The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Grading every F1 team after the first 3 races!

Episode Date: April 15, 2026

Three races in, and the F1 pecking order is starting to take shape. Who’s acing the season so far, and who’s got some serious homework to do? The LB boys run through every team and deliver their verdict. Plus, they each build their ultimate F1 driver, picking the best traits from across the grid. 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. And a very warm welcome to the late-breaking F-1 podcast presented by Harry Eid, Sam Sage, and me, Ben Hocking. Back with another mid-week episode. Sadly, still no F-1 as of yet. Actually, I'm lying because Sam, we actually went through exactly what happened at the Bahrain GP at the weekend. We did, and I'm still amazed that they managed to fit two drivers into. one car.

And actually that when Eka Holkenberg, obviously, who was on the front row, decided to leave the Grand Prix, he left on the back of an ostrich. Did he know? What did I miss on Sunday? No, normal Grand Prix. Yeah. You remember how Bottas got pole and Holkenberg was second and then Williams were behind, but one of them broke down, so they decided to get in the same car together, and they were

actually pretty good, which is a surprise, given how much they've struggled with the weight of the car. Having two in the same car was an advantage to them. Who was sat on the other one's lap? I think Alex did the pedals and Carlos did the steering. I did not think we were going to get into who's on top discussion. Does that answer my question there? Yeah. Who's the bottom? Who's the top out of signs and album? Go.

You decide. Album's on the bottom. Right. We are grading teams today. So we've had three races, one sprint that we've got two. We've had a chance to look at the team so far. We're going to give a grade, anything from, I guess, A plus all the way through to whatever we decide the bottom of the grading system is today. We'll go in reverse championship order. So we'll start with the championship leaders, that being Mercedes. It's going pretty well for them at the moment.

I don't think I'm going to get too much of a disagreement with that. But what do they get in terms of a grade? We'll go with grades first of all. and then we'll get into discussion of it. So, Sam, what have you got? I've gone with an A minus. Harry, you've gone for? An A, Ben.

Ah, and I will complete the trio of A's by going with the full A plus. So Sam, you hate Mercedes. Why do you hate them so much? Yeah, famously have a serious agenda, and so I've given them an A minus. Look, the car is sensational. And because it's so sensational, they should have absolutely sensational results.

and yet they have not completed a perfect clean sweep. And for me, that's what an A plus would be in this scenario. The starts are clearly an issue for them. The car is struggling to get away off the line properly. They can't refill their charge properly. It seems to get stuck when it is within traffic. And if you're going to be overtaking at the line, getting back past the cars that overtaking you quickly is a necessary evil

if you have to battle through it. And yet George Russell especially struggled where it came to both the overtakes in the Chinese Grand Prix to come a lot longer to get the, through and especially struggled in the Japanese Grand Prix where he was unable to get himself back on the podium. So I don't think that's all George. I do think there's some difficulty with the car. So for me, whilst it's very, very good, it's not quite perfect. Wrong. I'm saying it's perfect. A plus, even though statistically it's not perfect. But it's not far off being that way. 135 points to their name so far this year. That's out of a possible

144. So percentage-wise, just under 94% of the possible points that Mercedes could have got so far, they have managed to achieve. As a way of comparison, if we look at McLaren who obviously won the Constructors' Championship last year in a much more competitive season, at least in this early point of 2026, of course, 74% of the available points they scored. So it's a pretty good start from Mercedes in that regard. And there was a lot of hype heading into this season about Mercedes. We spoke about them a great deal last year about how well they started the previous era. Could they do the same thing with the engine this time around? And just because there's all that hype around you, it doesn't mean you'll necessarily go through with it. You only need to

ask, Aston Martin about that. And we're going in championship order. So we will get to Aston Martin, but it's not going to be for a very long time. Point being, though, the hype doesn't necessarily mean it's going to go well for you. Antonelli's been, I think, better than I thought. he was going to be at this point. Russell's won a race and won a sprint race as well. I think the pace is fairly similar to what it was in 2014 when the last, I don't know, regulation cycle started. And I think the only real concern is what you said, Sam, which is the race starts.

