The Late Braking F1 Podcast - 2024 Italian GP Qualifying Review

Episode Date: August 31, 2024

Ben and Sam review the hot qualifying session in Monza where the margins were razor thin, but ultimately the McLaren duo shined with a front row lockout! They boys give their thoughts on all the action from the pace of the Mercedes and Ferrari, to Verstappen's worst qualifying position of the year and the debut performance of Colapinto... >>> Only a couple tickets are left for our LIVE SHOW in Austin TX! CLICK HERE to buy now or for more info!

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top six. Italian qualifying, I think, quite like it, is there? I was saying on the stream how it is almost the direct opposite of Monaco qualifying, where Monaco is like, get away from me, I want the whole track to myself, and you get this incredible run, almost through like tunnel vision, through the barricades, the barriers around you. And then Monga is like, where's my friend? How can I attach myself to my little friend in front of me to punch a hole?

And I want someone to be around me. And we didn't see the traffic jam on the last corner. like we have done in previous years. But I still feel like the gaps between drivers, how close the margins are, it still is a spectacle to behold qualifying Amonza. I was thinking they mentioned this on the Sky Sports commentary, actually, how the anticipation between the first and second runs in Q3,

there's nothing quite like you. I do love the feeling of excitement where everyone's kind of started to show what they have available to them. And then it's just all out. Can you go any faster on that final run? I love that almost silence that comes across from the Italian crowd just before that run. And it didn't disappoint. We had some very, very close fights out there.

As mentioned, Lando Norris is on pole. Oscar Piastriya's teammate joins him on the front row with Max Verstappen, of course, leading the championship down in seventh. We'll get to Red Bull very shortly. But let's start out front with those two McLaren drivers. It was looking fairly close. And then Q3 comes around. They distance themselves a little bit.

from the field. It was only a little bit, but it was enough. Were you impressed by both of them today? Yeah, Lando did a really strong job. And I thought what was the most impressive part from McLaurans is the difference in track between Zandvoort and Monser and how they've still assumed that top spot. Now, we've seen over this season so far, that whilst McLaren have definitely been the faster car over the last maybe six or seven Grand Prix, obviously Red Bull started to be the fastest car at the very start of the season. There's still no, there's still not been any actual dominance.

No one has ever taken the point where they've gone, right, we are it now. No one's beating us race by race. What we saw in, you know, the Mercedes dominant era, what we saw for Red Boy over kind of 22 and 23. You still don't really know who the top dogs going to be

race by race and currently to go through this season. So the fact that McLaren took their car to Zambor and Norris was three tenths clear there. And then they bring a, you know, a different spec car in terms of what the setup's going to be to Monza and they still get pole here, I think that is one of the more under the radar impressive moments for McClellan. And they could be very, very pleased that their car can now perform at

both levels of tracks and still be all of their closest competition. Yeah, it was fairly impressive, particularly based on Landau Norris, just hating his lap. I thought that was weird. I mean, we've seen it from drivers before. If he felt that there was another temp for another two attempts in there based on some of the qualifying laps we've seen from him so far this year. I tend to believe him. You know, the advantage he's had at the likes of Zamvort, for example, like, maybe he did feel there was another couple attempts in there that he wasn't able to extract. But I just strive to reach that level of competition where, like, I want to get to a point

in my life where I do something incredible and I still feel bad about it because it could have been better. Like, goodness me. Oh, God, we're to win number one in the US sports charts. I'm sorry for that terrible episode that we put out, guys. Sorry, it's just not good enough. Pretty much. Yeah, he did a very good job, obviously improved marginally on his second run as well.

Both of his laps would have been good enough for pole position anyway, but a good improvement from him to find that extra couple hundredths in that second run. Piastri, I think, did a very good job as well. Obviously, we're talking incredibly razor-fin margins at the front here, because it doesn't sound right to say that Oscar Piastri, just over a 10th back from Lando Norris. That was the biggest gap between teammates and the top eight. And he nearly got caught by George Russell.

That only ended up being four thousands of a second between them. So I think Piastri maybe, I don't think he improved on his second run. He maybe would have been a bit disappointed not to get a little, just a little bit closer to Norris. But again, we are talking such small margins that, and he said it afterwards in his interview, that starting second at Monza, not the worst starting position in the world. when your teammate is very poor on race starts, yeah, he's probably got a point. I think Piastri will have learnt again from Zambor as well.

