The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Are Hamilton and Ferrari ACTUALLY 2026 title contenders?!

Episode Date: June 17, 2026

Fresh from Hamilton’s win in Spain, Ben and Sam discuss whether Hamilton and Ferrari are genuine 2026 title contenders. Plus, the implications of Gasly’s reinstated Monaco P3, and the five races not to miss for the remainder of the season. Get involved in F1 Fantasy this season! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join the Late Braking league⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and see if you can beat us... LEAGUE CODE: C6Y6R4ZUY02 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!Get in touch any time at [e-mail]  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Thank you for listening to the late-breaking F-1 podcast. Make sure to check out new episodes every Wednesday and every Sunday. Very warm, welcome to the late-breaking F-1 podcast presented by Sam's age and me, Ben Hocking, on what is, sadly, not an F-1 week for the first time in a couple of weeks. But you're right, Sam. You saying boonez? I'm saying bo-ergs. Yeah, we've got a week's break until we get to the Austrian GP,

But the good news is we've got a bit of time now to talk about some things that haven't had the time to talk about until now. Yeah, it's unusual that we've got so much Formula One to talk about. I can't breathe for Formula One after that long spring break that we had to get through with the removal, of course, of Bahrain and Saudi. But now we've had so much going on that we've got a catch-up on some topics. So we've got some good shuffling points to get through. We do. Just before we start, very, very quickly. Do you have a sweepstake at work for the World Cup? We do.

So I've got a spinner in front of me here. We haven't got a late-breaking. Is this a late-breaking sweepstake? All right. All right. Here we go. All right. This is your team.

This is your team. All right. Who have I got? Oh. Qatar, mate. Oh. Here's who I get, though. Great.

Could be better. Could be. Can't be worse. Oh, I get the Netherlands. So I'm doing all right. Sorry, mate. I think you might have won the sweepstake last two. So whoever gets further out of the Netherlands and Qatar

actually wins £10,000. We haven't got that much money to give away. You are so right. Shall we talk about some F1 things? We're going to do a top five later on. Our top five remaining races of the season. We've got Gassley's third place being reinstated. Obviously, that was announced towards the back end of last week,

but we haven't had the chance to talk about that on the podcast yet. But let's start out with Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari, because after the Barcelona-Catelona-Catelina GP, Hamilton now trails Antonelli by 41 points in the driver's championship, as a team, Ferrari-trail, Mercedes by 72 points. When asked about the possibility of fighting for a championship, Hamilton said, it's not over. That's for sure. It's his immediate post-Barsalona reaction. So is a driver's or a constructors championship a possibility?

I mean, yeah. Yeah, if we're going to talk factually, yes, it's a possibility because they haven't lost it yet. They haven't lost yet. Same for Astamiron. In theory, the same for Asthmaughamast and Kagalak Williams all the way through to Ferrari and even Mercedes. No one has won the title yet. So mathematically possible. Is it plausible?

Yeah. it is. I just think that they maybe have asked him a little too soon. Let's, let's... Wait for the opium levels

to come down a little bit. Yeah, that's, Tando is offloads. Oh, God, I can breathe again. I'm more opium for me, just normal oxygen. Yes,

the car is good, right? The car is being developed well. We had a great step forward for Ferrari. We came to Barcelona. But it's one event. It's a one-off. They weren't better

at Monaco. They weren't better at Japan. They weren't better at Miami. The engine has been proven to be slower. You know, there's more negatives than there are positives when it comes to versus Mercedes right now. They've got one wing. Mercedes have what, six? It's more than one. There you go. Six. More than one. Kim Yantigami alone, there's more than every other team combined. So it's, look, I understand the reasons to be positive. And I am more than most ecstatic that Lewis Hamilton is seemingly back to a strong pathway in Formula One.

but we're basing this of such a small group of analysis, you know, of events to take place. And let's see Austria, let's see Silverstone. If we ask that question at the summer break, and let's say Ferrari, not just Hamilton, but Ferrari, have one, I don't know, two of the next five. Okay, I can start to see why you might be getting the information from with the Euro process coming in.

They might bring some engine upgrading. They might continue the development of the car. Hamilton might continue to become more comfortable with these new regulations. So he definitely is better with the new regs and the old ground effect era. He hated the ground effect years.

But nonetheless, it's one of the thing. And I really love the Hopium Ferrari fans, Lewis Hamilton fans. I respect it. But I'm just going to turn that dial down on the hob. Let's go back to a simmer. Let's not boil over just yet. Come on.

He's up. This is where I think it's important to note this discussion that we're having now. We're just talking about the possibilities of what can might happen. And I see all your comments on the internet. As soon as we say something and speculate about something, that immediately means we've predicted it. It's not true. We're just saying what, if you're a Ferrari fan, what are the reasons that you might be positive right now?

If you're not a Ferrari fan, here are maybe the reasons why you don't have to be worried. We're just presenting some arguments here. I think it's a possibility at this point. And we have been saying all year, to be fair to us, we've been saying all year, But, 2026, there are a lot of moving parts that are going to keep moving. Like, we've got a duo that's yet to take effect. The compression ratio issue that has already been somewhat... Just kicked in. Yeah, just kicked in.

We've got an ongoing cost cap. We've got frequent, very meaningful upgrades coming from all teams. There's still a lot of development to do. And, of course, we've already had some rule changes, not only for this year, but for also ensuing years, too. My point is that where we had 2014 and we had Mercedes utterly dominant that season and it was allowed to carry on for multiple years, I'm not saying it's not possible for Mercedes to do that again. It's not going to be as easy.

There are things in effect, particularly the cost cap and a duo right now, they're going to struggle to stay ahead to the same extent that they did back then. So in that respect, I can understand why, if you're a Ferrari fan, there might be reason to be at least optimistic you can stay in this fight. In terms of the Constructors' Championship, 72 points, it's a substantial deficit. It's not massive at this point in the year. Especially in the Constraptus side of things. Yes, McLaren were over 100 points down in 2024. And if you managed to get some sort of combination of rejuvenated 2026 Lewis Hamilton and any other time but 2026,

Charles Claire. Apparently. That is a serious combination to be reckoned with. So 72 points, by the way. It's five points per race weekend from here until the end of the year, assuming we get 22 races this season. It's not massive. So I think Ferrari, at least in the Constructors' Championship,

in an OK spot. And this is another point that we kind of stressed quite a bit, is that we knew that a duo was happening when And just let's take the gap between Japan and Miami when we had way too much time to talk about literally anything. We were saying a lot that Ferrari in this first part of the season just need to keep things close as they can. They're not going to win races.

They did, I think. I agree with you. They did a pretty good job of just limiting the damage to the point where if upgrades work, if the engine gets better, and we still don't know that it will, they will be in a position where it's not too big of a gap to do something about it. 72 points, I think, is a reasonable job from them so far. Lewis Hamilton has been in the top six in every race. It's been consistent.

And the qualifying gets better as well. And I just think, to put that into context, those points that you spoke about there, if Ferrari go and have one, two finishes and Mercedes finished three, four, it'd only take five Grand Prix for that to be overhauled, right? It really, but basically by the summer break, will have overhauled that lead. So it really isn't impossible to see the Claire stepping back to his normal capabilities, which I think is more than enough to pick up a first or a second

if the car is there. And Lewis Hamilton, if he's as good as he was like every other Grand Prix at Barcelona, they have a field day. He's got a great time this season. So it genuinely is plausible, not impossible at all, definitely plausible, that we do have a bit of a fight on our hands.