I do think it might not cost them as much at some of the upcoming Grand Prix. So I think Suzuki was almost a bit of a perfect storm in that it's quite a long run down to term one there. but it's also quite difficult to make overtakes. And that's where I think Russell got a bit unstuck during the Grand Prix. Most of the other races we've got coming up have either got easier overtaking spots or the runs down to term one aren't as long. So they might get away with it until somewhere like Hungary, possibly.

That would maybe be the next one I was thinking of that they might struggle if their starts are still bad at that point in time. But that is definitely the thing they need to work on, no doubt. Harry, you're slap bang in the middle of us. Yeah, I think it's been a great season so far for Mercedes. Whilst there's been some issues, as you mentioned, Sam, they've not been very big. And the only way I'd given A-plus, it would be if it had been perfect, and those issues didn't exist. But for the most part, I'm not sure Mercedes, Toto Wolf, George Russell, Kimi Antonelli, couldn't have too many complaints.

about how this year has started for them. So it's why I've gone for an A, like you said, been against expectations, you know, they've matched. They haven't maybe exceeded, but I don't think they're far off it, but they've certainly matched expectations of which those expectations are really high. So I think there's, yeah, it's easily an A for them. I just wouldn't stretch as far as an A plus because they have been.

There's a few teething issues, as he mentioned, Sam. I did have a look back through back to 2014. And again, that's quite an important year because that's the last time we had such an upheaval in terms of the regulations. And Mercedes did so well at that point. Race two of the 2014 season, which was Malaysia, I think Hamilton won that race, but he won it about 25 seconds clear of Vettel at Red Bull at that point in third. The gap at round two this year, pretty much identical. It's going to be really interesting to see if that level of dominance, stays in the same way that it did back in 2014, 12 years ago.

Just the last point on this one, Sam, about Antonelli. How much of his good performance so far is contributing to this A-minus grade? I think given what we heard from Toto Wolf after the Chinese GP win, there was a bit of a, we hired him too early, no, we didn't kind of attitude. Have they almost been vindicated and that's why it's so positive? Yeah, 100%. I do think that if I were to give a almost surprise of the season so far,

he might be fully in contention for that. He is more than matched George Russell so far, which I think is better than Engong has expected in the first three Grand Prix of the season. If you could have said start the year to Kimi Antigley, George is going to win all of them, but you'll be second every race. But you're getting better.

I think you're taking that. I think, all right, I want a win, but it's the first three races. I mean, a new car, it's really developed. we're going to ease ourselves into it. But the fact that he's now one more, the George Russell, is pretty impressive. He's ahead of George Russell now in terms of the standings.

He has really surprised me. I do think in terms of this rating, he's a key contributor to it. I'm really being really impressed with how Kimi Antigna is handed himself in the first three Grand Prix. Their closest rival so far at this point in the season is Ferrari. Harry, what grade have you gone for here? He's gone for an A-minus for Ferrari.

Sam? B plus. And I've gone with a B minus. So we'll start with Harry on an A minus. Maybe I've been too kind to it. But look, for Ferrari, whilst it's, they haven't returned to winning ways as of yet, I think versus where they were last year

and the expectation coming to this one, I think they can be pretty happy with how this year has gone so far. The reason I've marked them down to what I thought was not harsh, but mark them down relative to Mercedes is purely based on how Japan went for them and how McLaren were getting in amongst them, or at least, you know, Piastri was. So there's a bit of a worry. The A minus is, or the minus in the A is is kind of worrying about what's next for them, as opposed to what they've done so far.

