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

Episode Date: August 22, 2026

It's Super Saturday at the Dutch GP, giving the LB trio two sessions to review! The guys give their thoughts on Russell's commanding sprint victory, before turning their attention to a close qualifying that saw a new leader emerge ahead of tomorrow's race... 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 F-1 podcast. Make sure to check out new episodes every Wednesday and every Sunday. Very warm welcome to the late-breaking F-1 podcast presented by Harry Eid, Sam Sage, and me, Ben Hocking. Sam is waving at a camera that doesn't exist for this episode. We've got two sessions to review on this Saturday, the Dutch Grand Prix, the sprint, and of course qualifying for the main Grand Prix tomorrow. As was the case yesterday, we were at the track for everything today,

and it just didn't rain at the right times. No. We had rain right after. Like, how many lapses of the sprint? 24. 23 and a half is when it rained. Yeah, like lap 25, we had full rain. We had to do with being cranks and hiding by a toilet for 10 minutes.

For nothing. For nothing. And if you'd have that, like, middle of the session, I don't know whether you might have had a few go in for inters, because, like, it was seriously, it seriously came down, but not for very long. It was about maybe 10 minutes of quite heavy rain. I think we were going to like that 90, we would have seen something change. Yeah.

But instead, we were given a brilliant dry sprint instead. It's always tough to say, like, what the race is going to feel like for those that are watching at home when we're there at the track. But I think our gauge of the entertainment from the sprint was probably correct on. this occasion. Not a lot happening. We'll start with the sprint before focusing on qualifying a little bit later on. George Russell managed to convert the pole position first and foremost. Yeah, I think it, you know, as we said yesterday, much needed to start

to the second half of the or second part of the season for Russell. And he did the same today. The pace yo-yoed between a lot of the top top cars. But Russell have had, you know, Lecler or Norris, previously. He had, he had them in a, in a, at least a one second gap for pretty much the entirety of that sprint. So I think Russell managed the pace well. So, um, he can please with how that weekend has started, uh, for, for him and his championship challenge. So, uh, yeah, I think overall, a pretty impressive morning for him. Certainly Norris, Lecler and Antonelli to an extent as well. We're never too far away, Sam,

but I, I didn't really get the sense that Russell was ever. really troubled. I think he was very comfortable. He was doing everything he needed to do to stay comfortably ahead, but not to extend too far to the point that that's a safety car comes out and that league is washed away or to burn some tyres or to trouble his engine. It felt like every part of his Grand Prix was, I'm just going to do enough to make sure that no one else would get just close enough to me. And it helped that the cars behind him were fighting amongst themselves, right? We had Antingelli initially get past Piaastri, and then we had the fight with Norris and then Lecler and Antigali behind. Lecler gets through the soft tires. We got onto the

single minute, but I thought he was brilliant on some old soft tires. Man, he's clear Norris and then kind of kick on towards Russell, but nothing ever comes of it. Russell able to steer it clear picks up eight points. It's a shame there's got more for a sprint race, but yeah, I think overall, this is exactly how he wants to kickstart the second half of the season. Yeah, pretty much a perfect sprint from him from my perspective. And he made it look easy. But there are so many ways that could have not looked easy and it could have gone sideways. He had to, he had the start to navigate, as you always do from Paul. And it wasn't just the one challenge of Lando Norris. He had Norris behind him at one point, Lecler on different tires behind him at one point, Antonelli.

He would have been able to see him in his mirrors as well and knew how important it was to extend, or to at least somewhat catch up to him and get a bit of a statement win over him. So it would have been easy for it to go wrong, but it never looked like it was going to. And Russell deserves a lot of respect for that. In terms of that battle for second place, because it was Lando Norris, who for about the first 50% of this race was the one able to somewhat challenge George Russell and keep within maybe a second or so of that lead. but then as the Grand Prix wore on, it was actually the soft tire of Charles LeCler that was able to see him get by him,

one of the very few overtakes that we had out on track. What did you make of LeClaire, the only driver on the soft tires, apart from Olly Berman, able to use it quite effectively? We were questioning that, weren't we in the stands as to why? Yes, because it's not the first sprint we've attended

where Ferrari have done this. I've done that. But it worked out. Actually, I think halfway through the race, he looked like he was starting to drop back from Russell and into the clutches of... Antonelli. Antonelli, yeah, sorry, behind him.

