P1 with Matt and Tommy - Australian GP Race Review

Episode Date: March 16, 2025

Some tricky conditions led to some absolute chaos out in Australia, with spins and shunts everywhere! Let's talk about who silenced the doubters and who really struggled... You can listen to an extended version of every 2025 Race Review podcast over on our Patreon - including this one! You'll also get every P1 episode ad-free, early access to live tickets and merch, and access to our Discord server where you can chat with us and other F1 fans! Click here to sign up now!Follow us on socials! You can find us on Twitter, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and TikTok. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello everybody and welcome back to the P1 podcast. The Formula One season has happened. It started. Round one, done, dusted, sealed. And we might be in for a big old chat today, Tommy, because a lot of things happened. It was the biggest zero and 10 out of 10 race combined. There were moments of absolute.

brilliant intensity, changeable conditions and there were moments where we were sat behind the safety car for 15 laps. Yeah. It was one or the other. It really was.

It was either only nothing's happening or everything's happening and nothing in between basically. But what a race, what a way to start the season, it really does. You know, we've been up

since like, what, half three here in the UK. And that is the kind of old school season opener at Albert Park that I remember watching as a kid where all the drivers just kind of forget how to drive and it's just utter chaos and I loved it. It was brilliant. Oh, blessed. I don't think they forgot how to drive.

I was obviously joking. The trickiest conditions to start the season cars they haven't actually driven in the wet, just to cover that off for those that don't have sarcasm detectors. Yeah, true. So yes, before we dive into everything, first and foremost, I want to say a big shout out to each and every one of you around the world, we're lucky enough to have listeners and watchers globally because F1 is a global sport.

For those of you that watch these qualifying in races at ridiculous hours, I am in awe of your commitment to this sport because I am finished. I'm not just because Froy were terrible. Oh, sorry, sorry. We're not even two minutes in. Jesus, I'm emotionally vulnerable today, Tommy. you mind. That was my first thing to say. Big shout out to all of you. And also to our wonderful P1 patrons. So this year, at the end of this and every race review podcast, we're doing an

extra, an extra premium waffle bit, right? So we'll have our normal stuff as normal. And then we'll have some more waffly, patrony goodness. Plenty to talk about. So if you want to come join our Patreon, support myself and Tommy on this adventure. Then please do. You get that. And also, you get loads of other things. If you're a patron. a few of those being ad-free listening, which I know a lot of you would be very interested about. You've also got early access to tickets, you've got access to the Discord, etc, etc.

So if you want to go and join us on Patreon, then please do. Now, Tommy, you are going to kick off the first most memorable moment of the season. Indeed. And that was my most memorable moment was just McLaren versus Max. And yeah, I was getting Ham Bot Verr vibes from that at the time. start the season where we were kind of back to the days of one team that were absolutely mighty and looked incredibly quick and then Max kind of hanging on somehow staying in the mix and it was like we said there were moments where we kind of went oh not really a lot's

happening it's really hard to overtake but then also just chaos and um you know the the people that the two drivers that finished one two in the race very different kind of races between them but both showed you know absolutely brilliant racecraft and driving because I think Lando has been one of those drivers that a lot of people and maybe fairly have kind of criticised

that he doesn't have what it takes to be a world champion cracks under pressure messes up his starts all the time things like that and here we have you know Lando that race through everything at him and he's still delivered and then Max did exactly what we said in the predictions of you can't count him out because even if his car has a massive deficit, he will be there.

And how in that car he has finished half a second off winning that race is actually utterly insane. Tommy, I was so close to pulling my smug face for all of those that said that we were finished for predicting Max Must happen to be anywhere near the front in the fourth. fastest car. And here we were. But look, very similar. Both McClarons and Max Verstappen were miles clear of the rest of the field. They were so quick in those conditions in the dry. McLaren clearly have a big advantage. But kind of tapping into the Lando Norris Drive, let's get into the first question from P1 Patreon member Alan Enderpe. Could this truly be Norris's year based on that drive? Absolute cinema. in short, yes, in long, yes, yes, because he's got a very quick car.

We saw glimpses of how quick it is in the dry during the race, but also he did phenomenally well today. And I was very complimentary of him on my social media. And of course, you get people that question it and go, yeah, but he made that mistake. sorry, did we, did we watch that race? Because someone makes a mistake from the lead, which also his teammate does exactly the same mistake behind, shows that they were caught out on those hard tires.

Max behind them, of course, on grippier, medium tires. I know that some people can't fathom the fact that dries have, you know, softer compounds and therefore the softer of the compounds will do better in wet conditions because it maintains the heat better. So Max obviously didn't go off the track. both the McLaren's did. But aside from that one moment, which changed Oscar Piastri's race completely,

didn't change Lando Norris's much. It was a phenomenal drive from Lando Norris. You have to take into account our, I guess, expectations of him coming into this season, right? You go from last year, we talk about the mistakes that crept in, both from his side and also from the team, to now the first race of the season,

pressure on him. he had safety cars to deal with, he had changeable conditions. He was the lead driver throughout, which is difficult in itself. George Russell said it beautifully finishing in third. He was hugely complimentary of Lando Norris because it is not easy to win a race like that. You can't gamble like everyone else, can you? You can't, even though Lando at one point was like, why don't we change onto the inters? The rain hasn't come yet, Lando.

