The Late Braking F1 Podcast - 2024 Chinese GP Sprint & Qualifying Review

Episode Date: April 20, 2024

Sam and Ben deliver a double review of both the sprint race and qualifying for the Chinese GP! They review all the action from Hamilton's P18 downfall following a sprint podium, Verstappen's return to dominance, Alonso's double penalty, and Sainz's red flag crash... FOLLOW us on socials! You can find us on YouTube, Instagram, X (Twitter) and TikTok SUPPORT our Patreon for bonus episodes, historic race reviews & more! JOIN our Discord community JOIN our F1 Fantasy League: SIGN UP & create your team, and JOIN our league (join code: C3PHEQHPU04) BUY our Merch SEND us something! We have a brand new PO box - address: Late Braking Podcast, PO Box 821, TRURO TR1 9PE EMAIL us at [e-mail] & SUBSCRIBE to our podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network. Thank you for listening to the Late Breaking F1 podcast. Make sure to check out new episodes every Wednesday and every Sunday. Welcome to the Late Breaking F1 podcast presented by Sam Sage and me, Ben Hocking, today doing the rare double session review, which I don't know if we've ever done that before, but we're reviewing both the sprint race that happened a little bit earlier. on today and the qualifying session that as we're recording this has just happened. So I'm sure we'll

get into mixing them up very shortly, Sam. Yeah, I mean, I'm going to do the obligatory. Double, double, double, session, session, review, review. The irony that it's three times rather than two. It's not lost on me. Some would say it was intentional. Yeah, it's never been done before, really, on the podcast. So we are going through two competitive sessions. It was one review. Let us know. We've got a little poll in the Discord. Comment on social media if you want. And also, if you're on Spotify, there's a little Q&A feature. We're going to try and remember to use it to ask the question that next time we have a sprint race, do you want it to be two separate episodes? Are you happy as one episode? But Ben, we got quite a lot of drama.

We did get a fair amount of drama. I mean, we've both had asleep in between the two sessions. So it's less of a review of the spring race and more of a what can we remember. I think the Stappen. Like an F1 sleepover, wasn't it? Yeah, Vestappen decided that he was going to play games with everyone for the first seven or eight laps. And then just goes, yeah, I'm going to be a second quicker than everyone now for the rest of the, what was it, 18, 19 laps that we had in total. Quite unfair, really. Yes.

What's up with that, Max, for Stappen? Should we start with the, we'll go chronologically to try and keep people. you know, to try and keep a pattern to this. As you say, Max Vostappen was able to win the sprint race, despite starting from fourth, the first time that anyone has won a sprint race outside of the top three starting positions on the grid. Had to overtake both, I mean, technically, I know Norris, but we'll discuss that a little bit more later. But at least properly on track, had to overtake Fernando Alonzo and Lewis Hamilton to make that happen. Lewis Hamilton ended up second with Vastappen's teammate Perez in third.

Do you think either Hamilton or Alonzo could have done any more to either prevent Vastappan from winning or making it a more difficult job? I mean, in theory, yes, you look at what happened on behind, right? Sergio Perez is driving around in the same machinery and it took him far longer to get through the traffic around him. It took a while to get through the Ferraris. And he needed that moment with Alonso where both Alonso and the Ferrari rang wide. going through the double left-hander in the middle sector to basically make that double overtake stick and fair play to Sergio Perez for being so advantageous

and making the most of that fight going on in front of him, that was really smart. But it shows how difficult it was to make an overtake, especially in those spring conditions, which were very different to the conditions that we had in qualifying later on in China, later on in the morning here in the UK. One was almost like a sunny spring morning, it felt like,

and the other felt like a bit of an autumn, damp, cold affair. overtaking was much harder than I thought it was going to be. Ben, I don't know if you noticed that. It felt like I thought cars behind were going to absolutely fly through the moment that DRS became available. And it really did take some time for even the Red Bulls to get themselves moving. But Max Verstappen seems to hold this magical power where he can just push through dirty air like no tomorrow.

