The Late Braking F1 Podcast - 2026 Singapore GP Race Review

Episode Date: October 11, 2026

A triumphant day for Verstappen and, perhaps more importantly, for podcasting, as the LB boys dissect today’s action in a review that promises to be more entertaining than the race itself (probably)... Want more Late Braking? Support the show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and get:Ad-free listeningFull-length bonus episodesPower Rankings after every raceHistorical race reviews& more exclusive extras!Don't forget! You can also gift a Late Braking Patreon subscription—perfect for loved ones or your own wish list. Choose anything from 1 month up to a full year of top-notch F1 content: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/latebrakingf1/gift⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Connect with Late Braking:You can find us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X (Twitter)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Come hang out with us and thousands of fellow F1 fans in our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ server and get involved in lively everyday & race weekend chats!Join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠F1 Fantasy League⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and see if you can beat us! LEAGUE CODE: C6Y6R4ZUY02Get in touch any time at [e-mail] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Thank you for listening to the Late Breaking F1 podcast. Make sure to check out new episodes every Wednesday and every Sunday. Welcome to the late breaking F1 podcast presented by Harry Eid, Sam Sage, and me, Ben Hocking, reviewing today, of course, the Singapore Grand Prix, where Max Verstappen claimed victory. Like London buses, honestly, doesn't get a win for like 10 months of the year, then manages to get two in two weeks, joined on the podium by the Ferrari of Charlotte-Claire and the Mercedes.

Sadies of Kimmy Antonelli. Sam, firstly, thank you for joining us here today. I know you've had to take a break from being DIY Sage. Yeah, I've had the leaf flower out in the little shed in at that garden. I'm turning it into a studio, folks. So who knows, maybe we'll do like a vote on who's going to name the studio later on. It's in process. I'll put some photos together. But yeah, out there on the jogging bottoms and my leaf blower, great fun. If I have fun teams can someone to come on the drive the track. I'm your guy. I saw someone the other day post about how pointless the invention of a leaf blower is because all it does is just blows a leaf to a different location.

Like what does that achieve? Well, moving the leaves. I learned today that the leaf blower just picked up the dirt from one side of this room and put it on the other side of the room. It's not a hoover. It doesn't even like get rid of the dirt. Leafblowers suck.

Arguably the hoover doesn't get rid of the dirt either. It just picks it up and moves it elsewhere. Okay. You know what I love? In today's F1 media landscape, there are so many podcasts. I guarantee you this is the only one that starts with one of the hosts questioning a leaf blower and why it exists. No one else is doing this. Well, yeah, at least that intro was more interesting than that whole Grand Prix,

which seemingly goes on forever and goes a massive pile of stinky poo-pooh. Wow. What a great review. Glittering. Thank you for that, Sam. but we are going to give an attempt to discuss everything that happened and it will probably take us seven minutes. Moment of the race coming up later on. Our driver of the day, worst driver of the day, Big Brain Strat, of course, everything that happened in the midfield,

Russell and Hadjar both recovering from the back of the grid to score points. But let's start out front because not only has Max Verstappen won the Singapore Grand Prix for the first time, it's an absolute clean sweep of a sprint weekend. Both pole positions, both wins, sprint and main Grand Prix. And he almost had a grand slam here.

It was only the fastest lap he was missing, Sam. The Stappings being in this lull, right? Red Bull had been in this lull for nine, ten months now. At what point do we secretly start to ask ourselves, is the comeback on? Whoa. We go in there. Well, I don't think it's that possible.

But I do think second place is very much possible. I do think he can pass Hamilton and LeCler, who he's right with now in the points. He's only about 30 points away, I think, at most from George Russell. It's not far away either. The hunt is on for second place. And if it does get really disastrous from the saying, the upgrades don't carry on working.

And Max can keep delivering performances like he did today, which was a champion's weekend, not just a drive, but qualifying sessions, the sprint race. Practice was selling as well, if you want to throw that in the mix. And he was absolutely sensational on race day. Pick up his first wing, of course. The eighth different win in a row in Singapore, which is always fascinating.

Maybe the most interesting part of this entire race weekend. Who knows? Yeah, I thought it was absolutely incredible. Great John Max Verstappen. You've done it again. Defending the inside into the first corner, Harry, is a typical strategy that we see. Vestappen did that to the max.

Oh, nice. Well, well done, mate. I see what you did there. Yeah, it was obviously didn't get as good as start as LeClau, but Vastappen, it was hard but fair, wasn't it, from him? We've maybe seen some moves over the line in past years, but he was very clean on that one. And from there, just didn't really look back.

It's ominous for the rest of the year this. And whilst, yeah, it's not a championship challenge. Or is it? I mean, Antonin can wrap it up in Austin. I love Sam is the or is it guy today. I am just chaos in human form. I'm going to question everything fastest laps. Can I'm telling him not win the championship anymore?

Until it's fair. Can he? Or is it? Or is it? Oh, God, it's a bit of a long show. As long as the race. I think Vestappen and Red Bull. It was never in doubt about Vestappen's skill, was it this year?

He's been annoyed at the car. But it's always been more about the team's performance than him. as soon as they've given him a car that works, Vastappans, as we should always expect, has delivered. Count them out of your barrel, some might say. Oh, it's early, but yeah, I think it bodes well for them for the rest of the year, and I guess, into, you know, building into 2027 as well. So on sublime form, it was mentioned in commentary, but this,

you could have, I know they'd look different, but you could have put this race in like 2023 and it wouldn't have looked out to place in terms of Vestappen's domination of the of the Grand Prix and indeed the weekend. I'm very ironic. I really didn't win the 2023. You know what I mean. That defence from Lecler, I thought, was the perfect defence. Yeah, right.

Absolutely centimetre perfect. Lefting off space to make the corg for the pair of them. Competitive, kept the advantage. That is how you defend the inside when you are wrong, the outside. Yeah, exactly. You're never going to have a car up the inside. Are you there where you've managed to get that done? Because you could just open up the corner again as soon as you get down to the court.

It was expertly done from Max Verstappen, and really that sentence can be applied to the whole weekend. He was sublime. Of course he was. And I think you could tell a lot about his performance and his race by exactly how he timed things and managed things. So early on, Charlerc was within one second of Max Verstappen quite consistently. I think he got to within about maybe half a second away once or twice. and yet you never felt he was in danger because at that point in time, there was no risk of an undercut at all. So even though Lecler was obviously within the undercut window in that he was

very close to Vestappen, there was never going to be a pit stop at that point because it was far too early and you'd be stuck behind traffic. As soon as the gap between Vestappan and Liam Lawson, who was leading the midfield, got to about 20 seconds and that's sort of around the point where you need to start thinking about can I be undercut here, he's off. And there's about half a second a lap difference between Lecler and Vostappen as soon as we get to that point in time. And from there, he never looked back. I just think he, I think he played this very well to know, to save the tyres early on and then utilise them when he needed them. It was very clever and was fitting of a driver that has as many wins as Vastappen has.

