The Late Braking F1 Podcast - 2025 Bahrain GP Qualifying Review

Episode Date: April 12, 2025

Bahrain has delivered a shaken up grid for tomorrow's race, and there's plenty for Ben and Sam to unpack, from some eyebrow-raising gaps between teammates, to a rough day for the championship leader, and a surprise midfield star who climbed up the ranks... FOLLOW us on socials! You can find us on YouTube, Instagram, X (Twitter) and TikTok SUPPORT our Patreon for bonus episodes JOIN our Discord community JOIN our F1 Fantasy League 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 reviewing qualifying from the Bahrain Grand Prix, where Oscar Piastri for McLaren has claimed pole position, joined on the front row by George Russell, and then three teams in the two.

top three with Shola Clark in third. I love a bit of qualifying around Bahrain always serves up a few interesting things that we'll get into today, Sam. Mate, big Bahrain bangers. What I think I say in the preview is delivered. The triple Bs. Yeah, Barang always delivers. And we've once again had a pretty topsy-turvy qualifying.

We've got young Kimmy Antonelli impressing with them saying he's seemingly quite good, but they jumped out of the qualifying session because we don't know whether they're are being disqualified or there's a fine coming or whatever it might be due to the fact that they left under a red flag too early. Lewis Hamilton and Yuki-Singoda make up the fifth row of the grid with Norris and Bostap and halfway down the top 10. Big Pink Gasly, absolutely winning the hearts of many. There's a lot to talk about throughout this qualifying session.

Damn right there is. And let's start with the McLaren duo because going through P1, P2, P3, Q1, Q2, McLaren looked very, very good and odds on for a front row lockout. And indeed, one of them has fulfilled that with Oscar Piastri on pole. But Lando Norris, all the way down in 6th, ultimately just over four attempts behind Piastri in that all decisive second run in Q3. They have looked very good all weekend long sand, both in terms of race pace and in terms of qualifying pace.

But ultimately, when it all came together at the end, it was only one of the two drivers that was able to pull it out the bag. What did you make of both of their qualifying efforts? This is becoming a reoccurring but worrying theme for McLaren when it comes to qualifying. It looks like in Q1 and Q2, they are nigh on omnipotent with the ability that they have to get round a racetrack. At one point, they were clear of a second of everyone else apart from George Russell when it comes to their lap time. And you look at that and think, holy moly that McLaren is fast. But we get down to it,

we get to the actual lap time that matters, the final lap in Q3. And you've only got one McLaren again on the front row. That McLaren is barely attempted in front of, not their teammate, but a Mercedes. And Mercedes famously, not that quick at the moment. Why can't they seemingly convert this ultimate pace that they have

to a proper one-two when it actually matters? Piastri is the first person to have two pole positions this season. George Russell, again, threatening more than I ever expected. But Landon Norris, for lack of a better word, bottled it coming out of turn one. You saw the way the car snapped too eager on the throttle, lights up the rear,

causing the car to wheel sping, drops a couple of tents there. We haven't seen the full replay, but he definitely loses another couple of attempts later running the lap time in comparison to Piascri. Piascri has got that ability to remain calm and get the lapping when it matters. Norris is either all-out sensational

or seemingly not able to convert when it matters. And he needs to get that in the bud right now. It cannot keep going on for a few more races because the gap that he's got at the top of this championship is going to suddenly switch. He won't be the championship league for much longer if this is the kind of performance. He keeps delivering on a Saturday.

The likes of Piasker, the fact, he's right next to Max Verstappen, who's in a fast inferior car, not good enough. So I think McLaren will walk away from this Saturday, shaking their heads, a little bit confused, and wondering, why do they once again not have a front row lockout?

I do have to admit earlier on today and yesterday, I wasn't certain we were going to get another team outside of McLaren within, say, four tenths of the poll time. They were looking that good. And ultimately, I think the first Q3 laps flattered McLaren a little bit because there weren't many drivers out there that were on those brand new softs. Obviously, how quick they were throughout Q1 and Q2 gave them the, the ability to do two runs in Q3 on fresh rubber compared to others.

But I, I mean, they've still got an advantage. I just thought that advantage would be a little bit bigger. From Piastri's perspective, I'm not surprised that he's on pole position here because I think throughout the weekend, he has been the faster of the two. He's had that egg, isn't he? Yeah, and it hasn't been much to the point where I thought the first runs in Q3 were about representative of the gap between Piastri. and Norris, where it was a tenth and a half, two temps.

And indeed, if that had followed through for the rest of Q3, we would be not staring at a one two necessarily, we'd probably be staring at a one three, as was the case with a few minutes to go in Q3, which would have been far more easy to deal with. You know, they would have been the only team with two cars inside the top three and you've got strategy options from there. And look, that McLaren looks so great.

quick throughout practice that there is a reasonable chance that Norris gets through the field fairly quickly and is up with Piastri quite early on. But he'll be disappointed he has to do that work to begin with because he didn't get that lap together in Q3. And as we routinely say, that's where it all counts. You're getting through the first couple of stages of qualifying in order to make an impression at the end of Q3. Piastri did. Norris did not. something that is worrying me that I have brought up a couple of times already. I brought it up last season. I brought it up already this season is Norris's headspace.

