The Late Braking F1 Podcast - 2026 F1 Bahrain Testing Week 1: What We Learned

Episode Date: February 15, 2026

Ben and Sam break down the key takeaways from the first week of pre-season testing in Bahrain, analysing how each team appears to be shaping up and the biggest questions still hanging over the paddock. They also discuss growing talk of a surprise return for a much-loved circuit, and explore the career highs and lows for a selection of F1 drivers... Want more Late Braking? Support the show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and get: Ad-free listening Full-length bonus episodes Power Rankings after every race Historical 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 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Come hang out with us and thousands of fellow F1 fans in our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ server and get involved in lively everyday & race weekend chats! Get in touch any time at [e-mail] 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. To the late breaking F1 podcast presented by Sam Sage and me, Ben Hocking. Back with another Sunday episode. But this one's a bit different, Sam, because we've actually got some, well, I was going to say some first testing of the year. second shakedown first test, first Bahrain test, first official, but I don't know.

Oh, I don't know. They like to make up all different types of words to me that cars go around a racetrack. You think it should be quite simple at this point. We've done it for over 75 years, but no, here we are. We're still just putting cars like a racetrack and calling it different things. But it's good to see them. We actually can't see them this time, for a bit at least. I actually enjoy it as well.

I know we've got a second test at Bahrain coming up as well, and we had this last year. I enjoy the first race not being at the same. same places. I know it's still early in the calendar. I wasn't a massive fan of when we had Bahrain and then the first race was also at Bahrain. Yeah, I am actually a big believer that we should go testing somewhere that isn't on the F1 calendar anyway. I hate that they get essentially, I've made this very clear on the show before. I love the idea that we have reduced practice. They shouldn't be allowed to bring previous years data to the track. It should have to be regathered or memorized almost. Yet this, running at Bahrain, they've done some ridiculous level

of kilometres already around this test circuit. And if there's been another test, of course, coming up very soon. So, look, it's good to see that we have what cars on track. It's very exciting. There's lots of different things going on with side pods and whatnot. But I would like them to have less overall because they are seemingly all making it around the racetrack now, which is a real shame. Yeah, there's a lot of reliability, at least to this early juncture.

But yeah, I'm with you. If Catalonia doesn't stick around as a permanent race, first of all, obviously that would bring tears to my eyes. But secondly, I think that would be a good testing location if we're not going there in terms of actual racing. Agreed. Anyway, we're at Bahrain this year for the first of two tests, three-day tests this time out.

And unlike Barcelona, where they were there for five days and each team could use whichever three of the five days they like, it's pretty much unlimited this timeout. They can use as much or as little as those three days as they want to. There's quite a bit on track to get to, Sam. But I feel like more of the explosive nature of this week has come off track. There have been some very interesting comments for some very notable drivers about how these 2026 cars drive. Now, of course, after the initial sort of acclimatization maybe of Barcelona,

we're getting some proper runs in from these drivers. They've got more of an idea on how they race. Not all of them, very complementary. So we'll start with Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen on the same side of this debate, it seems. Lewis Hamilton was speaking earlier on Thursday about how these new rules are working and he said, Formula One has made this ridiculously complex

and that none of the fans are going to understand it. He said, I sat in a meeting the other day and they're taking us through it and yeah, it's like you needed a degree to fully understand it all. If you look at Barcelona, for example, we're doing 600 metres lifting coast on a qualifying lap. That's not what racing is about.

And not to be outdone, Max Verstappen decided, those comments are a bit tame. I'm going to go a step further. He said that the cars or the rules are not very F1-like. It's like Formula Eon steroids and it's anti-racing. Not to be confused, of course, with anti-Sanoda. Related, though. Related, yes, good friends. Take your pick on both or one of the two comments, but it's pretty scathing.

It's pretty scathing. I think, interestingly, Lewis Hamilton has come out with almost two different tones. in what he's saying. He's almost made two statements. He initially came out and said, these cars are quite oversteery, they're scappy, but you can catch them quite nicely. They're fun to drive.

And now he's come out and said, this is terrible. I'm having to Lifting Coast, a qualifying lap. That's what you're doing to me? King of qualifying, Lewis Hamilton, of course, with the most polls of all time.

He likes to go pretty quick, as old Lewis. And, you know, with just the seven world titles to his name, it feels like he's got a fair stake in the ground to actually make a comment. And then the next bloke,

who also feels like he's quite, good at the F1. Max de Stapler, besides, you know what, Lewis, I can't beat you in titles

just yet, but I can't beat you in mugging off the FIA with my comments. It is scathing, it is savage, and you know what?

I'm not going to act here, like, if I agree or disagree with them, but there's been a lot of comments in the public already saying, you know,

oh, I agree with them and they, you know, is anti-racing. A Formula One should be flatter all the time,

and then quite prominent person else, such as the likes of Martin Brundle have come out and said, we've always like code, we've always been having to save the car, save the tires, save the fuel. This isn't a new thing. So there are two trains of thought going on here.

We'll get onto Landon and Norris's commenting a little bit as well. But it does seem like we've maybe gone too far away from what the likes of Hamilton of the Stappen were more used to, more more willing to do, and wanted to be a part of in the DNA of Formula One. And they're not holding back, which is really fascinating. Yeah. And I think of all people that could go against these rules. and regulations, the two drivers, maybe that the FIA would least want to come out and say

these sorts of things are Vastappan and Hamilton, because they'll get the most attention, not only from Formula One circles, but possibly wider than that, in talking more national news, maybe. Yeah, the media will pick it up. Right. To be clear, there are a few things with both what Vastappen said and Hamilton said that I don't necessarily agree with. Firstly, Lewis Hamilton, and he did stipulate that this wasn't something he came up with.

It was someone telling him this. But he said how the cars are sort of slower than GP2. And he was pressed on whether he meant his era of GP2 20 years ago or F2 nowadays, at which point he didn't really know. As far as I'm aware, across both GP2 from 20 years ago and F2 of now, these F1 cars are still very comfortably quicker. So we can... Sorry, could you imagine a world where,

formula way slower than F2. Right. We can debunk that fairly quickly. Also with what Vastappan has said about it being formula E on steroids, which you could just say the quote, and you already know who said it, but a formulae on steroids. And I know Sergio Perez has said something along the same lines as well. I'm not saying they're unqualified to make that comment, but as far as I'm aware, neither of them have driven a formula E car.

staff had to watch them for a while when he was a gawty boy. He did indeed. I'm not saying that their comments aren't without merit, but also I don't really appreciate how formulae, I'm not the biggest fan of formulary in the world, but it feels like that sport has been used as a bit of a punching bag. It's the most press formulare's ag for a while. Right.

I saw the CEO of FormulaE was saying how texting Max Verstappen like, oh, we're in Jeddah. Do you want to come on down. Come and see us. No, it does feel like they're trying to use relatable, understandable moments that the Formula One fan could go, oh, I don't like this thing, so therefore I can get behind what someone is saying. You know, it's like, say, this chocolate bar tastes like poo. You don't like to eat poo, do you?

No. You weirdo. Yeah, I hate eating poo. I don't like this chocolate either. That's kind of where. it's gone from, but actually the chocolate pourigas tastes like, I don't know, a bit nutty, and you might not like nuts in your chocolate, which is, I mean, each other. Or in your poo. Or in your poo. Either way. Yeah, it's very interesting. And what is most

confusing about the statements is these cars take a lot of intellectual understanding to drive. I think you have to be savvy. I think you have to be adaptable. And ironically, Hamilton, yes, but especially Max Verstappen, is possibly the leading driver. It comes to, being savvy, understanding, adaptable, smart in a racing car. Same as Fernando Alonkso, who has also come out and said that, you know, we're so far away from the pinnacle of the DNA of Formula One right now, which was the late 90s, early 2000s, that he's like too much interference, too many gizmos and gadgets. And that is what we've got, endless gizmos and gadgets.

