P1 with Matt and Tommy - Miami GP Sprint Race review

Episode Date: May 3, 2025

Some people say you earn your luck. Not if you're Lando. Just allow the safety car to do what it does best.Join us as we dissect that bonkers Sprint in Miami.You can listen to an extended version of every Race Review podcast over on our Patreon! Sign up to 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 with depressed Matt and depressed Tommy. Our favourite drivers, all of them, as of recording right now, did not score points in the sprint. That includes Charles Leclair, Max Verstapp and Kimmy, Antonelli and Fernando Alonzo. I don't know where to start this, Tommy. I just feel, I mean, I've had a little while to process mine because my depression happened even before the beginning of the sprint. You, Tommy? I mean, I'm kind of living a little bit in the fact that you're feeling part of that. I'd never actually, I'm not one of these people that actually believes in karma,

but for basically spending the entire start of the watch along laughing at your pain and constantly making jokes. And I think even on the watch along, you said in frustration, oh, I can't wait until Maxis is happening Kimmian, now take each other out. And then not only did that happen, but then literally a lap later, Fernando Lanzo is backwards in the wall by only remaining driver. Oh, I just can't believe it. You couldn't write it. You couldn't write it. But what a insane just sprint.

An insane sprint that lasted about 10 laps of actual action because the rest of it, well, you know, we'll get into that. But before we dive into all of the carnage and the chaos, there was a question from everyone saying, am I okay? No. Do you want to reflect on it again? Well, I mean, they reflect on it enough in the coverage

where they constantly just show a crash of Charles LeCler Look, it was Some people were asking Does this hurt more Or the Brazilian GP formation lap From 2023 Are definitely Brazil

Because Charles was on the front row For the main race This was, you know, P6 Ferrari were reasonably washed However now Now in the benefit of hindsight And seeing that Hamilton got P3 Shell could have won it all

So no, I'm less okay now after watching a great sprint which is weird to say but yeah my my initial reaction to that was why on earth are we taking any risks on the intermediate tire when it was quite literally bucketing it down at that point it felt like an unnecessary risk from Ferrari and shale in my opinion oh yeah it was it was insane weather and conditions at that point wasn't it because you know Hamilton was on the radio going why on earth are we on inters you know uh you know we were actually about to go live on stream and were kind of out the room. So kind of missed who was on the wets.

But it sounds like other people were on the wets going to the grid, potentially. Can't confirm that. Obviously, we're recording straight after the sprint. But the fact that the Lecler was, yeah, the fact that Lecler just basically was steaming round in those conditions on the inters. Huge crash. And it wasn't just like an aquaplane at a slow corner and he's gone off. you flew into the wall, completely destroyed the car.

And yeah, like a huge error. And of course, you know, the conditions were absolutely atrocious at that point as well. They certainly were. So, yeah, we can put that very much just away in a little locker that I'll never open again because I don't want to talk about it anymore. But what I do want to talk about is Max Rastappen versus Kimmy Antonelli. Now, of course, this was something I was not expecting. because of course, you know, I'm lashing out left, right and centre to you, Tommy,

because you are taking the Mick at every single opportunity. I could say any word, you'd somehow link that back to Charlotte Clare in the wall. So the P1 Patreon member, Limxion, has asked, how are you feeling, Tommy? So I'm going to let you take the wheel on this one. Yeah, like I said at the top of the show, feeling like karma maybe does exist because I went absolutely ham on it. And I think I was more disappointed that obviously Antonelli had, had the bad start and then made a mistake and he kind of never was there to to capitalize.

But again, you know, the feeling of Max Astappen and he's kind of in the hunt, at least it's the sprint, I guess. And I kind of jokes about this on the- Yeah, at least it's funny. I do wonder, I joked about this on the watch-along because there was even a team radio from Kimmy Antonelli where they were going, don't worry, Kimmy, it's not the main race. And you kind of think Formula One are really pushing these sprints and trying to make them this really exciting thing. And, you know, I've, it's not the time to have it, but I've got strong opinions about the sprint time anyway and having it before a qualifying session.

It just seems nonsense to me to have it as the kind of, the fact that we've just had this unbelievable sprint and we'll get onto this, but they had to basically end it early when we could have maybe had a grandstand finish because they need to do a qualifying session. in the day is just completely stupid in my opinion. You know, the sprint was really, really exciting, and it is irrelevant in two hours. I don't like that at all. But maybe for this pain, how would I do it? I'd do exactly the same as we had before. We had qualifying on Friday, have a sprint day,

and then the sprint is the main show. And then if we'd have had that today, the sprint, they could have red flagged it at the end and waited and not had to worry about, In fairness, we don't know that the reason that they didn't red flag was because of the qualifying session time. We don't know that because there's less than three hours between the end of the sprint and when qualifying is going to begin. It might just be the fact that they didn't deem the crash big enough or the fact that the barrier wasn't affected and therefore it's just dealt under safety car. We've seen it many times in the past with Formula One.