The way he thinks about things are for a certain set of results. And his post-qualifying interview when he was not in that front three, when he didn't come out in, you know, that top three interview was almost damning. The way he gets sewing his own hair to the way he works himself up, he comes across almost, he is super competitive because he's every right to be frustrating himself. But to the point where he almost comes across as rude or embarrassed to whoever is doing the interview where they're like, how do you pick yourself up? I don't. I go to bed. Okay. How do you capitalize on six? How should you get back into the fight? I don't know. Be faster.

I'm like, yeah, okay, but like, put it together. You know, pull it together. You're the only person that set yourself down here. Your car is capable of P1. You're the reason it's not in P1 and you're acting like this in an interview. It's not the mindset of a champion. It's not the mindset. set of someone who is going to come out here and win this race. Max Verstappen has had some dodgy moments and he's turned it around from faulting. He's turned it around from last. He's won from almost every position on the grid. Landon Norris does not give me that confidence that he has the ability tomorrow to get in

that headspace, drive angry and suddenly we'll see a masterclass from Landon Norris. It doesn't give that vibe. Hamilton, Verstappen, Vettel previously. You know, we've seen these kind of amazing turnaround in form. Lando isn't giving that right now. I need to see him get his head together and kind of get screwed on properly. What about the Mercedes duo?

So they all start one in front of the other with George Russell in second and Antonelli in fourth. Just over two temps separating those two at the end of the session. George Russell, again pulling it out of the bag in Q3, did a very good first lap that was, at least from my side, quite unexpected. I didn't think he was going to mix it with the. McLarence, but he followed that up with an even better time at the end of Q3, pretty much a

130 dead on. How impressed were you by the Mercedes? Do you? Good Lord. Both of them. So impressed. George Russell is, whilst I think Pierre Gasly is my underrated driver of the season so far, George Russell is just wowing me almost every session we have. Japan is the outlier here where he wasn't able to excel. And I think that was the case for many drivers. He had that mistake you'll remember in turn one the wing change he caused him to qualify in p5 that was that was raised down we saw how hard it was in japan this lap here i'm adamant that that mercedes is not only a 10th less than a 10th away from that mcclaren and i really do think that george russell has dragged it by the scruff of the neck to make sure that is on that front row because that was just a

sensational performance what is equally as impressive kimi antonnelli at 18 years old is it this close to a Russell, who I think is driving above and beyond all expectations. I think as a pair, they're driving out of their skin. Antigelli seems to growing ability every single competitive session we see him in. George Russell is doing exactly what George Russell needs to be. When Max Verstappen is rumoured to maybe still be going to Mercedes, could be Ashton Martin, whatever, but, you know, there's rumours about it. Kimmy Antigley is seeing as the next prodigy, the next possible, you know, generational talent

in Formula One. It could be so easy for George Russell to step to one side, be complacent, not deliver it as best, but good Lord, that lap, that will go down as well as the best non-pole position times, I think Formula One has seen for a long time. And they get forgotten, but I genuinely think that George Russell can walk out of there with the biggest smile on his face,

because that was sensational. If their race-based can match that qualifying lap, we could be in for an absolutely awesome battle for P1. I was really impressed by the pair of them. With George Russell, again, it is over a 10th and a half back from people, Astry. So the time itself doesn't look all that spectacular, but based on where McLaren were throughout the first couple of qualifying stages today, I didn't think he was going to get that close.

And he must have nailed that middle sector because that Mercedes is set up pretty well in the first and third sectors, which are predominantly straights. The middle sector does as well have a straight, but you've also got a few really tricky corners in there. He must have absolutely nailed those to minimize the damage to then still have enough at the end of the lap to deliver what I thought was a great lap overall. And from Antonelli's perspective, I think this was his best session so far. And he is just getting better and better. The fact that throughout the first parts of qualifying, certainly Q1 and even the first part of Q2, he looked a match for George Russell. There wasn't anything to separate them really. It wasn't

until the end of Q2 and then into Q3 where you felt like George Russell pulled out the extra couple attempts that he needed that Antonelli couldn't quite follow through on. But we are talking really slim margins here. Again, it is just two temps that are separating Russell and Antonelli. And we are now getting into maybe some races where the likes of Antonelli might have a bit more experience. I mean, he'd have had experience at Bahrain, not just from the preseason test, but from F2 last year as well. I think it showed not only with Antonelli, but we're doing as well,

who will get onto in a little bit. But yeah, with both Mercedes, they can be really happy. Race pace-wise, I think they'll be a little bit off McLaren, but I don't think anyone else in the field will have the advantage on them, so they've got a great chance

at at least one driver on the podium. What about the Ferrari duo? Because they're separated by a few more positions. You've got Shao LeClaire, who'll start on the second row of the grid in third place. finishing just over three temps back of the poll time of Piastri. On the other side of the garage, Lewis Hamilton did make it through to Q3, but he will start ninth.