He was able to cut the gap. Once he got past Alonso, he was able to cut the gap down to Lewis Hamilton from a couple of seconds down to half a second thing, about a lap, a half, which was mighty impressive. And then the move was done and dusted. And at that point, he charged off into the distance. So maybe it showcases just how good Max Rastapin is, that he has the ability in the car to persevere

through difficult overtaking conditions. And I commend him for that. Equally, if it is that difficult to overtake for everyone else, could a Lonson Hamilton have done more? I'm not going to blame them too much. There clearly is a bit of a difference in car there. We know how good that rebel is. But I do think it could have been slightly harder for,

them. Yeah, I think with the gap between Vastappen and Hamilton, it's worth factoring in Hamilton's error when he went into the airpin. That intense, right? Yeah, which, of course, that would be the last time you make a mistake at that hairpin on today's sessions, right? But yeah, even with that, I mean, in reality, that would probably have just made, the overtake would have happened a lap later, right? I don't think it would have had too much more of an impact than that. I have to say, I was more angry, I think, at 4 o'clock this morning than I am about it now. I've had a chance to calm down. Is that an app, everyone? I've had a nap. There really was no defence whatsoever. And I fully appreciate the sensible thing for both Hamilton and Alonzo to do in that situation is to just get out of

a Stappen's way. Because he's going to come past one way or another. There is an uncertainty on the tires. How long are they going to last? They haven't had a lot of practice time. The easy thing to do is to say, okay, if the staffen's too quick for me, he can go, and then I'm just going to preserve every other position other than that, which is essentially exactly what, well, they both tried to do. Lewis Hamilton successfully did it, Fernando Alonzo less so, a bit more on that in a bit. But even so, it was maybe 50% frustrating, 50% just quite depressing, but in that it makes sense to get out the way for a lead of a race. And it's one, again, it's an inevitability of the sprint race format as well in that if that was, I dare say, if that was tomorrow and that was the actual race, I think more of a defense would have been put up by both drivers.

But yeah, there wasn't even a, wasn't even a move to the inside. I know Nika Rosberg on Sky Sportscoms was pretty disappointed, particularly in Hamilton. I was kind of the same way, but at the same time, it's hard to say anything other than, It makes sense. Yeah, it's frustrating when someone is dominant as Max Verstappen, who deserves all the praise in the world, does not qualify in a prominent position, right? Down in P4, and arguably he still had the hardest cars to overtake him behind him, right?

That was still a fortunate part of Max Verstappen's qualifying for the spring, is that he had both the Ferraris and his teammate behind him. So in front of him, he has Alonso, Norris, Hamilton. He's gifting a place when Norris falls off the track in turn one. Good for him. You know, it happens, it's racing. But you're right, when there is. an inevitability that regardless of whatever

challenges in front of you, no matter what the surface is going to take place, Max Verstappen's rise to the top is always going to happen before the end of the Grand Prix. You need some act of God to strike down to basically change the race result. And again, I want to make sure that everyone listened to this knows that this is not a fault of the Stappan nor Red Bull. What they have created is sensational. But it is so frustrating when you get a fantastic sprint

qualifying. I want to praise the sprint qualifying. It was a great culmination of the conditions and the timing to create a very dramatic session. But when you get something as exciting as that take place, and then in the actual race that we see, it just immediately goes back to the standard procedure because they know Lewis Hamilton stood to basically double his points tally by finishing in the top two. That's how critical it was for him to make sure he finished that race safely. It was so frustrating just to see Max Verstaff and waltz by for the League of a Grand Prix. We did not see a fight put up. What I wanted, the fight that we got with Alonso, Perez, Sainz, LeCler, Norris, that fight where they were all grouped together within the space of about half a second.

That's what I want to see for a race lead. That was dramatic. That was exciting. That was fun to watch. You had to scrap it out. It was contact. You had to push the limits. That was really fun.

But you're right. Niko Rosberg said it perfectly as well when he expressed just how disappointing he was. You know, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, just opening the door. and letting someone come through because realistically, the risk of being taken out, if it goes wrong, is far greater than actually putting up a fight for the lead. And we'll get on to what happens to Lewis Hamilton, of course, in qualifying later on. But this weekend is on very much a downhill slope. In terms of Lando Norris, so Norris started the race from pole position,

didn't get a very good start, was side by side with Lewis Hamilton as he went through turns one and two. In trying to stay on the outside of the corner, he didn't have. have the grip, went off the circuit, and eventually went back to P7, although he made at least one of those positions back, didn't he? Was it one or two? Well, a long so retired, of course, so he got that one back. Yes, but he was essentially at the back of that queue of cars for the, for the end of the, for the rest of the Grand Prix. How much did he miss out on? I think arguably with how quick he looked, and he proved it again in qualifying today, he was pretty pacey.

