The Late Braking F1 Podcast - 2026 Dutch GP Sprint Qualifying Review

Episode Date: August 21, 2026

The Dutch GP is underway, and it’s already looking like a close one! The LB trio are on hand to break down all the key talking points, including a top four separated by less than a tenth, a costly trip into the gravel, and how Tsunoda fared on his return to the sport… Want more Late Braking? Support the show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and get:Ad-free listeningFull-length bonus episodesPower Rankings after every raceHistorical race reviews& more exclusive extras!Don't forget! You can also gift a Late Braking Patreon subscription—perfect for loved ones or your own wish list. Choose anything from 1 month up to a full year of top-notch F1 content: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/latebrakingf1/gift⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Connect with Late Braking:You can find us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X (Twitter)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Come hang out with us and thousands of fellow F1 fans in our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ server and get involved in lively everyday & race weekend chats!Join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠F1 Fantasy League⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and see if you can beat us! LEAGUE CODE: C6Y6R4ZUY02Get in touch any time at [e-mail]  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Thank you for listening to the Late Breaking F1 podcast. Make sure to check out new episodes every Wednesday and every Sunday. A very well welcome to the late breaking F1 podcast presented by Harry Ead, Sam Sage and me, Ben Hocking, here with the first of many reviews from this Dutch Grand Prix weekend. Sprint qualifying today, our first experience of Zamvort. How did you find it some? A mixed bag. Not just felt off from maybe a slightly midpoint there, but the fangs, amazing.

The duchies, the origami, the atmosphere was incredible. And I think our seats are great. We're really close to the track. The cars feel like they're right in front of you, which factually they are. And it just feels like a really inclusive place that actually is really, really nice. There's a few like organizational issues that, like, could be better. We spend a lot of time queuing a lot of close proximity to other individuals, I'm not saying. Yeah, no, no, no.

That's a beer of breaking show, which we'll be doing very shortly. But yeah, overall, a very positive experience. And I think that, you know, the Orange Army are a real credit to F1. There are a lot of fun to be around. Or did you make us, um, for Harry, excited maybe to go back next year? Yeah, can't wait for next year. Yeah. No, I had a good day.

The Dutch lot are mad. We love you for it. But, yeah, love you for it. It was great. The busiest atmosphere I've ever had enough on track, I'd say, minus the, the slightly difficult issues of just there's too many people to be around a sand dune. But no, great day.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Yes. But before we get there, we've got a sprint qualifying session to review now, one where George Russell's at the fastest time, and he'll start from first in that sprint race tomorrow, joined on the front road by the McLaren of Lando Norris. Then comes the Ferrari of Charlotte.

So three teams inside those top three positions. Championship leader, Kimmy Ans, an elite down in fifth, and he'll be on the third row, alongside Home Hero, of course. Max Vastappen. Let's start out front with George Russell getting that sprint poll. We was talking a lot about Russell in the preview, what he might need to deliver this weekend. Great start. Great start.

And maybe worries of crepting in practice, because obviously Antingelli overall was fast as seen the only practice session that we've got of the weekend. So he might have looked at that and gone, no, he's only got a leg up on me here. but he pulls out another cringy comment in that removing the engagement ring from his pocket might have helped him with weight saving. He did him, man. Just doesn't help himself, does he?

Stop talking to Ward. Well, it might be yours. Yeah, yeah, I mean, there's no suspense on this. No spoilers, please. But, you know, George puts in a really brilliant lap. He did look the more put together of the two drivers. We also saw early in the session from Kimmy that he runs off into the gravel, of course,

having a big of a problem in one of the bank to call. Now, we've had to watch this, of course, from turn 11, so it's hard to track the exact details. But in the car, it looked like Russell was a lot more cemented. The car was steady. It was going through Corgas well. It came me a little bit wayward. So while there's only two tenants between them,

there are three cars separating. You know, you've got both McLaren's and the Ferrari in there as well. A track thing is really tricky to get overtakes done. Russell has done a fantastic job of starting the second half of this season in exactly the right way. What do you make of Russell taking, poll was first sprint poll of the year and gives them a good opportunity. Obviously not maximum points available in that sprint,

but you can get a good result in that sprint tomorrow. That's a good one to take forward into the main portion of the weekend. Yeah, I think a good start. And not that it didn't come out of nowhere because the Mercedes were certainly involved in that fight, but they didn't look like the quickest team during the sprint quarterly. I know Antonin and he was fastest in practice, but throughout the session, they didn't look the fastest, but obviously the first two sessions were a medium tires

and they put the softs on so things change. But yeah, very encouraging for Russell. I think it's the, the fight at the front is closed up, hasn't it, with McLaren and Ferrari. Oh, for sure.

