The Late Braking F1 Podcast - 2025 Miami GP Sprint Qualifying Review

Episode Date: May 3, 2025

The weekend has kicked off in style, with a new name topping the timesheets in Miami! Ben and Sam are on hand to break down all the key talking points, from McLaren missing out to a flying Antonelli, an unexpected Aston Martin in SQ3, and the difficult session for the likes of Tsunoda and Doohan... 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! TIDE: Save more, earn more—up to 4.48% AER (variable). Interest rates are tiered, with the top rate for balances over £1M. Each tiered rate applies to the portion within that range. New Tide members get these rates free for 6 months; after that, your Tide plan’s rates apply. For full offer T&Cs visit ⁠⁠tide.co/savings⁠⁠. 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. Everyone welcome to the late breaking F1 podcast presented by Sam Sage and me, Ben Hocking, reviewing two sessions that took place at Miami today. First of all, the sprint session that happened earlier on, won by Lando Norris in a McLaren one two, and the session that's just happened as we're recording this,

qualifying for the main Grand Prix, where Max Vostappen has pole ahead of Lando Norris and Kimi Antonelli. So we've had a lot of weather. We've had red flags. We've had delays. We've had crashes. And we've got to all somehow fit this into one review. I mean, I'm sure that people won't mind if we talk for about four hours straight.

We've had a lot go on, haven't we? We've had cars in the wall. We've had penalties be applied. Lank strollers somehow time. from the back of the grid to the front of it. We'll get off the levered spin. How's he done it? I don't know.

We'll get onto it shortly. We're going to discuss it all. There's a lot to unpick. There's a lot to work through. We're going to go chronologically to be started with all the action from the sprint and later in the episode getting into that qualifying goodness. Indeed. And even making that distinction between we'll start with the sprint and not qualifying,

that still doesn't make the job that easy because where on earth do you start with the sprint? There was a lot that happened. We had a late start due to some rain. We had cars go out under safety car conditions. Can we actually just start with that? I have a slight bone to pick with this. Mate, here's a safe space. You let it all go out.

What's all you're thinking? I know that the tyres that Pirelli are bringing right now are not perfect. And we've spoken at length of the weather. tire and how it's not fit for purpose. And I appreciate that the spray was too bad to start racing. I understand that. But there's just something inside me that it just bugs me a little bit when we don't even try with the worst weather, like the most fitting compound for the conditions.

It's like, sorry, Carlos Seinders on the wets. Every other driver was on the intermediate tire and it's like, ah, the spray's too much. we can't go racing. It's like, that's fine. Can we at least say that under the conditions of the wet weather tire before we make a decision? Yeah. What is the point in having?

They call it extreme wet, don't they? And it was extreme wet. It was very wet. You know, we know what weather's like in Miami. It can pour down with rain one month, very similar to Britain. Just they have alligators. We have badges. That's pretty much the only difference between the two.

And it could get wet very, very quickly. And yet why are we now in what they call the pinnacle of motorsport? You know, we talk about these drivers being the best in the world, the manufacturers being the best in the world. Billions get poured into this. But the only thing that can't get poured into the Formula One sport is rain. The moment it rains, we simply cannot move. So, yeah, it's a bit laughable.

It makes us a bit of a laughing stock as a sport, as a sport, rather. I don't love that the moment it starts to rain. We have to do this multiple safety car laps, reg flag. It's not a good look for us. Let's keep with this chronological theme because we did get a start to the race about 25 minutes later than we were expecting to. And it's Oscar Piastri

and it's Kimi Antonelli on the front row of the grid. Antonelli having secured his first ever pole position. Piastri gets a slightly better start. We see them side by side into turn one. Piastri takes the lead. Antonelli runs wide, loses another two spots, not particularly happy over team radio.

He felt that he was forced off track by Piastri. No further investigation was required from the stewards. So clearly not agreeing with Antonelli's point of view. Did you think it was fine? Unlike Jeddah, I think this one is okay. Piastri is comfortably up the inside. He claims the corner, but I don't think he runs Antingeli completely off the track. I think Antingalee, we know what he's like, the little rascal.

He's basically mini Sena at this point, and he's just decided, I need to hold on for as long as possible, and it's wet. I'm going to hit the brakes as late as I can. And I do think he slightly misjudges the braking zone and the distance required to get around that corner. I don't think Piastri has run him to the very edge of the track, unlike an instant that happens later on in the race, which we'll debate about a crash where one car is off the track as well.

I do think that it's on Antingelli. should have conceding at that point. And for me, no action was the right action. Piastri won that Corcoran Farron Square. I do think that you might have a different opinion. No, I have the same opinion. But I do think if Antonelli was able to get around the outside and stay around the outside of Piastri, then he was entitled to do so. Again, I just don't subscribe to the idea that if you are, and I know it's the way the rules are set, but if you're on the inside, it's your corner and you can do whatever you like. But I think in this instance and where I differ from my view of the Jedder turn one incident,

Antonelli was already going off before Piastri closed the door. If you take a few of the still images from sort of midway through the corner, yes, Piastri is starting to angle like he is going to cut Antonelli off, but Antonelli is already mid-corner way off course. So I don't think Piastri's actions have looked. led to Antonelli deciding to do the first corner the way that he did. I think he was going that way anyway. And that's why I...

It's also a bit of an issue with these tracks that have a chican as their first corner. You tend to have to open the steering up to then obviously start moving through for turn soon. Jedder is exactly the same as Miami in this sense that, you know, you have to quickly do a quick left right or a quick right left. And that tends to mean that you would open the car up into the car's path that is next to you because you're trying to get around the next corner, halfway through the first corner, meaning that you would typically run a car off,

and it's hard to go side by side. But I'm glad we agree. Yeah, Piaastri, no fault. Great start off the line in that wet weather. He really launched brilliantly to close that gap straight away. And, again, he'll have been so devastated that his time in the top spot lasting about eight seconds, if that, before it was snatched away from him.