But whether he went through some grain, I don't know, but he'd recover again. And obviously, then it was actually Norris who was struggling with Tyrebe, which will come onto that. Maybe a little bit of a worry for him tomorrow. But yeah, I was very impressed with the Clerts Pace in that race. A lot of... and we'll probably see the same thing in race day,

but a lot of the hard work, I think this weekend has been now done in qualifying. I think we're not going to see a lot of overtakes on track necessarily. Maybe some strategy calls will make the difference. But even with these cars, it seemed to be tough out there to get an overtake done. So look like impressive to be able to do that with soft ties that would have worn out quicker than Norris's mediums.

Someone will have an official count of it, Sam, but I think outside of lap one, it was three overtakes, two of which were done by Fernando Alonzo, and the other one was Charles LeClerc. So he got three, technically, because he did Holcomburg, but we didn't see that one.

Ah, okay. So you can count four. Okay, four overtakes, 75% of them were Fernando Alonzo's. Point being, wasn't very easy to get overtakes done out there and Charlelele made it happen. We knew this would be the case.

We knew it was going to be really tricky. This feels like the same vein in Singapore, Monaco almost, where overtakes on track are so tough. It's one of those tracks that following is one thing, passing is a completely different cat of fish and you used to be so much fast

in the car in front of you to get an actual move done here. That's why it was so impressive that LeCleur did manage to pass Norris on track, on, well, in theory, more worn tyres. We heard Norris complaining that he lost his rear end and that he was unable to manage those rear tyres on the car.

And yet Lecler on a soft the compound, able to manage that all the way through and have enough pace to get a move down on arguably a faster McLaren is mighty impressive. He was the better of the two Ferraris in that sprint race. So fair play to the Claire. He brought home the bacon,

really, really great result from him. But the sprint itself was dire. It was such a boring event. Really, even trackside, it was tough to watch. Nothing going on from what we could see. Thank you, Fernando Alonso, for bringing out two semi-enjoyable

overtakes right at the very back of the grid. At least someone was doing something with our time. I fear as well with how well the soft tire held up for LeClaire and for Ferrari that it might well prompt some one stopers tomorrow. I know I said in the preview it could be a two stop. It was certainly, you know, if you look at the tires that they're bringing, it could have led to a two stop and it still might. But I just think those soft tires held together too well.

and the track position, based on what we saw today, is going to be so important. I'm okay with that if we get one or two rogue stragglers that go for a one-stop. You know, if most are lulled into maybe a false sense of security and try a two-stop, I agree. It will be unlikely. And the threat of rain is moving away quickly.

Although it wasn't supposed to rain today, so. Yes, we have to enjoy that as well. Yes. Not much Antonelli could do. I mean, he cleared Piastri, obviously, which is one place on the... that first lap, but was he just essentially waiting to see if a mistake happened in front of him? Yeah, I think so.

I don't think you can be too tough on many drivers today for not be able to gain positions because it seemed like it was really tough out there, unless your name is Fernando Alonzo. But yeah, like I said, I think the damage is going to be done by where you qualify. So, you know, tomorrow should be a bit better for him, given that he's qualified P3. But yeah, I'm not sure he's not too much as. things with a sprint and we always say this and not to keep digging on sprints. They, they, I feel like drivers drive

at like 85% of what they do in a race. Lewis Hamwitter was a prime example. Because what's the point in risking your car for a move that's going to cost, might gain you a point. Yeah, you're going to be qualifying in what, three, four hours time from this potential incident. So you don't want to, you're not gamble that.