And Red Bull sometimes. So if you get sessions like that, only being a couple of tents now means a big deal, whereas in the early part of the season, it probably didn't matter as much. So, yeah, not a huge amount of time difference, but quite a few cars in between them. it's only a sprint.

There's not a load of points on offer, but it's the right way to start the weekend for George. A lot of respect for what Russell was able to do out there because, again, there's a lot of pressure on him at the moment to make sure he can stay in that championship fight. And I got the sense when listening to his post-qualifying interview that he wasn't trying to get too far ahead of himself and it was just one qualifying session

and it wasn't for the main Grand Prix. So there is importance to it. but I think he knows as well as anyone that by itself isn't going to get him anywhere and he needs to back that up with other performances. But great way to start. Just one tenth separating himself and Piastri down to fourth. So he really needed to bring every hundredth,

every thousandth out in order to be first. And if it makes one small error, he's back in fourth alongside his teammate and hasn't been able to capitalize on Antonelli being further down than what we would normally expect of him. And I think you're right, Harry, when you say the Mercedes probably wasn't the fastest car out there.

It didn't look that way through the first two parts of qualifying. In that Norris, LeCler and Piastri, who will start second, third and fourth, I went back and had a look at this. All three of them were faster than Russell in SQ1 and in SQ2. It's only in SQ3 that he beat any of those three drivers. But that's bringing it out of the right moment. And that's going to be a crucial thing for him if he wants to stay in this championship fight. What about his teammate, down in fifth?

We often say, Sam, that when it comes to these top teams, you just want to get through the early parts of qualifying. You just want to get through SQ1. It doesn't matter if you're first or your third. As long as you get through and have the opportunity at getting polling SQ3, that's all that counts. Maybe we should add another thing on top of that, though, because floor damage sustained as a result of going off in SQ1 has apparently cost him later on in this session. This feels like a bit of a self-inflicted one. I think the point you make about just getting through the session is pivotal. And by getting through the session, it's doing it with no damage done, no harm done.

Just get the lap in, get through. It doesn't need to be the best slap of your life. It hasn't been singing the track on fire. You know, if you're P4 and SQ2, but the car's perfect, you can go for P1 and SQ1, three rather, then that's all you need. That's how it works. Three, two, SQ, one. Dance.

Yeah, I just think that Kimmy unfortunately set himself back very, very quickly, having the damage of the floor. And around here, the floor is so pivotal to the makeup of the setup, the car, or it functions through the banking. So to really be too tense away, actually, I think it's still very positive for Antonelli. And out of every single person on this race track and this, you know, in the sport right now, he can afford to have a mistake. He can afford to be a few places behind his teammate.

When we get to the race tomorrow, the sprint Grand Prix, he's going to pick up, what, maybe three points dropped, four points drop to his teammate. if it stays exactly as it is. So he's not costing himself a bucket load anyway. It's okay to make the mistake when he did clean it up for actual qualifying, do a better job in the Grand Prix. That's where the real money is. Is it going to be slightly mixed emotions about this, Harry,

and that he might be able to take away that being just two temps off, maybe he would have been in that fight for pole if they'd been able to fix all of the floor damage that he sustained in SQ1. But probably some annoyance as well that something has had an unimportant. for a Mercedes as an SQ1 lap has maybe been the thing that's cost them. Yeah, I think it, you know,

it's a rare mistake from, from Anthonylli this year. So he'll be frustrated at that, in all honesty, of all the sessions of all the years, you know, all the races this year to make that error. SQ1, the Dutch GP Rath summer break when your 50 points ahead.

Probably is all right. So, yeah, he'll be frustrated with that, but he'll learn from that one for tomorrow with the race, or the sprint race, sorry, and an actual qualifying. So, yeah, just one of the things, he's a driver that's only in his second year of his career. It's going to happen sometimes. It's going to happen. What about McLaren, Sam?

So Norris is going to start second, Piastri is going to start fourth. Some problems with Antonelli in qualifying, some Hamilton, who we might get on to, wasn't quite on the pace of his teammate. Both McLaren's, though, very similar, both on it. I think there were times where it looked like Piastri could well be the one that finished ahead of the two. And even though there is a, there is Leclair in between them, we are talking again hundreds of a second here. This feels like one where they're both very evenly matched. I think McLaren will be delighted.