But that's the mindset that a future champion needs to have, and Piasstri, dig up like under the pressure, got the job done early. Yeah, and it may be a couple of years, Antinelli takes that first corner slightly differently, having not got the best of starts, and he can consolidate second place behind Piastri rather than running off track and ultimately losing two more spots. But given it was his first sprint pole, it was his first opportunity competing that high up the grid. I can't lay too much blame on the ambition that he had,

even if it didn't work out for him in that spot. This is a funny old sprint race, because I feel like in years to come, this one is going to be remembered for the chaos of the last few laps. And it's not going to be remembered for the fact that a good 75% of this race was an absolute snooze fest. Right. I have had so many messages from people privately on our Discord, on Twitter. Oh, has Miami delivered a banger in a sprint race weekend?

I'm like, no, it was boring up until like lap 15. and AF1 decided to crash into each other. That doesn't make an exciting race. That makes chaos. I would rather have no crashes, no walls been run into, no weather changes, but brilliant side-by-side racing where overtakes are always a possibility and not necessarily a certainty rather than what that was. Yeah, I mean, no offence to Miami or sprint races,

but a track drying out is not specific to either of you. That can happen at any racetrack. but we did get a very entertaining close to this Grand Prix. How did you... Well, we got entertaining clothes before we got the actual close. Like, yes, I understand what you mean. What did you make of some of the different ways the teams approach those last few laps because there was a decision to be made on when to come in for dry tyres.

They were all obviously on the intermediate tire, someone a bit earlier like Lewis Hamilton, somewhere much later like Landon Norris. How did you see that play out? I think a lot of teams called it really, really well. Yuki Senoda, being almost the giggy pig, made a lot of sense to me. And he was the first person to try and bring it in. He was outside the points at the time.

No, exactly, nothing to lose. He was already outside the points. Of course, the chaos that ensued later on in the race, you can't really plan for that. You get lucky if it kind of falls into your lap as it kind of dig for Landon Norris, we could get on to. But you can't plan for a potential safety car and go,

oh, I might just try and be on the wrong tire for a few laps and hope that that comes out of the right time for me. Yuki Snoda and even more so, Lewis Hamilton called it perfectly. Hamilton was rapid and he got the added benefit that the next lap or he was circulating on his dry tyres, everyone who he was about to come up to overtake went, ah, better come in for dry tires now. It's his dry on the racetrack. So they just got out of his way.

It may have more clear air. And you saw the way that he was leapfrogging drivers. It helped him, of course, that he had the damage with the answer to get me, the sap and which allowed him to get past for Stappen very easily. I can't imagine it would have been that easy had for stopping out, perfectly working car. But calling that transition, and it transitioned very, very quickly, went from very wet to very dry within about 10 minutes at most. It's a real opportunity.

It's a goldmine for everyone that is willing to take the risk can keep it on the racetrack. And that's what Lewis Hamilton was able to do to put himself in a podium position. So great call for Ferrari, great call from Sondola. I think McLaren maybe, I mean, they had the luxury to do so. I think they played with fire a little bit. I think they maybe left it a little, maybe too late. In hindsight, obviously it works out for them. It was almost a risk they didn't need to take.

And had the safety car not come out, there was a risk that someone like Landon Norris may have just slipped behind the likes of a Lewis Hamilton and it might have been a little bit more difficult for him. Yeah, I think Yuki-Sinoda being the first to transition to those dry ties was an obvious play, and Red Bull were correct to do so. Fair play to Lewis Hamilton and to Ferrari for the call, because I think either the Yuki Sonoda lap or the Lewis Hamilton lap

was the right time to go for these teams. And fair play to Lewis Hamilton himself, because, okay, I'm going to, good and bad here. Fair play to Lewis Hamilton because he was the one that called for it, and he wanted to make it happen. Great stuff. part of the reason why it made sense, because he was really slow at the end of his intermediate stint. Really slow.

He had Alex Albin and Fernando Alonzo all over the back of him in a Ferrari. So part of it was almost his slowness on that tire helped the decision to be made. But he still had to make the call and it was driven by him rather than the team. So fair play to them. And obviously they've been handsomely rewarded because that car was not on course for a podium. I can guarantee you that. I feel like thereafter, you know,

Antonelli and Vestappan have probably come in at an appropriate time. I understand why they didn't risk the same way that Hamilton risked and they waited one more lap. So I've got no problem with that. We'll discuss the pit lane incident in a moment. But I think timing of the pit stops, they both got right. George Russell was, I think, unlucky because they were in a spot where they either had to double-stack him and Antonelli

or wait one more lap, which has probably cost him a position or two in the end results here. But McLaren, I think they've got really lucky. I think they messed this up. And I think they were slightly too passive with the way in which they played the strategy here. I appreciate that they don't want to be

the first guys to make the call. and I know they wouldn't have been the first because Lewis Hamilton had already made the decision, but they've got all the cars behind them. I think they were just too concerned about ending up with egg on their face because they had made a call to go on to dries. It doesn't dry out that much. And they finish way back in the standings. And people laugh at them and go, well, you threw away a one, two there, didn't you, McLaren? I think they were too worried about that to actually see that, hey, Sonoda's already lapping significantly faster.

Two seconds a sector faster. Hamilton's already doing a good job. And ultimately, they were too worried about the cars behind them to the point where Vastappan and Antonelli were like, okay, we'll be the ones to bite the bullet. And that really put McLaren in a tough spot because Piastrian Norris was so close to one another that they could only go in,

they could only do the pit stops in two laps rather than one. We've discussed this historically with McLaren. They have almost a naivity about that that they don't want to be cutthroat with their strategy call, with their communication between the team and the drivers. And they are so lucky the Antingelli and the Stafford tripped up over each other in that pit lane. Norris is so lucky that the safety car comes out when it does. There is a series of events that essentially allows McLaren to be off the hook.

