Max Attack, Max Points, Max Impact - 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Review

The 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix showed just how lethal Max Verstappen is when his Red Bull is a pace setting car and of course, reliable as well.

Red Bull Racing was practically unchallenged at Imola and Verstappen made the most of it to take a sizeable chunk out of Charles Leclerc's early season lead in the Drivers' Championship.

34 points - the maximum a driver could score on a 'Sprint + Grand Prix' weekend format; and that's exactly what Verstappen did in Imola. In fact, it's the first time in the history of this format that a driver has scored the maximum available points through the weekend.

On the Inside Line F1 Podcast, Soumil and Kunal review the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - did we all jinx Ferrari's homecoming at Imola? Should Charles Leclerc have patiently settled for P3?

Could Daniel Ricciardo have done any different at the start?

Is George Russell's experience from Williams helping him cope better with a struggling Mercedes?

Is there more to Toto Wolff's post-race apology to Lewis Hamilton? 

The colder temperatures - were they a performance differentiating factor this weekend? 

Finally, are Alfa Romeo & Haas the underperformers of the season yet?

Tune in!

(Season 2022, Episode 24)

Follow our hosts on Twitter: Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah

Image courtesy: Red Bull Content Pool

**Summary of the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Inside Line F1 Podcast**

* Max Verstappen dominated the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, winning the sprint race and the main event, securing the maximum 34 points available in a sprint weekend format for the first time in Formula One history.
* Charles Leclerc's hopes for a strong homecoming race were dashed as he finished sixth after a costly pit stop error and a spin, leading to questions about his ability to handle the pressure of a title fight.
* Sergio Perez played a crucial role as Red Bull's wingman, keeping Leclerc behind him and helping Verstappen secure the victory.
* Ferrari's decision to not bring any upgrades to their car for the race may have been a factor in their struggles, as the cooler conditions seemed to favor Red Bull.
* Carlos Sainz had a strong sprint race but was taken out by Daniel Ricciardo in the main event, who in turn had a poor start and collided with Sainz due to a damp patch on the track.
* George Russell continued his impressive start to the season with a fourth-place finish, outperforming his more experienced teammate Lewis Hamilton, who is still struggling to adapt to Mercedes' new car.
* Toto Wolff apologized to Hamilton for the team's inability to provide him with a car that matches his talents, leading to speculation about Hamilton's motivation and whether his previous championship successes were solely due to the car's performance.
* The midfield battle is heating up, with McLaren securing their first podium of the season and Aston Martin showing strong pace. However, Haas and Alfa Romeo have been underperforming, with only one driver from each team consistently scoring points.
* The DRS system came under scrutiny as drivers complained about its inconsistent application, with some calling for it to be opened earlier to promote more overtaking.

**Overall, the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was a challenging race with mixed fortunes for the teams and drivers, setting the stage for an exciting and unpredictable Formula One season.**

# Inside Line F1 Podcast: 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Review

## Introduction

The 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix showcased Max Verstappen's dominance when his Red Bull car is reliable and has the pace. Red Bull Racing faced minimal challenges at Imola, allowing Verstappen to significantly reduce Charles Leclerc's lead in the Drivers' Championship.

## Key Points Discussed

### Max Verstappen's Commanding Performance

- Verstappen scored the maximum 34 points possible in the Sprint and Grand Prix, becoming the first driver to achieve this feat in the history of the format.
- Verstappen's commanding lead highlighted the importance of reliability and pace in Formula One.

### Ferrari's Hometown Disappointment

- Ferrari's homecoming at Imola was jinxed, with Leclerc settling for P3 instead of pushing for a potential victory.
- Leclerc's decision to prioritize damage limitation over a potential podium finish was questioned.

### Daniel Ricciardo's Struggles

- Daniel Ricciardo's poor start and subsequent struggles raised questions about his performance and adaptation to the McLaren car.
- Ricciardo's difficulties in overtaking and defending his position were evident throughout the race.

### George Russell's Adaptation to Mercedes

- George Russell's experience at Williams seems to be aiding his adaptation to the struggling Mercedes car.
- Russell's ability to keep Valtteri Bottas behind him despite a pit stop issue demonstrated his resilience and adaptability.

### Toto Wolff's Post-Race Apology

- Toto Wolff's post-race apology to Lewis Hamilton sparked discussions about the team's strategy and communication.
- The apology highlighted the challenges faced by Mercedes in the 2022 season.

### Impact of Colder Temperatures

- The colder temperatures at Imola influenced the performance of the cars, particularly in terms of tire wear and degradation.
- The varying track conditions added an element of strategy and unpredictability to the race.

### Underperformers of the Season

- Alfa Romeo and Haas were identified as potential underperformers of the season, given their struggles in the early races.
- The teams' inability to score significant points raised questions about their competitiveness in the 2022 season.

## Conclusion

The 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix provided insights into the strengths and weaknesses of the teams and drivers in the Formula One season. Verstappen's dominance, Ferrari's struggles, and the challenges faced by Mercedes and other teams set the stage for an intriguing and unpredictable season ahead.

