Did Max Verstappen Win Sergio Perez's Race? 2022 Spanish GP Review

The 2022 Spanish GP was a very un-Spanish GP-like! The race had it all in the mix - strategy, reliability & on-track battles. It was a highly-entertaining race, wasn't it?

Max Verstappen won at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona, registering a hat-trick of race wins in 2022. But did he win a race that Sergio Perez should've won? 

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Would Carlos Sainz be ruing yet another missed opportunity? We reckon he could've won his maiden Formula 1 race at home! Was Lewis Hamilton's heroic charge to 5th dampened by his early-race message asking the team to retire his Mercedes? And what about George Russell? He's finished 100% of all the laps in 2022 & the only driver to have scored top-5 finishes in all races.

In this 2022 Spanish GP review on the Inside Line F1 Podcast, Soumil and Kunal also discuss if the pecking order has changed thanks to the multiple upgrades brought by the teams (barring Haas). 

Above all else, the Verstappen-Russell duel made a strong case against the DRS and also one strongly in favour of the 2022 regulations - if they can follow each other in Barcelona, they should be able to follow at most circuits on the calendar.

There's a stats review segment by Sundaram aka @f1statsguru & then a mid-field round-up. Norris' tonsilitis , Aston Martin's 'green Red Bull' & more. 

Tune in!

(Season 2022, Episode 28)

Follow our hosts on Twitter: Sundaram Ramaswami, Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah

Image courtesy: Red Bull Content Pool

some summary

[00:00.000 -> 00:23.280] So what more can you throw at Max Verstappen huh? A failed DRS swing, his teammate not
[00:23.280 -> 00:26.080] willing to cooperate initially and a very very difficult
[00:26.080 -> 00:27.840] battle against George Russell.
[00:27.840 -> 00:28.960] This guy can do it all.
[00:28.960 -> 00:33.320] But yes, it might have taken a DNF from Charles Leclerc but what a win it was by Max Verstappen
[00:33.320 -> 00:38.280] here, not here at the Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya but there at the Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya.
[00:38.280 -> 00:43.260] But must have been an amazing race weekend to visit because there's so much of energy
[00:43.260 -> 00:45.040] and so much of content to talk about
[00:45.040 -> 00:48.680] from this entire weekend. And that's exactly what we're going to do right here on this
[00:48.680 -> 00:53.600] episode of the inside line of one podcast and puts the podium. This is our Spanish Grand
[00:53.600 -> 00:57.920] Prix race review right here. And after a quick break, we'll be back with who we are firstly
[00:57.920 -> 01:03.520] and also what we're going to discuss in this particular episode. Welcome back, folks. Welcome
[01:03.520 -> 01:05.800] in. My name is Somal Arora, I'm the host of
[01:05.800 -> 01:09.480] the Driving Force on Disney Plus Hotstar, joined by Kunal Shah, the former
[01:09.480 -> 01:14.200] marketing head of the Force India F1 team. And straightaway Kunal, I just have
[01:14.200 -> 01:18.800] to ask this one question, is it too early for team owners? Because come on, race?
[01:18.800 -> 01:23.080] What is it? Grand Prix number 7? I suppose we have this discussion every single time
[01:23.080 -> 01:27.160] around race 7, race 10 about team owners and whether it's too early to do them
[01:27.160 -> 01:31.640] this time it's Red Bull instead of Mercedes ah this tasteful or perhaps
[01:31.640 -> 01:35.560] just making sure that they get the most points in the bag and when you when you
[01:35.560 -> 01:39.720] consider that Max is now leading the championship makes sense doesn't it
[01:39.720 -> 01:45.720] well you said race six you said race seven instead of race six and now I'm
[01:45.720 -> 01:50.400] just gonna say that's it let's end the episode we got to redo the whole thing
[01:50.400 -> 01:56.400] Somal and let's let's see you in Monaco I guess right and maybe I tried to sound
[01:56.400 -> 02:00.240] a little bit like Lewis Hamilton you know on the opening lap when he said
[02:00.240 -> 02:05.200] let's park it all up but Somal maybe you also need to hit the mute
[02:05.200 -> 02:08.820] button and then the record button and you need to type a few things and now I
[02:08.820 -> 02:13.600] sound like GP Max Verstappen's race engineer giving all those information
[02:13.600 -> 02:20.260] but you know it's it's a valid question to ask should they have run team orders
[02:20.260 -> 02:24.060] should they not sometimes the easiest way I can give an answer is if I was
[02:24.060 -> 02:27.640] Christian Horner I would have run team orders like I said in the preview I'm
[02:27.640 -> 02:32.940] going to repeat it in the review as well. You know Sergio Perez not only gave up
[02:32.940 -> 02:38.980] the race win but he is of course giving Max Verstappen another chance to go up
[02:38.980 -> 02:46.400] and win a world title. You know their nearest rivals were out unexpectedly. Charles
[02:46.400 -> 02:52.240] Leclerc was supposed to cruise and win this race, but on a day when he was scoring zero,
[02:52.240 -> 02:58.800] it's absolutely understandable that they maximized all the points for Max Verstappen and
[02:58.800 -> 03:04.400] they gave him seven more points, I would say, instead of eight. I think they would have gone
[03:04.400 -> 03:06.000] for the fastest lap at some point,
[03:06.000 -> 03:07.480] but they just didn't want to risk it.
[03:07.480 -> 03:09.440] They didn't want to get too greedy, I guess.
[03:10.480 -> 03:13.400] Well, you could say they literally maximized the points.
[03:13.400 -> 03:16.920] And I suppose that'll be a word that kind of troubles Sergio Perez
[03:16.920 -> 03:18.280] for the next couple of days.
[03:18.280 -> 03:21.600] But considering how things are going, Kunal, considering how early in the season
[03:21.600 -> 03:30.160] it is and considering how early Red Bull have actually pressed the team on a button, I suppose it's fair to say that Sergio Perez might never win a race
[03:30.160 -> 03:35.040] for Red Bull unless Max retires. What would you say about this claim? Because I just don't see it
[03:35.040 -> 03:40.480] happening. They denied him a race win last time out in Mexico City last year. Of course, that is
[03:40.480 -> 03:46.920] understandable. Championship fight and everything happening. but this is so early in the year and it's not like Max was clearly
[03:46.920 -> 03:51.640] the faster car right Sergio did not have that DRS problem of course with without
[03:51.640 -> 03:54.440] that of Max could have been faster but again you've got to look at what you
[03:54.440 -> 03:58.160] have on the table and Sergio was faster quite clearly I mean at one point he
[03:58.160 -> 04:02.080] literally radioed in to say get Max out of the way I want to be the one to pass
[04:02.080 -> 04:09.680] George Russell and he could have well done that so I don't know I get a feeling that his his last race win if it ever is to come is going to happen
[04:09.680 -> 04:16.640] when Max retires and that's such a shame. Or if Max is out of the podium finishes or something or
[04:16.640 -> 04:21.600] but but you know again a good way to try and understand the situation is to let's let's
[04:21.600 -> 04:27.200] discuss was this Perez's race to win right he had a car that did not
[04:27.200 -> 04:32.000] have problems he raced on merit all the way up to you know the lead of the race
[04:32.000 -> 04:37.760] etc etc but was it really his race to win and the truth is if you know if you
[04:37.760 -> 04:42.520] want to say from the heart yes he was the leader Max had his problems even if
[04:42.520 -> 04:47.760] Max was on a different strategy would Max have been able to overtake him
[04:47.760 -> 04:53.280] without the DRS and so on? And you can go on and on down that road. But Max was on the quicker
[04:53.280 -> 04:58.160] strategy per se. And his teammates, Red Bull just said, you know what, race one, race six or race
[04:58.160 -> 05:02.240] 16, they're not going to race. And that's the decision that they've taken. And that's just what
[05:02.240 -> 05:05.680] the sport allows as well.
[05:05.680 -> 05:07.060] And I'll also put it this way.
[05:07.060 -> 05:10.320] Let's reverse the question.
[05:10.320 -> 05:18.640] If Perez anyway was able to attack Max and Max's DRS was broken, and if the Mercedes
[05:18.640 -> 05:24.680] or the Ferraris were coming in heavy in assault from positions three, Red Bull wouldn't have
[05:24.680 -> 05:26.120] swapped the two and told
[05:26.120 -> 05:28.540] Max to go and – sorry, told Perez to take the win.
[05:28.540 -> 05:32.480] They would have told Perez to play the able wingman that he is.
