Did you expect something else at Spa? 2023 Belgian GP Review

After going fastest in Qualifying on Friday, Max Verstappen won the F1 Sprint on Saturday. He followed that up with a dominant display in the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday - a race that he won comfortably from 6th place.

Yet another race winning trophy was broken, but only after Verstappen equalled a record held by Fernando Alonso; that of winning a race from maximum different grid starting positions (9). 

In this episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast, Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah review the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix - with stats inputs from @f1statsguru. We discuss the relationship between Gianpiero Lambiase and Max Verstappen - and their entertainment over the radio at Spa. Does GP speak as though he's Verstappen's biggest rival whilst being his most-able wingman and ally?

McLaren's loss of pace, Ferrari's podium with Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz's opening lap error, Oscar Piastri's podium in the F1 Sprint followed by a start incident at La Source and more.

Also, Alexander Albon's overtaking moves, Yuki Tsunoda's point for 10th place and in general, the joy of racing around the magnificent Spa Francorchamps. Btw, did Nico Rosberg half-jinx McLaren at Spa? 

Tune in!

(Season 2023, Episode 39)

Follow our hosts on Twitter: Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah

Image courtesy: Red Bull Content Pool

# Inside Line F1 Podcast Episode 39: Belgian Grand Prix Review

**Hosts:** Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah

**Summary:**

1. **Max Verstappen's Dominance:**

- Max Verstappen continued his dominance by winning the Belgian Grand Prix from P6, equaling Fernando Alonso's record of winning races from the maximum different grid positions (9).
- Verstappen's consistency and ability to deliver ultra-performance were highlighted, especially in contrast to other drivers making errors.
- His impressive tire degradation management was also noted, as seen in a comparison with Oscar Piastri and Pierre Gasly from the sprint race.

2. **Sergio Perez's Surprise Victory:**

- Sergio Perez's victory in Formula 1.5 was a significant surprise, considering his recent struggles and the hype surrounding him earlier in the season.
- His penalty for a racing incident with Lewis Hamilton in the sprint race was questioned, with some arguing that it discouraged fair racing.

3. **McLaren's Loss of Pace:**

- McLaren's lack of pace was a major surprise, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri struggling to match the performance of their rivals.
- The team's difficulties were attributed to their lack of a low-downforce rear wing, which hindered their performance on the high-speed Spa circuit.

4. **Ferrari's Podium with Charles Leclerc:**

- Ferrari secured a podium finish with Charles Leclerc, who drove a strategic race to overcome his grid penalty.
- Carlos Sainz, however, made an error on the opening lap, colliding with Oscar Piastri and causing both drivers to retire.

5. **Oscar Piastri's Impressive Qualifying and Start:**

- Oscar Piastri impressed in qualifying, beating Lando Norris on merit and showcasing his natural talent.
- However, his race ended prematurely due to a collision with Sainz at La Source, highlighting the challenges of racing in Formula One.

6. **Alexander Albon's Overtaking Moves:**

- Alexander Albon made several impressive overtaking moves during the race, showcasing his aggressive driving style.
- His performance was particularly notable considering Williams' struggles this season.

7. **Yuki Tsunoda's Point for 10th Place:**

- Yuki Tsunoda secured a point for AlphaTauri by finishing in 10th place, a positive result for the team.

8. **Nico Rosberg's Half-Jinx on McLaren:**

- Nico Rosberg's visit to the McLaren garage, where he was denied a selfie, was jokingly blamed for Oscar Piastri's retirement and McLaren's poor performance.

9. **Joy of Racing at Spa Francorchamps:**

- The beauty and challenge of racing at the Spa Francorchamps circuit were discussed, with the drivers enjoying the opportunity to push their cars to the limit.

10. **Upcoming Events:**

- An upcoming event on August 9th in Mumbai was announced, featuring a special guest appearance by a successful Indian single-seater racer.

11. **Race Engineer Dynamics:**

- The importance of race engineers in Formula One was highlighted, with examples of how they guide and support drivers throughout the race.
- The dynamic between race engineers and drivers was discussed, with GP and Max Verstappen's relationship being particularly noteworthy.

12. **Pirelli Tire Issues:**

- The poor performance of Pirelli's wet tires was criticized by several drivers, including George Russell and Mario Isola.
- The limited number of wheel rims available to some teams, such as Alpine and Alfa Romeo, was also mentioned.

**Overall:**

The Inside Line F1 Podcast provided an engaging and informative review of the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix, highlighting the major surprises and talking points from the race. The hosts offered insightful analysis and commentary, making the podcast an enjoyable listen for Formula One fans. # Inside Line F1 Podcast: Belgian Grand Prix 2023 Review

## Introduction

- Max Verstappen's dominant victory at the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix, starting from 6th position.
- Verstappen's record-equaling feat of winning a race from the maximum number of different grid starting positions (9), matching Fernando Alonso's record.

## Race Highlights and Analysis

- Gianpiero Lambiase's entertaining radio communication with Verstappen during the race, sparking discussions about their unique relationship.
- McLaren's loss of pace and Ferrari's podium finish with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
- Oscar Piastri's podium in the F1 Sprint followed by a start incident at La Source.
- Alexander Albon's impressive overtaking moves and Yuki Tsunoda's point for 10th place.
- The overall joy of racing around the iconic Spa Francorchamps circuit.

## Controversies and Insights

- Nico Rosberg's comments about McLaren's potential struggles at Spa, which some saw as a jinx.
- The tight championship standings, with Charles Leclerc, George Russell, Carlos Sainz, and Lando Norris closely battling for positions.
- Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, and Max Verstappen's remarkable consistency, scoring points in every Grand Prix weekend.

## Conclusion

- The excitement of Formula 1.5, focusing on the midfield battles and rising stars.
- Upcoming special episodes of the Inside Line F1 podcast:
- August 7th: Ravi Shastri, Indian cricketing legend, discussing his F1 stories and coaching insights.
- August 9th: An unnamed Indian single-seater racing driver, sharing their experiences and successes.

