we'll have seen highs
for Alpine, highs for Audi, highs
for Williams
I don't think it's quite as bad for Williams
as he's being made out
and I'm not just saying that because
joining us next time on the Fast and the Curious
I can exclusively reveal
Carlos Sainz is going to be here
so bonus episode
before the
Hungarian Grand Prix, that's it isn't it, hungry
we'll get hungry next, we'll blow into one
Carlos is coming on, great news
send us your questions at Fast Curious Pod
just before we go
Molly, it was my first time in Belgium
Sarah, you've not done Belgium before, have you?
I haven't done Belgium before, no
Molly, you had a couple of questions you wanted to put to me
about the experience I understand
Yes, well last
I think actually I was on this podcast
last year
from a very lovely
ladies random Belgian house
because it's a sort of race
so where were you staying
but also more importantly
how were the waffles?
I didn't hear about the waffles
It is exactly that sort of race, it is in the middle of nowhere
it's next to a
random village
and some trees
so you do stay
some trees
loads of trees, big long trees, that's what there is
there's a little village and trees
so you do stay wherever you can stay
and I stayed in the most old
school bed and breakfast you've ever seen
ran by a lovely man
called Serge in his wife
to the extent that when my colleague
Jamie producer Jamie went down
and said guys do you have an iron
Serge went oh no my wife will do it for you
and just did iron
Jamie's work shirts
so it was yes it was very
adorable vibes
so yes it did feel like
being in a random
Belgian man's trunk room
with his he likes to go shooting
in Scotland so I had lots of deer heads
on the wall so it was
it was unique to say the least
the waffles and I've said this
on my socials I just said
I mean this shows you the highbrow
fast and curious followers when I put on my Instagram
what behind the scenes stuff do you want to see
from the Belgian Grand Prix and I've got
I think about 15 messages that simply
said the word waffles
so I ate a waffle
and it was good
it really was good they do know
how to waffle in Belgium so we must get
that
Molly as well I got to cycle
the track which we were speaking about this morning
that was brilliant
that was a lot of fun
oh so it was amazing the hill
is a bloody big hill I can assure you of that
you don't realise
how tight the track is
Spa doesn't look like a tight
track from the telly
but considering how fast it is
like you can see
why the mistakes like Hamilton and Gasly happen
because the tiniest mistake
you knew in the gravel it is a punishing
circuit which slightly
again comes back to how impressive
what Kimmy's doing is because like if you're going to
make a mistake Spa would be a good track to make a mistake
the one thing I want to pick up from
Belgium is
I have
been bitten
to death
I do not get bitten
when I go away by mosquitoes
and I'm just one of those people
I just don't really get bitten that much
I'm very lucky my poor mum
bless her she used to get bitten
a lot doesn't happen to me
I'm like your mob then
yeah you're one of those people
after the first night
Sarah
I looked at myself in the mirror in the morning
and was shocked by what
I saw producer well I'll send you the picture
for those on YouTube this is potentially too much for some people here
but like here is and it was all
centralised on the left
side of my body my left
pectoral muscle
and the left upper part
of my arm they loved it
and then I put this on
social media and so many people are going
oh yeah yeah
Belgian bugs since when
since when was that thing
I did think you guys had those
must be the trees they're hardy in all the trees
clearly but I didn't realise that
like Australia fine loads of
bugs parts of America fine
yeah
I didn't know this
everyone said oh you know you get that in Belgium
since when I know you get the Christmas market
in Brussels and you get waffles
and you get chips I didn't know bugs
was a thing and people in my DMs
are like oh yeah I know that's obvious you get that in Belgium
I'm 34 and I never knew this
Molly have you been bitten to death
when you've been there before?
No there are a run of races
where you do have to invest
in some mosquito spray but
Belgium's not on the rotation for that
I don't think but nowadays
when we go to Belgium
If you are going to the Belgian Grand Prix
pack bug related
stuff I mean the spray
don't bring a bug's life on DVD
pack bug stuff because
that is going in my
I have a little yellow wash bag
that I take to every race and don't unpack
travel tips for you here
oh bug stuff is going in there
I can assure you because I bought some from
a slightly weird supermarket
that just stung and did nothing else
so I'm going to boots or super drug or
whichever high street chemistry prefer
and I'm investing in some good bug stuff after this
because goodness me
bugs were so big
Serge from the B&B might as well have kept him
outside on a lead
there's chunks they've taken out of me
unbelievable
I feel like this conversation reminds me that
at some point we should do an episode
or an article or something
where we just talk about all the things
that people don't know about
going to races
oh yes please yes
because that's when you take the job
to go into F1 I feel like that's what you want
from your predecessor
I don't need Toto Wolff number
I actually need to know whether I'm going to get bitten
by a bug in Belgium
or how do I get to a track in
Batu you know this is the sort of stuff
you need to know or the stairs might kill you
if it rains in Belgium yeah
oh yes exactly
more the death stairs
this is what a rollercoaster
this has been emotional
Molly Hudson
thank you very much
our listeners and viewers love you
and this has perfectly underlined why
expert analysis from you
thank you very much Molly
awesome I am in Budapest
in two days
go well save travels bring some bug spray
Sarah a debut it will not be your last appearance
I've no doubt about that
thank you very much for joining us and for getting up
at a stupid time and making more sense
than I do on an average episode despite having
probably a two hour sleep we appreciate it Sarah
thank you happy to do it happy to be here
we are back
before the Grand Prix to speak to Carla
signs all being well
unless the event of schedules changing
or technology letting us down
we are due to be back to speak to Carlos
before the Grand Prix if it doesn't happen life happens
unfortunately we have to live with that
but regardless we will be back
for our last episode before the summer break
after the Hungarian
Grand Prix where I'll be joined by
the lesser spotted Greg James
who is popping in to make one of his regular appearances
and the fairly frequently
spotted Betty Glover who will be back
from falling off a bucking bronco
at the World Cup I've been Christian Heagill
this has been the Fast and the Curious and we shall see you next time
bye bye for now
About this episode
Belgian GP 2026 fallout takes center stage as the hosts and guests try to decode George Russell’s weekend mystery—why his car seemed to lose time on the straights and even drop power early in the race. They connect the issue to hybrid energy recharging and deployment timing, debate whether it’s power-unit behavior or driving, and weigh Toto Wolff’s comments about Mercedes engines. Along the way, they also recap the championship shake-up and discuss why Belgium (and Spa) can expose inexperience.
Original notes
Christian is joined by Molly Hudson from The Times newspaper and F1 content creator Sarah Kaye aka. sarahonthegrid to debrief the Belgian Grand Prix weekend.
- What is going on with George Russell’s car?
- Why did Lewis Hamilton get a penalty for his collision with George Russell but Charles Leclerc didn’t for his with Oscar Piastri?
- And what will Christian make sure to pack for next time he visits Spa-Francorchamps?
Join us later this week where we will be joined by Carlos Sainz! As always, send your questions for Carlos to us on social media:
YouTube: @fastcuriouspod
Twitter: @fastcuriouspod
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Threads: @fastcuriouspod
Producer: Will Tyrrell
Social Media Manager: Nicola Howard
Executive Producer: Christian Hewgill
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The Fast and the Curious
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