Whilst he haven't picked up Sprint pole, it shows that the car is working exactly how they want it to work. And they're maximising the engine now. Both drivers, yes, are second and fourth. And whilst on paper in theory on fourth place, that's got amazing. You know, you're outside the podium positions, difficult to overtake. there's less than half a tenth between both of these drivers and Piastri, less than a tenth away

from achieving pole position. And that could be the slightest breaking moment in a corner. It could be a little bit of extra slipscrum off of a car going around and its call app. You know, it really can be the most minute difference that gets you that part.

So the pace from the McLaren electric and it feels like now, since Hungary, they've really joined this fight. And there's been a lot of conversation that actually maybe McLaren are the ones to look out for. They're the ones who may be watching in the back end of this season.

there's still enough races left on the calendar to overturn that points haul and whilst Lansing Erie has that 50 points there you're going to be driver's title that's got back to a McLaren driver right that's Hamilton then Russell then the Claire then Norris there's a lot of people out there that still think that it could be turned over and if they keep going the way they're doing they're the team right now that seems be performing overall as a unit not Ferrari as you make you with Hamilton not Mercedes as you mentioned Lantanelli those two guys are right there at the very front do you think they can be McLaren be happy with what they saw out there?

I think so, yeah. It translates from obviously the last race in Hungary, which we'll see Norris-Warton. Samvort in terms of, it's slightly different, but it's still pretty downforce heavy like Hungary is. So to be expected, I guess, if they were good there. But, you know, we haven't seen that a lot from McLaren this year when they brought an upgrade that it's then continued on to the next race.

So they'll certainly be happy. and as Sam said, they are pacewise right in that fight. And I was saying only on, the gap of the front is closed up with all these other teams that, yeah, McLemarana right in there. I mean, if they did do that and overhauled that points gap, given they had, given China, that would be ridiculous. Yeah, Australia with Piastri, China, it would be incredible.

Also, just on qualifying, it was the sprint qualifying, so slightly different, of course, it was nice to see mistakes cost people. It was nice to see like gravel traps are actually good Incredible things aren't my punishment

before you make a mistake but even Lawson suddenly gets thrown into this Red Bull seat because of Hadja's wrist injury which is definitely

through boxing and you know suddenly we've got a red ball outside the top 10 and once I know that it's tough for Lawson to get into a new car that he's not really comfortable

with dial up a set up one practice session which is always tricky he's up against Max for Staff and as we know it was nice to see that if a driver isn't at there absolute

best, they are now removed from the session. So hopefully the field does tightening up a bit more. Yeah. I concur with both of what you said there. I think they can be pretty content with what they were able to do. Obviously, Hungary was such a good weekend for them. And it's still very early in the weekend, of course, for Zambor. But they can be encouraged that that pace hasn't, at the very least, completely

disappeared. It's still there. And they are not that far away from either of their cars being on pole position, I want to, like they are in the mix. And that gives them something to work with going throughout the weekend. Because they, not as many as say Alpine have bought eight upgrades this weekend, but McLaren have bought, I think, three themselves. So that will still take a little bit of time to get embedded.

And they could end up being, they could end up being faster later on in the weekend. So good stuff. And they are so evenly matched here. We discussed in the preview, Sam, how Piastri won here last year. in pretty dominant fashion. Lando Norris won this race two years ago. They have both got previous success here. And I think their performances today showed you why.

So yeah, very good from McLaren. Charlerler is going to start in third place in between them. Lewis Hamilton, four positions lowered down in seventh. Again, kind of feels like the there or thereabouts, at least in the hands of Charles LeClaire. But interesting to see that Hamilton wasn't quite there. with him. I think he makes a mistake in SQ3.

I don't think the pace is that far off outright. There's a corner there that's got a ride for him to be suddenly, you know, closer to seven tenths away, then his teammate who is only half a tenth away feels like that is a larger gap than we are very much used to seeing. So I don't believe that's outright pace. But in the earlier sessions, Thomas Hamilton was slower than McClure overall, it was closer. It was a couple of tents.