[00:00.000 -> 00:22.720] Welcome everyone to the what else did you expect was gonna happen Grand Prix review
[00:22.720 -> 00:24.960] on the InsideLine F1 Podcast.
[00:24.960 -> 00:29.520] It's the Belgian GP. Verstappen is one year from P14. Of course he was
[00:29.520 -> 00:34.480] gonna dominate here from P6 but that's not the point of this episode. The point
[00:34.480 -> 00:39.360] is to discuss the biggest surprises and how exactly they took place and the
[00:39.360 -> 00:44.800] biggest surprise of them all ladies and gentlemen Formula 1.5 Sergio Perez is a
[00:44.800 -> 00:47.120] winner Kunal! Did you expect that ever?
[00:47.120 -> 00:52.480] I really didn't know that was the biggest surprise I thought on I don't know if I'm supposed to banter
[00:52.480 -> 00:59.120] now or speak serious stuff but I thought the serious surprise was McLaren's lack of pace
[00:59.120 -> 01:06.160] but yeah if you're going to talk about that then of course Checo Perez's showing of pace was one of the serious surprises.
[01:06.160 -> 01:15.280] Another serious surprise, Fernando Alonso making a rare driver error as did Carlos Sainz. I realize
[01:15.280 -> 01:20.240] I've just thrown so many narratives in just the opening minute of this episode. But that's the
[01:20.240 -> 01:24.880] beautiful part isn't it, this race although boring while watching it, at least that's my opinion and
[01:24.880 -> 01:28.120] we will get to discuss this and get your take as well Kunal
[01:28.120 -> 01:32.240] in the middle of the episode, it just has so many narratives to play and build up on.
[01:32.240 -> 01:37.400] So let's just do exactly that in this Belgian GP review. But before we proceed, we need
[01:37.400 -> 01:42.480] to tell you who we are and what this is all about. Welcome to the InsideLine F1 podcast.
[01:42.480 -> 01:46.800] We're one of the top 1.5% most listened podcasts in the world.
[01:46.800 -> 01:48.800] And my name is Somal Arora.
[01:48.800 -> 01:52.000] I'm the host of the Indian Racing League on Star Sports.
[01:52.000 -> 01:54.600] And joining me for this episode is Kunal Shah,
[01:54.600 -> 01:58.800] an F1 analyst and consultant at the Viaplay Network in Norway,
[01:58.800 -> 02:03.200] who is also the former marketing head of the Force India F1 team.
[02:03.200 -> 02:04.800] We did an event together, Kunal.
[02:04.800 -> 02:05.440] And luckily, we were able to do two events, which was amazing in Mumbai. the former marketing head of the Force India F1 team. We did an event together Kunal and luckily
[02:05.440 -> 02:10.000] we were able to do two events which was amazing in Mumbai. We had one in Malad, one in Dadar
[02:10.000 -> 02:14.240] when F1 Stats Guru was hosting in Malad with Siddharth and we had you and me in Dadar and in
[02:14.240 -> 02:20.960] Dadar I remember both of us had a really amazing post race show where everyone was just so unwilling
[02:20.960 -> 02:29.320] to talk of Max. Let's just give one minute to Max and then move on to the rest before we move on to the big surprise of Sergio. Every time we say one
[02:29.320 -> 02:34.360] minute to Max and then we spend five, it's that one point which Lewis Hamilton
[02:34.360 -> 02:39.840] took away from Max Verstappen on the last lap of the race which is of course
[02:39.840 -> 02:46.640] in his battle or Lewis's battle for P3 in the Drivers Championship. But I think fantastic
[02:46.640 -> 02:51.740] driving by Max. Like I said at the event, there were at least 100 people across both
[02:51.740 -> 02:57.540] the venues. And like I said at the event, I love the human performance angle when it
[02:57.540 -> 03:04.080] comes to Max Verstappen's dominance. Yes, he's breaking records and stats and Sundaram
[03:04.080 -> 03:05.280] is always scratching his head saying which is the next stat he's breaking records and stats and Sundaram is always scratching his head
[03:05.280 -> 03:09.640] saying which is the next stat he's gonna break and when earliest can he win the
[03:09.640 -> 03:15.720] title etc etc. But I love the fact that every morning Max Verstappen wakes up
[03:15.720 -> 03:19.760] on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, at least those three or four days of the
[03:19.760 -> 03:26.240] week, he's able to deliver what is called ultra performance, whichever circuit,
[03:26.240 -> 03:29.840] whichever conditions, whoever and he's had new rivals pretty much in the last
[03:29.840 -> 03:34.240] five races and he's beaten them all and I love that. I would love to be like
[03:34.240 -> 03:39.680] Max Verstappen in terms of human performance, you know, that is A plus
[03:39.680 -> 03:44.280] platinum grade class, whatever you want to call it. And he was not phased at all.
[03:44.280 -> 03:48.640] When you saw all the other drivers making an error in the sprint race with their pit stops,
[03:48.640 -> 03:50.480] Max Verstappen couldn't care less.
[03:50.480 -> 03:53.200] The guy just had to do one extra lap to pass someone else.
[03:53.200 -> 03:54.720] It's okay, it's totally normal.
[03:54.720 -> 03:58.000] And I think the difference that you see between him and all the others, Kunal,
[03:58.000 -> 04:02.800] was in one photo that Albert Fabrega posted out on Twitter about the tyre degradation.
[04:02.800 -> 04:05.600] Now, I know a lot of it also comes down to the way
[04:05.600 -> 04:09.920] Red Bull has built that car and kudos to them as well, the way they're maintaining it. But if you
[04:09.920 -> 04:15.200] see the difference in tyre degradation between Verstappen, Piastri and Gasly from that sprint
[04:15.200 -> 04:21.280] race, it speaks volumes of how comfortable Max is and how at one with the car he is, which is amazing