So a lot of the world champs not really going for it currently. And that's why, particularly on Vastappen side, I think these comments are very genuine. Whether you agree with him or not, that's up to each and every person to decide. But I do think these comments are very genuine for two many reasons. Number one is what you just said. These cars will suit those who are adaptable. We've already seen there seems to be a particular style of driving these cars throughout Bahrain that is working. And Vastappen was the first, really, to be on that model.

And others seem to be copying him. And Red Bull will get onto the competitive order maybe in a little bit. but Red Bull look all right at the moment. So when he's saying these comments, they're not self-serving. Like, they feel pretty genuine in that regard. Also, and I've always been of the opinion that whenever drivers are interviewed, either over team radio or just after they've got out of the car, I give them leeway in terms of the adrenaline is high.

They're likely to exaggerate points and maybe phrase things slightly differently to how they would if they were given a bit more time to think about. and composed themselves. Vastappen made these comments after a day he wasn't in the car. He's had time to collect himself. He's had time to think. This isn't like adrenaline off the cuff, impulse.

This is well fought out. And he's still making these comments, which is why I think he's very much telling the truth when he says it. Yeah, the whole, let you go on, I'm going to go bed, I'm going to sleep on it, wake up in the morning, see if I've calmed down. And Vastapel has arisen in bed.

I'm still mad. Fair enough to you, mate. You are a supply, maybe driving number one across the planet right now. If anyone's going to listen to someone's opinion, we should listen to him. He's got a fair stake in the game, as I mentioned. But, thanks a question, if it stays like this for a while, we've spoke about how he might shock retire. If he hates it that much, there is a real chance that he might go,

you know what, I've done my bit, I've won four, maybe five, who knows, at the end of this year, I'm going to do something else that I actually enjoy doing, because maybe it is too, apart from what he actually loves to do in Formula One. it might be too early to say this, but I'm a bit worried. About his opinion. Not about him, but about the sport. Are you? Let's get into it, because we've seen a lot of testing now.

So let's move on maybe from just those comments. What are your thoughts about what you've initially seen? Well, not about the pecking order, so to speak, but I am worried about the way in which... The driveability and the way the car operated. Energy management just seems so prevalent. And I agree with what you said earlier. I'm of the opinion that 100% flat-out racing,

firstly isn't really achievable, but secondly, I think management is good for F1. It's good for motorsport, whether that's tire management, you know, fuel management, whatever it is. I think that's good because that opens up strategic options and when we get some really exciting racing,

people look at it as being dull and boring sometimes. It is important, but there's a limit. And I feel like we are potentially going over the limit. We'll see how the racing actually works. out. We might get to Australia and all of these issues are nowhere near as big as we think they are. But if we're listening to the drivers and we're looking at Bahrain, which in theory of all the tracks on the calendar is going to be at the low end of what you need to do in terms of energy management, reason being is heavy braking zones mean you can capture that energy far more easily. You've got a lot of heavy breaking zones of Bahrain. It's not the case at Melbourne. Yeah, Australia, that's going to be really tricky because that.

That is essentially on throttle. It's almost like Silverstone. You're like 69, 70% at the time. You're fully on throttle. And those breaking zones, when you do have them, are light touch. You're only going down to maybe fourth or fifth gear a lot of the time. You know how air ping's really to speak of other than the one or two in sector three. So the recovery, we could see some cars really dropping top speed going down and start finger straight.

And I maybe will adjust. I think there are elements of these new rules we will adjust to. Like the cars are in really low gears and high revs. It sounds cool, which I think we'll get used to that quite quickly. But lifting and coasting so early on before a breaking zone, that might be, if you're tuning into F1 for the first time, and why is he breaking so early? Well, you see, energy management. And you get into all the different modes.

It's not hugely complex, but to someone who is thinking about checking out the sport, might be off-putting. I can see how it would be off-putting. I mean, we've had to sit here and learn... This is the most learning I've had to do between seasons. Maybe I started watching Formula One properly as a kid. You know, this is a lot of change. It feels like maybe since we remove the likes of refueling,

it feels like that's the first time I really have to go right so cars can do it this way now and you have to alter it this way. We've always had little changes, but this is a whole new battleground. And whilst I disagree with Lewis Hamilton, where he said you get a degree to understand the sport and whatnot. You don't.

But you do need to be paying attention. You have got to make an effort to learning. It's not something you can just pick up at a whim. So I reckon we will lose some fans who go, this isn't what I want it to be anymore. Yeah, it's an interesting time. We'll see how that looks when we get to Australia. Just to introduce the other side of this as well,

because Lando Norris, of course, world champion, probably the third driver in the big list of three that F1 wouldn't want to come out against these rules. Good news for the FIA, he seems to be more on their side by saying that he's had a lot of fun driving them. He's really enjoyed it. And then speaking about Vastappan, he said, if he wants to retire, he can retire. Formula One changes all the time. Sometimes it's a bit better to drive.

Sometimes it's not as good to drive, but we get paid a stupid amount of money. So you can't really complain at the end of the day. That's a bad move there firstly. Maybe McLaren't go up your contract. If you're going to think it's a stupid amount of money, sold yourself for a mug there, pal. This is fascinating. I think Lando, in terms of PR speak, has done well to take almost the layman's approach here. The whole, hey, it's the normal man and woman that watch Formula One,

and they look at us and we get paid millions of pounds to drive quickly around a racetrack and we have a laugh at everyone's dream job. I think he's done well to approach it this way. He is right. It's not the end of the world. It's really not the end of the world. It's no big deal. You're still driving cars at 200 plus miles an hour.

You're still getting paid a lot of money. You still get to go around the world. I see where he's coming from. But I also don't think that makes Max Verstappen's comments in Alan Boyd. Yeah. I'm kind of the same opinion where if Lano Norris is having fun with these cars, I want him to come out and be vocal about that and to go against others' opinions, if that is the case, in this case it is.

But I also am quite keen to like say that just because these drivers are getting paid a stupid amount of money, I don't think that makes. their opinions invalid. I don't think you should just be, and this goes further than maybe just sporting, but I don't think it should be a case of, I get paid a lot of money to be here, I should just shut up and not say anything at all.

Because from a sporting perspective, that maybe doesn't matter too much, but then you get into other issues where if you feel like, I don't know, the governing body of the sport is doing something incorrectly and you don't want to speak up about that because you're looking at your paycheck,

I, yeah, bringing your paycheck into it is a risky situation. And it's all very much your own opinion on how that matters in terms of your opinion and the way you vocalize it. Realistically, if you're having a phone, you think it's good racing, great. If you're having fun and you hate the racing, equally valid. Yeah. Well, we've got another three days of testing still to go at Bahrain before we get to Melbourne. So we'll see how opinions change or don't change when it comes to how these cars drive. Let's take a quick break at this point

and then on the other side we'll start to get into the pecking order which teams are going to be happy with what's happened at Bahrain which teams might be on the back foot. At Medcan, we know that life's greatest moments are built on a foundation of good health from the big milestones to the quiet winds.

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fundraising platform trusted by over 200 million people. Start your GoFundMe today at gofundme.com. That's gofundme.com. Gofundme.com. This podcast is supported by Gofundme. We've discussed how these cars are driving, at least from secondhand experience. Unfortunately not from first hand experience. Not yet.