Of course, he started third in Zanvort. And whilst we spoke about the gap between the two teammates and how, you know, okay, we want that to be smaller. You could say the same here. What he used to not do going into the Grand Prix, is what he did in Zambour, which is end up just being off the pace. While his teammate was romping away at the front, he was battling with cars that were slower than that,

Claren. So he needs to make sure that he breaks free early. He goes with his teammate. If Landau does get that start, he needs. He needs to be right there with him. We can't have another race, I think, with Piastri fighting for third or fourth or fifth. He needs to be Norris is winning. I need to be in that battle as well. A couple seconds back, fine, sure, whatever. But he needs to be with him, not with the cars further back down the grid. It's a bit of an odd one, actually, with the start as well. in that I think Piastri even needs a brilliant launch or an okay one because if he gets an okay launch, he can just duck right into the slipstream of Lando Norris straight down into term one.

If he gets a great launch, he might get him off the line and actually lead into one. If he gets a good launch, you kind of get in that, yeah, you get in that middle ground of where you're essentially side by side and giving everyone else behind a slip stream and you can't have one because, you know, you would crash into your teammate if you were trying to get a slipstream. So I think he almost needs to go one way or the other with it. I think George Russell should be rubbing his hands together a little bit here. I think for that car in that position, he might be actually a very strong starting place.

Well, let's get on to the Mercedes and Ferrari because going into qualifying, it was unknown whether those two teams were able to pose a challenge. They did pose a challenge, even though they came up a little bit short. George Russell is the lead of those four drivers just over a tenth, well, they're all just over a tenth of Orlando Norris' time. and then come the two Ferraris, LeCler 4th, Signs 5th, and then Hamilton in sixth place. Let's start with George Russell,

given he didn't have FP1, given he had a slightly delayed start to FP2, it wasn't the smoothest weekend for him up until qualifying, but he's pulled it out the bag here. Yeah, I was impressed with Russell. We said the same with Sanks last time out, how he obviously didn't get the full dry rung in Zanvort, and we felt that we partially took his 11th place

to be a bit like, oh, you know, he's lacking in runtime. Well, George Russell also had a lack of runtime. George Russell had to deal with a new car and been put back together. I understand that there might be some needles around there. I know that he shared to his story that there might have been a loose nuts in his cockpit at one point or another, which I think he's just trying to get on the train of

there's something flapping around in between my legs down here. He wants to get on the joke. Yeah, please. I can also make a funny, funny crotch joke. I can be the funny. Yeah, nuts, get it? That feels so like what he's trying to do. but hey, it happens.

Nonetheless, though, he comes along. He beats both Ferraris who, at times, it looks very, very pacey. And he beats Lewis Hamilton, who has done very well around here. He holds the most victories around here alongside Michael Schumacher. So the funny thing is, in Formula One,

as we've really mentioned, the gap is, what, half a tenth between all four of those cars? In any other sport, anywhere in the world, that would be ridiculous. You would be a gasp at how close those things were. But in Formula One, you just go, that's half a tenths, mate.

That's not good enough. And George Russell was the one that extracting it. He's the one that got the best out of it and fair played to him. It's a great lap. Yeah, it was a great lap as well that he pulled out right at the end of the session, which indicates that he probably got absolutely everything

he could out of that car. And I thought going into Q3 as well that Hamilton had a very minor advantage over Russell today. I figured that Hamilton, who hasn't outqualified Russell many times this year, I figured this might be an opportunity for him to do so, but, you know, come the end of Q3, and again, you make the point, it is so, so close. But Russell was the one who was able to get that extra 100th or two.

And that's all it takes, because third place versus sixth place on the grid, you know, one good start versus one bad start. And suddenly there's quite a few positions between those two drivers. So as you said earlier as well, given Lando Norris's struggles on race starts, Piestri has been okay on race starts, but not brilliant. George Russell, with that slipstream, he's going to fancy his chances of getting at least one position into term one, you feel? He'll feel like he'll have a shot at it.