[04:21.280 -> 04:28.560] to me. And on the other hand, you have a driver like Piastri, a lot of rough edges, lots of raw potential but you could just see the way he was managing the
[04:28.560 -> 04:32.160] tyres and ultimately that's been turning out to be his bane for the last few weekends.
[04:32.800 -> 04:36.880] That's true, we couldn't see what you know Piastri's learned given Piastri went out pretty
[04:36.880 -> 04:42.480] much on the opening night but we'll talk about Piastri later. With Max Verstappen, you mentioned
[04:42.480 -> 04:48.120] you know his consistency, it is also you also his tire degradation is so much little.
[04:48.120 -> 04:50.360] The image that you're talking from Albert Fabrega
[04:50.360 -> 04:55.200] actually shows the tires and how little they have degraded
[04:55.200 -> 04:58.560] on Max's car versus PS3 and several other rivals
[04:58.560 -> 04:59.400] that he's had.
[04:59.400 -> 05:02.400] And F1StatsGuru, who's not speaking right now,
[05:02.400 -> 05:03.880] but he's listening in,
[05:03.880 -> 05:10.320] actually sent some very interesting stats. So had Lewis not taken the point for the fastest lap in
[05:10.320 -> 05:15.320] Spa, Max Verstappen would have scored 100% of the points for the fourth
[05:15.320 -> 05:22.080] successive weekend. And we already know Verstappen is now equal
[05:22.080 -> 05:27.880] Alonso's record of winning races from most different grid positions,
[05:27.880 -> 05:30.680] nine in this case.
[05:30.680 -> 05:36.440] Especially on a weekend when Fernando Alonso made the rarest of rare errors, he crashed.
[05:36.440 -> 05:41.000] For once he was not the most disappointing driver in Aston Martin, which I can't fathom
[05:41.000 -> 05:43.040] mentally that's just not possible.
[05:43.040 -> 05:45.200] But do you ever remember that happening Kunal?
[05:49.600 -> 05:51.800] When you talk about peak performance, Alonso has also been someone who's embodied that quite a lot. But so rare, Alonso crashing.
[05:51.800 -> 05:58.800] I mean, we could, what would be rare would be to see Mika Hakkarinen back in a Formula One car, but that's just so unlikely.
[05:59.300 -> 06:07.120] I think, and you know, what was more unlikely is it was Alonso chasing, I think it was Hulkenberg when he went on the white line and sort of just went off but that's what you get
[06:07.120 -> 06:11.240] with tricky conditions and then this happened on the Saturday in the pre
[06:11.240 -> 06:17.080] event show yesterday where we met guys I actually told people watch out for
[06:17.080 -> 06:21.680] Fernando he's gonna be angry with himself for having committed a driver
[06:21.680 -> 06:28.240] error, a red driver error and guess what happened? Fernando was up there, he was making all the moves, he made a strategy
[06:28.240 -> 06:32.280] work which you know which was different from the others. So all in all I mean
[06:32.280 -> 06:36.560] lots of interesting narratives you know including Fernando Alonso I would say.
[06:36.560 -> 06:40.320] Yeah it was just about as rare as finding a ticket to Oppenheimer these
[06:40.320 -> 06:44.680] days. Those things cost a lot back here and I really appreciate the fact that
[06:44.680 -> 06:45.920] all of you folks
[06:45.920 -> 06:51.520] who turned up yesterday chose to watch an F1 race with us over Barbie or Oppenheimer. I know there's
[06:51.520 -> 06:56.720] no competition with Barbie but still it's a huge huge statement to make from your end as well and
[06:56.720 -> 07:00.960] we really appreciate the fact that you all came and joined us and there is also going to be
[07:00.960 -> 07:08.560] another event on the 9th of August. We're going to have a young Indian single-seater racer, one of the most successful ones that
[07:08.560 -> 07:13.240] we've ever had, join us in person to talk about his stories in the sport.
[07:13.240 -> 07:17.720] And he's going to be spending an hour with all of you talking about his favorite stories
[07:17.720 -> 07:22.920] in the past, what he really thinks about when he's driving, and the entire recipe to his
[07:22.920 -> 07:24.160] success as well.
[07:24.160 -> 07:26.280] 9th August, Dadar Social.
[07:26.280 -> 07:27.160] Stay tuned, everyone.
[07:27.160 -> 07:28.660] We'll tell you who it is rather soon
[07:28.660 -> 07:30.480] and open the registrations as well.
[07:30.480 -> 07:31.920] But that's going to happen shortly.
[07:31.920 -> 07:34.320] What I now want to get to in a second, Kunal,
[07:34.320 -> 07:36.280] is my biggest surprise of the race.
[07:36.280 -> 07:40.080] Sergio Perez finally winning Formula 1.5.
[07:40.080 -> 07:42.040] It's happened, and it's strange, right?
[07:42.040 -> 07:43.520] When we normally do our meetups,
[07:43.520 -> 07:50.320] we get a decent sense of what the community feels like and suddenly all the Czech Opera's hype that existed back in March
[07:50.320 -> 07:56.880] has all vanished. We couldn't find one Czech Opera's fan in our race meetup and it's interesting
[07:56.880 -> 08:01.840] that nobody celebrated his P2 as well as if it is just expected but it's not expected considering
[08:01.840 -> 08:07.240] how things are going so far. And you know we know we have a lot of listeners in Mexico they have written in
[08:07.240 -> 08:12.400] the last time we asked hey who listens to us in Mexico I would say you know
[08:12.400 -> 08:16.920] Checo Perez has sort of and again I'm gonna quote Helmut Marko he's always a
[08:16.920 -> 08:21.760] little you know to the point he said Perez is now woken up from his world
[08:21.760 -> 08:27.680] championship dream which he of course meant is the world championship dream that is over, right?
[08:27.680 -> 08:30.360] And that's why we were able to see Checo do what he does.
