The Late Braking F1 Podcast - 2025 Brazilian GP Sprint & Qualifying Review

Episode Date: November 8, 2025

It’s been an action-packed Saturday in São Paulo, and Ben and Sam are here to break it all down. From a sprint that saw a title contender crash out and a terrifying incident for home hero Bortoleto, to a fiercely close qualifying session that delivered a shocking double Q1 elimination for a top team, a mixed-up grid, and many left praying for wild weather and chaos in tomorrow’s GP... 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

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That's gofundme.com. Gofundme.com. for listening to the late-breaking F-1 podcast. Make sure to check out new episodes every Wednesday and every Sunday. Hello and a very warm welcome to the late-breaking F-1 podcast presented by Sam Sage and me, Ben Hawking. two sessions to review today from the Brazilian GP as we've had the sprint race this morning and we've just witnessed the qualifying session for tomorrow's race. Sam, you said before we started recording that the content gods have shined on us

and you're absolutely right. I'd like to note down all the things I want to get to. My page is full, man. My man's got to get a bigger list because there's too many things to talk about. Yes, the content gods have delivered. If you're a fan of Bostappan or if you're a fan of Hamilton, we're going to get to the all of the wrong is coming, but we're going to talk all the sprint race first, and then we're going to get to the qualifying review before we deal with all those bizarre moments that

have come across this whole day of Formula One action. A lot to talk about in the qualifying session. You're absolutely right, but plenty to talk about from this sprint that we witnessed with Lando Norris taking victory ahead of the two Mercedes, Kimmy Antonelli and second, George Russell, And third, of course, Oscar Piastri was there in the top three until he crashed out. And that is, should we start there, Sam? Because that was probably the biggest talking point in a sprint full of talking points, not just himself, of course.

Nika Holkenberg and Franco Colopinto going off as well. What did you make of him, man? The gasp that I gasped. I like that. The noise that left my mouth when I saw him go into the war, I think the expression of Oscar Piastri's face. I think at that moment, he hit a straw. I think it was the first time it had dawned on him.

Ah, this isn't now one point. It's nine points now. And there was a lot of conversation about the way it took place. The water being pushed onto the racetrack. Was it Landon Norris's fault? The reason that the water had appeared? There was it his own fault for being lazy going over the curb. We saw it happen to the Holkenberg and Collar Pinto behind.

But the most damning, of course, Oscar Pastery, careering into the wall and leaving the sprint race. He's got so much to do for the rest of the weekend to make up these lost points after. He hasn't had a podium now for over two months of racing. To go from winning that many Grand Prix, that many pole positions, that many podiums, to not being on the top three steps for over two months of racing is crazy. I don't think you can put money on that. It's so bizarre.

But this is just another blow to Oscar Piacry and his championship fight. Bing, what your thoughts? Yeah, it cost him seven points, right? Because I know he was third place at the time behind the Mercedes of Antonelli, but I'm pretty convinced based on what we saw for the rest of that sprint, that those soft tires that were on the Mercedes at that point in time versus the mediums that were on the McLarence, those mediums were going to win out. We saw the reverse of the situation, right?

Later on in the Grand Prix, when Lando Norris was on soft tires, desperately trying to defend against medium tires of Antonelli. I feel like McLaren have got the strategic game right. And Piastri, it was a bit of a waiting game for him to get that opportunity to get at least up to second place. I haven't seen anything this weekend that has convinced me that he would have had the pace to challenge Lando Norris, but to only lose one point in that situation where you are maybe the second fastest car, one point to two point deficit in the championship.

That is far from the end of the world. And instead, I mean, he careers off into the barriers. and you can excuse him somewhat because he wasn't the only one. You know, we saw three drivers within about 30 seconds of each other all go off there. And it was so nearly four drivers. I don't know if you've seen the onboard of Max Verstappen because, oh boy, he was nearly off there with them. My guy would be drifting.

My guy would be drifted. But this is now the third occasion in a wet weather contest throughout the season where Piastri has been betting by Norris. You hang it in Melbourne, in Australia, of course, where he's. made the mistake and Norris were onto wing in Silverstone, Piastri is being caught by Norris and then makes the mistake restarting under the safety car, penalty hits, he goes behind, and now again on the damp track, Landon Norris is able to tame the tricky conditions, and it's Piastri that finds himself in the wall. In a sprint race, there's almost so little to gain, but apparently

so much to lose if you get it wrong. Yeah, and I think it sits somewhere in between skill and luck as to how it happened to him, like, and Norris hit the curb, didn't go off. Piastri did hit the curb, potentially as a result of Norris hitting the curb, has then gone off as well, which I think was intentional from Lando Norris, if Twitter is to be believed. So that's a real shame. Apparently, he's throwing bongas out the back of his McLaren to request a spin. If McLaren are fair, then I assume that Landon Norris will drop a good eight points tomorrow. That is in the papaya rules bylaws, I believe.

so we'll see that sorted out in the main Grand Prix. But a devastating crash, and it's not just the loss of points, it's the timing of it. Yes, the sprint, it doesn't matter all that much. If Piastri can turn that around tomorrow and take the win, even if Norris is second, he's pretty much back to where he started the weekend. It's not disastrous. But on a weekend where we said we had under pressure submissions from our Discord saying, Oscar Piastri needs a result to find something that he hasn't found in a while,

that is a pretty catastrophic result. It is especially when you're in a weekend where you get such limited running on track. So the fact that, you know, they've gone to have a full third of a race now, 33% of a Grand Prix, and they've ran it the whole way through. They were mixed conditions, mixed tire usage.