73 now, right? Like that is an incredible number. It's what, third behind Schumacher and Hamilton alone now. So it's three company. And what great company it might be. Yeah. And I guess, honestly, sensational commentary. Or is it?

Or is it? Or is it? Or is it? But maybe not. I'm a mistake. In terms of, I think he also did pretty well on the medium tire at the end, by the way. I know there was never really a threat of LaClau. catching him given the difference, but he had the better tire.

So it was still necessary for Vastappen to manage the gap on what was clearly the weaker of the two compounds out there today. I'm not expecting, Harry, your answer to go straight to championship. But in terms of Red Bull's performance and two wins in two weeks, what, if anything has this told you about that car and where it is right now? Is this something that can be repeated in the races to come? I think so and like I said

it's not even like they've been throwing loads of upgrades of this car as of late I think they've just started to figure it out right and we've seen I know Hadja obviously was difficult for him today because he started at the back but we've seen too Hadjar be up there and in the mix

because I think genuinely that car has just started to come good and even before the winner Malaysia Baku was was pretty good for them as well yeah I'm not suggesting they're going to go and dominate every every race weekend remaining in the calendar but they're certainly going to be in the fight now and before you know the early part this year we couldn't have said that we didn't know weekend to weekend you just didn't know

where Red Bull were going to turn up so yeah like I said earlier I think this is encouraging for the rest of the year but encouraging going into 2027 as well for Red Bull and watch out I would watch out if you're the rest going into next year because if Red Bull and Vestappen can continue this form, then who knows what you could do. I know Singapore and Malaysia aren't exactly the same in terms of the characteristics of the track, but I feel like Sam, this is maybe a similar situation to McLaren back in the summer where they won at Zambo, they won at the Hungara Ring. And we were thinking, okay, just show us, show us this pace somewhere else.

Show it at Monza, show it at Baku, and they couldn't. Do you still need to see this pace from Red Bull at a different type of track to be convinced that they can be competitive across the board for the rest of the year. Not in the same way as I dig from McLaren. The way that Hungary and Zanvort have similarities, they're so corner focus, so downforce heavy, even though one has maybe slightly more straight or top speed than the other, there are like eight out of ten similarities between those.

It's been the tracks that we've just seen Bostappen win at both sections here. He's managed to do one where the top speed is, you know, 100 kilometres an hour faster than the other. He's managed to doing sort of sweeping long-speed corners in fifth, sixth, seventh gear at Singapore, you're going down to first gear on a regular basis when you're going over the lights of the Anderson Bridge. The make-up of the tarmac, one is a street circuit, one is a proper built circuit. It feels like suddenly they've unlocked a characteristic in this car where they're able to win everywhere. Now, I think Cota will must be the final tip of the cap, so to speak, because that is going to be outright power down that back straight.

And the S's are so chassis focused. It really is important that you get that so right. So that might be if they get that right, they can win for the rest of the season. Stappen could, I think, theoretically, go on to win every single race for the rest of this year. I don't think it's out of the question. We've seen that when it gets to the final third, there's something in this part of the year that just turns on for him. It just works in the way he drives. And he's so good at nailing the final six, seven, eight Grand Prix.

So no, I think there's every chance that Max Verstappan and Red Bull will be on the podium, if not winning, more races than anyone else. So it is timed imperfection to the fact that Mercedes have brought an upgrade that seemingly just doesn't work. They've just taken a step back and made themselves worse for what? Banter, fun. Yes, both of those things. Excellent. Yeah, I think it's going to be fascinating because with Vastappen and we've seen this over the years,

sure, when he gets a dominant car like in 2023, he does what he needs to do and wins nearly everything, every Grand Prix. But he doesn't necessarily need that to fight for victories. He just needs a bit of a sniff. He just needs some window of opportunity and suddenly he can produce what we've had at the last two Grand Prix. It's not dramatically different

from what we saw earlier in the year, but it's just enough to get him in the fight and you feel at that point he can make the difference. His team often strategically can make the difference as well. So it is going to be fascinating to see what he can do next time out in Austin.

Wow, it'd be great to see that live, wouldn't it? Don't get that misery in my life. Do you know one thing I'm so glad we're not there for that? You know what? I'd hate that. Couldn't be me. Ferrari, the famous two three into a two six trick. Pretty good from Charlotte Clare's side, Harry, in terms of the performance and also strategically.

But Lewis Hamilton, who started this race third, started on a tire that none of the other top six started. on and he's found himself down in P6. And we know over team radio after this Grand Prix wrapped up, Hamilton taking some blame for maybe the strategy going this way. Yeah. Oh, God. I mean, I actually thought Hamilton and Ferrari,

but with his strategy, we're cooking at the start of this race. I was like, the only one on the medium. And especially when it wasn't as quick, clearly, as the soft tire, by the way, that sucks. the fact that this off tie can just go forever. But it was clear early on that it wasn't as quick. But as long as he could hang on there in sort of, because no one was getting past him, right?

Antonelli and Norris, and they didn't really want to box because they didn't want to go on medium tire because it was slower anyway. I was like, a good, good little position to be in. Then they'd pit him. And then it all went downhill basically from there. And whilst it, you know, it wasn't immediate. yet.

It was clear he was on a two-stop that he then just ignored when he was gifted the opportunity to get a free stop. Now, I know he didn't want to part behind Charler-Claire in the pits, but he would have ended up with the least third and he's come sick instead. So it speaks to the mistrust, I think, between Ferrari and Hamilton with strategy, right? That he's had to cause one from the cockpit when, really, basically, he shouldn't be. But yeah, there was a podium that he's missed out on there. And I know he wanted more than that.

And that's why he made the call. But we saw with the Claire that with the fresh ties, they had the pace to be two, three, as they weren't qualifying. So a day of mixed fortunes for them. But there's a little bit of blame on Ferrari, but also a little bit of blame of Hamilton, which is rare.

Sam, we were massively complimentary about Lewis Hamilton in our review yesterday, where we reviewed both the sprint and qualifying. Obviously, had that electric start in the sprint and managed to secure the podium there. Felt that he might have the pace to get pole position or at least the front row starting qualifying as well. And here we are at the beginning of the Grand Prix

looking at him on a completely different strategy to those around him. And then it goes pear-shaped. I was giddy with glee when I saw that they split the strategy. Or I saw that one was on softs and one was on mediums and especially when Hamilton managed to hold on to third place going into the first couple of corners because that was the hard bit done.

Overtaking around Singapore is so difficult unless you've got such a disparity in your tyre life and Hamilton's running around on fresh mediums. What Ferrari are lacking is someone strong enough mentally to come over the radio and say to Lewis Hamilton, no, you will not be coming in to get off these medium tyres. Do you think you're going to do a two-stop at Singapore or whatever else has a one-stop?