Equally, on the flip side, I think Lewis Hamilton won't be too harsh on himself here. When you look at the gap, like we said, it's less than half a tenth. You know, I think it's about nought.3 separates Russell and third and Hamilton back in sixth place. He's going to look at that and go, I'm a threat tomorrow. It's not like Russell's in third and then four attempts back I'm here in sixth place and I'm just lacking pace. They are so close together that if they all get away

cleanly, you won't be disappearing up the road. You will be right there with him the whole time. And we've seen how good Hamilton starts are. There was a while where Hamilton, his starts almost his weakness and then he went away and practised and now Hamilton is one of the best starters on the grid, which is hilarious to say about a seven-time world champion that, you know,

that's the kind of guy he is. He had a weakness. He went away and perfected it. And now he's terrifying off of the start line. He's so good. If he gets even one of those Ferraris, he's right behind Russell for the rest of the Grand Prix. I think we may, okay, we've got this top six, top seven, with the Stappen now on the end of that, weirdly.

That could all be changed. There is a world we're living where one of those McLaurans could end up fifth or sixth at the end of this Grand Prix, and the Red Bull of the Stappan could end up second or third. It could easily happen with how close these cars are. I am fascinated to see between the Ferraris and Mercedes drivers, you know, whether they can on pure race pace live with the McLaren duo.

It seems based on free practice that they probably can. It didn't look like there was a lot between really the top four teams in long run pace. So I am interested to see, of course, Mercedes really struggled towards the end of the Dutch Grand Prix and that they couldn't keep pace. Ferrari were better than expected and, of course, have an upgrade this weekend that seems to have worked. So it'll be interesting to see if both of those teams can stay in the fight, whether one is a little bit stronger than the other come Sunday, because Saturday you haven't really been able to split them.

No, I think my biggest concern for both Mercedes and Ferrari is the strategy game. When the teams are this close together, and you've got McLaren who are happy to make a bold call and do something a bit radical, or they're ruthless with their calls. We know how good Red Bull are with their tactical mindset. Mercedes and Ferrari, well, Ferrari done what they're doing. They literally understand what a tactic is.

They think it's the little mint that you're getting a packet at a gas station. down the road. And Mercedes think that, you know, strategy is just, we'll just do what everyone else does later on. That's how it works, right? No, it's going to be very interesting to see if we use teammates to gain or lose or if we use one as a distraction or if someone goes early for an undercut and hopes they can get out of a DRS train. There's a lot of tactical mindset needed here. And that's what worries me about Ferrari and Mercedes. I feel like Mercedes, I don't know if they are, but they should be in a position to be the. the ones that are a bit radical with these strategy calls because, let's face it, Red Bull

versus McLaren is very much a championship fight in the constructors, whether Vestappan versus Norris is one in the drivers, I think remains to be seen, but that's not dead and buried yet either. And Ferrari and the constructors, we've mentioned a couple of times, aren't that far away. If they're confident, if they're confident that their upgrade is doing a reasonable job, they won't think they're completely out of that fight either. So suddenly, Mercedes, who, let's face it, bit more distant. They really should be the ones that go, you know what, let's try something different in the hopes of getting a win because if we don't, we default back to the fourth best team and that's where we are already. And look, no one else outside of these top four teams

is going to be competitive enough to battle them. So I feel like that should give, particularly the outgoing Lewis Hamilton, a bit of freedom to try something different if that opportunity arises. I totally agree. Be risky. Be bold. The worst. you could do is go back to, like you said, not being overtaken by anyone behind you to support it's because you're sat in this championship no man's land. We asked in our preview episode earlier in the week whether someone like Max Verstappen could get back in the fight with McLaren after such a convincing victory from Norris at Zamfort, at least in terms of qualifying, no. Red Bull really struggled in Q3. Max

for Stappen, nearly seven-tenths down on Lando Norris, eventually finishing seventh, only just ahead of Sergio Perez in eighth. It's not usual that we see the Red Bulls occupy the fourth row of the grid. No, especially when one of their biggest strengths over the last two or three seasons, has been their outright top speed and their ability to utilize DRS over their rivals. That is being almost a little hack that they've had when going up against other teams. And nowhere does it matter more than here at Monza, the Temple of Speig itself. So to see them seven tents away from the pole time, scary enough, the gap, of course,

between the top six is so close that that little extra gap away around Monza, that extra couple of tents is going to mean a lot here. And it signifies to me that if Vastappan and Perez are this close together with their kind of canyon of difference in ability, that's no disrespect to Paris. That's because how good Vostappan is. that tells me the car quite literally cannot get better than this. I do not think Verstappen was going to be able to extract anything more out of this, even with maybe a full lap of toe given to him from his teammate.