Over nine temps back, he had his first slap time in Q3 invalidated due to track limits. The second one, nearly a second off Oscar Piastri. What do you make of those two? Chuckles, sensational again, just doing what that Ferrari shouldn't be doing. Charlotte's come out and quite rightly said that maybe this track is at the best for their floor upgrade and actually it will become more beneficial as we go throughout the next few races. And they still have a balance problem. So introducing a new floor upgrade when you've got a balance problem, there's every chance actually it could throw off the car even more so.

But he seemed to conquer that. He seemed to rise above it. Still he rises, very much unlike his teammate, Lewis Hamilton. I'm so disappointing in Lewis Hamilton. I'm so disappointed. Seemingly when there is chaos and turmoil around the top dogs, when Vastappen's car is a shocker. Sengoda still hasn't got the car running Ethan where he's able to really excel. Norris is all the way down in P6. You've got Pete Gassley up there in fifth place.

You know, you've got this battle with the likes of Antingelli and everyone around him who there's time there. There's positions to be found there. And you think out of all the people in that top 10, Lewis Hamilton, 104 pole positions, seven world titles, over 100 Grand Prix victories.

The guy is going to turn out a performance. No, no. He's six positions away from his team, mate. He's on the same row as Yuki Sengoda, who has just only in his second qualifying session for this team in a car that is infamously so hard to drive quickly if you're not Max for Stappen. It's not good enough. Lewis is not good enough.

Charlotte Clare, you were sensational. I really think that's the maximum you could have gotten out of that Ferrari. This is worrying from Lewis Hamilton. This is a track he's won out multiple times. It's a place he's very comfortable. The Ferrari should be better here. He needs a really good Grand Prix. Otherwise, that points gap between the two of them

is going to become slowly but surely wider and wider and wider as we get throughout the season. Not only six positions down on Charlotte-Claure, it ends up being just under six tenths that separate the two drivers. The gap is awful. And I feel like the time is more worrying than the positions because, you know, six positions isn't ideal, but in some instances that can just be a temp or two that's separating those positions.

Here, if Hamilton improved by, you know, three tenths, which is not a small amount of time in F1, that's a considerable chunk, he'd have moved up one position. Like, he was not only positions-wise, a long way behind LeClaire, time-wise, he was a long way behind that LeCleur-to-Norice group that separated third to sixth.

The worrying thing I think is the extension of, or what I believe is an extension of an issue he had at Mercedes, which is he would routinely, in his last year at Mercedes, make it through to Q3, but he very rarely compared to what he's done in the past, failed to extract the most out of the car in that last lap in Q3. And we often saw George Russell in and around third and fourth and Hamilton in and around seventh and eighth. And this is a similar result here.

There was an opportunity to get a little bit higher up the grid. I am worried for, not only Hamilton, I'm worried for Ferrari tomorrow because I just don't know what their race pace is like. They didn't have longer runs in FP2 yesterday compared to some of the other teams around them. So it's a bit of a question mark. He could make some, he could make some progress. It wouldn't surprise me if he didn't. So he'll say. His pace is worried me all weekend. His FP1 was okay. I think he was P3 and FP1, but there were so many rookies. Lecler wasn't in the session.

It's easy to look, you know, better than you actually are. The rest of practice, he's been at least three or four positions back on LeCler. The time hasn't been there. And this isn't why he's gone to Ferrari. He's got a really hope that the regulations next year suit his driving style. Otherwise, this is going to be a real damp squib of a move to a team as big as Ferrari. Those dreams that he's been chasing to end his. career on, our gang will be a bit of a pain if Lecler absolutely whitewashes him.

And I will add to your sentiments on Lecler. Great effort from him to get all the way up to third on the grid. Should we have a look at Red Bull? Because... They're peculiarly further down the table than we're used to. Yeah, we talk about Ferrari not having the best session in the world, third and ninth. Well, Red Bull will start seventh and 10th. Vastappen, nearly six tenths away from Oscar Piastrian seventh. Yuki Sonoda, ultimately not getting a time in at the end of Q3. He was 1.4 seconds back, but that was based on his first run. They very nearly missed out on Q3 altogether. And ultimately, even though they made it through to Q3, they haven't really done anything with

it. I'm a bit bemused by this one. Yeah, bemused is the correct line. because what was going on with that car to realistically be that far off. Now, if I'm not incorrect, it's highly likely that I might be incorrect here. This excluding Singapore in 2023, this might be Max Verstappen's worst qualifying position on pure pace for maybe about three seasons now,