[08:30.360 -> 08:35.240] And although I must say that penalty between him and Lewis Hamilton in the
[08:35.240 -> 08:40.000] sprint race was a little strange, instead of celebrating the kind of move that
[08:40.000 -> 08:43.040] Lewis pulled off, we actually ended up penalizing him.
[08:43.040 -> 08:48.520] Yes, there was damage, but you know, those were conditions that were sort of not the easiest to go
[08:48.520 -> 08:52.120] racing in. But anyway, that's, that's just... No, no, no, no, no, no. Let's, let's
[08:52.120 -> 08:55.720] touch up upon that as well in a second, because that's strange, isn't it Kunal?
[08:55.760 -> 08:59.880] The fact that Lewis got penalized for racing. And again, if you look at the
[08:59.880 -> 09:02.960] corner, look at the onboards, if you want to go all technical, he was holding the
[09:02.960 -> 09:06.880] apex, obviously he would come out on the outside line. Two into one doesn't go.
[09:06.880 -> 09:12.320] It's a fair racing incident. If that's the case, I think footballers should be given a two-game ban
[09:12.320 -> 09:16.720] for sort of degrading their equipment when they kick the ball too hard, or when they shoot from
[09:16.720 -> 09:20.480] 30 yards and then the ball goes in and rips the net off because they broke the net. Come on,
[09:20.480 -> 09:26.320] what the hell? If you get penalized for racing, what's the point? But isn't it a strange penalty to hand out eventually?
[09:26.320 -> 09:29.400] It's a very, very strange penalty to hand out.
[09:29.400 -> 09:32.320] But that's just how it goes with the FIA.
[09:32.320 -> 09:38.560] And I'll tell you one, actually two serious, not serious, two surprises from the weekend.
[09:38.560 -> 09:43.520] First was second race in succession that the winner's trophy was broken.
[09:43.520 -> 09:45.080] This is a stat for F1 stat guru. Has this happened before? Two races in succession that the winner's trophy was broken. This is a stat for F1 Stat
[09:45.080 -> 09:50.200] Guru. Has this happened before? Two races in succession. He's actually nodding his
[09:50.200 -> 09:54.680] head, nobody can see it but yeah, two races in succession where the winner's
[09:54.680 -> 09:58.400] trophy was broken. This time, you know, Lando Norris was not on the podium but
[09:58.400 -> 10:01.960] Red Bull still managed to break it right. But they've just got so many of them,
[10:01.960 -> 10:04.640] they can sort of break one or two. At least one from Hungary is getting
[10:04.640 -> 10:05.840] replaced. I don't know about the one to
[10:05.840 -> 10:09.440] buy from yesterday. The other thing still within the Red Bull
[10:09.440 -> 10:14.320] garage is Jean-Pierre Lambiez we all know GP
[10:14.320 -> 10:17.600] Max Verstappen's race engineer who I know
[10:17.600 -> 10:23.920] from my Force India days as Paul di Resta's race engineer right. Now GP was
[10:23.920 -> 10:25.640] hired by Red Bull Racing to
[10:25.640 -> 10:31.220] actually race engineer Sebastian Vettel but Vettel left for Ferrari but he said
[10:31.220 -> 10:37.000] guys go and hire GP and guess who GP worked with? Daniel Kvyat before Max
[10:37.000 -> 10:40.560] Verstappen came to Red Bull Racing. Now I was just giving this bit of history but
[10:40.560 -> 10:49.200] GP talks to Max as though he is his biggest rival. It's like the only person Max cannot
[10:50.080 -> 10:56.000] dominate, beat at a Grand Prix weekend is GP, right? Yet GP is his biggest,
[10:56.560 -> 11:02.080] his most able wingman, his biggest ally. And I love the honesty, I love that whole
[11:02.640 -> 11:06.000] dynamic that they share with each other.
[11:06.000 -> 11:11.120] I mean, you'd not imagine that anybody can talk Max Verstappen into his cockpit,
[11:11.120 -> 11:14.880] since, you know, since into his seat is what we'll say, but yes, GP does that.
[11:14.880 -> 11:20.000] And I love how the relationships are so different between GP and Max and also Lewis and Bono,
[11:20.000 -> 11:24.320] whereas GP acts more like a mentor, talking Max through what needs to be done.
[11:24.320 -> 11:28.800] Bono will advise, guide, take opinions. Although GP does that as well. You see the difference in
[11:28.800 -> 11:33.360] dynamic. GP holds a lot more power, whereas Bono is more consultative, if that's the right word.
[11:33.360 -> 11:39.680] He will always ask Lewis what's up. And both equally successful team relationships between
[11:40.240 -> 11:44.240] the race engineer and the driver. And I love how both of them, equally long term,
[11:44.240 -> 11:48.820] if you give enough time for it to mature it works out so well and that also
[11:48.820 -> 11:52.520] brings me up to the point of Pierre Hamelin I think he is
[11:52.520 -> 11:56.400] Daniel Ricardo's current race engineer at AlphaTauri the way he was also
[11:56.400 -> 11:59.740] managing Ricardo in Hungary just listening to the radios it was
[11:59.740 -> 12:04.540] incredible because at the end you could see how the race engineer plays such an
[12:04.540 -> 12:07.440] important part in guiding the driver through the race,
[12:07.440 -> 12:09.280] making sure that they're in the right mental state of mind.
[12:09.280 -> 12:12.600] And for someone like Ricardo who is just returning back into the sport,
[12:12.920 -> 12:16.560] the amount of questions that P Hamlin was asking and the amount of precise
[12:16.560 -> 12:19.320] information he was giving, I think it makes all the difference.
[12:19.320 -> 12:23.000] And it's really underappreciated aspect this one. And so what GP is doing,
[12:23.280 -> 12:29.400] I think equally critical to what Red Bull Success is. Oh it's actually, your race engineer is actually
[12:29.400 -> 12:34.520] the most critical and often when a driver isn't performing, they try and you