Do you think you're going to go 42 laps on soft tyres and be competitive at the end? Get your egg in the game. Pull out the laps. You're going to lose a bit of time now, but it will come back to you later on in the Grand Prix. We get you onto the soft tire. They had the optimum strategy.

They had the way to make it work. And it's once again, someone has stood up at Ferrari and immediately been pushed back down again. There is no one who is willing to take accountability and actually hold on to a sensible strategy. And what a mess is found themselves in? A two-three, as you said, turned into a two-six.

And when was the last time we criticized Lewis Hamilton for his race rather than his qualifying? We've spent the last three or four years saying that actually the qualifying has been what's letting him down. And the race pace is all right if he could just qualify higher. Here he qualifies right next to his teammate, an optimum chance to really disrupt Red Bull. And it's a failure, an absolute failure from all sides from Ferrari. This was a proper shambles. And we got a full-blood apology from Lewis at the end of the Grand Prix.

So, yeah, a real mess. The call right, though, from Hamilton wasn't that first stop. I think that was Ferrari. They put him on a two-stop, which obviously then they didn't get. the clear out the way. If he was on a two-stop, why was he not moving out of way? He came over and said that he had he

paced on those mediums, but I just think they should say you're keeping them behind for now. You've got to do another 10 laps. You're just going to do another 10 laps. But that's one point. I think Ferrari to blame for the first off. I don't think you should have come in.

Then the second one is Hamilton's school where he doesn't come in. So that puts him back on a one-stop. But as he said, he's a one-stop where he's on the softs for the entirety of the race is not the right call my guy. It's also ridiculous

that the medium tyre is that much worse than the soft tire that we're having this conversation. The medium, in theory, after about eight, 10 laps, should have been the better race tie. He should have been closing the gap to LeCler, to the Stappen. But it was so poor, and we saw that on most cars, that there's no ability to be competitive on the standard race tire,

but rather the qualifying tire. It's just a state. That's the softest in the Pirelli range, and yet they can do over 40 laps. And whilst he got overtaken, he's still hung on to a very solid finishing position. It's just a mess. of all areas.

I just, Sam, you've already said that this wasn't, wasn't the greatest race of all time might be the nicest way of putting it.

Yeah. A lot of that blame goes to these Red Muppets because like, if, if they had got their weekend better, this Grand Prix could have been a lot more interesting.

I was thinking halfway through this race, even before all of the second pit stop, would he, wouldn't he, like drama. Even before that,

I was thinking, you know what, Ferrari had actually got their, act together in qualifying and started won two? I don't know how this would have gone, because I think Vostappan did have the best pace out there, but would he have won this race if he started third? Would he have been able to overcome both Ferraris? I don't know, and that would have been quite interesting to see. Instead, Vestappen's able to essentially

run his own race out front and we get the Ferraris battling each other rather than battling anything else. I was okay with, weirdly, the call to box Lewis Hamilton as early as they did, because whilst, and I know it's backwards, because in theory it was like, okay, he's starting on the medium tire, therefore he should go longer than everyone else around him. But then we discover the medium tire is just not as good as the soft tire, in which case, do less of the race on that medium tire. Okay, I can buy that. That's fine. And he only had to overtake, I think, Liam Lawson as a result of that pit stop. So whilst the two-stop is unconventional for Singapore,

he didn't need to overtake a load of midfield cars to get it done. So I actually think the two-stop was viable. But then you have to stop him a second time in order to do that. And they have the perfect opportunity to. And in a weird twist of fortune, Ferrari got it right. We're going to double stack them. And that's where Lewis Hamilton comes over Team Radio to say, no, I think I should stay out. And you're both absolutely right that even though Ferrari might

have got the call right, it's actually like a result of everything else they've got wrong as to why Lewis Hamilton hasn't listened to you here. Because if that trust had been built up over the last two years and you always knew that, look, they've got the data, I'm in the car doing my thing, I'm just going to trust them. If they were in that spot, Hamilton Pitts and they finish second and third here. Instead, Lewis Hamilton, and I get why, thinks that maybe he's got the better idea of things, it wouldn't have been the first time, and then his race is ruined. So it's just sad, man. It's just sad. The mistrust as well, yeah, obviously it comes from, you know, the last couple of years, but even within this race, like I said earlier, when he's been put on this two-stop,

which they clearly said, we're moving you to plan B, why has when he's come up, why have they not just said to the clerk, look, shall I, mate, he's on a two, so. Just jump out the way, son. I love the way. Because it makes too much sense. I love the way that there was one car that they could have brought out directly in front of Lewis Hamilton.

And it's his teammate. Like, how have you done this? How have you orchestrated? Where the only person holding up the Ferrari is the other Ferrari. It's so Ferrari. It really is. Goodness, mate. Shall we take a break?

On the other side, we'll chat through Kimmy Antonelli's podium. Welcome back, everyone. I don't think this is an LB Awards category as it is right now, but I am going to advocate for us introducing this, which is rivalry of the year. And that rivalry is Kimmy Antonelli versus track limits

because it's just brilliant. We had another episode of it today to the point where Bono is literally just saying the word But he's managed to get third place here, Sam. Yeah. Did he get a penalty? He definitely got four track limits, for games, right?

It wouldn't have impacted the result anyway, right? but I don't think he did, yeah. I know that Stroll has, good job luck, well done, served a lot of purpose that did. But surely, anyway, whatever, it's hilarious the way that we've got this, how many times do they want to say a different way of saying that he might win the next title, by the way, across the entire Grand Prix. I just want him to win the title just so we don't have to go through championship permutations. I just don't want to hear champion elect ever again in my life.

Yeah, that's fair. Yeah, it was horrific. Yeah, the king is electric. We know it. I'm running out of good things to say for someone who's so young, but it does seem like his biggest enemy in the world is a white line around the edge of a racetrack, and he refuses to keep authoritizing it.

Every single race, every single session, he's having a radio message from Bono going, track limits. He acts shocked every time. What do you mean? What do you mean? I don't think so. I ever got a track record with this.

What? Never before has this happened. He radio is off the road. Are you sure? Are you saying about this? You're literally in a drive-through, Kimmy. Get back on the track. Yeah, you're not just being a poorly, but wait.

Why are you on the plane, Kimmy? No. Give me a second look at that. I don't know. I don't believe you. I don't believe you. It's hilarious. Fair play, the pace was really great,

and I thought he really did a good job at taking advantage of the Lewis Hamilton, Nando Norris scrap that was going on in front of him. He didn't have the outright pace to win this Grand Prix. The Mercedes was slower, but you could see that he's in show, championship winning mode. At the start of the Grand Prix, he does get alongside Lewis Hamilton. And there is a moment where if it's any other day, if it's any other driver who hasn't got

anything to lose, he might have sitting around the outside. We might have seen someone trying to go wheel to wheel around that corner. He immediately backs out. And that shows a real level of maturity to his driving that he's able to stabilize and recognize there's a lot more to this race than me making up one position right now or coming out of this corner without a wheel on my car, which will be ideal. He's just driving to the letter of what he needs to do to win a title. And I don't blame him other than going outside our track limits, where it hasn't cost him today because he's so blimming quick anyway, they don't matter.