Because if the Stafford has a perfect working car, he might jump both of those McLaren's if they are that slow to react. Anting Ellie, he definitely could be backing it if he got the right lap. Lewis Hamilton, if he wasn't so slow on the first intermediate period and then still did the same strategy, he was four seconds behind the car in front of him before he came into the pit lane.

If that was only a second, he's another three seconds up the road. That's enough to trouble the likes of Landon-Rs again. It's such a large series of events that allow them to just get away with this. And if this championship comes down to the wire, these moments might be what end up costing them rather than saving them because they need to be far more responsive.

What did you make of the pit lane? I was going to say incident, but I guess there were multiple incidents. We had Behrman and Holcomberg as well as Vestappen and Antonelli. Of course, the Vestappan-Anon-Anon was the one that received far more coverage at the time. It led to a 10-second penalty for Vestappen. It essentially led to a drive-through penalty for Antonelli. So he's the one that's actually been weirdly impacted just as much.

I mean, it's sloppy from Red Bull, right? they have been organizationally very sloppy this season in comparison to what we're used to. Now, I doesn't mean they're bloody awful, but they are well off the boil. We're looking at Ferrari doing two second stops and making strategy calls

and nailing it, which is almost alien to say, and Red Bull, who are almost, you know, king of the field here, the ones that lead the way on all of this level of stuff, and it's falling apart.

It makes you wonder, are there certain individuals who have left the Red Bull business who structurally were running that side of things and they've started to slip. The standards have started to slip. This unsafe release, Slavdang Penalty, is all on Red Bull.

It's a shocking release out of that pit lane. And I have to give a lot of praise to Kimi Ansegeli for having the sense to, after the contact, get out that pit lane and go round again. Avoid the crash. He misses his pit box because of it. Otherwise, I think he could have driven straight into the side of that Red Bull of both of those cars were to block the pit lane

and we've had carnage in that pit lane because it was a really, really bad release from Red Bull. You've seen them close, but that was one of the worst I've seen for a while. Antigali has to go all the way around the gang with a little bit of damage on the car. Like you said, it's essentially a drive-through penalty for Kimmy Antigelli, falls out of the points completely, which must have been heartbreaking after being on poll. And I think he finishes in, what, ninth or tenth after all the penalties are applied? You got back in the points.

Oh, he did. I think he got back to 7th or 8th. Wow. Good for you, Anthony. 7th, I think. I think I think I'm sorry, Pierre Gassley ended up eighth because of course he did. Of course he did. I think eventually I got about to seven. Well, two points for your troubles, Kimmy.

But yeah, this is really, really, really bad from Red Bull. Disappointingly so. Yeah, because this isn't a one-off. And as Verstappen said in his post-Sprint interview, it seems to be a different thing each time, which makes it a little bit more difficult to diagnose properly and sort out. It's a slam dunk penalty. I know a lot of these pit lane infringements.

The FIA tries to make it a fine for the team. And I can understand why they do that because a lot of the time, if it is a close call and the driver hasn't necessarily done anything wrong, you don't want to be penalizing drivers too much for something that is out of their control. But when it's a situation like this where it has directly caused another driver to have a drive-through penalty, you can't let the driver go unpunished even if they're not to blame whatsoever. This is one of those instances

where I think you just have to accept the F1, sometimes you win as a team, you lose as a team, and this is one where Vestappen has had nothing really to do with the contact, but he is the one that has to face the penalty and ultimately drop out of the points. Yeah, I mean, the same thing happened, of course,

to Carlos Sikes a little while ago in Australia, right, because we finished under safety car, you get stuck with a 10-second time penalty. The cars are so close together. You essentially get removed and put to the back of the field. So really costly for someone like the staffer who's so fault of his. It's a complete team error, really. And presumably the five-second penalty that was given to Oliver Berman for a similar incident

was based on there being no contact rather than... Of course, because it is, again, the outcome of the problem rather than just the problem itself that is being alive. So, yeah, make it make sense, FIA. Okay, we'll take a quick break on this episode. We've still got a little bit more to tackle from the sprint, and then we'll get into qualifying. Welcome back, everyone. Continuing the discussion on the sprint race that we had earlier today,

we've obviously got to the point where we've had everyone change onto the dry tires. One of those drivers that went on to dry tires a little bit later than everyone else was Fernando Alonzo, and it found him battling with Liam Lorses. ultimately, and I say ultimately, because it took them about seven years to get to the decision, but Liam Lawson was given a five-second penalty for the contact that they had. Alonzo ended up in the wall and ultimately again, scores no points despite a really encouraging race up to that point. Hey, this is on you, Sam.

You said yesterday, there might be a chance of points for Alonzo. I told you to stop it. I told you, Ladstrill will somehow score. And those things happened. How was this happened again? Oh, Fernando, I was like, no way this man is riding around the eighth place and he's going to actually pick up some points here. Of all places, Miami as well. And Liam Lawson went, nope. But then what are your thoughts on the incident? Because you and I are quite similar in the sense of the way that we go racing and the way that things are meant to happen on the racetrack. But the rules, currently as it stands, are the total opposite of that. And usually the other driver is Pagan lies. How did you see the coming together between the two? Yeah, within the rules, it's a penalty, no doubt, because Liam Lawson on the outside, if Liam Lawson was on the inside, he would have been entitled to the room, but because he's overtaking on the outside,

he needs his front axle marginally, I think it's marginally ahead of the defending driver's front axle, which he did not do, even though he was significantly alongside Fernando Alonzo going into the corner, it is that axle that's the determining point at the apex as to whether you deserve the room or not under those rules. Liam Lawson was not entitled to any room, and that's why he got a penalty for the incident. My view on it, he should have been entitled to that room, and I just like side-by-side racing, and I don't know why we can't have it. I just, Lawson was cheeky with the move, but I think it was on.