But yeah, we'll get into the communication and that side of things as well. It very much, and we said this prior to the first. first race of season. This can and should and may well be Lando Norris's year. And this is a great way to start by not just winning the race, but having one over on Max for Stappen. Having one over on Max and of course we'll get into his teammate. But in dry conditions, it really does, if that pace stays, of course we saw last year, Red Bull starting off great, other teams catching up, whether that happens again, I don't know. it could be just you know the McLaren's running away with it

particularly at the start of the season because in dry conditions Max had no answer for them and I think that you know you can say that Lando went off and I'm sure he had Russia flashbacks when it looked like kind of everything was going to work for him and he was going to win the race and then when he pitted and was down in what like 8th or 9th I think it was or something. He must have been like, how has this race got away from me? Because, you know,

he's there thinking, we thought, oh, Max is staying out. I'm going to win, potentially win the race here. This could, this could work. And on a normal dry race, you know, that was the easiest McLaren won two. But it threw everything at him and he did an amazing job. You know, made the start, which has been one of his weakest moments, really thought that Piastri would kind of send it on him at the start. Didn't happen. And yeah, resisted that pressure. He's going to be very difficult to beat this year with the, one with the car advantage he's

got, but he's clearly, he said that I've come into the season feeling the best I ever have. And a lot of people question that whether he'd have enough. I think that first race showed, yes, he can resist that, that pressure now because I was a little bit concerned that the last race last year where he brilliantly won in Abu Dhabi was a kind of oh the pressure's off now but can you do it when the pressure's on and he and he has so yeah it was a great drive from Lando it certainly was next question p1 patron member mz t why hire two number one drivers on long term contracts if you're going to do team orders in race one now of course this is a

contentious subject we were up in arms where when we were watching on our watch along, which is on YouTube and Twitch nowadays, we were not happy to hear that essentially, Oscar Piastri was quicker in a large chunk of that race, got right up behind Lando, whole position, we want to wait until the transition to dries. Wait, you can't overtake, by the way,

because of the dry line. Exactly. So what they, McLaren were, look, it's funny, right, last year, we were saying they should do exactly what they did today. We were criticizing them for very wishy-washy papyrals. You know, they can race, they're free to race, they're not ready, whatever. Today they did the right thing as a team to secure what should have been a one-two and then to not crash.

And now we're on the other side as a fan going, oh, but we wanted to see side-by-side action. We wanted Oscar to have a go. Now, it is interesting, right, because they are putting out the message of, well they're free to race as long as they're clean and tidy Oscar gets up behind Lando no we actually Immediately as well didn't even give him a chance

The second he got within DRS And you could see that affected Oscar Piastri's flow As soon as that happened He made a small mistake And then he was two and a half three seconds back And then all of a sudden You are free to race now guys You can race as hard as you want from three seconds apart

It was I don't know if Obviously the team radios do get played at slightly off times compared to when it actually happens. But if I was Oscar Piastri, at my home race trying to fight for the win, I'd be a little bit peeved. If he's been told coming into the race, yeah, you're free to go wheel to will to will as long as it's clean, to then be told, are actually changeable conditions, let's wait until it's dry and slippery and you're on dry tires and there's no way to overtake.

I'd be incredibly annoyed. You know, Oscar Piastri raised Lando Norris. when Lando was the only one that had a sniff of the championship last year when it went into Monza. So why you can't race now when it's the first race of the season, it's easy to say at this stage because, you know, you can't count that the form won't change. But Oscar Piastri is probably thinking, and I'm sure a lot of people watching this podcast are probably thinking this could end up being a two-horse race between the two McLaren drivers if their pace continues

because however good Max was today, he can't make up that deficit of that car at the moment, as it is at the moment. They are so, so quick. So Oscar Piastri signs a new contract, is it his home Grand Prix, it's a record attendance, you know, it's absolute Piastri mania,

and he has done the hard work of getting past Vastappen, going after his teammate, about to, you know, potentially make a move and try and win the Grand Prix. And to get that radio message must have been absolutely gutting. And you're right, it kind of disrupts people's flow. We've seen it so many times where a driver can kind of go do metronomic laps and as soon as they slow down a bit, that's where they stick it in the wall. So gutted for Piastri because, yeah, should have could have easily won that race.

It would have been great to see them battling. And I'm sure, well, I'm sure Max would have loved to see him battling as well because it would have opened the door for him. Next question comes in from P1 Patreon member Hayes Ash. Is there an Aussie curse in Australia? Now, I'm not usually won for curses because the last time we spoke about curses, Charlotte Claire broke that one. You know, whatever curse he had around Monaco.

He won last year, so whatever. But this one, well, they haven't actually had an Australian on the podium since 1980. well, since the start of the Australian Grand Prix in 1985. It's been a Formula One race, yeah. Which is insane when you think of all the top Australian drivers. Mark Weber, Daniel Ricardo. So you've had, and Oscar Piastri, you've had three Australians in basically championship or top winning cars

for years. And not only is it not a race win, it's not even a podium. It's quite insane, actually. And Oscar Piastri, you think that's the easiest post. podium of kind of ever because McLaren were so clear and the top three were so clear. Yeah, I feel really sorry for the Aussie fans because I saw some videos, some fan videos of people in the grandstands and the cheers that Oscar Piastri was getting just for literally being out on track.

It sounded like it was an amazing atmosphere, only for obviously that thing to happen to Oscar, which, look, he did the same mistake as Lando, went slightly wider than his teammate, Of course, it's caught them out. It's raining. It's difficult out there. They're on hard tires. But yeah, it's, that should have just been a spin and he carries on. But it was a beach on grass, which then meant he had to reverse it out.

And it just, it was painful to watch. Because up until that point, and Oscar said it very, quite rightly after, after the race and interviews, that he had a really strong race, apart from that one tiny area. but that's the brutal nature of Formula One. You can have the most perfect race and you make one small mistake and it's all over. What I will say for Oscar Piastri's hopes and dreams

for the rest of the season is that he's kind of proved himself in a wet situation against his teammate where he was quicker. He was quicker, drove up to the back of him, then of course that whole team order shenanigans happened. But he can take a lot of confidence out of today And this, to me, at this stage, it might be too early to say, because we haven't really seen a dry race as well, but it felt like another step up for Oscar Piastri at the start of this year to really start taking it to Lando.