So let's say at the moment I am a random Ferrari fan and I'm going to use Sam, excellent podcaster whose opinion I trust greatly. It's random listener, two kinds. Convince me, why can we do it? There you go, that's the first problem. I'm filled with enthusiasm and I know we can do it now. The issue is your Ferrari, right? That's your big problem.

If you put a nondescript name and sticker over this team, then there's every chance, actually, you can have the best time ever. But you are Ferrari and you haven't won something for, essentially two decades at this point. But on the... I'm a young person. I don't remember other seasons, so it's fine. Kimmi Rikungeng.

Do you remember him? I don't know who that is. Oh, no. Disaster. Did I think of seven? Have you heard of that? What's that? Oh, good.

Numbers not being taught either. That's terrible. Ferrari are definitely in the most positive form they've had since probably 2024. And then before that, 2018, maybe maybe 2017, even. Which is the last time they really mounted. a proper title challenge. And you might be thinking, well, we're only six, seven grand prix into this season. How can you say that?

The tight are already shifting in Ferrari's favour, I think. This compression ratio, I'm bleeding on about it. I feel like I've talked about it more than literally anything in the world, but it is genuinely going to make a difference. The speed that both Red Bull and Mercedes are able to deliver in the outright capacity. And any knock for these big teams is a proper knock in performance. And Ferrari, they're not victims of this. They do not have to deal with this.

So therefore, they haven't got to develop anything. They haven't got to spend anything. They haven't got to change anything. They can focus on progression. And what have we seen at Barcelona? Progression. Eight upgrades. As many as eight going on that car at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Sorry, Catalonia Barcelona Grand Prix. That's never going to get old. And they delivered. It worked. It looks shaky in the practice sessions. The qualifying looks not great. The colour crashed. We couldn't see the overall finish there.

But Hamilton did, in the end, deliver well. And then the race, we're all arguing it. There's a real chance that Hamilton can I've won that Grand Prix, even without the BSC taking part. So realistically, that's a great start for them. You look forward now. They're still within the cost cap budget. The changes to the engine regulations are not voiding the adieu process.

And because the power they're getting out of the engine seems less, but actually, they're getting two upgrades this year, two upgrades next year. There is every chance that come the end of 2027, Ferrari will have the best engine on the grill as well. So if it's not this year and they can keep improving the chassis the same way that they have been, there's a real chance that they can have the ultimate package going into the next year. I'm going to add a few Ferrari fans out there two other forms of maybe optimism. Firstly, and this kind of speaks to what you said earlier about the progression throughout the year. And I mean that in both qualifying and races.

Remember back to Australia, which I know sounds like it was a long time ago, in terms of a number of races, it wasn't actually that long ago at all. In Australia, qualifying, Charles LeClau was eight tenths behind George Russell, who was on pole position. Lewis Hamilton, there was about one second. Oh, that's such a big gap in Formula One. It is.

By the time we get to Miami, that gap is about four tenths. So much better. But even then, we had Lando Norris take sprint pole and we had Max Verstappan be on the front row of the main grid. So both Red Bull and McLaren at that point

were offering more of a threat to Mercedes in terms of qualifying. And then we get to Barcelona, and you're right, we only see this on one car rather than both. But Lewis Hamilton is within half a tenth of Russell's poll time. That is a lot of progression from where they were. And three cents clear of another Mercedes. Yes, absolutely.

A lot better than where they were at the beginning of the year. In races as well, Charlotte-Color has led 35 laps this year and has had no hope of keeping it, keeping the lead. Lewis Hamilton had no problem with that at all in Barcelona. So I think the way in which they've progressed throughout the season is one thing to focus on. The other thing, and I know we don't want to get ahead of ourselves here in terms of a championship fight, because it is one Grand Prix.

The good news is it is a very representative Grand Prix Barcelona. I went back and had a look at some of the numbers here. It's a really good indicator in that 2014 to 2021, Mercedes, who won the Constructors Championship, in every single year in that span. They won every single Spanish Grand Prix in that span, with the exception of the 2016 race, which they probably would have won if they didn't crash into each other.

They were already two seconds, because they were, they took each other out. I think they would have been fine. 2022 to 2024, Vestappen won three in a row. He also won the driver's championship in those years. And even last year, appreciating Piastri didn't go on to win the driver's title, but McLaren did go on to win the Constructors' Championship.

So it's quite a good track reference. It's almost like the, to give a US politics reference, it's almost like the Ohio of F1 in that it's the Bellwether circuit. Ohio, basically, whoever Ohio chooses to be president usually ends up being president. It's got like this ridiculous track record apart from like 2020. Hi Ohio. I know we haven't met before, but I think we could be great friends. Game respect game.

I'll see you, Ohio and I'll respect what you do. So Barcelona, similar to that, kind of a bellwether track for F1. one. If you're good, if you go to Barcelona, you'll probably be good elsewhere. So like the anti-monaco, the anti-Mexico, we're often, we'll see an outlier going to win that Grand Prix, where here, this is kind of the run of the mill. If you're willing this one, you can win a lot of them. All right, bad news, Sam. I've actually left and someone else just joined. I actually hate Ferrari, but I still do value your opinion. So tell me, why shouldn't I get ahead of myself? Why shouldn't Ferrari fans get ahead of themselves here? I want to see them fail. Tell me why they will.

Well, they haven't won anything for two decades. I know that 2007 is a long time ago. Maybe you, young man, don't know what 2007 looks like. But there was a lovely Finnish man called Kimi Raikungan, and he would do things like go assist with a boat if he wasn't very happy. Before you're going to say something else. No, there's some lines we won't cross on the show. And he managed to win a title on the last race of the season in 2007.

Before that, you had the great Michael Schumacher. But since then, they have seen very, very little success. Almost no wings, realistically. They've only had four race winners in the last 12 years, I believe it is. That is, of course, now Lewis Hamilton, Charlotte, Clark, Carlos Sykes, and Sebastian Vettel. Kimmer Riking, I'm not repeating. He won obviously effectively in the first sting of his career. That means they've had very limited success.

They've grown up against Mercedes. Twice they went competitive against them. They lost. They went up against Red Bull. They lost. They went up against McLaren. They lost. that was thanks to Canada as well

because they definitely would have won it if they didn't throw Canada into the mix. Every time that Ferrari under some kind of pressure to perform and outperform someone in the development race, they have lost in the last 20 years. They have had poor management, poor communication,

no understanding of where the team direction should be. Their CEO likes to throw slander at the team itself. They like to change over who their team principal is every two years. This is the first time that there's even been a glimmer of some consistent at Hope for about four years at Ferrari. So realistically, if we're going to play the odds and play the averages, you are more likely to see Ferrari fail over the next few Grand Prix than you are to outdevelop Mercedes.

You've done a very good job of summarizing my bullet point, which was history. Yeah. History does repeat. That pretty much explains it. The only things I would add in terms of why you might be more pessimistic about Ferrari at the moment, Antonelli obviously had the DNF in Spain. we say the reliability bug finally got him. It hasn't really hit Ferrari all that much this year. LeCler has had a couple of problems,

but Hamilton, like Antigelli was, it has been playing sailing. I think in races, unless I'm missing something, that was Ferrari's first reliability DNF of the year? I think so. I think Hamilton is also the only person in the top eight to have not had a DNF yet.

Yeah, so it might come back around at some point. The other thing I wanted to mention, and this was actually raised on Patreon on by one of our subscribers, James, and I wanted to shout him out here because this is a really good point. And it's about Toto Wolf and some of his comments that were made after the Barcelona, Catalonia GP, talking about how there is a chance that the way that they played it strategically hurt their chances of winning the Grand Prix. Antonelli appeared quicker. They let their driver's race. They might have been hampered by that. And Toto Wolf is kind of referencing, we might need to

review how we go racing now. So my point is, where... In spare, I'm not saying, Hamilton probably would have won anyway, but I think Toto Wolf and Mercedes might now be eyes wide open to the challenge. They made it easier than they needed to. I don't think they'll play it the same way again. Do you want to what Toto Wolf also said after the Spanish Grand Prix?