I think the Stappen at most maybe picks up P6, maybe P5, or a perfect, perfect day. So this is worrying for them because we've said so many times already, championship flight is on. It's going to be, I can't have to wear them down, but it's on. Maybe if the drivers, it could be on. This is the result that could go Norris's way. If it ends as it starts, if Norris picks up 25, maybe 26 points of the fastest lap,

but Verstappen only picks up what, six points? That's a 19 point swing. That brings the gap down to 50 points, give or take, in the driver's championship with eight races to go. That's easily attainable. That is a first and second gap every single Grand Prix for the rest of the season. He wins the title. This could be the race where we see the swing that puts the championship maybe in the favor of Landon-Norris. I was really surprised to see them so far away.

I'll tackle Sergio Perez, first of all, because that would be the quicker of the two. That's what he had. That is what he had. That was the first run he had in Q3. That was the fastest lap he did all day. We saw earlier on he was struggling to keep pace with the likes of the McLaren's and the Ferraris

and even the Mercedes as well. He makes it through to Q3. I think that seven, seven tenths, seven and a half temp is back from Orlando Norris. That is what Perez had, plain and simple. Max Verstappen, of course, is less than half a tenth ahead of Sergio Perez, very close, which we're not used to seeing when it comes to qualifying. He had an awful Q3. Vastappen had an awful Q3.

He didn't hook up either lap. And evidence of that is how much quicker he went in Q2 versus Q3. So nearly every other driver, in fact, I think every other driver outside of him in Q3 went faster. And in a lot of cases, by a few temps as well, if Vastappan replicates his Q2 time, he finds about four temps. Like, he was comfortably into the 119s in Q2. Q3, he wasn't able to get into the 119s. So Vestappan, I think, from a personal level, is probably again, trying to overdrive this car and the hope that it can keep up with the McLaren's when in reality it couldn't. But he was really struggling through the likes of Ascari.

that car was just not... The snap in parabolica that he had was crazy. Yeah, that car was not at all settled. So I guess that might be weirdly the good news in the Vastappan had more, I think, than what he showed. The bad news, it wouldn't have mattered. He was still seventh. Like, he finds four tenths.

He is still one tenth away from being sixth. He was seven temps back from Lando Norris. That's one thing. But he is over four temps back. sorry, over five temps back from Hamilton. Yeah, they are not ready. They're not there. I think they will be the team that if everyone else in front of them is clean

and gets away without issue, I reckon by lap 10, they're dropped. I think Red Bulls will be circulating the seventh and eight for the rest of the race. I think they can, and it's only practice. Race pace-wise, they looked fairly similar to the three teams ahead. There didn't look to be much of a difference between them. But that in itself is the problem,

because when you're out front and there's not much of a difference, then you could barely say. hold on. Yeah. If you've only got a tenth of a second advantage on the team ahead of you, it's very difficult to make anything happen because you just don't have enough of an advantage. Like you can say, well, one tenth every lap for 50 laps, that will get you a lot of time. But if you're not able to make the overtake, if you're just stuck in the dirty ear,

you're not able to take advantage of that. So I think there is a good chance that they will be stuck. A quick question, which you may have had on your lovely agenda, Ben. thoughts on the unsafe release for Oscar Pastery? Yes, it was unsafe, wasn't it? Healthy, you think? No, I think they'll be fine. It's team led, isn't it?

Yeah, they seem to have defaulted to that nowadays in terms of these unsafe releases and things that are on the pit crew or something that is like an unsafe release. It's quite right. I'm trying to remember the last time a driver was penalised for it. So I assume there won't be any penalty to the driver, but it was very unsafe. If we're going from unsafe to very unsafe in terms of the spectrum,

it's probably on the very side. Like that wasn't like, oh, that's close or that's marginal. That was just unsafe. Yeah, that was for Stafford doesn't hit the brakes. We've got an axing in the pit. Yeah. Let's take our break on this episode. We've still got more chat to come from the bottom half of the grid.

Hey, everyone. back. Time to give two drivers their flowers, I think, because we have discussed the top eight in Q3, but we haven't got to the, to the winner and the runner up of F2. F1.5, thank you. Basically what it is right now, isn't it? Alex Albin, Alex Albin does qualify within one second of Lando Norris, only just, but he gets ninth. And to be fair, to Holkenberg, he's 1.012 behind Norris. So very close between those two drivers that did make it through to Q3. it's not unusual for these two drivers to perform when it comes to qualifying. We've seen it again today.