if not longer than that. It would shock me. I think he was P11 in Singapore in 2023, So P7, outside the top six on pure pace, no penalties, no car issues, and maybe there were some car issues. We heard him multiple times that the brakes he was struggling with them. The car wasn't hanging the way it was. We saw a very uncharacteristicid lockup from Max Verstappen going to the final corner,

which meant he had to repeat a lap. This is worrying for Rebel, because if that car has become so difficult to drive, so on a knife stage, that even someone who is as godlike as Max Verstappen at the moment is unable to get to grips with it, unable to wrestle it into position. What is anyone else meant to do? Yuki Sanoa can almost look at himself and feel a little bit proud

that he's in P-Teng, if Max Verstappers is in P-7. This is what Red Buller would have wanted for their gap between their two drivers. The only issue being, Red Bull have wanted that to have been P-1 and P-4 or P-2 and P-5, and then you're gone, all right, that's better than the back of the grid

and one of our drivers on the front row of the grid. This is worrying science for Red Bull, because if you're getting someone like ghastly beating you an alpine, if Kimi Antingelli and that Masekis is so far up the road, if Charlotte Cleo and a Ferrari that struggled is beating both of your drivers that comfortably, this is a worry in turn of form. They really need to hope that their long run pace in Bahrain, which historically has been quite good. You know, the Stapel is one of the last few races here. Perez even was great

around here, and we saw what Perez was able to do, not a lot in that Red Bull. They need to hope that they can move forward. Both drivers can move forward across that Sunday. Otherwise, this is going to be a low scoring round for Red Bull, and that's a worrying turn of events. I, yeah, like I introduced the topic, I was bemused as to how they couldn't get more out of the car than what they did, but they, both drivers never really looked at one with the car all throughout Q1, Q2 and Q3. I really think both of them were fortunate to make it through to Q3 because the likes of Doan and Hadjar probably had the pace to get through and couldn't extract the lap at the very end of Q2. Otherwise, one or both of these drivers might have been

sitting on the sidelines as the other cars were going out for the final part of qualifying. You know, Vastappen from P7, I think he'll make something work. I was quite impressed with his race pace in FP2 and just to clarify why this particular weekend I'm going on about FP2 rather than FP3, which is closer to, of course, the qualifying session. The conditions change so much throughout the day and into the night here at Bahrain, that for the most part, FP1 and FP3 is not very representative of what you'll see in terms of qualifying and the race,

whereas FP2 takes place roughly at the same time of day as qualifying in the race. Verstappen put together, I think, the longest run of anyone on the soft tire, and it was, his times were comparable to both Mercedes drivers, and only the McLaren's were quicker. So I think he's got a good chance of making a couple of spots up in the Grand Prix, but they will be scratching their heads as to why that didn't work out. On the flip side, Yuki Sonoda makes it through to Q3, which is, you know, that's one,

like a milestone. That's an achievement in its, in its own right. I really hope they found something race pace-wise, because Sonoda's pace looked terrible yesterday. It looked like... P-20 at one point, right? Yeah, but even like, race-paced-wise, at least my analysis of it, stroll was slower and that was the list. That's a good list. That's a solid list to be in front of.

Yeah. And it was fairly close, but he was in and amongst the back markers. So hopefully they found something overnight that his race pace or they've turned the engines up, whatever it is, that he'll be a bit more competitive. Let's take a short break on this qualifying episode. On the other side, plenty more chat as to what's happened today.

Welcome back, everyone. Let's move on to the gas man. sausages out for Pierre Gazley because... Let's go. Qualifying has been a bit of a struggle for Alpine so far this season. Not so much today. Pierre Gasly manages to get fifth place and only just under four tenths away from Piastri's poll time. And Jack Dewan, a much improved performance from him as well, couldn't join his teammate in Q3, but he was the next man out in 11th. That's a bit more like it. Well done Alpine. You've actually decided to not be at the back of the

grid and both drivers seemingly great. I'm going to start with doing, which I'm going to shock some people, but I'm going to start with doing because doing needing a marked improvement. He really needed a weekend, and this is a good start where it goes his way. It feels positive. He shows good pace. He's taking a step up. Now, I wasn't expecting doing to ever beat Pierre Gasly.

So this is coming so surprise that whilst Gasly has improved, doing is also improved, and they've kind of kept their same gap. So it tells me that the Alpine is operating better around Bahrain, than it has been around previous Grand Prix. But the fact that the gap between Duhn and Sengoda to go into that Q2, Q3 split, where Sengona makes it through and do a dozen was only 0.02 of a second. That's good stuff from Jack Duhn. He is all essentially unlucky not to make it through to Q3. So well done Jack Dillon. That's a good improvement. Keep that up. Let's see that through for the rest of this triple head down and hopefully beyond. Now onto the gas man. The gas man who was

0.003 away from beating Kimmy Anzinelli and 0.04 away from beating Charles LeCler to get third on the grid to start tomorrow. In an Alpine that has not score points this season. Pierre Gasly is the most underrated driver on this grid right now. That is such a brilliant set of laps from Gasly. And it wasn't a one-off, it wasn't a fluke. He was there every single session. Q1, Q2, Q3, banging in the times. That Alpine is working beautifully and Gassely is absolutely conducting that orchestra to create a symphony. It's gorgeous. It's wonderful to watch him work so well.