But what I think what they've done so far is pretty much maximise, that car. I don't think it's a Mercedes beta, but they've utilised what it can do, which is start well and get in amongst it. So I can't really fault them for that either driver. So A minus. Sam, you've gone with a B plus, as Harry put it. It's more positive picture than last year. 100%. And that's part of the reason why I've gone for a B plus. They can have dragged themselves through last season. And we know that they gave up pretty early in the year to focus on development of this car. But equally, that plays a part in why it's only a B plus. They put a long of effort into the development of this car, this era. Their engine is slightly off power when it comes to

the comparison to Mercedes and they're not maximizing their straight line speed. The chassis is not perfect and needs some development, which is being singled out by them. But equally, I'm really enjoying that Ferrari seem a lot more cohesive as a team. Both Hamilton and LeCleur are contributing really well together. They're innovative in ways that actually seem helpful for once, which is great. The Macarena wing, it seems like. like it could actually do something useful, or see it fully in action, but hey,

I like where you're going. The tiny wing screen. I love that you dare to call it a tiny wing screen. Sam's favorite innovation from the air is the tiny wind screen. I love it. I want to put it on the shelf behind me. We won't be able to see it because it's a tiny. No,

I will see it also little. You know, but I love that they're trying stuff. I like they've got the, like the porthole and the tiny little inflect on their exhaust pipe at the back of the car to change downforce. They're doing things that are different, and they seem to be actually having a positive effect. So this is really positive for Ferrari.

There starts a mega. I love that they managed to get that nailed down. Actually, they've been disadvantaged by the changes that were made, and I think they could be even more potent if they hadn't been changed. But I do think overall, their race pace is causing them to drop in this grading here. I knew they were going to be behind Mercedes. And that's okay. I expected them to be slightly off the pace. I didn't expect them to be nearly a full pit stopper race.

off the pace, unfortunately. So they are just a step behind where I was hoping they would be when it comes to challenging for the top. We've got this big gap to Miami. I'm hoping that these upgrades that the Claire is singing from the rafters about are going to just give them a little bit more. Himala. Imala.

It doesn't work well when you brag about upgrades, Ferrari. It is better than last year. No doubt about that. P4 in the constructors last year. And that was despite both Mercedes and Red Bull. in some ways having line-up problems in that Antonelli wasn't scoring at the same rates as Russell was, and we know what happened at Red Bull, of course, last year as well. And despite having both Hamilton and the Clervoir, it was still only good enough for fourth.

So it's definitely an improvement from that. They've really established themselves as that second best team in the sport. And to your point, Sam, like, it feels very unferrari the way that they've approached this season so far, in that there's a lot of drama elsewhere. There's not a lot of drama at Ferrari. We haven't heard a great deal, I don't think, out of them, which is odd. Like, normally they are at the epicenter of anything that's happening in F1, good and bad. They've kind of quietly gone about their business to this point.

They've been reliable. They've been pretty consistent. They've got a podium at every race so far. And that's all really positive, I think, going forward. The reason I've only gone for a B-minus is kind of what you said, which is, imagine. an offering when was it April, May of last year, when Fred Vassar decided, we're not focusing on 25 anymore, we're going full force into 26 and saying at that point, okay, first few races

of 26, you are going to be a pit stop behind Mercedes. He had gone, what? We're a pit stop behind? In terms of the pecking order, it looks a lot more positive because McLaren and Red Bull aren't there either. But in terms of the distance to Mercedes so far, it has been, it has been a lot. it's still pretty positive, but that's why I'm only at a B-minus on this occasion. In terms of Lewis Hamilton, Sam, is that helping or hindering the grade, or is it pretty much leveling out? It's kind of leveling it out. If anything, it is helping it.

He is definitely more competitive so far this season. We are basing this of three Grand Prix. If we do this again after 12 Grand Prix, it might be a completely different grade, and he might be absolutely miserable. but it does seem to be quite full of glee at the moment, despite Japan being his worst of the three so far, and being further behind the Claire than he wanted. He, you know, he said it again.