Don't forget he's only had two full seasons in Formula One. So, I think he will recover quickly. It's good to have China next weekend. He can just get back out on track and deliver again. But I was thoroughly impressed with Oscar up until the small but fatal error. Yeah, I was as well. It was actually gutting, listening to his interview after the race because he said, you know, I drove an amazing race apart from one corner.

And it cussed me, but that is the brutality of Formula One. It would, we won't know until we get to the end of the season and how this season plays out. But one thing that could, could end up being quite interesting is I think he obviously went off and kind of got beached almost. a lot of drivers would have just jumped out the car then and probably kicked the car and stormed down the pit lane. The fact that he managed to reverse the car out, get back onto the lead lap, and then yes, it was only a very small recovery drive,

but he grabbed some points. And I think that if we are going to have a two horse race between the two McLarence, it might be incredibly far-fetched, but it could also be, you never know, that could actually be quite a crucial moment that he had the kind of audacity to do that

because we lauded Hamilton when he did it at Imla that year in 2021 when other drivers would have just booted the throttle, beats themselves in the gravel, and he actually reversed out, got back onto the track and then Fortune favoured him. So you never know what those two points could be, but he's going to be absolutely gutted

of course, but I think he drove a superb race and we need a good Oscar Piastri this year to make this championship good because it'd be fascinating and also McLaren to let them race maybe maybe a few more dry races and they realize they are 30 seconds ahead every single race they might start doing a Mercedes and going okay you can fight but yeah it's a shame for how it went for Oscar gutted for him I would love to be a fly on the wall in the McLaren

sort of debrief room when Mark Weber walked in Mark Weber yeah and questions the call of hold position. I can imagine he was absolutely fuming at that point. Do you reckon he had the dog looking at the cupcakes where the flashing of multi-21 and not bad for a number two driver came up? Oh gosh. But yeah, I hope Oscar can really take it to Lando and it was a very promising sign from this first race.

Right, moving away from McLaren now. Next question. Mania 64421. Did Red Bull make a mistake for staying out for two more laps? In hindsight, yes. But also, I think a lot of us sat there and went, it's Maxf's happened about to win by over 15 seconds. There was clearly a question mark over the weather.

Some teams were reporting one lap of rain, some were two, some were more than that. They didn't really know the intensity. Some were saying class three, class two. It's not a complete and utter certainty when the rain's going to hit, and how bad it's going to be. I think that, you know, when you look back at that, the play would have been Max do that additional lap where the McLaren's, quite frankly, s the bed,

because they both went off the track and were like, bit, box, box. And that was the right decision for Red Bull, because of course they've seen that and gone, well, they're going to panic and go straight in the pits. I need to do something different. I'm on the medium tires, softer. Lando's going to come out on fresh inters,

but he's still going to have to build confidence and temperature in those tires. So in hindsight, I think maybe that next lap was the play because Max said after the race, yeah, that first lap was not too bad. So maybe that push would have at least had them quite close to being side by side, had Max had a good pit stop. Alas, they went for the hero play,

which they're not the only team to have tried the hero play. Good old Ferrari. We'll get on to them in a bit. We will. But, yeah, Rebel tried something. They rolled the dice. They still finished second. So yes, it was a mistake,

but it was something that they wanted to win the race and they're not here to finish second. So it's a small mistake, but one that was easily done. Exactly. You look like a hero when it pays off and you look like an idiot when it doesn't. Thankfully for them, well, they didn't look like idiots because Max kept it on the road,

came out, lost a few places and then of course, we'll get onto them in a minute, but when the ass came out the pits and was in front of Vestappen, I thought that would ruin Max's chances and almost crashed into him at one point. But yeah, Vestappen, maybe if he'd even pitted with the McLaren's, would we have seen a pit stop race? Would Max have been the one that got his temperature up quicker? And maybe he would have had an opportunity to go for it then.

but I think Red Bull well not Red Bull Max Verstappen because Lawson obviously ended in the wall are going to be incredibly happy with that race that is the ultimate damage limitation

for a race like that they'd have loved to have got the win but for McLaren to have that advantage and Vostappan be that close is a great kind of moment for them to just bag a load of points because you never know. I think that was a perfect race. I know it was rain, but even when you've got that

car advantage, you just never know what Formula One's going to throw up sometimes. So you just need to be there in the mix. And as well, I think it's worth reminding people that just because McLaren have a rocket ship in the dry does not mean they also have a rocket ship in the conditions that we've seen today. I think they obviously still have a very fast car. Don't get me wrong. But Lando and Oscar were two very talented drivers. They're very, very quick, and they were both similarly paced. So it is just the great leveller where those three, Max obviously, that red ball is such an unknown quantity.

I don't know really where to label it. Again, I wish he had a good teammate. You got Lawson being lapped and then Max is battling for the win. But it was still, yeah, it brought them together. It was great to watch, but I don't, there's no, the McLaren does not have the same advantage in the wet that it does in the dry. It's just, it's, it's, it's, you don't see that in Formula One. It always brings them closer together. Okay, let's move away now from Tommy's most memorable moment and go to my most memorable moment,

which is really fun to do alliteration like that at this time in the morning. Mine is, the few minutes I thought Ferrari were going to get a one to. Tommy, take me back. Because, honestly, those I don't even know if it was a few minutes maybe 30 seconds there was about 30 seconds

I believed Ferrari had pulled the greatest master stroke of all time because they stayed out on hards everyone else had Pitt Hamilton was leading ahead of Charlotte Claire

the safety car comes out just as Lando's got through on I think one of the Ferraris or maybe both of them I can't remember yeah there was still a point where I went hold on a second

Because they thought it would still dry out. If this rain shower goes away, the sun pokes through, we're still behind the safety car, because apparently the FIA don't bring the safety car in in any less than seven laps is what we saw today. We could be cooking right now where the inters aren't going to work. I was in Dreamland, slightly delusional. How could I think that the track would dry out that quickly?