He's such a talent. I'm so impressed. I just hope to God that the race pace is somewhat sustainable. They're going to go backwards. Both Gassie are doing, I think, will end up meeting around the edge of the points area. It's just how far back does Gassley stay? If he can stick in the DRS, if he can work around the likes of Norris of the Staparie, if they both get past him, there's a chance that he,

he may end up picking up two, four points, and that would be great for Alpine. But that's a quite qualifying sensational. That's a great start at the weekend for them. He can pat himself on the back. So impressed. Yeah, good work from Alpine overall. And that car, I do maintain that car is pretty solid. The issue that they've had to this point in the season is they lose too much on the

straits. And that's still carrying on here because we saw Gasly was at his quickest in the middle sector. It was really like they were almost the McLaren of the midfield. That was where they seemed to excel. And it's taken him, at least, all the way up to fifth. And like you say, it wouldn't have taken that much of an improvement to get to P3. So to be in that mix is far better than what Alpine have been able to achieve so far this year. Great effort from Pierre Gasly. Jack Dewan, he was great throughout the first part of it. It's a weird one because he will feel, firstly, positive about his effort here because 11th isn't a Q1 elimination, and that's

what he's been suffering with so far this year. But on the flip side, he'll be a little bit annoyed he didn't get through to Q3 because I think he had the pace to do it. He was quicker than Gisley in Q1. He was quicker than Gassley at the start of Q2. And it wasn't until the end of Q2 where Gassley really pulled out a great lap and Duan found a little bit of time, but not as much as everyone around him. If he hooks together a lap at a circuit where he's actually typically done very well, Jack doing, he was very good here in the junior formula as well. Maybe he makes it through to Q3 and starts to get in there with like seventh and eighth place, because that wouldn't have surprised me based on how he was going. But equally, great effort from both of them. I don't know what

the race pace is going to look like. Gasly is really difficult to judge because there were only two drivers that use the hard tires for their long runs yesterday, Piastri and Ghazli. And Piastri is not a great comparison because of how good the McLaren is. So I don't know what it will look like for Gasly. Dewan's runs were not great. They were towards the lower end of the midfield.

But, hey, he's going to have a good starting position. So they are going to be in the hunt for points. I think what you spoke about with the time difference between Q1, Q2, and then missing out in Q3 is really true. against Gasly because doing was faster than Sengoda in Q1, doing was faster than Scyt in Q1, doing was only half a tenth away from Max Verstappen in Q1. The issue being all these arguably very experienced drivers now

were able to improve just that extra bit more between the Q1 and Q1. So you go to improve, you picked up two tenths between the two sessions, but Senguio picked up five tenths, Scytes picked up seven tents, and Stappen picked up another three days. It's just that's where the experience comes in to elevate yourself. But this is promising. All that talk of Colopinto may be jumping in that seat. If he keeps this up, keeps improving in this way,

he's going to have to wait a little bit longer. Both myself and Mr. Harry Ead for our under pressure segment in our preview, selected Carlos Sines. Of course, he's not had it. I was going to say, he's not had it all his own way. He's not had any of it his own way versus Alex Albin so far. Hasn't beaten Alex Albin until today in a competitive session. well, this one worked out pretty good.

Alex Albin knocked out in Q1. We will get to that in a moment because that's not the end of that story. But Carlos Seins getting all the way to Q3, out qualifying the man who replaced him at Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, to get to eighth place on the grid. We mentioned in the preview, we needed to see something from Carlos Sines.

I think this counts as something. Have you opened your eyes, Beck? Have you seen something? Well, I've seen a Q3. That's pretty solid. that hang it from Carlos. I want to see. Yeah, yeah.

He's sorry to step into the kitchen. Is he saying he might want to cook up something? Yeah, Carlos, mate, this is how you do it. You're back in the game. And even with, and again, we'll get onto the technicality of Albon in a moment. But just looking at the lap times in Q1, science was five tenths faster than Albon. But half a second between teammates, that's something.