[00:00.000 -> 00:22.320] But folks, ideally all homecomings in the world should be great, right?
[00:22.320 -> 00:28.880] You have the people that you love right there with you. It's a beautiful environment, you feel friendly, you feel comfortable, you feel at home
[00:28.880 -> 00:35.280] but seemingly so, it's not the case for everyone and this time out, well it was let's say a less
[00:35.280 -> 00:39.760] entertaining homecoming than we thought it would be but nevertheless Ferrari just got absolutely
[00:39.760 -> 00:44.400] whacked by Red Bull, a big one too with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez and there's a lot
[00:44.400 -> 00:49.840] more that we're going to discuss about that particular race weekend on this particular episode of the Inside Line F1
[00:49.840 -> 00:55.120] podcast and pitch to podium. A lot to talk about, how did this Ferrari implosion actually ended up
[00:55.120 -> 01:00.240] happening, what about Leclerc, should he have settled for third, just how good was Max Verstappen,
[01:00.240 -> 01:04.560] actually a few other questions as well. Daniel Ricciardo have done differently, is Russell's
[01:04.560 -> 01:06.040] experience probably one thing
[01:06.040 -> 01:07.280] getting him over Hamilton?
[01:07.280 -> 01:08.880] I know it's a bit of a crazy question,
[01:08.880 -> 01:09.920] but we shall elaborate.
[01:09.920 -> 01:11.960] And is 2022 taking the charm away
[01:11.960 -> 01:13.520] from Hamilton's other titles?
[01:13.520 -> 01:15.840] All of that and more on this very episode.
[01:15.840 -> 01:17.600] But folks, my name is Somal Arora.
[01:17.600 -> 01:20.360] I'm the host of The Driving Force on Disney Plus Hotstar.
[01:20.360 -> 01:22.280] John McAnulshaw, the former marketing here
[01:22.280 -> 01:23.840] of the Force India F1 team.
[01:23.840 -> 01:25.760] And speaking of the Force India F1 team,
[01:25.760 -> 01:28.200] you should check out our Force India mini series
[01:28.200 -> 01:30.160] that we had on the podcast just a few weeks ago.
[01:30.160 -> 01:31.600] Some amazing stories there.
[01:31.600 -> 01:34.120] But amazing stories are not what you could say
[01:34.120 -> 01:35.480] about this whole race, Kunal.
[01:35.480 -> 01:38.440] Just, OK, great stories coming into and getting out
[01:38.440 -> 01:39.240] of this race.
[01:39.240 -> 01:42.000] But as a spectacle, I think you can just use the phrase,
[01:42.000 -> 01:46.440] Imola, it's just that kind of phrase that makes you sigh at the end.
[01:47.840 -> 01:48.680] It does.
[01:48.680 -> 01:51.080] And, you know, even though it was damp,
[01:51.080 -> 01:53.520] even though we had the sprint format
[01:53.520 -> 01:56.920] and two races that would have happened,
[01:56.920 -> 01:59.920] it wasn't the most exciting of Grand Prix weekends,
[01:59.920 -> 02:02.040] I would say, especially given what Bahrain
[02:02.040 -> 02:03.880] and Saudi Arabia and the likes gave us.
[02:03.880 -> 02:08.240] But yes, lots of history history lots of homecoming as you said
[02:08.240 -> 02:13.640] not the best one for Ferrari you know the good thing is they have at least one
[02:13.640 -> 02:19.400] more chance to try and have another homecoming and you know make the Tifosi
[02:19.400 -> 02:26.860] go as crazy as they can get but we have to discuss you know maximum points maximum attack
[02:26.860 -> 02:33.820] for Max Verstappen, Sommel you know it's it's that stat each time Max Verstappen
[02:33.820 -> 02:39.320] has finished a race this season he's finished first so firstly congratulations
[02:39.320 -> 02:43.480] on finishing a race and second congratulations for finishing first and
[02:43.480 -> 02:48.560] then again another stat you know he, he scored the maximum of 34 points
[02:48.560 -> 02:51.640] that any driver could have scored this weekend,
[02:51.640 -> 02:53.560] by winning the sprint, which gave him eight points,
[02:53.560 -> 02:56.600] by then winning the Grand Prix on Sunday,
[02:56.600 -> 02:57.760] which gave him 25,
[02:57.760 -> 02:59.600] and then the fastest lap point,
[02:59.600 -> 03:01.300] which was another additional point.
[03:01.300 -> 03:04.160] So first time it's ever happened in the history
[03:04.160 -> 03:08.080] that we've had a driver scoring maximum points
[03:08.080 -> 03:09.800] on a sprint weekend, Samal.
[03:11.640 -> 03:12.480] Yeah, exactly.
[03:12.480 -> 03:14.640] But it's not the most points ever scored on a weekend
[03:14.640 -> 03:16.440] because of course, Abu Dhabi 2014,
[03:16.440 -> 03:18.640] and Hamilton winning 50 points, there's that.
[03:18.640 -> 03:20.520] But yeah, what can you say?
[03:20.520 -> 03:22.240] He was just super well along.
[03:22.240 -> 03:24.600] And I suppose that sprint race victory
[03:24.600 -> 03:25.780] helped out quite a fair bit, Kunal,
[03:25.780 -> 03:27.240] because at the end of the day, that
[03:27.240 -> 03:29.040] put him on the drier side of the grid, which
[03:29.040 -> 03:33.220] put him in a better starting slot, which eventually helped
[03:33.220 -> 03:35.400] him just cement the win eventually.
[03:35.400 -> 03:37.520] And wow, this sprint race as well,
[03:37.520 -> 03:39.220] I know we can't discuss too much of it
[03:39.220 -> 03:40.360] right now because there's so many things
[03:40.360 -> 03:41.400] from the race to discuss.
[03:41.400 -> 03:43.160] But probably the best sprint race
[03:43.160 -> 03:48.640] we've had so far, which is, of of course not a very big pool of consideration but
[03:48.640 -> 03:52.480] still entertaining on that front but about that one too I think we can
[03:52.480 -> 03:55.440] firmly say that it will have arrived here which is the best part of this year.
[03:55.440 -> 04:00.880] I would say so you know they haven't looked as dominant in the in the
[04:00.880 -> 04:03.920] previous three races that we had in the season it was always that Ferrari was