What he say? Not our race weekend, but we move. And I thought, you know, as I said, you can move a little quicker, Lewis, and you might have been on a more competitive playing field. But he does seem overall to being a better place, and the results are stronger. He's with the main field,

whereas we saw on many occasions in 25 when Lecler was picking up the old podium or was fighting for podium, Hamilton might be seventh, eighth. You know, struggling to get himself into a competitive position. He's a couple of seconds at worst behind the Clare at the moment. This is a good stepping stone. A grade for McLaren, please, Harry. I've given McLaren a C minus.

Sam? I'm joining you. I think it's a C minus. And we're pretty close here. I've gone with a C. Harry, why a C minus? It's not an ideal, is it? No, to be real.

It's a good point. I think this would be worse for McLaren if they hadn't had the Japanese GP, quite frankly. The higher grade I've given here is because there's hope, I think, for McLaren going forward for the rest of the year. But, you know, the first two races, D, maybe E, pretty crap. I mean, China, they didn't make it, did they? and there was only one car on the grid in Australia. So it's been a tough, tough start to the year for them. I think what was more worrying, I guess, in Australia,

was the lack of pace from Norris being the only one left than the race, but the sort of lack of race pace from him. We never saw what it was in China, but them not making it to the grid is bad. And then finally in Japan, we saw some improvement. So I think there's room for hope for them for the rest of the year, not, you know, I wouldn't say championship, a championship retention is on the cards, but I think certainly room for optimism for maybe some, some, you know, challenges to race

wins. So a C-9, but it's not been a great start. Yeah, I went with a C for mostly similar reasons. They're 44 points behind Ferrari, but they are also 28 clear of Hasse behind them. So they are at least points-wise at the moment occupying this sort of weird middle ground in P3. If you take their average points per start, it is pretty much identical to Ferrari. The problem is they've started about half the Cron Prix that Ferrari had. So those DNSes are really costing them at the moment in terms of the points tally. A little bit unlucky to an extent just based on, if you're McLaren, you're probably like, could one of these have happened at the sprint? Could one of these have happened at the beginning of qualifying? Like, could we have had Vestappen's issue from Australian GP

qualifying, for example? Could we have had that rather than. than a did not start, because it really does punish you when you don't start the race. You can have that one for free. The Oscar Piastri P2 at Suzuki definitely helps the ranking because, well, two reasons, actually. Not only does it prove that there's something in that McLaren. I think also Piastri as well, we had a few concerns preseason that maybe these cars won't suit him as well. It was a pretty definitive statement, I thought, that he would deliver at Suzuki.

So pretty positive on both fronts. Yeah, I've gone with pretty much dead in the middle, honestly. Sam? Yeah, I'm like a C-minus, as I said, and I think the headlines for McLaren are all bad, but you actually, you know, flip open the book, get past the blurb, and you start reading. And actually, it's quite a positive picture

when you get into it, I think. I think the car itself is on par with Ferrari, realistically. Every time they can qualify, they're there, if not better than Ferrari. The one race where both drivers have been able to actually get away one driver has beaten the other Ferrari, so that's pretty solid. The issues, of course, are Piazzi puts it into a war after receiving a ridiculous amount of talk that he wasn't expecting, maybe partially due to the regulations, but no one else did it, doesn't start the race.

Norris is placing Australia is poor. In China, they don't impress and they can't actually get out for the main Grand Prix. It's only Japan when they really start to showcase what they might be able to do across a full race distance, but that is why they've received a C-minus for me and got maybe like a D. or an ear, as Harry, you said, they probably will have got, had we done this after China, because the car itself, it's all right. It's got a little something, you know, that McLaren.

It's got a little something. And what I was impressed. We said that about Ferrari all of last year. We were right. You know what? They delivered. What I am impressed with is what you just mentioned there being is Piastri, the way he's actually been giving a full race distance to finally get round.