Now, Albon didn't have the perfect Q1. It wasn't the cleanest of sessions for him. But the gap is. there for all to see. It looks like science is very comfortable here. He's got the car hooked up. His Q2 time, a 30.8, was faster than Bostappen, faster than Hamilton, faster than Singata, faster than Sandoga, fast in. He was right up there with some of the best times going into Q3. He just didn't have that improvement going from Q3 to Q2 to Q3. It must have been an almost identical lap time. Literally a 10th and a half between it. Yeah, literally a 10th and a half

between the two. And actually, if he found that 10th and a half, he wouldn't have going anywhere. He'd still be in the same position that he was in. So what more can you really ask for from Carlos Sites? Alex Albuoying in his post-qualifying interview when he was sat on the sidelines did say, Carlos is going well around here, and he'll show you where the crew place of that Williams is meant to be. It'll be right on the edge of that Q3. And actually, I think Sites has gone above and beyond. To be sat there in P8, in front of a Ferrari, in front of a Red Bull, right behind another Red Bull and McLaren. This is impressive. Can Carlos Sites now picking up, find that, form, find that consistency that we use to say from Carlos Sykes. Do we now see what we

predicted at the start of the season where Sykes would beat Albonne across a whole season? Do we now see that competitive age come into play? This is a good start. It's happened at a right time of the season, a longer time to build on this. Yeah, and this is a point that extends beyond just Carlos science and the fact that he's at a new team this year. But I do feel somewhat for all of the rookies this year and anyone who's joined a new team, because ordinary this race weekend, a bit earlier in the season, but this race weekend would be the first weekend of the season. And it works really well because you've just had preseason testing here. There's a lot of data at Bahrain. It's quite a smooth transition into your new team or

into your F1 career. What Carlos Seines and all of these rookies and people on new teams have had to deal with this year is a really wet race at Australia, a sprint weekend at China, and a race you can't overtake at Suzuki. It's been a tough start. And suddenly we've got to a place where Carlos Seines is a bit more experienced with the Williams, thanks to preseason testing at the end of February. And he's looked far better.

He looked very good in preseason testing, and that's carried on through today. So great effort to make it through to Q3. I think 8th is probably about where he could have taken that car. But a good effort. We'll see how it translates into race pace. in terms of Alex Albin, again, controversy as to his Q1 knockout, but even putting that to one side, it wasn't a great lap that ended Q1. He spoke about how he was in traffic and had to overtake some cars on the outlap,

which is never ideal prep for a track where you really need that tire prep as well versus other circuits. I will say this about Alex Albin. His race pace yesterday was phenomenal. And I don't know, there's always caveats with race pace in free practice because you don't know who's got the engine turned up, who hasn't, what the fuel loads are. But he did a pretty long run on the soft tires. It was comparable with the Mercedes and Vestappen. It was right there. And I would expect it to tail off because of it being Red Bull and Mercedes.

But he was a long way clear of anyone else in the midfield, including his teammates. So if he carries that on, he's got a great chance to make some progress from P6. or P15. Before we go anywhere, Ben, let's talk about that controversy. What's happening with the Holkenberg, Albon, Lap being deleted situation? What's happening?

It's a joke. That's what's happening. Correct. It is utterly ridiculous. The FIA managed to outdo themselves on a weekly basis. How on earth can you let this fly? So to confirm, folks, Nika Holkenberg makes it through from Q1

at the expense of Alex Albu. Q2 happens and Nico Holkenberg is knocked out as part of that Q2. In Q3, sorry, midway through Q3, it is announced that Nico Holkenberg's best time in Q1 has been deleted due to track limits. Again, Q1 lap time. Which is about half an hour later at this point. Ultimately, once that lap time is deleted, he finished 16th in that session, which of course isn't good enough to progress,

would have elevated Alex Albon up to 15th. That would have been good enough to progress. It's insane. Now, the issue here, of course, is whilst Albon's qualifying lap was not good, he said it wasn't good, he said that he sat too long in the pit lane, the tyres dropped about 15 degrees, he had to overtake cars in his out lap, terrible preparation essentially,

meaning that he was half a second away from Ocon, who, you know, despite the crash in Q2, was the ex-carry of front of him going into Q2. He would have seen an improvement. He would have done a better job in Q2, had he been giving another chance. I'd be giving a clear run. Had he had less traffic. The car is clearly capable.

Carlos Sikes is in P8, whilst Albon has been knocked out in Q1, who should have now gone through. This is now meaning that Albon is starting seven places back on his team, mate, where I think at worst, he probably would have beating Ocon. He would have been Alon, I think. Alongso was six tenths away from Hagar. You know, he would have filled in that cap. this is a real Mickey take. This is abysmal from the FIA and the fact that they were

able to delete Antingale and Hamilton's laps instantaneously straight after their lap have been completing in Q3 and at the same time they come out and go oh and Holkenberg in Q1 but we'll say that really quietly while the other two have been deleted. It's farcical. It is a joke.

You are a global organisation responsible for managing one of the most expensive high profile sporting thanks in the world and you can't govern your own rules with efficiency. There was half an hour between those sessions. You get an ad break. You get time to go away and assess.