He was side by side going into the corner. You could see it on Alon. I would like to see Lawson's on board. I've only seen it from Alonzo's on board. But you can see him directly there on his right. And Alonzo has made the decision that he is not entitled to the room. And within the rules, he is correct. And then therefore decided not to give him any room.

And Lawson decides he does have, he is entitled to the room. And that's why they come together. I just want them to go side by side. Is that too much to ask? No, Ben, it's not too much to ask. Who was it? Who was it that said this? A Formula One driver, a guru, a man that we all look up to, once upon a time, said,

all of the time you must have leave of the space were very famous words. I think he was racing a young Lewis Hamilton maybe about 11, 12 years ago now. Fernando, mate, by not leaving room for Liam Lawson, you've cost yourself there. You might not score points in the end, but guess what you can't do? score point is when you're in the wall. It was your fault that you're in the wall. Liam Lawson is forced off the racetrack. That wall then juts in after the point

that Liam Lawson is forced off the racetrack. So it's not like he can sit off the racetrack and rejoin slowly. There's a wall he's about to drive into. It's either wall or Alon. And Alonso is the harder thing in those two situations. And he shows Alonso and I respect him for it. But you should be able to go racing wheel to wheel and then not allowed. I want to see moves around the outside.

because if Lawson makes that skip around the outside, it turns into a really nice line all the around that slow, right-hand, almost the 180 right-handed that we have there, where those two would go wheel-to-wheel-to-wheel as well, into that kind of silly Mickey Mouse section. It could have been a really brilliant and interesting battle around Miami where it is tough to get those kind of battles. But because of the way the rules stay at the moment,

Alonso has all the right to force Liam Lawson off the trap because he's on the outside, and Lawson could do nothing about it. It's either stop and let cars go past you, or drive into Fernando. So, yeah, a penalty within the rules. But for me, Liam Rawson is perfectly entitled to be there,

and I really wish it they could have been will to will. And that's the important distinction here is that I'm not arguing it's not a penalty based on the rules that exist right now. It's just I don't think the rules are the way that I think they should be. And there are so many other series where we can actually get overtakes that last more than one corner. But the way the rules are written in F1 now, it's very difficult to get that.

because if you're an attacking driver and you're on the inside in particular, why would you give your opponent any room? That's just a tactical error if you do that, which I just think is a massive shame. And I think some people might argue that Liam Lawson outbroke himself and couldn't make the corner. Based on the replays that I saw and I was trying to go frame by frame on this, I think he does keep his left tire on the white line all the way throughout.

and the only time he goes off the circuit is when there isn't any circuit to go on to. But in any event, the way I would have it is if Alonzo gives him room and Lawson gets back ahead and Alonzo goes, I'm not sure he could stay on the track. I gave him the room, but I don't think he stayed on the track. No worries. We'll ask the FIA to look at it. FIA looks at it. Ah, actually, yeah, he didn't stay on the track.

You switch to positions. Like, that's the way I want to go racing. Yeah, you spoke about the move being on. That move is as on as my light switch in this room is on. You can see quite clearly that I am illuminated in this room. And Liam Lawson was more than entitled to be alongside Fernando Alonkso. And I thought Lawson was actually driving pretty well. They had a great start in that street race.

You nailed the start. He did a brilliant job at being around that end of the top 10. Fighting well with Alonkso throughout that whole transition period. It's a real shame that a race is ending. both those drivers who are both searching for their first Formula One point in this manner, because you can play to the rules like that. And it's managed to ruin both their races, not just one driver. I will say, Aston Martin might be quite in one way, happy with the way this ended,

because it has shielded them slightly from criticism of their strategy, because they got this horribly wrong. And Alonzo, when he was asked about the incident after the sprint race, didn't focus much on the incident itself. he was like, we shouldn't have been battling him. We should have been miles up the road with Lewis Hamilton. Lewis Hamilton's walked away with a podium. Alonzo is battling Liam Lawson.

They've gone two different ways because Hamilton and Ferrari were, you know, very clinical and made the right call at the right time. Alonzo, they left him out there for far too long. His teammate, who was behind him, has undercut him. Every other team made the drive in front go into the pits first. So yeah, they've really missed. He could have had a fourth place finish here if they get that strategy right.

And instead he scored nothing. It's amazing as well because that was a three-way fight as you mentioned at the start of this section where Albonang along the way, basically pushing Lewis Hamilton around that racetrack. And overtaking was so difficult in that scenario that you think, okay, we don't know when Lewis Hamilton's going to pit. So the track's drying up.

We saw it. You can see it. Yuki Sango is flying on these dry tires. let's try and the cup both of these guys. We're getting up here as early as possible. We'll try to get the jump on these guys. What have we got to lose? We're already outside the points.

So give it a risk, give it a go. If Lewis Hamilton's risking it in sixth, why is Fandar O'Lonkso not risking it when he's driving around the 8th or 9th place to try and make the most dang up here? And look where Lankstrol ending up. P5 and Fahadio Alokso is ending up in a wall with half his car missing.