I only want to hear it if it's in Toto Wolfe's accent. You're lucky because we've got him on the show. So here he is. Toto, what did you say after Spain? He's got a girlfriend now, so I think it must be very good for him. That's literally what he said about Lewis Hamilton. Okay. Cheers, Toto. Appreciate that.

Useful insight. Yeah. Last question when it comes to Ferrari, any concerns on LeCler's side of the garage? Yeah, I mean, we've seen certain eras of cars not suit certain Formula One drivers, haven't we? You know, you look at Lewis Hamilton, for the prime example here in this comparison,

the ground defect cars were not his bag. He grew up in an era of Formula One where the cars were bouncy, they were lairy, you had to wrestle the cars through the corners. That's what he grew up. as well in the late 90s, the early 2000s. And then we got to these planting machines where the arrow was created by your side pods, your wings.

And suddenly we're at something completely different. We're on ground effect cars where the floor is so important to what's going on in the way they hug these cars. And we see him struggle. And actually, it's very rare that we see a driver be so prominently good across all different formulas. Fernando Alonkso has always gets a lot of credit for being consistently decent. But it's also hard to give him credit for being decent when he's,

in the green machine at the back there. He's under delivery. That car's the best on the grid. Sure. Yeah. Lach stroll is actually so, so bad. Anyway, Daniel Ricardo's another example here. We saw Ricardo in the teams in that Red Ball, and even in the Reno where I think he did a pretty good job,

look very competitive. And yet the new effect comes in. He joins McLaren. It's poor. He then gets a chance, of course, in the junior red ball team. It's not great again. We've seen how this affects others. There is a chance.

that Charlotte Clare just isn't jelling with the battery management system, the Lyco, what we're able to drive it in a certain style that he likes to, it being something more lairy. I'm airing on the side of caution. I think the Clare has still produced enough really strong results so far this season that I'm not feeling worried about him. But don't get me wrong. If this continues until, let's say, Singapore, later on in the season, and he'd have another couple of DNF, so Hamilton is hand in me beating him, then sure, we might need to ask a couple of questions.

But Lecler is talented enough. I think he's got what it takes. I don't think it'll be a problem. I'm relatively confident as well. I'll turn this around. I think one thing that's becoming very clear in F1 in 2026 is that, and this definitely relates to style of driving, it's you don't want to overdrive the car. And that is something that Charles LeCler has been guilty of.

Chronic, overdriver. He's been guilty of it a few times this season. If he can fix that, I'm not overly worried. Right now he's 40 points, I think, behind Lewis Hamilton in the championship. Bad luck, and it depends if you're calling Monaco bad luck, I am personally, but I appreciate opinions differ on that one. In my book, Bad Luck has cost him 25 points, and then he cost himself a further eight points with what he did in Miami on the final lap. So some of this, again, it depends where you draw the line exactly, but at least some of this is self-inflicted.

If he can avoid doing that to himself, and he can also avoid. these DNFs as well. Obviously, he's had the first one here in Spain. I think it will get better. In my estimation, in terms of race pace, I think it's either 4-3 to Hamilton or 4-3 to LeCler. I think it's pretty close. It shows how similar they are.

I think it's 4-3 in one of their favours, depending on who you think was quicker in Monaco. And I think that can be argued. So I think it's been very close between them, but he needs to cut out the errors that, quite frankly, Hamilton isn't making. I think the other difference here, the difference between them, which is quite a prominent conversation topic,

and one that Ferrari are addressing, are the brakes. Clearly, LeCler was struggling on confidence in the first few Grand Prix. I watched the, they liked about a ghost car replay sometimes, Formula One, and they put out Lewis Hamilton with George Russell as the ghost car, of course, because that was the difference in the pole lap and himself. The ground that Hamilton makes up under brakes is phenomenal. He's so much better in breaking zones than everyone around him. I wonder if Lecler is losing pace in those head.

every breaking zones, which if that is the case, Austria might be a tricky one for him. Yeah, and not long to go until we find out whether they can back up that performance in Austria, a circuit that LeCla has a very mixed relationship with, let's say. Yeah, yeah, not great. Let's take a quick break. On the other side, we're getting into Pierre Gazley and his Monaco podium being reinstated. Welcome back, everyone. Some news from the end of last week, and that is that Alpine has successfully overturned the penalty that initially.

cost Pierre Gazley, a podium finish in the Monaco Grand Prix. Gasly was one of five drivers handed five second penalties for exceeding the pit lane speed limit during the race. However, unlike the other four drivers, Gasly did not serve his penalty before the check and flag, leaving the sanction open to challenge. How did he got serve it? How was he got punished for not serving it? Following the race, Alpine submitted a successful right of review to the FIA.

The stewards accepted the team's argument that the, the shortest distance between the timing loops used to monitor pit lane speeds had been incorrectly measured. Prior to the race, Formula One management stated the distance was 26.92 meters, and it was actually 0.77 shorter than that. As a result, the speeds of drivers passing through that section of the pit lane were miscalculated. Gasly and the other four penalized drivers had each been adjudged to have exceeded the speed limit by just 0.1 kilometers per hour. any surprise, before we get into whether this was the correct or the incorrect decision, were you surprised at all by this?

Yeah, I was surprised that they actually had the, with the FIA, with the stewards, often you don't see them almost admit a mistake. It's very rare that we see them come out and go, we were really wrong with this. And one of my most enjoyable images from Monaco this year was the Alpine mechanic walking down the pit lane with one of those meter wheels that you roll alongside of you, clicking along meter by meter and they were straight out there immediately out there trying to prove the difference and I'm really baffled that they let such a bit it's not like it's a tiny margin it's not like the length difference is 0.1 of a meter and you might go all right I can see how that's got

a tiny inflection so it's 60 kilometers an hour it's actually 60.0.1 and you're speeding this is nearly a meter difference here you know 0.7 not nearly 0.8 of a meter it's quite a gap so I was really surprised that, one, the issue happened in the first place, but two, it had such a impact on the Grand Prix that we saw at the likes of Alpine, immediately raised this as a mistake. Yeah, and it's not a surprise that the F1 teams treat it this way in that you might argue, well, to be safe about these sorts of things, every, you know, a team can run one mile an hour, or one kilometre an hour below what they need to, to just have that margin. This is F1, like you have to race right up until we measure to the very limit. We measure to the thousands. We measure to the

thousands. I was a bit surprised mainly because the rights of review is very rarely successful. When we're talking about rights of review, we're not talking about the decision that happened. So in this instance, they decided that he should have the podium back. It's actually the step before that. It's even the chance to, yeah, it's the appeal. And in most instances, the FIA will just turn around and go, we're not even going to review this. And that's because the FIA requires new information, new information they didn't have at the time in order to go ahead with it. The team has to present that to the FIA. Most often, like a camera angle that's been caught, they can prove something.

But the fact that the new information is the length of the pit lane. Well, this is my point. It's like most of the time, the combination of F1 and the FIA, because again, they are different, they will have so much access to camera angles and literally anything. thing. That's why these rights of reviews are very rarely successful, because there's not often anything teams can put forward, which is different. And we have to see it, they have to see it, but we need to make sure that people are following the rules, which is fair enough. But the pit line length, they nearly a meter wrong. That's, that's, it makes sense for me

that they have, at least the FIA looked at this, not even in terms of like Alpine and what happens with their result. This is something that they had to look at afterwards, because it's clearly wrong. We had too many penalties come through. It makes me worry that if Alpine didn't penalise, Alpine didn't appeal this, they wouldn't have done anything about it. They wouldn't have done anything about it. I have no doubt in my mind that they would not have done anything about it.

