P1 with Matt and Tommy - Reaction to Qatar GP qualifying

Episode Date: November 30, 2024

Today's sprint seemed to suggest that we might be in for a boringly predictable weekend of action - but qualifying was epic! Slower cars qualifying ahead of their faster rivals should make for a great race tomorrow - so how did it qualifying unfold?Join us for our End of Season tour across the UK this December! There are still some tickets available for London, Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol right here!Sign up to our Patreon here! You'll get access to bonus episodes, our classic race podcast series, every P1 episode ad-free, early access to live tickets and merch, and access to our Discord server where you can chat with other F1 fans!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. Welcome back to the B1 podcast with Matt and Tommy. It is content galore. Content coming out of our ears right now. And I hope you're enjoying the content in your ears, because we are here to talk about qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix, the second qualifying session of the weekend. And I think Tommy, I mean, look, look at the little smirk. I'm wearing...

I imagine laughing because you said content coming at our ears. Like, we're talking out our ears. Fair. Our mouth. Isn't that still a phrase? Maybe. I don't know. Pretty sure.

Maybe. Content coming out of up. Anyway, if it's not, you know what I mean. We're doing a lot of content. Tommy, you're looking very smug. One, because you're wearing a Mercedes top. Didn't realize. And secondly, Maxis stuff is on pole.

So you've actually first and seconded it right now, mate. So well done. I was, yeah, did not expect that after the sprint for Max to be on pole. I thought it was an easy, well, I thought McLaren would definitely be up there, challenging with, with Russell. But for Max to get P1, for now, of course. because we'll get into it later is under investigation

or maybe not under investigation but there's talk of it. Is he officially under investigation? I don't think it is. It's a nothing thing either way. I'm sorry if you get a penalty for that that's an absolute disgrace because they're literally,

George is literally on an out lab. Anyway, we'll get into that later because first and foremost we're going to start with Q1 with the bottom five drivers where Albonne, Lawson, Holcomberg, Collipinto and Ocon. Let's go to a question.

P1, patron member, Captain OBS 3-420. Is the William his performance being held back due to how little spare parts they have. Their pace seems to have dropped off here and in Vegas compared to the previous races. Yes. Colapinto, as I think we mentioned after sprint quality, I think it was. He's running basically a jumble sale of parts that they could just find in the pair in Williams.

So there's no surprise that he's struggling there. I think Albon doesn't have as many in terms of. struggles and old parts and whatnot. But yeah, look, it's a very close track and there's, there's not much to say, really,

apart from Williams, just really want to see the end of this season. And who can blame them? It's been a really tough month or so. It's quite insane how many crashes they've had. They even put up a graphic during one of the races, during one of the, you know,

the graphics that they have on Formula One that said that they've had 15 crashes this season, which is unheard of really. Normally, you know, a few teams may have three, a four here, but 15 is insane. So yeah, they're running odd parts. And I think as well, it's probably a bit of that, but also a combination of Williams, while they've kind of said that they're now a bit better at all-rounder tracks,

they're still the Monsa specialists, aren't they, in those kind of circuits? So a flat-out Qatar track where it's all about as much downforce as possible and not very long straits and lots of flying quick corners, probably wouldn't suit them anyway. But of course, the fact that they've had all these issues is probably hurting them even more for sure. Well, I wouldn't say it's as much downforce as possible. Like, it's a track that still has longish straights and moments.

They're pretty heavy on the downforce, aren't they? It's getting the balance of between straight line speed and not, surely, because it's not like a... They run pretty hefty wings, don't they? I don't know. I'm pretty sure they do. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's like big downforce track. It's like Hungary almost because there's not really any straits there.

They're all just flying through corners all the time other than the main straight. Interesting. All right. Well, either all. I guess when I think of heavy downforce, I'm like, Monaco. But then, yeah, I guess it's not as bad as that. It's not slow, but it's very high speed. It's Zandvorty almost, I guess.