[05:32.480 -> 05:37.640] So in both situations, Perez would not have been able to win today.
[05:37.640 -> 05:40.000] So would not have been allowed to win the race.
[05:40.000 -> 05:42.200] And that's where I totally agree with you.
[05:42.200 -> 05:47.320] I don't think Max – I don't think Checo will ever get to win a race unless Perez retires.
[05:47.320 -> 05:53.880] And that's the unfortunate truth of being the number two driver at Red Bull Racing Sommel.
[05:53.880 -> 05:55.080] It's such a shame really.
[05:55.080 -> 05:59.720] And you've got to wonder at some point, can they ever let them race?
[05:59.720 -> 06:02.440] And I have been seeing comparisons from many people.
[06:02.440 -> 06:09.280] Lots of people have been posting tweets about 2014 Bahrain Mercedes about them letting their teammates race but I suppose you've got to understand
[06:09.280 -> 06:13.760] Rebel from this perspective because they don't have the cushion that Mercedes had in 2014 so
[06:13.760 -> 06:18.400] they've got to do what they have to do to make sure that Max gets a second world title and it's
[06:18.400 -> 06:24.080] totally fair in that sense of the way but my word Kunal did it get really frustrating and
[06:24.080 -> 06:25.320] I just have to ask the question
[06:25.320 -> 06:31.220] Are we being robbed of a Perez vs Verstappen battle at the end of the day because come on that would be fun on Merritt
[06:31.220 -> 06:35.320] Isn't it because Perez is getting better this year. He is more comfortable with that car
[06:35.360 -> 06:40.700] We all want to see him go and fight for wins on Merritt and maybe do so against an able teammate
[06:40.700 -> 06:44.200] This is just something we're not gonna get to see I suppose
[06:45.600 -> 06:50.400] You know, that's a very interesting question Samal because last year the
[06:50.400 -> 06:54.960] two most important races where we celebrated Checo Perez as the wingman
[06:54.960 -> 06:58.920] was first in Turkey where he was battling Lewis Hamilton and then the
[06:58.920 -> 07:02.360] second time in Abu Dhabi where he of course held Hamilton back and we all
[07:02.360 -> 07:08.960] know what he did there right. Now imagine Hamilton who is known to be one of the best overtakers of his generation, right?
[07:11.600 -> 07:17.840] Checo was able to put up such a strong defense in front of Lewis Hamilton. Now, I would have loved
[07:17.840 -> 07:24.000] to see Checo do the same thing to Max Verstappen who is of course known to be probably a better
[07:24.000 -> 07:27.520] overtaker or a more aggressive overtaker than even Lewis Hamilton and
[07:27.880 -> 07:30.000] That to me is entertainment robbed
[07:31.020 -> 07:35.320] Absolutely, Samuel. I really wish to see both of them in that Red Bull go wheel-to-wheel
[07:35.700 -> 07:40.960] Maybe they'll allow that after the World Championship is settled. Who knows and you know, given the rate at what it's going
[07:41.060 -> 07:50.160] We may have a 22 race calendar, but I don't think the World Championship could go down to the line. Of course, I'm you know jumping the gun here but just you know
[07:50.160 -> 07:55.120] emphasizing on the situation that the only time the two drivers may be allowed to fight is if
[07:55.120 -> 08:00.560] Red Bull settles the deal much earlier in the season. Yeah, come on Formula One, put a rule in
[08:00.560 -> 08:08.560] there. Just say that only beyond round 10 can you actually use team orders because it's frustrating you come into a new season you're wondering oh well things will be different we'll
[08:08.560 -> 08:13.440] get to see new rivalries six or seven races later every single year just get to this point and be
[08:13.440 -> 08:17.440] asked the same question every year but it's it's kind of true right it's the same old discussion
[08:17.440 -> 08:21.520] that revolves around with different characters and that's what kind of adds layers but i i
[08:21.520 -> 08:30.200] wonder about the drs canal because max verstappen had this frustrating issue. I mean I read this article a couple of years ago that a
[08:30.200 -> 08:33.840] couple of engineers from Mercedes had actually jumped ship from Mercedes to go
[08:33.840 -> 08:37.920] to Red Bull Racing and also quite a few of them were aerodynamicists in that
[08:37.920 -> 08:43.080] sense so was the DRS also working for Mercedes per se and also on a more
[08:43.080 -> 08:50.520] serious note why did Perez not have the same issue that Max had? Helmut Marko actually explained this very well
[08:50.520 -> 08:55.800] and this is again where Checo Perez's performance sort of stands out for me so
[08:55.800 -> 09:00.880] it seems that Red Bull's upgrades the weight saving upgrades that they brought
[09:00.880 -> 09:06.120] to Spain were only on Max Verstappen's car, which then also
[09:06.120 -> 09:11.280] means that Checo was driving a heavier car which didn't have the problems but
[09:11.280 -> 09:16.160] was still fighting to be in the lead of the race, which speaks volumes for the
[09:16.160 -> 09:20.000] performance he actually brought. So Checo had a heavier car which did not
[09:20.000 -> 09:24.160] have the TRS problem, whereas Max who had the upgraded and the lighter car
[09:24.160 -> 09:26.240] actually had those
[09:26.240 -> 09:31.520] DRS problems. But that's where it is. The other issue we should talk about was how Max almost
[09:32.160 -> 09:41.440] did not start the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix. He left the pit lane literally with two or maybe
[09:41.440 -> 09:46.080] three seconds to spare. And as we got to know post race,
[09:46.080 -> 09:49.080] Red Bull was facing from fuel temperature issues
[09:49.080 -> 09:52.640] just the way Aston Martin was facing that in Miami as well.
[09:52.640 -> 09:55.440] So that's another regulation that sort of has been
[09:55.440 -> 09:57.000] changed midway through the season.
[09:57.000 -> 10:00.600] And Max almost did not make it to the start grid.
[10:00.600 -> 10:03.200] I remember seeing, I said, oh my God,
[10:03.200 -> 10:08.480] why is Max still sitting in the car? Why are tire warmers still on the car isn't it just
[10:08.480 -> 10:12.760] time to go out so that that was one of those issues that happened pre-race for
[10:12.760 -> 10:17.400] for them as well so all in all of course now the question is had he not left the
[10:17.400 -> 10:21.480] pits on time would he have not started the race no that then he had the option
[10:21.480 -> 10:28.800] to start the race but from the pit lane so he wouldn't have had a front row start as he did for the race yesterday.
[10:28.800 -> 10:32.920] Actually I wouldn't mind that because that would literally mean we get to see
[10:32.920 -> 10:36.720] Verstappen and Alonso starting from the back of the grid and climbing all the
[10:36.720 -> 10:40.480] way up and then potentially a George Russell win which I think is a long time
[10:40.480 -> 10:44.620] coming I suppose that will be fun but we will get to Mercedes and Russell in a
[10:44.620 -> 10:45.040] second but we have to talk Mercedes and Russell in a second but
[10:45.040 -> 10:50.160] we have to talk about Formula One and this whole new package of cars and we said in the preview
[10:50.160 -> 10:54.880] canal that this will be their biggest test yet because all the other races we've kind of expected
[10:54.880 -> 10:59.200] good races over there at circuits like Melbourne, circuits like Bahrain, it's the Spain and the
[10:59.200 -> 11:04.240] monocles of this world that we want to make interesting and I suppose it's a good time to
[11:04.240 -> 11:07.720] call the 2022 cars a success because they ended up making Spain a
[11:07.720 -> 11:11.760] really good race or was it all to do with the cars or was it just artificial
[11:11.760 -> 11:15.680] drama instilled by Verstappen's DRS not working what would you put in that sense
[11:15.680 -> 11:20.440] I'd say I'd say the latter actually I think the cars were alright but you
[11:20.440 -> 11:23.440] could see that they were being affected quite a fair bit by the tyre
[11:23.440 -> 11:28.000] degradation and also the dirty air because some of the cars really got loose in the middle of the corner.
[11:28.000 -> 11:30.000] But what is your take on this matter?
[11:32.000 -> 11:39.000] I actually love that. You know, cars getting loose in the middle of the corner, cars missing the exits and going off to the gravel and so on.
[11:39.000 -> 11:43.000] And that just shows how hard the drivers anyway have to work. But you asked a very interesting question, Somal.
[11:41.600 -> 11:44.680] hard the drivers anyway have to work. But you asked a very interesting question, Samuel.
[11:44.680 -> 11:48.360] Did Max's DRS not working make the race actually
[11:48.360 -> 11:49.360] a little more interesting?