[04:03.920 -> 04:06.160] quick and Max needed to pull things out of the bag
[04:06.160 -> 04:07.760] to make things happen.
[04:07.760 -> 04:10.760] Or the margins were very, very small,
[04:10.760 -> 04:14.880] especially the two warmer weekends in Bahrain and Saudi.
[04:16.520 -> 04:19.120] In Australia, we saw that Ferrari was the quickest car
[04:19.120 -> 04:22.160] and Lewis, sorry, Charles, I'm used to saying Lewis,
[04:22.160 -> 04:25.600] but Charles was pretty much unmatched
[04:25.600 -> 04:28.840] when he was running at the front in free air at Imola.
[04:28.840 -> 04:31.360] It was Max who was pretty much unmatched
[04:31.360 -> 04:33.440] when he was running in free air as well.
[04:33.440 -> 04:36.680] And I think the one big factor
[04:36.680 -> 04:38.960] that really worked in Red Bull,
[04:38.960 -> 04:42.480] in worked in Max Verstappen's favor this weekend
[04:42.480 -> 04:44.560] was the weather, right?
[04:44.560 -> 04:49.360] So it was, of course, very warm in the Middle Eastern countries
[04:49.360 -> 04:51.720] then in Australia was a little bit cooler,
[04:51.720 -> 04:54.000] but Imola was the coldest weekend
[04:54.000 -> 04:56.420] that these 2022 cars actually ended up running
[04:56.420 -> 04:59.040] and maybe that helped Red Bull unlock
[04:59.040 -> 05:02.640] a little more performance to sort of pull away
[05:02.640 -> 05:04.400] from Ferrari this weekend.
[05:04.400 -> 05:06.680] So that's my hypothesis.
[05:08.260 -> 05:09.540] Yeah, exactly.
[05:09.540 -> 05:12.660] And it ended up pretty well for them.
[05:12.660 -> 05:14.380] It was because it was not just Max Redd.
[05:14.380 -> 05:16.140] There's also Sergio Perez,
[05:16.140 -> 05:18.700] who made the job very, very hard for Sean Leclerc,
[05:18.700 -> 05:19.880] which is I think the next thing
[05:19.880 -> 05:21.540] we can speak about essentially,
[05:21.540 -> 05:23.940] because, okay, we will get to the start
[05:23.940 -> 05:25.360] and why things just kind of crumple
[05:25.360 -> 05:29.920] for Leclerc but just on the subject of Sergio Perez the fact that he's been better this year
[05:29.920 -> 05:35.040] made it a harder task for Leclerc to get past and and that's been amazing the way Red Bull has
[05:35.040 -> 05:40.160] working now as a proper unit not lopsided anymore which is one great thing to see with with Perez
[05:40.160 -> 05:49.560] has poured him last time on with Perez has poured him this time out as what Perez has poured him this time out as well. But Leclerc, Kunal, at the end of the day, I want to begin at that last pit stop before
[05:49.560 -> 05:56.040] the spin, of course, because that kind of overcut attempt cost him quite a fair bit
[05:56.040 -> 06:00.600] because that and the 1.4-second slew of pit stop essentially cost him second place.
[06:00.600 -> 06:04.240] And then, of course, he got under pressure and caused all that and that spin right there.
[06:04.240 -> 06:07.720] But what do you reckon about that call because we just eventually saw Sergio
[06:07.720 -> 06:12.240] Perez drive past the click once his tires were warmed up what were Ferrari thinking
[06:12.240 -> 06:16.440] there were they a bit too confident that they'll be able to get past Perez very easily?
[06:16.440 -> 06:20.400] You know let's talk about Ferrari's confidence because that's an interesting point they were
[06:20.400 -> 06:28.540] the only team that came this weekend with literally no Upgrades on their cars. In fact, not literally with no upgrades on their cars
[06:29.060 -> 06:30.560] Yeah, and
[06:30.560 -> 06:32.420] Very bold again home race
[06:32.420 -> 06:40.000] They're very confident that they had the baseline package to unlock more performance from Red Bull on the other hand brought some aero bits
[06:40.200 -> 06:45.000] Like helmet Marco said also some weight saving updates
[06:45.160 -> 06:47.140] that came across as well.
[06:47.140 -> 06:48.600] So, you know, at the end of the day,
[06:48.600 -> 06:50.040] Ferrari turned around and said,
[06:50.040 -> 06:51.940] you know what, we are just going to be as confident
[06:51.940 -> 06:52.780] as we can be.
[06:52.780 -> 06:55.940] And maybe they were just caught out by the lack of
[06:55.940 -> 06:57.880] dry running that was there on Friday,
[06:57.880 -> 07:00.100] given the whole, you know, limited practice
[07:00.100 -> 07:01.720] that happened in dry, et cetera.
[07:01.720 -> 07:05.920] So it was just this choice of setup could be called that. But
[07:06.800 -> 07:12.640] you know Checo Perez, let's remember he actually got caught out in qualifying. He wasn't
[07:12.640 -> 07:18.560] he was out of place along with Carlos Sainz and both he and Carlos Sainz did very well to sort of
[07:18.560 -> 07:24.560] gain positions in the sprint and then of course Carlos Sainz had the sprint had the spin and he
[07:24.560 -> 07:26.920] was based in the gravel in the Grand Prix,
[07:26.920 -> 07:29.760] but at least Checo Perez was then able to sort of
[07:29.760 -> 07:32.200] play the rear gunman, wingman,
[07:32.200 -> 07:35.480] whatever you want to call him, to Max Verstappen.
[07:35.480 -> 07:38.520] You know, we saw him do this to Lewis Hamilton last year.
[07:38.520 -> 07:41.520] He's now doing it to Charles Leclerc this year.
[07:41.520 -> 07:43.600] And you asked a question and, you know,
[07:43.600 -> 07:48.400] something Charles alluded to as well. He he said maybe I should have just settled for third place
[07:48.400 -> 07:52.440] and taken the points right and then Mattia Binotto of course turned around
[07:52.440 -> 07:56.440] and said we don't blame our drivers for trying to push and then if sometimes you
[07:56.440 -> 08:01.720] push they make mistakes so you know it's like this that the position he was in he