Yes. Yeah, fair enough. Okay. Other drivers to talk about Lawson, my biggest good surprise. All a shame. 17th. And he was looking so good after the sprint. And then he lost all of the positions.

in the sprint almost immediately, and then followed it up with a Q1 exit, which he was not happy with Alonzo, and then turned out it was actually Stroll that had slowed down. It feels as though Lawson really does have Alonzo's head. Alonzo's head, Alonzo in his head, rent-free, because, yeah, he's not had the greatest

of coming together with Fernando. So, yeah, Lawson, a disappointing one, but more so Holcomberg, for sure. 18th. They were showing replays and claiming that was Holcomberg, which I'm pretty sure it was Magnuson, was made for also mistakes in Keyneson. one but Holkenberg 18th position after beating Max for Stappen in the sprint is ridiculous it's absolutely

insane what a turn around in the opposite sense of the Stappen that yeah went from beating max and getting great points for for Haas to help them in their quest for sixth and then a shocker a Absolutely shocker of a qualifying session when that's normally Holkenberg's Strong Point and Kevin Magnusson of course showed what the car could do getting it all the way into Q3 so a big missed opportunity for Holcombberg. Absolutely. And then finally, it's a shame to see it. Ocon 20th position.

He's convinced that there's something not right with the car in comparison to Ghazley. Obviously there is the difference in the front wing. It's only the nose. Yeah, it's only the front nose. That must be the greatest front nose ever made in Formula One. it's if it's making these two drivers who we always talk about how close they are this far apart. It can't just be that. Yeah, it's quite something because Ocon, as we've said so many times, O'Conn and Gassley are so closely

matched that this is a massive discrepancy. So you do wonder what's really going on in O'Con's car. Let's go to Q2 then, where the five drivers out were Gassley, Bottas, Joe, Sonoda and Stroll. Is that the right way round? I'm pretty sure Joe outqualified Bottas. He did indeed. So let's put some respect on Joe's name there. Formula One's done to be dirty there.

That's unbelievable from Formula One there to suggest that Joe didn't out-qualified Bottas because he did. Question, P-1 Patreon member, LeMixion. Could there finally be points on the table for Salba? Well, they're in the mix. They're actually in the mix,

which is unbelievable to even process, because they've been at the back for so long, they've had what's felt like a Formula 2 car for a lot of the season, and their 12th and 13th on the grid. They're together. Just don't put Joe on soft tires. That's what we're just going to say right here and now.

Don't bother with that, because Joe was lapping at about four and a half seconds a lap slower than Lando at one point during the sprint on those soft tires. So let's stick with the mediums and the hards and see what can happen. It's going to require a bit of chaos. I feel as though they are going to fall back in the race. But crazier things have happened. Can you imagine, after all this,

Joe getting destroyed most weekends, pops in a cheeky point for Salba right at the end of his career. Unbelievable. That would be insane. Yeah, they're almost in the point if it finishes where they are. You've got to think that particularly Holkenberg would come through the field, probably hoping that in this era of very reliable Formula One cars, they'd have to bag on a few retirements maybe surely from the race,

to be able to get a point. But great qualifying again. Bit of a case of why now. But they're always finishing easily last in the constructors. So I guess it's just a nice confidence boost going into next year, although the drivers aren't going to be there, but at least for the team. The team are confident that they can do something at least,

even if the drivers have disappeared at that point, which is sad to see for, of course, Joanne Bottas. Okay, apart from. that, Sonoda. Gasly was good at I think it was probably the main one. Gasley missed out

very marginally in 11th place, only half a 10th off actually less than that. It was 12,000ths of a second behind Perez in P10 for Q2. So yeah, shame for Gazley

because he's been on such a run of form, but 11th is still very possible for him to fight the likes of Perez and and Magnus and ahead. And I suppose the other thing to mention is Sonoda. 14th, you're probably a little bit

gutted, but also R.B. have just looked pretty nowhere. I know that there was obviously that SQ3 performance from Lawson, but I think that was very much an outperformance. The RB in general looks to have fallen off again a little bit. It has. They don't really look like they're going to be in this fight with Alpin and Hass. So, yeah, not good for RB at all.

But Alisa Noda's beaten Lawson after the disappointment of yesterday for his sake and in that hope of getting the Red Bull seat, if it's even available, because of course, one guy we've not spoken about yet. It's Sergio Perez who did actually make it. Yeah, I haven't said his name. I haven't said his name, Tommy. And this is really exciting.

