P1 with Matt and Tommy - Reaction to Australian GP practice

Episode Date: March 14, 2025

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Hello everybody and welcome back to the P1 podcast with Matt and Tommy. Friday has happened. I'm not going to start this podcast by saying it's early, even though I have. Welcome everybody. We're here. And if you're watching on YouTube, we're back. Ferrari winning it all. Forget everything.

Forget the predictions. Forget everything you have heard. Because now we've seen track running. Charlotte Claire, fastest in FP2, the most representative session of the entire year, and that I'm so ready, Tommy. How are you feeling, my friend? Well, it's amazing to see you so jolly at this time of the morning.

Only Ferrari can do that to you. It's so true, it's so true. But look, am I getting well ahead of myself? Absolutely. Will I regret this completely? However, I'm going to enjoy this moment. I can't believe I'm this happy over Sherlock Topping FP2 by over a tenth. Anyway, we will start with practice one,

where Lano Norris was fastest from Carlos Sines. And Carlos Sines is not in a Ferrari, it's worth saying. But the thing that we saw kind of a running trend for both FP1 and FP2, mistakes everywhere. And it's almost as if having gravel traps around a high-speed circuit create moments. Indeed. Yeah, you don't get that at Bahrain, do you? We saw absolutely nothing in testing, really, other than buses on tracks and broken glass, but no real offs or red flags for any cars. And then this time, we saw a few offs, a lot of people going into the gravel, which we'll talk about in a bit, but obviously the big one, a big crash for one of the rookies. Yeah, so Ollie Beerman,

obviously my biggest surprise of the season. Am I going to try and defend him right now? Absolutely, he's a rookie. He needs to dial in as FP1. I mean, they're not the best start to Olly Beerman's full F1 season campaign. Of course, he's come in and had a few substitutions and done very well. But it's a different thing than building momentum for an entire season. So I'm sure Ollie will be regretting massively that crash in FP1, but it's how you bounce back.

He didn't do any running in FP2 because his car was being repaired, which means his weekend will start tomorrow, realistically. It might be a slight saving grace in the fact that Sunday appears to be wet, very wet. So in that sense, he hasn't lost any data in terms of the wet running on Sunday. but for tomorrow, for qualifying, of course, he is going to be on the back foot. But yeah, the fact that Olly Behrman was the only one to have any sort of real crash, despite all of the very narrow moments. And one has to be, not in the sense of it really probably made the highlight real, but just watching Kimmy Antonelli on a hot lap in FP2 was just...

Love to see it. Yeah, it's brilliant to watch, but also... Who cares if he's 14? FB2, come on chill. I know, well, to be fair, it was his teammate was the one that actually went off and almost stuck it in the wall. But yeah, Antonelli,

absolutely no surprise at all that he was basically throwing it into every single corner, which I love to see, even if it's probably not the fastest way around, Alvin Park. But yeah, disaster really for Olly Behrman for that to happen that early.

And after all the kind of talk of Hasse just running there in entire programme on their own. They're not looking great, are they? I know it's only FP1 and FP2, but they were kind of last in both of them. And have we finally got the 2024 haths that we were expecting of them finishing dead last in the constructors? Who knows?

Or maybe they're still sandbagging and they're the absolute goats. We will see. A question from P1 patron member, Sophie. Should we reconsider the gravel? Should it be runoff? No. No. Stop.

Commentaries spoke about it as well. They were like, oh, maybe we should change it to grass. Maybe we should. No! Karin was straight on that being like, absolutely not. Absolutely not. The strips of gravel are the reason that we get to see mistakes from drivers pushing at the absolute limit. That's what we want to see.

We don't want them just, oh, I've made a mistake. Oh, here I am on some concrete. Lovely. And they'll come back. No, we don't want any of that. We want mistakes to be punished. and that is what the, that's the beauty of Albert Park

and the fact that when you ride on board with a car around here, it's, it's awesome to watch because you know that they are within an inch of either hitting an outside wall or going into the gravel. So for me, absolutely not. It is an old school track and it should remain that way.

Indeed, it is an old school track. And it's one of those tracks that's going to be incredibly difficult to overtake. So the big, the sort of kind of a lot of the interest will come from the fact that it can be a track that will punish mistakes because overtaking will be so, so difficult. What do you mean, Tommy? It's got

27 DRS zones for 2025. I know. And if it rains, they'll be none, but also that maybe there's overtakes, who knows. But yeah, it's an old school track and I think the excitement of going into a new

season, starting with Albert Park, reminds me of the days where you know they used to start the race and as the drivers are a little bit rusty I know they've done testing and stuff but kind of finding their feet again they get punished from their little mistakes and they need to be on it from kind of day dot

and in Bahrain that that's fine because you can just go off into a bit of sand and you're absolutely fine or some runoff area but how about part you're going to get punished but I guess the problem that they do have and the reason why is because they kind of chucking the gravel onto the track. And then they need to kind of, well, they had a red flag, didn't they, to kind of clean it up. Maybe they need to do, was it Zandvort?