At most, I think it was kind of three-ish tents between the two drivers, which is perfectly acceptable, but if they want to start achieving championship goals, they need to continuously be on the front road. The grid, and neither driver has been able to do that. But good to see that Leclero has come out of this summer break, happy, car feels good. The floor does seem to be working, that upgrade that they brought here today. So hopefully with a bit more of an engine upgrade from the second part of a duo,

later on in the season, they might be like a fully start challenging. But I'm starting to worry that they're going to be leapfrobed by McLaren. And the progress, progress they're making towards Mercedes is about to drop back. by another team that is now going to overpass them essentially. So yeah, positives in that they are still there, negatives with all this effort, they're still only just there. They're not winning anything.

Yeah, you're right on the point of Hamilton versus LeClerc. So SQ1, it was a tenth and a half, SQ two, it was about two and a half tenths, and then obviously a bigger gap in SQ3. But yeah, LeCler very much seems to be in the mix. He was actually the fastest driver in the first part of qualifying, and he was right there with the McLaren's and the second part of qualifying as well.

I mean, we are just talking about really slim margins here. Like, he's third, but a tenth quicker and he's on pole. Yeah, I know he's Charlotte-Claire, so he is impressive anyway. But I think it is actually quite impressive the way he's turned around what was quite a stinky year for him. So, yeah, I don't know what he has done to make it work. And like you said, not suggesting that that gap is,

is real that seven-tenths or whatever. But yeah, it's good to see, good to see him up there. And I think, yeah, both Ferraris may well have been, if, well,

happened to Hamilton in that last, in that last session. But both Ferries are up there. Yeah, I'm with you, they might be a bit worried about McClaren coming back of them, but it's,

it's you do quite a lot this year, so who knows when we get to another track waving into qualifying tomorrow. So they're just got to hope that, in comparison to what happened in Hungary. Their qualifying pace there was very good as well. Lewis Hamilton could have very easily been on pole in that race,

but then when we got to the race, poopie. We'll see how that race pace goes, of course. Let's take a quick break. On the other side, we're going to run through the rest of the top ten, and then get into SQ2 and SQ1. Welcome back, everyone. Max Verstappen down in P6 for Red Bull.

Obviously, not only a home race, his final home Grand Prix because despite the fact that we know Max Verstappen is sticking around in F1 something that we will discuss in more depth at a later date. Thank you for announcing that on a Thursday Red Bull. Really appreciate that.

But it is of course the last Dutch GP for now based on that contract coming to an end. Based on this qualifying session, Sam, I think a pretty good effort from Vastappen to at least get ahead of Hamilton but those hoping for a final Max Verstappen victory

at Zamvort, more likely to be disappointed than happy? It's a long weekend to come, my friend. A lot of sessions. I think that set up will be very much in play in between the two kind of halves of the weekend. I wouldn't be shocked as well if Ferrari also are the other teams that go away and play with that set up a little more. But this is why you resign Max Verstappen.

It's why you keep him around for so long. It's because look at the gap between what Max Verstappen is done here and the rest of that Red Bull family. Of course, I'm including family because of all the change. Rangers that have gone on today. Vestappan is... Ben Diesel. Every time, folks, I say the word family.

At any point, I get called Vin Diesel. Constant thing throughout hundreds of episodes. Vastapel is 0.52 or something away from pole position, but is three-tenths away from Antingali, the car in front of him. Whereas Limbler, the closest of the Red Bull group behind him in the racing bull, of course, is six-tenths back from him. Lorsing is another...

10 back from him as well. And Sonoda even further back. So it's a real gap to the rest of the group for staffing alone in that top 10, realistically, the only one fighting towards the front will get onto the rest of that group as they go. So he is elevating the car. I don't think the car's good enough. I don't think the car's set up well here.

Hopefully they can do something in that midpoint between the weekend and actually change something to give him a legal more. We heard him in practice complaining about how the downshift is going to threw him into the wall. Every time we turn up to another race day, he has a problem with the handling, the stability of the car. He doesn't seem to have the same confidence in it that someone like Max Verstappen should have. He's not dancing his way through like we're used to. So hopefully they can turn that around. It does start to feel like this year might be a, put the, pump the brakes. Pop the brakes. Pop the brakes. And develop next year.

A pump the brakes reference in the year of our Lord 2026. The only time that it should ever be. Good Lord. Dave Benson Phillips comes. marching through the door. I'd love that. He just goes through the wall. If he's here in Amsterdam, I would love that. He wouldn't because he hates us.