[11:49.360 -> 11:52.040] And I think absolutely yes.
[11:52.040 -> 11:56.320] In fact, the Verstappen versus Russell battle
[11:56.320 -> 12:00.200] speaks in favor of dropping the DRS, if you were to ask me,
[12:00.200 -> 12:02.680] because it addressed two things.
[12:02.680 -> 12:06.720] First is the driver chasing actually had to work very hard
[12:06.720 -> 12:12.160] to make the overtake happen. And of course, hence the driver who was being chased wasn't just a
[12:12.160 -> 12:19.440] sitting duck. And case in point, when Verstappen was trying to overtake Russell, the two drivers
[12:19.440 -> 12:28.960] seemed on equal footing, so to say. Verstappen with a faster car, but Russell with track position, and they were both trying to use their situation
[12:28.960 -> 12:30.180] to their own merit.
[12:30.180 -> 12:32.840] Whereas when Perez came to overtake George Russell,
[12:32.840 -> 12:34.200] he was a sitting duck.
[12:34.200 -> 12:35.960] He just opened the wing and drove past.
[12:35.960 -> 12:39.440] So in my view, the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix
[12:39.440 -> 12:41.920] also made a case for dropping the DRS.
[12:41.920 -> 12:43.600] Now, if there wasn't a DRS,
[12:43.600 -> 12:46.080] we wouldn't have seen George Russell versus
[12:46.800 -> 12:51.040] Maxwish Stappen battle through all those number of laps through the race summary.
[12:51.760 -> 12:56.960] Yep, correct, 100% correct. And it just makes you wonder, right, is it really helping the
[12:56.960 -> 13:01.040] spectacle? Of course, and sometimes you really need it. But in that particular case, Kunal,
[13:01.040 -> 13:05.760] dare I say it felt old school, it felt like you had to fight for your positions and that is just
[13:05.760 -> 13:12.520] basic stuff, right? Isn't this what Formula 1 is all about? Just watching two cars going at it completely, peak technological
[13:12.520 -> 13:18.040] prowess of both the teams and then you get to see such amazing racing. It's tremendous how that battle eventually worked out.
[13:18.040 -> 13:26.360] But that was in the midst of a live call center call, a tech support call as well, well because Red Bull Racing were really hammering in the instructions like Max
[13:26.360 -> 13:30.600] You can only press the button once not three times press it after the curbing X and Y
[13:30.600 -> 13:33.440] I mean come on what more can you throw at Max Verstappen right?
[13:33.440 -> 13:37.400] but I think this is a race for the race engineers because both GP and
[13:37.920 -> 13:44.640] Bono did a great job at controlling their drivers because in the heat in the middle of their circumstances my word that must be a hard
[13:44.640 -> 13:49.200] task because in the heat in the middle of their circumstances my word that must be a hard task. It must have been a hard task and the next thing Red Bull Racing
[13:49.200 -> 13:53.280] is gonna do to sort of adjust some spending in the budget cap and this is
[13:53.280 -> 13:58.800] breaking news guys okay they are going to outsource the call center to the Far
[13:58.800 -> 14:07.440] East or to an Indian IT services company so that the per minute of calling rates are actually
[14:07.440 -> 14:12.040] cheaper right. Teams will do all the things to actually fall fall under the
[14:12.040 -> 14:17.920] budget cap but no on a more serious note you know I also liked how GP was you
[14:17.920 -> 14:24.600] know trying to tell the FIA by actually telling Maxwell Shatman. We see that
[14:24.600 -> 14:26.300] George is moving in the breaking zone.
[14:26.300 -> 14:28.000] You're telling the world champion,
[14:28.000 -> 14:29.840] you know, what's actually happening ahead of him
[14:29.840 -> 14:31.720] when that's all he's actually focused on,
[14:31.720 -> 14:32.720] the driver ahead of him.
[14:32.720 -> 14:34.520] But I think maybe Red Bull Racing
[14:34.520 -> 14:37.800] missed Michael Massey a little bit,
[14:37.800 -> 14:39.640] you know, in the older era,
[14:39.640 -> 14:41.520] which was literally just last year,
[14:41.520 -> 14:43.140] we would have had the conversations
[14:43.140 -> 14:47.800] between the team bosses and Michael saying, driver's moving too much and then Michael would
[14:47.800 -> 14:51.000] have said yeah that's called motor racing Jonathan maybe something like
[14:51.000 -> 14:55.040] that would have happened. Yeah I actually want to see a video of all the race
[14:55.040 -> 14:58.560] engineers is sitting on the pit wall especially Red Bull and Mercedes and
[14:58.560 -> 15:01.800] just seeing how fidgety they get with their buttons every single time their
[15:01.800 -> 15:04.920] drivers are involved in any sort of battle because they just might feel the
[15:04.920 -> 15:07.520] urge, oh let's dial the FIA, oh, let's do something
[15:07.520 -> 15:11.520] about that over here. And then they might have to realize, ah, that that number's blocked.
[15:11.520 -> 15:16.320] We can't do that anymore. It's ridiculous how that rule has changed now. It's actually
[15:16.320 -> 15:20.440] made the broadcast better, but I suppose that's not the primary subject of this episode. So
[15:20.440 -> 15:24.080] let's not dive too much into that. What we should do, Kunal, is rate the race because
[15:24.080 -> 15:26.900] we've had this chat about the new cars and whether this race was
[15:27.280 -> 15:33.560] Artificially kind of made exciting by Vesap and not having the DRS. I suppose I'd give it a solid 8 really fun race to watch
[15:33.560 -> 15:37.480] Yes, it tailed off in the second half, but I think that first half made up for it.
[15:38.640 -> 15:43.800] I would say it was a 10 on 10 for me, you know, I think it was one of those old-school
[15:47.520 -> 15:52.000] end for me, you know. I think it was one of those old school races at an old school circuit like Circuit de Barcelona, Catalonia or is it Catalonia, Barcelona but either way, yeah,
[15:52.000 -> 15:57.520] it's the Spanish Grand Prix we're talking about. And to me, it was a race of strategy.
[15:57.520 -> 16:02.480] It was a race of reliability, you know. It was like the good old days where the drivers were
[16:02.480 -> 16:10.640] pushing too much and the cars were just blowing up and that's literally what was happening because all three of the top teams had a reliability issue.
[16:10.640 -> 16:16.920] You know, Red Bull with the DRS problem, Mercedes with the water leak and then power unit issues for Ferrari as well.
[16:16.920 -> 16:19.840] So to me, it was a very good race.
[16:19.840 -> 16:29.440] And I'm actually very, very glad because I was fearing the reverse might happen where the drivers would just sit behind each other and wait for the others to make a mistake.
[16:29.440 -> 16:38.640] And I must say that the likes of Red Bull and the likes of Mercedes actually forced
[16:38.640 -> 16:41.640] different strategy options for the top team.
[16:41.640 -> 16:46.640] So by switching Max to a soft tire in the middle stint or by Lewis
[16:46.640 -> 16:52.160] actually having the soft tire in his early first stint and so on, they said, you know what, we're
[16:52.160 -> 16:57.920] going to go hammer and tongs to this race and get as many points because instead of just preserving
[16:57.920 -> 17:09.400] the tires, let's do the exact opposite. Let's just have everybody blow their tires up all they can and that's pretty much what happened. But it's good in a way isn't it? High-tech races are
[17:09.400 -> 17:14.560] fun in their in how limited they are I suppose because we don't want an era
[17:14.560 -> 17:18.480] like 2012, 2013 where we have too much of high-tech and the whole point
[17:18.480 -> 17:21.840] becomes well it's it's so high-tech that you actually should focus too much on
[17:21.840 -> 17:29.200] saving and I suppose it's good to have one in every five or six races like this one again it's it's all dependent on circuit characteristics but
[17:29.200 -> 17:34.080] it was fun the way it played out actually in the end and I suppose this is an 80s Formula One race
[17:34.080 -> 17:38.160] with a more modern twist and what could be better than that because that era was so much fun in terms
[17:38.160 -> 17:43.120] of the reliability, the rivalries, the intensity, it's just perfect Formula One is having a really
[17:43.120 -> 17:47.900] really good time right now but we want to talk about the top performers from this week and all
[17:47.900 -> 17:51.820] and I suppose that leads us on very conveniently onto the eighth sleep
[17:51.820 -> 17:57.460] performers of the week and I just I know we have to talk about the Mercedes
[17:57.460 -> 18:00.580] folks but I just want to speak about Charles Leclerc here over for a second
[18:00.580 -> 18:03.940] because there's literally nothing that he did wrong. In terms of his qualifying
[18:03.940 -> 18:05.200] lap spot on yes
[18:05.200 -> 18:10.840] What's happens the RS issue helped out but his start was perfect his drive up to that point was perfect
[18:10.840 -> 18:14.680] What is it less than halfway through and he had a 30-second gap canal?