I think the next big question is, how is this not impacted every other team? How have we not had a full investigation into what's going on? Because so many teams have been affected by this. Yeah, and this comes down to the way in which you can and can't appeal penalties. in F1. So as mentioned, Pierre Gaisley was the only driver who didn't serve the penalty during the race. But he pitted after he got the penalty. I'm guessing we've got this wrong and he didn't. Because I don't understand how otherwise. Sure. Yeah, because surely he should have got the same penalties as Russell at that point.

So I think we, I think we missed something in what was a very hectic race. But the reason why, you know, the likes of McLaren for Piastri or Ferrari for Hamilton, not that it really made any difference to his race. The reason why they didn't come forward with, you know, we want to challenge this after the fact, is that they served the penalty during the race. At that point, they actually can't, within the rules, do anything, the FIA. Which it immediately means essentially for the FIO,

they've got to get out of jail free card. Because if everyone had served their penalty, nothing will have been done about it. George Russell is in a world of pain because realistically he's been giving a penalty and then an unserved penalty for the fault of the FIA, not himself. Yeah, which is what I don't agree with the decision personally. As brutal of a situation as it is for Pierre Gazley,

and I genuinely mean that, a podium at Monaco very clearly means and meant a lot to him. But the only reason Gasly was in line for a podium is because, but before a tough decision went his way, is because all of these other cars like Piastri, Piastri himself, pit because he had the penalty. And so Gazley's, you know, Gazley can say it's horrible luck that I didn't get the podium. The only reason you were competing for the podium is because the same thing that happened to you also happen to other drivers.

So I see what you mean. It's, these penalties have a knock on effect, especially at a track like Monaco. And so you can sit there. It's like going back and changing time. You know, if you walk out there and you go back 10, 10 days and I suddenly puncture my own car tire, that won't just knock on the fact that I've got to change my car tire. It means that I get to work late.

It means that maybe I miss something at work. And decision isn't made. It's all these little things that actually stack up. And that's what's happened here to Gasley. He drove a great race at Monaco. He did. And I get why he's so gutting about the situation. But he is looking at it only from an internal viewpoint and got a race-wide viewpoint, I think.

And again, once you've taken the penalty, there's nothing you can do about it. So in Russell's instance, he has to serve a drive. through penalty. And you can say that's because Mercedes messed up and they did. But the only reason why Mercedes messed up is because he got a penalty for the same thing that Gazzley did. And there's nothing that they could have done about otherwise. If they had just ignored the drive-through penalty, Russell gets disqualified.

And he is given the black flag. And you can't rescind that either. No. So it's a farcical situation. It's really poor from the skewinging again to show that they'd make such a crucial error. a track like Monaco where the pit lane might be more crucial than the actual racetrack, and they've made such a glaring error here. And it has such a poor knock on to so many people's race performances.

So, yeah, really disappointed. Yeah, it's one of those where Gazley can say after that, and I get why Alpina challenging this and why Gasley's happy. Like, I don't blame them at all for this. That's racing. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. But I think this is a situation where, you know, Gazley was in that group of impacted drivers who were,

who were, down, by the way the FIA have done this. And it's almost like GASley has been taken out of that group, but that has meant the other people who are still in the group have been disadvantaged even more than they were in the first place because they've seen someone get out who has suffered the same thing as them. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I think it opens a kind of worms.

It's one of those things you can't really unpick. Now it's happened. You'd have to do it the moment the penalty is, sir, is a ministered, so to speak, before they serve it, which you can't do. It's impractical. you just can't do it. Or you go, sorry, we've mucked up and we have to just take it on the chin. It's one of those where I understand time penalties and why they're in place,

but at least part of me doesn't like time penalties because there is at least something of an incentive not to serve your penalty during the race and just wait until the end. And this is another reason why you should do that because Ghazley can challenge, whereas none of these others can. and I don't think that's the way we ideally should want to go racing. Whilst drive-through penalties are drastic, and again, I understand why we have time penalties because you want a bit of an intermediate sort of penalty

between nothing and a drive-through. But the good thing about a drive-through penalty is that you have to serve it during the race, and when it's done, it's done, and you're penalised there and then. Time penalties, you apply a five-second time penalty. That can mean very different things, depending on where you are on track.

You put your foot down if you've got clean air or a safety car arrives in the last two laps and suddenly you think, oh, right, I'm going to be 12th and say a third now because we're all backed up with each other. Yeah. One final point on this that I just wanted to raise, actually, is Gassley did it again.

Gisley broke this twice. And why maybe I don't have full sympathy for Gisley is the first time he does this, he goes over by 0.1 kilometers. The second time he does it, after being warned what had happened the first time, He goes over by 0.4 kilometres, which I sure, I don't really understand why. But I don't know if you heard the team radio between Antonelli and Bono on Antonelli's stop.

And obviously what was happening with Russell and the other drivers was well known at this stage. And Bono's communication over team radio with Antonelli is really good. And he is just like, we need to be careful. We've got these, we've got cars coming across here. we just need to be careful, which is great. And Antonelli does his pit stop. And then on pit exit, Bono knows the gap. And Antoni is a massive gap at this point.

And he's just like, we just need a lift from you before we get to the end of the pit. Just lift. I know it might not make sense at the moment. Just go a little bit slow. We've got the margin. You don't need to worry. Just lift and slow down the car a little bit. And that's what a lot of other teams and drivers should have been doing,

was just playing it safe where they're. had margins to other cars around them. You'd rather cost yourself 0.7 of a second by lifting. Then you work five seconds and then having to sit around like a pit stop or get charged at the end or get a drive-through for not serving it. The risk versus reward there is quite clear, right? You would lift once back on, you're fine. Especially because if you're, say you're four seconds clear of this driver you're racing

and you want to take an extra second in the pits to just make sure, and that's only three seconds, how does it matter at Monaco? Especially if then they go through. they pick up a five-second penalty because they don't do that. It's just one of the, like, a five-second advantage at Monaco or a one-second advantage in Monaco is basically the same thing. You can't overtake. It doesn't matter.

But that's where you praise the likes of Bonner. Yeah, yeah, 100%. And we praise him endlessly for the way he communicates. McLaren and, I think this is where we're at the moment, McLaren and Red Bull have sort of intend to challenge this ruling. And it's, I think as of today, as we're recording this, Mercedes are joining in that as well. So firstly, we've managed to find something that Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren all agree on, which is ridiculous. Do you think they'll be successful in challenging the challenge?

I think the FIA will see their argument. And I think McLaren have had to have against I've got to take this to court, essentially, to make sure they get some kind of verdict out of this. So it's going to have to go an extra step from what Gasly and Alpine had to do. I think they'll end up with some form of compensation. I think that'll be where we end up getting to here. It will be some kind of cash compensation or something like that because there's no way that they can accurately unpick what went on in that Grand Prix after penalties were served where it meant you got put into traffic.

You were stuck behind maybe a slower car. Then it cost you a certain amount of time. You wouldn't have had to have it been impacted by. There's no way they can fairly do that. Like it affects every single other driver in an equally fair manner that can produce a right result. And I'm sure any rationale can go. yeah, I was affected the worst. George Russell, I was affected the worst out of all of this.