I was sat there going, you've got a red flag that. You've got a red flag that. You've got a red flag that. They're red flagging that in the main race 100%. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Who knows, mate. Who knows with the stewards and the FIA and the race director these days. It's all very unclear. Actually, let's reflect quickly on the start. I said prior to the race beginning that we would, because I was asking you, how confident are you about Kimmy Antonelli winning the race? And I said, let's talk after term one because I was absolutely convinced that Piastri was going to get Antonelli. And in that first phase, they were very similar, but it was that second phase. as Piazri just got a little bit better traction and a bit better purchase that he got up the inside

and you know you mentioned the mistake from Antonelli and it 100% is inexperience when you watch it from a spectator's point of view the way that he tried to hang it around the outside of Oscar I mean you could only have to go back to literally Saudi to see that Oscar Piastri is absolutely never going to give you room to go around the outside if he's got the inside line it's just racing right so

and it kind of made me think of Norris last year in the China sprint where he tried to hang it around the outside of Hamilton, I believe it was, and then just went off the track. Was it Hamilton? I think it was Hamilton, wasn't it? Yeah, it was Hamilton. And he went off the track and then lost loads of positions. That felt very similar for me with Antonelli there. He will learn from this. But it was a shame because I would have loved to have seen if Antonelli could have held on because it was very difficult to overtake in

those conditions. It was indeed. Yeah, I think, you know, I've said this before, the reason I like Kimmy Antonelli's he always goes for it and I think we saw a driver that the sensible option there when you're kind of thinking with your head would be to just go well this isn't happening settle for a second slot into second but you know I like the drivers absolutely go for it basically so the fact that the Antonelli at least tried it yes it didn't pay off but I'll always prefer drivers doing that basically because that's that's kind of what I want to I want to see in below on.

Absolutely. But yeah, shame to not see Kimmy Antonelli lead, but his time will come and it was still a phenomenal sprint quality. But then, of course, he crashed with Max for Stappen as well. P1PATRIER member Waffles Risa. Is a 10 second penalty really enough for a release so unsafe that it prevents the other car from making its pit stop? Okay.

Hold on. We're going to ring the claxon. Or no, press the claxon. We're not going to ring the claxon. We ring the bell. We press the claxon. about the fact that penalties are not given out due to the consequence. Okay.

The stewards will not look at the fact that Kimmy couldn't pit. They just look at the fact that it was an unsafe release. Otherwise, you're opening a can of worms with it all. So 10 seconds is the penalty. It's really unfortunate for Antonelli. But what more do you want to give Max Verstapp? And he finished last in the sprint due to it. So are you not happy?

He might as well have been disqualified anyway. And it's funny because, you know, he should absolutely get a penalty. and we've had this grey area before, but there was an interesting, you know, there's a question from our patron, Brienne, who said, is a 10 second penalty too harsh

when the incident wasn't the driver's fault? And that's the other side of the coin, isn't it, when we have these incidents where, essentially that's a team error that the light went off in these pit stops, bring back the lollipop,

and they could actually see what's happening. But no, they obviously want to save as much time as possible. They have these fancy light systems and it obviously got pressed. they, Max went out and it's not his fault because he's just following what the team do but you have to give a driver a penalty because

yeah otherwise they would just do it anyway. They would just do it so you know that you can't like take Constructors points if that would open a whole kind of worms it has to be a penalty and you know you can't you can look at this and go oh it prevents the other car from making a stop at it screwed over Antonelli as much of them absolutely gutted for him that is just the nature of Formula One sometimes you get absolutely absolutely shafted and where do you draw the line of, oh, if someone's made a mistake and crashed into

you, do you allow them to have a minus 30 delta where you put them back in the race? No, there's just, it would just be too confusing. Sometimes you're just unlucky and Formula One instance happen and you have to deal with it. It has to be a blanket penalty for sure. Yeah, 100%. Yeah. So, because I think as well, like, you know, with Waffles Rees, what they've said there, you know, is it really enough, the 10 second penalty?

But giving like a 10 second stop and go, which is essentially what a 30 second penalty, would then have to be applied across all pit lane errors and some things are very minute and some things are large. So just having a blanket penalty as much as it maybe not feels like enough in this circumstance, it just has to be to remain fair.