I don't know, but I'm not there. I can't really see exactly how wet it is. But there was a point where I went, there could be a good result on the cards. alas, when I saw both the drivers pitted on the same lap after everyone had pit and the safety car was out, devastated is not the word to even closely

describe what I was feeling at the time. But we've still got some points. It's really close between us and Kik Salber in the constructors. Of course, Kiksalba getting more points than Ferrari in the first race of the season is not something I ever thought I would say. But it's a close run fight. You know, Nika Holkenberg is a young, upcoming talent. And, you know, Ferrari on the back foot, they're the ninth fastest car.

So they've done really well today to score a few points. Yeah, you're hoping for that one, two, and this is our year. And then you're also locked in that battle with Stroll and Holcomberg for the best of the rest. I can make the jokes because it's fine. Like, I can sort of manage it. That moment of just chaos where it absolutely chucked it down. we'd seen the most chaos already with rookie spinning out, a bit of rain, you know, that kind of moment. But then for the rain to arrive like it did, both McLaren skate off the road,

Oscar obviously goes off completely. I thought Yuki Sanoda was going to win at one point. He was up in second and then he finished 12th. And it just shows how difficult it is. Ferrari will get roasted obviously for their strategies and things like that. But it is such hero to zero stuff and you, Ferrari would have looked like absolute geniuses if it had worked. So would Red Bull or whatever. You know, it's so easy in those moments to look like an idiot. Look at, look at kind of Russia. And as an example for Lando, I'm sure I was having flashbacks to that race thinking, I'm leading the whole way and then he's down in seventh. Oh, Max is going to win. All the

you know, the Ferraris are ahead of me, Yuki Sonodas up there, what's going to happen? And it was just utter carnage. Liam Lawson was like six at one point when they thought he was a lap down. And then, oh my word, it was utterly insane. Those kind of 10 minutes of those three laps where it was chucking it down and people on drys

was just, well, it was absolute cinema. It was unbelievable. And that's the kind of moment in Formula One. where you just, it's just, you're just transfixed and you can't, you don't know where to look. It was unbelievable. It really was, as I say, 30 seconds of joy. The rest of it was pure pain. But that, that was a moment where we thought the whole race had turned on its head.

But yeah, it didn't. It kind of figured itself out, didn't it in the end? Speaking of Ferrari, continuing on that trend. Question from P1 Patreon member, Rebecca. How long will it take for Lewis and his engineers? to get onto the same page. It was quite difficult listening. I'm not going to lie to you.

I don't know if it's just a bit of, you know, translation or whatever going on. Language barrier. Lewis Hamilton said several times, I know about K1, leave me to it. I will press it when I'm ready. And then he's like, K1, push. He's like, it was just, oh no.

you can tell Lewis was like, I'm really enjoying my first race at Ferrari right now. Like welcome to Ferrari Lewis Hamilton. Is it still worth it

now? I've seen so many memes of like, you know, they've been posting so many aura pictures. They forgot to build the car and they forgot to learn how to do strategy

and this, that and the other. It's not the best weekend for Ferrari by any stretch of the imagination. But yeah, for Lewis Hamilton, it was a race,

it was a very quiet, didn't really see him kind of race for Hamilton, which is not what you expect. Apart from the directors that love to show him every second, even when we're getting in battle for the lead. That's true. But he was mainly behind, I think, Albon for quite a long time. But it wasn't quite the drive that we expect from Hamilton in wet conditions. We've seen many amazing drives from him, but him just figuring out the Ferrari is clearly something that I hope won't be used as an excuse for, you know, the whole season in terms of if he doesn't get up to speed with Charlotte-Claura and stuff like that. But for now, you have to give him the benefit of

the doubt that, yes, he's learning how a Ferrari power unit works, all the different buttons. He's an older driver as well, so you have to say on the side of science that it's not as easy to change muscle memory and this, that and the other. But it was a lackluster performance from both Ferraris, really. Yeah, the question about Lewis and his engineer, of course, he couldn't bring or hasn't but probably couldn't bring bono over with him and that is going to take some getting used to because we know the Ferrari drivers and their team radio sometimes can be a bit kind of spicy and where the drivers are just kind of getting annoyed at the engineers that seem quite calm and saying ridiculous things now whether that is you do kind of feel sorry for them a little bit that they have to speak in English or when the whole team were just constantly speaking in Italian and for essentially our own entertainment

and the broadcast, they have to speak in not their first language. So sometimes they say ridiculous things that happened with Shal as well. But Hamilton clearly doesn't have, you build up your relationship with your engineer over a number of years and look at that amazing relationship

Hamilton had with Bono. Fustappan's had it with GP that we always mention about GP being such a good kind of, he knows how to get the best out of Max Verstappen, when he needs to interject, when he needs to calm him down, when he needs to just let him do his thing. And that's going to be tough for Ferrari because they don't have that chemistry yet. And as much as Hamilton's kind of said, you know, I could go on for ages. I want to go on for ages. It doesn't have the huge amount of time left kind of in his career, you'd think.