Last thing to focus on in the sprint, arguably the most important thing, Lando Norris's victory over Oscar Pee, Piestri. We focused on Lando Norris quite a bit in the preview, asking how much he needed a victory over Piastri. He's at least got one in the sprint. Of course, the safety car and its timing helping him out a great deal as he was second before the safety car. But he was, of course, the second and the two McLarence to pick. Took advantage of that. And then the safety car essentially ended the Grand Prix. So it's only worth an extra one point at the end of the day with the way

the sprint points work. But how did you see the McLaren battle? It's really interesting. Once they both cleared Ancinelli, it looked like Oscar Piastri had the pacing hand quite comfortably for a large portion of this sprint race. The gap was sitting around two seconds for a significant margin, a senior portion of the race. And then all of a sudden, that gap starts to plummet. And it's the moment the transition starts to happen. It's like Landon Norris, semi felt way more comfortable on that semi-drying track. And Piastri just didn't have the confidence. I don't know if it was in the cars or the way the track's condition was working. But he seemed to be struggling, which is interesting because his visibility, of course, out front, completely clearing up in front of him. He could take it however he wants. But Landon Norris takes out what, half a second and one moment, then seven tenths of a second, the next lap. And suddenly the gaps within the DRS range. And DRS is suddenly activated. Now, because of the way of the timing that the transition happened, I do stand by that when Oscar Piazcribitted, had the race remained green,

his extra lap on that dry tire would have then separated them again enough that he would have. of ending up being in front for the victory. I do think yesterday will have come home with that race wing. And it is a second year in a row that Landon Norris, by pure chance, having been told to stay out as the second driver in that queue. And it happens, you know, you get lucky with these things. He had to take the hit of doing the extra lap on the intermediates, comes into the pits to put the dries on.

I think his teammates come to be going to jump him. Safety car comes out. He gets to run to the exit line of the pit lane first. He takes the race wing. So it was close, but I do think that because of the way that the strategy was working, Piastri would have had just enough to see this one home. Yeah, I mean, given the extra lap on the dry tires, I would have been very surprised if that had ended up any other way than an Oscar Piastri win.

You're right. I mean, Piastri seemed to have the gap in hand towards the beginning of this intermediate stint. But as we got towards the end of that stint, Lando Norris was a lot, lot quicker. Piastri's tires absolutely died and Lando Norris must have done a really good job keeping hold of them. And we don't know how much strategy played into Lando Norris as well. He might have been managing that gap to Piastri to ensure that he wasn't getting too much spray in his face early on in the Grand Prix to ensure that he was going to have enough tire life left for the end of this Grand Prix. Of course, we didn't know when or if that transition was even going to happen. and he can consider himself pretty unlucky because once we got to the time in which McLaren

were considering the pit stops, he is within the DRS zone. And we come up to that chicane that is, I don't know the turn numbers, but the Mickey Mouse section that we like to call it, at which point there's a significant amount of debris left from Carlos Sines on the track. Oscar Piastri, I think because of the debris. Debris. Sure. Sure.

I think. I think there's something. I mean, you could sell it to me. I could buy it. Anyway, he skips the chican. I think because he's seen the debris and doesn't want to go over it. Of course, Lando Norris is right behind him at this point and doesn't know probably that the debris is there and goes straight through it. Was Piahtri missing the corner anyway?

That is a bit of a question mark. But because of the gap that Piastri pulled out from skipping the chican, Norris does. doesn't then have the DRS going down that straight. I still think it's a little unlikely that Norris would have made a pass into that corner. But what happens then? Because they'd already made the call that Piastri was coming into the pits and Norris would have to wait another lap. If Norris overtakes him in that last corner, does he then go, actually, I've got priority now in my head. But it would be tricky, right?

Because you can't stick the other driver's tyres on the car. So they'd have to roll those tires back here, get new tires. I thought like he could go put them on my car, thanks. I'm here anyway. So that would cost them both, or he has to go a longer lap. Anyway, nonetheless, sometimes you risk it, and you have to stay out, whether it's your call or not, and you get a little bit lucky with how a safety car's throne.

He took advantage of it. He walks home with a win. Indeed. Let's move on to qualifying. So Verstappen takes pole ahead of Lando Norris and Kimmy Antonelli, both of those drivers, about two-thirds of a tenth back at the end. Oscar Piastrian 4th, just under two temps back. Vastappen, we were on board with him on his fast lap at the end of qualifying.

And turn one is a bit of a disaster. 25 seconds later, purple, fastest of anyone in the first sector. It's man's an animal. How's he done that, Ben? He's Max Vastappen. I literally, he went through that turn one. I sat there with Rosie on the sofa. she wasn't paying any attention because she doesn't watch it.

And I went, oh, that's it. That's ruined lap over. How has he gone purple then? 25 seconds later. The man is a monster and was a monster the whole way through qualifying in that first sector. He's running with this new floor. It's got increased downforce. And the red bullet high downforce speeds, oh my lord.

It is a sensational thing to watch. And the way that he keeps his foot in it, even when that car wants to throw him into a wall, it's just things that only Max Verstappen could do. dot com is a website that should be started and that should be the first clip that appears because what's a brilliant first sector he then is able to basically match his time through the other couple of sectors ends up moving up to two tents which is enough to see him claim poll it's just another sensational max for step and qualifying lap he's done it again he should have done it again McLaren should have a car again

in first we've seen it with the sprint qualifying we've seen other qualifying throughout the season again someone has taken pole positioning off them, they can't capitalize. Max is a sensational talent. Don't doubt, Daddy. That's what I say. Why did you bring it up? I wasn't even going to bring it up. I've been sick once. Brought what up?

The D word. Daddy. I've always called Max Vastap and Daddy. I'll have you. Yeah, yeah. Okay, great. He is... I just realise those who don't listen to British commentary who got no idea what that's about. Right, well, now we need to explain it because

what was, was it, the line that Crofty action? said, after having his new first child, Lily, congratulations to you, Max for snapping on your firstborn child. Crofty comes out with the line. He's also the daddy of Miami or something like that. Oh, I don't remember what the exact one. He's proved he's the daddy. Something like that.