Next question and moving away from the pit lane, P1 Patreon member Lee M, should Lawson have backed out of the move on Alonzo looked like he was chancing a lunge? Yes. Yes, definitely. Yes. Yes. I cannot wait to hear what Fernando Alonzo has to say after this one, because I'm sure

the very, very warm relationship that Alonso and Lawson have had since day one. Yes, they've got history, haven't they? We'll continue on, but that was reckless from Lawson. Lawson was having a really good race up until that point. He was going to finish in the points. Now, as of recording, I haven't seen that he...

Yeah, he hasn't been given a penalty, but for me, that is a slam, dunk, Lawson error, and taking out Alonzo. So it's a shame for Fernando. That was going to be his first points of the season. And another piece of bad luck. This one definitely

not driver error. Yeah, that was 100% on Lawson. If he doesn't get a penalty, that is utterly ridiculous. Yeah, I can't believe it's another situation as well whereas the Fernando Alonso fan, I have to endure the fact that not only did Fernando Alonto

was again doing an amazing job but everyone will look at the result and go oh, Strauls bagged a load of some points again for Aston Martin. I tell you. I know. Well, he is when Alonzo keeps being the unluckiest driver in the world, but that is just generally his career anyway, isn't it really? I know we joke, but Stroll's actually had a decent race, so fair place.

Oh, yeah, he had. He made it through the carnage, didn't he? And yeah, he's picked up points again, but it's just so unfortunate for Alonzo to, that he was on for a, you know, he was having a mega drive in that track to sticking on the back of Hamilton and Alburn, and kind of being up there to get points on merit, even if the race had just continued as like a kind of inters slightly damp race, but instead, alas, chaos. Yeah, and not only do I obviously feel aggrieved for Alonzo, and I believe Lawson should got a penalty, but Lawson also, with that very silly move, ruined the sprint for us. The last four laps, that was due to that move.

Oh, my God, it was an absolute cliffhanger, wasn't it? It was. If Lando had stayed out and you'd have seen, it was, because you had the timing up and you said five seconds a lap Hamilton was gaining, and it was 20,000. seconds with four laps to go. Orlando was going to pit anyway, wasn't he? Because McLaren had decided to pit before the safety car came out.

I don't know whether they've reacted to it because Alonzo was in the wall. Maybe. Yeah, I wonder. But for me, I think that McLaren, we know what McLaren are like. They're quite safe when it comes to their strategy. So they would go, we'll take a one-two with Piafri winning over Norris having a tire failure

on the last lap because he's taking his inters too long. Is it peak, is it peak just Formula One fan behaviour? you're in general, that we go into it slating Miami saying it's the worst race ever. We've had an absolute banger and we're like, oh, but it could have been so good. Oh, more! Yeah, exactly. Realistically, what more are you going to get from a sprint?

That is the most action and chaos that we've seen in a sprint in a very long time, if not maybe even ever with the amount of incidents that we've had. I'm hoping that all the drivers are able to take part in qualifying in only a few hours time with the damage that some of the drivers have. If you ever need it again, we said this so many times, but the theory that is absolutely rubbish that if you put the sprint before a qualifying session, the drivers will be like, oh, I need to remember about qualifying later as they're diving up the inside of each other and smashing into each other.

They turn into demons. Even for the 13th, they were doing that. Yeah. Yeah. They're Formula One drivers. They all happen. Yeah. Yeah.

They put Sonoda out there. Red Bull did on soft tire or medium tires on a reasonably sort of damp track. And it was spring. Exactly. Oh, we love it. We love it indeed. Next question, people on picture, remember, Malibs, what is the point in having wet tires if they are not going to be used when they should be?

Now, of course, there was a lot of frustration, wasn't there, including myself and Tommy, about just sitting there going, this is the pinnacle of motorsport, and we come to a grinding halt the second, a little bit of rain, comes onto the racetrack. No, we can't possibly, the visibility. Now, this one, you know, people are saying, why don't we use the wet tires?

And I was sat there as well saying that. But I believe the problem this time around, and usually it is that the visibility rather than the drivers being able to negotiate the conditions. I think when there's standing water and aquaplaning like we saw with Lecler, it wasn't raceable anyway. But the reason, I guess, towards the end of when we were waiting was more around visibility. That being said, I still feel as though they were waiting too long, too long in order to make sure it's really, really safe.

And I get it. And I appreciate Formula One having made so many incredible steps to making these drivers as safe as possible in these machines. But there has to be a limit where you go, okay, we're just going to have to let them race and see how they get on. And then if, you know, if there is a crash or whatever, they're genuinely like, I can't see, then call something. But instead it just feels like it feels like it's the other way where it's safe, safe,

safe, safe. Let's go another lap behind the safety car. I know that behind that. Okay. Right, everybody can see now. Let's go. And the argument in the rain that I've always thought as well is they're going so much slower that I actually think Formula One is most dangerous when it's pure dry conditions. Like look at what, look at Dewan's crash when he failed to close his DRS and he flew into that wall. You know, that's a scary crash.