I think I think you can see that. And whereas we've had, you know, more exciting sprints previously. On a track where overtaking is tough, these drivers aren't going to go for a lunge because it's not worth it. Even Anthony Ellie, who is struggling behind his teammate,

who's leading the Grand Prix, has lost three points from this sprint race. What does he care? What's the point of making a lunge on Norris for maybe a point? A two point loss rather than a three. If we get to Wababee or whatever track it might be at the end of the season,

and Russell wings this by three points, maybe he looks back at the Dutch GP sprint race, and goes, Why don't I lunged If that doesn't I hope he doesn't Because that Yeah

No vindicated Oh the good news is Obviously for a track Where overtaking is difficult For a sprint It hasn't given us good sprint We do have one more sprint Left in the season of course

Singapore Famously a great overtaking Correct Exactly Harry I think you commented on Piastri Vastappan and Hamilton Which was kind of

that next group After the top four That the pace just seemed to fluctuate a lot throughout this race. Yeah, it was weird, wasn't it? They, they, um, obviously, Anthony got past Piastri at the start and then Piastri was sort of in no man's line for a bit and then it looked like Hamilton was sort of being held up by Vastappen.

Then Vastappan leapt forward and was actually starting to close on Piaastri. And then the three of them all sort of closed up towards the end of the race. So out of the three of them who was the quickest, I actually don't know. Yeah. Who knows? because yeah, their pace you do a lot and I don't know whether that was down to tie wear or just lack of interest in this race, I'm not sure,

but it was a weird one from all three of them. I think the pace of the Ferrari is more than what Hounton was able to show in the sprint. So you'd say that he probably should have been ahead but overtaken was so difficult that it wasn't really doable for him. Vastappen and Pistappen, probably about where that ribble is, Piastri move would be a bit slower than his team out. Is there any concern that Piastri couldn't keep pace with the top four cars?

I know points-wise it's not really going to cost him anything here, but is it a warrior tool going into race pace again tomorrow? Not to spoil thoughts on qualifying that happened later on in the day, but of course Piastri behind Norris again as well in qualify, about 10th and a half behind him. This season, especially the most recent few Grand Prix, even with the fact that Piastri did you very well at Hungary before, the Science Instinct and the DNF,

I just think that Norris has, is edge clear the last few races. I think he's put kind of a bit of a marker down that Piastri currently hasn't been able to match. So I need to see a big of a resurgence from Piastri. And I'm a little bit worried that, again, he's qualified fourth of arguably the top four fastest cars, which is, of course, Norris Pistri, Russell, Antingelli.

He is fourth of those four happening in the race as well, loses out quickly to Antingelli. he can't maximize the racing it in front of the lights of McClure. It just feels like every chance that there is a possibility where Piastri can step forward, he ends up slowly settling backwards. And I just, I want to see a little more from Piastri. I don't think he's really maximizing the car right now. Yeah, I think, again, just based on how difficult it was to overtake,

like he could have been two seconds up the road and he still would have picked up the same number of points. But certainly that top four group throughout the minimum, majority of that race were, were separated by two or three seconds. It was only a little bit towards the end that when Norris started to struggle, that they kind of separated out a bit. But, yeah,

Piastri had kind of already tailed off quite a lot to the point where he wasn't really thinking about cars ahead. He was thinking about keeping Vestappan and Hamilton at bay. So something he'll need to consider going into tomorrow's race. Ghazley gets a point for eight. We just thought I'd mention that for Sam's. Yeah, sausage is out for my boy. It's always good to see it in the flesh, you know, actually.

Yeah. We whaps out the sausage. It's great to see. Oh, yeah, he was really good. And I said this to Harry, who I was next to on the sprint race, the gap between Hamilton and seventh and gassy and eighth. So quickly, so big. You know, like we're talking 20 seconds in less than 15 laps between those two cars.