And how come you could do one instantly, but it takes at least 30 minutes to do another? That is so unfair on Albon. It's a joke of the system. And again, for new fans coming into the sport, how confusing is this to follow along with? How hard is it to understand what the true order of things are where you're going, what, why is there a lapis?

What? I don't understand what's going on. Questions. To be asked, you lose interest, you move on. It's a joke. Absolute joke again. You've outdone yourself. Good job, FIA.

Ridiculous. They don't care. They don't care. There's no accountability. There's no one front and center from the FIA who is answering questions from the media on this. They'll get away with it. Like they always do because they just have the freedom to do whatever the hell they want. And it's, you know, it's cost Almond today.

And I think you're right that he would have at least got to P. I think he would have been a real contender to get through to Q3 with his teammate. But ultimately, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if Albin had got through to Q2 and did what Ockon did and would have started 15th. It does not matter whatsoever. It's about the opportunity to even have a go. What the driver then does with it, that's down to the driver.

But it's the FIA's responsibility to call things in real time to ensure that we've got fairness. I mean, topical because we've got Masters Golf weekend. After two days, a certain number of players are cut from the field if their score isn't good enough and they don't make it through to the last two rounds. Can you imagine midway through Saturday? So actually someone who's in the field today actually gets a two-shot penalty. So someone from yesterday actually should have made it through.

It wouldn't happen in any other sport. And it's not like we let it go on because we don't have more. power than what we're saying here on the podcast. But again, there's no one with accountability at the FIA to discuss, to explain, to do anything about what is a farcical situation. The FIA are internal. We've had the vice president leave. Ben Siliam, who is the president, doesn't answer questions properly in the media. The FIA who asks himself the questions. That's the problem. And you know what? He always gives an answer that bloody suits his agenda. And that's always reinvestment from Saudi Arabia, where we're at next week.

Yeah, the FIA have put themselves in such a sticky situation. The worst part is no one will hold them accountable for it. Let's move on to Hasse. I did want to talk about them briefly because they will, well, we'll see where they start. It might well be 14th and 20th. It might well be 19th and 20th, depending on what repair jobs needs be done. Surely a pit-length start. You would think so.

To Esther Ban Ocon's car, who crashed heavily in Q2, that brought out the red flags. Oliver Berman, the slowest qualifier on the day, a bit of a back down to earth moment for him after making Q3 in Japan. Assuming they might well have either a back row start or a 20th and a pit lane start, is that weekend over?

Can they do anything from there? Have you seen a more bipolar team? No. If you think about Australia and how much they struggled there, and then it was a bit better in China, I mean, the result was a lot better, but the performance was a bit better. And then they look pretty good in Japan again, and now they're back to whatever this is.

How is a car go from scoring a point in Japan? One of the most technically advanced tracks we have on the calendar, so difficult on the car to come into Bahrain, which whilst it has a very tricky middle section, a lot of it is just hit the gas and go. And you're going to be 19th and 20th. I mean, Okong did well to get himself into Q2 at the first place and absolutely rifled it into. the outside war at the exit of turn two. But I don't understand. Haas, I don't get it.

Kamatsu, you were so positive, such a good influence when you came in last season. We saw a real growth in what Haas were able to achieve. And how Baerman, who picked up a point and got into Q3 last time out, is last. He's slower than stroll. He's sort of both salvers. Lawson, who is again out in Q3,

faster. It's bizarre. It is so bizarre. So I don't think Hars can really go on to achieve too much. I don't think they've got the raw pace to really get themselves. Even if they have a good day, if both drivers have a really good day, I don't think they're getting higher than 15th and 16th. I really don't think it's happening for them. This should now be a test session. It's a real right off for Haasen. Unfortunately so, because

they look so positive. And while Williams, while racing balls, even Al-Pin seemingly are kicking on. Salman have even improved from last season. Hars are now languishing at the back. And it seems like a couple of all right results have meant that actually. and the current points, Charlie, they're up the grid a little bit. It's not going to last. This is not looking solid for us. I think this might at least somewhat confirm what I thought was the case last week with Behrman, which is he did a phenomenal job in qualifying at Suzuki.

I maintain that I don't think that car was worthy of being there. And I think it was probably closer to where he's qualified today. And ultimately because of the way the Japanese Grand Prix went, where overtaking was almost impossible, I think he was able to ride that to a points finish. Today, I think in terms of race pace, they look fairly similar. Like Ocon's run in FP2 was very similar to Holkenberg,

very similar to Hadjar, but it only works out for you if you're qualifying around these people because if you've got similar pace, you can probably stay ahead of them, but you probably don't have the pace to overtake them. That's going to be the concern for O'Con. and Behrman if they do start at the back or if Ocon does start at the back

because if you've got comparable race pace with those ahead of you, that's not enough. That's not an advantage. So I would be surprised if they can score points. It might well end up being a test session for at least one of them. But yeah, a little bit disappointing.