So, yeah, fair enough. I feel like this result, Harry, typifies the 2026 season because Mercedes haven't been brilliant this weekend. Antonelli has managed to extend his advantage out to his two main title challenges. Yeah. It's just the way it's the way it goes this year for Antonelli. And I'm not just saying he's lucky. I think it just is that superb.

I might have to report him to the police actually for that mug and he performed on Norris and Hamilton by the way understandable. Two for one, that's a last good price. I mean, just clinical. Norris made a complete hash of it. And then Anthony's like, right, I love that. And then is clinical on Hamilton too.

But those sorts of moves or decisions are what makes a champion. Yeah, I thought he was superb today and didn't have the outright pace, but took advantage of, that BFC when, you know,

when the Claire Pitt as well. It wasn't looking too great when he also came in on the mediums because he was a bit of no man's land then. I know Norris and To McGrath

stayed out a bit longer. It obviously worked because he was still ahead of them after they box but thought the middle part of the race wasn't going particularly well but yeah,

once he got those softs back on the car again, he was flying along despite literally anything. I've got liquid in the car something. Or he wetting himself. One of the, we saw the replay,

this is a podium. One of the replays is him going off on the final corner, which is one of his track limits. And he's like, yeah, someone really weird happened on the track at the last corner. Yeah, he went off.

You didn't break hard enough. You're not on the track. That's what's weird about it. Bono's like, you're fine, mate. Get on with it. I've just seen Toton's comments about him having a booster seat.

Might be sit you up in the car or like to see the track. Honestly. Yeah. I mean, he's something. sounds a bit fluttered on the radio, but he, I think he's just concerned

about anything going wrong. He's not gackering out there to go. He got out of the car and he looked, crenching sweat. Or some other fluid, who goes? I love that the only possible way

that Antonelli can lose this title is if Bono kills him. Like, that's the only way he could possibly lose this thing. He's going to have to win it by Austin, I mean, Austin as well,

track limits around there, good Lord. Oh, he's just like a straight line of the S's. He's going to put the turn in the wheel. He's going to levitate through turn 13, didn't he?

Just straight over all of that. Like, no problem. Well, you can make it's called all right, all right, all right. I just went straight over it. All straight, all straight, all straight. Me every race. Gotcha. Yeah, he was outside of the regular issues with track limits that this isn't the first time we've heard about this this year.

It won't be the last either, folks. Until he gets seriously punished for this, he's going to keep doing it. But yeah, his pace was very good. And Harry's right that the most. mugging of Lando Norris, and then the clinical overtake on Hamilton was just perfection. Chef's Kiss. It was really well done. This wasn't a weekend where Mercedes were head and shoulders above the rest of the competition,

as they have been at many Grand Prix this year, but he's still walked away with a podium. That's what we always talk about is these champions. It's not about how many races he win. It's about what you're doing on your worst weekends. And here, Mercedes not at their strongest. It gets a podium. Not too bad at all. What about McLaren?

Sam, I feel like this is maybe deja vu. We were talking yesterday about how it feels like there may be in this no man's land, both in terms of qualifying and maybe now also in terms of the race. Yeah, it epitomizes what's happened to McLaren so far this season.

They reach their peak too soon. And it appears that the parts of the track they can be very good at are actually quite specialist. And that is those mid-speed corgars that you do see so frequently at Hungary at Zandvort. They aren't playing. saying too much of a appearance in the later part of the season. And they mastered it at the wrong point because there's a lot of tracks that are

previous in the season that might have been really big of fish with to have those upgrades. For example, Suzuki, they were so close. But if they had those upgrades earlier on, maybe they were going to win that race anyway. And now we're getting into that stage where everyone else is either caught up,

past them, masking something else, and they're not able to utilise the straight life speed that Mercedes can. They haven't got the actual corning ability now that Red Bull seemingly do have around them. So they're just in this middle ground. And like we say about Ferrari, a few races ago. McClarene have just become a Jack of Old Trades master of none.

They just seem to be quite good at everything, but not good enough that actually they can lean into it, become a real master in a certain area, apart from apparently their tireware, which I thought they were very good on today. The fact that they had so many messages over the radio of, let's extend, plus 10, plus 15. And we know that the soft was strong, right?

But the fact they felt they were competitive, like a plus 15 and they hadn't stopped yet was pretty impressive, I thought, from both drivers. A real shame that Piasri picks up a slow punch. essentially takes him out of the Grand Prix, does well to catch Hamilton right in the end there. Probably doesn't actually lose any spots, fortunately for him. Probably not, because he had a really great final sting

and it helped with the battling that he was able to get drawn back in. But overall, they ended going exactly where I thought they'd finish, which is that kind of awkward middle ground just off the podium. Yeah, fourth and fifth. And Norris might well have had that chance for a podium, if not for the Antonelli overtake. To me, Harry, it felt like strategically McLaren kind of knew they didn't quite have the pace of Red Bull,

didn't quite have the pace of Ferrari, we're just going to do something completely different and see what they do. And ultimately that led to a very long first stint for both of them. Yeah, and I think that's all they really could do, to be honest, and fair play for them to try and hang this one out. It didn't work in the end. If a safety car had come out when the others are boxed and they had

and then they could have been looking both at a podium spot, but we never got a full safety car and ultimately it didn't work out that way. I think even with you know, without the kerfuffle with Hamilton and Norris, I think Anthony probably was going to get past him anyway because he had the fresh ties versus Norris anyway. So maybe it wouldn't have made a difference.

But the fact that he was even in that fight for Norris, I think was, you know, testament to his race because I think he, I don't think that McLaren deserve to be, deserved to be on the podium, to be honest. So, yeah, they'll be, they'll be just a meh, meh, wouldn't they? We're being frustrated by the fact that the pace they seem to have in Zandvo and Hungary is not there at the moment, but they're not fully out of it. They're just sort of

the last of those top top four teams at the moment. Yeah, I think they did almost everything right here. Like in terms of that they'd love to have had more pace, but in terms of the pace that they were, the hand that they were dealt almost going into the weekend, I think they've done about as much as they could have done. I thought it was the right call to stay out longer. on those soft tires because, again, it was something different to what everyone else was doing. And also, the soft tire did look like the best tire. So again, you just want to do as much of the race on that tire as you possibly can. And they did get, I don't want to say they got unfortunate, they weren't unfortunate, but they did get a touch unlucky with the timing of those

retirements. Because, yeah, if we often get safety cars here and virtual safety cars, obviously, and timing of them just didn't quite line up. Like if, if we get a safety car for, or a virtual safety car for the Colopinto one. They're able to box, and nearly everyone else was already pit by that point. And they were only, I think, about six laps maybe,

short of the virtual safety car for Landstrol. So they were just in between those two instances. And if they'd hung out a little bit longer, one of them at least, then suddenly they might be looking at a podium here. But I agree that I think Lando Norris was getting overtaken by Antonelli anyway, maybe a bit disappointed in the way that it came about,

But yeah, I think McLaren just not quite quick enough here. Speaking of Colopinto, as briefly mentioned, a new favourite sub-genre of Formula One for me is drivers trying to escape Singapore by driving off down the real roads. That's twice we've seen that this weekend. It's hilarious. Didn't get as far as Hadjar did. No, no, he got stopped briefly, but he tried to flee.