But Gassie has a good job at putting a gap between himself. Mordoletto who kept him honest, but it never felt like it was ever actually a threat. He never felt that there was ever going to be a move on there. Gastly kind of just running his own race and wasn't really bothered by the cars behind him. So really pleased that he's able to kind of have the resurgence, the Alping upgrades for him working well. And actually, to vindicate this as well, I think Conopint did a great job, but actually sticking with the pack and kind of being aggressive in the early part

of the Grand Prix as well. So I do think the Alpine has taken a step forward. It's not really the track to showcase. the car taking a step forward, if that makes sense. I wonder if with Pierre Gasly, like he was so focused on ensuring Bortoletto didn't overtake him and knowing that the top seven were out of his

and the car's reach, that he has essentially gone to deploy his battery, like wherever he can in a straight line to ensure that no overtakes happen, which probably isn't the fastest way around the track, but it is the best way to ensure you're not overtaken, which could maybe explain at least some of the, big gap that developed. It would have been a big gap anyway again because of the cars,

but I wonder if strategically that's what they were thinking about. Last thing, just to mention on the sprint, of course, I know we've touched on it, Fernando Alonso, at least giving us some action in terms of those overtakes. Kind of difficult to tell with this Aston Martin upgrade as to what's happening. Yeah, his pace in the sprint was, I think, to be expected in terms of where he qualified was slightly out of position. but it was again it looked relatively good versus the cars around him and Holgerberg had been the exception because he had a problem but he managed to get past signs who I'm not sure actually turned up in the sprint today

then Bottas and then it was like a four second gap to stroll who was stuck behind Albon but he caught them up pretty quickly as well so the we'll get into qualifying but I think the car has definitely improved but if you look at the gaps in qualifying, it's actually not made any difference because the gaps are closed up so much. So, yeah, they'll be, they'll be, I don't know,

I think they can be somewhat encouraged because they're actually time-wise, not that far away from the top, but it's just everyone else is closed up. Yeah, it seems to be the way. That's going to do it for the sprint portion of this review. On the other side, we'll chat qualifying for the main Grand Prix. Welcome back, everyone.

George Russell having everything he wants this weekend, getting the pole position, sorry, getting the sprint pole position, getting the sprint win, comes into qualifying. He's managed to be absolutely everyone, apart from one man. Lando Norris takes pole position for tomorrow's Grand Prix.

George Russell win second, just ahead of his teammate, Kimmy Antonelli. Oscar Piastri joins him on the second row of the grid, followed Noah's Ark style by the two Ferraris and the two Red Bulls. a pretty good effort from Lando Norris there. 10th and a half on his teammate, beating both Mercedes.

Job done. Yeah, I mean, it feels like he delivered on what he couldn't quite deliver in sprint quality yesterday, right? Yeah, yeah. It was a good effort from Lando. I think, like I said earlier, I think maybe his pace in the sprint will concern him for the race tomorrow.

But track position here is clearly important. So even if he is struggling with Tyler, where being leading from the front ball will certainly help him out on that. So yeah, great a lap by him. And as we said yesterday, I think they're backing up at least over one lap. McLaren's backing up that they've got good pace now

with those upgrades. Improved about a second from Q1 to Q3 was the fastest driver, I believe, in Q2 and then obviously following that through to the all-important session at the end. It's not like the margins are massive between him and the few drivers behind, but around a track like Zamboy,

it can be difficult to find these tents, and that's exactly what he's done. I'm going to say a statement that, listen, as I'm aware, sound a bit silly. Shock. He won the world title last year. It's not the silly part?

That is ridiculous. Thankfully, that did happen. And yet the last couple of Grand Prix, I feel like I've been maybe more impressed with what he's able, in raw pace ability. I'll just, Just to add to what you just said there, and I'm going to paraphrase, because I can't remember exactly what he said.

I think this might have been at Hungary. Landon Norris was asked about how he's been racing this year. I think he said he feels he's driven better in the first half of this year than he did the first half of last year. I completely agree with him. I do think that, I think he had the car last year, and he put together a very good performance. It won't be a championship victory that I look back on and go, wow, war performance. And yet when he has been able to finish a race this year, we know that the McClough had some reliability problems.

He has been strike especially. Most recently, I think it was Canada when he had a problem. He has been electric. He's been, he's been so fast. Hungary was amazing. The display of confidence he was able to put in there. Him coming over the radio going, you let me get clean air, I can be a second faster.