So it's going to be a difficult one to kind of, yeah, build that relationship. And that is the kind of thing that I think was probably going to be one of the most difficult things. And it came out there in kind of full force. You know, when you've got a radio compilation of Hamilton getting sassy with his race engineer on race, one. It's not a good look. New. So hopefully that relationship improves. I'm sure there will be a lot of feedback from Hamilton about

how they can improve that dialogue because, yeah, it was pretty poor, to be honest with you. Next question, and we're still on the topic of Ferrari, sadly. P1, Patreon member, Breyan. Was it wetter in Charles's seat or on track? That was, and you just slightly touched upon it, Tommy,

just what when you think that the Ferrari radio can't get any more wild meme worthy charl thinks that there's a leakage in the car and then they're like what leakage is like my seat it's full of water and then it's just a pause and it must be the water let's add that to the words of wisdom oh my god not even we're going to check i love that as well because charl is absolutely aware of the memes. There is no way he would say that line about,

let's add that to the words of wisdom if he does not know just how meme worthy the Ferrari team radios are. So it's, I think Charles just learned to just accept it, be like, well, I've reported the issue. They've come back to me and said, it must be the water,

which is if you read between the lines, is we've looked at the data and there's no problem. So at least they understand each other in some ways. True. Yeah, so mean whether you could tell very much that Charles was used to that kind of thing. I could make a joke back about how ridiculous a situation was where Lewis kind of, yeah, whether Lewis in a few years time goes. Oh, there's one for the compilation video.

I don't know, but yeah, it's just ridiculous from Ferrari to have those kind of things play out. It's not a good look for them, is it? No, it is not. And sadly, there's another question. question about Ferrari. P1Patry member danyung. With Ferrari

now being at the bottom of Formula B as if you've included this question. Do you think LeCler wishes he was in Williams now? Oh my God. I didn't even think about that

as a question. I mean the Constructed standings isn't good reading if you are a Ferrari fan when you compare it to Carlos Sines his team in the Williams. I'm not

This question does This question does not deserve an answer Because no Of course not Dan Young Thank you for being a P1 Patreon But screw you I know you've included that

Just to get a reaction Yeah that's all we needed But no We are checking Did I'm just thinking of like the alternative Because obviously is like Did Ferrari fire the wrong driver Did Ferrari fire the wrong driver

Did Lecler choose the wrong team Yeah Did Williams I don't know Anyway Yeah, good times. Good times. Yeah, Williams, I mean, we haven't mentioned science yet.

An absolute shocking debut from him to spin off and bin it kind of very early on. It was behind the safety car, wasn't it? Yeah, behind the safety car. Tastrous debut for him, so it could be worse. But joking aside of this question, Ferrari, yes, you know, they're behind. Saubra in the championship and were behind Williams on the road and stuff, they are still very much in Formula A, or if you count Formula A being with McLaren now,

in those top four teams still, in normal conditions, they're still going to be locking out the top eight positions, just hopefully not seventh and eighth all the time. Next question, and we now move away, but it's a Ferrari powered car. B-Rampage 26. What in the world were Hasse doing? We were both of very similar opinions of this one, weren't we, Tommy?

Where Hasse were just driving around at the back as if it was a few years ago when they had Mazurpin and Schumacher. It felt like no pace. We thought they were just doing their own thing at testing. Yeah, they're not doing fast runs. Turns out they had no fast runs in them because they are quite possibly the slowest car in the dry at the moment. why on earth and it doesn't I don't think it will get that much

spotlight because it was Hassner at the back but they were a lap down they get lucky with the safety car they're on inters they stay out on inters and then box the drivers

as they know the rain is coming insane onto dry tires you've committed at that point it makes absolutely no sense you kind of make your bed and lie in it at that point and just risk it because you last or you last. So why not be last and potentially you leapfrog through the field and have an amazing kind of performance?

Because they almost got put back a lap down again. Olly Bearman was racing Max at the end of the pits and almost crashed into the side of him. It was just such ridiculous call. Yeah, that was so weird. Unlapping himself, then pitting to come back into the safety car queue, as you say, nearly crashing into Macs then having to be let through again, it was... I can't comprehend it, because if they'd have been on the inters, how long was it? They'd have had what, one lap, two laps on inters where...

It was worth the risk, because in the dry, copying everyone else in the dry their slowest. So what is the point? Obviously, go for something different. But when you've committed that far to do that gamble where you're at the back of the pack on intermediates when it's about to raid and you are latched onto the back of the pack for the safety car restart, why base? literally is the safety car's about to go in. Why change your mind then?

Absolutely insane. Or split the strategy. Don't do both of them. Why would you not take a risk with Ocon or something? Do you know what I mean? Like, you've got two cars in the race. Split the strategy. Try and do something crazy.

Because like Albin's finished fourth in a Williams. Yuki Sanoda was up in second. That was a great opportunity to do something. Like Niko Holcombberg's finished seventh and got massive points for Kicks Alba. That is the opportunity that you need to be grabbing, basically. I think Hasse just are locked into having disasters at Australia.

They just love having a disaster at Australia. They're like, no, roll out another one. We need to do it. It has to be nice one. Okay, next question. Saka is goat. Were people disrespecting Albon before the season? Yes.

Sorry. We were. Yeah. I think, but a lot of people were. Of course it is one race. Carlos made a mistake. Albon performed brilliantly. But I don't think Alex could do any more than what he's done this weekend to silence the critics.