Because we're going to go to Q3 now. Where the top 10 were Vestappen, Russell, Norris, Piastri, Lecler, Hamilton signs, Alonzo Perez and Magnuson. I think first and foremost, we have to say, Max Vastappen. Unbelievable. Pole position out of nowhere.

If you then look to the sprint where he was beaten by a hat, was nowhere really in qualifying for the sprint as well. Question from Andy Kazamar, UK. Where did that max qualifying performance come from after he barely scored in the... There is an investigation on Max has happened. He has been investigated.

The FA report is in. I literally felt like I was back in school then. The finger was up. I was like, yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, Mr. Bellingham. What would you like me to say? He is being reported to the stewards for an. breach of Article 33.4 driving unnecessary slowly.

So there you go. It is under investigation. Okay. Well, where was I? Where did that max qualifying performance come from after you barely scored in the sprint? Well, it came from the fact that they've dialed in that red ball. Perez got through to Q3 as well. Clearly they made some steps forward here.

I'm going to say there might be a sprinkling of Sergio Perez doing that little sprint practice session, trying a different front wing as well. Masterclass. might have had some feedback that's helped to dial in the car slightly. Remember, we've only had one practice session, sorry. So it's certainly a massive step forward for Red Ball. I think it's actually teed us up beautifully if, well, if Max does keep pole position, which we will discuss very shortly.

But I think Vastappen won't have the fastest race pace, but he's at the front and he's going to want to fight. I think it's, I know people will probably be going, oh, would say that because you're a Stepan fan but I think it's a great testament to them uh with this whole like park ferme regulations and allowing them to change things because one thing we always criticized about the the sprint weekends was you essentially got the same result going into another qualifying session and this of course will be helped by the fact that formula one is a lot closer now than it was last year and and it's a lot more exciting but it's definitely helped the fact that teams can go up and down and that's not just for Stappen it's you know Holcombberg having a great

sprint but then dropping down and other teams being a bit better or worse so you don't just end up with a complete carbon copy which was what made the sprints particularly annoying I found so um yeah amazing performance from Vestappen and it's going to be so fascinating if he does get to keep his pole which I hope and I think he should personally um yeah it's going to to be a fascinating race because I don't think he's got, he's definitely got a good car underneath him now and I'm more confident in his car, but I don't think he'll have the race pace of the McLaren's, and Russell looked very, very good in the sprint as well, of course.

So, yes, exciting. Let's go to the next question from Shaz X Raz. Do we reckon Max will get a penalty for impeding Russell? Well, we're speaking right now. It's under investigation, but we haven't had an answer. I think it would be a ridiculous penalty for Max Verstappen to get because George Russell will get. not on a lap. Now, yes, he was going slower, but that's literally what happens is when you're on,

when you're not on a push lap, it's the driver's responsibility to not go too fast into the back of someone else who's also not on a push lap. I think it, obviously, surely Russell knew everyone was going that slow. Yeah. Yes, George obviously on a different kind of run plan in the sense of trying to get some tire temperature and whatever and get the, the tires into a perfect condition. But for it's not a penalty. Not in any world. Is that a penalty for Max Rastappen? If George was on a lap, slam dunk, penalty, done, dusted, thank you very much.

But they weren't on a lap. No, I'd be very surprised if he did, because I think if he did get a penalty, it could open a can of worms and potential, what is it, pushing of the boundaries and loopholes and things that you could essentially just speed up on your slow lap, go into the back of someone and go, you're going too slow. Yeah. because not saying that George did that, but that's a tactic that people could potentially use

to get their rivals penalised because every other driver on track we saw that it was very weird to see, but you had that red bull and the two McLaren's it was cruising down the main straight, which looked very weird when it's a qualifying session. They're meant to be going quick, but of course that's how they're sorting their tyres out for these runs. So, yeah, I'd be very surprised the fact that it's an out lap for, sorry, like a, yeah, like a, not a fast lap for George.

A second outlap, yeah. The second outlap is what surely will save the Stappen from that penalty. You'd think so. You really would. I would be, I'd be annoyed, actually, to be fair, if Max got a penalty for that, because I don't think it's warranted whatsoever. Next question, P1Patry member, Alan Enderpey. Does Russell still have a great chance to give Max a good battle for the race? Russell has been looking consistently quick the whole weekend.