And a lot of the time, that's just chat. And yet he gets to clean air and he is a second faster. And here, qualifying, he has got the laping. And, you know, the other guys behind him are within half a tenth of each other. You know, Russell and Singhalopiastri, 0.4, I think, separates all three of those guys. Yeah, he is a tenth clear again of Russell, which I think is really quite impressive. So I have been impressed by Landon Norris.

I do think he is quietly having one of his best performances of the season, if not his career. and this has stood him apart and this is why I meant about him and Piastri at the moment. I need to see more from Piastri because Lando is stepping up. This was a great poll app in a car that I don't think yet is the best car on the grid.

Yeah, brilliant poll app. And to maybe selfishly view this as a what can give us the best type of race tomorrow, I think it might be a good result because there are questions about whether he can in terms of race pace hold on to this and will track position be key?

Can Mercedes use strategy to get by? Because I think if Russell or Antonelli had maybe got Paul, I'd lean towards if they can get past turn one, they'll keep that. I think just based on what that McLaren has shown so far this weekend with maybe not maintaining the pace throughout a stint, who knows? Maybe this opens up some interesting possibilities for the Grand Prix.

But in terms of qualifying itself, excellent job from Lando Norris again. Similar job, obviously, he did in Hungary. So if we exclude spring qualifying, and we just take Hungary and here, the last six mini sessions in qualifying, he's been fastest in five of them. Pretty good going.

Two qualifying sessions in a row now where McLaren have picked up a pole position and Mercedes haven't as well. So that's maybe starting and feel like a bit of a changing of the tide. I guess from Piastri's perspective as well, there must be a bit of frustration, because if you look through Q1 and Q2, there is nothing between them.

Piastri is slightly quicker in Q1, Norris, 0.0.013 faster in Q2, and then the biggest margin between them is in Q3. Yeah, not to say it's a theme of Piastri's year so far, but it's almost like with these, at least with these cars, he hasn't quite got the last, the last little bit in a qualifying session to nudge,

or to outpace Norris, which is something he, I feel like he did last year. He did have that ability to just save it up for the last attempt. So something he'll be looking to work on for sure. And yeah, he must be a bit disappointed. But overall, I'm not sure his pace is amazing. I mean, just based on what we saw in the sprint, I'm not sure his pace is brilliant here,

which is unusual because he has gone well here. Well, look at last year, for example. So, yeah, one for him to review and hopefully, you know, make some changes for tomorrow. In terms of the Mercedes duo, Sam, because obviously George Russell is going to be happiest with what he did in spring qualifying getting pole. But there might have been at least a little part of him coming away from that session saying, well, I've got pole. My teammate did get floor damage and is only a couple attempts off.

Here, he hasn't got the pole. but he's beaten Antonelli again and there's no mitigating circumstances as far as we're aware at all when it comes to either driver so it's a real head-to-head victory for him. Yeah, he's done a pretty job of beating his team mate which he can thrive on.

He can pat himself on the back and go, you know what? No problems on either side. This is a fair fight. We've gone for it wholeheartedly and I've come out on top by three hundreds of a second, which is a tiny margin.

And yet I'm sure if you said to George Russell, hey, you won't win the sprint race, but you could get pole in the main qualifying. I think he'd rather take that pole position. I think Norris beating him to pole here is a bigger blow than if he didn't win the sprint race, especially with Antingelli, of course, struggling in sprint qualifying due to the floor damage that he gave himself by running wide. So this is great that for him, for his own motivation, that he's beating Antingale. I still think Antingale can be very happy with himself.

You know, he's, again, 300 splung his teammate. He's still the championship leader. He recovered one in the sprint race. He's getting a good sprint qualifying despite having damage. Overall, in terms of damage mitigation, very good weekend for Antingelli. Russell, though, it will have been great for him and the championship fight if he got picked up pole position here.

But Norris just too good on the last. Yeah, it's important to remember when it comes to the point system for sprints versus a main Grand Prix. The number of points between first and second in a main grand prix, main Grand Prix is the same number as between first and eighth in the sprint. Like, that's, if you want to time your weekend as best as you can to put together your best sessions as possible, you do it for the main portion of the weekend, that's for sure. Ferrari.