[08:01.720 -> 08:05.440] could see second place he could see that there is
[08:05.440 -> 08:08.920] a chance to get ahead of Checo Perez otherwise he wouldn't have sort of made
[08:08.920 -> 08:14.760] move so when he was driving he of course wanted to go on the attack and he was on
[08:14.760 -> 08:20.400] the attack. It was only after he lost it he's like in hindsight I should have
[08:20.400 -> 08:23.800] just taken third place and taken the points that you know sort of go ahead
[08:23.800 -> 08:26.700] that come with it and and you know limit
[08:27.240 -> 08:32.780] Points loss on a weekend when you don't have the fastest car as you know we've normally seen in Formula One
[08:32.780 -> 08:39.120] So all in all you know not the best of homecoming for Ferrari implosion in the the pit stop
[08:40.220 -> 08:44.440] Even the driver the question needs to be asked you know if the car is ready
[08:44.400 -> 08:49.040] Even the driver, the question needs to be asked, you know, if the car is ready, will Charles be ready when the title battle actually comes up? Because let's
[08:49.040 -> 08:55.120] not forget, it is, if this ends up being a title challenging season for Charles, it
[08:55.120 -> 08:59.960] will be the first time in Formula One that he will actually have a car that
[08:59.960 -> 09:10.800] will allow him to fight for all the races of the season. And of course I know he's had a very successful junior career and he's extremely talented but you know
[09:10.800 -> 09:16.920] Max has of course been he's strengthened a lot with his fight from say
[09:16.920 -> 09:22.720] Lewis Hamilton last season and he's just continuing in that same lion form that
[09:22.720 -> 09:26.640] you know he's always been.
[09:31.760 -> 09:32.000] Yeah, but we have to remember that I think Max also got it done in his very first title fight.
[09:36.200 -> 09:36.400] So I just think it's this whole generation, I think they're right ready over there.
[09:41.400 -> 09:41.680] But before moving on to anything else, Kunal, I just want to touch upon one thing you said right there
[09:47.600 -> 09:52.960] about, let's say, maximizing points on a weekend where your car isn't the fastest. Was Ferrari actually not the fastest? Because in the sprint race they seem so evenly matched. Just what do you reckon?
[09:52.960 -> 09:56.000] You think it was just conditions that went wrong for them in the race or was
[09:56.000 -> 09:58.440] there a deeper problem? I think it was just the cooler conditions you know
[09:58.440 -> 10:01.760] Aston Martin turned around and said the cooler conditions are a lot to play in
[10:01.760 -> 10:08.960] our double points finish. My guess is that it was the conditions that sort of helped Red Bull a little more.
[10:09.200 -> 10:11.400] And Ferrari was just ending up graining.
[10:11.800 -> 10:14.560] You know, they suffered from a bit of graining with their tires as well.
[10:14.560 -> 10:22.480] And, you know, that's why Charles probably thought he needed to push a little too hard to try and make up some positions.
[10:22.480 -> 10:25.920] Right. And as they say, it's a 23 race calendar.
[10:25.920 -> 10:29.240] The title battle is going to last for as long as they can.
[10:29.240 -> 10:31.640] And maybe Charles will now look at it saying,
[10:31.640 -> 10:34.040] you know, on weekends when I really don't have the car
[10:34.040 -> 10:35.480] to push for things,
[10:35.480 -> 10:38.560] I should just stick as many points as I can get.
[10:39.640 -> 10:40.940] But, you know, that's where it is.
[10:40.940 -> 10:43.360] But we should talk about, you know, Carlos Sainz as well.
[10:43.360 -> 10:48.080] He drove a fantastic race in the sprint, just as the Carlos as we remember him to
[10:48.080 -> 10:52.880] be and then he of course had that issue with Daniel Ricciardo which was fairly
[10:52.880 -> 10:56.640] uncharacteristic of Ricciardo as well you know he just went over a bump which
[10:56.640 -> 11:01.040] I presume was a bit damped he got kicked and then he understeered into Carlos
[11:01.040 -> 11:11.280] Sainz so again not the kind of weekend that Ricardo would have wanted either, you know, despite being so closely matched in performance to Lando Norris.
[11:14.640 -> 11:25.040] Yeah, because McLaren ended up getting their second, wait, first podium of the year, isn't it? They didn't get a podium in Melbourne, but my goodness, has the fortunes turned around for them. But I think
[11:25.040 -> 11:29.760] it's better to talk about McLaren as a part of the midfield bunch because there's a lot of
[11:29.760 -> 11:35.200] similarities to discuss with all the other teams. But I just want to talk about, let's just say the
[11:35.200 -> 11:40.320] team we thought that would be the leading midfield team, Mercedes, but clearly Kunal, that's only true
[11:40.320 -> 11:46.720] with one car and not the other one. What's just going on there? I know there's been memes
[11:46.720 -> 11:51.520] and rumors flying around everywhere that this probably must be the most coverage any broadcaster
[11:51.520 -> 11:55.760] has ever given to any 14th place finisher. Case in point, I mean of course the driver over there is
[11:55.760 -> 12:01.600] Lewis Hamilton but it's interesting that Toto Wolff has just come out and apologized to Lewis
[12:01.600 -> 12:10.280] Hamilton saying that oh we're not giving him a car that matches his talents again very similar to what Aston Martin has done for Sebastian Vettel but except here
[12:10.440 -> 12:14.680] Their teammate is doing far better. I mean large role is not not going anywhere
[12:14.680 -> 12:19.560] Oh, at least so it seems and George Russell ended up finishing this weekend. What was it fourth?
[12:19.920 -> 12:21.920] Yeah, I think he was somewhere
[12:22.440 -> 12:24.440] He was fourth and you know, he's