[18:14.680 -> 18:18.200] And that is just some ridiculous stuff and the way he treated himself
[18:18.280 -> 18:23.160] Not rather treated his team afterwards in the media as well was was pretty gentlemen likes
[18:23.160 -> 18:49.720] I suppose all wrong this guy just didn't do anything wrong this weekend team was helped by Maxwish Stappans on characteristic spin at turn 4 as well which was you know down to the gust of wind as it was revealed post race so yes
[18:49.720 -> 18:54.880] he definitely is somebody who deserves to be on this list on the top of this
[18:54.880 -> 18:58.840] list since he didn't get onto the top of the podium the top step of the podium
[18:58.840 -> 19:03.660] yesterday right but my list of course then includes George Russell as well you
[19:03.660 -> 19:09.420] know again we're gonna have a stats review by F1 stats guru Sundaram in some time,
[19:09.420 -> 19:15.820] but the only driver to continue to have top five finishes on Sundays.
[19:15.820 -> 19:17.020] He's no longer just Mr.
[19:17.020 -> 19:18.360] Saturday, he's Mr.
[19:18.360 -> 19:19.740] Sunday as well, Somal.
[19:20.200 -> 19:26.640] And I have to say the other eight sleep performers of the race have to be the Red Bull Strategy Team
[19:26.640 -> 19:34.240] because they used strategy very well to jump George Russell for at least in the case of Max Verstappen
[19:34.240 -> 19:38.240] and then they did the swaps between Perez and Verstappen when they had to,
[19:38.240 -> 19:41.040] to make sure that Max Verstappen won the race.
[19:41.040 -> 19:49.480] Because Verstappen won without a working DRS but with a very very functional wingman so you need a bit of both sometimes to
[19:49.480 -> 19:54.920] go and... oh come on you can't let that comment slide like that that's a good
[19:54.920 -> 20:01.760] one Kunal, that's actually a very well thought out one. Thank you but yes then
[20:01.760 -> 20:08.440] there of course the other person I would say who needs to be on the eight sleep performers of the race is Pete Bonington or who we
[20:08.440 -> 20:14.880] know very fondly as Bono because had it not been for Bono maybe Lewis Hamilton
[20:14.880 -> 20:19.200] would have backed up after lap two or maybe was it lap three I don't even know
[20:19.200 -> 20:24.160] Samuel. Yeah I think I think lap three it was but did it really dampen the race
[20:24.160 -> 20:29.040] for you Kunal because I think that was the first time that I've heard Lewis Hamilton properly give up on a race.
[20:29.180 -> 20:33.400] Now again, I've been watching since Lewis Hamilton's first year properly
[20:33.400 -> 20:36.560] So you can again I was just I was just five years old at that point
[20:36.560 -> 20:41.960] But still I've never quite heard him ever just throw in the towel like that at least verbally
[20:42.180 -> 20:45.080] But I suppose it's human at the end of the day, isn't it?
[20:45.080 -> 20:47.080] Because everyone at some point feels like,
[20:47.080 -> 20:48.320] the challenge is a bit too big.
[20:48.320 -> 20:50.280] And now we're just becoming the inside line
[20:50.280 -> 20:51.520] of one philosophy podcast.
[20:51.520 -> 20:53.120] But more on that later on.
[20:53.120 -> 20:56.040] The point is, it takes the engineer to pick you back up.
[20:56.040 -> 20:57.320] And that's what the team is there for.
[20:57.320 -> 20:59.680] And my word, Kunal, because Hamilton
[20:59.680 -> 21:00.840] can throw in the tantrums.
[21:00.840 -> 21:02.140] We've seen that time and again.
[21:02.140 -> 21:04.400] But to handle him so well, so calmly,
[21:04.400 -> 21:07.800] I think it's just excellent. To see what Bono is doing is bit of an
[21:07.800 -> 21:13.700] underrated job to be very honest. Underrated absolutely I mean you know
[21:13.700 -> 21:18.360] imagine two things about Lewis Hamilton's race that we should ask a
[21:18.360 -> 21:23.520] question about now imagine if he actually parked that car after the first
[21:23.520 -> 21:25.700] three or four laps just to save the engine,
[21:25.700 -> 21:29.860] we would have been robbed of what was a P4 for Lewis.
[21:29.860 -> 21:31.140] And that would have meant, I think,
[21:31.140 -> 21:33.740] three races out of six where the Mercedes
[21:33.740 -> 21:36.380] would have finished three and four in the season
[21:36.380 -> 21:38.020] and, you know, George ahead of Lewis.
[21:38.020 -> 21:40.380] And I think that that charge was fantastic
[21:40.380 -> 21:42.660] because lots of data has been pulled out.
[21:42.660 -> 21:45.200] Lewis was doing fastest laps after fastest laps
[21:45.200 -> 21:46.360] for a really long time.
[21:46.360 -> 21:48.460] He made that strategy work,
[21:48.460 -> 21:51.440] which is something he's been doing all his career,
[21:51.440 -> 21:52.400] right, Somal?
[21:52.400 -> 21:53.600] And so that would have been one thing
[21:53.600 -> 21:54.880] had he parked that car,
[21:54.880 -> 21:56.760] we wouldn't have seen a recovery come back.
[21:56.760 -> 22:00.180] And mind you, his recovery comeback
[22:00.180 -> 22:02.720] actually was not aided by the safety car.
[22:02.720 -> 22:04.680] There wasn't a safety car in a race
[22:04.680 -> 22:05.360] for the first time
[22:05.920 -> 22:13.840] in 2022, right? So he made that recovery purely based on pace. Okay. And then the second thing,
[22:13.840 -> 22:18.800] which I really think would have changed Lewis's race, and maybe he would have been on the podium
[22:18.800 -> 22:25.280] given all that transpired, right? Was that he was the only driver to have started on the medium tire.
[22:25.280 -> 22:28.600] He was the only driver on the alternate strategy, right.
[22:28.600 -> 22:33.880] Now if Kevin MacNewson and Lewis Hamilton hadn't come together when they did at turn
[22:33.880 -> 22:38.920] four or whatever that corner was in the opening lap, maybe Lewis would have run an even more
[22:38.920 -> 22:42.600] different strategy to climb up through the podium.
[22:42.600 -> 22:46.120] Because Mercedes has been praising Lewis
[22:46.120 -> 22:48.780] about the fact that he was 40 seconds down
[22:48.780 -> 22:51.680] at the start of his incident,
[22:51.680 -> 22:53.640] and how he climbed back up and finished
[22:53.640 -> 22:56.600] some 10 seconds off someone or something.
[22:56.600 -> 22:59.840] But overall, I think Lewis Hamilton did a great job
[22:59.840 -> 23:03.800] and hats off to Bono for kicking him on the backside
[23:03.800 -> 23:05.160] when he had to in a very nice
[23:05.160 -> 23:07.680] way to say, no, Lewis, you're going to keep going.
[23:07.680 -> 23:12.780] Yeah, exactly. Everyone needs someone like that at some point. But yeah, ridiculous how
[23:12.780 -> 23:16.400] all that transpired. And what if Lewis didn't have that incident in the first lap? Things
[23:16.400 -> 23:19.480] would have been interesting. And I suppose Mercedes can take their liberty in terms of
[23:19.480 -> 23:23.300] strategy because they know that at least now, Kanal, it seems like they're in a league of
[23:23.300 -> 23:25.040] their own, which isn't a good thing.
[23:25.040 -> 23:27.160] It's just Red Bull from a couple of years ago, isn't it?
[23:27.160 -> 23:29.720] Where the top teams are a bit too far off,
[23:29.720 -> 23:31.900] the bottom teams are a bit too far off as well.
[23:31.900 -> 23:33.640] They're just stuck languishing in the middle.
[23:33.640 -> 23:35.960] But I suppose we've got to wonder,
[23:35.960 -> 23:37.320] has the pecking order changed?
[23:37.320 -> 23:39.180] Are Mercedes there or thereabouts yet?
[23:39.180 -> 23:40.600] We can see that it's a big step,
[23:40.600 -> 23:43.920] but I'm not sure if Mercedes are right there
[23:43.920 -> 23:44.960] to fight for wins.