I genuinely think Max will be the third fastest car, or third fastest team when you've got Mercedes with George Russell and then the McLaren's. I think Max will have his work cut out. It's a saving grace in some ways that the dirty air does affect the cars behind quite a lot. And running in clean air is really important, as we saw with Lando, I think being able to keep his tires in a better condition in the sprint. He's going to have to keep the lead.

And Max knows very well how to keep the. lead into term one, usually from pole position. So it'll be interesting to see how he manages the race. He doesn't have Perez as a backup. But also, Max literally can drive for fun. He has nothing to lose. Russell has nothing to lose. The two McLaren's do. So we will probably see Max unleashed. Oh, it's a perfect grid really for how we could see it other than, I guess, for the Constructors Championship. And that's still being close, you'd have wanted Ferrari head of McLaren. But having those two at the front that have nothing to lose is going to make it incredible. And I think after what we said about George in Vegas after his victory and said that, you know, he's,

he's a guy that's not afraid to give Max a bit of Max himself. You know, George Russell is not going to be like other drivers that maybe give Max a lot of space. George Russell is not going to be afraid to get his elbows out against Max Verstappen and could see it happening. And, oh, it'd be great to see them go wheel to wheel and battling a turn one because like I said, both nothing to lose. I really, really hope Max doesn't get a penalty because I think it's set up so beautifully for the race if it stays on this.

Sign me up. And finally, P1 Patreon member, Sam, did McLaren's pace fall off or did the others just catch up? It's the beauty of a sprint weekend. There was genuine improvement. And as Tommy,

you mentioned about the Park Fermé rules as well, which is much better now for a sprint where you're, can actually learn from the sprint race to then make changes going into the main weekend. So, yeah, I think it's just a case of McLaren got it right, straight out the blocks. And other teams have caught up, well, mainly Red Bull have caught up. So it's as simple as that. It's still very close, right? It's still going to be close.

I still believe McLaren are going to have decent race pace. Just look at the sprint. Lando was in control there and could have driven off four, five seconds down the road, I believe. So I think we're in for a really good race. we are McLaren's pace they still looked very quick throughout the throughout the qualifying session

and looked like they could challenge for poll Landa of course made another mistake when he was going for a first lap which put him under pressure to have that one lap to deliver basically which would have put a big amount of pressure on McLaren because I still think

there was at least a front row there to be had for them so um but they're not going to be they'll be disappointed uh with three four but their main fighters with Ferrari who they of course finish ahead and they've got phenomenal race base so they're not there won't be too disheartened by it of all the people to be behind that they would have taken russell and this happen so exactly yeah they're ahead of the two ferrari's who have looked all right but nothing special in the sprint i think that it was kind of it looked better for Ferrari the fact of Lando doing those games,

which kept signs in the DRS and things like that. And we're not going to see those tactics tomorrow because we've got two drivers that are not in the same team, both fighting for eternal glory and that's it. So we're not going to see any of that for tomorrow. So I'm very excited for that. Tommy, what are your final thoughts, please, sir? Final thoughts is that I just can't wait for the race

because I think the sprint may be underdelivered with the fact that it's very difficult to overtake, but in a weird way, Now the grid is the way it is That could also make it very interesting If it's close because Vastappen Could well be in a train Trying to hold the faster cars off behind him

So cannot wait for that It's going to be exciting And we're going to be live on Twitch for the final time This year because we're going to be out in Abu Dhabi next week So come and join us, Matt P1 Tommy If you haven't followed us on Twitch already We'd love to see you there for our final watchalong of the year Very excited

We'll be live a little bit earlier than usual I think just to properly celebrate that because it's been an amazing year and we'd love to spend some of that time with you. So come along, come chat in the chat, and we will see you very soon. Lots of love. Take care. Adios. Bye. Goodbye. And my chore for today is if you haven't downloaded Twitch to come and join us for a watchalong, do it for one. One time. Come and join me and Tommy. We're behind so we don't tend to spoil it for anybody

because we're usually about a minute and a half behind. Matt P1 Tommy. come and join us there tomorrow for the race. That's your chore for today. Thank you. Goodbye. I don't know why I'm speaking like this. This is your chore voice. My chore voice.

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