[12:26.640 -> 12:32.640] Yeah, he was somewhere. He was fourth and you know he's in fact George Russell has been the only driver to have had top five finishes in all the four races of
[12:32.640 -> 12:38.080] the season and you know let's do let's let's be fair you know we need to speak
[12:38.080 -> 12:42.560] about Russell before we speak about Hamilton I think again he was exemplary
[12:42.560 -> 12:47.720] this weekend you know it's it's it's it's so exemplary this weekend you know. It's so
[12:47.720 -> 12:51.560] heartening to see you know here's a driver saying I have got a chance to
[12:51.560 -> 12:55.760] race for the Constructors Champion. Okay the reigning Constructors Champion. I'm
[12:55.760 -> 13:01.280] gonna do what it takes to get a great result and it sort of reminds me of you
[13:01.280 -> 13:07.720] know Leclerc versus Vettel at at Ferrari at the first season they sort of
[13:07.720 -> 13:11.960] partnered you know where Leclerc was just want just so excited he was driving
[13:11.960 -> 13:16.360] for Ferrari he said I'm gonna give my best come what may and Vettel on the
[13:16.360 -> 13:19.480] other hand was yeah I've been racing for Ferrari for a while I just need to make
[13:19.480 -> 13:26.640] sure I work with the team so that we are able to become a championship winning unit again,
[13:26.640 -> 13:28.760] rather than focused on race to race.
[13:28.760 -> 13:33.640] So it's probably those two, you know, difference in approaches, right?
[13:33.640 -> 13:41.120] But yeah, you know, no excuses for Hamilton not being able to get what, you know, Russell's
[13:41.120 -> 13:43.300] been getting to do with the car.
[13:43.300 -> 13:45.480] It could very well be before all the
[13:45.880 -> 13:51.520] anti-Hamilton or before all team LH fans jump on me. It could be that Lewis is
[13:52.200 -> 13:53.320] trying
[13:53.320 -> 13:57.680] different things and experimenting different setups which you know are not being made public
[13:58.120 -> 14:00.120] or may being made as public and
[14:00.280 -> 14:08.500] that's probably what's causing him to not be at the same level as George Russell and maybe that's why you know Toto Wolf's apology came and you know
[14:08.500 -> 14:12.660] I'll of course remember one question that I read on Twitter saying when was
[14:12.660 -> 14:16.860] the last time Toto Wolf apologized for Valtteri Bottas for you know giving him
[14:16.860 -> 14:28.000] a bad car when he finished 13th as well so all in you know, Russell's performance shows that Mercedes do have the third fastest car.
[14:28.000 -> 14:36.000] And if Russell's able to do it, the question should be asked why Hamilton's not able to do it.
[14:36.000 -> 14:42.000] But, Samuel, you had an interesting view on Russell's experience versus Hamilton's experience,
[14:42.000 -> 14:47.600] given Mercedes's situation right now.
[14:48.400 -> 14:54.240] Yeah, this is going to be a bit of a spicy take in my opinion but if you
[14:54.240 -> 14:57.720] think of every single year of Lewis Hamilton's career, you have kind of
[14:57.720 -> 15:02.960] realized that he's won every time. He's had his consistent record of
[15:02.960 -> 15:09.060] winning in every single season he's competed in which seems likely that will be broken this year again a sad thing if
[15:09.060 -> 15:13.080] you're a Lewis Hamilton fan but that's the point he's won in every single
[15:13.080 -> 15:18.400] Formula One season he's never ever properly had a bad car, a car that's
[15:18.400 -> 15:22.040] constantly fighting in the midfield. You could say 2013 but the team got better
[15:22.040 -> 15:26.000] later on you could say 2009 but again the team got better later on.
[15:26.000 -> 15:34.500] So in a way, Russell's kind of more experienced, at least in the more recent term, of kind of dragging a bad car to a good result.
[15:34.500 -> 15:39.000] Which is what we're going to get into see right now with Mercedes, it's a bad car that has to be dragged to good results.
[15:39.000 -> 15:45.960] And Hamilton now, it's again a bold claim, you have to look into the specifics of it that, oh, it's the understeer that's not impacting him,
[15:45.960 -> 15:47.660] or it's the bouncing, or it's the X, or it's the Y.
[15:47.660 -> 15:50.720] But in general, if you just take a wider view of it,
[15:50.720 -> 15:54.400] it seems like the experience of not having to drag a bad car
[15:54.400 -> 15:57.580] up is kind of something that's holding Lewis back
[15:57.580 -> 15:58.200] at this stage.
[15:58.200 -> 16:00.520] And again, it's a good problem to have in a way.
[16:00.520 -> 16:02.400] If you kind of look at it overall,
[16:02.400 -> 16:04.240] I wouldn't mind having a career like that.
[16:04.240 -> 16:06.960] But just that whole thing seems to be like,
[16:06.960 -> 16:08.200] Russell has an edge over there.
[16:08.200 -> 16:09.960] And clearly it's making a difference.
[16:09.960 -> 16:12.040] Even though he's having back pains and chest pains,
[16:12.040 -> 16:14.680] Russell is still out driving that car at this stage,
[16:14.680 -> 16:16.160] which we thought could happen.
[16:16.160 -> 16:18.280] It's a lot like 2007 with Alonso and Hamilton,
[16:18.280 -> 16:20.620] except here, Russell is outclassing Lewis,
[16:20.620 -> 16:23.200] but why all of that is happening again,
[16:23.200 -> 16:24.600] still seems to be a bit of a mystery,
[16:24.600 -> 16:27.480] but I've kind of got this question from all the whatsapp
[16:27.480 -> 16:31.080] groups Kunal where everyone is just relishing the downfall of Lewis Hamilton
[16:31.080 -> 16:35.760] which I don't get but again that's one thing is this kind of taking the charm
[16:35.760 -> 16:39.000] away from all of his previous championships and kind of proving that
[16:39.000 -> 16:44.080] it was the car after all well that's always been the case in Formula One most