Actually, I'm all right not remembering. Yeah, nonetheless, folks, Crofty makes a daddy joke and basically calls him. so bad. It's really grim. It's really cringy. It hurts for listen to. And now we have to live with that moment forever. Anyway, Vestappan's really good at this sport. Guys are beast. That first corner did not look good whatsoever. But the rest of the first sector, Red Bull seemed to have set this car up to be very good in the first sector because it wasn't great. It was fine in the middle sector. It wasn't great in the final sector compared to some of the its rivals, but the advantage that Vostappen claimed over, I mean, over the McLarence as well,

it's like a what, 30, not even 30 seconds, that first second. 28 seconds, yeah. And he's got four temps on Sonoda in the same car. It's ridiculous. He sought two tents over that McLaren, and that McLaren is a beast of a vehicle to drive. Yeah. So well done two for Stappen again. I think based on, clearly there was a little bit more time in that Red Bull if he had done

turn one correctly. So the likes of Norris and Piastri can be a little bit disappointed once more that they are again in the fight, but just need to hook together that one complete lap that I'm not sure either of them did. No, Piastri more so. And this is actually the first wobble that Piastri has maybe had for the entire season other than the instincting in Australia, of course, which is mostly weather inflicted. To see him down and forth, beaten by Antingelli is quite surprising, quite surprising to turn of form to see him struggled so much in comparison to his teammate.

I say struggle, he's a tenth of a second across a lap that is one minute and 26 seconds long is minuscule, but still, there's a car between you and your teammate, and there's two cars between you and Max Verstappen, the other title, Challenger,

and Piastri, you're going up beyond it every single competitive session to make sure that that title ends up going your way. What was really interesting was the way that the Red Bull fired its tires up so quickly, and I think that's why it did so well in the first sector. But I think what will benefit the McLaren's when it comes to race pace is the way that they can hold on to their rubber.

We've spoken about it so many times throughout this season so far. It's so kind of its tires that McLaren. And the Miami racetrack seems to be quite damaging this year on its rubber. So if Norris and Piastri can sit close to the Stappen or maybe even get the jump on him, they might be able to perform some kind of overcut and work as a duo to make that work to make sure for Stepan cannot take the race win. Let's take a second break on this episode.

On the other side, we'll conclude our thoughts from this qualifying session. Welcome back, everyone. Let's go outside the top four slightly to George Russell in fifth place. So he's ended up very close to Oscar Piastri, but again, down on his teammate, just over a 10th this time around. This is going to sound weird and almost like a compliment for George Russell because he's in fifth place. He's only two temps away from pole.

This might have been the session he struggled with the most competitively so far this year. To a surprising level, to a point where I was worried that he would suffer the same fate as Lewis Hamilton at one point where he would end up out in Q2. And Kimmy Antigelli is there, you know, P2, P3, every single session, mixing it with the big boys in the McLaren's and Max Verstappen. And Kimmy Antigli has got George Russell's number around Miami. This is the first time we've come to a race track and it is clear that one that saying his driver is faster than the other and this time it isn't George Russell.

You can hear it in his voice over the radio messages that he was giving when he was sat in the pit lane. I've got no confidence in the car. I'm sliding everywhere. Can't find the grip anywhere. Really struggling. This is surprising from George Russell.

I think George Russell definitely rides off of a good time gal. He feels the mood. And I think if it's going well for him, he really rides that high, rides that wave. And yet the moment the wave starts to crash, I think he starts to struggle a little bit with that composure of getting it back together. And that showed all the way through to his final lap in Q3, where it's amazing that in almost any other year, two tenths off pole, he could be maybe on the front row, if not third. But here is all the way down in fifth place and two spots behind his team mate.

It's shocking that the gap is so small, and yet the gap is also so big. Yeah, I thought it was going to be worse at one point. And it's a testament to him, I guess, that even on a day where he's struggling, he's pulled out a solid result. And it still gives him something to fight with tomorrow. But yeah, this seems to be maybe his most problematic weekend of the season so far. And again, that's more of a compliment than anything because he's been very good at all of the other racetracks that we've been to. But yeah, Antonelli, again, just over a 10th clear of Russell today. A very good day for, or it's a very good session, for the Williams drive.

Carlos Sines in sixth, Alex Albin in seventh. So disappointment in terms of the sprint race, because it was clear they had good pace. Alex Albin, of course, finished fourth on track before a five second penalty. Carlos Sines must be, he'll probably dream of Esteban Ockon tonight, just based on how much time he spent behind him, but ended up with a DNF. But they've turned it around in terms of qualifying. Carlos Sines, three and a half terms back from Max Verstappen's poll time, Alex Albin also within half a second. yeah we've had McLaren is fast but silly are Williams now fast but dangerous because they seem to have to do anything smooth or clean at the moment it's worrying in one sense that they can't keep their composure regularly to score the points when it actually matters

but equally really reassuring and uplifting to know that you know what they are competitive they were better than Ferrari in this qualifying session they are within touching distance of the likes of George Russell and the car's in front. If they get a good start, if they're really great in DRS, if they can hold onto their tires,

if Sites and Albon, don't crash or have a penalty between them, then they could genuinely come away with a really, really big points or maybe one of their biggest points weekends that we've seen from Williams, in a decade, it feels like at this point, if they can score big time at the race tomorrow.

So it's sensational qualifying from them. Both drivers seemingly really maximizing what they can get out of the car in qualifying today, which is really, really good. Really positive to see. It was nice that they were able to both get through to Q3 properly. I was really impressed by what he was able to do. I just want them to keep it on the actual race track.