Oh. Not quite there. They're not a million miles away, but Lewis Hamilton and Charlotte, Claire, will start fifth and sixth respectively. Yeah, I think they'll be disappointed with this, because whilst LeClau's pace, in the sprint was good and impressive on those on those soft ties which no one else was on I think where they're starting tomorrow is going to hurt to them because I don't think really they've got outright pace remains to be seen but I think given how close I think the the top three teams are

well top four that's including rebel in that as well given how close they are pace wise I just don't think where they're starting, they're going to make a massive amount of progress, unless LeClaire has shown with his soft tire run that they've got amazing tire degradation and that can work to their advantage, which maybe that's the case. But other than that, I don't see how else they get much further up than fifth and sixth. Yeah, I wonder strategically what they can do in terms of a starting tire because there are often race weekends. They're starting on the softs, on they? Wow. I did it with one, but I can do it with two. Well, I just wonder because sometimes, like, it's so obvious that nearly everyone's going to start on medium tires.

So if you want to do something different, you go soft or hard tire. I wouldn't be surprised if we get a mix of soft and medium starters tomorrow. I don't know, just based on what LeCler did today, like, they might, Ferrari might be thinking, okay, let's try to do something different and start the softs again. I wouldn't be surprised if at least one of the top four did the same thing, in which case they're not differentiating themselves. Like a Russell, for example, if you're in P2, soft off the line, just to get Norris and then run away. I wouldn't be surprised at all.

Yeah, disappointment for Ferrari that, again, they're not quite there. Not good enough. Not getting off at all. They brought upgrades to this race, New Floor, which should be a thriving upgrade at a track like Zandvort. And yet they are closer to Red Bull, a competitor that has struggled for a lot of the Grand Prix. They're closer to Liam Lawson than they are to the poll time. and that's not good enough for Ferrari, right? Like Liam Lawson is five tenths away from the poll time.

Hamilton is three and a half, but Hamilton is three and a half away from the poll time. So there's a gap of two tenths between Hamilton and Lawson, three tenths from Hamilton up to Norris. That is not the gap they want to be looking at. Hamilton will be capping himself that he's beating his teammate where the earlier part of the weekend, he's been struggling for pace compared to a very good starting the clure.

but as an outfit, the fact that they are now comfortably behind Piastri, Antingale, Russell and Norris. This is not a good look for Farah. They needed to see this weekend as a proper step forward. What about Red Bull? So Max Verstappen will start seventh, Liam Lawson in eighth. Again, not quite on the pace of those top teams, but able to beat members of the midfield. I guess from Vastappen's perspective, not too much has changed versus spring qualifying. He hasn't outqualified Hamilton like he did.

otherwise pretty much the same. But I guess encouraging from Liam Lawson's perspective that he is directly alongside his teammate here. Yeah, I think so. Yeah, for Vastapan, to be honest, that's probably where he almost should have been in sprint quality, had Hamilton, I don't know what happened with Hamilton

being that have a great final lap. It was poopy. It was poopy. Oh, yeah, scientific, yeah, yeah. Yes. But Lawson, I mean, it's almost like he's had more time in the car since the last call of him. An interesting theory, so.

And much like last time, just in time for him to get booed out. My mind gets two sessions, has to go out. My poor boy. But I think, yeah, I think Lawson can be happy with that, given that I can, like we said yesterday, I'm not sure we can give too much criticism for where qualified and for the sprint.

He's had 24 more laps to get used to that car, plus the qualifying session. And he's now delivered on what, to be honest, is the pace that car. And throughout the session, he looked on par, if not sometimes a little bit quicker than Vastappan did. So, yeah, a good effort, good effort for me. They can't ask anything more, to be honest, of a substitute driver for the weekend. I know they're not having a great weekend, but to be right next to Vestappen, ideal.