And he was maybe driver of the day. He was showing. drafted by a safety car. There's every chance he might have batted for a race win there. I'm a little disappointed in Norris, if I'm honest, because he's had the majority of the racing time. And he's regularly been behind Piastri when we've seen it. If he's not behind Piastri, he's regularly been behind everyone else. You know, he only just beat Lewis Hamilton in Japan. And you argue that that was Lewis Hamilton's far worse Grand Prix this season.

So I'm hoping that he can step it up and we'll see performances like we did last year where he picked up multiple wings, where he's beating Piastri more regularly than not. But, yeah, Pliastri being the standout on the actual track when he's actually decided to be on the actual track. Yes. Let's take our first break on this episode. On the other side, we're reviewing Hasse, Alpine, Red Bull and Racing Bulls. Natural order of those four.

Yeah, big four. Big four coming up. You know it. You know it. Welcome back, everyone. Main event time. It's time for Hasse. Iyo Kamatsu is in the kitchen. He is cooking.

What kind of a grade is he cooking up, Sam? I've given him a big old A. Oh, good start. I'm ever so slightly harsher, but an A minus, Harry. Also gone for an A. Lovely stuff. Two A's in Haas, mate. Exactly.

I don't know where the minus comes into it. I'm not part of this. Sam, why have you delivered the first of the two A's that Haas have? I mean, when you look at situations that could be better, it's pretty minuscule, I think. The car is really strong. It's got good qualifying pace, good race pace. It is up there as the best of the midfield. Arguably, it's only when Max is having a really solid race, which is few and far between in his first three. Or Pierre Gasly is at the immovable object in P7. Essentially, other than that, they're doing what they can. I've actually marked down from an A plus to an A because

Ocom, unfortunately, wasn't great in the first two Grand Prix. And then Bairmen, of course, I don't blame him for the crash, but they had a crash, and it wasn't looking like that. He wasn't performing very well up until that point either in that race. Exactly, the point I was going to make. It's not like he was going to be scoring huge points up into that point as it was. So it's more driver skill, I feel harsh saying that when he put it in the war. I don't think it was his fault. But then you get the point I'm making here.

Ockong hits Conopinto, Ockong out of the points in Australia, Berman does one in both of those. The flip side here is that then in Japan, is Berman who doesn't do great with his result or his initial result. and Okong maybe isn't maximizing because of, you know, initial things kicking off with the Grand Prix. So the car itself, I think it's really solid. They're just not driving as well as someone like Gasoli has been in quite a similar

ability car. And that's why I cut them down from an A plus. But the foundations are really, really solid. Yeah, I went with an A minus. It's the smallest team on the grid still and their fourth out of 11 teams. That's really impressive. And they deserve a lot of credit for not only doing that, but like doing that at the beginning of a new regulation.

That is really impressive. They have been the class of the midfield at the likes of Australia and China so far. Japan does bring down, I probably would have gone with an A as well. It's only Japan that brings it down to an A minus. But even there, I think Ocon got a little bit unlucky

and would have been maybe seventh or eighth in that battle, if not for the safety car. So it's been pretty good. Behrman's very impressive. Ocon, very unlucky to be hit by Collipinto in China. But other than that, you know, he's been great. I'm joking. Don't worry.

Yeah, come on. I'm doing this. But I would like to see the HAS lineup get double points. That's not something we've seen from them yet, is both drivers in the top 10 at the same time. The other comment I had that isn't really a positive or a negative is HAS do seem quite similar to last year, in that last year their race pace was better than their quality pace.

I still think that's true. I just get the sense that, yeah, that this HAST team in terms of strategy, in terms of operating above its limits almost. It's kind of similar. And again, that's not a bad thing. Harry, you've gone with an A, the second of the two A's and us.

Yes, thank you. With your A minus, does it actually just equal back out to an A? So it's has. Oh, what do we reckon? Just has, has been. Oh, it has been. Oh, that's brutal. Oh, anyway.

Yeah, it's the consistency see across both drivers for me for which why this isn't any higher. I think Hass has been superb this year. I mean, like you say, Ben, they are tiny and Gene Hass won't let them have new people or any more money.