But you can say to George, but why is that fair on limb blood? He ain't doing anything wrong. It's not his fault, is it? So why do you suddenly get to have it all back? And I think they'll understand that. So I think what they'll do is they will go to court about this. I expect there to be some kind of,

sorry, have some cash, move on. Maybe we should do that. Just try and get some court cases. We can't afford to go to court. We cannot afford it. But if we win that, the first one and we get enough money to go the second time. We cannot make it a career to go to court.

I don't like your lack of ambition. To court for that. Yeah, I do agree with you. I think in sporting terms, I don't think they'll get anywhere with this. And this is where I do at least have some sympathy with the FIA and how they've reviewed this. With the writer review and the Alpine incident,

I get why they have to view it in isolation. Like they have to just look at what has happened with Alpine. and go, right, something's gone wrong here. We understand the evidence you've brought in front of us. We're going to make this decision. And I think within their remit, it is actually correct to not pay any attention to McLaren or anyone else who might have been.

They just have to review the case on its merit and nothing else. So I completely get that. I don't think they'll get anywhere with it. But I, like, maybe that's a rubbish situation. It's rubbish. Yeah, yeah. It is. The FIA need to sort this out to make sure it doesn't have.

happen elsewhere. They do. And I get why they disgruntled. I get why they're frustrated. And I wish I could come up with a solution that is fair to everyone that had to go through it and those people that didn't break the rules, essentially. But you can't. It isn't possible. All right. Well, we'll see what happens with that. I'd like to think that McLaren, after challenging Alpine's challenge, Alpine will have to challenge the challenge that challenged the Alpine show. Yeah. And eventually, Zach Brown and Flav will have to joust down the Monaco Strait. Who would you back? Zach Brown.

Zack will play dirty, but I think Zax has got that grunt. Zach's got that dog in him. He's got that dogging, and Zach ain't losing that fight. Well, on that note, let's move on to F1 Fantasy and our updates from the Barcelona-Catlinia G.B. Yeah, you don't seem very infused this time, Matt. No, it was looking really good, and then it wasn't looking very good at all.

Before we get on to what wasn't looking good in LB land, let's talk about the top three in the championship. So no change in terms of who's in the top three, but a slight change in the order. It's still never Lewis Faith leading the way, 2042 points. But then we've got Lundleys Speed Syndicate into second and Feisty Pancake back to third. Which is a swap there. Yes, but they are the only three teams at the moment all over 2,000 points in the league. So well done to all three of you. the winner for the race, and you'll love this name, Sam.

It's silent but deadly. Oh, gosh, yes. Classic. Classic game, that always gets you. You know that, what did he know, meme? This is what I've got for this team, because they put three times on Hamilton and two times on Hadjar. What did they know? How did you do that?

Did you go back into the future and come back? I think so. It's a 268 points. well done to you. Another really... So many more than I got. It was a tough week for F-1 Fantasy. And like anyone who played their wild cards

or limitless chips, definitely, didn't pick a particularly good weekend and do it on my friend. No negatives would have worked well here. Well, I spoke to Switch to producer Kirstie earlier today and she was disappointed because she's gone down 39 spots to 431st.

What she didn't realize is that now puts her number one in the league. Oh, for crying out loud. It's really close at the minute. So 431st is Kirsty. 432nd is me. I've gone from first to third. That's down 31 spots.

But Sam, you have gone from first to third. You're now 473rd. So there's only 42 spots between the three of us. But that is a drop of 147 from last week. Before, when it was qualifying, I was 300th. I'm like a real poop day there. Real stinky. Also, obviously some of the Monaco numbers changed.

Yeah. Yeah, I should mention. These numbers are still provisional, by the way. They're still working out the Monaco stuff. Well, I am being hit left, right and centre here. They've gone. Samtacks, you were doing too well. Knock him down a peg.

Do you want to hear the good news? I would love to hear some good news. Your third, but you're not last. An update from Mr. Harri-Eat. He's 7802nd. Can you what he say to that? Things are only going to get better. I've got you right where I want you.

I'm calling rubbish. No, he doesn't. Yeah, so a bit of work for Harry to do in the second half of the season, but it's looking very close between the three of us as we head to Austria. I can make wholesale changes. Oh, wholesale changes promised from Chairman Sage. Going down Costco. Oh, I love it.

Well, let's take a quick break for you to make those changes. other side. We're going to wrap up some of the things from the Spanish GP, sorry, the Barcelona, Catalonia GP that we didn't get to, and then we'll get into a top five list. Welcome back, everyone. I tried to hit as many things possibly could from the review on Sunday, but there are some things that managed to evade us or indeed were announced after the fact. So firstly, Kimmy Antonelli received a five-second penalty after the race, which, man, that really heard him. Oh, he's going to sting for a while on that one. Yeah, yeah.

So it managed to affect his result. So he went from a DNF to a DNF. Do you have any concern, though, is this isn't the first time we've seen Antonelli pick up a five second penalty so far this year from memory. The Miami Sprint was another one where he did. It does seem to come. There are a few instances with track limits that seem to get him. Yeah, he's got more than most. And for many drivers, I think I'd be concerned.

But Kimi Antigelli's raw pace is so good. He is a generational talent. He is the next big thing to properly hit Formula One. I'd rather he pushed the boundaries of every racetrack and sometimes pay the price with a five second time penalty because he's so determined to find the fastest way around a racetrack. I don't mind yet because he backs it up with genuine speed. If it was a midfield driver who hasn't

got that level of raw pace. It actually needs to have other things going for him. You know, consistency, not colliding with other people, tie wearability. These extras that might set you aside, I go, you can't risk a five seconds. You're too close to other people. Antigelli is that good on the other occasion? I don't care if he picks up a five second time penalty. I don't want him to lose that mentality. No, you feel like he has the, I can be five point one seconds faster on track so it doesn't matter that I get a five second time penalty. I want that in a race winner. I'm a bit more concerned. He managed to pick these up very quickly, by the way, on Sunday. And I don't know if we don't hear every single one as it comes through. So that might

have played into it a little bit. But it did feel like we went from there's nothing to worry about to, oh, he's actually got a black and white flag. This is going to happen if he does it again. And he has to go through probably about 50% of the race without doing another one. It might be more. Yeah. Which I think is a situation that he'd like to avoid. And I think Bono does a generally pretty good job of talking Antonetti down. He's very good at that, it's Bono. He is. I've got a lot of praise for Bono.

I do give Bono a lot of praise as well in regards to Antonelli and Hamilton, just two very different drivers at very different ends of their careers. And he's managed both equally well. I just think maybe with if Ferrari are going to be more competitive going forward, we don't know that, just a possibility. maybe McLaren will as well. I think until this point in the season, five second time penalties have been relatively worthless

in that for Mercedes, they're so far clear, it's not going to impact them that much. There might actually be a situation now where a five second penalty could be the difference between second and fourth or something like that, in which case he might want to cut it out a little bit.

I see your point. I entirely agree with what you're saying. I think he's picked them up at the right part of the season. Yes. Yes. You know, while he's still adapting, if he now goes into Austria, Silverstone, wherever it might be, and we only see this happen maybe once more in the whole season, he's done it at the right time.

If it's a regular trend where every other race is getting a five-second penalty, we might get to get that one in the bud. Oh, it's all about timing. With Miami, again, he managed to do that in a sprint race, which, again, a third of the laps. And early, early in the sprint race. But timing, perfect, because it impacted his sprint race. He then went and won the feature race, and it was absolutely, he did it the right.

way round. Yeah, barely dropped a point in that sprint race because of it. Another thing we wanted to cover off was the reason for Nika Holkenberg's DNF, which we didn't know. Come on, come about us. So, Holkenberg, I was going to say catching Liam Lawson, basically stuck behind Liam Lawson with seemingly the cornering pace to get by, but not the straight line pace to get by. And Liam Lawson goes a little bit wide in the final sector and kicks up some gravel. The gravel, obviously with Holkenberg directly behind, sort of sprays...