Everyone believed, or more sort of importantly, they just, we just didn't know the quantity that is Alex Albon against a decent teammate, barring when he went to Red Bull, obviously. But that is a disaster, as we know from everybody that's gone into that second. seat. We didn't know. And this is a performance that will be such a confidence boost for Albon. I'm sure Alex himself, he's aware. He knows what's going on on social media. He knows what people are probably questioning. He gets it in the media. And to not be the driver that makes the mistake, had it been the other way around, Carlos Sines finishes fourth, Albon in the wall, it's going completely the other way. Oh my God, is Alex Alba? Alex is finished. Yeah. Exactly. So, phenomenal job. That's all I've got to say for Alex. And I really hope for his sake,

he continues on that run of form because we've seen it in the past. We thought that the Williams was just a rocket ship. But in those conditions, it's more about the driver. Amazing performance from Melbourne. And yeah, to do it in those tricky conditions, when his teammates, the one that skated off the road and crashed, it was so good from from Alburn to be up there because Williams looked like they had good pace anyway. So secretly we're probably hoping for a normal dry race that they could maximize the fact that they are probably top of the midfield. But instead, those chaotic races are the ones that we've seen kind of bike Williams in the past

look at Brazil where Albin didn't even start the race. And that was just an unbelievable driver room. Scored that many points is going to be huge for Williams. I do find it always disappointing when you are one place away from like a midfield podium because it's just, it's fourth to third is such a leap because you get to see him on the podium and it's something really cool. Not that it's a forgotten, you know, drive, but it just would have been so great to see him up there on the podium as well.

but amazing job from from Alex and definitely doubted um sorry silenced critics me being one of them I thought you know it's early days it's only one race but I I the fact that he did it in qualifying as well I think is a key point it wasn't just that science spun off and Alex got the result he he beat Carlos in in a dry qualifying as well so great great weekend great start to the year for Alex, and a great start to the year for a Mercedes driver as well. At Olly Bearboy comes in with Kimmy Antonelli. What a legendary drive from a rookie in such a chaotic debut race. Yeah, really, really good from Kimmy. A little bit lucky at one point. Dipped a wheel, didn't he and had a nice little spin, which I think a lot of people forget because there was

so much that went on. But he picked himself back up to start so low down in 16th position and finished fifth. It was fourth on the road, but he got a five-second penalty. He was closing in on George a little bit at the end as well. And we're thinking, oh my goodness gracious me, what's going on here? So to see that kind of performance as a debut ton, I think Tommy's been cooking. Tommy's been, Tommy, I regret everything. Welcome on the hype train everyone.

I regret everything. Can't believe I put him P7 in the championship. He's going to win it all. He's going to win it all. It's a really strong drive from Kimmy. Obviously, a lot of safety cover. in there as well. So on pure pace, he's not finishing two seconds behind George Russell, in my opinion. But he made the most of those restarts and to gain a lot of positions.

And to just keep it out the wall as a rookie was apparently very, very hard. And even non-Rookies were making mistakes in crashing. So big shout out to Kimmy Antonelli. I can't wait to see what he can do moving forward. But what a confidence builder for him. Definitely. That was the kind of race that I thought, you know, and Ellie would, he's been good in wet conditions and, you know, delivered some amazing drives. But for him to make it through the field and get a P5, almost a P4 without the penalty and be on the back of his teammate when he started to solo down is absolutely insane. It was an amazing drive from him, like you say, when other rookies and even veterans were

skating off the road and having incidents. it's a massive confidence boost because I think he could have easily, if we'd have had a dry race and it'd been difficult to overtake, or even if he had a crash and gone off again, it's very easy to spiral when you've had that bad qualifying, the pressure, oh, he's come in too early. And he's kind of gone in, had that debut race that's kind of proved everyone, no, I can do this and put in a

good performance and his confidence will be sky high going into China. So I'm fully expecting him to go absolutely ham in qualifying and be drifting it around every single corner and then either getting a great result or over pushing the car. But what a performance? Next question. People on Patreon, home. Can we just talk about Anthony Hamilton comforting Hajar after losing it just two corners into the formation lap?

Pure class from him in such a brutal moment. It was. It's not something, to be fair, when you actually watch the video, Hajar basically walks into Anthony Hamilton because he's so busy, obviously, very emotional looking down, kind of clatters into him,

and then Anthony's like, then just sort of stabling him and then stabilising him and then just chatting away. And it's so good to see that kind of thing in sport. One thing didn't enjoy so much was filming him for what felt like five minutes of just him,

obviously being emotional. emotional and crying. It's all well and good showing a bit of that and him being upset by the track. But just show us the replays. You know, you don't need to show all of that. It's slightly uncomfortable viewing. But at the same time, back to Anthony Hamilton, that will mean so much to Hadjar. Because of course, Lewis Hamilton is his hero, his idol, and to have his dad come up and give him some words of wisdom, as much as in the moment, I'm sure it would have been just a massive daze. And I don't really know what's going on, like a flashbang has just gone off.

I'm sure in the coming weeks, that will be something to reflect on an upcoming days. Small things like this, we're all humans at the end of the day, can go a long way, especially for a rookie who's, who's, yeah, inexperienced. It would have meant so much to him because,

yeah, he is such a Hamilton fanboy. If you watch that rookie video, when he made his debut in F1 in a practice session, he said, I want to wave to Lewis. And then when he shook his head, when they did the big team photo as well. He was literally like bowing

like he was meeting royalty. He loves Lewis Hamilton. So for Anthony Hamilton to kind of like you say, kind of comfort him in that moment it's gutting for him because he was the star

rookie, if you like, from qualifying. He'd done the best job out of the rookies. And that is a race that's absolutely brutal. But I think he's going to, in a way it almost helps that other people have skated off the road. And it kind of, it masks that embarrassment and kind of difficult moment that so many other people have crashed out the race, even even big names like science. So it can easily happen.