Hey, if you do need to have a pair to jump in, we are here. We're willing. We're the 12th team. Well, hey, team LB. Late breaking, but F1 on spell breaking wrong. you know what public servicing absolutely the amount of emails that we get where it's spelled wrong it drives me insane but it works the other way as well if you spell breaking correctly when you contact us you're immediately on to a good start like yeah i won't put you in the junk pile

immediately you're welcoming anyway so until those plans materialized let's have a look at the 11 teams that are on track at barraine um i think it was andrea stella that maybe said after barcelona that he felt that the top four teams from last year are still likely to be the top four teams in some sort of order this year. I don't think we've seen anything so far that would say that's wrong, Sam. No, nothing glaring.

It looks like we may see some changes potentially with this compression ratio. There's still a lot of talk about it, and Red Bull maybe are defecting over to the other side where that would give them the majority vote needed to change the wording of the rule set that means that the engine test has to take place, whether it be warm or ambient, whatever it might be.

By the way, we do a full breakdown of that last week. So if you haven't checked that one, I'll do so. Yeah, go and have a listen. It is something that could, in theory, flip the order, though. There's already been rumoured talks that, you know, maybe Mercedes and Mercedes-Powers teams might not make it to Melbourne. If that rule set does go through because I'll have to rebuild their entire set of engine systems or if they do make it, it could be massively detrimental to their overall ability.

But we should talk about it as if it is right now in the pecking order. And it is Mercedes that are looking good in overall consistency. We've not seeing a major breakdown from one of their cars running at the moment that is being too much related to the power unit. It looks like their lap times are consistent from all teams as well. They seem to be walking around the pit lane with a smile on their face. But it's Red Bull that appears to be catching the eye. You know, the power unit built by them and Ford seems to be operating really well.

There's comics coming out of the press section from the likes of Toto Wolf, that they are one second faster going down the straits, which is astringorically hilarious, quite frankly, because I just can't see that in the case. You know, a tinfoil hack guys, but, again, going back to that compression ratio discussion, Toto would like that to remain. He doesn't want any changes. One way he could make sure that changes don't happen

is by ensuring Mercedes don't look too dominant at this point in the season, and by saying things like Red Bull are one second faster than us in a straight line, might be achieving that. Yeah, I wouldn't want to put money on it, but don't expect a glory run from a Mercedes power unit. You see it? They won't be topping the charts of any of these, not massively, and we've seen Lando Norris, of course, be right at the top,

but wasn't by much. No, they're all close. It's all close enough that you go, okay, this is all seeming fair and normal, but don't expect a 1.5 second gap from George Russell to the end, I think by the end of the week. I think TOTOWRW will have firm words. But I have been impressed with Red Bull.

It looks like they've gone in the right direction, considering the doubts that I think I cast and a lot of people did over the fact that they held on to their 2025 development right until the end of that season. And if this was going to be detrimental to their 2026 new development, currently it was a PING, no. Of course, again, all of this is skeptical, all of this in theory means nothing.

And you only have to look at what the overall test, wrestling times versus the overall finishing positions in the championship from last year looked like to know that really this does mean nothing. I've got them here. Just so you guys are aware, Williams were first in testing last year. They finished fifth overall in the constructors last time. Ferrari second, finish fourth. Mercedes third, finished second. You know, McLaren were fifth in testing last year and they went on to win. So just so you're aware, it can quite literally mean nothing. You have to take everything with the pinch and sell. But it does like those traditional teams traditionally at the top.

up where they belong. Yes, it looks that way. I mean, particularly with Mercedes and Red Bull, I would say going into this Bahrain test, it looked like Mercedes were the favorites. I don't know if they are anymore. With the sandbagging question mark, I think lingering over their heads, Red Bull, for the reasons that you stated about development last year, this being somewhat of a new engine, they look ahead of the curve. They look ahead of where I thought they might be at this point. and certainly when it comes to, again, energy deployment, which does seem to be maybe the biggest talking point because it might be the most important thing,

at least early on in these new regs, they look very good in that regard. And when we get to, again, Bahrain's probably not one of the tracks where it's too difficult to recapture that energy. If we get to a circuit like Melbourne, that advantage might even be bigger. So I think Red Bull, Red Bull are in really good shape. Mercedes and Red Bull had some issues on Thursday morning,

but otherwise have been fairly good. Pace-wise, it looks pretty reasonable. And Toto Wolf's maybe concerns seem to come from the long-run pace, which I think at this point is far more important than the headline fastest lap times. They tend to mean very little. but the race the race sims do tend to matter a bit more and red bull are pretty good in that regard so i don't think Mercedes will be particularly unhappy with where they are

but versus last week they might be they might be a bit annoyed to see that potentially red bull have overtaken them who knows yeah it does for like the first few rocks of the big of a rock slider about to come down on the saying is if this compression ratio does change it's Ferrari that are confusing me ever so slightly because Lewis Hamilton was quite far off the pace. I had a spin, of course, in the first day of testing as well. And I think it ended up being about 1.8 seconds behind the fastest lap time set, which I think on that day was Norris.

LeCleur did manage to go faster. Of course, you never know fuel runs, you never go packages that they're running. It is also difficult to understand what each driver, let alone each team are doing. But LeClau is about half a second, seven tenths off the fastest time as well. They are yet to do somewhat of a glory run, did do, of course, in the Barcelona shakedown. So in the second set of testing days, LeClaire doing well, of course, day two, but not by much.

I'm wondering if we see Ferrari kick on and provide a little bit more, because they've been almost ominously quiet, I think. I think they're looking pretty good. I, from a pure reliability standpoint, from a long-run pay standpoint, they look all right. And I'm being hesitant because we've fallen into this trap before. Ferrari. Every year. I think Ferrari, in terms of engines, are pretty much the only team that hasn't had an issue

since the beginning of Shakedown. Like they have, I think they've run the same engine all days in Barcelona, all days in Bahrain, which is no mean feat. They have absolutely slammed it around the track. They've done Charles LeClair in two days, 218 laps, which was the most at least after two days. after two days. And I think it's Ferrari just behind Williams, as we're talking sort of midway through Friday, in terms of overall lap count. So reliability-wise, has as well, of course, using the Ferrari power unit look really reliable too. That consistency could well pay off early

in this year if we get to Melbourne in the first few races and there are some DNFs. Ferrari at the moment look the least likely to come a cropper from them. Yeah, I mean, the only take that is running a Ferrari power unit is Kagalak that you would go, oh, they didn't have a slight problem, but they're a brand new team and they're sorting a lot of different things out. So you almost want to see them as an outlier and not want to base your thoughts on. Haas also actually, surprisingly solid. Very solid, yeah.

I was a little bit worried that they might come into this season and be right down the end, but they seem like they've got real consistency. It seems like Ocock is really happy with how the cars are running. And he's the plan. The plan. World Champ, 2026, baby. Lacks for Stafford appears to have developed this thing. kind of shifting down to first gear,

especially to come out of turn 11, the hairpin, to maximise the turbo and spawning up the turbo to get the car going. And a lot of drivers have started to replicate this, but Ockong was one of the earlier ones to pick it back up. And it looks good for them. It looks like the car is really functioning well. Yeah.

McLaren, I think they were a little bit slow out the blocks at the Barcelona test. They weren't there for the first couple of days. Didn't do a huge amount of mileage on the Wednesday or the Thursday either. And it wasn't until the Friday that they really kicked on. It feels like they are getting better and better, though, because they've had a really solid run at Bahrain thus far. I'm pretty sure they've done over 100 laps on both days. They did nearly 150 laps on day two, which at the time of recording, that's the most done

over a single day. So they're getting the mileage in. The outright pace looks pretty good as well. And similar to Red Bull, I guess coming into this year, we were maybe unsure. They've poured a lot of effort and resource into winning the last two constructors championships, winning the driver's championship with Lando Norris last year, would that cost them in 2026? The immediate answer would be it doesn't look like it will. Yeah, again, you've got to be skeptical, but they are building in the right way. They're going to go in the right direction. The trajectory looks good.