Yeah, I mean, the most hilarious part is like it absolutely destroys a certain someone's bold prediction. I was fine with it because, yes, it does destroy my bold prediction of there being five teams in Q3 and then being in Noah's Ark order. But if... Was it the Mercedes if you were happy about it? If Holkenberg and Magnuson make it through and it looks like it is going to be true. and then with the last lap Russell manages to break it,

that would have killed me. So I'm kind of glad it was just earlier, the rather than later. No, that's true. What was Harry? Was it the top five within a tenth? Yeah, it wasn't far off. Oh, good.

That's too wrong. Good. Now, Leclerc, come on, my guy. You can do it. Pile up at 10 one. That's what I'm going for. Anyway, Albonne, Holgerberg, time and time again,

we see them out-drive their cars. We see them out-qualify where they're supposed to be, and we see them out-drive their teammates. and today is no exception. The Williams does seem to be coming along. They do finally seem to be making some good inroads. They weren't too shabby at Zanvort. You know, it looked like the points were going to be really definitely on the cars.

And Albon had a really, really stronger Grand Prix. And then here at Mongse, okay, they always do well here. We've called them the straight line merchants for a reason. But it looks like they're starting to become more comfortable in other areas that, you know, you need a Formula One car to be comfortable in. So it's good to see Williams are taking part. Unfortunately, for Albon, really hard to give a direct comparison.

If he's outdriving the car, performing where the car needs to be, unddriving it because, of course, you've got little Colopinto being on his first actual competitive session. We don't know what he's meant to do. And I'm not going to give any slander to Colopinto. I know we'll bring it on to him a little bit later on.

But just so we're aware, I'm not judging him. It's his first proper session. But yeah, Albon did a great job. Holkerberger, on the other hand, once again, smashes his teammate. Magnuson, pootling around off the bloody parabolica in the gravel,

giving everyone yellow flags, I don't know what's happened. We'll get onto that. Oh, God. No one got improved and I'm, what a shame. Oh, sorry, everyone. What a shame. Anyway, knocked out in Q2.

Shouldn't have made it through to Q2, just saying. Yeah, Halka Boy did a great job. Hars, looking like they're recovering that form that they looked to have lost before the summer break kicked off. And they're seemingly in competition again for points with R.B. right behind them. I think it's going to be a spicy little fight for those last couple of points. Yeah. I certainly coming out of FP3.

I was looking at the bottom 12 drivers and thinking, yeah, Albin and Holkenberg, they're probably the favourites. And give them credit, they converted on it. I felt Williams and Hass did have a minor edge on some of the other midfield teams today.

And obviously, you're right, Alex Albin maybe doesn't have the comparison point this weekend. Holkenberg has been so consistently better than Magnuson in qualifying for two years now that it's unsurprising to see. But in both instances, they still deserve credit because just, because something has become expected, it doesn't mean it's not an achievement.

Like, it's definitely an achievement. And the fact as well, it's not only that they made it through to Q3, it's that, again, they both set their fastest laps in Q3. Both of them were a couple attempts away from the Red Bull. So they set competitive lap times as well as even getting to the dance in the first place. So I give them both credit for what they were able to do. Two drivers that just missed out on Q3 that I wanted to focus on, Aston Martin and RB.

So Fernando Alonzo is going to start 11th. He seemed fairly content, if that makes sense. Content knowing it was going to be a bad situation. He felt he made the most out of the car in 11th place. Daniel Ricardo starts 12th. Both of their teammates were knocked out in Q1. What did you make of both of their days? Alonso is someone who I'm frustrated for.

I think what's tough Alonso to swallow is knowing that on a track like Monza where power is so necessary. You look at who else is running the same engine that they are. And we'll go exclude Colopinto because, again, it's his first time out here, really. I can't really put him in there as a direct comparison. But Maseg's engine cars, the only person behind him is his teammate, Lank Stroll, out in Q1. In front of him, you've got Alex Albon into Q3, starts P9. You've got both actual Mercedes cars, six and third. And then you've got the other two Mercedes-powered cars in McLaren starting on pole and in second place it's a front row lockout, front three from the Mercedes power.

So the most frustrating part for Alonkso is everything that's causing Matt Ashton Martin to be slow in a straight line is entirely Aston Martin controlled. It's not like it's the Honda days in McLaren where it's completely out of their hands and actually the engine just isn't good enough. They have what's underneath them to get to the front and once again the packages that they're producing are not enough to move them forward. Still in competition with RB. still being beaten by a hearse, by a Williams.