They kind of tried to stick it down at the time, which was very bizarre. Let's move to Free Practice 2 then And more importantly, obviously FP2 definitely the more representative session And of course it was Charlotte Claire fastest ahead of Oscar Piastrian Landon Norris the top three Question from P1 patron member Sierra H Were teams right about Ferrari

Possibly sandbagging at testing? No No, no no no this is all Charles LeClau at this point Four-tenths appears to be the gap pretty much when they were comparing Charles to Lewis at most stages in this Friday running, which is interesting to say the least.

But we know Charle is great over one lap. We know that Ferrari have been quick around here. They literally won the race last time out that we were here. So am I surprised does she see Charle? Good. Try and say that fast 10 times. At the top, no. And that's why I predicted him to be policed. position on Saturday.

In the same breath, I am surprised to not see McLaren just be a couple of tense clear. I do fully expect that from this practice. But then again, just like we said in testing, this is practice. And Max Verstappen is down in seventh. You know, the likes of Liam Lawson down in 17th. We'll get onto that shortly, Tommy. Give us a thought on Ferrari first. This is an unusual track as well.

It has to be said. I think they've mentioned many times. It's been said quite a lot. The first two races of the year aren't your kind of bog standard circuit, if you like. So you might see a bit of a surprise. Now, whether McLaren do have a car that's half a second clear of the field, like they're kind of projecting on all these things and it's only testing, so we don't know. And McLarenically trying to downplay their advantage already, it seems. But these are the kind of tracks that even if McLaren do have a big advantage, these are the tracks that you can make a difference where it's a little bit of an unknown. And I just think it really is too early to say, but the gap between

Leclair and Hamilton already, I know it's only testing. Sorry, only practice. But yeah, quite large, isn't it? Still getting to grips, obviously, with that car. And it was the same, there's an even larger gap in FP1 as well. Hamilton clearly not quite got to grips with that Ferrari yet. And that's what I kind of expected anyway. This is what we spoke about is that Hamilton going into a new team like Ferrari, is he realistically going to start beating Charles LeClair in a car that's not, I mean, obviously Fred has said it's changed quite a lot from last year,

but in the sense, Charles is still embedded in the team. He knows how his car works. He knows how the power unit works. Yeah, he's Mr. Ferrari. He's Charles LeClerre, this gorgeous man. So is he realistically going to beat him out of the blocks? I didn't think so. And at least from this Friday running,

it appears that Hamilton is missing a bit of that pace. But is that, again, a surprise after from last year, Hamilton wasn't good in qualifying. And is he miraculously going to be better in qualifying at the start of this year? It would suggest not so far, but let's wait till tomorrow. Question. And this one, I'm excited for Tommy, just because I've prayed for you a downfall.

for many years. P1 Patreon member Alan Enderpe. Are Red Bull worse than we thought? Right. First and foremost, I just want to say, and I texted you this, Tommy, and I'm going to say it live on the podcast, you've somehow brainwashed me, okay?

Max Verstappen's finishing seventh in the championship. It's all over. I'm kidding. But what I will say is that, yes, uh, on first glance, the Red Bull does look still rather shocking. We rode on board with Max at one point.

He shook his head after the lap because he, It was just slide central. The car didn't look at all composed in any part of the track realistically. Still finished seventh. We're not going to jump on anything just yet because it's going to rain on Sunday. And Max will probably be breathing a massive sigh of relief that's going to be raining on Sunday for his chances this weekend. But yes, one, it looks as though Red Bull are slightly worse at this stage.

But then again, teams are working out their new package around a track that's completely different to Bahrain. This is literally, it could be seen as a testing session realistically. Red Bull brought 15 upgrades, I think, to this Australian Grand Prix. Of course, upgrades being the light term because this is the first race of the season. But Red Bull are trying to figure out their package. So they could figure it out. That's all I'm saying from this. They could figure it out.

I mean, yeah, as a pessimist, 90% of my brain is going, oh God, Red Bull in the mud. Vestappen isn't winning the championship this year. Slightly concerned seeing the people that I put P1 and P20 in the championship next to each other in FB2. Oh, yeah, Vastafin Halkenberg. Are you going to go back on the Borteletto's going to beat Holcomberg yet? No, no, no, definitely.