We saw some run soft, some run medium. Piazri's had eight, not even that, six laps, six and a half laps of running before the red flag came out and he hit the wall. So he's already a disadvantage there in comparison to his teammate, in comparison to the Verstappen. Again, we'll get on top.

that result later in qualifying, but it means that he competitively is going to be missing out just a little bit. And that could be the difference between winning a Grand Prix and finishing behind your team, mate. Yeah. I also just want to, before we move on from that sort of collection of incidents, because again, it wasn't just Piastri. Credit to Antonelli, who in real time has seen what Norris has done and has, I think, intentionally avoided the curb to play it safe there. That was, I think, a move that was far, beyond the experience level that he actually has in F1. That's an Alonzo style move.

So I want to give him credit before we actually go on to talk about Antonelli because he and Russell were then after the red flag chasing down Lando Norris. You know what? Actually, no. Rolling Star, what a load of nonsense? Right. I actually say in the Discord that the skewers need to piss off. Sorry, Kirstie.

That's a bleep already. But genuinely, the biggest joke of the weekend so far. Why? Less rain, no rain, actually, since the race began. We had a standing start, all cleared up, all five, everyone's all right, rolling start. Where is the process behind that decision? How does it make any sense whatsoever? And they've robbed us.

I'm saying it now, we've been robbed. Yeah, sorry, that was just chronologically, like, where it happened. But, like, we then get Norris versus the two Mercedes drivers, and Norris looks fairly comfortable at first, and then we start to see maybe the soft versus the medium, come into effect because Antonelli gets back within the DRS of Lando Norris and kind of stays there for a couple of laps until Lando Norris maybe stops the rot a bit and is able to hold Antonelli off until the flag and claim the maximum eight points. It wasn't overly

comfortable, but what did you make of Norris? I thought Norris, it's a really, really good job of stretching the lead just enough over Antingelli. Every time Antenelli did get near some DRS On those better medium ties at the end of the Grand Prix, Norris deployed just a little bit more, allowing him to pull that league, stop the DRS becoming activated, stop the gap from being actually risky. I think he only going in there twice from what I can remember properly. Antigant only dropped into the one second margin in the DRS zone a couple of times. And then Norris, again, manages to get away from the danger. So I think whilst this wasn't a dominant performance, we didn't see him stretch away as we have done in the likes of Mexico, for example,

I think tactically, strategically, strategically, he played a blinder. Yeah, I thought it was pretty good. And I didn't mind the call from McLaren to go on to those soft tires because it seemed as if you started on the softs, you went to the mediums or if you started on the mediums, you went to the softs. And I think for the most part, people were making that cool just because you knew that the new tires coming on were going to be at the right temperature for that race start. And if you had cold tires that you had continued to use from the first part of this

spring race, there is a good chance you would be slow off the line and losing quite a few positions, which as we know in these sprints is detrimental, is very detrimental, because it's tricky to make overtakes, even if you have a pace advantage on the cars ahead. So good stuff from Lando Norris. I didn't mind the call from McLaren. A bit further back, we had Ferrari versus Aster Martin going on, really, between fifth down to eighth. Ultimately, it's Chau LeClaire that won that battle to finish P5. Then it was Alonzo, who might have been quite happy to see the yellow flags at the end of this Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton in 7th, Lance Stroll dropped back a spot versus Pierre Gassley for eighth and ninth.

What did you make of that battle between those two teams? Really interesting because I think the ties again played a key part there, especially the fact that Charlotte Clare went from soft onto medium under that red flag, but Lewis Hamilton retained his mediums. It was one of the few drivers who could stay on the same set of mediums. He'd gone to new ones, I believe. And that meant that whilst they hadn't been used a lot, they'd still be used. And therefore, it was a little bit more difficult.

Great start initially from Lewis Hamilton, get himself up from 11th row to the back of that battle. with Leclair and Alonso that was going on. Really great start. Positioning his car perfectly. Showed so much experience, so much restraints and not push it too far to get around what could be a really...