Aston Marston needs to be delivering more. And I can't understand why a long as I was going, that's the best I could get out of it. This car isn't where it needs to be. So I'm glad that he's not throwing his toys out of the Pram, but at the same time, I do think this is a bit of a, it was a bit of a radio hint to say that is genuinely the best this car is going to get.

Not sure that's really where we need to be, guys. Let's move it forward towards the end of my career, thank you. On the flip side, Daniel Ricardo, I think it's impressed today. Completely outdoes his teammate, eliminate Sondoda into Q1, which is not good enough at all from Yuki Snow. He's having a poor turn of form. Ricardo is improving when he needs to.

Being that close to Alonkso and that close to maybe slipping through into Q3, in a car that we know has been very topsy-turvy with his performance. It's not too shabby. I think this is all right from Daniel. I thought they were both good. Genuine, I think they both did a good job.

And I think the Astor Martin and the R.B. were the seventh and eight fastest cars. So if on pure pace, then, if everything goes as expected, you're looking at between 13th and 16th for those two teams. So in that sense, both of them have, I think, overachieved on what those cars were capable of. Similar about Fernando Alonzo, I feel a bit frustrated for him.

And Alonzo has been one to exaggerate over Team Radio, let's say, before. I don't think he asked today. I think that was genuinely better than expected. I think 11th was the best he could get out of that car. And similarly, Ricardo, I think, has done a good job to get to 12th. The worst thing for that Menardi team is that which of the two drivers had the upgrades? Sonoda. They cannot get this right, man.

Of course, I forgot that they put only one set of up because they wanted to turn it around so quickly, didn't they? They've only put them on Sanogat his car. I can't even be that harsh and Saolga thing. If the upgrades have been that poor and he's that far behind its teammate, you can only blame it really on the upgrades. they bring an upgrade for one car and not the other and then in Q1 they are separated by hundreds of a second like what's the point what's the money what's the investment going for there that's just that's probably the worst part about this weekend so far for that team is that yeah the the driver that they quote unquote wanted to do better because that would prove that what they're

doing behind the scenes is working didn't do better but from an individual's perspective I think Ricardo did a good job. I think Alonzo did a good job. Quick word on Alpine, both made it through to Q2, driving a car which doesn't have an engine, so too bad. Yes, they are picking it up and running around. Yeah, well, well done France. What is there to say about Alpine? No surprises. Didn't outqualify anyone I expected them to.

Maybe I haven't been scroll, I think had an absolute stinker, sit exactly where I thought they were going to sit, right on that cusp of end of Q2, maybe knocked out in Q1 if they were not putting together a good lap. But Ockona Gassley, here's a shock for you, Alpine, are a really good driver pairing for a midfield team. They're fantastic and they are delivering where a car shouldn't be. And I think they beat the Salvers.

They beat Colopinto. Stroll is the exception. Senoda probably should have been slightly a fan of them but wasn't because the upgrades don't work and that's where they sit. It's no surprises, but it's also not good enough. Yeah, I figured at least one of them would be knocked out in Q1, if not both of them. So for both of them to make it through to Q2,

I think that's about everything they could do. What is evidence of that as well, is if you look at the times that Gazley and Ockon did in Q1 and the times that Gazley and Ockon did in Q2, not only are they like the two of them separated by, in Q2 it was a third of a tenth. Like it's nothing at all. But their Q1 and Q2 times are like identical.

They were just able to hit a number every time they went out, which again just goes to show that that's it. That's what you had to play with. Like, you couldn't have got anything more. Just take the rear wing off at this point. I'm surprised they didn't do that. Are you not legally allowed to run with that on real wing, are you?

If you intend to do it. Must have real wing. Just put a bit of paper, cellar taped onto the back and go, that's our real wing. That is right Alpine on the back of it. Yeah, yeah, rear wing, Alpine. But yeah, well done for making it through to Q, too, and I'm sorry that you've got nothing available to you,

which will get you better than that. I feel really sorry for Gasley. He leaves that Menardi program. He gets a drive at a factory team stuck here, worse than the team that he left, no progress. Turn it around, guys. Come on. We've got some sausages to cook.