I'd tell you, if you'd spoken to James Vowls in, let's say, Abu Dhabi last year and said, okay, Miami next year, you're going to have one of your cars, three and a half temps off pole. And also, it's not going to be that shocking. He would, I think it'd bite your right. arm off. They have done a wonderful job with this car. I think it is genuinely really quick. And what Alex Albin and Carlos Sines have done with it today is there on merit. It's not like they've managed to luck their way to sixth and seventh. They are genuinely quite quick. And I'm really

intrigued to see tomorrow if we do actually get to see them race properly. Because we saw in Saudi Arabia that Carlos Sines had to help Alex Albin out just to make sure against Isaac Kachar that they were going to keep 8th and 9th. And I think it was a bit of a question. I don't think he was ever going to finish higher than 8th. But in terms of outright pace, would he have been closer to the Ferraris and the Mercedes in front? I suspect he would have been. Maybe we'll actually get to see that tomorrow. Like with Alex Albin clearly being quicker than Lewis Hamilton today in the sprint, are we going to see signs in Albin actually? keep in touch with any of the cars in front of them. I'm at least intrigued to see. And even if the

answer's no, they've done really well in this session. And fair play to Carlos signs for the recovery from what was a very difficult sprint for him. Should we touch on Ferrari? Because, oh boy. I just don't have it, do they, Ben? Yeah, but they have it even less than yesterday. They seem to start well. And if you were to throw all the teams in with no practicing, say, okay, race, Ferrari might be all right for a bit. But the moment everyone, everyone's gets a chance to get their things together and assess the situation properly, they tumble. They've got no way of staying competitive at the moment. I, uh, Charlotte Claire has been the better of the two Ferrari drivers in terms of qualifying.

And I would say in terms of qualifying, because in the sprint, it definitely wasn't the better of the two Ferrari drivers. Can't assess something. If someone doesn't appear, Ben. Spot on. But Charlotte Claire in Q1 and Q2 was within half a tenth of being knocked out on both sets. sessions. He was not very far safe in either of those two sessions before making it to Q3. So maybe we shouldn't be surprised that he is a grand total of five and a half temps off the pole position. It's, again, you said it, it's not there. And they seem to have gone the complete opposite direction of Red Bull in terms of the setup of their car. And maybe that pays dividends in terms of the race. I don't know. But they seem to be much quicker in the final sector, because in the first sector, That car is a dog.

Yeah, yeah. Not in a good way. The issue of being, he ain't got that dog in him. No. He's trying to control that dog. The issue of being super fast in that final sector is when you go really quick, you've really got to slow it down again. Yes. Ferrari don't seem to be able to actually control brakes at the moment.

They're obviously still, maybe they are still adjusting to this new break by wire setup that the car is dealing with, which is new in the setup of the car for this. year. They haven't used it for a very long time. So maybe that's why we're seeing a lot of snags, a lot of lockups for both of these drivers. We saw both Lecler and Lewis Hamilton on multiple occasions, either lockup or run wide into turn 17. And that is essentially what cost Lewis Hamilton getting into Q3. He would have been there with Charles LeCler there or thereabouts had he just got that car turned in. But that's the difference, right? One corner makes all the difference at the moment. It's so tight. Arguably, the midfield where Ferrari belong right now, that one, the stake in a lap,

and you lose four or five places. So if they can get it together and they can be competitive in that final sector, sure, they might be like a hold on to some solid, solid points. And by solid,

I mean like eighth and ninth, maybe sixth and seventh, if it's a really blimming good weekend for them. It's got, like it promising. It feels like a write-off and it feels like the season might have slipped away for them.

I've been quite critical of Lewis Hamilton's qualifying attempt so far this year. I'm not going to be overly critical, overly critical on this one in terms of him missing Q3 because, yeah, whilst LeClair has got there and he hasn't, there's a tenth separating them. They were very firmly in the midfield battle in this qualifying session. It was them. It was Williams. It was O'Conn and the racing balls. There just wasn't a lot to choose between all of these drivers. And Hamilton has ended up

just outside the mark and Leclair just inside the mark. But as I mentioned, Lecler easily, really easily could have been knocked out in Q1 and in Q2, and Hamilton has been knocked out in Q2. I don't think this is Hamilton wildly underperforming on where the car could have got to. I don't think this car could have got to the second row of the grid and he's like eight positions off what he should have been. I think the car is probably about the fourth or fifth fastest car

on qualifying base this weekend, in which case you are looking at about 10th place, and he's not far off that at all. Yeah, I imagine with Lewis Hamilton's, you know, now single race situation, he knows how to deal with things that if some chaos happens, he's one of the guys that you expect to be able to pick up some positions and work his way through.

He's good at his race starts. So I would not be shocked to see Hamilton clear the likes of Hajjar, O'Kong, quickly and hopefully quickly for his sake. And then I reckon LeClaire, Hamilton and Sengoda will be the back end of that point situation for the whole race tomorrow. And it'll be whoever has the better strategy, but those three will come out on top. Where do you want to go next?

Obviously, we've discussed the main teams, main drivers. Who else stood out to you? I need to give Ocon a shout here. I need to give the boy because he did something very similar to Max for Stamper where he absolutely bottled the first two corners. And I thought, oh, that is it then. You're out, mate. There's no chance that you're improving.

As he got into Q3 there, they meant. He absolutely nailed the rest of the lap. He did a wonderful job. And fair play, I know he's ninth, but I guess, don't think he was on the pace of the Williams cars. I don't think that Hass was quick enough. He's beaten Sonoda by over a tenth in Q3. He's less than a tenth off Shaul-A-Cla.

I think he's done a really good job. He's done a really, really good job. It just goes to show, though, with Hass. And I don't know why. Only one of them can do well in any session. Yeah, I'm glad you brought this up. Behrman is again last, and Ockon is again in and around Q3. How is there such a divide every single time between?

between these new drivers. And it's pretty evenly split as to who is the one leading the way as well. We do get some sessions where Bearman has just been on it in some sessions. And in others, he's just been really off the pace. And I mean, he's last here and the only car in Q1 that was more than a second off of the fastest lap in that session. He was five and a half, five and a half, just over half a second off Esteban Ockon's time in Q1. Like, he wasn't close. that's a big gap between any driver half a second. But well done, Rourke, great performance.