Every time someone leaves, they don't get replaced. Keep it up, Gene. It's why they have, you know, a few, a couple years ago they made the pit wall smaller because they just didn't need the space anymore. Wrang out of people. Come out of actually in the kitchen doing the cooking. It's just a share. It's not a joke.

There's no good question. equipment at all. It's just a chair. It's getting rained on when it's wet. It's awful. With an umbrella. But yeah, I think they are punching so high above their own weight here that they deserve all the plaudits. But like you said, it's just a couple of inconsistencies.

Ocon was a scrappy race in China. Berman, again, I don't blame for the crash, but, you know, he'd put it in the wall. So, yeah, that's the only reason I'm not in doubt. But other than that, they've been superb. Alpine is up next. 10th of 10 teams last year, currently 5th of 11 teams so far this year. Sam, what grade does that get them? B plus from me.

And I've gone with a B, Harry. I have gone for a B. We're all in the same sort of territory again. Sam, you're the most positive of us, a B plus. Yeah, just because of Gassely, really. He deserves the plus. And that is a big reason actually for my score. I joke, but he has been phenomenal. He has been the underdog a gang of the season, underrated driver of the season so far. Seventh place is essentially his, you know, he is the immovable force, as I mentioned earlier.

He is doing a great job at keeping Alping in the fight. Colopinto has one point and Gassi has the rest. And that's why they are where they are. If Gassi was on the same level as Colopinto right now, they'd be behind or in line with Williams, which is not where you want to be when Williams have had the start they've had. So I've been really impressed with what he's able to do. The car is definitely better. It still seems to have some problems in the sense that they've got this Mercedes engine,

they've got this Mercedes gearbox. Look where two of them are saying his cars are when they are actually all on track. They are a step behind that, but it's definitely a marked improvement on what the Rengo power unit was able to produce when they had that in the car. So solid choice. Let's just see if you can get it working better. I just want to see a bit more from Collopin.

So he was unfairly dismissed where it came to the car. crash with O'Con and that dig massively disrupt what was a very good Grand Prix from him. It's just the other two having exactly been standout moments, especially in qualifying. I think he's been a good step behind Pierre Gassley. So that's another reason why I've dropped it from like the A minus score down into the Bs. Harry, if one of their drivers, let's say Gassley, it seems more likely, gets P7 at Miami, they will match their complete total for the 2025 season. By race four.

By race K. I mean, it's certainly an improvement versus last year, but that was always going to be quite an easy thing to do, I guess, because the bar was so low. I still can't fully tell whether it's car is better or Gasly is excellent. I'm leaning, it's a bit of both, I think, but I think Gasly's doing such a fine job in that alpine that he's making what is definitely an improved car look,

perhaps even better than it is. And maybe Colopinto's making a little worse. Like you say, Sam, he was having a better race in China, but the other two races haven't been great for him. March down really by qualifying, as you say, it's been the one thing that's harmed him because whilst overtaking has been easier this year versus last year, it's like overtaking in the group that you qualify around

rather than like overtaking your way up the field. So he might well have been involved. in battles and making overtakes, but Colopinto is sort of staying where he's qualified. So, yeah, that marks Alping down as a whole. I think if, you know, if Colopinto can find a bit more form in qualifying slash have a bit more luck in the races, then they could, well, as a team move further up, further up. But, I mean, imagine saying this list up after. Like, ridiculous.

Yeah, I've gone with a B as well. I still don't like the decision to move to Mercedes power units because I just don't. I wish there were more power unit manufacturers. It is, even though, let's face it, in the short term, it's probably got them more competitive. But it might cap where they can actually get to. Like we're seeing with, I know it's a weird one because McLaren have literally just won two constructors championships and a driver's championship with an engine that isn't theirs. But equally, I think they're in this new era struggling a little bit with.

being a customer, it might hold Alpine back in terms of the full extent of what you can achieve, but it has got them up into the top of the midfield quite quickly. Australia was a bit disappointing, and sometimes it feels like in a race weekend, it takes them a little while to sort of fully embed into it. But once they get going, and particularly Pierre Gazley, they can produce some pretty good results. You know, Gazdi's had seventh in the last three qualifying sessions. He's had sixth in Shanghai, seventh in in Suzuki in the main races. He's doing a phenomenal job.