I mean, time one of into Lagos, dangerous corner. It could go wrong very quickly for a lot of people. He wove his way through, brilliantly. And he set himself up for a really competitive race. But Lecler's attack on Alonso was fascinating. It looked like there was no way through. Like Alonso had the better of them,

even with the tires on the softs they're starting to degrade, Lecler and the medium started to apply pressure. It was only when Lecler, I think, intentionally jinked a little bit to the inside of turn one, went a little bit deep, which I think threw a longso off. I think he threw his line off slightly, going through the Senaresses and then the curb of the soul, which meant that Lecler actually could perform a mini undercut going down to turn four, which set up the move really nicely. We didn't get to see it live, of course, because the camera direction was so appalling

that every key overtake that did happen, including gasoline stroll going. on. We didn't see. They did not get the chance to see it. So thanks again, TV direction. Love you. That's what I pay money for. Good job. I said that you had to pay the 99, 99 pound package. You should get the action and carnage package. I mean, you actually saw the overtakes in the Grand Prix, because that's what it feels like at the moment. The clerk disrupts along those lines, gets down the inside into turn four. But then that means that Hamilton has to essentially do the same thing, I think. And he just can't. He can't get close enough alongside that that disrupts alongside to getting through, because the only way to pass alongside, I think, was

to force a mistake out of him, the raw pace wasn't there in the Ferrari to get past the Aston Martin. I think the raw pace was there. I think the raw straight line speed wasn't. I suspect that the Ferrari is maybe a slightly quicker car than what we've seen up to this point in the weekend, at least in race trim. I mean, that's kind of been what we've seen all year from Ferrari, right? That qualifying has been patchy at the best of times, whereas in the race, okay, they're not McLaren, but they tend to find a little bit more when we get to Sundays. And I felt we kind of had that in the sprint as well, in that Alonzo was doing his best former teammate Yarno Trilly impression, holding up multiple cars.

As soon as LeCleur did get by, he was able to, not for very long, show that that that car did have a bit more pace. And of course, as we know in qualifying, we'll do the qualifying review after the break, that Lecler is in a better starting spot for the main Grand Prix. compared to where he was for this sprint race, a very good overtake. I just feel like Ferrari probably have a little bit more than what they've shown. I am a tad worried about Aston Martin going into this main Grand Prix, because whilst I think the tyres is a good point in that they seem to go off those soft tires very quickly in that second stint, as we'll call it, in the sprint

race, Gazley was also on soft tires, and he made a legitimate overtake on Landstrol. And, Fernando Alonzo, his pace absolutely plummeted after a certain point. Tireware hasn't been their best friend so far this year, Aston Martin. We might get more of that tomorrow. I'm also worried that they've attempted to adjust their setup and they've been caught out. I think they did well going into the sprint section of the weekend. Of course, Park Fermay is lifted between the sprint race and the main qualifying. And I think that where they qualify with both cars in SQ3 and finish with both cars in the top 10,

because Strull doesn't score points for finishing 9th. but we're still relatively competitive. I think a lot of teams are taking a step forward, and Ashton Martin have not taken the step forward, and that's where you see both of them out in Q2. But big up Pierre Gasly, my man's got his sausages out, and he's having a bloody fry-up. He's having a great time in Brazil,

not sure what they've done to that Alpine. Maybe it's just Prost reincarnate is just driving that Alpine because he is sensational this weekend. I mean, podium last year, podium in 2019, right? Like, Ghazley loves this place, absolutely loves into Lagos. Between the lakes, he loves it. A couple of incidents to review. Should we start with the one on lap one, which was Behrman versus Lawson? Let's do it. Let's do it. Essentially put both of them out of contention. We've got Behrman picking up a five-second penalty for dangerous moving in a straight line as we got down to turn four. And Lawson also picking up a five-second penalty for. going into the side of Bearman at turn four.

Now, both of their penalties haven't really changed a great deal, apart from to their super licence. They were well outside the points anyway, particularly with Bearman having a spin because of that incident. Did you see it the same way the stewards saw it? It's really tricky to judge incidents in Formula One at the moment because the way the rule set works, it goes entirely against how I personally like to judge incidents that happened.

For me, Bearman was a little harsh against a defence. that's going down the straight line. Two wheels were on the grass for Liam Norson. So I do understand why they've penalised him for not allowing a car's width there. Five seconds is unusual. The norms used to be 10 seconds there. So you know what? I'm willing to accept that. What I am happy about is that they haven't penalised Olly Berman for the actual contacts that happened on the corner. I thought they were going to as well. Well, the way that Sky Commentary called it, they said, oh, you know, is Berman left enough room there? Liam Lorsing has claimed the corner. And the phrase claiming the corner.

Sorry. Has Beerman left enough room? He had like half the track to work with. What are we? Sure. I think he's probably left enough room. I would rather be punched in the face than deal with this every single race at the moment.

It is genuinely that painful. So for me, the crashes on Lawson. From a personal opinion, Lawson has, again, she's displayed poor wheel-to-wheel racecraft. He's causing incident. and he's caused Olly Beerman to crash. But they've given him a five-second penalty,

which is odd, because in theory, he technically has obeyed the rules by claiming the corner and has then not been left enough room, but he's only been giving a five-second penalty for causing contact. It's just a mess. So for me, I agree that Lawson's in the wrong. Lorsen deserves a penalty. I'm giving him a 10, not a five, all about you, Ben.