You don't want to be almost doing what the same is you're doing, which early on looked really strong and comfortable. Actually, you start to get a little bit shaky as you go into the bar end test. I think McLaren will be very happy, but I think they'll be very cautiously watching this engine conversation because I do think the impact of whatever that decision is will have a surprisingly big effect on how this season plays out. And it would be a real shame,

and therefore we see the cost of being a customer team. It would be a real shame if they were to build an absolute Goliath of a car and we see another Piastri, Norris, Battle, but they can't compete because the engine has had to be changed last minute. And suddenly they're down on power. That would be pretty devastating from a, not just McLaren point of view, but also from Williams and from Alpine. Yes, indeed.

And of course, at this point in testing, the games are afoot. You've got team principles and important people in these various teams saying, we're slow, we're slower than this team. You had Red Bull at their launch saying, bear with us for the first couple of months. You have Toto Wolf saying we're a second behind Red Bull and a straight line. You've got Lando Norris saying we're nowhere near Ferrari on the long run pace. not all of these things can be true.

Like one or two of them maybe, but not all of them. So there's still a lot of games being played as to who actually might be the favourite going into Melbourne. I think one team that won't be favourite going into Melbourne unless something really dramatic happens is Aston Martin. They have done, well, firstly at Barcelona, they did the lowest mileage of anyone that was there. Of course, Williams didn't show up for that.

and yet after day one at Bahrain, where Williams did take part, Williams were already ahead of them in terms of overall mileage. They only did, I think, 36 laps on the first day at Bahrain. It was a bit better on the second day, although they still didn't eclipse 100 laps. And in terms of outright pace, they aren't looking good. Landstrol was asked about this, and he seems to think that Aston Martin is somewhere between 4 and 4.5 seconds

behind the front runners. We expect a bit of a spread in times when we get to a new regulation cycle, but even if Landstrol is slightly out, oh boy. Are they making 107% rule if they're four seconds off the fastest car? It's a good question, that.

I mean, let's break it down. Let's break it down. Lance Drill was pretty scaling, pretty harshing what he said, and this was hoping to be Aston Martin's door of a new era You know, we're expecting them to come out the block. I'll let you in behind the curtain, folks. When we will get into our team and drivers' predictions,

there's a little part of me that's thinking, do I go bold and I put Ashton Martin right up the very top and quite literally have sunk like a stone currently. It has been devastating over the last few days for any hope. The hope he was run out. We've got to get more canisters of hoping from Ferrari. You're selling it, please. It's the combination of Adrian Newey being the most aggressive in design form that he can be.

He's trying to create something truly radical, I think. But then pairing that with the fact they've only had 10 to 12 months of development at this point. And Honda is essentially a new P.U. provider have gone, I hope that we could get it in the car, in the way you want us to. And they've had power unit problems, which have meant that the bodywork is having to be changed. You've really seen the differences in the renders and the promotional car that they used. We've commented on this privately, Ben, the fact that all the sponsors appear to have moved on the sidepods and the way the engine cover is shifted. They've had to make changes already. And because of that, again, it is testing, four and a half seconds off the pace.

That is, they might be behind Kagalak. I mean, I've got, in my head, I think it's quite well known, that Kaganak are probably going to be one of the further back cars so far this season. I didn't think that a car will be this far behind a brand new team coming into the sport. Paul Fernando Alonso, I heard rumors a few weeks ago that he might be signing another one-year deal. If the car is good, it doesn't feel too confident right now. Yeah, it is early days. Cadillac's best lap so far in testing this week is 1.4 seconds faster than Aston Martin's best.

And I don't expect that to be the margin when we get to Australia, but they are seriously behind. You know, we hear things about them getting into the wind tunnel late. Honda, again, maybe not jelling with this team. Wouldn't be the first time when it comes to a new set of regulations. It would absolutely suck for them if they get to Australia and they, are where they seem to be because they have poured so much effort and resource and Lauren Stroll has poured such resource

into ensuring that this team can fight for titles when we get to this new regulation cycle and again, unless they are hiding something absolutely massive, they ain't going to be there. I mean, four or four and a half seconds, again, I know you can't compare it too much to last year because at the end of a regulation cycle, you see teams will start to copy the best teams

and it kind of converges. And you wouldn't normally see last year a car more than two seconds slower than the fastest overall. We had qualifying sessions where you could be a second off the pace of the leader and you're out. Yeah, you'd be last, right? So four and a half seconds is a huge amount.

I don't think, again, I'm not a body language expert. But Lauren Stroll doesn't look particularly happy as he's going around the paddock. Alonzo has put a lot of trust, faith, that this could be his last attempt at maybe a world championship. There's got to be some nervous people. There was an interview with Alonso, and he was asked about Adrian Newe and working with Adrian Newellian. We've all kind of semi-fanticized about this partnership for a long time. you know, also getting his final chance at glory. Adrian Nui, the man that's produced the most world championship winning cars.

And he was asked about it. And he seemed to be beaming. He had so much confidence. You know, oh, the man, the way he explains things, the way he understands it. He just sees it from a whole different angle. It's incredible. I can't remember an interviewer's name. He went, oh, is it like having Chuck GPT as your aerodynamicist?

And he went, he's better than Chuck GPT. You know, that's crazy. that's how much faith he has in him. It would be pretty devastating for a long-so if he comes to all that phase and then the guy that he's put in that on builds a car too radical. But it might click. There might be a moment where Honda go, we've made it work. We've got the P-Uing to work in the right way.

The body work doesn't need to change. And suddenly they might jump up two or three seconds, maybe more. And you know that Adrian Newee, when designing this car, would have factored in the long term because it's not only just about where these cars are going to be in the first two races of the season. This is going to be about how much scope have you got for developing and upgrading these cars?

Because if you've got a concept that after a year is pretty much done and dusted, you're in a tough spot because you are going to have to redesign key components of the car before then going down a different design path. Adrian Newey, you feel fairly confident will be thinking years ahead, like this can still be upgraded at this point.

and that should give Aston Martin at least some hope. But this year, it could be rough. Like, it could be rough. And I don't know, which of these two situations is worse? Because I know the Honda Power Unit is not looking good at the moment. Would situation A be worse, which is they're not running at full beans yet, in which case, why? That's a bit worrying.

You really should be at this point. or it is running at full beans and that's all they've got. Gosh. Neither's great. No. I would like to think that they got running at full beans. I'd like to think there's a problem they need to resolve, which will then allow them to run at full beans.

And come Australia, they'll go, yeah, we have a bad test. But because of the test, we understand the problem. And we fixed it. That would be an ideal situation for Askin Martin and their team right now. What will also be a great scenario for them is knowing, hey, aerodynamically, we're ban on the money. The car is so good through the corners, the way it works. We just need to get a bit more power out, the power unit or the battery.

And that can be worked on separately as well. If it's both, if we've got problems where the body needs to change because it can't fit the power unit, but the power unit isn't up to the standard, it's not producing enough battery or actual power. They are just out at sea. They've got no chance of understanding that in the lesser month we've got until in Melbourne. Let's take a quick break. We'll wrap up our Bahrain review on the other side,

and we'll also get into the potential of a return of a Grand Prix of the past. Come back, everyone. Quick mention for Cadillac, I know we touched on them very briefly earlier. My view on Cadillac is that as a new team, with a model that isn't great in terms of entering F1, they're not getting a lot of help outside of just having the Ferrari power unit. I think they're doing all right. They've had some issues this week, but it could have been a lot worse for them.

Massively. Massively. It looks like their biggest issues are coming from just making sure that the power unit is working within the car. And again, I think that's okay. You've got a lot of problems to overcome. And if your biggest problem is just make sure the engine actually functions properly, I could deal with that. That's something that engineers who are very, very clever people can work through.