I need to say something about Kevin Magnuson. Please do, because he needs to roast him. I mean, Magnuson himself, like from a performance perspective, hasn't done a very good job this weekend, but that's not what I'm annoyed at. We come to this discussion a couple of times every season, and every time we have it, there's a good chunk of people

that want to shoot this down, and I am, you know, digging my heels in on this. Why are we still in a spot where drivers can bring out yellow flags and there is no punishment for it? He has... He was actively rewarded by doing it.

Yes. There are drivers who had their laps ruined as a result of Kevin Magnuson going off the track. And regardless of whether that's his fault, the car's fault, doesn't matter. It has ruined other drivers' laps. Why are we in a position where we're just allowing this? I really do think IndyCar have got this right and F1 have got this wrong. And I said that the last time we discussed this and people shot me down for it. I'll say it again. How hard would it be to feying a lockup on a corner that you know has got a gravel trap when you know you're at risk? Well, you know, you know, you're at risk.

you know you're the first car route and you know that you're at risk. And the data can tell you that, you know, you're allowed to go while I was trying to gain time. I was trying to improve my lap time. So I hit the brakes too hard. I locked up. Yellow flag. Oh dear. No one else has set a lap time.

I'm through. It's too easy to create a situation where you are rewarded by punishing other people with your mistake. And he took so long to get on with it. I know he didn't want to rejoin dangerously. But he had a gap. He'd poo all ground off that. I was like, why are you going so slow? Is the engine dead?

What's happening? No, out in Q2, no issues. Setting another lap time. It was really baffling the way that there's no punishment. There's no issue with it. Once again, I think all five drivers that were behind him, the crew and walked him out,

were on a lap directly behind him. And that is the name of the game. Sometimes you do get your lap spoil. But the fact that he is actively rewarded by doing this is just baffling to me. And it will be forgotten about in a day because there was no one high profile that got knocked out. Yeah, so like Lewis Hamilton was out in sixth place because of it. Yeah, exactly.

And if that had happened, people would, I think, be more up in arms about this. But because it is largely drivers he would expect to be knocked out or at the very least knocked out in Q2, I don't think anyone's going to say much about this. But it sounds crazy. But you look at Valtry Bottas as an example. He qualified 19th. Now, I don't think he was going to do anything special in that salber today because, as we always say, it is a green toaster, but there was a little bit more life in what he was doing this weekend

versus previous weekends. I'm not saying he would have made it through to Q2, but I think equally there were a couple of positions that he could have made up if he gets a lap in. And you're probably saying, well, for the Constructors' Championship, what the hell does it matter if Bottas starts 19th versus 16th? Like, it doesn't matter. Guys racing for a contract, like this matters, like up and down the grid. These spots matter for these individuals. And I think we should treat it that way. No, I agree.

I agree. And you know what? People come among us? Come among us. We appreciate the engagement, but I disagree with you. Colapinto, you've already said that you aren't going to hold anything against him for what he did today. Of course, first running Q1, there wasn't too much separating him and Alex Albin.

I believe it was a couple attempts of a second. Albin improves it on his second lap. Colopinto trying to improve as well. goes into the gravel on the second Lesmo doesn't improve his time and is therefore knocked out. But a competitive lap time, he's a 10th or so away from Sonoda and 16th. So it's not a huge margin that he was dealing with. What did you make of his performance? Yeah, no, I'm not going to judge him.

It's his first competitive session. The Kigs, I've still got a lot to learn. I think for me, the comparison I need to make, it's hard to because we can't directly see it side by side. Where do I think Logan Sargent would have put that car, right? The difference between Logos Sargent, of course, is he's, would have been 18 months into his Formula One career at this point, having over 30 Grand Prix's to his name, give or take.

And Colopinto is on one. Do I think that Logo Sergeant could really have done much more in comparison to what I've seen historically to what Colopinto did? Maybe a position or two. So therefore, not particularly bad. Also, when he goes off on that run and he is pushing, he's improving at that point,

he doesn't crash the car into the wall. It's a scrape with the gravel, and yes, the lap is ruined. But we saw Carlos, thanks to it. We saw Sergio Perez do it. We've seen high profile drivers do it up and down the grid historically. It's a mistake that is easy to make. He recovers from it. The car's in one piece. He will go again in the race tomorrow. Let's just have another respectful, safe race for Colopinto where he can find his feet and gain some confidence. I'm not going to say that the key's washed up and he can't do anything because he got knots out in Q1 and his teammates in Q3. Albon, I think, is doing a brilliant