He does hate us famously. Amskadaev. Thank you, Sam's Saddam. If I had to summarize Red Bull's performance, two thumbs down. My dudes. I think it's a bit stinky. Yeah.

I was, I'm surprised. It's not, I thought it'd be better. I don't know Redbaugh a bit up and down this year I just thought Zandvo might suit them a little bit but not good and yeah I think that

where Vastappen is is mainly down to Max Vastappen to be honest so they'll be scratched on the heads obviously it was an improvement on FP1 because he was 11th than FP1 he was which I think everyone would have left

if he'd gone out in SQ2 yeah no we're still a bit in a queue somehow yeah fine fair enough um that's three just bumping into each other We are the Q. That is the podcast. That's true.

Stop, please. It's a great summary. Can you move, please? What do you mean? Move, please. That's like breaking. Good. But yeah, so I think he's, it's a good effort from Vastappen and let's see what happens

for the rest of the weekend. But it's not, they're not looking like they're in that Mercedes Ferrari McLaren battle. Vastappen's just like clinging on to the end. Like, please take me with you. But he can't. Yeah, I guess this is just the result of, and I know we've spoken of, the strategy of what Red Bull might be doing in the second half of the season. So at least part of me understands it. But when you have McLaren who have upgraded the car multiple times, this

weekend, the weekend we were at in Hungary like a month ago, Ferrari keep upgrading the car. Mercedes obviously started the year brilliantly well. And Red Bull, I think you put it right, Harry, which is just the step and desperately trying to cling on, but with a car that isn't progressing at the same rate as its rivals. So I wouldn't be surprised at all if in this sprint and over the rest of the weekend, they actually ends up being quite a dull weekend for Vestappen

where he can beat everyone in the midfield but can't really keep in touch with anyone else. He has some phone with Lewis, won't he? Oh, we might do. He might do. But yeah, being like half a second away. That's a lot of time to find anywhere, but this is one of the shortest laps of the season.

like half a second here, that's tough. Red Bull, when they bring upgrades, don't seem to have the hit rate that someone like McLaren do. When McLaren bringing upgrade, you see an actual step forward. We were logged almost into a false sense of security at Austria, I think,

because it went so well for them. And now they're right back to where they were before anyway. Should we talk the rest of the Red Bull family? Family. So we've got obviously Liam Lawson, who's jumped into Red Bull this weekend. He's 11th. Yuki Sonoda, who's replaced Lawson at racing balls.

He's 12th in his first race at the season. And Lindblard's beat both of them just getting into SQ3 in 10th. So as he kind of referenced, it will be a bit of a weird 10th, 11th, the 12th situation going on and might get some wheel-to-wheel racing between three drivers of a point to prove against each other. Yeah, well, luckily Lawson and Lindblad haven't had any close calls this year already. Oh, God. And you just add Yuki in this.

Yeah, and now you added Yuki Sonoda, so who knows what's going to happen. Yeah, interesting. I think Lindblad can be pleased with how that's gone. It wouldn't have looked good if they'd beaten him, to be honest. So, yeah, he should be pleased with that. And obviously he has beaten Lawson, who's in the technically faster car, but around here, not actually sure how much there is in it between the Red Bull and the racing balls.

For Yuki, yeah, disappointed, I think, maybe not to be a bit closer, but you've got to give him the benefit of the doubt. He's had one practice session and then was into sprint qualifying. So it's not exactly been the most ideal preparation for him. And where Lawson is, I think that's probably where the Red Bull is, to be honest, and Verstappen has just outdriven it. So I don't think he can be,

we're disappointed obviously to be behind Limbludd, but not showing me too disappointed with his own performance. I feel like when it comes to reserve drivers being given an opportunity, sometimes those in the media almost give it a free pass. It's like you can't really fail. It's either we expected it not to be very good or if it's even slightly better than that, it's, oh my God, what a great performance. Four TEMs or so, and that's exactly the same in SQ1 and SQ2 from Sonoda to his teammate. I think it's fine. I don't think it's an awful effort, but I do have at least some sympathy because I know, again, it's one family,

but Sonoda hasn't been the reserve driver at Racing Bulls. He's been the reserve driver at Red Bulls. And when we were at the track and listening to some of the interviews that the drivers were doing yesterday, sonoda was talking about how like he did some sim days for racing balls earlier this week for the first time this year. really makes you question the decision somewhat. It does. It's because they got bothered, essentially. I think the Red Bull family aren't bothered. They're like, cool, Yuki will do the job. He'll just get the car around the racetrack

and he'll deliver us a fine performance and we'll move on with our lives. They're not looking at Yuki Senoga to impress them anymore. It's just doing the job for them. And if Yuki happens as a byproduct to impress someone else, hey, win-win, great. The difference is Lawson.