No, no. said that Gabriel Borteletto is a B-tier driver. Did you see that? Which is kind of them why I said about doing. Yeah, savage. But back to Red Bull, I guess if I'm going to take a sip of copium, I will. Oh my God, is that what this year is?

I know, it's my copium. Are you going to be the copium? It might be. I think back to a race like Qatar where Verstappen was behind a hass and we were thinking they were absolutely awful. And that was, of course, in the sprint. And we're thinking the Red Bull are terrible. just a little tweak on the setup, got it sorted for Sunday, and he won the race.

So I do think that the Red Bull could maybe be an even more extreme version of last year's Mercedes where it just works in a nice window when they get the setup. And if that car is good, we all know that the Stauffin can deliver. It's just whether there'll be enough days and enough moments this year, that that can happen. So Max Verstappen at the moment is probably just hoping that it's just hoping that it's, It rains every race so far. Next question. Still on the Red Bull side of things.

Craig 4004. What's happening with Lawson? All right, here we go. I mean, it's free practice two of the first race of the season. And we're already questioning the second Red Bull seat. What's happening with Lawson is that he's got into this car and gone, wow, no, this is very pointy on the front end, huh? That's a Max Verstappen.

car if I've ever seen it and he's learning he's not been around this track before as much as some question is he a rookie is he not he's a rookie it's his first full season he's he's 17th but look Kimmy Antonelli's 16th we're not questioning that he's finished so exactly we can obviously there's two things here right obviously yeah Kimi Anthonylli is not finished according to you it's realistic like FB2 in the sense of Charlotte club being but it's also not realistic in terms of, you know, the likes of Liam Lawson and Kimi Antonelli getting up to speech. You've got to let the rookies do their thing. So, yes, I am not going to start putting any question marks in the air of William Lawson and his career so far at Red Bull

because we've not had one competitive session yet. Let's see if he gets knocked out in Q1, then we can start asking some questions about what on earth Red Bull are doing. Oh, my word. Yeah, and if he does get knocked out in Q1, you best believe that all the stories will happen, all the questions we'll be getting every week. And would it be a surprise, realistically, that it's a trend that's happened in Red Bull, but we're just going to have to wait to see until we get some actual running. It's categorical proof, in my opinion, that it's Red Bull and not the drivers, like in the sense of how they set up their car. We've seen enough evidence to maybe suggest that already. If we get Lawson in another really good prospective talent being knocked out in Q1

and things like that, then... Particularly if he's behind both RBs, who for some reason look absolutely rapid as well, Yuki Sanoda Robin 4th and Hadjar in 6th. Yeah. They got the wrong car. They put the wrong... They painted the wrong car white this weekend.

Imagine the RBs are quicker. Then Max is like, I'll have that car instead. Thank you very much. Okay, next question. N Padron 95. It's doing the goat. I love these questions. Only on the P1 podcast.

We did. Just to conclusions. Also as. We should just call it. at knee jerk with Matt and Tommy, because that's what this is right now, although I'm not sure the second part of that should really be anywhere near a podcast name. Yeah, I think that Jack Duhun's done a very solid FB2 at least, and the fact that ahead of Gassley, so he's taken Helmut Marco's words of being a C-tier driver and then gone, well, watch this, P-14, ahead of

Gassley. Where Alpine actually are, we don't know. But, oh yeah, was he faster than in both sessions? He was. So yes. To answer your question, Duan yes is the goat and has had a strong Friday compared to the rookies around him that haven't beaten their teammates

or have crashed. Yeah, well done, doing. Yeah, to continue the knee jerk with Matt and Tommy, Gassley is a finished driver. That's not something that can stay. Jack Dewan is the goat and Pierre Gassley is a finished driver.

and will be replaced by Colapinto for FP3. Only the most top tier analysis here at P1 in 2025. Next question, P1, Patreon member Sierra H. Wow, she got two of them. So there you go. That's Tommy collating questions at 5 a.m. That's what happens. How unpredictable is it to pick a winner this weekend?

It was unpredictable coming into this, but now it's Charlotte Claire, obviously. So, no, I'm kidding. I'm sorry. I won't be like this the whole season. It's all jokes and all love. I'm just excited to be talking about Formula One again and not just predictions and please come back. It is very unpredictable

because we know it's going to rain but we don't know how much rain, although Zach Brown on the pit wall said, rain, rain, rain, which I kind of don't want. I don't want a full wet race where it's just raining the whole time because they are actual stinkers.