[12:34.520 -> 12:38.960] know do the assessment with the race engineer and off the race engineer. It's
[12:38.960 -> 12:43.520] also replacing a race engineer is much cheaper than replacing a driver within
[12:43.520 -> 12:50.500] the whole setup but I think it's a fantastic dynamic and you know I'm sure you know fans who
[12:50.500 -> 12:55.820] watch the sport as as closely as we do can actually recognize the voices of the
[12:55.820 -> 12:58.580] race engineer. Sometimes I'm just like yeah I know that's Leclerc's race
[12:58.580 -> 13:02.700] engineer who we all make fun of by the way and I know that's Carlos Sainz's
[13:02.700 -> 13:05.600] race engineer but you know it's a fun thing and
[13:05.600 -> 13:09.680] we've actually, we will try and get a race engineer on our show one day, I'm pretty sure it'll be good
[13:09.680 -> 13:14.800] to try and get a perspective, maybe it could be GP for all we know but yes we can see if we are
[13:14.800 -> 13:24.160] able to get him. But another funny thing is that the Nico Rosberg jinx worked even though he was
[13:24.160 -> 13:26.400] not allowed selfies at the McLaren
[13:26.400 -> 13:29.720] garage and he said, guys, I'll come to the factory and take that selfie.
[13:30.200 -> 13:36.680] That Jinx worked for Oscar Piastri, who was out on the opening lap of the race,
[13:36.680 -> 13:41.000] which was a bit of a bummer because I was waiting to see what Piastri could do
[13:41.000 -> 13:42.920] because we saw what he did on the Saturday.
[13:43.280 -> 13:45.820] And the strange
[13:45.820 -> 13:50.920] part is, you know, yes yesterday in the event I said it was PS3, his lack of
[13:50.920 -> 13:54.760] experience or racing etc. But when you look back at all the replays, it was
[13:54.760 -> 13:59.800] actually Carlos Sainz that just took PS3 in, hoping that PS3 will disappear but
[13:59.800 -> 14:06.320] of course there's a wall at the source which got PS3's front right. And what a shame isn't it?
[14:06.320 -> 14:12.000] Because I remember this happening from 2016 as well where we had Verstappen, Kimi Raikkonen and
[14:12.000 -> 14:16.800] Sebastian Vettel all sandwiched into that one corner and when I was making my pre-race notes
[14:16.800 -> 14:21.840] I was desperately hoping for something like that not to happen because it's not like Formula One
[14:21.840 -> 14:28.800] cars today are like touring cars right? When you touch the car instantly goes away and fades away quite like what we saw with Sergio Perez in the sprint
[14:28.800 -> 14:34.480] race it's a shame although that's just the way the cars are built one small impact can really
[14:34.480 -> 14:39.840] change the way things went and I think that whole incident made a huge difference in making this
[14:39.840 -> 14:48.400] race a lot less entertaining because the dynamic between Piastri and Sainz and the way the strategies would have played out, how he would have cycled out with the Mercedes and also
[14:48.400 -> 14:53.120] Charles Leclerc, that would have been interesting to watch. But ultimately, we didn't quite get
[14:53.120 -> 14:57.760] what we wanted. But still, looping back to Oscar Kunal, very impressive indeed, because we had
[14:57.760 -> 15:02.240] Ravi Shastri, the Indian cricket legend, a man who coached the Indian cricket team through its most
[15:02.240 -> 15:05.240] successful times, won the cricket world cup with them.
[15:05.240 -> 15:07.480] One of the great commentators of the sport on the podcast.
[15:07.480 -> 15:12.360] By the way, that episode releases on the 7th of August and he talks a lot about his Formula
[15:12.360 -> 15:15.400] One journey and why he loves Ayrton Senna so much.
[15:15.400 -> 15:20.800] But on the subject of Oscar, Ravi has this whole ability to spot young natural talent
[15:20.800 -> 15:21.960] and bring them all up.
[15:21.960 -> 15:29.600] And he was particularly impressed with the way Oscar Priyashti was going about it, which is quite something to say because Rami clearly knows how to spot an
[15:29.600 -> 15:33.840] athlete who's at the peak of their game and Oscar, he's really just getting in there. I mean that
[15:33.840 -> 15:39.280] qualifying lap, my word, watching Lando Norris for the last couple of corners, every single qualifying
[15:39.280 -> 15:44.240] lap, you could just see that the car just wouldn't turn in as smoothly as it should. But with Oscar,
[15:44.240 -> 15:49.280] it just worked. He's finally beaten Lando on merit. He's beaten Lando on merit which I
[15:49.280 -> 15:53.960] think is great for his future prospects. Will McLaren be the team where he'll
[15:53.960 -> 15:58.200] stick along, will he move elsewhere. I think like I said you know when when the
[15:58.200 -> 16:02.640] whole PS3 Oscar gate happened last year I said, McLaren is bringing him in
[16:02.640 -> 16:08.560] to Formula One but they are not going to be the
[16:08.560 -> 16:14.640] ones who enjoy success with Piazzo or Piazzi in Formula One. At least that's my loose judgment
[16:14.640 -> 16:22.320] or whatever you call it. And like I said, the gap in the middle sector which is where Piazzi was
[16:22.320 -> 16:26.780] making all the difference with the McLaren High Downforce package.
[16:26.780 -> 16:33.620] Piastri's gap to Norris, Piastri was so far ahead to Norris in that sector, which so relies
[16:33.620 -> 16:39.700] on driver skill and confidence and so on, was the same as Max Verstappen's gap to Checo
[16:39.700 -> 16:40.700] Perez, right?
[16:40.700 -> 16:50.880] Well, again, it's not that I've moved away from considering Lando Norris is a good driver or not. I'm just saying PS3 did rise to the occasion in
[16:50.880 -> 16:56.640] Spa and you know like Lando said they don't have you know a selection of rear