[23:44.960 -> 23:45.360] And I think the best way to sum it up would be, just as I said a second ago, big step but I'm not sure if if Mercedes are right there to fight for wins and I
[23:45.360 -> 23:48.280] think the best way to sum it up would be just as I said a second ago Red Bull
[23:48.280 -> 23:54.940] from 2018 or 2017 I suppose. Yeah and you know I'll put it this way I think you
[23:54.940 -> 23:59.840] know when the race was running normally before you know Charles Leclerc's issues
[23:59.840 -> 24:06.760] you know Mercedes was really way back off that pace I don't remember remember my notes, but I'm sure it's there somewhere.
[24:06.760 -> 24:10.360] By the end of it, when Mercedes actually finished the race,
[24:10.360 -> 24:13.640] they finished 30 or 32 odd seconds behind Max Verstappen.
[24:13.640 -> 24:17.960] So all in all, they seemed to have made progress,
[24:17.960 -> 24:20.040] but not really when the numbers mattered.
[24:20.040 -> 24:23.180] Again, we're going to dig some more data through this week.
[24:23.180 -> 24:26.940] So when it comes to Monaco, we will have more to speak about. But I
[24:26.940 -> 24:30.100] think there are two things that normally happened, in my view,
[24:30.100 -> 24:33.720] Sommel. First is Tata Wolf saying, our deficit was one
[24:33.720 -> 24:37.760] second, and we cut that down to half a second in Spain. So let's
[24:37.760 -> 24:41.680] go and, you know, sort of, you know, confirm or reject that
[24:41.680 -> 24:44.100] hypothesis, right? That's what we're going to do it, you know,
[24:44.100 -> 24:48.720] before Monaco. And then the second part is, I think Mercedes overall realized that there is a
[24:48.720 -> 24:53.600] lot of negative PR and talk about their season. So they turned it around and said, everybody's
[24:53.600 -> 24:59.040] only supposed to say positive things about what's happening because we are working hard as we should.
[24:59.040 -> 25:03.280] Because, you know, George Russell said things like, you know, this is where our season starts
[25:03.280 -> 25:09.600] and Lewis Hamilton, like, oh my God, wow, the car feels great. And yes, the one thing that was visible as well is
[25:09.600 -> 25:16.400] that paupersing that they suffered in the straights was visually not evident when we
[25:16.400 -> 25:20.800] were seeing the onboards. Yes, they faced it at different parts of the circuit during the cornering
[25:20.800 -> 25:26.440] and so on. But let's remember, paupursing is not something that can get eliminated 100%.
[25:26.440 -> 25:28.480] So you've got to find something that's a good balance
[25:28.480 -> 25:29.800] between comfort, performance,
[25:29.800 -> 25:32.360] and what your driver also prefers.
[25:32.360 -> 25:34.040] I suppose many teams have done that
[25:34.040 -> 25:34.960] because this weekend,
[25:34.960 -> 25:36.800] I couldn't quite spot a lot of power-pursing
[25:36.800 -> 25:37.720] all the way through.
[25:37.720 -> 25:40.600] So it's interesting to see what they've done.
[25:40.600 -> 25:42.920] I suppose we can't quite get an idea right now,
[25:42.920 -> 25:44.440] but maybe 15 years later,
[25:44.440 -> 25:48.080] when an engineer writes a book, maybe they'll tell us exactly what they did right so let's wait and
[25:48.080 -> 25:54.480] see how that plays out eventually. But folks now it's time for a segment a segment that we really
[25:54.480 -> 25:59.200] love right here at the Inside Line F1 Podcast and pitch the podium. To return it's time for the
[25:59.200 -> 26:09.920] stats review with F1 Stats Guru that's going to be coming up right here right now. Ah, I really missed it. Let's go. Hey folks, it's time to do the stats review of that Spanish Grand Prix.
[26:09.920 -> 26:14.320] What a banger of a race that was, wasn't it? We've seen a lot of strategic master classes
[26:14.320 -> 26:18.640] happen at this very circuit between Mercedes and Red Bull over the past couple of years.
[26:18.640 -> 26:23.200] But this time there was a lot of on track action as well between most of the drivers,
[26:23.200 -> 26:28.960] which is great for the viewers, which is great for the sport. And I think the new regulations are also working to a very good
[26:28.960 -> 26:34.560] extent. Now let's get straight into the stats. Max Verstappen took his 24th Grand Prix win in
[26:34.560 -> 26:41.120] Formula 1, which actually puts him on par with El Maestro, the five-time world champion, the legend,
[26:41.120 -> 26:45.700] one man, Will Fangio. What an achievement to have, uh, going into your formula and career.
[26:45.700 -> 26:49.600] If you're able to match someone, uh, of, of that caliber, someone who's,
[26:49.620 -> 26:51.700] who's achieved a lot over the years.
[26:52.000 -> 26:55.540] So he is on par with the legend fan Jew at this point.
[26:56.200 -> 26:59.580] Now, barring the Hungarian Grand Prix last year, where the stipend finished
[26:59.580 -> 27:04.100] P nine after a first lap collision, the defending champion has actually
[27:04.100 -> 27:05.280] finished first or second
[27:05.280 -> 27:12.080] since every race that he's completed since 2020 Bahrain. So that goes to over a year ago, and he's
[27:12.080 -> 27:16.400] done extremely well over the past year. He's been extremely consistent, which goes to show the sort
[27:16.400 -> 27:21.680] of skill and talent that this guy has. Now Red Bull, they've been on the Spanish podium for the
[27:21.680 -> 27:25.400] seventh race, seventh successive season over here.
[27:25.400 -> 27:28.040] Whereas Williams, they don't have the best of fortunes.
[27:28.040 -> 27:30.080] They have not scored in Spain
[27:30.080 -> 27:32.640] for the last six seasons over here.
[27:32.640 -> 27:35.600] And Verstappen took the win from P2,
[27:35.600 -> 27:38.320] which actually is the 29th time
[27:38.320 -> 27:40.400] out of the 32 races in Barcelona
[27:40.400 -> 27:42.720] that the race has been won from the front row.
[27:42.720 -> 27:47.280] It goes to show how much qualifying matters and how much starting at the front of the
[27:47.280 -> 27:52.520] race matters because overtaking isn't exactly easy, which was Tapen knows very well from
[27:52.520 -> 27:53.520] what he saw yesterday.
[27:53.520 -> 27:58.100] Now, the person who he was fighting against, George Russell, he is now the only driver
[27:58.100 -> 28:00.400] to score in every race this season.
[28:00.400 -> 28:05.360] All of them have been top five finishes, and he is the only one to complete 100% of
[28:05.360 -> 28:09.200] all laps that have been raced this season.
[28:09.200 -> 28:16.100] Now the young Briton, he's also sealed Mercedes' 250th podium in Formula One since the team
[28:16.100 -> 28:19.060] returned to the sport in 2010.
[28:19.060 -> 28:21.360] No other team has crossed 200 podiums since then.
[28:21.360 -> 28:23.560] Red Bull are very, very close to breaking that this year.
[28:23.560 -> 28:28.040] They are on 194, 94 and Ferrari come next with 157.
[28:28.480 -> 28:30.360] Lastly, we have to talk about Charles Leclerc.
[28:30.720 -> 28:34.160] Now he, he does extremely well during qualifying.
[28:34.160 -> 28:37.880] He's, he's clinched, he's taken his 13th pole position in formula one,
[28:37.880 -> 28:41.080] and, uh, but he's actually won just four of them.
[28:41.120 -> 28:45.600] So the conversion conversion rate isn't the the greatest but I think he's just getting
[28:45.600 -> 28:51.520] rid of all his retirements before he goes to his home race in Monaco next week. So I
[28:51.520 -> 28:55.980] hope he does finish that race and I hope he does extremely well. That was the stats review
[28:55.980 -> 28:58.800] of the Spanish Grand Prix. See you guys soon.
[28:58.800 -> 29:04.320] And there we are folks. Thank you so much Sundaram. It's great to have you on once again.
[29:04.320 -> 29:07.680] It's been a long time since we actually had this segment but so refreshing to hear him on the
[29:07.680 -> 29:12.080] podcast once again and the stat that he mentioned about George Russell Kunal about him being the
[29:12.080 -> 29:17.360] only driver to complete 100% of all the laps. Well, until last week Leclerc was a part of
[29:17.360 -> 29:21.040] that list as well. So is that a bit of a jinx for Monaco? What is it?
[29:23.440 -> 29:27.280] So Monaco, what is it? Charles Leclerc was on a 16 race finishing streak,
[29:27.280 -> 29:30.680] which also ended in Spain.