I don't see why he couldn't have hung up there with Hamilton Alonso. I think arguably that McLaurin is faster over a race pace than the Mercedes and the Askin Martin. So if he gets away cleanly, I don't see why he couldn't be second place. I don't know why he couldn't be where Lewis Hamilton was. And the signs were on the wall pretty early. And I want to again, compliment Nico Rosberg for this. But in the practice start that they did on the warm-up lap, Landon Morris was really slow off the start. It was a bit bogged down.

trackually wanted and then Niko Rosberg commented that there was a massive skid mark where the traction hadn't applied where he wanted it to. And Lewis Hamilton, we've seen before that he's worked on his starts and he flew off from that second place spot. I weirdly think that Lando being on pole might have hinded him because if you get a slightly off start, you're already on the outside and that track's been resurfaced. There isn't a lot of rubber that's been put down, but any rubber that's been pushed aside sits on the very top of that outside of the corner, which means that you just get, you know, underhanding. It's so slippery for you to, to, get any traction on. And Lewis Hamilton played it perfectly when he was, he pushed the limits,

but there was always more than a car's width on the outside of that corner. And Hamilton said it in the post-race interview, he was just like, he should have conceded the position, parts it behind me. You had the pace to get past me again later on in the lap, but you should have just been patient. But he found himself out on the marbles and he lost so much more. But I do think that if he was clean, if he was sensible, I reckon second place was 100% on the cars for Landon, Norris. Yeah, I agree. I think second would have been, if Hamilton could have achieved second, I think Norris could have done as well. In the same way that I wasn't particularly happy with Lewis Hamilton's defence of the lead against Verstappen, I can't really turn around and then say I was disappointed that Lando Norris didn't just give it up straight away and file into position. Again, even though that was probably the most sensible thing to do, I kind of have to say even though the result we know what happened, I respect to the effort to at least extend it as long as he possibly could. It's cost him a lot here. I do think second was on the cards. But this is, for those who hold the opinion that Lano Norris has

unbelievable pace, but is just missing out on a few of these key moments in Grand Prix. And we've seen it before in qualifying sessions where just one key error has stopped him from either getting a pole position or getting a podium. This does seem to be on. on that list. So there's still, as good as Norris is, there's still a lot of work for him to do, I think. Yeah, I saw someone on our Discord, I mean, to say, oh, wait,

I've just realized that Norris is possibly going to win something here. And then within about 18 seconds and tumbled back to sixth place, it's becoming a slightly worrying trend. Equally, love his mentality, as you said, love that he doesn't want to give it up. Love that he's always fierce to fight up against the toughest of competitors. But, you know, you can't win a race on turn one,

but you could definitely lose. it and he definitely lost it. For sure. A couple of incidents that have already been referred to that happened towards the end of the race. So Fernando Alonzo doing his best former Renault teammate, Yano Trulli, of keeping the rest of the field behind him, Choochoochoo indeed.

He had an incident with Carlos Seince that was eventually, Fernando Alonzo got a penalty for it, a 10 second penalty that is meaningless because he essentially retired, even though he was classified. but then there was also between the two Ferraris, Sines and Leclerc, an incident where signs wasn't judged,

but could have forced Charles Leclerc of the track. How did you view both of those incidents? Alonso swog first, we'll try and go chronologically. I am glad that the penalty was still applied to Fernando Alonso. I believe it was penalty worthy. And again, I want to make sure that we're judging things based on the incident that happens and not what the later outcome in the Grand Prix is.

I don't care that he may have suffered damage. I don't care that he'd retired. I don't care that he may not have finished in the place that he started or whatever. He instigated the contact. He was the person that ended up being responsible for the damage on both his car and anything that may have happened to the other car. So I believe that a penalty is worthy. Ten seconds at the moment feels like what the FIA are going with.

And I can't comment whether I think that's right or not because it's so topsy-turvy, all over the place, bizarre choices from the FIA that it's really hard to know with a contact like this, which, yes, it also came off worse, but we don't judge it based on impacts, was minor, right? Both cars managed to carry on at that exact moment. No one crashed into a wall. No one was out of the Grand Prix. They were both on the track for most of the incident.

Ten seconds is a lot, so seemingly quite harsh. But then to flip that over to the Ferrari incident where Carlos Sanks effectively used Charles LeCler to break going into the hairpin, you know, a bit of tie-banging, Charle of Clare is forced off the track, has to take evasive action. It's almost the same incident that there's just no outcome that's the same, right? There's no puncture. There's no retirement happens. But the incident themselves, very, very similar, no penalty given.