He won't think it now because it would probably just be absolutely good. But I think he can be impressed with kind of what he's done in qualifying so far and shown that, that he can deliver and the V-carb was looking very good around Australia. They're going to be absolutely gutted based on their pace that they've come home with zero points when Yuki Sanoda was literally running second at one point. He was, but sadly that second place was because they risked it for the chocolate biscuit and standard racing ball strategy of just rolling the dice for no reason. Yeah, we'll get that win every 10 years at Monza when it works.

So true, isn't it? Next question, P1 Patreon member, Chilla, will this season be as amazing as today? I was going to say hopefully, but the thing is, right, this race had moments of pure and utter chaos, but it was wrapped around 70% of either behind the safety car or Linus Stern racing because they couldn't overtake. Or those moments of going,

oh my God, McLaren are so far ahead. Where's our four car championship battle? Yeah, yeah. that we were so promised. I am not convinced right now, but then look, if you literally go back in a time capsule to this time last year,

obviously it wouldn't have been Australia the first race of the season, we thought it was done and dusted, Red Bull Max Verstappen, in the bin, not in the bin, in the locker, done, we could 24 wins for Max, thank you very much, and look at the season that we had then.

Yes, McLaren looked like the quickest car right now, and they are the favourites, and this isn't copium, but the likes of Ferrari, for example, they need to figure out what on earth their car is, which we already are going to question whether that's the right way to go because of how much they've changed.

But teams are going to improve as the next few races go on. This is not like pecking order from round one. We are now done for the season. So that's the hopium I have for the season, is that McLaren will get caught slightly because at some point, teams are going to have to shift their focus to 2026.

I hope Ferrari don't do it from round one as much as Tom. he thinks that they might. And yeah, I'm still hopeful for the season for sure. Yeah, definitely. The McLaren pace does look very, very ominous. Part of me, I'm so conflicted, like, if we were to make our predictions again of kind of who's winning the championship, there's like 50% of my brain is like, wow, that McLaren is so good, even better than I expected. That race kind of proved that they are going to be so hard to beat and Lando

for the championship, but then it also did highlight that you can't count max out, and if he can do that when the car isn't there, if Red Bull can just find something in those dry races, which will be a big ask, but as mentioned, last year, and here's some copium for you, that

last year it was McLaren that were qualifying seventh and eighth in the first race of the season. Keep going. nowhere near kind of looking like there'd be championship contenders we were saying oh you know they're not really anywhere I mean where did they finish in Bahrain they were eight six and eighth so looking like kind of the worst of the top teams one upgrade in Miami took them to being the best car for pretty much the rest of the year so it still find margins why you're telling me to me there's a chance there's a chance Ferrari

championship back on. Back on. Well, we're back. Yeah. Once you've sorted that battle with Stroll and Hockenberg, championship back on. I'm now praying for Max Verstappen's down from again

after that comment from you, Tommy. So, let's get into our predictions then, shall we? For the first round of the season, see who's got up to the top of the standings and who's got the most amount of points. My brain is literally shutting down. It's dreaming of my bed right now. I'm not going to lie to you.

Let's start with a good surprise. my one was Max Verstappen and I'm taking it every day of the week that is a point sign sealed delivered finished eight tenths off the win in a season where we all were well we weren't writing him off

everyone else was writing them off and therefore it's a good surprise for most people because they didn't think that was going to happen thank you very much yeah I can't argue it and I don't think people should argue it either for him to be that close off the lead in the car that he had

it's definitely a good surprise so close to doing it I thought he might go for the move my good surprise was Carlos Sainz and he was surprisingly terrible all weekend so yeah shocking from

terrible crazy guy got to Q3 that's not terrible well he was quite far off from Albin and spun behind a safety car it was a bad it was a bad weekend he would not he will not be yeah I need to remember my good surprise is the biggest car

ever because their teammate becomes the go and that was very much Alex Album this weekend You surprised Charle of Claire next weekend and I am going to do some unspeakable things and not in a good way. Let's go to a big flop. I thought I was in. I thought I was locked in. Kimmy Antonelli, of course, got knocked out in Q1 and I thought, well, we're flopping all day long.

But sadly, never not be funny. Didn't even notice that. But no, Kimmy did a phenomenal job and I can't go anywhere near that. So yeah, well don't Kimmy. I'm just scared. I didn't double down and go biggest good surprise to Kimmy Antonia and I could have been all smug. Big flop, I went for Fernando Alonzo and he put it in the wall.

It wasn't on. It wasn't on. It really wasn't on. It really wasn't on. It was literally in point. It was just looking like the most okay team. Like so bang average. They weren't special, but they weren't awful.

And they were just going to kind of be there and just collect a few. a few points but yeah stroll was the absolute goat it was P6 we haven't even mentioned him Lance Stroll just quietly going along about his way and finished P6

so it's a good job from him poll position I went for Charlotte Clare moving on I went for Landon Norris so one point so do we get the half points from here and if we vote for a McLaren

for McLaren is it already at the Red Bull stage maybe we'll re-evaluate it later on okay the top three in third position I went for Charlotte Claire alright moving on P3 I went for Lewis Hamilton moving on

in second place I went for Lando Norris P2 I went for Lando Norris as well and then the first place I went for Max Vastappan so I got them the wrong way around Oh you are four tenth you are one Vastappan dive bomb from an absolute wordy I know I literally I was so ready I was so ready.

And I went for Oscar PS3P1 and forgot. Which was also one dive bomb away and then sadly. Maybe even one team order away. Oh, spicy. Oh, Tommy dropping some flavour. Now a new segment which if you're not aware, we're doing a family top three, which features in our predictions episodes every race weekend. So to confirm the family top three is going to be its own championship,

known as the constructors, I think, in a way, because it's our, family and they're all going to they're going to be subbed in each time to give their top three predictions. We can't, we have our own championship. We'll keep that simple. And then we have the family championship. That's the easiest cleanest way to do it. Who knows more wheel basically between our family.