The drivers seem happy. When they are getting out on laps, they seem within the group. You know, they don't seem like they're miles and miles behind. everyone else. The problems they've had are limited. I think overall, whilst not incredible, stupendous, it's pretty solid. And I respect that for a brand new team. Yeah. And I think there might be some disappointment out there hoping that this big name of General Motors and Cadillac would come straight into F1 and be competitive right at the top end. And I think those expectations, honestly, were unrealistic just based on the scale of what they've had to achieve. Bear in mind,

like they wanted to enter F1 as Andretti a few years ago. They've had to jump through a lot of hoops to get to this point. And I know they did continue development even before it was confirmed that they were going to be an entry. But surely like that stifled progress a little bit, like what they've had to go through is a lot to even get to this point. And to be in the mix in terms of times, yeah, they're not set in the world alike. But they are in the pack.

And that is good enough for now to do over 100. laps on both day one and day two. I think they are. There are many ways this could have gone, and there are more ways worse than this than this. Yeah, I'm hoping that Formula One will see this and go, okay, a new team is turned up. They're not embarrassing us.

They're not miles off the pace. This is good. And hopefully they'll be buoyed a little bit by seeing a new team coming and not be blimming awful. We aren't seeing anything radical, though, from Kagalak at the moment. The car looks fairly standards. it looks like it's kind of in line with what a lot of the big boys of the sport are running.

And look, you know, I wouldn't have expected anything different from that. It would have been nice to see them do something a little more radical, but maybe as they adjust and they get into the swing of development, we might see General Motors, Kagalak, bring something new to the track that we haven't quite yet seen. A new team doing something radical, I hear you ask. Audi, I shall present that to you, because, again, maybe not quite as new of a team as Cadillac, different description, sure.

They turned up at Bahrain with a very different looking card to what they had in Barcelona. Crikey. Have you ever seen a different side pod than that? Man. That thing is the opposite of what they brought to the shakedown and what they looked like they were launching on their show car when they did the livery launch. That thing is ridiculously small. It's so skinny.

It's like someone's taking a side pod, squished it in and then tips it upside down on a funny angle. It is bizarre. It looks like they're really trying to channel the downfinding. force, the air, the compression to the back of the car, through what's called, I think, the mouse hole or the porthole that a lot of these teams are running to make sure that when they get their outwash, it's supporting the downforce of the car a lot more, but it feels like it's really risky. It's one of the closest things that we see. It is sketchy. It does feel like one of the closest developments to the Mercedes no pods that we saw all the way back

in 2022. And it makes sense that we've, we've seen some comments suggesting Nika Holcomberg is maybe getting adjusted to this very radical design quicker than Bortoletto, just. based on that experience. It seems like in theory, it could work, but it causes the car to be, again, sketchy through the corner. So we'll see how that goes out. I think they've had a fairly solid test again. Reliability seems better than it was last week.

Times seem reasonable too. The thing I'm loving about that car is you've seen a few practice starts now. It does take a little longer to do starts because of the whole spot. That's going to be interesting. Yeah, well, of course, they're going to change. start procedure to allow for a longer time on the grid to rev up and Ferrari were like, no. I kind of respect it because Ferrari were like, we built our car knowing that it would be different.

We've adjusted for it. Yeah, get on with it, scrubs. Nonetheless, I've heard Audi a couple of times go do their practice start. That thing is going the right way in terms of noise. It's bloody loud. It's not V8V10 loud yet, but it's getting louder and it was good to hear. It sounds angry, it sounds fun. Starts might be exciting in terms of noise again.

One other team that I think is worth discussing. Panic averted question mark at Williams? It's not as bad as we thought it was going to be, which is good. They're not set in the world alike, and I don't know what radical thing they're bringing to the racetrack yet that meant that they were so far delayed and they failed crash tests and, you know, they were overweight and had to shed weight. I haven't seen evidence of that yet.

They do have a car that's running. They're doing respectful lap times, and they are fully involved. But I am expecting them to have to gain lap time quickly if they want to deliver on the targets they set themselves where it came to these few regulations. 276 laps over the first two days. Maybe it's like. Yeah. And it makes sense. Like they had to prioritize mileage compared to these other teams that did attend the shakedown in Barcelona.

But they seem all right. which for now is what they would have been hoping for. James Fowles was talking about the car, essentially saying that there doesn't seem to be a massive weakness to it. And that hasn't always been the case at Williams. Williams in the past have been very suspect to high wins at certain tracks. And Barrein, depending on... Right?

They've been straight-line merchants. So they haven't had the most well-rounded car, even when they've had some competitiveness. But if James Vowse is to be believed, it seems like they've got a solid base to start from. I'm not sure competitiveness where it's going to be. Maybe they'll be around where they were last year. Who knows at this point?

Is that good enough? Who knows again? So much of this is not only about where they'll start as well. It's where they'll end. There will be some hot takes after Australia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, these early races. And in at least a few instances, it will be, pump brakes. Yeah.

Let's see where this goes for the rest of the year. But after missing the shakedown, they could have turned up, done 30 laps on day one, 50 laps on day two, and seriously be behind.

Doesn't look like they're behind. No, no, which is good, which is good. The only other thing I wanted to mention on this was Al PING have decided to make a different rear wing. They have, yes.

Good point. I forgot to raise that one. So you're talking about the active era essentially going the wrong way or a different way. what we're not calling DRS anymore, which is definitely just DRS, but a lot of people seem to be dropping down.

I don't know. Yeah. It's a odd design, isn't it? Yeah, I mean, I think it does have some, I mean, must have to base to it. It can't just be completely random in the way that they've designed it. But what I've heard is it means that they get more of an open gap because of the way that it sits when it is open, which if that gains them, I don't know, half a tent,

a tenth down the straight when they're using it. It's worth doing, but I would have been shocked that everyone else has avoided this design choice. And Alpine, the whole teams are the ones that have brought this for the track. Yeah, there's a thin line between genius and stupidity, or however the phrase goes, that feels like how... Big of this screen, Ben. Am I on the Alpine side?

Because I don't like this. Well, I'm not sure that's what the fans would say. Yeah, I mean, Alpine seemed pretty all right at the moment. They didn't get many laps in on the first day of testing, I think, but they've recovered from that. I mean, they were last last year, so the only way it's up for them. Yeah, if they could just be starting in the midfield pack, that's a good start for helping. Yeah. That'll wrap it up for what's happened in Bahrain.

Of course, second test coming up before we get going in Melbourne in not very long whatsoever. It will soon be upon us. Let's shift gears to the potential return. of the Indian Grand Prix. Now, it's been off the calendar for a decade, but the Indian government is reportedly intensifying efforts to bring back F1 to the Bud International Circuit. The Indian GP was first staged in 2011.

Over its brief three-year run, the race became a fixture towards the end of the championship with Sebastian Vessel winning all three editions for Red Bull. The Indian Grand Prix was dropped from the calendar after the 2013 season, owing two disputes between organisers and the Indian government. Before we look at whether we think this will or could happen, Sam, is it something you'd like to see?

Big Bud. But now the king has left the throne. It'll be interesting to see who would inherit the crown of Big Bud. The Big Bud King. It's lasting better. He's back. The BBK. The Big Burger King.

They're going to ask him to come back for a while off appearance just to win it again. Yeah, he's a free agent, all the teams want Vettel for that one race. It's like it is in my back garden, guys. So, you know, if you've got to play it up. I like the bud international circuit. It's a fun track. It's got some really interesting unique calls. I remember there's a big, long sweeping right-hander.

There's also quite an interesting quick left hairpin. And then that really long straight. And it makes us some interesting side-by-side moments. I do think it would definitely more suit these newer cars than the previous generation of cars. hopefully a bit smaller means they can get a bit closer to each other. But with the way that testing has gone, I'm also a little skeptical that the very high speed straight. They can be doing 40 by the end of it.