So I think it was right to give a penalty if someone is found guilty of instigating the contact and hindering someone else's Grand Prix or forcing them off the track, as Fernando Alon also did. But then why aren't we applying it to Carlos Sites when he's done exactly the same thing to Charlelele-c's teammate? Is it because Ferrari haven't complained? If that's the case, that's not a good enough. freezing. It's what we have stewards for, not to sit there and wait by the phone and hope that,

oh, is that Ferrari, whoever, yeah, okay, now we'll give a penalty, because I'll never do it. I think a penalty should be given for both. It's once again confusing that the FIA have let themselves down. It's not good enough. The consistency is rubbish. I think it was fair, but for not, for God and also got one. And Science, sugarpack one. I'll keep it brief, because I agree, I think it should have been a penalty for both. I don't quite understand how science has avoided a penalty for his incident with Leclair, because it was, at least in my opinion, it was blatant. Lecler was alongside, which in my view then entitles him to space, and he got absolutely none. Like, Carlos Seins, 50% of his car pretty much is off the track when making that move,

which, you know, it's not as bad as, let's say, Vestappen of Brazil a couple of years ago when 100% of his car was off the track in trying to defend, but it's still, the whole point is you have to leave a car's width and not even close to that was achieved here. So yeah, I thought that was a slam-dung penalty and I was confused as to why they didn't go down that path for both incidents. Did you have a driver of that session,

given we'll also give one out for the later qualifying session that we'll go through. Oh, it's a bit boring, but it's hard not to say bloody Max for Stappen, isn't it? because it was the gap that got pulled out after it, past Lewis Hamilton, that I thought was ridiculous. But I'm going to have to give it to pull out a 13 second gap in less than 12 laps is just audacious. You just rude, Max, just slow down a bit.

Let everyone else have a bit of dignity left at the end of the Grand Prix. But yeah, Max Verstappen is, I think, the driver of the session. Yeah, I'm going to go with him as well. Shout out to Joe Guan Yu, because that is unfortunate that he has essentially got himself in a position where it would have been two points in a Sunday race, but he will receive nothing because of the way sprint points work. Did you not think that he was a little bit responsible for Bottas' front wing damage when they came together on turn four?

I have to be honest, I haven't seen, I saw it once, but I haven't seen it twice, so I would reserve judgment. It was a bit cheeky, but I would argue that Jewell was at fault. But, hey, you still got ninth place, and it was a great turnaround for Selby. Indeed it was. Right, we'll take our short break on this episode. On the other side, we'll review the later qualifying session. Okay, so it was, as nearly all F1 days are, it was very much Max Vastappen's day, because not only did he win the spring race, he then went on to secure pole position for the Grand Prix tomorrow with his teammate Sergio Perez alongside him on the front row, although about six different drivers were on the front row at one point in that last gasp attempts in qualifying.

I mean, Vestappen was, even by Vestappen's qualifying standards this year, that was pretty dominant, right? Like at one point, before Perez got his final lapping, I think the gap was something like five and a half tenths between Max. I think it was Alonso at that point, who was next up, of course, a longso ends up in P3, which will get on to that. But I don't know if they just set the car up right here, or if it just works perfectly, or if they brought some up,

or they've managed to tweak the Japan upgrades to be even more effective now. But remember when Carlos Sainz said that the upgrades at Ferrari are bringing are going to wipe the advantage clean of Red Ball and we kind of have a fight on our hands? I know that's not been fully implemented yet, but Carlos, mate, I can't see how that's going to happen because that is a disgustingly good car. Max Verstappen has done a sensational job of sticking it on pole walks again, five in a row. Every single pole position you can have a full qualifying session so far this season. and he's hurt them.

He's being Fummedabler on a Saturday. Yes, very much so. I think whenever Red Bull do really well in qualifying, it's just such an ominous sign because it's not their strength. Like, as good as they are, obviously, on Saturdays as well. You just know in the race it's going to be even better for them. I mean, evidence of that was in the sprint race this morning

in that the fastest lapse of Vastappen and Hamilton and Alonzo, they weren't that far away from each other. Like the fastest laps were very close, even though Vastappen did just about clinch it. It's the fact that Vestappen was able to essentially replicate that lap time, however many times over, whereas for the others it was a really big one-off. And here we are back in qualifying. And yeah, that gap was, like you said, I think it was just over five temps before both Alonzo and then Perez set his lap times.

But you run out of things to say about Verstappan at this point, in all honesty. Yeah, I want to make sure we do give him his credit, though, because... Yeah, yeah. Obviously, there's Vastappan fans who listen to this. And I know it must be frustrating if you're fans of other drivers in particular, but you have to understand the greatness that you're seeing. Even if you're frustrated by it, you're bored by it. Yeah, I can understand your viewpoint.