[16:56.640 -> 17:00.400] wings which can work in low downforce. Andrea Stella actually said we didn't
[17:00.400 -> 17:03.680] have enough time to make it for Spa maybe we'll be ready for it in Monza. The
[17:03.680 -> 17:09.680] other race which would be high speed will will be Las Vegas. And then Lando Norris also said that because there was
[17:09.680 -> 17:15.120] just one FP session, maybe they couldn't really fine tune the car for Spa as much as they would
[17:15.120 -> 17:21.280] have liked. But he still managed to finish in the points despite literally being last. He was
[17:21.280 -> 17:28.920] probably one of the first few ones to go on the hard tire at the first stops and he was nowhere but he switched on to the softs and then he sort of made them
[17:28.920 -> 17:34.920] work pulled off some moves and there we go that's where it was. So the I would say Rosberg's
[17:34.920 -> 17:40.080] jinx worked just half for McLaren in this case. But buddy that's what you get for breaking
[17:40.080 -> 17:45.280] such a beautiful trophy and not apologizing. Come on Lando. I mean I know a couple of episodes ago
[17:45.280 -> 17:50.480] we were starting off an episode saying find me a reason to not like Lando Norris. I think he's
[17:50.480 -> 17:54.640] taken that challenge up very very personally for that. He's broken such a beautiful trophy
[17:54.640 -> 18:00.560] and not apologized. That's what you get Lando. Screw you. Nah just kidding. No no no he actually
[18:00.560 -> 18:08.920] realized that his you know his popularity ratings were going low. So in the pre-event conferences for Spice, he said, of course, I apologize.
[18:08.920 -> 18:10.560] It was Max. I'll be a little more careful.
[18:10.880 -> 18:17.480] He said, I will still do my champagne jump on the podium, but I'll make sure that I clear all the trophies.
[18:17.480 -> 18:20.720] So that's what we will watch out for next time, next race.
[18:20.720 -> 18:25.220] Literally, Sunfoot say that, hey, Lando will clear all the trophies
[18:25.220 -> 18:28.460] assuming he gets to the podium and he'll say, okay, now I'm going to do the
[18:28.460 -> 18:30.980] champagne jump and that's going to be one of those things to sort of look
[18:30.980 -> 18:37.140] forward to, right? But interestingly, I would also turn around and say that in
[18:37.140 -> 18:43.460] the case of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, they now have all the
[18:43.460 -> 18:45.920] upgrades. The one upgrade they really want is
[18:45.920 -> 18:49.800] to be able to sort of be quick in the high speed circuits
[18:49.800 -> 18:50.520] when they come.
[18:50.520 -> 18:51.520] And we're going to have a few of them
[18:51.520 -> 18:53.080] in the second half of the season.
[18:53.080 -> 18:57.200] So we will see how that sort of progresses from here on.
[18:57.200 -> 19:00.440] But Somal, you have something to say about Norris?
[19:00.440 -> 19:00.920] I do.
[19:00.920 -> 19:01.440] I do.
[19:01.440 -> 19:02.920] It's interesting that you mentioned
[19:02.920 -> 19:04.880] about how he's had a rough weekend.
[19:04.880 -> 19:08.800] But he's not the only top level driver who's had something tricky.
[19:08.800 -> 19:13.200] And a lot of it could also go down to the single practice session that we had.
[19:13.200 -> 19:15.200] That was also completely wet.
[19:15.200 -> 19:19.600] So you barely had any time to properly understand the circuit and the conditions.
[19:19.600 -> 19:21.600] And that was a big, big factor in Spa.
[19:21.600 -> 19:24.600] Because we saw something similar happen to George Russell as well.
[19:24.600 -> 19:26.920] And his weekend was absolutely horrid.
[19:26.920 -> 19:31.600] We also what happened in sprint qualifying where he ended up jinxing his very own teammate.
[19:31.600 -> 19:32.720] We saw Lance Stroll do that as well.
[19:32.720 -> 19:35.640] It was strange actually, one qualifying session, but two teammates jinxed the other one.
[19:35.640 -> 19:37.320] It is a little, little absurd.
[19:37.320 -> 19:38.960] But Russell had a torrid weekend.
[19:38.960 -> 19:39.960] So did Norris.
[19:39.960 -> 19:43.800] And I feel a lot of it could also go down to the limited practice time.
[19:43.800 -> 19:46.920] And funnily enough Kunal, this is something that you mentioned at our event yesterday.
[19:47.280 -> 19:51.480] The same thing benefited George Russell when he took his first ever victory in Brazil last year.
[19:52.000 -> 19:56.160] That's correct. So it's literally, it's got nothing to do race by race.
[19:56.160 -> 20:01.600] It's just the fact that challenging conditions and it's about teams getting it right or not.
[20:02.000 -> 20:05.720] But F1 Stats Guru pings yet again with a brilliant stat.
[20:06.120 -> 20:12.880] So with Checo Perez finishing second yesterday, the earliest Max can actually
[20:12.880 -> 20:17.680] seal the title is Japan, which would be a bit of a bummer because Japan is so early
[20:17.680 -> 20:19.200] in the, again, can you imagine?
[20:19.240 -> 20:23.000] Japan is so early in the morning that Europe is pretty much all asleep when
[20:23.000 -> 20:24.360] Max ends up winning his title.
[20:24.400 -> 20:28.040] So let's hope it doesn't actually end up being Japan because
[20:28.040 -> 20:32.000] Viyapray also have the rights for Formula One in the Netherlands. So a bit
[20:32.000 -> 20:39.440] of personal reasons why I'm saying that. But interestingly all drivers in the
[20:39.440 -> 20:46.160] standings starting from Pierre Gasly who's 12th and lower are now out of championship contention.
[20:46.160 -> 20:46.660] No!
[20:46.660 -> 20:50.160] This includes Daniel Ricciardo and Nick DeVries.
[20:50.160 -> 20:50.660] No!