I'll get past them in my car. Come on, guys. Keep up. That does make me worry. For a purely enjoyable level of the racetrack and where it sits demographically, of course, within India, I think it would be good for the sport. It's a huge country.

Asia having another race is a nice thing as well. And I like it as a racetrack. whether it should come back is another question. Yeah, I, from a pure racing standpoint, would like to see it back. I think it's a pretty underrated circuit. So a little bit of elevation. You've got, I know it's a Tilka circuit, but he cooked occasionally. I think this is one of the instances where he did all right.

The backstray, I think, would give the opportunity for overtakes. I watched, I think it was Sebastian Vettel's poll up from 2013, just to remind myself of all the corners. And you forget how long that straight is. Also, it's a long track. Yeah, yeah, for sure. And the middle sector, some very good corners in there, particularly for qualifying laps, like some really interesting chicanes that feature some grass and some gravel.

You know me, I'd like more jeopardy around most tracks these days. But yeah, from a pure racing standpoint, I would not be against this whatsoever. We then go to the question realistically should or will it happen. happen? Yeah. Will it happen? It's all about money, realistically. It's that, you know, if if the Gov are willing to turn around and pay up, then there's a chance that it gets on there. You know, it will need to be supported by the government. Is it privately owned at the moment? Ooh, that's a good question, that. I'm not sure. Folks, it's not going to live, don't know the answer. But, you know, whoever is owning it,

whether it be the Indian government or whatever it will be privately owned, you have to pay big money. There's a lot of tracks sat there waiting to get across the finish line with huge checks ready to go. realistically, you might have to replace something that sits in the calendar already. And I'm struggling to see where that comes right now in the Asia area. You know, you've got Suzuki, which is a fan driver favorite and has been there for a long time. Shanghai does really well. So I don't take Melbourne spot. I don't think any time soon.

I don't think anything from that area is in Japan, really. No. And that's my issue. Unlike Europe, where you've got kind of one year. deals floating in and out and tracks willing to kind of do a rotation situation, new group named by the way, rotation situation. I just feel like it's going to have to muscle its way in. I don't know what it takes on.

Maybe if Baku decide they don't want to be part of the calendar anymore, it might sit there, but it does, Baku does pretty well. So we'll be surprised. And whether it should come back, I don't know. We don't need more racetracks. I don't need any more than 24 either. So tricky one, really tricky one for it. emerge as another contender.

Yeah, and especially Thailand as well, wants to come in as a race track. And I can't see both happening. It could be wrong. But again, there are these other, there's a lot of circuits competing for not a lot of spaces. And if Bud is sort of putting together a bid now, they are somewhat behind some of these other tracks and countries and street circuits that are putting themselves forward for this.

when we were there for three years back in the early 2010s, it wasn't massively attended. Now, you could say we were only there for three years. It wasn't given the appropriate time and opportunity to grow as a potential race, but 90,000 people showed up on race day in 2011. That went down to 65,000 in 2012, and then 60,000 in the final year in 2013. What's not going backwards? No.

And I understand at least to an extent, like the first year, you're going to get a real boost, but 60,000, that's not going to cut it if we replicated those numbers today. So I'm unsure on that front, F1 does also really crave long-term security in its contracts now. We know that there are multiple contracts that are going well into the 2030s. I forget Miami's date exactly, but that's into the 2040s. You'll be so old. I know, right. But F1 really wants these long-term partnerships,

and there surely still has to be part of F1 that's going to be worried that it ended poorly last time in just three years. We don't want the risk of that happening again, even if India now sees sport as more of a global sort of branding opportunity than it was back then, there's still going to be doubt lingering in some minds. Yeah, it's tricky. It is really tricky.

And it's not just the Asia area that's got tracks wanting to get on the calendar either. You know, you've got Argentina are currently talking about it. We've got race tracks across Africa who are going to get involved. There's current tracks in Europe that are desperate to get back on. It's not like it's just those two that are swapping for a space. But if you want to talk untapped potential, none of those other tracks are going to be able to top Bud and India. Like, that's a huge market. The market's massive, right?

What is it the second most populated country in the world? Like one and a half billion or something like that. If you can capture even 30, 40% of that as a market, you've got a lot of merch being sold and a lot of tickets up for grabs. Damn right. Well, we'll keep an eye on that and see if those rumors intensify or it sort of just fades into the background. We'll take our final break on this episode.

And on the other side, we've got a bit of a quick game to end things. Welcome back, everyone, to the final part of today's episode. We're going to close out this one with a game of, I mean, it hasn't got a snappy name, but career high, career low. So we're going to take five drivers on the current grid, and we're just going to give our thoughts on what has been the best moment of their career and the worst moment of their career. I don't know about you, but I was trying to go based on, almost based on instinct. And then once I thought about it, if there was one that was definitely better or definitely worse, I'd changed it. But for the most part, I was like,

can I just go on instinct? What do I think is the best moment and go with that? Yeah, I pick my It's that either, and obviously the way you phrased it in the question was, what do we think the driver thinks is their best moment? And of course, with their worst, what would they like to get rid of or replace? And I had to do, I wrote initial notes now for each driver, and then I went and did do some research. And we'll get, when we get to them, there were a couple that I did adjust based on, actually, that was quite impactful.

I forgot just how impactful this thing was. But not many. The most that I went with are quite on the, off the cuff. Let's start with Fernando Alonzo. What do you think best moment? My initial response was 2012 Valencia. That was the first thing I put down. You know, driving a Ferrari that was rubbish.

Technically home Grand Prix, of course, a Spanish Grand Prix in Valencia. Great race. He pulls that back from being, what was it, 12th that he started, something like that. Pulled it all the way back to get to the top. Incredible race. One of his best, if not his best,

especially since leaving the likes of Rengo, I think. Yeah, for me, that was a real moment where I just went, it was his day. Yes, it really was. one that we reviewed not that long ago as part of our historic race review series on Patreon as well, so do feel free to check that one out.

I immediately went back to his two World Championship winning years and I went for the 2006 Brazilian GP because whilst it wasn't a race, he won, he finished second in the race, he did capture his second title and you're putting into why, why have you gone for his second title win rather than his first title win?

O5 was amazing for its own reason. but there were a few questions about Reikinen and McLaren had some awful reliability that could have meant the championship went the other way. And also, Michael Schumacher and Ferrari were nowhere based on how, I mean, the Bridgestone tires weren't really working that year and they weren't as competitive as they had been in the last sort of five years or so. But 2006 was a different story.

He went toe to toe with Michael Schumacher and he came out ahead. He was 10 points ahead going into that Brazilian GP. So it was pretty much wrapped up, unless Schumacher won and Alonzo didn't score. But he's sealing that deal versus Schumacher, I thought, was very notable. Yeah, yeah, it was a big moment for him. The last time we saw him realistically go on to properly lift up a championship, we'd like to see that along so again.

Yes. Worst moment, I've gone with 2026 barangie. No, I haven't. What have you gone for? I've gone for not very early on this question. It R3 one is two titles, but the first season that he was in McLaren, I've gone hungry 07. Yeah, okay. Not only do I think this was a really unsportsman-like acts.

If you don't know, folks, he's joining with Hamilton, of course. Hamilton is his rookie season, and Hamilton at this point is likely pushing to be the favourite to win the title. And also being Alonso, he's like, I've got to play games here. I've got to try and get under this kid's skiing. I've got to win in some way. So when they come in and qualified to do a change to make sure they can get back out before the session runs out. I'd also sit to the pit box for like 10, 12 seconds.