But equally, he deserves to be called out for just how good that combination of car and driver is. Perez had a very interesting qualifying session. in that he was so nearly knocked out in Q1 and has ended up P2 on the grid. Has he, what was he saved in Q1 due to a lap being deleted? Because he suddenly seemed to jump back up

to 15th place on the timing boards. I didn't see that. Okay, I think if he improved, if that was his lap that put him in 15th place, because it was right at the end of the session, he was in 16th, and I was like, oh, he's got a little check of flower by his name, he's out, and then it went,

bop, back up to 15th place. Oh, no, I don't think he said, was one of the first in Q1 to set a lap time. I don't think he said it right at the end. So, okay, so a lap time, I think, was deleted then of a car that was probably 15th or 14th, then it dropped them down to 16th. It elevated Perez. So if that's the case, and if you're listening to this, and you know differently, apologies, but it feels like you're right, Perez was saved by a technicality, by, you know, someone else's mistake, someone else not delivering a proper lap time. And fair play to Perez, he turned down.

a terrible Q1 and he came back with a new hand and he delivered a really sensational second Q2 and Q3 performance. The fact, okay, the gap is a bit bigger than it has been between the two. But again, we say it time and time again from Red Bull. What more do they need? The second place, he's three-tenths of his team, mate, but they want a driver to consistently be there. And qualifying is Perez's weak spot.

That is where he's always struggled is on the Saturday. There he is. Front Road, the grid. It's another one to lock out. I've got another one again. You can't ask for any more, really. Yeah, because essentially he did his job in the, I know he didn't finish in second place,

but he pretty much did his job earlier in the day in the sprint race, in that he, like you say, he struggled to make overtakes happen, but when two other drivers had an incident, he was the one there to pick up the pieces and claim third. Here in qualifying, he was very fortunate to make it out of Q1. You know, we saw with Q1 there was such, The track evolution was mad, wasn't it, in Q1? Crazy.

Yeah, not being able to set a good lap time in the last couple of minutes of the session was going to put you at risk, with the exception of a couple of drivers at the very top who didn't need to put one in. For the rest of the session, it seemed to get better and better for him, because there was a time where the gap was closer to sort of six temps or so, which wouldn't have been good enough. And actually, that was quite crucial because if it was six or seven, I'm not quite sure where that would have put him on the grid,

but that would have put him, I think, around the Ferraris. So just a couple of attempts, improvement from Perez has essentially elevated him probably about five positions here. And like you say, that's all they need. They need him to start P2. Given the advantage that Vestappen seemed to have in the sprint race this morning, it would be a surprise. I mean, it would be a disappointment for Perez to claim anything other than second place here,

given where he started. But like you say, It all starts with qualifying with Perez because we had very similar Q1 and Q2 sessions last year where Perez essentially just ended the wrong side of the same situation he was in today. Last season we had plenty of instances where he did qualify 16th or he didn't make it into Q3 by one position here. He was one position the right side of that drop zone and he's taken advantage of it later in the session. Yeah, fair play to him. in a world where everyone is fighting over that seat, it's his and he's clinging onto it at both hands.

He is indeed. In terms of in terms of the rest of the grid, so Fernando Alonzo will start third, Lando Norris joining him on the second row of the grid. Fernando Alonzo had a good starting position, obviously, in the sprint race as well. Race pace seemed to really struggle. Is he going to struggle to stay where he is again here? I mean, firstly, what are you feeding him? Are you feeding him Lance Stroll at this point? Is he eating other drivers for pace?

Because I don't know if they've just set that car up to be great over one lap, and maybe they have, and maybe that's why he's about to struggle. But third, in that Astor Man, you beat both Ferraris, you beat both Macquaras. Again, you beat both Mercedes cars. I don't know what the man is made of, pure speed. He's just made of miles per hour, apparently, at this point, because he's so quick at the moment. is excelling, and I'm blown away by it.

But you are right, when it comes to actual long-term race pace, even in the spring. And this is the problem with the spring, as we've said so many times, that once you see a scenario and you get almost the exact same scenario play out in the main race, it becomes a bit predictable. Are we going to see him essentially form a little chuchy train? The rebel drivers are going to have Vamonis off into the distance.

And then Alonkso is going to have to deal with cars slowly but surely, over time, finding their way past him. He will make it as hard as anyone. Fernando Alonso is asking him. arguably the hardest person, it all of Formula One to pass up there with Verstappen and Hamilton. Well, actually, I don't know if I put Hamilton there anymore, but definitely for Stappen. And that's great, but when you haven't got a car to match your defensive ability that is able to cling on to a podium position, Landon Norris is good enough, Lecler is good enough, science is good enough.