You can't flee. There's no fleeing. I enjoy when Crofty said that, oh, he spun around, and he's back on the track. He's like, no, he's not. Just making things up. Just making things up. Recovery drives for two drivers today, Sam. George Russell and Isaac Hadjar.

So Hadjar starting from the pit lane. George Russell eventually starting from 19th as a result of other drivers starting from the pit lane. Russell recovering back to P9, Hadjar recovering back to P10. So both of them in the points, albeit not many of them. How would you rate both of their drives?

I thought they did a solid job. They did well to keep out of trouble because soon and it felt like the midfield today was a rowdy place to be. There are a lot of drivers who are willing to go wheel to wheel or to send it down the inside. Olly Behrman, for example, absolutely planks for the carlo-syn.

A bit of a master move, but that could have gone so wrong so quickly. And when you are a driver having to make that comeback, you've got to be so cautious, so careful. One, you need to be aggressive enough to get through the pack. But two, not to the point where it's at you're a detriment and you end up causing yourself damage. And whilst Russell is now a bit of a seasoned,

pro, he's been around the long time. It feels like Hajjar, who again, only in his second appearance here in Singapore, easily because he could have got himself with a bit of a tangle, a bit of trouble. So I thought 10th place was really solid. On the other hand, I have to shout out Liam Lorson, Nico Holgerberg, for an absolute stellar Sega drives to stop, essentially, George Russell and, I guess, Hager, getting through any further. Those two were the class of the field when it comes from that midfield display,

and they are the difference in between a 7-8, I think, and 9-10 for those two cars. I think seventh would have been the target for both of them, in which case I think they've fallen a little bit short of that. I agree that I think they managed the early part of this race quite well, particularly on George Russell's side. Russell was seemingly able to make a few more overtakes versus Hatcher, and they were on the same tire compound at that point. So I was quite impressed with the way Russell got to kind of P12 maybe, and then it felt like progress was much tougher from there. I will say, and this isn't just directed, I guess, at the commentary team, but there was a lot of chat about the unfortunate George Russell not being able to take advantage of the virtual safety car.

None of the drivers he was racing against it either. It's also not unfortunate. That's just how racing works. He's not special in any regard. It's just that's how it's worked out. But yeah, I figured on those soft tires, he'd get back to seventh place, Russell, in which case maybe a touch disappointed that he could. couldn't. Hadjar seemed to have, I think his race got better as it went on.

Like early on, he struggled to overtake even some of the slower cars in that midfield. But as soon as he got on that soft tire and he had a lot of space to work with before catching up to the hash drivers, he had a fastest lap at one point. Like, he had much better pace then. Harry, what did you think about both of those? Yeah, I think it was, it was always going to be a tough time. I mean, we said this in the preview, right? A tough, tough day for Russell.

and obviously Hadjar had to do the same thing. Yeah, you're right. I think we disappointed not to have got back to 7th, given the pace that, given the pace that others showed when they pit under that last VSE and had the advantage of the fresh soft tires on. Yeah, Russell will be a little bit disappointed. But as Sam said, shout out to Lawson and Holcomborken

who I think were excellent today. Hadjar too, again, it was always going to be a difficult day. And you're right, it was a bit slow in the, in the first part of the race. But I mean, when we look back to Baku, for example, with Antonelli, he was quite slow to make progress in the first part of that race. And that's Baku with, you know, a huge long straight in it. So maybe just to be expected, it was always going to be,

always going to be a rough day for both of them. But, you know, recovered to at least get a few points between the pair of them. And this will be one we discuss more maybe next week or in the preview to Austin, Sam. but George Russell, we presume, is going to take this new power unit at some point, maybe at the next race, in which case, it might not be his last grid penalty. As big of races do it in Singapore, we're saying at the start of the weekend that this was very yucky, a very yucky place to have to take a grid penalty that sets you all the way to the back.

And I think he's done a all right job, kind of making up the damage. I would argue that almost anywhere else will be better for the rest of the season. Yes. The car is obviously fit to race and overtake pretty much anywhere else that's better. It would be harsh, I think, to make him do it at Cota again immediately after. But I'm also trying to think of if there is a better race to do it at. Maybe Vegas, because of the amount of straits that you've got there, it could be quite easy to get through some traffic.

But he's got a choice. If you wait until Vegas, though, you're not getting much of a benefit from that new power unit. Get what, four races, three races? Yeah, it's almost the end of the season at that point. Yeah, it's very true. It's very true. Is it a big of a pickle? luck hasn't been on his side this year, timing hasn't been on his side this year,

and also his performances haven't been on his side this year. So it's culminating a bit of a damp squib of the end of a season. Well, speaking of performances not quite being on it, let's review our bold predictions. Harry, what was your bold prediction? I actually can't remember. What did I say? Let me be the one to remind you, son.

No, I'm not even a bit. I genuinely can't remember what I said. Yeah, you said that Beaufaster Martins would score points. Ah, yes. I felt better when I didn't remember. Yeah. That's why I got so much pleasure from telling you. Thank you, mate. Unfortunately, I remember and I had the same thing. Oh, yes. You gave yourself two more opportunities to be correct. I did. I said that they would score at least a point in both sessions or either session, but two scores across the whole weekend still didn't happen. Yeah, that's all right. it was better than my one.

I said, Christ, what did I say? You said that the top four in the spring will not be the top four at all. I said the winner of the sprint would come out side of the top four on the grid. But Max Verstappen. You saw Lewis Hamilton sending it down the inside

and your eyes up. Well, yeah. Keep going, son. Keep going. Oh, man, shouts at clouds. Pretty much. But Vestappen did quite well in qualifying as well. So that one was incorrect

to join both of your incorrects. Never mind. We'll have more bold predictions for the next race in two weeks time, of course, but we'll take a quick break. On the other side, we'll get into the midfield action before giving out our driver of the day, worst driver of the day, and our big brain strap. Welcome back, everyone. Hadjar and Russell not quite getting back to the front of the pack, meant that there were some midfield scoring opportunities, a couple of which we've already sort of mentioned. We've had Liam Lawson finish in seventh place for six points, Holkenberg in eighth for four points.