Shows the car. Sure, showers the car. One such pebble... A pebble. Has managed to hit the... It's the emergency kills. Yeah, it has another name. I can't remember what it is at the top of my head.

But it's hit that button that essentially means the car is shut down. It's the, as you say, like, the emergency, like, need to kill the car. It's a big safety button, turn everything off. Which is an important. button on the car and it is needed, particularly for when a driver retires and you've got marshals that are trying to maneuver the car and they don't want the risk of... Batteries can be dangerous. Exactly.

We've seen it. It can be really bad. Just brutal luck that it's hit that button. The odds must be astronomical that a pebble flying from the back of another Formula One car displaced from a gravel trap has fallen in such a way that it wipes out the main button of a car. that stops it from working. The luck is astronomically bad. He was on for his first points.

He would have got points this Grand Prix. I've no doubt about it. Just devastatingly bad luck. It reminded me of an incident in Formula 2. And this was back, I think it was 2020, because it was Mick Schumacher. And it was Austria. And I don't remember what it was.

It wasn't a pebble. I think it was like some plastic or something. But it's the same sort of thing. It hit a button that it wasn't supposed to. And Mick Schumack and not only retires from the race, he's absolutely covered in foam, like from the car, just like shot up, basically. And he has to retire.

So it's not completely unprecedented, but it is incredibly unlucky. The other thing that I've seen some people reference as part of this, I don't know if you saw it in Monaco. Lando Norris, of course, had to, he, it was FP2 of one of the practice sessions that he had a reliability issue and couldn't continue. and McLaren got in trouble and they were fined, I think, 30,000 euros

because when the marshals were trying to move the car away, they couldn't do so because the button that you need to hit in order to basically maneuver the car. Free up for car, yeah. McLaren had taped over it as an aerodynamic, for aerodynamic reasons. They got in trouble with the FIA, got this fine, obviously, but not a sporting penalty.

and people were saying after this, like, if Audi could have taken a fine for doing the same thing, they probably would have done. You'd have more money with championship points being scored than you would by taking a fine like a butter being taped over. Which isn't me saying they should have done that, by the way, but I'm just sort of making the point. I see the reason behind it, though.

I see why you'd say it. Yeah, which I just thought was interesting. But yeah, it is an important button on the car. Last thing just to talk about is Franco Colopinto. So in our race review, we probably said he finished eighth, which he did on track, but a penalty afterwards due to a yellow flag infringement saw him finish just P10 for one point behind both racing balls. Given that is the midfield championship battle, it seems at the moment, it does come at a cost.

It does. And I think Colopinto is having a strong Grand Prix, not his best one of the season, but really respectable. He's been showing great form recently. You know, other than Monaco, the last two or three have been really strong for him. This is the kind of penalty and the kind of infringement. I have very little sympathy for. It's silly, it's dangerous. It's a yellow flag in free.

Alongstow's car is parked on the side. Then maybe Marshall was arriving on track, speeding essentially under the yellow flag, got paying attention to the delta. It's really dangerous. And every other driver has to adhere to this. It's track wide. It's not like you're the only car stuck in this little segment,

which if you're aware of the 24 hours of the Nervberg ring, for example, you'll know that they have localized yellows, where actually you might get lucking off to be around the part of the race track, where it never affects you. That isn't the case here with the VSC that is called. Everyone has to adhere to it. Colopinda doesn't properly picks up the penalty. I really don't have any sympathy for this.

I don't think you're going anything. I think you've risked too much. I'm not really happy with this. I was trying to find the onboard couldn't. So I'm going to have to go with the stewards and their decision here. He's always a vague one when it comes to yellow flags and slowing down enough to show that you're aware of the incident. Because that's kind of what they're doing here is just being able to say,

I've been slow enough here that I know that that is an incident and now I'm going to carry on. But it is so, it is very vague. It's very vague language. It kind of has to be, though, because you can't, I don't think you can mandate a certain percentage lower because... Under the VSC, they have a delta, right? Sure, I think this is before even the VAS, like just the, before it became a VASC.

But you can compare sector to sector and they have micro sectors, which we as a normal audience don't see. It's not that difficult, but I do agree that vague language is needed to make sure that you genuinely can portray this result after result. It's a tough one, but understandable penalty. And weirdly, the first penalty point handed out in 2026. Yeah, they're keeping these for safety infringements now, aren't they, realistically? Unless something is actually unsafe, you tend to just get a sporting penalty now.

Yeah, it's good news for Ollie Berman, because I know he might actually still be in a bit of trouble, but beginning of the year, in particular, it was like one incident, and he might have to serve a race ban. Yeah, I think he'll get away with it just because of how they've changed the rule set. Yeah, thinking he had a couple at Monaco last year and a couple of Silverstone, which have either come off or very close to coming off. So, yeah. Yeah. I think that does it for that Grand Prix.

We can move forward. We can look forward to the rest of the 2026. What we're doing in our next segment. We've got our top five races to look forward to in 20206, the remaining races to look forward to in 2025. Now, this isn't necessarily just our five favorite circuits that are still to come. We're talking here more about how good the circuit is. We'll play into it, no doubt.

But it will also be what storylines maybe are emerging throughout the year that could play out a particular circuit that maybe we didn't know about at the beginning of the year. It's a very interesting to see how these lists go. We'll start this on this side of the break, then we'll take a quick break and then finish it off on the other side. What's number five for you? Five on my list of tracks I'm most excited to see for the rest of the season. I've gone Cota.

We've been there three years in a row. We are sadly not attending this year, which it does make me creer every Tim. Speak for so, boy. See you later, boy. I think Cota for a few reasons. One, it's come up in recent conversations where actually if the storyline of the season continues to evolve the way we're expecting, the Cota might be a big of a landmark

where a championship leads could be crucial. It could happen, it could change. We're getting to that end point of the season where we'll start to see potentially a championship battle. I also think battery could be really fascinating at Cota. The cars are going to be lairy through the S's, which is always fun to watch even with the ground effect cars, but I think that's going to be exciting.

The big long straight at the back is going to be really interesting to see if we harvest correctly in there, what overtakes we get down there as well, and then the uphill is in turn one. Now, some of you will have had the function that we've had. We've stood on that up here. We've been on the racetrack. We've stood on it.

It's that steep. It's a hill. That is a hill. Can we please just clip it's a hill? If you want definition of a hill, that is the third part of the hill team. You know, you've got Graham, Damon, Cota Hill. Respect Phil Hill, man. It's a makes racetrack.

I just think with these cars. I'm really fascinated to see how it plays. And I do think as the story of the season progresses, that could be a pivotal race. Yeah, like you say, gutted not to be there this year. We'll definitely miss it. And where we usually sat turn 12 is a very interesting corner at the end of that long straight. And I think who succeeds in Cota will likely be who's still got some battery at the end of that straight. Because you're going to want as much of it as you can throughout the first sector as well.

but I think when we get into race conditions, it's very difficult to overtake through there. That's probably the area some of these teams are going to try and save to make sure they're not caught out later in the lap. What about you, Ben? What's number five? Number five for me, I'm looking forward to shock the British GP.

Yeah, I know, right? And it isn't even British bias. I just love Silverstone. Silverstone is great in any season. But why this season in particular? I'm firstly, and this is more of a hope than anything, I'm hoping that the revised regs make maggots and Beckett's actual challenges. And I hope that those couple of corners do get to see what we have done in previous years.