I haven't put Piastri in there because I want to talk about it in a minute. But there are enough cars with enough pace sat right behind him that arguably, a longso could find his way all the way down in six or seven. It's not like Japan where there's enough dirty air long corners, difficult moments to get past. That back straight is over a mile long. If you get one bad exit, it's game over. I will say, and this is a turnout for the books,

I'm going to say one positive thing about a spring weekend, and it might be the one that I have for the next three months, so pay attention. at least with the new format, we do have the potential that because the sprint race and the actual race itself are at different times, obviously they, of course, they're at different times, but I mean in terms of both days, the sessions will be starting at different times. So we had at least UK time. We had four o'clock in the morning today.

Tomorrow it will be eight o'clock in the morning. It does at least give the opportunity maybe for something different. And maybe that happens. maybe it doesn't, but at least Alonzo can go into this race potentially with something different. If it is anything like what we saw today, boy, he gone struggle because that car did not look quick. Yeah, I actually also think that the conditions probably favour him more in the slightly colder. Yeah, I think it's going to be even easier for teams to heat up those tires tomorrow. And I know the Alonzo Stroll comparison isn't always a great one because they're very rarely anywhere near

each other on the track. But Land Stroll struggled in the sprint versus the likes of the Alpenes. I mean, Ockon got by Land Stroll in the sprint race. And Gasly wasn't far behind. So, and he really didn't make any inroads on the, on the Salba drivers or the hash drivers in front of him. So I think Stroll struggled compared to what he was capable of. And I think Alonzo struggled compared to what his talent is. So it might be, might be a difficult. we'll see. Also, I'm going to pay Lank Stroll a compliment here. The position that they ended qualifying in, I think, is deceptively bad for Lank Stroll. There was less than two tenths between them in their Q2 lap times, and that was enough to separate that one of them from staying in the session, one of them leaving out. Lank Stroll should, over time, be able to make up that gap, he's been in the F1 long enough. But two tenths is a very small margin and one that we see between teammates all the time, and it's usually quite acceptable. think he's being slightly punished by being on the wrong side of things there. So his pace wasn't terrible during qualifying, better than it was in the sprint chutes now,

anyway, where it was abysmal. Yes. Yeah, it was a step forward from that one for sure. Another Q2 mention, oh, sorry, before I get into that, you want to say something on Piastri? Yeah, I did want to say something on Piastri. We didn't get onto it, actually, in the sprint review, because we're trying to keep things, you know, light and tight. But Piastri was not good enough in the sprint race.

It was a long way off. It's a long way off. And when your team, as an absolute Tony Blair, and fallen back from pole position down to the car in front of you, and even then, he's able to pull out,

what, a five or six second gap? And, you know, George Russell, in that Mercedes, which is slower, on a soft tire which should be wearing, George Russell has been a great job at saving those tires, by the way,

is right on your caboose. It's not good enough, Piastri. You've had a few races now where mistakes are creeping in, and the pace isn't up there on an overall race distance. I'm nervous that Piastri, much like Alonso, is going to end up at the back of this top pack.

I wouldn't be surprised if Russell is fighting with Alonso and Piaastri over 6th and 7th come the end of the Grand Prix, because I have more faith in the Mercedes Russell package for consistency than I do for, I think Alonkso is out driving a poor Ruskin Martin. I think Piastri can't maximize a better McLaren at the moment. So he's got to do a bit more. You know, I'm a little bit disappointed at the start of this season. Well, you could, at least in this race, you could essentially copy and paste it into last year, because this is exactly what we saw from him, maybe not 12 months ago, but certainly like eight months ago, right?

So you've got him doing a pretty good job in qualifying, staying with Lando Norris, not a lot of, I can't remember what the end gap was between them. It's a 10th. Sure. There wasn't really anything in it. But then in the race itself, at least what we saw in the sprint race, not even close. And race pace is absolutely where Piastri needs to. focus. So we'll have to see if it's a repeat result of the sprint race today. Carlos Sines had a bit of a crash in Q2, eventually made it through anyway.

And we'll start, I think, seventh on the grid for tomorrow's race. But it could have been far, far worse. What did you make of the crash itself? Overly committed, didn't he? He kept his foot in it when he was running off. And I respect the fact that he's got the confidence at the moment to go, no, I'm sticking with this. I'm going to put the lap in and I'm going to have floor. it, fine, sure. Obviously, he paid the price for that. But equally, he didn't pay the price for that because arguably he's had absolutely zero punishment given to himself for bringing out a red flag and for destroying multiple lap times of cars around him who may have knocked him out,

may have gotten through when normally they wouldn't done. You look at someone like Lance Stroll. Was it in Q2 that he had the red flag? Yes, yeah, yeah. Yes, it was. Good. I'm glad I remember that correctly. You look at someone like Lance Stroll, and now I don't know what that Lance Trull might have been doing at that point. I'm using a hypothetical here. But if Lance Stroll was actually on a better lap than what he finished on, then maybe Lance Stroll gets into Q3. And it's a really good success story for him, but maybe Bottas gets knocked out.