[20:50.660 -> 20:51.660] But here's the fun point.
[20:51.660 -> 20:52.660] Here's the fun point.
[20:52.660 -> 20:59.160] Lance Stroll can still be a Formula One world champion this season.
[20:59.160 -> 21:00.160] My dream!
[21:00.160 -> 21:01.160] Don't ask me how.
[21:01.160 -> 21:03.160] That's, that's, he doesn't know how either.
[21:03.160 -> 21:04.160] Don't ask him either.
[21:04.160 -> 21:06.080] But that's just how the numbers go.
[21:06.120 -> 21:09.160] My dream. My dream is finally going to come true.
[21:09.160 -> 21:11.160] At least it's alive for a little bit.
[21:11.160 -> 21:13.000] So I'll stay with my solace for that.
[21:13.000 -> 21:16.440] Just at least for a month more, I will enjoy that to the fullest.
[21:16.440 -> 21:19.280] But wait, wow, Logan Sargent is out of the title picture.
[21:19.600 -> 21:21.200] No freedom anymore, huh?
[21:21.200 -> 21:22.800] No. OK, terrible joke.
[21:22.800 -> 21:24.960] I think we will move on to something else.
[21:24.960 -> 21:27.600] We need to talk about Alpine for a second before we go to anything else.
[21:27.600 -> 21:32.880] Because they've made all the statements this weekend, do we really need to speak
[21:32.880 -> 21:36.960] about Alpine? That's a good point you know because when we often tend to bring
[21:36.960 -> 21:44.160] Alpine up, we've noticed that nobody cares. I honestly do, I care about
[21:44.160 -> 21:47.940] Otmar, I'll be honest that man can work magic
[21:47.940 -> 21:51.340] and I've seen him in action do that. I've been a part of the team that actually
[21:51.340 -> 21:56.620] has followed the magic with Otmar and so on and he made a statement saying you
[21:56.620 -> 22:00.280] know you can't get a woman pregnant in less than nine months and he made he
[22:00.280 -> 22:04.040] made a biological statement. No, no, no, no, no, let's actually highlight the statement
[22:04.040 -> 22:08.240] because it's the most incredible quote to come out of a Formula One season, right?
[22:08.880 -> 22:13.760] You can't impregnate nine women and then expect them to have a baby in one month.
[22:15.440 -> 22:20.720] It's beautiful. Does he often throw up like nuggets like this one, Kunal?
[22:21.920 -> 22:33.400] I really should have been more attentive in all our board meetings I would say. Talking of team principles, I have to
[22:33.400 -> 22:38.680] say this I love the whole sticker challenge that Red Bull and Ferrari went
[22:38.680 -> 22:41.920] through you know those very stickers like one sticker we pay five pound each
[22:41.920 -> 22:45.200] for or whatever they're going and sort of destroying
[22:45.200 -> 22:50.640] and using those stickers for all fun activities. I think Christian Horner put a sticker, put a
[22:50.640 -> 22:56.480] black tape on a fan with a Ferrari hat and sort of a Red Bull sticker. So Ferrari went and put a
[22:56.480 -> 23:02.480] Ferrari prancing horse sticker on the Red Bull motorhome. And then on the start grid, Christian
[23:02.480 -> 23:05.240] Horner very slyly goes and puts the Red Bull sticker
[23:05.240 -> 23:07.200] on Fred Vasseur's jacket.
[23:07.200 -> 23:12.040] And I think I love these kind of, you know, nuances and these kind of funny things to
[23:12.040 -> 23:13.280] follow in Formula One.
[23:13.280 -> 23:18.800] This is why our Inside Line F1 parody awards at the end of the season are actually so well
[23:18.800 -> 23:23.520] subscribed to because we remember all these fun moments, spin them up and present them
[23:23.520 -> 23:25.280] to you before the
[23:25.280 -> 23:29.180] year ends, literally. Oh yeah, we're also gonna have a midseason review coming up
[23:29.180 -> 23:33.020] shortly as well, so stay tuned for that. But before we get to anything else,
[23:33.020 -> 23:38.580] before we also get to the tyres, one very quick word on Alpine. It's incredible
[23:38.580 -> 23:42.420] that on the weekend that Fernando Alonso crashed and Oscar Piastri also
[23:42.420 -> 23:46.840] couldn't get to the end of the race, they got a podium and they got a new head which is the thing that they love
[23:46.840 -> 23:50.920] the most right? New bosses. It's great to have one every other week. It's so much
[23:50.920 -> 23:54.480] fun. So Alpine have had the perfect weekend that they could imagine. It's
[23:54.480 -> 24:00.160] great. And Oscar Piastri when he shared his podium picture from the sprint, he
[24:00.160 -> 24:04.440] actually just shared a picture of him and Max Verstappen. Now I don't know if that was on
[24:04.440 -> 24:05.400] purpose or not and his mom's been of course Now, I don't know if that was on purpose or not.
[24:05.400 -> 24:06.800] And his mom's been, of course, active.
[24:06.800 -> 24:11.680] I don't know if again, it's his mom or it's a fake account pretending to be his mom.
[24:11.680 -> 24:15.360] Why would you pretend to be Oscar Piastri's mom of all the people in the world?
[24:15.400 -> 24:22.280] I mean, you know, social media hamster wheel, you will do what it takes to run faster and faster on that wheel.
[24:22.280 -> 24:24.560] Get likes and follows and views and all of that.
[24:24.560 -> 24:30.800] You can pretend to be Margot Robbie. I don't know who that is but. What? Okay we need to
[24:30.800 -> 24:35.760] okay we need to educate you Kunal but okay to the point. Yeah to the point yeah
[24:35.760 -> 24:40.180] and and and something very interesting about McLaren, Lando Norris said he was
[24:40.180 -> 24:44.640] embarrassed that he was overtaken even before the DRS zone started on the
[24:44.640 -> 24:49.540] Camel Strait. So clearly he's probably walking into the McLaren factory
[24:49.540 -> 24:53.560] tomorrow which is a Tuesday after the race. Even I think teams will work one