[29:30.680 -> 29:33.080] But yeah, I think Mr. Consistency,
[29:33.080 -> 29:36.080] this is what George Russell was brought in for.
[29:36.080 -> 29:39.960] It's like nobody misses Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes anymore.
[29:39.960 -> 29:46.480] George is sort of fitted in like gears synchronizing, like, you know, gears synchronizing each other as they should, you know,
[29:46.480 -> 29:48.720] in the car, right?
[29:48.720 -> 29:50.880] So to me, I think it's pretty fantastic.
[29:50.880 -> 29:54.440] And then I'm eager to see if Max Verstappen
[29:54.440 -> 29:57.840] actually keeps building onto this, you know,
[29:57.840 -> 30:00.700] stat of every race he's finished, he's finished first.
[30:00.700 -> 30:03.000] And it's only the second time in his career
[30:03.000 -> 30:04.940] he scored a hat-trick of wins.
[30:04.940 -> 30:08.640] And will he add more through the season and when I say through the season
[30:08.640 -> 30:12.640] literally for that he needs to go win in Monaco as well Somal. I just get a
[30:12.640 -> 30:16.680] feeling he will but I'll save my I'll save my reasoning for that for the
[30:16.680 -> 30:19.980] Monaco GP preview that's gonna come up rather soon right here on the inside
[30:19.980 -> 30:25.520] line F1 podcast and pitch the podium but well I think it's time to head to the
[30:25.520 -> 30:30.280] Carlos Sainz sympathy corner again because it's it's that time of the
[30:30.280 -> 30:33.860] weekend once again we just sit down for the race review 20 minutes into the
[30:33.860 -> 30:37.120] episode we've spoken about every other protagonist and then we come to Carlos
[30:37.120 -> 30:43.160] Sainz and then we say ah come on it's I mean at one point when it's when a spin
[30:43.160 -> 30:49.280] firstly came about I thought well I suppose it's the wind working for Mercedes that That's what I thought because then Verstappen had his DRS issues
[30:49.280 -> 30:52.800] I thought well the DRS is also working for Mercedes, but it just was
[30:53.320 -> 30:59.280] Bad luck, I suppose being caught out by the wind at that particular point of time, but more than bad luck as well
[30:59.280 -> 31:03.280] He didn't quite do much to recover from his race because Hamilton had a worse issue
[31:03.280 -> 31:09.100] And he only did end up finishing slightly behind Carlos Sainz in a car that we know for a fact is slower
[31:09.100 -> 31:10.100] than him.
[31:10.100 -> 31:11.920] So there is something really going on here.
[31:11.920 -> 31:13.580] Is this season over in a way?
[31:13.580 -> 31:17.300] Are Ferrari already looking at him as number two?
[31:17.300 -> 31:26.760] Well, if Red Bull has already started to play team orders, okay, and Max is of course now taking the lead, Charles is trailing, etc.
[31:26.760 -> 31:31.360] I won't be surprised if Ferrari are going to consider team orders as well.
[31:31.360 -> 31:37.520] And these are two teams that have been very, very ruthless with team orders throughout
[31:37.520 -> 31:40.380] the history of them being racing in Formula One.
[31:40.380 -> 31:45.500] So to me, Carlos Sainz could have actually won his home race in Spain.
[31:45.500 -> 31:52.300] You know, he was starting from row two, he had a bad start, then he had that uncharacteristic spin.
[31:52.300 -> 31:56.300] He of course had some floor damage as well, which was costing him some performance.
[31:56.300 -> 31:58.300] I think that's what the team said.
[31:58.300 -> 32:02.300] But the truth is that I don't know what needs to change.
[32:02.300 -> 32:05.680] Maybe he keeps saying he's not comfortable in the car
[32:05.820 -> 32:09.820] He's struggling with balance this season and that's not helping him go
[32:10.140 -> 32:12.360] But I think it's also this thing of you know
[32:12.360 -> 32:18.320] When you have a winning car under you you also need to sort of activate that winning
[32:18.540 -> 32:23.380] Mentality and that's what we've seen Charles Leclerc do with just so much ease this season
[32:23.380 -> 32:26.760] and I really hope that the science gene in Carlos
[32:26.760 -> 32:32.680] kicks in, given all the legendary science racing wisdom
[32:32.680 -> 32:34.760] that he would naturally come with.
[32:34.760 -> 32:37.440] Yeah, I hope all the science point towards science
[32:37.440 -> 32:38.800] winning one race at least.
[32:38.800 -> 32:42.760] But are you paraphrasing to say he's not used to winning,
[32:42.760 -> 32:43.640] Kunal?
[32:43.640 -> 32:45.480] I know I'm putting you in a bit of a spot right now.
[32:45.480 -> 32:46.600] It's a tough question to answer.
[32:46.600 -> 32:48.120] I hope Carlos Sainz isn't listening.
[32:48.120 -> 32:51.880] But let's be honest, it's been a while since he's ever been fighting for a race, right?
[32:51.880 -> 32:53.960] For Leclerc, it's still relatively recent.
[32:53.960 -> 32:59.000] 2019 was the last time, but Carlos Sainz has never done this before, in Formula 1 at least.
[32:59.000 -> 33:01.400] So could that be a factor?
[33:01.400 -> 33:05.640] Coincidentally, this is actually what he said about in the build-up to the race.
[33:05.640 -> 33:09.940] He actually said that the others who he's fighting with have been in this
[33:09.940 -> 33:13.620] position before and it's the first time he finds himself in this position in
[33:13.620 -> 33:18.960] Formula One. So it very well could be that, you know, having a title winning car
[33:18.960 -> 33:22.920] or a title challenging car needs you to change your mindset, change your approach,
[33:22.920 -> 33:29.400] bring in a lot more positivity and momentum and I think he just needs to pick up momentum because I think
[33:29.400 -> 33:36.260] his recovery in 2022 and Mercedes joining the title battle could be the two massive
[33:36.260 -> 33:41.000] strong points in the 16 races that remain this season, Salman.
[33:41.000 -> 33:45.280] Seriously, it will be so much fun to watch six cars potentially fighting for wins,
[33:45.280 -> 33:49.360] maybe even more, who knows, but I'll tell you one person who's not fighting for wins anymore,
[33:49.360 -> 33:55.680] but it's just being equally as thrilling, Valtteri Bottas Canal, and now I was just kind of ignoring
[33:55.680 -> 34:00.000] him all the way through, or rather he was being ignored by the TV broadcaster initially, because
[34:00.000 -> 34:07.960] the entire focus rightfully was on Perez, Verstappen, Leclerc and the likes, but all of a sudden, right, third half of the third quarter of the race and you see
[34:07.960 -> 34:12.040] well, Valtteri Portas is running fourth and then suddenly it unraveled from there.
[34:12.040 -> 34:17.080] I actually am still clueless because there's no real article, there's no real update per
[34:17.080 -> 34:19.360] se on what really happened to Valtteri Portas.
[34:19.360 -> 34:24.320] Was it just degradation and him not making that final pit stop that cost him eventually?
[34:24.320 -> 34:28.000] It was actually that and that's what Valtteri said post-race. He said my
[34:28.000 -> 34:33.760] stints were too long for me to sort of keep drivers back. Now imagine if Valtteri
[34:33.760 -> 34:37.940] finished fourth, that would have been epic because he was running fourth. There
[34:37.940 -> 34:41.640] was a point of time he was also running third. So he was the only driver in the
[34:41.640 -> 34:45.200] top 10 to actually go on a two-stop strategy, right?
[34:45.200 -> 34:48.720] And just how comfortable was Valtteri in his position?
[34:49.360 -> 34:53.760] You know, closer to the end of the race, he actually asked his team if they should look
[34:53.760 -> 35:01.760] for a pit stop just so that he could go for the fastest lap of the race and then see if he could
[35:01.760 -> 35:07.120] get an extra point. Now, when was the last time we've actually heard a Sauber
[35:07.120 -> 35:12.320] or an Alfa Romeo car actually think of the fastest lap of the race? And one of the reasons
[35:12.320 -> 35:17.480] why they decided against doing Sauber was because the team thought that he would be
[35:17.480 -> 35:22.800] extremely close to Ocon after he came out. And then sort of all three just drove his
[35:22.800 -> 35:28.760] own race because there was a large gap to Ocon even at the finish there was a 16 second gap between Bottas
[35:28.760 -> 35:34.760] and Ocon. Yeah and and they made the right call eventually but it's so great
[35:34.760 -> 35:38.440] to see that Alfa Romeo are back in one sense and I just I just hope that
[35:38.440 -> 35:43.080] Joe Guan Yu can adapt quickly because this Alfa Romeo just isn't deserving to
[35:43.080 -> 35:48.280] be in this back half of the field I just hope that he can get forward as well because Valtteri Bottas just seems like a
[35:48.280 -> 35:52.280] renewed driver and what if there were two cars of that same nature up ahead.