What's so frustrating about Formula One's reg flag rule is that you're allowed to go back out and set another lap time if you get the car fixed, if you get the car back. Now, I know in the likes of Indy car, for example, this isn't the case. You are punished if you bring out a red flag. You are, you lose lap times and you're not allowed to set other lap times. But in Formula One, because he kept the car going and the car was in one piece and I had four wheels on it, he brought it back to the garage, he's got a new front wing and he's back out there again. He ends up being one place behind his teammate by the tiniest margin. So I was quite frustrated that, okay, the crash is a crash and I can't, you know, that happens to anyone, sure.

But the fact that he's almost been rewarded by bringing out his own red flag so he's able to go again and he's able to take lap times of other people, I found quite frustrating. Ben, I don't know what your thoughts are on it. It honestly utterly baffles me, mate. I do not get it because if we just boil it down to like the simplest terms, if you impede a driver on a qualifying lap, you are more than likely going to get a three-place grid drop. If you cause a red flag and technically impede multiple drivers, it's fine.

Because that's essentially what you're doing. The only difference is if you are impeding someone, it's generally like you're in close combat, right? And it's, you are directly impacting the lap that's happening right behind you. Here, you are still impacting all of those laps by causing a red flag or a yellow flag. It's just that you're not within the distance, you know, you're not within like a seable distance, right? And for whatever reason, that means that the rule is different. And I don't get it. You're doing far more damage to other people's laps because it's not just.

one person. You're impeding nearly everyone by causing a red flag. It doesn't even matter whether they're on a flying lap or whether they're on an out lap because it's all part of the process of putting a lap together. And for, you know, Carlis-Sign's put together a very good lap at the end of the session. I don't want to take anything away from that. But in my opinion, it shouldn't have even been an opportunity for him to get into Q3. And I would say that for anyone. I think IndyCar, like you say, they've got this right, and F1 have continually got this wrong. Yeah, in my opinion, if you bring out a red flag, it should be you're done and dusting regardless of what happens, and your lap time is deleted and you're sent to the back.

Not the back, but the back of the session. And then if you bring out a yellow flag, I think you should have to have your best time deleted and you have to go out there and set another one again. Yeah, exactly. And even if it was something different from that, it'd be more than what goes on at the moment. So, yeah, I tend to agree with you there. A final point on qualifying.

Lewis Hamilton, after finishing second place in the sprint race, just 18th is where he'll start the race tomorrow. Pooh happens, as I believe he said afterwards. Did he use that word? He used a slightly more effective version of that word, Benjamin. Ah, yes, poo occurs. Correct, poo, many poos. So yeah, he'll be, he was out in qualifying.

He made an error into the hairpin. what did you make of that? I mean, we saw George Russell knocked out in Q2 for the sprint race, and we've seen Hamilton now get knocked out in Q1 for the actual race. Yeah, I mean, the car is clearly no better than what it has been, right? We've heard all this feedback from Soto, they've said they've worked on things, and the car is no better. George Russell could only maximise eighth place,

and we saw how much he was struggling in the sprint shootout as well last time. But this 18th place from Lewis Hamilton, and cover your ears, Lewis Hamilton fans, is entirely on him. It's his own fault. It's a mistake he's made. and the gap for him being through to Q2 and being knocked out in Q1 was made up entirely in that lockup that he had going into the heavy hairpin, the heavy breaking hairpin.

And Nico Rosberg roasted Lewis Hamilton for this. And I don't, I'm not just saying that because Nico Rosberg, who I actually think was incredibly complimentary of Lewis Hamilton for a lot of the weekend. But Rosberg knows what it's like to put these lapsing and to race against Hamilton or what Hamilton's capable of more than anyone. And he just said, you know, that is such a poor mistake for a seven-time world champion. and it is entirely on him. And Ted kind of came over and they were like,

oh, you know, they've made some changes in part Fermi. It might be that the tweaks have happened. De Niko just goes, no, sorry, that's what nothing to do with the changes they've made. That's Lewis Hamilton making a mistake. It's his error and he's paid the price. But Lewis Hamilton comes on a little interview afterwards. And I kind of applaud him for it the end of the day.

When you are a seven-time world champion, when you have got over 100 race wings, you kind of can look at a day like this and just go, ah, who happens, and it'll laugh it off. It's not that deep. I've had a career, I've got millions, I'm doing all right for myself. No one's going to remember my 18th place in China in 15 years when we talk about what Lewis Hamilton achieved in his career.