Because those are, that's an incredible section of the track. So fingers crossed on that one. And there are some other longer corners as well, like Stowe and Brooklyn's and a couple after that. Yeah. And I think you've got, for those interesting, in a potential home win. Very interesting storylines going on here. Lando Norris, obviously going for a second straight British GP win. George Russell going for his first after coming close a couple of years ago. And of course, Lewis Hamilton, having just won last time out,

perhaps more of a possibility that he wins here. A bit of a stat for you. If he wins, it would be his 10th British GP victory. That is astounding. In what would be his 20th British GP's start. So if he were to win, he will have won exactly 50% of the races that he had done for the British GP. That is incredible, isn't it? Yeah. That is incredible. That is a stack man, if I'm never heard of one. Yeah, that's just, there are so many F1 drivers that will not do 10 British Grand Prix. It won 10 Grand Prix. Right. Yeah. My guys won 10 on one track if he wings this at one that would be something to, that'll be something to look out for. Two other quick reasons. Firstly, it is unpredictable. Last four seasons, we've,

had four different drivers and four different teams win as Silverstone. And then also, it is a higher chance of rain, which isn't something we've seen in this season yet. And last year, that was chaos. Yes. What's number four on your list? I'm sticking stateside. I've gone Vegas. You love yourself in Vegas. I do. I think I am one of the bigger fans of the Vegas race track. And I think it throws up a really unique challenge. The weather is fascinating when it comes to Vegas. the temperature often drops and we see some real bizarre moments in that Grand Prix.

Tire warm up is really tricky and if Barcelona is anything to go by with the heat, I'm fascinated to see what it means in the cold and whether the tyres can get into the working range and you hear from drivers and teams all the time. We actually missed out on Q3 for example because we couldn't get two tents up of tyres

because they weren't in the working window and we can't get them in the working window. I think that might be fascinating when it comes to something like Vegas. The straits in Vegas are immense. the straight line sections are so crazy. The recharge is going to be fascinating. I don't know if drivers are just not going to bother.

I don't know if we're going to have LICO for half the racetrack. I don't know if we're going to see the regulations completely change. And we almost remove the battery element and it become very ICE focus. It's fascinating to see how that might work. And I think with the walls as well, Vegas just brings up such a unique challenge where you see drivers make mistakes and they are impacted by it as well. We're seeing the saying is win here.

dominant in George Russell previously, and we saw a real different battle as well the year before. So I'm quite fascinated to see how this rolls out. Yeah, again, that back straight. I do not know what that's going to look like. It's going to be a real surprise. It really is. Ben, number four for you.

A nice bit of variety to start our list, because whilst you're staying stateside, I'm staying in Europe, and I'm going to the Dutch Grand Prix. And I mean that very literally, and that's one of the reasons why it's on this list. Are you going to be there? I am going to be at the Dutch GP.

Guess what? So are you? Wait, you got me a ticket? Yeah, I'll work on that. Yeah, we're going to be in Zambor. We're going to be in Amsterdam for the Dutch GP weekend. I've never been to Amsterdam. Nope, neither have I cannot wait.

We are, I know we've mentioned this before. We are going to do something ahead of time. So if you're at the track, obviously, at the weekend, we'll have a time and a destination for you to meet us. but also we'll do something on the Thursday ahead of the weekend as well. But if you are in Amsterdam for the weekend, just stay tuned for more details in the not too distant future. But in terms of the race itself,

because that is a big reason in its own right. But I'm very excited for this race because Canvastappen win, in theory, the last Dutch Grand Prix? Last for now. It might come back, you never know. But at least for now, it will be. Verstappen's last one here. And we don't know whether we don't know whether the Dutch GP's coming back.

We don't know how long Verstappen's going to be here either. So there is a very good chance that this will be the final one. On paper, at least at the moment, and I know we've got a bit of time before we get there, doesn't feel like a track that would suit Red Bull, but you know Vestappen is going to give absolutely everything that weekend. And you might remember his start, that first lap that he did where he was nearly sideways

trying to make moves. I wouldn't be shocked at all if we got the same thing again from him here. Yeah, I think it's a great shout. Also, the orange army, the duchies. I've got to shout to you out here because you know how to start an atmosphere, the rave, the support, the flares, the everything that you give is immense. I love watching it on the telly. The fact we're going to get to be a part of it and see it in person.

It's so exciting. Absolutely love the way you guys who tracks like support. So I'm sure Max will feel that and does feel that every year. fascinating to see what he can bring to his home GP. It will also be an interesting test given it will come not long after we've had Austria, maybe Silverstone, Monza, these sort of high-powered tracks. Very varied. It's going to be a different challenge for them.

We've still got a top three to run through, but we're going to take a quick break. On the other side, we get to that top three. Welcome back, everyone. What ranks third for you, Sam, on the races you're most looking forward to? Ranking third on the races that I am looking most forward to is our. our next Grand Prix, and that is Austria. I love the Austrian Grand Prix. I think it's an amazing Grand Prix. I'm always exciting for it, but I'm very excited for it after what just happened in Barcelona. It feels like there is a real opportunity here that this title fight

just became multi-teamed. And this is the next step in that situation, realistically. It feels like after the result where Mercedes are having interteam battles, they're nearly making contact, they're overtaking each other. You've now got the threat of Ferrari emerging. We've had the duo process coming out so the compression ratio has changed. It's a power track. So maybe the engines are becoming more balanced as well. It started to feel like a massive unknown where previous races before Barcelona felt like there was a big of an unwritten story that we already knew was going to be read. It felt like Mercedes will eventually win the day, even if they're not absolutely dominant. One of them is going to come out on top. The other cars will filter in behind. This

genuinely feels like we're going into the first kind of race where I don't know. I don't know again. And that in Formula One is such an exciting feeling. It could be LeClerb bouncing back. Hamilton could go two in a row. We might see George Russell wipe the floor everyone. I don't know. You don't know. And that's the best bit here. Also, tie wear is secretly quite difficult. overtaking can be immense here. I'm fascinating to see what Austria brings. What is the actual correct answer to what is the most exciting race? What? The next one. It's always the next one.

So I nearly had Austria on my list for that same reason. I'm fascinated to see how that goes. Number three on my list. And welcome to Europe, by the way, Sam. Thank you for going across the Atlantic to join me here, because I've gone with the Belgian GP spa. Of course, we're not going to see as much of spa over the next few years as we've become accustomed to.

The main reason here is, and we've discussed, this over previous race reviews. It is maybe the biggest challenge or the biggest difference between sectors that we have, I think, on the whole calendar. We have turned up at several years here, like 2019 is a very good example, when Ferrari had that very powerful, very legal engine that allowed Charlerc to claim his first victory. And Ferrari was so good in the first and final sectors where you've got the straits. And Mercedes was so good in the middle sector. And that was essentially the battle was how far could Ferrari get out on those straits

to then not become a risk from the Mercedes and the middle sector? It would be like a second and a half between the sectors, right? Yeah, we've had that. And it's not that's one example. We've had this before with McLaren as well, I think, who have been very good in the middle sector, not as good in the first and third. And now you bring the new regulations into it.

And I do not know how that is going to go. I don't know whether we will get if power units are maybe similar at the time. maybe Red Bull will be really quick in the first and third sectors. Maybe Ferrari will be really good in the middle sector. I don't know. And I'm fascinated to find out. Yeah.

So different car strengths could lead to some different results. I agree. It's always one that throws up some unknowns. I didn't have it in my top five. And that's simply because of the weather threats, right? We've seen with Spa that the rain has caused. It doesn't bring excitement like it does in some places. It often brings cancellation or struggles in what goes on.