I was fine with this. I'll be honest with the straight-line incident where Berman was penalised. A lot of Bearman on boards are out there. I'm really struggling to find Lawson on boards because that will tell us far more. We got one replay of it on the main broadcast, but for whatever reason, it hasn't made it around the Reddit and Twitter circles like some of the onboards do. So I'd like another look at that, but from first inspection, I think that five second for

Beerman was fair. And I also think Lawson five second is fair because Beerman has left him clearly enough room. He's going around the outside of a corner. And if you think Bearman's to blame that, I do not know what you want him to do. like do you just want him to disappear? Do you want him to intentionally go off track to give Lawson the spot? I don't know. So I was fine with both. I will say with both of these drivers because Behrman is back up to nine penalty points again. I think Lawson might be on eight. So they're both in and around the danger zone before you get a race ban. Both of these drivers need to reconsider their wheel to wheel fighting with others, particularly with each other apparently. But, I've kind of said it all year when it comes to Lawson. We know Bayermen's had a few rather silly incidents that have caused him to rack up these penalty points.

Both of them have pace, and both of them have impressed on occasion this year, no doubt about it. They need to clean it up going forward, for sure. You think five was enough? I was fine with five. I would have gone ten. The other incident happened on the second to last lap.

Bortoletto, of course, going off. Did I read 37 G's he reached going into the barrier? Good Lord. It was a scary crash. And the fact that we saw it in that tiny little window in the bottom corner of the screen. And then they don't, I get why they don't show a replay. But the fact that his audio comes up, I'm okay, is great. I'm really relieved that they have it on the broadcast.

Because I think 20 years ago, that crash might have had a very different outcome. It was horrific. You know what's great about that? Which is, sorry, let me. You know what's great about that guy that went into the barrier? at stupid mile an hour, is that we were going into qualifying. And the reason we were discussing Bortoletto not competing was because of his car and not him. That shows you how far safety has come along, that all of the focus was on.

Is that car, is that chassis going to be ready for qualifying? Because it was already a given that Bortoletto was ready to go. And I'm not sure 20 years ago, 30 years ago, that would have been the case. That would not have been a given that Bortoletto was going to walk away from that crash and be able to compete in another session a few hours later. That's wonderful to see in what is obviously not a wonderful incident for the moment. No, I mean, the steering column snapped. The steering column is between his legs.

Like, he's fine. The titanium steering column isn't. Either Borselletto is made of steel or the crash sales of Formula One cars are superhuman, incredible creations and well done to those safety requirements, because quite honestly, might be a bit dramatic. I think it saved a life today. I think there's a real risk that he might not have been where he was 20 years ago.

Before we close off the discussion about the sprint, did you ever have a driver of the session? Yeah, big P-Gazel. My man, in Al-Pin, got a point. It's the first time they had a point in about eight-ral-prey, and he beat... And he does it in a sprint where he needs to be in the top eight, not even the top ten.

Exactly. It's even harder. And he beat reincarnate Senna Stroll to the point as well. This is sensational from Gassley. I'm not sure what they've done to the car. I'm not sure what he's doing in the car. But he is phenomenal this weekend. And I want to shat him out as much as possible because you don't get a lot of it

when you're in that LP. He deserves the praise. I gave Gassley, driver of the session for qualifying. I'll give him another one as well. He gained five positions on his starting spot. Managed to get that point. Got a legitimate overtake on Lanchdroll on the same tire compound in the Nastern Martin that had

until that point looked pretty handy. he was on the back of that group. Like he was on that Ferrari-Aster-Martin group. He wasn't competing with Albin and Bartoletto and Adjar. He was ahead of them all. In an LP, so fair play to you. Well, let's take a quick break on this episode, but on the other side,

we're getting to the second session of today as we review qualifying. on down to BetMGM Casino and check out our newest exclusive. The Price is Right Fortune Pick. Don't miss out. Play exciting casino games based on the iconic game show only at BetMGM. Access to the Price is right fortune pick is only at BetMGM and GameSense remind you to play responsibly. 19 plus to wager. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connects Ontario at 1866-531, 2,600. To speak to an advisor free of charge. BedmGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. Welcome back, everyone. We've reviewed the sprint. We'll now review qualifying for tomorrow's main Grand Prix. Of course, full points up for grabs tomorrow. Very important qualifying session to get right.

And the man who got it right, Sam, continuing his very good day, Lando Norris. Lando Norris does it again. It's not as easy as it has been in previous qualifies. sessions. Of course, in the spring qualifying, two laps was enough to get him on that top spot. He could have picked either, and he still will be sat there at the top spot. But this time around, he has a lot of work to do. Due to a mistake, he makes him in the first sector, he sits in 10th place at the final run of Q3. No worries, no stress. Easy, breezy for Landon

Norris sticks up at the top. And there is some real competition because the Clair's decided to turn up. The Mercedes are both still there. Piaastri looks far stronger than he has done. And it's a walk in the park. An absolute walk in the park and I have to commend him on just how composed he was because I do think fighting for your rookie title when you're up against it, it's an easy way to make a big mistake. There wasn't any. Yes. I have to say I am personally, and I don't want to say this, but I am personally very sad about all this Lando glaze that happens on this podcast. Sorry, the fact you've just said the word glaze. It's getting really tiring. Like a donut. out there, my friend. You're glazing it.