[35:52.280 -> 35:57.320] But for McLaren Canal, it's a bit of a weird race this one because Daniel Ricciardo is
[35:57.320 -> 35:59.080] struggling again.
[35:59.080 -> 36:03.260] It feels like that narrative just isn't quite changing all the way since last year.
[36:03.260 -> 36:05.000] And Landon Norris was physically struggling,
[36:05.000 -> 36:07.000] but my word, he pulled out such a good race over here.
[36:07.000 -> 36:12.000] His consistency was remarkable and eventually to finish 8th with a really upset stomach
[36:12.000 -> 36:13.000] is quite a performance.
[36:13.000 -> 36:15.000] And when you consider the quality of the field around him too,
[36:15.000 -> 36:19.000] I think that's one of the performances of the year that's just going to go under the radar
[36:19.000 -> 36:23.000] because nobody knows what it's like to be in his shoes at that particular moment,
[36:23.000 -> 36:24.000] one would say.
[36:25.360 -> 36:30.320] Yeah, he actually had tonsillitis some more, but yeah, the truth is he's been unwell all weekend.
[36:30.320 -> 36:34.800] He started behind Ricardo, but finished ahead of Ricardo and that unfortunately just
[36:35.440 -> 36:43.120] is not the best sign. Okay, yes, again, that's what happened. And the truth is that,
[36:49.320 -> 36:50.600] And the truth is that at the end of the day, Lando is driving his wheels off and his tonsils off in that McLaren.
[36:50.600 -> 36:55.400] Let's hope he's going to be fine and in time for Monaco as well.
[36:55.400 -> 37:10.200] But I think Daniel Ricciardo, this is the worst start to his season since 2014, since he actually joined Red Bull right so that's
[37:10.200 -> 37:14.360] just how bad it's gone for Ricardo and I remember you know hearing Ricardo in his
[37:14.360 -> 37:19.680] post-race interviews and stuff and he has never sounded this dejected or I
[37:19.680 -> 37:28.740] would say he's always now been sounding this dejected, right? And the truth is, you know, he doesn't sound like the Ricardo,
[37:28.740 -> 37:33.620] the bubbly chubbly guy. He's distraught, dejected, you know, just heartbroken.
[37:33.620 -> 37:38.700] And I really hope this is not the sign off that we're going to
[37:38.700 -> 37:43.460] see from Ricardo because Ricardo left Red Bull to go try and
[37:43.460 -> 37:46.620] win races and try and get titles with other teams.
[37:46.620 -> 37:52.340] He did magic with Renault, he of course has failed miserably with McLaren and
[37:52.340 -> 37:58.440] you know on days when Checo Perez actually played wingman, Ricardo would
[37:58.440 -> 38:01.760] have been like yeah that's my car and I'm glad I didn't drive it but the truth
[38:01.760 -> 38:08.580] is maybe he would have still preferred to drive a Red Bull that's quicker, take Max Verstappen, you know, you know
[38:08.580 -> 38:12.180] challenge him the way he did back in the good old days. I don't know how this
[38:12.180 -> 38:15.960] story is gonna end and I really hope it doesn't end with Ricardo, you know,
[38:15.960 -> 38:20.980] walking away and saying a goodbye. Yeah, but I don't think that'll happen. He's
[38:20.980 -> 38:24.440] too good for that. He will come good, that's what I'm thinking at some
[38:24.440 -> 38:27.400] point. Again, there's no basis to this argument per se,
[38:27.400 -> 38:29.740] but it's just another graduate
[38:29.740 -> 38:31.140] from the Fernando Alonso School
[38:31.140 -> 38:32.960] of Bad Decision Making, Kunal.
[38:32.960 -> 38:34.940] But I don't know.
[38:34.940 -> 38:36.500] I just want to take a second on this right here.
[38:36.500 -> 38:37.980] How can you make a good decision?
[38:37.980 -> 38:40.040] You can look at the resources of a team.
[38:40.040 -> 38:41.440] You can understand what they're doing.
[38:41.440 -> 38:43.620] Maybe have a lot of faith in the project,
[38:43.620 -> 38:46.000] but as a driver, you can't control the car.
[38:46.000 -> 38:47.960] And secondly, you can't also,
[38:47.960 -> 38:49.220] even if you could control the car,
[38:49.220 -> 38:50.760] you wouldn't be capable enough of doing that
[38:50.760 -> 38:52.860] because there are so many people who know better.
[38:52.860 -> 38:56.560] So in that sense, he's done wrong
[38:56.560 -> 38:58.700] only in terms of his driving right here at McLaren.
[38:58.700 -> 39:00.520] At Renault, it was just unfortunate
[39:00.520 -> 39:01.780] that the car didn't quite work out.
[39:01.780 -> 39:02.620] It's hard, right?
[39:02.620 -> 39:03.440] It's tough luck.
[39:03.440 -> 39:04.540] And with Fernando Alonso actually coming out
[39:04.540 -> 39:09.440] and claiming to be, well, he's actually welcoming Lewis Hamilton into
[39:09.440 -> 39:14.560] his world at the midfield. It's kind of crazy to see how the stats could have been different if
[39:14.560 -> 39:18.640] one move or one tire team change could have been different for either one of these drivers. But
[39:18.640 -> 39:21.520] I suppose that's for later on. Instead, we should speak about Alonso's-
[39:21.520 -> 39:28.880] I have to add a point there. You added two points. The third point is the kind of money that's offered to you to switch teams.
[39:28.880 -> 39:34.800] Because that's also what I think Ricardo took into account.
[39:34.800 -> 39:35.520] Why not?
[39:35.520 -> 39:37.840] All of us are doing this for money.
[39:37.840 -> 39:40.400] So why don't you go to the team that gets you the best money?
[39:40.400 -> 39:43.280] And then the onus is still on them to keep giving you the best car.
[39:44.320 -> 39:47.480] But yeah, anyway, I think enough of Ricardo.
[39:47.480 -> 39:52.640] Let's hope that it goes there, but you said Fernando Alonso, and he actually said,
[39:52.640 -> 39:56.920] I think, you know, starting P5, P6 and finishing out of the points.
[39:56.920 -> 39:59.680] And here I start P20 and I finish in the points.
[39:59.680 -> 40:04.040] And he was overjoyed to have done what he did at his home race in Spain.
[40:04.800 -> 40:10.400] Yeah. he was overjoyed to have done what he did at his home race in Spain. Yeah, but Fernando Alonso, it seems like the inner kid is back again with Alpine. Yes,
[40:10.400 -> 40:16.160] he might not be winning races, but there's a sense of excitement and joy over finishes like P7, P8,
[40:16.160 -> 40:21.600] P5, because you can see how hard he's having to work for it. From P20 Canal, this is outstanding.
[40:21.600 -> 40:28.000] And secondly, his teammate as well, Esteban Ocon. Firstly, he's doing a great job to beat Fernando all the way through.
[40:28.000 -> 40:30.000] But even his comeback was incredible.
[40:30.000 -> 40:32.000] To start outside the top 10 and to come back to finish where he has.
[40:32.000 -> 40:36.000] Alpine are just spraying some mystery spray around here.
[40:36.000 -> 40:39.000] They're just doing something really well in terms of starting behind and coming up.
[40:39.000 -> 40:42.000] Again, great strategy, great comeback and great driving all the way through.
[40:42.000 -> 40:44.000] Their moves were fantastic. Very, very cleanly executed.
[40:43.320 -> 40:50.680] great comeback and great driving all the way through. Their moves were fantastic very very cleanly executed. They do all of this without having a
[40:50.680 -> 40:54.040] customer team Somal which is something that they have complained about but
[40:54.040 -> 41:00.160] overall I think very good race to see Alpines get a double points finish. I
[41:00.160 -> 41:07.640] think that's the least that's expected of them with you know with the fact that they're a world steam after all, Samil.