And you look at, you know, the crashes in the rain, you know, yeah, you hit the back of someone. But you're kind of tootling around at much slower speeds. that I think Formula One is a lot more dangerous in the dry conditions anyway. So the safety thing... I guess it's if a driver's had a spin and then you can't see them. And then you can't see them and stuff is. And then you hit them at a stationary. Yeah, yeah.

The concern, isn't it? But the most frustrating thing, and I even called this completely on the watch-along, that I said they'll start the race and within five laps, they will be cooling their tyres down. And sure enough, that's exactly what happened. my sister is apparently entering the backdrop and going out of the front door. She want to do a family top three for the qualifying?

There you go. Nope, she didn't hear that and she's gone. Let's go to the next question, which is P1 on Patreon member Isabel. Why does F1 not add safety car laps as extra laps at the end of the race? That sprint was great, but the safety car made the ending so anticlimactic and destroyed the competition.

Fuel. I guess that's probably one thing, isn't it? Yeah. It's not like Formula E, which I think is brilliant, where they can just add laps because they're able to conserve energy and this, that and the other.

Formula One is so about fuel they can't plan for the final rate because you'd basically screw so many teams and then, you know, I guess the flip side of the argument would be well, you just have to deal with it and run that risk and put a bit more fuel in case, but the teams wouldn't. Or you have like a minimum fuel that, you know, if you have to account for three extra. I do get the frustration because we were robbed of a really,

really exciting finish. It is just a sprint. But yeah, I think the most frustrating thing about it is it was going to be such a good finish between Norris and Piastri. We said so many times, haven't we, that we've been waiting to have that battle between the two of them. And finally, it looked like it was happening. Not only that, you had the drivers that had pitted before that were flying through the pilot. Hamilton was so quick because he'd been on the tires for a lot longer. And oh it's such a shame but at the end of the day I will take that I will take what we had

yeah exactly you have to take the fact that Miami has delivered even if it's more just through the weather we all have our thoughts on the circuit but through the weather you know it delivered an absolutely banging sprint I just wish that we could kind of

dwell on it a bit more rather than going straight into qualifying which I'm obviously looking forward to no doubt but I just I just, I don't know, I don't like just kind of being like, off you go, forget about it now. Now, I think it's also worth mentioning that as of recording, there are so many drivers under investigation, but Alex Albonne needs a shout out because as of right now, he finished fourth. He finished fourth on the road. Albon in a Williams is ridiculous. Stroll, obviously sixth in the Aster Martin, but he might even be promoted to fifth if Albon gets a penalty.

because Albon's under investigation. Lawson will be under investigation. I think Bearman, who's finished 8th from 19th on the grid, is also under investigation for a pit exit incident with Holcomberg, and it was apparently his fault. I haven't seen it, but I saw the chat were Sky Germany, I think had shown some of them, and it was pretty much a slam dunk.

So that will promote Sonoda potentially up to 6th, if all of those drivers get penalties? That is insane. Which will then put Antenely and 7th, Gazlian 8th. It's just absolutely ridiculous. But yeah, we'll have to reflect on that a little bit more maybe in our qualifying podcast later on today. But I mean, how do you sum that up, Tommy? Give us your final thoughts.

How do I sum it up is that Max Osteppen, normally on any other podcast, there'd be so little kind of to talk about, particularly during a sprint. that we've not even mentioned about Max Verstappen's kind of unsafe, sorry, not unsafe, his start procedure where was he, wasn't he over the line. And that is a perfect summary of just how chaotic that race is, that if this was, you know, a boring Grand Prix, we'd have probably talked about this for 20 minutes, but it's just like a, oh, remember that happened as well. Yeah.

Crazy. What a crazy, crazy sprint. And to sort of explain that, I guess, just very quickly, the belief would be, because all we saw was the onboard. But as long as there's any piece of tyre in contact with the grid box, then he's all good. I'm pretty sure that happened in Australia. I want to say 2023 or 24. There was a similar moment with Max.

Yeah, I think we even made a video about it. Yeah, I did. So yeah, as long as some of the tire is touching the grid box, then he is all good, even though it did look visibly from the onboard. Whereas the reason for Lando in Bahrain was because he was over it. Yeah, he was out. And he was clearly over it. Exactly. So there you go. Right. Thank you so much, everybody, for tuning in to this sprint recap.

Thank you, Tommy, for your final thoughts and for just being delightful as always. We will be back later on today for the Quali podcast and we'll be live, as always, on all the beautiful platforms for our watch-along. So we'll see you very soon. Lots of love, take care. Bye! Goodbye. My chore is to just get some food and get ready for some more action in Miami. Bye. P1 is a stack production and part of the A-cast's creator. network.