All this Lando glaze. Of course, I am going to completely ignore all the times we've criticized him for all the qualifying mistakes he made early this year. That doesn't count anymore. We all love Lando Norris. But the fact is, he did an excellent job. And you say in Q3, he makes that error on his first run and the pressure is very much on that second run. if he matches his time in Q1 or Q2 in Q3, that's good enough for poll. I think that should show you how consistently quick he was versus the field today. I erroneously said it yesterday. I can actually say it today. He was the fastest driver in all three sessions. And he was on a 1096 pretty much consistently throughout. He was a 10965 in that first

part of qualifying 109.61 in the second part. And then he adds another 10th, 109-511, which seals him the pole position. The pressure, he put the pressure on himself as a result of the error. And I kind of felt like he and the entire Q3 contingent let themselves down a bit on that first run of qualifying in Q3. I don't think anyone really nailed it. But Lando Norris, it's maybe not the same as Mexico in that I don't think McLaren have the advantage in the same way they did there, he just looks like the fastest driver plus car combination here. I don't think he has the advantage in the way he does over Mexico, but I think what's better for them than Mexico is he has the advantage over the right people here.

Right, sure, he's being challenged, but by who? By who, Chris Camara? I don't know, Jeff. He's being challenged by Mercedes. He's being challenged by Charlotte. Who cares? If they take points off him, it doesn't really matter. All he's got to do is stay a hang of Piastri and beat Max for Stappen. And right now, tick, tick, tick, he's done everything he needs to do. So going into this race, he's in the perfect position. Although, what's that

I can hear in the distance? Rumbling just past the water park in Hungary. Is it rain clouds? It might be there's a lot of rain dances going on. Might get a little bit damp. Yeah. And we had a discussion going into the weekend, whether Lando Norris would be one of the drivers hoping for rain or not. I think we're at the position now where he's so confident of his pace in the dry, everything's kind of going his way. He will just want nothing to disrupt that. So it'll be interesting to see what happens with that tomorrow. Yeah, I thought he was pretty excellent again.

And at a time where he needs to be rock solid, both in terms of his driving, but also mentally. At least for now, he is answering the call. Before we move on, the mental thing, I think it's really important because I've been quite critical of him in the way he deals with pressure off the racetrack and yet this weekend, championship leader, he is swaned into the paddock on a Thursday, big ring on his face, stopping to sign things,

chatting, having a laugh, whether he's putting it on and sometimes fake it to him make it, he looks cool as a cucumber. I'm not talking about Carter Kaying, I'm talking about a genuine cucumber. The guy is relaxed and fair play. to him. I think he's owning the moment, he's delivering what he needs to. When it comes to Piastri, so Norris, of course, gets the pole, Piastri down in fourth place

this time. So he drops one position on where he was for the sprint race. He's 0.375 back from Lando Norris and not far off four tenths of a second. I think maybe the most concerning thing for Piastri is how equal it is. So I mentioned how Norris was fairly consistent from Q1 to Q3, in and around that 1096. Piastri was the same way, just three temps back. Like, he was consistently 1099, 1098, and didn't really move between the sessions. And also, like, throughout the lap,

he was quite consistently a tenth down in the first sector, maybe another tenth down in the middle sector, another tenth in the fight. It's not like he's losing everything in one corner. He just seems to be slower everywhere, which I don't know if that points to there being something wrong with the car or whether Norris is getting the most out of, I don't know. But I think that's got a concern, Piastri, because there's not one quick fix here.

Especially in the fact that his first run, his second run in Q3, I believe we're pretty much identical lap times. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that tells you that he's found nothing between the runs. It's a matter what he's looked at, evaluated, change with tire pressure, front-wing adjustment. You know, they can do all that. And even with Park Fermay-on, he is looking at that. They'll look at the data. They'll study it.

He's found nothing. He's not found a thousandth of a second between those runs, and yet his teammate elevates himself higher. This, who's for a hex on this man? Who's for the curse of Oscar Priyastri in the fact that he can no longer compete right now? And he is three-tenths, three to four-tenths behind your teammate. We would criticise any teammate pairing being nearly four-tenths down. But you're in a championship fight, you're nine points behind,

four-tenths down on your teammate. When they're on poll, it's a bad time to be that far behind. I'm baffled. Not just from this weekend, but just like the last few weekends. The last two months, so confused what's going on. Something must have shifting in that car. I believe maybe mid-season Norris, something happened

if he wasn't comfortable in the car, they've shifted something because there's no way that you go from being that high up to that far down. What about Mercedes? So Antonelli, we saw him earlier this year with a sprint weekend. It was Miami where he got sprint pole that day, didn't he? Excellent sprint-qually lap.

Didn't necessarily follow that through. Here, we've got P2 in sprint quali, P2 in the sprint itself. He's second again here in Maine Qualley. Not too shabby. No, not too shabby. If you can hear that there is banging in the background, folks, it's just clearly the celebration party from Brazil because the fireworks going off right now next to my back garden are extreme.

So apologies if you hear a few pops and bangs. Kimmy, you've got a race tomorrow. Get back to Brazil. You don't want anything yet, lads. pipe down. Lord, it quite literally is the world's largest celebration out there. No, it's a firework. Oh, no. So if you hear it,

sorry, folks, you just have to deal with the fact that we are near, well, we're passed on the fire night, these British people are passing for a calendar. God's safe. Kimmy Ansigelli, two P2s, and the best part about it was his race pace during the sprint Grand Prix was very solid, very competitive. He was right there with Lando.