[41:08.640 -> 41:13.800] Yeah, indeed and with Haas you can't quite say the same because with Haas the expectations are slightly lower
[41:14.120 -> 41:20.920] but still they still ended up disappointing us this weekend Kunal which seems to be the trend with them unfortunately this year and I've
[41:21.000 -> 41:21.680] again
[41:21.680 -> 41:28.320] labelled them as the underperformers of the year because they've got such a great car. A car so good that both of their drivers were actually in Q3 for the
[41:28.320 -> 41:34.840] first time since 2017 or 16 I don't remember. There's some stat that Strophety threw up
[41:34.840 -> 41:38.820] a long time ago and I'm sure Atsudhanam F1 stats will come up with that rather soon.
[41:38.820 -> 41:42.280] Maybe as soon as I say this on because he's actually listening to our recording in real
[41:42.280 -> 41:46.560] time but the point is close but no cigar once again Kunal they're just not able to
[41:46.560 -> 41:50.640] make it work is it the same old Carlos science theory of oh well I've not done
[41:50.640 -> 41:54.560] this since a very long time so I don't know how to do it anymore
[41:59.520 -> 42:02.520] yeah
[42:01.000 -> 42:04.280] Yeah.
[42:08.280 -> 42:12.160] Sorry, it was a mid-recording interruption. But yeah, talking of us, I think they just didn't have the pace in the race
[42:12.160 -> 42:15.960] and their strategy was all over the place and that's what sort of cost them.
[42:15.960 -> 42:18.960] Especially in the case of Mick Schumacher, you know,
[42:18.960 -> 42:22.640] they actually apologized to him saying, you drove very well,
[42:22.640 -> 42:25.360] but we didn't do as well you know
[42:25.360 -> 42:31.600] with our strategies in the race and they were also on a two-stopper as just as
[42:31.600 -> 42:36.040] Valtteri Bottas was and they were the only team to not bring upgrades in the
[42:36.040 -> 42:41.140] race and they still got into Q3 and it would have been something had they still
[42:41.140 -> 42:45.360] scored a point but yes they their decline or their
[42:45.360 -> 42:49.920] downfall through the season has been fairly epic you know they started the
[42:49.920 -> 42:54.720] season being top three in the Constructors Championship and just by
[42:54.720 -> 43:20.000] the end of the sixth season they are down in the bottom three now Ah, sorry, my apologies folks.
[43:20.000 -> 43:21.000] It's been two years.
[43:21.000 -> 43:24.000] I still forgot how to unmute a mic again.
[43:24.000 -> 43:29.680] Crazy how things happen. But Sundaram, F1 stats crew has just brought up the stat once again as I told you that he's super super quick
[43:29.920 -> 43:34.160] Brazil 2019 was the last time that has actually got both their cars into q3 and it's
[43:34.560 -> 43:36.560] Really strange to see what's going on right there
[43:36.560 -> 43:39.200] but I want to talk about Aston Martin for a second as well because
[43:39.520 -> 43:43.600] this weekend we thought that well with a brand new car with a new package and
[43:44.240 -> 43:46.120] Many might say a green red bull in a way
[43:46.120 -> 43:47.960] They might be doing much much better
[43:47.960 -> 43:54.000] But hey, even if they have copied or may not have copied whatever you think on that particular point of view
[43:54.000 -> 43:57.940] I think they haven't because again it takes time for all these designs to come into realization
[43:57.940 -> 44:01.040] But let's assume that they have copied right even if you copy canal
[44:01.040 -> 44:04.140] It's just not as simple as that if it's once again coming to
[44:05.520 -> 44:10.240] even if you copy Gunaan, it's just not as simple as that. It's once again coming to realization that you can't just copy another person's car very simply and expect to go faster. There's so many
[44:10.240 -> 44:14.400] inner workings that kind of differentiate all the teams and drivers and with Aston Martin,
[44:14.400 -> 44:19.520] it's clear this package will take time. That's the thing, it's going to take time and that's
[44:19.520 -> 44:26.360] what both drivers are saying. It's our first race with this package. And, you know, we are going to see how it goes and we'll see how we,
[44:26.600 -> 44:28.500] it'd be sort of understand the package.
[44:28.900 -> 44:34.280] And, they had both cars out in Q1, again, not the best of headlines.
[44:34.280 -> 44:39.000] You know, I loved how Sebastian Vettel was so shocked when he realized that the car
[44:39.000 -> 44:40.960] was out in, that he was out in Q1.
[44:40.960 -> 44:43.940] And then the race wasn't any exciting either.
[44:43.940 -> 44:46.000] I think Vettel again he finished 11th
[44:46.560 -> 44:52.560] but 15 seconds behind Sonoda in 10th and he again had done a two-stopper as well. So
[44:53.280 -> 44:58.160] you know at the end of the day they just need more time in cracking the car and Sommel
[44:58.160 -> 45:05.640] I believe they have copied the Red Bull. Aha and why do you think they've done that? Have you Mike cracked
[45:05.640 -> 45:11.400] the code Kunal? Sorry I just have to get it in, sorry. Why do you reckon they've done that?
[45:11.400 -> 45:16.120] I have to crack another pun, the reason why the Aston Martin is
[45:16.120 -> 45:30.440] green is because the chief technical officer his name is Andrew Green right. Oh you've out-punned me. And Andrew or Andy as I
[45:30.440 -> 45:35.400] call him his favorite sport is actually cricket and he loves fast-paced bowling
[45:35.400 -> 45:39.400] and he has actually had a chat with me about a cricket ball and how the
[45:39.400 -> 45:43.360] aerodynamics of the cricket ball work when you actually throw it fast okay
[45:43.360 -> 45:47.340] that's because we were of course colleagues back all the way in Force India but yeah
[45:47.340 -> 45:51.620] I think at the end of the day we just have to give Aston Martin time just the
[45:51.620 -> 45:56.500] way Williams is giving Nikolas Latifi all the time he needs and you know I
[45:56.500 -> 46:01.800] have a stat of Latifi's which is that Latifi has again finished in 16th
[46:01.800 -> 46:07.340] position right. In this season Lati's either not finished a race
[46:07.340 -> 46:10.160] or he's finished 16th or 14th.
[46:10.160 -> 46:12.280] That's all that he's had.
[46:12.280 -> 46:14.240] Well, it's a lot to write home about.
[46:14.240 -> 46:16.120] It's good enough to secure another seat.
[46:16.120 -> 46:18.480] Let's ignore the 15 or $20 million
[46:18.480 -> 46:19.840] that he's putting into the team.
[46:19.840 -> 46:21.320] But yeah, it's good results, right?
[46:21.320 -> 46:23.700] It's good enough to make a driver get and earn
[46:23.700 -> 46:25.780] a seat at a team like Williams in a prestigious
[46:26.320 -> 46:30.320] Formula One World Championship. It's outstanding what he's doing, but on a more serious note
[46:30.560 -> 46:34.000] He actually ended up beating Alex Albon who had a terrible weekend all the way through
[46:34.540 -> 46:39.920] Degradation seems to be the word in mind Kunal and the only thing I can tell is just don't dye your hair red
[46:40.240 -> 46:44.720] Before a race weekend, I suppose that'll be the condition of his tires at the end. Four stops
[46:48.720 -> 46:54.480] Four stops? four stops is ridiculous well I don't mind it so long as it offers us all the entertainment and he's
[46:54.480 -> 46:59.720] in fact gonna argue that his redhead is what got him to score points in the last
[46:59.720 -> 47:04.760] couple of races so it was just probably a one-off weekend for Alexander Albin
[47:04.760 -> 47:05.840] and Williams I hope.
[47:06.560 -> 47:11.600] Yeah exactly and F1 stats Krish Sundaram quick to point out that Williams haven't scored in Spain
[47:11.600 -> 47:16.000] in the last six seasons and when they actually did score guess who were their drivers were?
[47:16.000 -> 47:22.560] Massa and Bottas that feels like a century ago but folks the next race isn't a century away by the
[47:22.560 -> 47:28.800] way it's Monaco it's happening this weekend and so the Monaco GP preview on the InsideLineF1 podcast and Pistol Podium will
[47:28.800 -> 47:30.520] be here rather soon.
[47:30.520 -> 47:31.680] So stay tuned for that.
[47:31.680 -> 47:35.160] I hope you've enjoyed this episode, I hope you've enjoyed watching this and I hope you've
[47:35.160 -> 47:37.100] enjoyed listening to this one as well.
[47:37.100 -> 47:40.800] And if you have, do the good stuff, leave us a like, leave us a good rating, leave a
[47:40.800 -> 47:42.840] subscribe and all that other things.
[47:42.840 -> 47:47.040] But folks, thank you for listening, see you for Monaco and have a good time till then. Bye bye.
[48:01.480 -> 48:03.480] you