Sam, you gave them some praise before the break about the way in which they were able to hold off those two clearly faster cars. Feels like a good result for the pair of them. Yeah, two very different drives between them as well. Liam Lawson, of course, starts inside the top 10, a great qualifying here. And I believe he's moved to Heger-Pier-Gasley

in the points tally now to lead the midfield properly when it comes to the Drivers' Championship. He's really having a great season, even with the little blip that he had to jump over to Red Bull and handle that car for a bit and then come back again. He's shown that he's grown so much as a driver and the fact that he's struggled previously here shows that he's really, really picked up great performances.

This was quiet and easy for Lawson and that's a great compliment for a midfield driver that he was basically not challenged for a long time from cars behind. And the only car that we saw overtake him properly on the racetrack was Lewis Hamilton when he had to come in and get that stock down. Or much fresh attires. The guys that got works for. Ferrari on mega ties.

It's an effortable. I'm going to mark you down for that. Holkenberg, on the hand, starts outside the points, has to do a lot of dueling around the start there. And then we're what four wide, I believe, in that first. He got a good start in an Audi.

He got a good start in an Audi. He also didn't go all the way around the outside of turning off the track like Carlos Sikes did. So even then, he did it properly as well. Holds on from a great performance. We thought that the Audi were going to be strong here. It suits the characteristics of the car. The aerodynamic chassis works well.

Power isn't as much. much for importance around here. He's made it work. It was really, really strong. They did a great job at holding off the Mercedes at the end of that race or better tyres. So thoroughly impressed with both of them. Racing Bulls, Alan Permanain, whoever's got control of this. Time to pay up.

Give him the contract extension. Come on. It's time. He's had a great season. You're right in identifying that he's gone past Pierre Gasley to essentially lead that midfield Formula 1.5 championship. Now, he's been brilliant. I think this was just further evidence of that, Harry.

yeah, superb from Lawson just what a turnaround from last year he's been so not only quick but consistent when he needs to be and even racecrafts I'd say which was a questionable thing

I think last year it's certainly come along so yeah he was great today and yeah Holkenberg Holkenberg too I thought I thought he was I thought Audi were going to come with

nothing at one point but it would be very Audi, yeah. It would be very Audi. Shout out to Olly Berman as well for just being on fire at the start of that race. Sadly, we had to watch it in a tiny, tiny, tiny box. Honestly, when it comes to Olly Berman, like, he's really good and I don't think people know yet.

I think as soon as he gets in a faster car, people are going to learn very quickly. I mean, even just the racetrath with him and Ocon, like that was, again, we had to watch it in a tiny, tiny box, but it was superb. on my smart watch while there was a cinema screen in front of me. It was... Thank God we had just the leaders trundling around following each other to have on full

screen. That was much better. The way I put it was like, if you had like three boxes, the first boxes overtakes that we saw on the main screen, the second boxes overtakes that we saw in the small screen, and the third box is overtakes we didn't see at all. I know which of those three boxes has the least overtakes in it, and it's the one on the main screen. Yeah, it sucks.

But I thought he was, I know they didn't, House didn't pick up any points in the end, but he was superman that opening, at least in that opening stint. So yeah, some good drives from those guys. Gadsdie as well, I think, even though he missed that out on points, I think that Alpine was crap around it. So I think to be even in the mix was pretty good.

Yeah, he made it work. Yeah, a lot of credit for Liam Lawson and what he did. It's a continuation of what we've seen all season in that the racing balls does typically qualify quite well. But we are having to see these sort of defensive drives almost from Lawson. You're right. The only person who overtook him on track was Lewis Hamilton, but everyone else that he had to keep behind, he did. And it's not like he ever got like five seconds clear or ten seconds clear of everyone he was fighting. He had Holcomberg right behind him for this entire Grand Prix. And he could have made a mistake. Like,

it is a tough race physically. And there are opportunities to make errors. We've seen that. We've seen that this weekend even. And he didn't. And I think he did that really well. And Holcomboke deserves a lot of credit as well. I did figure he might be able to get Lawson because the first stint, obviously, he was on the medium tires, whereas Lawson was on the softs. And it became clear the soft was a slightly better tire, which of course then reversed for the second stint. I figured that, and he was very close. I think he got within about three temps of making the overtake on Lawson straight out of the pits, I figured he might have a chance, but I think as soon as Russell was then on his real, he had to almost focus on defending from him as much as attacking in front. But both

of them were exceptional, and I'm with you in terms of the shout out for Olly Berman. Elsewhere, I know we joked about it in terms of our bold predictions, Sam, but maybe a bit of hope that Aston Martin would do something similar to what we saw in Malaysia, nothing of the kind. It just didn't work out for them. They've had issues with the car, which is unsurprising. We know that the car's unreliable this season, and Lark Stroll was kind of paying the price for that, although it hasn't exactly hurt a perfect performance that he was having anyway.

It was a pretty shoddy race for Larks anyway, and then goes out with... It was going well before the black and white flag. It was all coming together for him. Oh, it all fell down because of that five-second penalty that he picked up. What a shame. So I stayed out there one of the longest, if not the longest in that first. I think and he just kept plugging away. Never really amounted to anything.

36 laps. Yeah, there's a long time on that. So, you know, long as long as Lewis Hamilton, but he did a long, long as long as Lewis Hamilton, but he did a long, long stint. He basically just beats the Cadillax. And it shows you that Aston Martin once again dropped to the back of the performance charts, even the Williams, which I thought was going to be slower than them here. Sykes was able to get away and do something with that.

So once I forget, hopefully they can come back and do something different in Cota. Alonzo was fairly adamant, Harry, about his engine. yesterday and getting that changed before the Grand Prix. He ideally wanted it done before qualifying, but it got done before the Grand Prix. Kind of just never looked like they had the straight line speed to get the overtakes done. No, I think that was, you know,

Singapore's got a lot of corners, but there are still a few straits you need to contend with, and that seemed to be their Achilles heel. I don't know, he has quite a few complaints about like the deployment as well. There's a clip from the VSE restart where Hadrago goes past him like he's stood still. so there is something there but yeah a frustrated frustrated driver

after today it just didn't work out so even even when he might be going well through the corners the power unit is not letting them down on the straits so bad weekend

it looks at least in practice like it might be sort of similar to Malaysia vibes but yeah never materialised I think maybe what was most concerning is sure the first half of the weekend didn't go very well in terms of he was a long way off the back of the cars in front of him in the spring and then qualifying he was knocked out in Q1 as well and you can say well the engine clearly even for Honda standards isn't

performing the way that we wanted to we'll do an engine change before the race the two worrying things are number one he seemed to have the pace to get on the back of a few cars quite comfortably and then just not have the pace to actually overtake them like he was on the back of Sergio Perez for a long time, but not able to do anything about it. The other, maybe other worrying thing that I'm thinking about is Audi, of course, don't have a great engine. And that's the thing that we've picked up on all throughout this year. They were able to hold off George Russell today. Like, they proved that you could kind of make it work. Now, we know Honda's engine is still significantly worse than Audi's. Don't get me wrong. But there have been tracks where

that's been the Achilles heel of Audi. And today, it didn't let them down. It's still. It's still letting down Aster Martin and Honda. Shall we do our driver of the day? The verdict is in. You're the driver of the day. You're the driver of the day. You're good at driving. Who was good at driving, Sam?