Now, I think Lando was managing, as being a little careful, but that's okay. We're expecting the fact that this McLaren's going to be faster. So the fact he kept him within a second to two second range, very promising. And the fact he's translated it from the sprint qualifying to the core qualifying, different conditions, different wind speed variables that are going on, different tire compounds being used on a regular basis.

He's still faster than Russell. And Russell is mowing like your Nang on a dreary Sunday. Oh, I can't feel my back end. Turn the heating on, gang. Then you might feel something. I mean, it's that back and grip out there for him, apparently, that he can't get near his teammate off the pace in the spring. qualifying, off the pace in the sprint race, off the pace in the main qualifying.

Kimmy is the fastest Mercedes driver this weekend. It's great to see. It is great to see because it's been pretty rare so far this year that Antonelli has been the faster of those two. And it's just been, like you say, consistent throughout the sessions that we've had so far. And it kind of goes to prove that with these sprint weekends that if you are on it from the off, it's very difficult for the driver who's trailing to get.

back into it. You just don't have a lot of practice time to work with. Excellent lap I fought at the end of Q3 to take advantage of some other drivers that didn't quite put it together. George Russell, what did I say yesterday? I think we say out of one person we're putting on mediums at the end, it's George Bloody Russell. I told you people yesterday that the medium tire was not going to be an awful tire and there's going to be one person or two people trying it in Q3 and it's probably going to be George Russell. And lo and behold, George Russell not very happy on the first run on soft tires decides I'll give it a go on the medium tires. I think in the end, it probably didn't make a difference because that gap to Antonelli was fairly consistent throughout the session.

I think tires wise, medium and soft were probably fairly level. But yeah, George Russell's got a bit of work to do. I mean, he's starting sixth. Yeah, I agree. The game that we haven't spoken about and the biggest jump, basically from the sprint portion of the weekend to the main portion of the weekend. Shola Clair, then. What is going on with that Ferrari? One of them's in P-13

and apparently needs a desperate change to the back end so he can get any kind of grip out of these tyres. And yet, Sherlock Clur's third

and, you know, barely a tenth away from getting on to the front row. How has that happened? I think it's other drivers who haven't got the most out of their car. I think it's the clergy

just taking advantage of, okay, this car is capable of a 1098. I will drive it to that pretty much within a thousand every single time. Like his Q2 and Q3 times were 0.004 apart from one another. I think he found the maximum in that Ferrari and just asked the other drivers,

can you beat that? Can you get the most out of your cars? And a lot of them said no in Q3. And I think he'll be fairly surprised he's got P3 versus what he was able to do in sprint quality. But I think it's a good thing he's maximized this session because, again, race pace. I think that Ferrari might be all right. I think it can compete with the Mercedes.

I'm not sure it can touch Landon Norris. But honestly, with where Ferrari have been so far this year, you wouldn't expect them to. I think he's got a good chance to at least stay on that provisional podium tomorrow. Yeah, I was quite impressed with the way he turned that weekend around. It felt like it was really shaky. A lot of lockups that he was going through in the second sector in sprint qualifying was almost every lap there'll be a lockup there.

And he just rained it in. You just got it where it needs to be at the right moment, the right time. And you're right, I do think that their qualifying pace as a team is abysmal right now. So the fact he starts so close to the front, a podium is definitely on the cards. If he could do what he did in qualifying, again, and maximise what the Ferrari can do. But I think there's going to be a lot of people up and down this grid praying for wild weather, cut the safety cars, cut the DNFs. There's a lot to play for.

There is. One more point on LeClaire that I forgot to make that I really wanted to get in in this qualifying review was that we had the sprint of course, where he really struggled to make an overtake on Fernando Alonzo, that Ferrari, they decided to go quite high down force, which is a valid strategy. In the post-sprint interview that they do in the paddock, like he was saying that they were losing more time in a straight line than they were expecting to, and they were confused by it. Of course, he got the overtake done eventually, but it took him a long time to get past Alonzo. He was really quick in the first sector in qualifying, which, of course, you need straight line speed force. So either they've

managed to answer that question, or they've done something with the setup that has addressed this. And that is very encouraging going into tomorrow. They might have actually solved an issue that they've got. I think Leclair, you know how I mentioned how Asthmartic had been jumped, essentially didn't get it right, didn't make any differences between the sessions. I think Leclair is one of those individuals that has made a proper step forward between session. And during the part firma being lifted, has made an adjustment in that car that has just made him feel a bit more planted, a bit more confident,

and he's delivered a really good time. Racing balls are in a solid spot. Fifth and seven? They must be over the moon. But being Hajjar, not only is Hajjar decided to put it in fifth place, a fair play to you, Isaac, because that is sensational,

another brilliant qualified performance. Lawson's right there behind you in seven, and you've managed to be out. Bairman, who is being sensational this weekend, and ghastly, who must be gussed to be impinging after how good it was going, up until that point, but had John and Lawson together to be split by George Russell and Mercedes, the fact that the racing balls are 5th and 7th, but the Red Bulls are 16th and 19th