That's when we need those changeable conditions. Usually if you just have consistent rain throughout a race, you don't get really much element of strategy. Overtaking is nigh on impossible, especially around this circuit. So if we get that, it's going to be whoever's kind of out in front, I would imagine, unless obviously they snatch a brake,

make a mistake. But to answer your question, it is very unpredictable right now. I would say McLaren are still the favourites because they're both up there. They both look decent. But we don't know how these cars will react in rain. I mean, realistically, who were the two teams that took intermediate tires and

wet tires to bar rain? Yeah, Aston and Hass. I think it was, was it Hass that went out for a couple of laps in intermediates? They are actually in the pound seats right now. They're not bothering with free practice last in both of these sessions because they know it's going to be wet. So they're like, it doesn't matter. Olly Benman crashed or he could change to a wet setup and no one realize. Big brain strategy from Hass, clearly. I think this is such an intriguing kind of start to the season that essentially it seems very likely that we're going to have qualifying in not even sunny conditions,

like absolute blazing insane heat. And then you're going into a race where the whole, all the temperatures are completely different. Yeah, could rain as well. I'm like you, I hope that it's like kind of sprinklings here and there or it's changing a bit or it gets heavier so they need to kind of be changing their tyres a bit like, you know, if we get a Brazil, that rain-all way through. If we could just have a Brazil. If we could just have one of the greatest Grand Prix of all time again, that would be great. And particularly if Max is starting 17th as well based on his qualifying and how fast that Red Bull is.

But yeah, I do think that it's going to make a really intriguing race because. they're going to have to almost gamble on what they want to do because if they are convinced that it's 100% going to rain, you don't want a completely dry setup. And do you just go for a poll position and hope that if it is a wet race, it's going to be so hard to overtake and you just hope that you don't get overtaken or you could be a sitting duck? Well, that's the beauty, isn't it?

Because you could have teams just going, screw it, but we'll chuck on a mainly dry setup. We'll do much better in qualifying and then try and hold the fort. I'll be, come on. Yeah? That would be interesting, wouldn't it? That would be interesting.

I think that that is going to be a fascinating thing when we look at tomorrow, for sure. And if we do get a slightly jumbled up grid to what we're expecting, that might well be the reason. But then again, there might also be five other reasons as to why that is, and it's actually that they've all gone for a wet setup.

But those are the setups that work in those conditions. It is absolutely beautiful. I can't wait. I am so excited. I've never been this energetic at this time of the morning, ever. And Formula One could only do that to me.

So I think that pretty much wraps up Friday running. Mistakes everywhere. Charles LeCler fastest. Rain on Sunday. A blazing heat qualifying tomorrow. We will be live on YouTube and Twitch tomorrow and Sunday with our brand new good-looking multi-viewer, live update positions and all that sort of stuff.

Like you're going to be, you're going to enjoy it for sure. So please wake up with us. And if it isn't an unsociable time, you have no excuse to not tune in with us. Tommy, what are your final thoughts? I just think that the time of, I've never been this kind of feeling absolutely fine at this time of the morning. And that clearly just means that F1 is the remedy for early starts. because we'll ask that again when our alarms got off at 3.30 on Sunday. We'll see.

We're still excited. And look, for those of you that endure Formula 1 unsociable times throughout the entire year, you are incredible. Right, thank you so much, everybody. We'll see you tomorrow for Qualify. Charlotte Clare. Stop it. Can't get that excited in the morning. Bye!

Bye. Okay, mature. You thought the chores were done? No, no, no, no, no. We're just beginning the chores. The chores are for all Ferrari fans to get out all of your merch. Every single one. I want you to just channel the greatest of vibes

because there's a chance that this year is our year. So... The difference. Please just play the clip now. Tommy, did I? Or did I not say, if they're fastest. At any point. You did.

In the first weekend, you can scrap everything, delete it, champion it back on. Charlotte Claire tops FP2. I'm dreaming again. So, yeah, I would happily have all of my predictions wrong if Charlotte Claire becomes world champion. So I actually put that of when you did your prediction. Someone wrote in the Instagram comments that got quite a lot of like saying, oh, Matt's going to be so mad if Charlotte Claire wins the championship after his prediction. And I've replied saying he's absolutely not going to be mad if Charlotte Claire wins the championship.

Tommy, you can have that championship. I'll have this one. Yeah, exactly. I'll know anyway. Exactly. So anyway, by chore people. P1 is a stack production and part of the ACAST creator network.