job. Colopinto is probably doing a slightly subpar job on his first ever time in a race car. that it's a Formula One standard. I'll let it slide. Yeah, I think with the Logan Sargent comparison, but my instinct is that Sergeant, and it's a complete guess, I think Sargent would have made it through to Q2 and been somewhere in the middle of Q2,

based on where Alex Albin was able to qualify the car. But equally, it doesn't matter, because Logan Sargent would have had 18 months of experience in the Williams, and this guy is just racing for the first time. And it would be really easy for people to make the comparison, of course at the Italian Grand Prix to Nick DeVries, who made his debut at Williams at Monza a couple of years ago. And of course, he scored points.

He did a good job that day. But equally, they're not the same situation. Like Colopinto has had one free practice session. I think he did one test in Abu Dhabi last year. And the guy is 21 years old. He is coming in very young, very fresh into this role. Nick DeVries was far more experienced. like Nick DeVries was coming in as a Formula E champion.

I don't think those two situations are comparable to say. So to say, you know, Colopinto's only 18th here. Nick DeVries on his first outing did much better. I don't really care about that. And equally, I'm not going to let it go the other way either because I do think Williams have got a solid car this weekend. And I do think Monsa is one of the easier tracks to debut on. So if tomorrow, let's say, he goes from 18th and makes some overtakes

and finishes 12th or 13th, I'm not going to read much into that either. This is going to take time. He's got a few races to work with. But I don't mind the error at all. It's his first session. Singapore will be the real test. Yeah, I mean, from a physical perspective, more than anything, right? I mean, from everything perspective, that is a tough GP to have as only your second

ever. That is a real issue. But yeah, I think if he were to get, like you said, get up to 12th place, I'd look at it go, yeah, good job. I'm not going to pat him on the back and go, good Lord, he's a world champion of the future. But at the same time, he's doing a good job. And that's all that's what Williams need from him, consistently not binging the car. And maybe, maybe if there's a chance, he might sneak into a point if Albon's absolutely, you know, running the game and having a great time.

And no doubt as well, not on this episode. But we will, we'll get into some of the comments that James Val has made about Logan Sergeant McSumach, Colopinto, that comparison. because I appreciate it's a full quote and some people are just taking like a few words of it but even the full quote is quite interesting. Spicy. Indeed.

Before we go, do you have a driver of the session? Oh, it's really tricky when they're that close together to be driver of the session. I'm going to give it to George Russell. I know Georgie Russell for separating himself on his team mate.

It's only half a tenth, but it's enough to start third. If there is, for some reason, a penalty to Piastri, he's on the front row. He could get a good launch. He could be a real threat for the league of this Grand Prix. Yeah, I was thinking either Albin or Norris. I think Albin does a very good job to get into 9th. I'm going to go for Norris because, again, I know it's only just over a tenth

separating Norris and Piastri, but equally, the gap between Norris and Piastri is a bigger gap than Piastri back to Hamilton. So for those second to sick cars to be covered by that sort of time margin, and then Norris to have an even bigger one out front. That's pretty good going around Monza. So, again, be interesting to see what he's able to do. Can he hold off the drop? Can he finally hold off the rest of the field and lead after the first lap?

Yeah, let's see if the recycling plant is going to be getting another plastic bottle sent their way. We'll be back. Pretty much exactly the same time tomorrow, Sam. I'm buzzing. I absolutely love Monza race time. So, yeah, I'll be streaming it, come and watch us, and then come and listen to the review.

And then, of course, if you want even more F1Mongza content, more? That's insane. Then you can, of course, going to this clock on to the link down below. Patreon's there. Click on that.

You subscribe. Power rankings will be delivered to you hastily on Monday. So, you know, enjoy those, where we rank all of our drivers and we have been doing so all season. Also, though other stuff recently, the film, Bill were breaking. We did our classic review, finally,

of Malaysia 2012. The new vote for that, We're going out in a few days when the month begins. We did our birthday shoutouts and I missed one. So we haven't been saying it through, but I just want to give a quick August birthday shout out to hold on. The screen's loading because it's our fault for not sending it. To Blake, happy August birthday.

Sorry, you joined last month and we didn't get over to your message properly. So just happy birthday to you. Discord. If you want to do your submission as well, links of the description is there. We'd love to hear from you. But that's everything. In the meantime, I've been Samuel Sage. And I've been Ben Hocking.

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