is astounding. It is astounding. I think they're in a good spot. Again, we've had race-paced concerns with racing balls over the last few races. So whether they stick to where they are or not, I don't know, but they've given themselves the best opportunity to take it. advantage if they do have good race pace. And I think you're right with Berman and Gassley. I can't believe I'm saying this because if you told me going into this session that Beerman would be 8th and Gassley would be 9th and both would probably be a bit disappointed about it, I would have told you you were mad. But I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say this. That maybe could and should have been the second row of the grid. I think they could

have had third and fourth here. I think on a good day, but she'll maybe picked up fifth and sixth. and the fact they're starting 8th and 9th tells you that they may be like a poor Q3 in comparison to the rest of their weekend so far. Behrman is third if he does his Q2 time. Ghazley would have had the provisional poll for that first run if he did his Q2 time. They were genuinely quick.

I think they both, particularly Bearman, we saw a bit more on board with Bearman. I think Bearman was overdriving it in Q3. I think he, particularly with those, first sector issues. Like he, we saw him go a little bit wide, particularly the second run. I think he dropped at least the 10th, both runs. There was something there.

And I think he might have just underdelivered in Q3. Still great job to get there, of course. But there was more on the table, weirdly, for both of them. I think France explodes if Pierre Gassely starts on the front row of the grid, and that Alpine, quite honestly. It might be the most miraculous thing to ever happen to them. Quite damning, though, for their teammates. I'm jumping a little bit here.

But the fact that obviously both teammates are, sat next to each other. You've got Ben and Gasly 8th and night, but you've got Okong and Colopinto sitting 17th and 18th. Really tells you how it can swing from one side of the garage to the other. And it's more on Okong here. I'm expecting a little bit more at this point. Yeah, I did, after suggesting yesterday that it might have been traffic related as to why he had his SQ1 exit. Yes, if you haven't seen the onboard, it is ridiculous how much traffic he comes with. Man's on the motorway. But I haven't seen anything about this. this one, and he's five and a half tenths behind Olly Berman in Q1. That is a big old gap.

Bear in mind, no pun intended there, that the gap between Norris and Holkenberg, 1 to 10 in Q3, was 0.528, which I believe makes it the closest Q3 we've ever had, by the way. But just yeah, Ocon was further away than that at 0.5. And Colopinto was even further away. I think it was eight temps separating him and Gassley. I mean, Colopinto, we know that he's got his contract sorted for next year. He doesn't need to worry. But I would say, where Alpine has clearly improved a little bit versus some other sessions they've had in the last few races,

it is maybe a touch worrying that as the car has improved, Colopinto hasn't improved with it. Yeah. And you think with the news coming through that he's now signing for 2026, you hope it would have the positive effect of relaxing the drive, letting him feel a bit more like, okay, I haven't got a pressure myself and therefore I can drive more naturally, I can be more free in the car, I can be more expressive in the car, rather than having to overdrive every lap to make sure you can prove why you're there. It's been the adverse effects.

He's not being anywhere compared to Gassley. And this is the first weekend where actually they're not next to each other. For quite a while, Gassley is so far beyond what Colopinto is able to do. I don't know if they're going to shift in what they've done to the car. I don't know if they try to go down a completely different pathway and it hasn't suited Colopinto style. But But the gap between Gassi and Colopinto is the biggest we've seen, basically since Colopinto join the team. I'm looking up and down this grid, Sam, and we've got names like Piastri, Adjar, Lawson, Bearman. The big names. The big names.

We've got, you know, we've got Colapinto, we've got Bortoletto, quite a few names there. And what connects all of them is the fact that none of them were on the grid the last time Max Verstappen was knocked out in Q1 in Grand Prix. qualifying. You have to go back to 2021 over four years for the last time that happened. Yet here he is knocked out in 16th place. His teammate also knocked out in 19th. Double Red Bull elimination in Q1. Oh my goodness. You know the last time that happened, Ben? When was the last time that happened? Japan, 2006. I bet Antonelli was barely however many days old, Crofty was said. I just turned 31. It's ridiculous. That's how long ago it happened, nearly 20 years ago, since the last time, both Red Bull drivers were out on pure pace alone in the first part of qualifying.

The first time ever, the Max Verstappling is out in Q1 on pure pace alone. All the other eliminations, and I think there's about eight of them in his whole career, have either been through power unit failures, a crash, or a penalty. He has never been knocked out purely on his time set in a working car, which is sensationally mad as stats go. The fact that Senoda is the slowest driver to set a lap time, the only person over a second away from pole, that is atrocious. And this is what we've been saying all season long, that if Red Bull didn't have Max Verstappen, they had two normal drivers, two mortal drivers, they would be fighting in like eighth and ninth in the driver's championship.

They would be so far down the points order, and finally it struck. The car is undriveable. The man is eight-tenths of a second off in the flipping second sector alone. It's a boat, no control, no grip, no stability. This might be one of the hardest cars, Max de Stapler, has ever had to drive. And he's made it look a breeze all season long. And finally, it's come undone. And you know what?