Lawson has done the same as Yuki-Sanoda, where he's not done any lapsing anger this season and a very different Red Bull to what he got a very tiny sample size of over a year ago now and so he's had to turn up learning a new car and whilst I am a little disappointed that he hasn't beaten Limba Light

I'm also not going to come down like a tongue of bricks on him I don't think it's the end of the world I think it's fine I think it's fine I think it's whatever obviously he will want to have beating him and I think it will be great for him if he did but there are a number of excusable and understandable reasons why he's not right there.

Netsamaksa Stappen. I do think that Yuki will have wanted more out of this. I think he'll look at that time gap and go, I know it's new. I know I haven't driven this car properly. But nearly half a second to a rookie is not ideal in my situation. I'm trying to get myself an opportunity here. I think he'll look at that and be disappointed.

Yeah, I understand that. Should we just give flowers to Pierre Gasly and Gabriel Bortoletto? because I know you don't need a second invitation when it comes to Pierre Gasley, Sam. Yeah, Gassi doing his job again, right? He's so much clear of Colopinto. Colomito back in 13th. Same with both them, right?

That's true. Like, they both were really comfortably better than the teammates. They were, and they're next to each other as well, aren't they? Yeah. So Colopinto and Holkenberger is next to Gassley and Bortoleto and Gassi is just, just pipping the Audi.

And I'm not surprised at Yao is going well here. We said this about Monaco. We said it about Hungary. The railroad package is really solid. It's the engine that lets. them down. So Bortoletto's really maximised this, only five thousandths away from Gassley, Gassi backs are leading the midfield. Looks like those upgrades on the Alpian have been solid for him anyway. Yeah, and when you bring eight upgrades to a sprint weekend, like, it should

be better than this, even after this point. So, yeah, I think Galsley can be happy with that. The interesting thing, as I was going, sort of coming through the times is that, obviously, we're sprint qualifying the way that it works in SQ1 and SQ2, you, as a mandatory tie, have to be on the mediums, and then you can go on to the softs for SQ3. So naturally, with the softer compound, we see better and better lap times, track evolution as well,

obviously plays a big part in that. Gassley, Bortoletto and Limbludd, you can throw him in here as well. They didn't really improve much from the second part of qualifying to the third part of qualifying. And I don't know whether it's just a case of all three of them

couldn't put it together, or if maybe it's just the top teams can find that little bit more when you go on to that fresher sort of softer compound. Yeah, I don't know. Gassley didn't do, because when they came out of the end, I think they did they do a couple of Walmart runs? I remember if that was an Ski-through or not now.

Yeah, yeah. But he came out right at the end, didn't do, he just went, he'd come out with like a minute and 20 left. He had to go shut. I don't know whether that was on purpose or not. It's Alpine, who knows. But whether that had anything to do with that, like, not ideal preparation.

But yeah, interesting. He's beating everyone in Cucapitin. Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, I'm just talking purely on time basis. Yeah, yeah. He wasn't meeting anyone. ahead of him for sure. I just want to make actually one quick point about

spring qualifying a bit more generally and I guess how it plays with a circuit like Zamvort where even though we were seeing sort of warm-ups, you only get one good lap with the tyres generally and because of that and maybe our experience of it was slightly different because we're at the track here there's a lot of weighting around in SQ3 for example. It's just... Well, I think it always has.

It doesn't work as a give them more time and to get who runs in. There are at least like some circuits, say, I don't know, is that like Monaco or others where maybe you can get multiple good laps in and you get a bit more frequent. But example, it's just you wait until about three minutes to go. I think it should be essentially, SQ3 should be changed for a one-shot quality option. Oh, yeah. But I think to make put a twist on it, I think the person that was fast-guessing SQ2 gets

to decide if they go out first or go out last and then you follow back from that order. I think it would be quite... 2005 all over again. It's a bit of jeopardy. It's quite interesting. Just for spring qualifying. Because I like the tire format of spring qualifying. But you're right, it's a lot of dead time in SQ3.