[16:44.080 -> 16:49.080] of the times right it's always been the car first and then the driver in the car because
[16:49.080 -> 16:55.020] that's just you know very seldom have you seen you know a car that's not the
[16:55.020 -> 17:00.540] quickest not win a world championship or a car that's the quickest you know a car
[17:00.540 -> 17:09.120] that's not the quickest win a world championship you know, a card that's not the quickest, win a world championship, you know, just turned the statement around there. But, you know, this is Hamilton's longest
[17:10.520 -> 17:13.680] podium-less streak since 2013.
[17:13.680 -> 17:17.560] It's been three races since he got himself on the podium.
[17:17.600 -> 17:22.120] And, you know, this stat is of course from our tier F1 stats guru Sundaram.
[17:22.160 -> 17:29.100] You're going to see a lot more stats come up on his Twitter handle as well and Instagram page. But yeah another another stat that
[17:29.100 -> 17:34.340] we're working on was when was the last time Lewis Hamilton was actually out
[17:34.340 -> 17:40.700] finished by a teammate three consecutive races in a row. That's also something
[17:40.700 -> 17:47.400] we're going to be digging into to see to see just how good or how bad Lewis was.
[17:47.400 -> 17:48.880] But there's another stat,
[17:48.880 -> 17:51.880] which is very interesting for me, Samuel.
[17:52.800 -> 17:55.540] Charles Leclerc got the Grand Slam in Australia.
[17:56.800 -> 18:00.860] Max Verstappen got the Grand Slam at Imola.
[18:00.860 -> 18:08.360] 1979 was the last time when two drivers scored a grand slam at a grand through
[18:08.360 -> 18:12.840] through the whole season and unfortunately neither of the two drivers
[18:12.840 -> 18:18.320] actually went on to win the World Championship that season. You know if
[18:18.320 -> 18:23.940] Leclerc and Verstappen succumb to that stat right if that stat comes to for
[18:23.940 -> 18:25.120] 2022 I think we're in for a cracker of a season I'd love to see I don't care who and succumb to that stat, right? If that stat comes to for 2022,
[18:25.120 -> 18:27.100] I think we're in for a cracker of a season.
[18:27.100 -> 18:30.840] I'd love to see, I don't care who wins the title, right?
[18:30.840 -> 18:34.680] But I'd love to see who the third driver could be
[18:34.680 -> 18:36.160] in case that stat comes true.
[18:36.160 -> 18:38.280] And at the moment, wouldn't be surprised
[18:38.280 -> 18:39.880] if it's George Russell, given, you know,
[18:39.880 -> 18:41.980] what he's able to do in a Mercedes
[18:41.980 -> 18:44.240] that's clearly not quick enough, Somil.
[18:45.520 -> 18:46.800] Yeah, exactly.
[18:47.400 -> 18:53.280] But I don't know, it just seems like Mercedes will take longer, but no guesses to see as to who got that start up.
[18:53.280 -> 18:55.520] F1 stats guru, he's the master of all of that.
[18:55.520 -> 18:57.400] Check him out on all the social media handles.
[18:57.720 -> 19:03.040] And it's just been that kind of weekend where you can pick up so many interesting stats and so many interesting stories.
[19:03.360 -> 19:07.240] But there's this one question that's bobbling around in my mind, Kunal, about the midfield.
[19:09.920 -> 19:14.320] Do you reckon that this whole musical jazz is a bit too wild in a way?
[19:14.320 -> 19:19.120] And does it seem to you that Haas and Alfa Romeo are actually the biggest underperformers?
[19:19.120 -> 19:21.760] Because at least in my point of view, that's what it seems like.
[19:21.760 -> 19:23.880] Now, you might be saying, well, what are you talking about?
[19:23.880 -> 19:27.840] Port Haas finished fifth. Haas seemed to have a good weekend but they consistently seem like
[19:27.840 -> 19:32.160] they have the pace for the top 10 but they are just not able to get there all the time or at
[19:32.160 -> 19:37.600] least they're able to do so only with one car. In this case it is Valtteri Bottas and Kevin Magnussen
[19:37.600 -> 19:43.120] when he can fight. So, ideally these are cars that should be having all four of their cars in the top
[19:43.120 -> 19:46.960] 10 but there's only one or two of them at a time. So what do you reckon Kunal?
[19:46.960 -> 19:50.440] They should ideally be fighting with the McLarens but here they are.
[19:50.440 -> 19:53.880] What's your take on this lopsidedness? Do you think they're underperforming or
[19:53.880 -> 19:58.240] are they actually overdoing or is our vision partly skewed by their
[19:58.240 -> 20:01.600] performances last year? I mean by that standard they're over delivering, aren't they?
[20:01.600 -> 20:05.060] Well frankly that's a very interesting question. Are Haas and By that standard, they're over-delivering, aren't they?
[20:07.440 -> 20:10.440] Oh, well, frankly, that's a very interesting question. Are Haas and Alfa Romeo underperforming,
[20:10.440 -> 20:13.060] given that just one driver is doing a bulk of the scoring?
[20:13.060 -> 20:15.980] And the truth is, yes, that very well
[20:15.980 -> 20:20.920] could be an assessment that you've actually put spot on.
[20:20.920 -> 20:24.040] Because Mick Schumacher clearly hasn't scored a point yet.
[20:24.040 -> 20:28.480] Quan Yu Zhou scored a point on his debut race in Australia but not had
[20:28.480 -> 20:33.440] anything, not had much luck to score points after that, right? And I think
[20:33.440 -> 20:39.840] they are definitely underperforming. Mick needs a change of form or maybe a
[20:39.840 -> 20:43.280] little bit change of luck as well because he's been, last couple of races
[20:43.280 -> 20:50.320] you know after the crash in Saudi Arabia, he's been there in or thereabouts with Kevin McNussen just I think my my understanding
[20:50.320 -> 20:56.720] here is that McNussen and Botas their experience of having driven so many races in Formula One