[24:53.560 -> 24:57.240] week before they take the summer off. He's gonna go with the saw and keep
[24:57.240 -> 25:01.440] chopping that rear wing by himself because he's like guys I need it ready
[25:01.440 -> 25:05.120] for Monza or I am you know chopping my own rear wing off.
[25:05.120 -> 25:10.160] Yeah exactly it's insane how that happened but last thing we need to talk
[25:10.160 -> 25:14.880] about is also tires. There's been big statements being made, lots of drivers
[25:14.880 -> 25:18.440] have come out and said that these Pirelli tires are horrid, it just doesn't
[25:18.440 -> 25:24.120] work in the rain. We saw, I think I read some some panic insider or some expert
[25:24.120 -> 25:25.600] or some former Formula One driver say that
[25:25.600 -> 25:31.360] these Pirelli tyres are pretty much useless because if you see the amount of deck that they had
[25:31.360 -> 25:35.680] in a six lap race, was it? No, it was a six lap, 11 laps and we had so many of them under safety
[25:35.680 -> 25:42.400] cars, roughly five, seven on lap race. That's, what even is the point anymore? Why do we even have
[25:42.400 -> 25:46.320] wet races? You know, that's what F1 was testing in true sense.
[25:46.320 -> 25:49.080] They said, we don't even have a sprint, which is a shorter format.
[25:49.080 -> 25:52.520] Can we do a sprint to a sprint, which is like a six lap race.
[25:52.520 -> 25:56.100] And even in that, driver sort of needed a pit stop.
[25:56.100 -> 25:58.800] And then George Russell said, very funny.
[25:58.800 -> 25:59.300] I love this.
[25:59.300 -> 26:03.200] You know, there's George Russell, who's British, who speaks proper English,
[26:03.200 -> 26:06.560] you know, as you know, know and he said the Pirelli
[26:06.560 -> 26:13.680] vets are absolutely useless. Russell it was. Mario Isola who's Italian but speaks good English
[26:13.680 -> 26:19.920] said, yeah our Pirelli vets are absolutely useless if they are used behind the safety car.
[26:19.920 -> 26:28.560] And of course, motorsport.com has gone and made some headlines about this. But yeah, the tires have always been a struggle, especially the Vets and Inters and whatever.
[26:28.960 -> 26:37.760] And interestingly, Alpine and Alfa Romeo brought just nine wheel rims or had just had one less wheel rim this weekend.
[26:37.760 -> 26:40.840] So they had just nine race tire sets yesterday.
[26:41.200 -> 26:45.600] And Lance Stroll had also nine because he damaged one of his in that incident in
[26:45.600 -> 26:46.600] SQ1.
[26:46.600 -> 26:50.440] But yeah, these are the kind of things we normally end up picking on the Inside Line
[26:50.440 -> 26:51.440] F1 podcast.
[26:51.440 -> 26:52.440] Indeed.
[26:52.440 -> 26:56.440] And last thing before we close off the episode, look at the points everyone.
[26:56.440 -> 27:00.760] Charles Leclerc, George Russell tied for P5 on 99 points.
[27:00.760 -> 27:06.720] Carlos Sainz is only a few points behind at 92 and Lando Norris is quickly closing in. It's
[27:06.720 -> 27:12.000] at 69 and the way things are going so far, it has been rampant. But the most incredible part,
[27:12.000 -> 27:18.640] Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, after so many years, still just split by one point for P3 in
[27:18.640 -> 27:33.320] the championship. This is going to be fun to watch. Absolutely. And still only Max, Fernando and Louis are the three drivers to have scored a point at every single Grand Prix this weekend or every single Grand Prix weekend.
[27:33.320 -> 27:37.320] I can't say every single race because you know, Fernando, of course, spun out of that sprint.
[27:37.360 -> 27:39.200] But anyway, every single Grand Prix weekend.
[27:39.240 -> 27:40.640] I think that's pretty fantastic.
[27:41.160 -> 27:45.360] But yeah, Formula 1.5, that's where we all end up and should end up focusing on.
[27:45.360 -> 27:50.000] Oh, absolutely. And folks, if you enjoyed listening to this episode or watching this race and then
[27:50.000 -> 27:54.320] talking about it, please, please feel free to subscribe to the Insightline F1 podcast.
[27:54.320 -> 27:59.120] And as I mentioned earlier, we are going to have two really special things coming up shortly.
[27:59.120 -> 28:10.560] August the 7th, Ravi Shastri, the Indian cricketing legend, he is going to come on the InsideLine F1 podcast to talk about his F1 stories and more importantly, how would he coach drivers like Charles Leclerc,
[28:10.560 -> 28:14.200] drivers like Max Verstappen, drivers like Daniel Ricciardo in the current stages of
[28:14.200 -> 28:18.800] their career and also, if he had the chance, how would he run something like the Red Bull
[28:18.800 -> 28:19.800] Driver Academy?
[28:19.800 -> 28:22.960] Would he do something different to what Helmut Marko is doing at the moment?
[28:22.960 -> 28:26.960] And that's quite something coming from someone who was one of the most successful coaches
[28:26.960 -> 28:28.680] of the Indian cricket team.
[28:28.680 -> 28:30.160] That's going to come up on August 7th.
[28:30.160 -> 28:32.880] August 9th, an unnamed formula to...
[28:32.880 -> 28:34.320] Oh, shit, I've given it away.
[28:34.320 -> 28:39.000] An unknown Indian single-seater racing driver, who's one of the most successful drivers to
[28:39.000 -> 28:43.500] take part in Indian history, is going to be joining us at Dada Social on the 9th.
[28:43.500 -> 28:49.600] And the registrations for that are going to open shortly so stay tuned for that everyone we'll be back with the mid-season review
[28:49.600 -> 28:54.400] Ravi's episode and so much more take care everyone enjoy the break and it's not going
[28:54.400 -> None] to be a break on the inside line f1 podcast so stay where you are bye you