And because of this, Hamilton is just sat behind him trying to get in, can't get a lapping. Essentially, he runs out of time, can't get over the line. Now, he's awarding a five-place penalty because of this, eventually ends up that he finishes, I think, fourth place. Hamilton still goes on to win the Grand Prix. And Riking and the other title rival at that point, finish his second.

But because of this, he drops four points, I think it is. Even if he had just done it normally, qualified third, and even finish third. There's a real chance that without that result he might have won the 07 title and instead he doesn't.

He finishes on the same level of points as Hamilton who has a stinker last two races and it's Kimi-Riking him that goes on to win it. I think that he wishes, I don't think he'll ever make it and I don't think he even thinks about it but I think if you change that result

and just did it honourably and got the best result he could have got there's a real chance he wins that 07 title. Quite possibly. This is one where I've just instinctively gone for something. and I'm sticking with it, even though it might be a bit obscure.

I'm going 10 years after you, so I'm going 2017-Hungarian Grand Prix. Now, same track as well. Yeah, yes, same track, of course. I, again, this one might seem weird because 2015 to 2017, they were awful years for Alonzo at McLaren, dealing with an uncapacitive car. And at this race, he finished 6th, which is good for 8 points. He only got 17 all year.

This was his best result of the year, but yet I still think it's his lowest moment and it's not related to how he did on track. Do you remember what happened? This was the last race before the summer break and obviously you get the podium celebration and this is where F1 and Alonzo set up that he would be on a deck chair underneath the podium

replicating his classic meme from... Turn a wink at the camera. Yes, he does the same thing, but this time he's on like a background of some beach sort of summer thing. And he has this sign which says F1 wishes you a happy summer, a happy holog, whatever it is. And it's just, I hate it because it's,

Alonzo is a meme. And he sunk so low. He hates it as well. You know he hates it as well. You know he hates it. Like, it was just at this point, Alonzo winning titles was such a distant memory. and it's tough for me to reason like, I'm not saying you can't be a meme occasionally,

but be a meme when you're winning, and he was just struggling in this McLaren and sat there like, whilst you have literally three drivers up above you celebrating there with their trophies, and there's Alonzo in his deck chairs. The forgotten two-time world champ. Yeah.

No for any winking on a deck chair. Yeah. George Russell. Very good. different in terms of having of longevity, what we could choose from. I went straight back to Brazil 22. Yes. It was, you know, he won that spring.

And the way that Sprint worked back then, that made you start on pole position. Because spring was your qualifying, which is a really great development that we all really enjoyed at the time. But that wasn't the major feat. Because of this, Lewis Hamilton, his teammate, of course, their first year going up against each other. Brazil, Lewis Hamilton, pretty seniority with each other these days. He had to try and catch him. And he could not. He finishes 1.5 seconds behind.

Russell gets his first full Grand Prix win. It's a really big moment in Russell's career. They'll be a stake in the ground to say, I can beat Lewis Hamilton. A track that suits him, toe-to-to-to. Great weekend for George Russell. I had two options. That was one of them.

I went with the other one, which is the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix qualifying lap where he put it second. I just feel like it was a moment of this guy's for real. He qualifies his second, and I think it was, Hamilton was third, maybe Vettel 4th and Ricardo 5th in some sort of order.

So he beats like really established names in his godawful Williams to get second place. I just felt it was a, we knew his potential, and that was a rare opportunity at Williams that he could capitalize on that. Yeah. Lowest moment? Lowest moment for Russell. I've got his first points opportunity in the Williams at Imala, his P-Teng under safety car.

Yes. Lights up the rears straight into the. the wall game over. I forgot about that. Yeah. Just one of those, he was still young in the game. It's not being around for long, but this was a real moment that before that Belgian Spark qualifying, he can impress it, is really doing well.

And through his own mistake entirely, he throws it away. I went with the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix. So that was the only race that year, not won by Red Bull. And you kind of had Carlos Seines, Lando Norris, and George Russell, in third, all going for that only, what ended up being the only non-red Bull win. And Russell has a real opportunity to win that one. And he crashes on the final lap from third place. Just a missed opportunity when he wasn't getting a lot of opportunities to win.

He kind of gets baited by Norris and Frug who just slightly clips the wall. But then Russell follows him straight and he does it so much worse. Yeah, a real low moment for him. Max Verstappen. So many options. So many options. And I've gone with one quite recent because it still blows my mind. I think it's one of the best performances I've ever watched in Formula One,

and that is the 2024 Brazil P17 to the wing in the wet. The man's a master. He is a rain master. It was one of those things where I was just in awe the entire time watching him cut through the chaos and come out so comfortably in Frank. Not like it was even like a last, it was just easy for him with how good he was. There's a couple that come up as well in terms of performances, but that one really was so impressive the way he mastered it.

conditions. I went with the 2022 Japanese GP where he won his second title because 2021, whilst it's gone down in history for many, many reasons, there's no right way to say this. And it's not on Vastappan, but the stewards obviously played a huge part in him winning that title in Abu Dhabi. They didn't play a part in being in the fight in the first place. Vestappen just had to do what was in front of him. There's no shade on Vestappen.

But the way in which he won it, I remember for the 2022 season being like, okay, now go and crush a championship where there's no one can turn around and say, that's why you won or that happened. And he crushed 2022. Ironically, he did even better than 23. But 20, and I picked the Japanese GP because it's just a complete opposite way to win the championship of how he'd done it the year before. It was awful conditions. The race was shortened to 28 laps. and he won by 27 seconds in the wet. And it was just such utter dominance.

And I love the way in which that's how he responded to whatever people's opinions were about 2021. Regularly forgotten, I think. I think his 22 title is regularly forgotten because of how dominant 23 was and how controversial 21 was. I think it is forgotten. My worst moment for Vastappen,

I've gone with the 2018 Chinese GP because that was a race where he, He went off once and managed to crash into Spastien Vettel. I picked it because, and this is another one we have reviewed as part of Patreon, it just came at a time where it was two years out from him winning his first race, and we were just waiting for that next step. If he's going to arrive properly. Yeah, like, okay, we've seen him win.

He's so young, like, can he now be that championship contender? And at this point, I think this is where a lot of the crushed up and all of those. nicknames came from. And it was just a bit of a, I'm not sure of frustration, but just like a, come on, now, we've had some of these, you're obviously very quick. There are still these errors that are creeping in too often. And this was maybe the one of like, whereas Ricardo won that race his teammate. Like, come on now. That's why I've gone as the worst one. No, fair enough, fair enough. Different to mine. I had two to pick from. I'll go to the one I didn't choose first, which was his moment with Ockong in 2018

where he, you know, got taking out by Ocon who at that point was about Marker being lapsed. For Staffa wasn't in contention for the wing at that point either. And that's what makes it such a low moment that the way he handled it, I thought, it showed his immacurity, you know,

and we all do reference him being a naughty boy and going to watch Formula E because of similar incidents, right? Well, I did go for. I mean, that was that? I think, I think, was it the name he used over the radio. I don't know which one was. on the podcast. Either way.

Good call. The one I did go for was actually the most recent one in 2025, Spain, where he used his car against George Grossel. Don't like that from anyone. We're seeing it from Vessel. He did it against Lewis Hamilton and Baku, of course. Yeah, at that point, you are a four-time world champion, have some of the most wings in the sport.

You are an icon of the sport, and you're someone who's very responsible for the way things are handled. I still look at that as a real low moment for him. I know he had the red mist. I know he was annoyed. I know it was frustrating. you're a professional racing car driver. You've got to handle that in a different way.

I thought that was pretty low. Two names left, and we haven't had a match yet, I don't think. I wonder if this might be the time we do get that first match. Sergio Perez. I've gone for his best moment as the 2020 Secre wing. Come on. It's kind of his defying moment, even with the Red Bull Drive. But it was the way he went about it in a midfield car, you know, got spung.