They are going to be glad that they took advantage of what was a bit of a chaotic Chinese Grand Prix and picked up a lot of points where it might not be available to them for a while. Lucky dip. Anyone else, any other team that you want to mention? Just again, the difference between Hajjah and Lawson. Yeah, I didn't quite catch what the DRS issue was for Lawson.

No, neither do why. So I'm not going to be particularly critical upon him, but seemingly there was an issue. But he needs to hope that the race is better. Because, okay, the racing balls clearly isn't as good here as it was in the likes of Japan. It clearly doesn't have that advantage around the midfield. it did. But Hajjar is immediately competitive.

You know, Hajjar improves by half a tenth. He gets into Q3 again. He probably should have done, to be honest. I agree. He probably has to let himself down a little bit there. But they're still promising from Haggall, right? You know, it's only his fourth qualifying.

This is still good signs. Lawson, who has got a lot more experience. If the IRS was troubling him that much, I'd argue he probably should be at the back of the grid. He's not. And I don't think the racing ball is that much faster in those around him, but it's costing him back dearly.

I'm worried for Liam Norson. I'm worried for him. I hope that the race goes better because this has been a really tough start to the season for the chap. I don't want to see him go down the toilet. Yeah. We'll see how it goes in the race.

I'm a touch concerned about their tyre deck. It seemed a bit higher versus the teams that are around them, but we'll see if they've solved that. If they haven't, it could be a long race because tire deck looks very high around here. Barang eats the rears. It is such a rear dependent track. And it's a two-stop as it is for the most cars.

But if you're having to maybe lean on a three-stop or conserve that early, you're in trouble. I'm going to make a prediction, a bit of a bold prediction on the fly here. Oh, my gosh. Of I don't think anyone tries a one-stop. I think the winner of this race is a three-stop. You think it's a bold move.

I think that those, Those tyres were falling off so quickly in practice. I wouldn't be surprised at all if we're looking at three stops. What did you call it, a medium-hard medium? I wouldn't be surprised if the soft is used, to be honest, because the soft and the mediums were expiring at a similar rate. We didn't see the medium tie. It was weird last year.

We didn't see the medium tire once in the Grand Prix. We only saw the soft and the hards. Yeah, it's interesting. I mean, keeping eye out for McLaren, who have been known so far this season to be very good at saving those about Porelli rubber. Russell is very good on his tires. This is Hamilton.

And someone like Alex Albon, who historically has been very strong at running tires longer into the race, he might make a late appearance then. Maybe so. Have you got a driver at the session? Yeah, there's a few of all I call out. I thought Piastri did a really good job.

He put the car, it should be. Russell excelled as in the club, I'm giving it to Pete Gasly, P5 and that LP. Whilst I think that that LP is better here, their straight line speed is not particularly brilliant. So to be in front of Norris, Stappan, Signing, this Hamilton,

And that is a sensational lap. And I do think he's outclassed that car. So well done, Gassley. Yeah, I'd have to agree with the shoutouts and also who ends up picking up the award. I'd go Pierre Gassley. Even if you were to take away all the cars that you would consider to be the frontrunners, of course, McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull. He's outqualified the next car, which is Carlos Sines by about half a second.

Four and a half tenths faster than the Williams. Yeah, that's a big old margin. He's only three positions ahead, but to be in the sort of time range between Leclair and Norris, that's four different teams in there, Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren, and Alpine. One of those things is not like the other, and it's Alpine. I just can't believe that if he improves by 0.1,

he's on the front row. It is audacious. But I don't think it was a case of everyone else underperformed, and he was just kind of there because that last run that he had in Q2, like he was on the pace. I don't think this was a fluke by any stretch. I think he genuinely had good pace.

Every session. He was fighting up there with cars far superior to his. This is great stuff from Gasly. All right. We're going to be back tomorrow, of course, with a race review. I have to see whether Piastri and McLaren can hold on to that pole position

or whether someone like George Russell in the Mercedes or Leclair in the Ferrari can do anything about it. Sam, if you wouldn't mind getting us out of here. Piascri is my time to drive in my fantasy, so he will immediately be in the line. Oh, actually, we might counteract. I feel like Ben, you're a bit of a lucky charm when it comes to your fantasy, so who knows. Thanks for Liskew folks. Do join us after the race for the full review. And if you want to hear how we rate every single driver's performance, and you've got Patreon on the links in the description, loads of content, but power rankings is done after every single race. Everything on there is Ag3. You get a lot of video content.

you get a birthday shoutout, beer breaking, which is getting to know us, and the historic race review plus two extra episodes every single month. Please give it a try. You know, even if you just do one month, you think, all right, it's not for me. It really doesn't cost a lot of money at all. Thanks for your love, thanks for the support, and we'll see you tomorrow. In the meantime, I've been Samuel Sage. And I've been Ben Hocking.

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