The reason it's not higher than a B column into at this point is still a bit of a question mark. He doesn't feel very comfortable at the moment and like to see that change as we get to Miami in the next few races. Red Bull, Sam, you're great for them. I've gone with an E plus. The plus makes all the difference. I think so. Harry. I've gone with a D plus.

And I have gone with a D. So, Harry, you are the most positive on this occasion, and a D plus. We've given them an Ed, so that's good. We have, yeah. If you read a wobble, lads. arguably the best of the Ed, Ed, Ed and Eddie trio was Ed with two D's, yeah. Do you think so? No, I can't remember which one's weird.

I can run like a plank of work with a face on it. They did. I'm surprised we don't have one of those, but yeah. It's called Sam. Plank, plank boy. Yeah, sorry, Red Bull. Ed Bull.

But I, whilst it's been not good versus last year, I think there's been a couple of okay performances. I think Japan really was the worst of those. Australia for Vastappan was pretty good considering where he started from. Hadjah we've struggled to see where he actually is with an early retirement in Australia

China was obviously not helped by that early spin there's never been a never been a good opportunity to get a proper read on them as a team there's always like one sort of out of position one's had a problem etc which is why I've I've gone for I've gone for a D plus, but it's not been a great start and, you know, not what they've, that have been hoping for. I think early doors, we were sort of singing the praises of how, I guess, reliable that is considering all the changes I've had to make.

That's a brand new, brand new engine for them this year with Rebel Power trains, etc. But even the car doesn't look good. I don't think that's the main issue here. It doesn't look good. It doesn't look good in race, race trim. So a tough start, that's for sure. they've had lower points. They had lower points last year, I think,

but not consistently as they are having right now. So it's not great. Well, here's a stat for you. And if you're a Red Bull fan or a Red Bull employee, I would advise just covering your ears for the next 20 seconds or so because three races in, they have had no top five finishes.

The last time they had three consecutive races with no top five finish was in July. of 2015. We're going pre-LB the last time this happened. You never go pre-LB. We're ancient, that's saying something. Don't do it. But they have.

We're going back to Danny Kaviat territory, folks. That's the last time it was this bad. I'll take it back. Let's go back to pre-LB. Yeah, let's do it. What is really odd about Red Bull is that it's got less encouraging. Like they started preseason thinking, okay, they might not be first, they might not be second, but they're going to be at worst like fourth, but part of that leading group of four.

And then Australia happened and you kind of felt, yeah, that is where they are. Hadjar qualified third. Obviously in the race, he was around there until he retired. And then Vastappen had to go all the way from 20th to back to P6. it looked pretty good. But then it got worse at China, and then they brought an upgrade package for Vastappan at Suzuki, and it got worse again.

I thought it was going to go the other way with Red Bull. When Lauren Mekke said preseason, give us a bit of time, it's not going to be great to begin with. I was like, okay, sure, it might not look good in Australia and China, but when we get to Japan and get into the next few races, it will get better. Nope, complete opposite. So positive for them is that,

Hadjar looks pretty good, at least in the limited stints that we've seen him versus Vastap, and particularly in qualifying, I think they've got someone they can count on that they haven't had for a little while. Sam? That's exactly why they've got the plus, because for the first time in what feels like, what, eight years, I can comfortably say that Red Bull have two drivers they can rely on. I think that if you give them a car that is drivable, both of them will do a really good job at getting an actual result for you. you. Hagear was phenomenal picking up that third place in qualifying in Melbourne. It's a real shame. He had the reliability issue. Max Verstappen is a nightmare on the start.