What about aggregate qualifying? Should we bring that back? What about, go to hell? I miss you, aggregate, call off. I'm really missing. You and elimination qualifying. Can we eliminate qualifying, child? Sure.

Anything before we go on to just our driver of the session, Sam. Anything else in SQU. I think you should talk about Ockon, mate. Oh, big up, Ockon. We jokes about it out of the track, hang out, because it's fun to have a laugh. But he's doing all right here. Yeah, and I was really hanging on to the fact

that he was fastest in SQ2 for about two minutes, while only he, Albin and Holkenberger set laps. He has done a very good job here, though, because, I mean, realistically, he's not beating anyone else, is he? Like, he gets through to SQ2 where his teammate doesn't.

Improves quite a lot time-wise between... He's something like nine-tenths a heck of what Bermann could do, right? I think he's session on session. Like Alex Album, for example, behind him, who deserves credit in his own right for getting through where signs didn't? Yeah, he was, Album wasn't able to improve much, whereas Ocon really did. And it wasn't, didn't give him any more positions than, was it 15th?

But I think it's a pretty good effort for where that has is. Harry, you mentioned a couple of things about the Aston Martin. So first of all, I've had the chance to see their package in action. You didn't call it an upgrade package. No. It's just a really bad package. It's just a really bad package. No.

Well, Alonzo's car has had everything under the sun wrong with it, apparently, with throttle open when he was breaking, and then straight line mode not working, and also vibration. So that's not ideal, and it doesn't correlate with where they were in Hungary, to be honest. No. Yeah, back down with the Cadillac. Good session for it to go wrong with, though, I suppose. Oh, yeah.

I mean, Lonzo doesn't care about sprints anyway. He probably put it in the gravel himself. He might have done. Yeah, when you read out the times of those bottom four, which of course includes the two Cadillacs, it's like Strol 154, let's call it, Bottas 155, Perez 155, Valonzo's 16 flat. Sounds a lot like a qualifying session from about two months ago.

So yeah, plenty of time, though, obviously, to see if they can improve throughout the weekend. A driver of the session for you, Harry? I'll go, George Russell. Yeah. easy one. He's on pole. He's on pole.

He's on pole. Did well. Solid reasoning. Nice to see him do one as well. Yeah. Hopefully we get a fight come back through the rest of the season with it. I'm going to raise you a Pete Gasley. I think he's, yeah,

straight in there with the sausage. Shock. He's bounced back. Miaoping up, Greg, seems to have worked and he's comfortably clear of his teammate. Does Welterger's skate in front of Bortletto beats a Red Bull and both raising balls that have been a real kind of stalwart of that

last couple of positions in the top 10 now. So, yeah, good job from him. Yeah, I was considering both Gasley and Bortoletto, and I think I would have given it to either of them if they had been able to finish multiple temps ahead of the other and been a real sort of standout in the midfield, whereas it was relatively close between those two, maybe a bit further back to Limblud in 10th. But for that reason, I'll go with Russell as well as the Pulsiter. But yeah, I think all three of those drivers are in the mix. Well, that's going to do it for our sprint qualifying review, but there's still plenty of on-track action that we'll need to review for. out the weekend, Sam, if you wouldn't mind getting us out of here until then.

Thanks for listening to us, folks. And just to bear in mind that if you do listen to all the racing content, our race review is going to be out on Monday evening or Sunday even just because of what's going on at the tracking everything. We can't get back and do the job we want to do properly. So it'll be a day late and not a dollar shot. But it's going to be in a studio that we're renting in Amsterdam. So policy should be lovely and really clean.

And you'll get a really great episode. Same with Power Rankings. We're also recording that in the same studio. That will come out on Tuesday evening. Poor producer, so you can't edit the entire world in that small amount of time. She's reserving her energy.

She's sleeping. She's having a gap in a corner of the sofa with a jacket wrapped around like a little egg. So, you know, we want to make sure that she can survive the weekend. Anyway, thank you for being with us. I hope you enjoy the content.

Follow us on social media if you're going to see what we're up to around Zanvort, Amsterdam. We met some lovely people and I got meet up as well last night. Yes. It's amazing. Thank you to everyone that came out.

And if we meet you at the track or have made you at the track. Again, thank you so much for coming and say hello. It really is the best part about doing this whole show. We'll see you in the next one tomorrow, which will be the qualifying and sprint review. In the meantime, I'll be Samuel Sage. I've been Ben Hocking and I've been Harry.

And remember, keep breaking late.