It will come up on a back and forth, I imagine, though, in 15 years time. Guaranteed. Yeah, so Ben will bring that one to the table. But I don't know, I kind of, it must be a laugh or cry situation for Lewis Hamilton at the moment. You get a great moment like he did in the sprint race where he picked up a podium and like I said, almost doubled his points tally. And then he lets himself down like this. And I don't know if just the car is gnaff.

and he's struggling with it, or if he just has lost a bit of concentration because he doesn't care about this season, both are viable. But at the end of the day, this was his fault. Yeah, and I don't treat this any differently to other situations where you have two teammates. One of them is knocked out in Q1 and the other one makes it through to Q3. Whenever it happens between the Aston Martin drivers or the hash drivers, we saw it today with the Salba drivers as well, you know, we rightly praised the driver that got through to Q3 and rightly criticised the one that didn't manage to get out of Q1 because there is such a gulf between what the two drivers were able to achieve.

Here is absolutely no different. This is 100% on Lewis Hamilton. He couldn't hook the lap together. And as a result, he was punished. He was knocked out in Q1. And in many respects, I'm glad in that when a driver, regardless of who they are, messes up, the field, at least in terms of qualifying,

is that close at the moment, that it does punish you. It nearly punished Sergio Perez. If you don't hook up the lap, there are too many good drivers who are too close in terms of an overall field. They will make it happen. It's less so in the race at the moment. But I'm glad to see mistakes punished, is what I'm trying to say. And here, this is what we saw. So, I mean, we'll see how much he can recover in the race itself.

It's going to be a struggle, I think. Yeah, I think he's going to have an absolute nightmare. We've seen that that Mercedes, as he's a classic Mercedes characteristics, seems to be open. when it's following nobody and it hasn't got any dirty air and it's able to run in its own system entirely independently. 18th place with a lot of cars that are arguably slower than Lewis Hamilton

right in front of him. Overtake is not easy. That Mercedes doesn't have the engine it used to have. It's not got the absolute horsepower over everyone else it used to have. It's going to struggle. And I just want to round off by almost giving a congratulations to Nika Holgerberg of Altrey Bottas who did get through to Q3 who were kind of the other end of those

teammate battles that you just mentioned then, where both Joe and Magnuson were knocked out in Q1 alongside Lewis Hamilton. Those two are above and beyond at the moment. They've really stepped up and they're delivering something really, really brilliant. I just want to make sure it doesn't go on the radar because that's sour, we're getting into Q3 again, brilliant job by Valtry Bottas. He deserves some points, so don't muck up the pit stops. And Holgerberg is just a bit phenomenal at the moment.

It's so under the radar how consistently brilliant he is time after time after time. It's more often that he gets into Q3, if not P11, than he does. get knocked out in Q2 or even Q1. So, yeah, not to them for just being fantastic. Do either of them get consideration for your driver of that session? Yes, I am going to give it to Nico Holkenberg, because again, I just think he has excelled, although Fernando Alonso deserves a massive mention,

because, again, he is made of miles per hour. That is fair. That is very fair, and I can't disprove it. Yeah, I had Vastappen naturally as a consideration here. Alonzo as a consideration and I think Holkenberg would probably be the third one in that list. Shout out to both Alpines making it through its Q2. Well done. That thing is a boat. Also Yuki, again, terrible.

What are you doing, Yuki? Come on. Just hates Shanghai. Apparently. Shang low for him. Yeah, damn. I'm going to go Alonzo. Fair.

He was quick. That is the end of my point. It's great analysis. Thank you. Well, I can't believe we're in this position, but three episodes in three days coming up tomorrow. Oh, we just pump out the content for you, don't we? And if you want even more, Power Rankin's on Patreon. You should go checking out.

Exactly. Would you mind getting us out of here? Folks, stick around. We've got the full race review, of course, coming right after the Grand Prix. down the moment the drivers crossed the line, which, I mean, probably means you're going to get something wrong. But hey, we'll be right here. So come back immediately. Report for duty, please. We're also going to be recording it for YouTube as well. So if you fancy a little video presentation, much like George Russell did to Alex's album, then over there and subscribe

as well. We appreciate all the following we can get. Join the Discord if you want to be involved in the submissions that will do post-race and any chit-chat across the Grand Prix weekend. I think that's everything. Thanks for your support. Thanks for listening. In the meantime, I've been Samuel So. And I've been Ben Hocking. And remember, keep breaking late. This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network.