And then I'm going to be going, you know, Mum, how have you just put Bortoletto and P2? Like, come on, let's, let's rethink this. So, let's get into it then, shall we? Of course, it's a point if you get it correct for the position. my dad in third position said Max Verstappen which was incorrect my dad went for Lando Norris which was also incorrect my dad went for George Russell P2

which is incorrect and my dad went for Charlotte Clare which was incorrect and then my dad went for Lando Norris P1s he got the top three right fair play but just the wrong way round he was so excited I cannot tell you how excited he was to be part of this prediction. I could tell, right? He was messaging me and he's like, oh, Matt,

did you know that my top three prediction was what it was in Q1? And also, you know, in qualifying, I think they were first, third and fourth. And we said that they're like three of the strongest weather drivers as well. So it's looking, looking really good. And oh, fair play. That was so close. Yeah. My dad's, my dad's cooked with that. But only one point to show for it, which is, I'm kind of thinking, like, if there's a, you know, if there's a driver that's wrong, bit in the right did we get half a point? Like what are we saying?

We'll open it up for the constructors. We could maybe be more flexible. We'll see. And my dad went for Oskopiastri like me, which was wrong. Okay, so the Gallagher's lead. One-nil. Thank you very much.

Well done, dad. Mum, you're up next. Start thinking about it. Don't put Charlotte Cloane. Top three. We're finished. My one crazy prediction, and I have cooked so hard with this,

we have three different drivers lead the race at some point. Lando Norris, Max Verstapp and Lewis Hamilton, thank you very much for coming to my TED Talk. Did Hamilton lead a lap? Did he? Or is it just lead? I guess lead the race, isn't it?

Yeah. Well, look, I never said lead a lap. And did you, did you get confirmation of the intricacies of this? No, true. Did he lead a lap? He crossed the line leading. I've just watched the highlights. He crossed the line whilst leading.

Then there is no debate. I got it right. So there you go, a point for that. Fair play. I went for Kimmy Antinelli qualifies George Russell on debut. That could have been further away. Yeah, that was quite far away, mate. But you still did well.

You still did well for a pole position. He did the Lewis Hamilton of qualifying dreadfully and then being on the back of Russell in the race. And then another new segment to score some points for us is our Patreon predictions, where we go into our Patreon Discord and if you want to become a part of it, there's loads of benefits.

You can get the extra waffle at the end of this episode, as I said at the top of the show. Also a Discord where you can put in your predictions. You get ad-free listening to the podcast, etc., etc. So yeah, we pick one each week and then we have it as our own.

So my one was from Erin. I love you, Erin. One of the rookies causes a red flag. I mean, which one? You know what I'm saying? They all kind of had their own news. their own moments you don't get a point for each

imagine I mean it's funny isn't it because we're not funny it's weird that we didn't get one red flag today which I think it was absolutely warranted at some point

that there was a red flag because there was some almighty shunts had baremen not then crashed in the yeah yeah

you would have This wouldn't have come in. Yeah, it wouldn't have come in, even though all of the rookies put it in the war. So yeah, thank you, Aaron. FP1. It was done and dusted, locked in. Thank you, Olly Behrman.

Tony Sopano. Didn't he? No, and FP3 as well, when he beached it in the gravel. Yeah, so he cost two. You're not getting two points. Thank you, Ollie. So my Patreon prediction was from Tony Soprano. Points for Jack Dewin.

And we've not even mentioned him. No. We'll go into my drive ratings, obviously, a bit more. but yeah, getting for him on debut because he actually looked pretty pretty quick

and did a decent job but obviously smashed it in the wall and was unlucky in qualifying. So yeah, not great for doing. Yeah, look, I think as much as he did crash,

that doing, and I think for a lot of the rookies, it is inexperience. Pace-wise, you can't really fault him this weekend. The pay, in the dry, he was really good. He got obviously screwed over

with Hamilton spinning in Q2. which knocked him out, but I am pleasantly surprised with what Jack Doan has shown for a potential moving forward into the next few races. I hope that this crash will not go against him, but I'm sure it probably will because he crashes the car. But I'm not going to be too harsh on him because he has shown some potential, which is what you want from a team. So that is it. We are done, dusted. What are the final scores for that then?

so I scored one two three four and I scored one two two

yeah you scored two so it's four two to me and we're leading the Gallagher well wait one two three three two

oh sorry I counted your dad's point that's the constructs I tried it I tried it anyway my point stands three two three two, I'm leading the, the driver's championship.

The Gallagher's are leading the constructors. We love to see it. Let's see how that changes moving into China. And that is it. We'll see you for driver ratings very soon. As I said, we're going to carry on for some waffle. We've got some questions from our wonderful P1 patrons, which if you want to join, go to patreon.com forward slash Matt P1 Tommy.

And we'll see you very soon. Can't wait for China. I can wait for the 230 a.m. Sprint race starts for China. But apart from that, cannot wait for another race weekend with all of you. Thank you for the love and the support. If you've been watching along as well with us over on Twitch and YouTube, it's been awesome to be back.

And yeah, lots more content coming your way. So Tommy, I didn't see your final thoughts. Oh my God. Final thoughts. Final thoughts. I just, what a return to F1. We've just had so many talking points. So much chaos.

Absolutely loved it. And what a return for your good surprise. it's really good to see that come back in full flow. My big flop, yeah, well maybe the name change has caused my powers to subside. We will see. Thank you, everybody. We'll see you very soon. And now we turn to our patrons.

Lots of love. Bye. Thank you. P1 is a Stack production and part of the Acast created network.