So I'm hoping that actually it's just a dry weekend. We have a really fun dry weekend there. Yeah, weirdly, weather is part of the reason why I've got this on the list because it can be interesting. And of the last five Belgian GP, three of them have been in some way impacted by rain. Of course, one of those five that you were referring to was completely cancelled. So it can go completely the other way. But I think if we get a dry race, that could be really interesting as well because there isn't as much data here. as we get maybe some other tracks,

where we've had consistently dry races for the last half a decade. Yeah, we barely had a dry race, especially in the Grand Effect era. I also think that just O'Rouge with these lairy cars could be fun again, because it feels too flat out at the moment.

Also, Stoffel Van Dorn might be there. Amazing. What more do you need? As we learned from our last Patreon episode, you love Stoffel Vandor. I adore the waffle. In all seriousness, folks, we on Patreon decided to

rank the last 10, McLaren drivers of which Van Dorn is part of that list and put them in a tier list. He's in S tier just to give you a bit of a spoiler. You can't spell Stoffel. Without S tier. Without S tier. Number two on your list, Sam, what is it? Number two on my list is, I think it's got to be on pretty much every list.

It's Brazil. Brazil is... Brazil. Speaking of, this is off topic, that comes from the ITB company of the Brazilian Grand Prix, right? That's where we generally. came back it from. That was the UK thing. It was the World Cup.

The World Cup is on now as we speak about this. ITV are also broadcasting. Have you heard the song? Love is how we're... Every single outbreak. I've got to hear that guitar intro. What do you mean?

You've got to hear it. You've got... It's a blessing to be able to hear that. It's one of the best songs of all time. It's one of the best songs of all time. I think Brazil could be a speed fest. I think it could be the perfect track for these regular ones.

calculations. Half the track, three quarters of the track is mid-speed breaking zone-based corners. I think with the current cars that we've got, they're going to be layering. They're going to be pushing those cars through those corners. And you see with cars that they snap on over steer, they run with understeer, and you get punished in Brazil if you make a mistake. There's grass on the outside. The walls aren't too far. And then you get that essentially that one blast of the straight. It's not really a straight. It's a big curve that you go through. But I think you could deploy all battery down that straight, essentially into the S&REs. And I'm fascinated you can see who's able to mitigate that. It's also a political moment that if the championship keeps

rolling the way it does, if we do have Antigali, Russell, Hamilton, let's say the Claire makes it into the fight as well with some bigger results. It could be an immense moment. We've seen some great title fights in Brazil. Hamilton has been involved in some. I really think it could be fascinating at the end of the year. We finally come together, Sam. We agree. I've also got Interlagos at number two. A homo-daying, South America for us. That sounds all right. I won't add too much just based on what you've already said there.

Everyone did two stops here last year. Could be another tireware affected race like we had in Catalonia. It's not a sprint for the first time since 2019, I think, which is interesting. The other thing about Ferrari, I went back at some of the stats here. This is a real bogey track for Ferrari. They obviously won in 2008 with Felipe Massa. Very memorable race when Lewis Hamilton won the World Championship, of course. But Massa won that Grand Prix.

Since then, they have won once. Sebastian Vessel in 2017. That's the only time they've won at this track since then. They haven't done well here at all. Yeah. How you say it? Weird. Yeah, very odd.

Even for Ferrari, that's weird. Yeah, that is odd. Yeah, so I'm intrigued to see if they can turn that around. But we've come to number one on our list. Sam, what is the circuit you're most looking forward to seeing in the rest of 2026? Yeah, the circuit I'm really looking forward to seeing the most is Silverstone. I'm coming home, Ben. After the holiday, we've come home.

I just think Silverstone is the perfect racetrack, realistically. It has a combination of everything. And I'm not just talking the types of corners and straights on the track, which I do think will complement these cars and be a real challenge. You brought up maggots and beckes already. I think that will be fascinating. I think Cop's corner is going to be a night. for some of these drivers.

I think battery management should be fascinating to see if they can deliver on it. But we see historically tire wear can be a nightmare here. And what do we just get in Barcelona? Three stops, two stops. People not knowing what side they should be on.

The same can happen at Silverstone if you get the heat. But if you don't get the heat, you get the rain. And Silverstone in the rain is chaos half the time. So I am very excited for either way. And the final point, Ben, we're going to be there. We're going to be at Vale on Sunday

So again, we'll release some details as to where we'll be on that Sunday, maybe beforehand. But the premise of being at my first British GP for a very long time. Yes, same. You know, I was a babby last time I went to the British Grand Prix. The fact that in theory, the crowd is going to be pumping to have either, like you mentioned, a Norris win, a Russell win, a Hamilton wing for all those agreed reasons. So you can just guarantee now that Piastri will win and it will be normal. I'm okay with that.

I also will be fine. Yeah. Number one on my list, the track I'm looking forward to seeing the most for the rest of this year is Monza. You've gone home. I've gone to the place I wish was my home. And that is literally the Monza circuit, not even just Italy. Firstly, just to get this out of the way, could be an absolute disaster. It could be atrocious.

We don't know how these regular... are going to work at Monza. Since the beginning of last year, there have been questions, what if the cars just run out of everything down the street? I think we've probably mitigated that, but even if we do get that, Barbie's intrigued. I really don't know what we're going to get.

Assuming that doesn't actually happen, this is going to be a real test of battery. This is going to be a real test of ICE, and it's going to be a question of which actually matters more out of the two. and I don't know the answer to that question, which I like. Ferrari, of course, have a very legitimate chance, we think, based on what they've just done, at a home win. Lecler has won here twice for Ferrari.

Hamilton hasn't actually won here at all since 2018, and of course it would be his opportunity to win a home Grand Prix. So you imagine the Tophosi going to be pretty crazy. The other thing I'm thinking about, and Liam on Patreon actually, raised this exact point and with great minds think alike, because I was thinking the same way, how the crowd will treat Antonelli in that I think it will be mostly positive in that they haven't had a good Italian driver to root for since Yarno Trulli, and if I'm being more serious, they haven't for

many decades. I was going to say, really? I love me some Yarno Trilly, but yeah, come on. But of course, we know that the support, the team has, the Tafosel, like the Ferrari is so big there. What happens if Antonelli winning this race actually takes Ferrari closer out of a championship battle?

Will, I don't know how they'll react. So, I'm a staunch Monsa supporter. I love me some Monsa. It's got my favorite corner in Formula One on it, of course, the Ascarry Chican. I was incredibly intrigued by what we see at Monsor, but for the first time, in a long time,

excited isn't the word. I am nervous about it. I'm a bit worried about it. I'm anxious that actually it will really cause some issues for Formula One. In one of the heartlands of motorsport, of what we do here, is really important that Monter goes well. I don't know either. I don't know. I'm really nervous.

I'm really nervous think it's going to be a disaster. And so I am so intrigued, maybe more than any other racetrack. I'm so intrigued. I can't say I'm excited. But I always love some Monter. I am excited. I love Monter. And I'll be honest, one reason I didn't say,

it's really grey here today, and I just looked out of the window and just thought of the Monza sunshine. I was like, you know what? That's going straight to number one. That's what they say. Look into the clouds and dream of Monza. There's plenty of clouds to look out of the moment in the UK.

God, my dear God, I can see them in your eyes now. Before we go too much into weather chat, shall we wrap things up here? Sam, you're not going to be on Sunday's episode, sadly. But... But what? But, well, you can't do a show alone, Ben. Oh, I can't, kind of.

What does that mean? I'm not going to be here. Two of you? How does that work? I don't know what we can say right now. Thanks to subscribe, late breaking everywhere, Patreon's available, and we'll see you seeing. In the meantime, I've been Samuel Sage.

And I've been Ben Hocking, and remember, keep breaking late.