Fair credit to him forgetting this far. But I think it's championship done unless he produces another miracle in a race tomorrow. He will need rain. He will absolutely need rain. He is at a point in the championship and maybe has been for a few rounds where he needs to be the one with the high risk, high reward strategy. We mentioned it in the preview coming into this weekend. We've mentioned it on other weekends too. We often see he is the one in sprint race is trying something different.

We often see he is the one in main Grand Prix trying a different tire versus what McLaren have got. And in some instances, it works. I would say it worked very well for him in Mexico, starting on the medium tire, whereas everyone else around him started on the soft. And of course, we saw in the sprint race here. He was against the strategy of the likes of the McLaren's again. The problem is, it will catch up to you at some point and a risk you will take will not pay off. And this weekend, that risk is not being completely happy with the car after the sprint race, trying to do something different to get closer to the McLaren's, and instead doing a 180 and going completely the other way. Because he was nowhere near even where he was

in qualifying yesterday. I mean, he sets a 110-4 that knocks him out here. He was in the 109s in all of his qualifying sessions yesterday. He was at a 109-5 in Q3. He is not far off a full second behind that lap time, just scrambling, trying to find something. I would not be surprised, and they will be at least discussing this, the potential of a pit lane start rather than a P-16 start on the grid, because if they go at this Grand Prix with the same setup as he's had in qualifying, he might not make much progress. I might be jumping the gun here, but I'm going to ask you a question. Is the decision to focus on this car to understand things, I think secretly, to try and get

a last minute championship a mistake and are they going to be looking silly next season? No, I don't think it's a mistake. If you're a team with a sniff of a championship and you have a driver like Max for Stappen and you have the potential winner championship and you don't go for it, why are we here? Like, you've got to go for it and it's probably not going to pay off for them. And if it costs them for next year, so be it. And that will be incredibly frustrating for the team and I guess the sport because we want as many contenders as we can possibly have.

But you might as well go home if you have the potential of a championship and you decide against it. I get it with these midfield teams. I get it with these back market teams. But if you're Vestappan, if you're Red Bull, you don't have a choice. The gap between Bostappan and Sango is about three-tenths by the looks of it, which is what it feels like it's been for the last few races, actually, where Bostappan has been sitting quite lofty in qualifying. And actually three-tenths, because qualifying is so close, he's Sagan regularly knocked out in maybe a Q2 session rather than making it through. Does I guess tell you how bad the car actually is?

No, I feel like Sonoda's basically done the same lap time in SQ1 as he's done in Q1. Like, he basically hasn't changed at all. It's Max Verstappen that's come back to Sonona. So it feels like they've just gone horribly wrong on the setup. I don't know. They've got a headache, a real headache going into tomorrow. I think the worst part for them is if Fortaletta had a fully working car and haven't had the accident in the spring, there's every chance that Yuki Sonoda is.

last and Max Verstaffin starts another place back. Like no doubt, yeah. I mean, given Holkenberg has managed to get into Q3 and we often see Bortsela and Holkenberg not that far apart in qualifying, I would have put a lot of money on him being faster than Sonoda. That's the spot they're in. And again, Verstappen had multiple attempts at it,

and he wasn't getting closer. Like, he had quite a few goes at it. It's not like he made one error on one lap and that cost him. It was just slow. wrong time to be slow yeah yeah you're telling me driver of that session I might have to say

Hajar I think for that P5 I think Ancing Ali was brilliant Norristing a brilliant job again as well but when it looked like it was Behrmann and Gasily who were going to be the high climbers and those who leaps the rewards of the likes of Hamilton

and the staff are not being in Q3 I didn't see Hajar going that high up and he has wowed me once again So P5, I think Hajar gets it. Yeah, I mean, again, it's so close in that. I mean, if Hajar is a 10th slower, he's 10th. Like, it's just so close. It's a good job from my jars.

Yeah, it's good job from him to get ahead of that group. I think he's in contention. I think LeCler is in contention as well with that P3. Antonelli, too. I'll throw his name in there. I didn't give it to him yesterday, but the Lando Glaze continues. I'm going to give it to Doris. Good.

good stuff. I'm glad that we've got full 360 against it back at the point we're starting on, which is that you are glazing lander. Should we review a race tomorrow, sir? Yeah, I promise that it'll be well, maybe there'll be less glazing, who knows, but we've got a full Grand Prix to go through.

It might rain, there might be safety cars, we've got bold predictions to review, we've got fantasy performances to pray for, there's a lot going on, and there's a lot at stake, both in this podcast and in the championship tomorrow. So get your bums on seats, join the Discord, join us for a good old chit chat and make sure you're here for the review afterwards we can't wait to have you with us patreon as well on monday for power rankings so if you want to join it join it now

you get the whole year's content as well and you'll get everything that is to come thanks for everyone that supports us we'll see you tomorrow in the meantime i'll be samuessage and i've been ben hocking and remember keep breaking late This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network. At Fandual Casino, you get even more ways to play. Dive into new and exciting games and all of your favorite casino classics, like slots, table games and arcade games. Get more on Fandual Casino.

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