There were a few. I'm going to get the easy one. I'm going to say Max for Stappen. That was one of the best weekends we've seen for a long time from a driver. and the race itself I don't get it for the whole weekend but the weekend was special the race was great

I'll shout out some couple games after we get through yours in case you want to shout them out but he wasn't the only person contention for me today Harry, your driver of the day for the sake of variety I will go for Liam Lawson

as for all the aforementioned reasons he was superb, best of the rest by a mile yeah and obviously takes him P7 those are the two I'll go with Verstappen and I'll go with the people on this occasion, because outside of that one wide moment

coming out of the final corner, yeah, that was, I think, the only thing you can really pick up on in terms of a weakness. And in 62 laps, if one corner has gone wrong, you've done pretty well. And to overcome the radio issues as well, like that, that's not an easy track for that to happen. So well done to Verstappen.

Worst driver of the day. Get in the bin, bin, bin, bin. Worst driver of the day You suck at driving Who gets the dubious award, Harry? I'm going to go for Valtry Botass because I think you might have been cycling still. That is walloping.

I don't. I wasn't really keeping tabs and then he's just a minute behind his teammate. Yeah, he's three laps behind Perez's two lapsed out. Like how, Valtry mate, are you there? Something must have gone wrong. Something must have gone. And if that is the case, and obviously I will retract that.

But on paper, Valtry, you sucked. Yeah. Yeah. Sam. Between him, Lank's stroll for the five second time penalty. I'm going to shout out Lindblad, though, because he got a bad start. And he got all bunched up behind the few cars that happened to get a beggar start than he did. But he's starting in the points.

And the fact that he's ending up in P-15, it should. shows you that he's not been able to execute the same race that Lawson has. And this is the first proper divide in their ability that I've seen. And I'm not shocked. Just come at a racetrack like Singapore. I'm going to go with Limblood here. Yeah, they were alongside each other on the grid. And after, I think, 15 laps, there were nine positions between them, which indicates that he didn't have a great first stint. And I think there was a lot of him getting stuck behind, he got stuck behind Carlos signs. I think he definitely had the pace in the car to overtake, wasn't able to. And as a result is kind of just languishing down there outside of the points. But yeah, on a day where his

teammate managed to claim six of them, not a great one for him, mitigating circumstances in that it's not easy to go to a Singapore Grand Prix for the first time. Big brain strap. I need you to box for wets. What? It's not even raining out. What are you talking about? Yeah, and Bob, if you get a plethora of possibilities here, Sam. Ferrari. Just full stop. It's always good to give it to the, Oh, geez. This is what they were made for. This is why the game was made. And from start to finish, it was a roller coaster.

Maybe the moment that I will use the caveat it was Lewis Hamilton trying to understand what others were doing at that point on their stint with their soft tire. And then just misunderstanding the point entirely. Twice. Not what I'm asking for it. What was the response to that even? Like, it was just a load of garbled nonsense. I understand it.

Absolutely. Lewis has been rolling his eyes on. in that car going, what have I got myself into? So, yeah, just that entirely. But that moment was really funny. It had real shades of what position are we fighting for if we keep Bottas behind P1. Yeah.

There was some good ones, but because also earlier on when they were like, for Plan C, we need to pick up the pace. And he's like, I've got no grip. And he's like, okay, Plan B in is then. Yes. Oh, it's so flipping as a team. There was a lot of Ferrari team radio to go at.

the other one which I enjoyed, which was Lewis Hamilton talking about, oh, there might be something wrong with the car. And we are checking, car's fine, and Hamilton is just like, yeah, okay, fine. You know what? Fair play to McLaren, because on a day where there are a lot of excuses to give it to Ferrari,

I'm still going to give it to McLaren for this. Do you remember what we were talking about in the strategy meeting? It boils my blood, man. So many words. Just call the strategy. Like, oh, excuse me, driver, who's going around currently at 180 miles an hour.

Have you got time to just let me know if you can remember something you said in the strategy meeting this morning? Should we go with your idea? How are we in this spot? As I pointed out in commentary, imagine if Lando had been like, what, no, I don't remember. What do they say?

Oh, no. Crack, that secret strategy that we've held back. Yeah, good one. on guys. Yeah, well done, McLaren. Shall we take our final break? Oh, you don't get. Oh, my apologies.

Go ahead. Savage. No, all I was going to say is, I can't believe this on a day when Ferrari this hard, but I too have gone for a McLaren one. Have you? But it's actually Landoah, Norris, specific. You know, when you're a child and you had a severe telling off on your parents. Oh, yeah.

And then the next day or the hours after, you really try really hard to be, like, a good child. I'm a good boy. Can I help? Is there anything I can do to help? Can I have some chocolate now? I've been good. Are you sure there's nothing I can do to help?

No. Get on it. Go away. It's so over the top as well though because they're talking about how well Antonineli could have a penalty on his way so if you keep within a certain distance of him you might have a chance at a podium.

Yeah, I'll still help Oscar if he needs to. I promise I can help him, Mr. God, it was icky. It was. This is where I find out that I've actually not given Sam the opportunity for his one way. Wait, where's fine? Yeah. I think we are safe to go to our final break.

On the other side, moment of the race. Welcome back, everyone, to the final part of today's Singapore GP review. Just enough time for Moment of the Race. Sam, what's yours? I'm going for just the Olly Beerman on the slorts, which we did have to watch on the screen the size of a gnat's asshole. It was ridiculous. but it was great. Famously small.

Famously very small. It was also really, really good from what I could see of it anyway. The racing got the gatsar, so, you know, I thought it was really brilliant, great craftmanship on the track. Even when he got, I think, boughed a little wide by Ocon

in their wheel-to-wheel duo, gives it back just enough holes, or gets the move down Maiter on the next lap. The move on science was fantastic. I thought Berman was fantastic today, and I do think but what you boys spoke about earlier about when it gets into a car that's genuinely competitive, I hope that people realise how menacing he's going to be to them.

Harry, your moment of the race. Mine goes to Frankicolipinto. We sort of cut to him in the runoff area, clearly having an issue, and then it goes to the onboard, and the man is just sat there, redden the nuts off it. Tire's about to explode.

Go! Like, what are you? I think it's broken, Franker, mate. Maybe we can stop. Go. They're like, Rhee! Why won't it go?