He ended up being right at the back. He had to have his front wing change. Safety car kind of saved him a little bits, He still then had to make overtakes. And then the saying he's decided just to put their foot in it multiple times. But that meant that Perez was able to go on and actually, I've said it wrong there, sorry, Perez was able to actually go on and secure that win. It was a pretty mad moment for him.

It was, yeah. And just to add to that, because obviously those points, I've also gone with this, it was also the emotion of he had been a part of this team for so many years. And he'd gone through the whole Force India administration, financially sort of supporting the team into the racing point era and he managed to take this team's only win just before he was about to be essentially dropped for Sebastian Vettel.

I just felt it was a great moment towards the end of, very end of his time at the team as like a one last great team moment almost. Yeah, I went with the same one. Worst? I've gone with Miami 2023. Yeah.

It felt like we were building up to Sergio Perez finally get into groups with this. The car was in the right place for him, two wings apiece at the start of the season between Bastappan and Paris, but because of the spring, he was four points in deficit of the Stappan.

And it goes so well for him. There's a red flag in qualifying, which means that the Stappan's first run is aborted. And then the second time that they go out there, Perez puts it on provisional pole. The Staple is stopped by LeCler, who has a spin in front of him. So that means for Stapen's a first.

Stapen starts P9, he still dominates Sergio Perez. And I do think that it might just be quite embarrassing as someone who was claiming to be in the title fight and then so quickly washed out of it. But this time, by only a two-time world champ, you know, he was still fully establishing himself as for Stapel. It's one of the greats. But he just destroyed him. And that, I think, was pretty low. I went a bit more recent. I went with the 24 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Now, 2024 was tough. You could just use the whole 24 season, to be honest, because whilst Verstappen was leading and eventually winning the title, Perez was kind of nowhere to be seen versus these other teams. And both Mercedes won a race that year.

Both Ferraris did. Obviously, Vastappan did. Both McCarons, and he wasn't. But he'd gone 11 races without a podium even going into this Azerbaijan GP. But finally, he was at a track that he likes a little bit more

and he was really good that weekend. Like he was in the mix with Shal La Clare for the race win at one point. And then he has that crash with Carlos Sines where I'm trying to remember the crash, but it felt like a bit of a 50-50 one where... It was needless from both of them, really. But it was just such a...

Paris has finally put everything together this season in what has been such a tough year and even then it doesn't come with the result. it could have easily been a podium. It could have even been a win that day. And then maybe that was the beginning of the end of his time at Red Bull. Yeah, very fair. Last one, Lewis Hamilton.

Again, like Max Verstappen, I think we've got quite a few to choose from in terms of best. Such a list. I'll say it before. I'll say it again. I've got winging his seventh title, just generally on there. There's pretty monumental moments. When Schumacher won his seventh, I was, what, nine? So you can't really fully appreciate what you're watching at that point.

But I got to see Hamilton go all the way through it. And I was there for it. But I went for something very early on. Everyone knows that I love this drive. But Silver Sting, O'A, I think it's one of the best rain weather drivers of all time. Only three drivers finished on the lead lap. One of them being him. I think it was Heigfeld and Barrekello that was there.

He destroys Felipe Massa, who at this point is his title rival. Where's Fernando Alonso here, you ask? Still no response. It is a sensational piece of driving. and there's a reason why he was given the title as one of those Rangmeisters because he just does things like that. But there are so many other moments that you can choose from. I don't know if you've gone the same or completely different.

There are so many to choose from, and we've landed on the same one. I went with 08 Silverstone as well. His first British GP win of many that would follow. But yeah, like you say, just an expert performance. To win a race by a minute in a modern F1 car, like anything after 2000, And if you're winning by a minute, that's pretty ridiculous. So there have been, you could have gone for, yeah, winning Istanbul. Sure.

That could have been there. Again, there's no point listing them all because we'd be here for the next three hours. But, yeah, I still think going all the way back to 2008 is a very valid show. I've got the same. It's just his newness in the sport and doing something that spectacular. I think is what makes it so brilliant. And to wrap things up? The worst.

Yes. Now, it's hard with Lewis Hamilton because he's had some Doug races, but not many of them have actually cost him something. You know, you think Hockenheim 2019, 2020, the ice rink. Yes, yeah, yeah, right? 2019. Didn't cost him anything. Sure, it wasn't great, but it didn't cost him anything.

The title was going to go to his way. So there's a couple of moments where I had to think, where is it cost him, really cost him. I think I might know where you're going here. The first one I thought of was break, man. Magic in Baku. This happens out. He's leading the Grand Prix. He mucks that one off himself.

If he wings that Grand Prix, Abidabee doesn't matter. You know, it's his game over. He's 25 points clear. It's easy-peasy. The other one I thought of was against Nico Rosberg. But wasn't his fault. But at that moment, he saw it slipping away. The famous, oh, no, no, no, as the engine goes in Malaysia.

But the one I did pick was the first time we ever got to have a go, China, 2007 in the pit lane. He went from being 17 points clear of Kimi Reichen with two races to go to losing by three points. And that was the catalyst. That was the moment. And it's just, in theory,

he could be a nine-time world champion. But because of two small moments, he only had seven. What a shame. Ah, loser. I went Abu Dhabi 2021. And it's not based on his performance in their Grand Prix because he was excellent that day.

But I'm talking more about the way it went down for him. And I do often wonder how the rest of his career would have panned out from there if he'd won that. I think he retires. He might well have done. I don't know. But it was a devastating moment because he gets back into that title fight as well. I think, you know, Vestappen has a good lead halfway through two-thirds of the way through

the year. And then he puts together, I mean, the Brazil performance is one that's gone down in history is how epic that was. He does very well to get back into this fight and then pretty much drives a flawless race Abu Dhabi only for what to happen at the end to happen. Just devastating for him. Mentally, that must be so difficult to deal with.

Even at his level of success, it must be so tough to say, yeah, you know what, I'm going to come back, I'll get back in the car, I'll do it all again. Fair play to him because there's a lot of mental strength there. Yeah. And it's always tough to talk about that race because it's difficult to talk about it

without people thinking you are taking a driver's side in it. Like you, as soon as you say the stewards did something wrong, it's immediately, oh my God, you hate Vastappen and you love Hamilton. It's just never that simple. But yeah, he drove a great race and then ultimately it didn't go his way. You know what, at least for Stappen was a worthy champion. Yes. If that was a one-off shout that meant some random person,

got crowned, uproar, at least Vastappell had earned its right to be there that season. Very true indeed. Let's know if you think we've missed any best or worst moments from those five drivers. I'm sure particularly with the likes of Vestappel and Hamilton, there are so many bests that we didn't get to. But those were our picks. I was about to say we'll be back. You won't be back midweek.

I won't be back. I'm in a mystery location that I don't know yet. But you will be replaced by one Harry Ead. so I won't be more handsome and delightful Harry Ede. That's not compared to me. He's just, that's why he's away at the moment. He's becoming more wise and more handsome.

It's a real process he's going through. Like a butterfly going from Chrysalis. That's how I often think of Harriet. He's got here. He's just a little bit of a coon waiting to emerge once again. He's coon. No, okay. No.

No. Anyway, thanks for listening, folks. The boys will be back, chatting more things F1, a bit more testing, chatting any news that comes out, of course. And then we'll all be back together again. We've got to big episodes coming up, such as our drivers, teammates, teammates, predictions for the season, and then we get into the full swing of the season itself. It's about to arrive.

Very exciting. Thank you for listening. Thanks for joining us. Join the Discord. Join the Patreon. Join the Patreon late-breaking F1 on all shattles. And we'll see you very soon. In the meantime, by December 6th.

And I've been Ben Hocking. And remember, keep breaking late. Bye-bye now. Bye-bye. Thank you.