And you know what, Berman, I wouldn't take this too seriously. I wouldn't look at this too badly. If you've got me in your fantasy, I imagine you'll pick up some overtakes. And Berman was seeing him on multiple occasions. I mean,

he did it in the sprint race. He suddenly appeared right around the points again. I don't know how Oliver Berman seems to do this, but there's a chance he does it again. Another one I want to shout out here is Hajar again, has another really, really good qualifying session. He doesn't make it into, Q3, but he has a really, really good job of just being a gang around there. He's in the,

in the situation, in the conversation, comfortably beats Lawson again, beats the likes of Hamilton again. If anyone has a problem up front or he gets a good start, points are very much on the card for young Hajjar. Apparently they call him Petty Prost now. Yes, apparently so. Okay, good. That's news to everyone. Great. I want to shout out both Bordeletto and doing, because I think they've done a good job to get through to Q2 where their teammates haven't. Bortoletto had a really good lap in Q1. He was right up there and he might be slightly disappointed. He wasn't a little bit closer to the couple guys in front based on what he was able to do in Q1,

but he is in a salber. So I'm not going to attack him too much for that. Start 13th, that's a pretty good effort. And Jack Dewin as well, he's out qualified Pierre Gassley here. We heard his frustration after spring. break qualifying when he was the one that was knocked out in Q1. They both had three runs in Q1. He was about three times quicker on each and every run.

This wasn't a fluke lap that Doan put together at the end of the session. He was consistently faster than Gassley in today's quality. This is the first time as well with Gassi that I'd be a bit disappointed with him. He made a big song and dance about how, oh, you know, the Ferrari got him away, I had traffic. You had three chances, mate. And whilst I know that the track was improving, obviously, it does. help to get your lap in the best conditions. You could have just pull it together in the second run or the first run.

And there's a chance that you wouldn't have had to really stress about the traffic right at the end there. Traffic can be frustrating, but you're being outclassed by doing here today. I have no doubts that come race day, Gassley will make up the difference. And there's a real chance that Gassie will finish in front of doing. But this is a really good step forward for doing. If he can keep up this momentum over the next few races and be able apart with Pierre Gassley in qualifying, that might be a really good way to show that he is worthy of this seat. Before you go, a driver of the session for both sessions.

Oh, good Lord, for both sessions. Sorry, one for each. Do I say Lark Strohl? Making up 11 spots. He's a sprint race. We only like 15 laps that are actual racing. Yeah, and I doubt he even made an overtake. He did make a feel on the first lap, to be first time.

Yeah, he did. Loads to shout out. Lewis Hamilton did a great job with his strategy call. I thought Albon was excellent with his. Panto, I don't get to do it a lot. I'm going to give it to like stroll. It's just funny. Fair.

I think you were going to sprint first and then would you qualify? Yeah, I've found the sprint really difficult to give one out to because Hamilton was largely there based on his strategy. And you do give him props for being the person to put that together. But again, his pace was not very good. Lando Norris did a good job putting pressure on Piastri, but equally probably finished a second, if not for the safety car. Piastri, it's not like he went off into the distance versus his teammates,

so it's difficult to give it to him. Can't really go Antonelli because he lost the lead and lost a couple more spots. You know what? I might go Fernando Alonzo, which is funny how we've ended up with both Aster Barton cars here, but Alonzo was doing a phenomenal job in that Aster Martin. and I know I've said that I would rather he leave the space in his battle with Lawson within the rules again he was right not to even though he's ended up in the wall

so it's so conflicting yeah and the reason he's back there wasn't down to him he had really good pace throughout the sprint so I'll go with him okay qualifying bang have you got hmm I'm gonna go signs I think it's a fair shout for me it's between Vastappen Sikes or Ocon They're the three that have really impressed me. A great lap again from the staffing even after that mistake. Science has done a brilliant job being that close to the likes of Russell and Piastri. And Ockon, getting that heart into Q3 when it's so tough to drive. I imagine Bortoletto is listening to this and he's gutty.

It's not got to mention. Yeah, but, you know, when he somehow finishes P5 tomorrow. Oh, I've just remembered I had Gazzley for a podium. Oh, Gazzley! I've got the carnage in the wrong race. To be fair, I said five DNFs and Lawson to be top eight. And the amount of carnage we hang in the spring, I don't know if we'll get that again in the race.

Oh, well, Gassley P18 to P3, that is going to... Honestly, mate, if it happens, I'll give you two points. It's going to slap that. Yeah. We are going to be back for a review of tomorrow's race. Of course, a bit of a question mark as to what weather conditions we're going to get for it. Should be an interesting one, though, with neither-them Claren on pole position.

We've got Antonelli in there as well. I'm sure he'll forget what the brakes are like at some point during the first lap. He doesn't forget. He chooses a short break. Anything else you want to say to the people's sound before we go? Folks, the other thing we do when it comes to a race weekend is we do power rankings,

where we run through our rankings for every single driver across the race day. And we put them all into a lovely big spreadsheet. And you can see who currently are driver of the season is, worst driver of the season is. You can play along with us. It's a really nice way to break down every. driver's performance if we don't get to do it on the main show. So check the little linkie and the Gascrippy down there.

Join the Patreon. It's really, really cheap and it massively supports the show. And I think that's about it, Ben. Good stuff. Follow us on social media, do all that good stuff, late breaking F1. And we'll see you tomorrow for another review. There's so many on the spring weekend. We are here constantly.

In the meantime, I've been Sam's age. And I've been Ben Hocking. And remember, keep breaking late. This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network.