Just making sure Flav knows he's trying. Like, I promise, Flav. I promise. Oh, really got me. Yeah,

that's a fair one. You know what? I'm going to go with Oli Bermann, not for the battle with Ockon, although that could definitely be a contender. That's one of the best battles

we've seen all year. Like, that was really fun. I'm actually going to go with his overtake on Carlos signs because that was filthy. The way he kind of feigned to the outside, then straight to the inside late on the brakes.

That very clever, I thought. But that's what the three of us have to say. More importantly, what do you have to say in our Discord? Okay, our first submission from the Discord comes from Beef. Hello, hope you're well. News in Beef's World. I went to a rave for the first time. I won't be doing that again.

Anyway, moment of the race was the strategy insight that said that. Lewis did not pit under the BSC, so did not gain positions. Okay, bye. It's got very rainbow rhythms would be for a rave, is it? A rainbow rhythm shout, wow. Missed opportunity to call it a moment of the rave as well, but I'll have that one slide.

Well, given her review of the rave, I didn't think she wanted to give it any more attention. Not going back, apparently. And yes, very good shout. Virtual safety car. Hamilton didn't gain any positions. It was mad. He's had to release a statement.

We definitely told him to Pitt, by the way. But it's his fault. It's going to sound weird, but it's not our fault this time. We'll promise you, it's not our fault. Does it end with you punks? I'm going to double-check. Freddie Vass has said, Lewis Hamilton is a punk.

Oh, yeah, perfect. Good one, Freddie. You know what? He actually would. Yeah. And then laugh. Yeah, he would. He would.

He'd literally walk down the pit lane. Like, I'm going on the other one. Hey, hey, come here. He'd whisper it. Hey, little punk. A little scooter he's got on somewhere. It would actually be howlton scootery next to us. Man.

You can listen to us next time and you can have it back. Right, the Bungalorian is next. It's the McLaren CEO. Yeah. And the moment of the race is that gorgeous Olly Berman overtake. And I think turn 8 on. Oh, my goodness. Absolutely beautiful.

Stunning. Yeah. You know what, Bungers. If you want to get into. at McLaren properly and sought out these radio comments, would be forever grateful. Indeed, we would. But my thoughts exactly on the move.

Yeah, very good submission. DJ Spin to Win is next. DJ. What's popping, everybody? It is DJ Spin to Win. My moment of the race for the Singapore GP was watching Nico Ullkin back get into the points, as well as watching Max get his first win in Singapore.

He drove incredible today. He was on absolute rails. Keep breaking late. Two great. house. Two pretty drives. This had a Holkenberg P11 written all over it,

so I understand the skepticism, but yes, very good drive from him. Up next, we have Rasmataz. My moment of the race is that great radio from Max where he said,

I actually meant to shout this out on my moment of the race. I really enjoyed GP being like this. If you want to do this, say nothing. Silence. I reckon it was working fine, and Vastappen just wanted some peace and quiet. Every time, like, he'd just go, like, go straight over his mouth.

Just the bit he's doing it, the car. Very clever. It's like a sock puppet. Yeah, that'll be Jeep in leaving me, GP, you punk. Yeah. G.C. Papastri is up next. G.C. Papastry here with my moment of the race. It has to be Toto Wolf's message about Kimmy's booster seat.

track limits, baby. Great moment. I think Americans, you might need to write in and let me know if this is true, because there's a lot of things out there you never know. I think it's a story that everyone under 5 foot two has to start using a booster seat, no matter where you are in the car or your age. In F1 or on the road?

No, just on the road. In America. In America. Oh, man. Don't worry about commenting anything else. Just answer Sam's question, please. As is every week. Bristol Liam's up next.

All right, lads. My one in the race was it starting on time. Cheers. Fair enough. That's a great point. You know what? Didn't know we'd make it, but we did. It's a remedy these days, actually.

That's good. Say hi to your mum for us, Bristol. That sounds better. Out of context. We love her. F1, Dad. Bernie Eccleston here, and I take what I like on a plane, gentlemen.

Thank you very much. My moment of the race is Maxer Stappen, turn one, playing defense in a way that makes me proud and makes you think maybe these regs, they have a chance. Maybe. Probably not. As soon as you said, you were Bernie Echleston, I stopped listening.

Your opinion's not worth anything before. I started ducking. Ducking and wrunging. Packing heat. Serious, boy. on these freaks, by the way, and I don't know whether it is maybe just coincidental, but they suck on street circuits.

Oh, maybe we could get rid of both simultaneous. Get rid of them all. Wow. But they've all been garbage, haven't they really? It's hilarious, and when we do the Elbees, where we do obviously race of the season. It might be Malaysia, the substitute race,

that might be race of the season. I'm okay with it. Who would have thought that tracks built to be tracks are better than streets not built to be tracks. Excellent analysis. Shocker. It's taking us a minute and five, but that is good analysis. But we got there.

A minute and five. Oh, my, half. No, no, he's right. We are a minute and five into this. Oh, God. Time is distorted. We've done one lap of the podcast. Eames is up last.

Hey, it seems. I refuse to. acknowledged that as a race. So my moment of the procession was when Max's radio went all funny. That aside, I've genuinely had more entertaining medical procedures and everyone involved should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. Wow. Can you rank your medical procedures? I was a bad thing, please. What are your top five? And why, please? We've got another Patreon bonus episode coming up later in the month. I feel like that's perfect for that. Yeah, there's a funny bone joke in there somewhere. And we'll rely on someone else to find it.

Thank you very much, Eames, very much appreciated. And yes, moment of the procession, Mottpa will be what we call it from now. And thank you to everyone who's submitted via Discord. Next opportunity will be in two weeks' time. We're going to get out of here, Sam, until midweek, though. That was much more fun than the Grand Prix. I'm a whale of a time. Excellent stuff.

Or is it? Or did I? Yes. Or are we? No. Anyway, we are back for Patreon tomorrow. I'll probably off my loop there. Well, actually...

Or are we? I'm not. That isn't, actually. So chaos will descend. Sam and Harry have to run Patreon. And the power rankings run through, which is going to be great. Can't wait for that to fall apart immediately.

Do subscribe there if you want more content. We run through every single driver in power rankings, but there's other benefits too. You get bonus episodes. Everything's ad-free. We were breaking. A classic historic review every month. A birthday shoutout by the Father Christmas of birthdays.

Maybe the best perk of all time. Check it out. If you don't like it, you can't sit after a month, but everything goes back to making the show a better show. Look, we clearly need that. Discog is available, as you've just heard, and you can get your moment of the race and mission at the end of the Grand Prix every single time.

And then you can follow us on social media, late-breaking F-1 on all the channels. Thanks for this, we're at midweek, for another standing episode. In the meantime, I've been Samuel Sage. I've been Ben Hocking. And I've been Harry Ead. And remember,

Keep breaking late. Or should you? Or should you?