[20:57.280 -> 21:02.560] just sort of helps them have the edge when it comes to pulling out these performances
[21:02.560 -> 21:05.400] and scoring points because because, you know,
[21:05.400 -> 21:08.080] Botas, let's remember, he scored fifth place,
[21:08.080 -> 21:10.660] which is his best finish of the season.
[21:10.660 -> 21:14.900] And that helped Alfa Romeo jump Alpine
[21:14.900 -> 21:17.680] in the Constructors' Championship, right?
[21:17.680 -> 21:19.480] And Kevin McNewson, you know,
[21:19.480 -> 21:22.940] it's such a delight to hear him speak after every session.
[21:22.940 -> 21:26.320] He's just like, oh my God, the dream is still continuing.
[21:26.320 -> 21:28.080] Oh my God, I'm back to Formula One.
[21:28.080 -> 21:29.400] I never thought that would happen.
[21:29.400 -> 21:32.440] Oh my God, the Haas is actually a lovely car.
[21:32.440 -> 21:34.080] So it's a delight.
[21:34.080 -> 21:37.240] And you know, Mick Schumacher and Nicholas Latifi
[21:37.240 -> 21:40.120] are the only two drivers to have not scored a point
[21:40.120 -> 21:41.520] this season yet.
[21:41.520 -> 21:47.120] And I'm not sure Mick would like to be on that list if Nicholas Latifi is there.
[21:47.760 -> 21:52.640] Which actually reminds me of one thing. I think Latifi has never crashed in a race
[21:52.640 -> 21:57.840] or caused a safety car as such, where Verstappen has been leading. So make of that what you will.
[21:57.840 -> 22:02.160] But yeah, it's surprising what's going on in the midfield. It's such a lovely car,
[22:02.160 -> 22:08.680] the Haas, that they are currently eighth in the standings, which again, if it's such a lovely car, they shouldn't quite be there. That's a surprising
[22:08.680 -> 22:13.560] part for me. But what's actually very, very interesting Kunal is that Aston Martin are
[22:13.560 -> 22:18.180] climbing up. Now, again, they've had a bit of an interesting weekend where both the drivers
[22:18.180 -> 22:22.880] were consistently having great pace. I just wonder what's this again, what's this musical
[22:22.880 -> 22:26.960] cheers all about? Every team is consistently facing such a big change.
[22:26.960 -> 22:28.960] And that also leads us on to McLaren.
[22:28.960 -> 22:31.440] In Bahrain, they were absolutely nowhere.
[22:31.440 -> 22:32.920] It's kind of similar in Saudi Arabia.
[22:32.920 -> 22:34.840] Suddenly, they've got a podium under their belt.
[22:34.840 -> 22:37.120] For all we know, could they be last last year?
[22:37.120 -> 22:40.400] Is this one kind of season where we have only one backmarker,
[22:40.400 -> 22:43.120] which kind of seems too exciting, doesn't it?
[22:43.120 -> 22:44.680] It seems absolutely exciting.
[22:44.680 -> 22:47.080] You know, Aston Martin, they were very bold.
[22:47.080 -> 22:50.800] They said it was the cold temperatures that helped us.
[22:50.800 -> 22:52.520] When it comes to McLaren, they believe
[22:52.520 -> 22:54.600] they made steps with their smaller upgrades
[22:54.600 -> 22:58.160] that they've sort of brought to their cars since Australia.
[22:58.160 -> 23:00.880] And it's heartening to see them in the fight as well.
[23:00.880 -> 23:04.040] It's so lovely to see Landon Norris, who, by the way,
[23:04.040 -> 23:05.120] was forced to drink
[23:05.120 -> 23:11.840] champagne on the podium by Max Verstappen. So I'm not sure that's a good example that Max is
[23:11.840 -> 23:21.200] setting there, you know, given Lando's love for milk and so on, right? So it's interesting to see
[23:21.200 -> 23:26.880] how, you know, how McLaren have bounced back and if Aston Martin are going to continue
[23:26.880 -> 23:33.920] on this trajectory as well because I think along with Red Bull, Aston Martin was the only other
[23:33.920 -> 23:41.840] team to have both cars finish in the points. Which is just tremendous considering where
[23:41.840 -> 23:48.080] their weekend was early on and when you hear the rumors that they might be building a new car, there's still a little
[23:48.080 -> 23:52.080] bit more life left in it. But track specific conditions, would you reckon Kunal? Is that
[23:52.080 -> 23:54.880] the reason why we're seeing this melee happen all the time?
[23:57.280 -> 24:01.680] Could very well be. Two cooler weekends than the ones that we had in the Middle Eastern races. So
[24:01.680 -> 24:05.940] it could be that. It could be a function that they've just
[24:05.940 -> 24:09.600] hit some sweet spot in their setup, which is helping them.
[24:09.600 -> 24:11.740] Because park busing has continued
[24:11.740 -> 24:15.540] to be a problem for some of the Mercedes customer teams,
[24:15.540 -> 24:17.260] as well as for Mercedes.
[24:17.260 -> 24:20.580] And rumors have it that the placement of the Mercedes power
[24:20.580 -> 24:24.660] unit in the gearbox, which is what Mercedes, Aston Martin,
[24:24.660 -> 24:30.400] and Williams have similarly could be where one of the you know one of the problems
[24:30.400 -> 24:34.680] lie and this is why McLaren who of course have their own gearbox and hence
[24:34.680 -> 24:39.720] their own placement are not struggling as much as the other Mercedes teams
[24:39.720 -> 24:48.480] including the Wilkes team out there. Samal? Yeah. And I have to say, not struggling yet.
[24:48.480 -> 24:52.640] Because the way the season is going, you really have no idea about what the pecking order
[24:52.640 -> 24:55.280] is going to be at the end or how things are going to play out.
[24:55.280 -> 24:58.920] But good to see McLaren get that podium, courtesy of Landon Norris.
[24:58.920 -> 25:01.160] And good to see that Daniel Ricciardo also had the pace.
[25:01.160 -> 25:04.360] Had it not been for that incident, who knows how this weekend would have gone.
[25:04.360 -> 25:08.400] But that's amazing to see that the fan favorites are kind of getting back in there.