Yeah, I think Lawson's done really well here. I mean, he's a couple of attempts away from the Ferrari drivers, which I think is pretty great in a car that hasn't had any performance upgrades this weekend. And maybe from Vestappen's perspective, he might be a bit disappointed that he didn't make much of a jump from Q2 to Q3, whereas the cars in front of him all improved by half a second, maybe even more.

It's only a couple attempts that Vastappen was able to improve by from Q2 to Q3. So I think he might be a little bit disappointed that there wasn't a slightly better lap in there in Q3, but otherwise this feels like where Red Bull are. I'm thrilled for Lawson. Absolutely thrill for him. If you look at the...

He was a 10th behind Max Verstappen in a track where we know he thrives at and I don't think Max gets any more. This is half a 10th away from the Ferrari duo. But relative to Limbludd, who of course is his usual teammate and by the way, their fight in the sprint race at the start in the first lap was rowdy,

absolute elbow is out. He was nearly four tenths behind Limblog in qualifying for the sprint race and yet in the main qualifying, he's nearly five tents ahead. of Limblad in the main qualifying. So he has gained a reflective nine tenths on Limbludes through the two sessions of qualifying here.

That's great improvement. And like you joked, he's had more time in the car. It makes total sense that he's improved here. Now there are three members of the Red Bull family in the top ten. The only person who's not... Ben Diesel's back again, good. That was quite intentional.

Any person that's not. Yuki Sonoda, of course, is sitting 12th place behind Pierre Gaslight. Yeah. I want to shout out both Bortoletto and Linn-Bloid actually, because I think they've done a brilliant job in terms of getting it through to Q3, but also the laps that they delivered in Q3 are actually really good. Like they both, again, improved quite a lot from where they were in Q2, and ultimately Bortoletto just about does enough to out-qualify limb-blood, which could be quite important because, as we know,

that Audi pretty quick, but not brilliant when it comes to... Sorry, if you can hear the ice machine in this Airbnb. Sorry, everyone. We know that Bortoletto and the Audi pretty quick, but equally, straight line speed somewhat lets them down. So if they get stuck behind a car like Bortoletto did with Gassley, it can be difficult for them to make progress. So if, and it's always a big if with Audi,

if they can hold position on that opening lap ahead of their rivals, Borteletto could be in with a good chance of some solid points. The other thing we're seeing is Borteletto, more recently than not, is stretching his legs over Hulkenberg. Yeah, to the point where I don't know if there's something wrong with Holgerberg's car. I mean, we saw him the sprint race. He's struggling. He went backwards.

There was a problem that maybe that's carried through to qualifying, but there is quite a comfortable gap between Bortilat and Holgerberg. Holgerberg is in P13, Bortelotto P9. That's sizable when we see them so regularly right next to each other with a very, very minimal gap. For sure. No, Holgerberg, not for sure. Not Richard.

Richard for sure getting a shout out on this podcast. Come on. Come on. It's that related. Two shoutouts, by the way, really enjoyed Limblad and Lawson, even though they're in different teams, still being right next to each other in the sprint.

It was so close for a whole that. Yeah, so good. Sang, shout out, versus where we were at Silverstone, we're sat much closer to the track. The Audi sounds even naughtier. God, so good. It's so sexy.

For no reason. It is interesting how you can, like, pick up the sort of cadences and the slight differences between the engine noises is when we are as close as we are. It's so different, though, versus any of others. Audi is very distinct.

But even like the Ferrari's... It feels quiet. It's really quiet. Really quiet. And you know what? Even like compared to Honda, though. The Honda sounds a lot noisier, I think, than the Ferrari does. I actually think Audi and Red Bull slash Ford are the best puncturing in terms of sound.

And then it's Ferrari and Mercedes are quite low down. And Honda's there in the middle. Well, as we regularly see from a sprint weekend, the same drivers who got through to Q2, I believe have got through to, as got through in SQ2, have also got through to Q2. Ockon and Albin are going to start in exactly the same places. Fernando Alonzo and Landstrol again knocked down in Q1, which I know there were some difficulties in sprint qualifying that Fernando Alonzo was not massively appreciative of. but even without that or seemingly without that here.

Similar story. Yeah, similar story, but as I said earlier on, the gaps are so close, at least in that first Q1 session, there was like just over a second separating the entire field, which versus where we were a few years, you know, the last year and the previous years is not amazing, but versus this year where it's been like three seconds,

I mean, it's great. I'm pleased to see it, but I think for Aston Martin, and who must be like, we've gained all this pace, but everyone else is also getting the pace at the same time. They must be annoyed with that. But just the way it goes, there might be a little bit more in there. But, yeah, just not quite enough for them to get into Q2 with that one.

Yeah, I don't know. I feel like it's a better, maybe a slightly better race car than it is a qualifying car. I don't know with the Aston. Yeah, the race pace did look pretty good where we could see it in terms of sprint. I mean, you look where they were, you know, a few races ago, they're now challenging the car,

like they're stuck behind cars in, you know, the Williams of Albon, for example. They're challenging or getting past cars. So in that sense, it's encouraging. But yeah, Colorado Fambire's not quite there there. Yes, not quite there. We'll see what they will be able to do, of course, from tomorrow.

We didn't do a driver of the session for the sprint. Should we do a sort of collective driver of the day for today. It's tricky because, you know, if I think of maybe the clur, who was really impressive in the sprint race, loses out to his teammate in qualifying. Russell, who picks up pole and then takes the wing in the sprint race, doesn't get pole here.

Norris, who does get pole, gets overtaken by the Claire in the race. It's really tricky to see someone who's been consistent over both of those races. So I'm struggling to find a collective driver, that I think he's impressed properly in both. That's why I can't Espanocon. You are! Wow.

He's beating his teammate comfortably in both sessions. Love that. Who are you going for? I said this yesterday, but I'm going to go for George Russell again. You know, very solid and impressive in the sprint. And whilst he didn't get poll today, I think the fact that he beat Antonelli, I think he can be happy with his Saturday, basically. Yeah.

I was considering Bortoletto, and actually I think if he'd beaten Gassley in the sprint, I would have gone for him because of that. I'm going to go with Russell as an aggregate across the two sessions. I also, for just qualifying, I want to shout at Lawson. I think that gap to the standard is remarkable. I think he's a brilliant job at gaining almost a second on Nimblad across the two days. Really well grounding in that car, which is really tricky to get a hold of. Okay, so we've got the main Grand Prix, obviously tomorrow.

Again, we're going to be at the track. but slight difference in terms of our race review schedule. We've got a great studio lined up to be able to record that on Monday, which means the race review episode will be out Monday evening. Just as a reminder to, I've mentioned that a couple of times over the last few days. But looking forward to the race tomorrow. Yeah, it should be good.

So I should be at the track, see a full Grand Prix. You Dutchies are in mega, the first two days that we've been there. It's insane. The atmosphere at the track is amazing. The singing, the dancing, the atmosphere, the club, like, vibe. Excited. We've done walking back a fog with hands on shoulders and all sorts and waving our hands around.

We've been a great time. Everyone that we meet, absolutely lovely. And thank you if you came out and saw us as well during the session today. Really lovely to meet some of you. Thank you. So we'll be back on Monday for our race review recording at a studio in Amsterdam, which is mega cool. And then power rankings for you lovely Patreon subscribers.

over there renting out a wonderful suite in Patreon City. We'll get power rankings on Tuesday because of course we can't make Kerski edit everything under the sun in one small afternoon. On the Eurostar. On the Eurostar as we travel back to the UK.

So thank you for bearing with us. We know it's a kind of a day later thing it normally is but we'll promise you we'll do our best to bring that wonderful unique late-breaking quality. Oh, that's it. There you go. Follow us on social media. for obviously some updates of what we're up to around the racetrack

and while we're out here in the Netherlands around a grand old time, and it's lovely, as I said, to see some of you. Hopefully it carries on into the race. So we'll see you very soon. In the next time, in the meantime. I've been telling the stage. I've been bad hockey.

And I've been Harry Ead. And remember, keep breaking late. Bye.