[25:08.400 -> 25:13.320] But Kunal, I just want to talk about the DRS, about the whole overtaking kerfuffle.
[25:13.320 -> 25:17.320] I was just watching this race with one of my cousins, who was just watching his first
[25:17.320 -> 25:18.800] Formula One race.
[25:18.800 -> 25:22.400] And all the time he was just surprised at me, shouting saying, why are you not opening
[25:22.400 -> 25:23.400] the DRS?
[25:23.400 -> 25:24.600] What's happening?
[25:24.600 -> 25:28.560] And I'd given him a bit of a lowdown that F1 has spent multi-million dollars
[25:28.560 -> 25:32.280] on developing a new car that's going to allow drivers to overtake better but
[25:32.280 -> 25:36.080] what was it? There was barely any battling as such because of course we
[25:36.080 -> 25:40.880] saw the difference the cars could follow but passing was clearly a major issue.
[25:40.880 -> 25:48.040] I mean after having read all the reports you can kind of account it a little bit to firstly a the DRS not being open early enough and
[25:48.040 -> 25:52.540] secondly be maybe not having a dry enough line because there's only one
[25:52.540 -> 25:55.400] dry line and drivers wouldn't want to overtake on the wetter part of the
[25:55.400 -> 26:00.720] circuit but about the DRS Kunal, did you think F1 and the race officials left it
[26:00.720 -> 26:09.000] a bit too late or secondly do you think Formula One has a serious problem with the cars and even DRS can't conjure it with the overtaking because at least at the
[26:09.000 -> 26:15.120] end of the race that's what seemed like it. You know the strange thing Samal is during
[26:15.120 -> 26:21.600] the sprint fans were complaining of the DRS that oh my god the DRS is so powerful that
[26:21.600 -> 26:26.080] the overtake was happening like 200-300 meters before even entering the
[26:26.080 -> 26:28.720] breaking point so literally in the middle of the straight the drivers were
[26:28.720 -> 26:32.480] able to drive past especially the Red Bull drivers they have a mighty powerful
[26:32.480 -> 26:38.000] DRS signal right on Sunday it was the reverse drivers or fans are complaining
[26:38.000 -> 26:43.680] oh my god we don't have a DRS that's there you know so it's it's just depends
[26:43.680 -> 26:45.240] who you ask especially like I
[26:45.240 -> 26:49.240] mean I was again you know like you guys know I I'm pretty much always on the
[26:49.240 -> 26:54.600] radio channels of all the drivers right and Daniel Ricardo was asking for DRS to
[26:54.600 -> 27:00.180] be opened several tens of laps before it actually opened and clearly he was you
[27:00.180 -> 27:07.040] know last after his opening lap incident whereas Sebastian Vettel thought that maybe the first,
[27:07.040 -> 27:09.520] you know, the first, the entry to the first corner,
[27:09.520 -> 27:11.760] it was still a little too damp.
[27:11.760 -> 27:14.480] And hence race control couldn't really make a judgment
[27:14.480 -> 27:16.200] to open the DRS before.
[27:16.200 -> 27:18.960] So I think, you know, Formula One
[27:18.960 -> 27:23.840] would have secretly been happy to see how it would be,
[27:23.840 -> 27:28.320] should they actually not use the DRS wings on these 2022
[27:28.320 -> 27:35.680] cars because like you rightfully pointed out, you know, following was actually easy but overtaking
[27:35.680 -> 27:42.480] was probably not and maybe that's where they need to try and work on, not the overtaking part, but
[27:42.480 -> 27:45.520] can the car that's following get even
[27:45.520 -> 27:50.400] half a chance more to be in the fight? Because we saw you know Lewis Hamilton
[27:50.400 -> 27:56.480] was stuck behind Pierre Gasly for like the longest time ever and but that's of
[27:56.480 -> 28:01.360] course not just the the fact that you know DRS wasn't on but Mercedes cars
[28:01.360 -> 28:08.660] Mercedes drivers were actually you know needing to lift on the straight because of extreme purposing and that's why they could be close
[28:08.660 -> 28:13.260] enough on the straights but not have the straight line speed advantage to sort of
[28:13.260 -> 28:18.920] make an overtake happen and still sticking to Mercedes I know we
[28:18.920 -> 28:22.660] spoke about George Russell earlier but one other thing which really stood out
[28:22.660 -> 28:25.320] was Mercedes's pit adjuster
[28:25.320 -> 28:30.400] did not work for George Russell when he made the pit stop so he actually drove a
[28:30.400 -> 28:36.960] dry race on a wet setup and or a wet balance as they would call it right and
[28:36.960 -> 28:41.800] he still managed to keep Valtteri Bottas behind him throughout the race Samuel
[28:41.800 -> 28:46.960] yeah you know truth truth be told, I've realized that every time we
[28:46.960 -> 28:51.360] give a rating, every time somebody gives a rating, there are lots of biases that sort of
[28:51.360 -> 28:57.760] creep in time and time again. But I would say the sprint was definitely more fun, lots of
[28:57.760 -> 29:06.320] aggression, lots of overtaking that happened. The race was entertaining as long as you didn't look at Max Verstappen and the cushion he had at the front.
[29:06.320 -> 29:11.400] You know, Carlos, sorry, Charles Leclerc versus Perez was good.
[29:11.400 -> 29:12.880] The midfield battle was good.
[29:12.880 -> 29:16.800] Would the Mercedes cars actually get overtaken or would they overtake?
[29:16.800 -> 29:18.480] That was always a question as well.
[29:18.480 -> 29:28.160] So I would say yes, the Grand Prix was not as exciting, but like Australia, this is just as exciting
[29:28.160 -> 29:30.800] a boring race could probably get,
[29:30.800 -> 29:33.560] but Landon Aurelis on the podium
[29:33.560 -> 29:35.660] always makes for a cheerful race at least.
[29:36.760 -> None] Bye-bye. you