So he started to get better at that, but then he can't get past the likes of Pierre Gassi when he's actually in a capacity position. It's not the drivers that are the problem. It is the car. The power train has not been as strong as maybe initially suspected. They've had reliability issues, which is not great. But when the car can finish a Grand Prix, it's oversteering, and then it's understeering, and then it's shifting downward.

and then when it's deploying energy, you can't do it properly. It's just got so many problems that they don't see drug to stand when they're coming from. And they brought an upgrade that turned out to be a downgrade. And that's just not what you want from a team like Red Bull. So, yeah, I gave them an E because our expectations of Red Bull are to be fighting right at the very front. And even if they weren't first and second with Ferrari and they were kind of just behind McLaren, I'm like, fine. You know, it's a B-Malangus, a C-plus.

I could deal with that. The fact that you are behind, Hasse, Al-Ping, You're only two points ahead of your sister team who are meant to be a who cares. It's for trainees. Not good enough. Just not good enough. So they get the plus because the drivers, I think, have done a solid job. Speaking of that sister team, last one on this set is racing bulls.

How are you great for them? Racing balls, I have given a C plus. Exactly the same for me, Sam. B minus. Okay, again, pretty close. Harry, C plus from you. yeah i've overall this year for racing balls so far um i think it's been been pretty positive and i was when i was trying to grade these i couldn't quite work out while they was

uh slightly blinded by the fact that red bull had been less good but i in the end irrelevant because if racing balls are as competitive or in some cases beating red bull that deserves that deserves praise doesn't doesn't matter whether it's because red bull are being bad or not racing balls are the ones doing the job. So, yeah, I think it's been pretty positive. Liam Lawson, I think so far this year's had a better, I mean, easily a better start to be it than he had last year. I would agree with you, sir.

Yeah. You know what? But I think overall just seems a little bit more, little bit more settled. And I think other Linblad, we could have a little star on our hands there with him. So it looks pretty, pretty rosy for racing balls so far. I think they just maybe haven't quite capitalised on more points when they perhaps could have done. And Sam, for you just about sneaking into a B with a B minus?

Yeah, realistically, I think racing balls are doing exactly what is expected of racing balls in the sense of they're not here to win races, they're not here to get podiums, they're here to be a place of development that is competitive, being around the midfield to showcase overtaking, defending, strategy. they're here to be a nuisance almost to the other midfield teams and I think that's exactly what they've been. I think Limblog has been a

real discovery in Formula One. I think he's had a great start his first season. He's had some difficulties to get through. We saw a sping from him. Tidal on his own wasn't perfect. It's going to happen. But equally, qualifying has been phenomenal.

We saw him fighting with the likes of Landon Norris and Lewis Hamilton at the start of his first Grand Prix and he handled it brilliantly, scored points on his debut, I'll be really impressed. Liam Norse has taken great strides forward. We are seeing a much better racing driver. The racecraft is still not perfect,

but the raw speed is really starting to come through, and qualifying has, bringing improvement. I have besmirch his record a little bit for a couple of formula I tried to do this. A besmirching! Breaking out the besmirch! No! Oh, Lord!

Not today! Today of all days. You've been besmirch. in this economy. Costs a lot. But you know what, folks? Get besmirched. And honestly, it was the...

Get besmirged. It was the ding-dong with Perez. But Formula One on their social media tried to brand as one of the overtakes of the season so far. I thought, he's crashed into the side of the Cadillac. I can't really give that overtake of the season so far. It wasn't great. But he's been better.

And he feels like a more... should Formula One driver now. So I think they're on the right path. It's highly unrelated. But did you see F1, F1 obviously scrambling for a bit of content? They put a YouTube video up that was called Cheeky but not illegal F1 overtakes. I was like, that's terrible. Did we write that?

Yeah, awful. No. Cheeky but not illegal. That really sounds like a... That's a bad caption anywhere. That's a Harry Hill segment. That's a cheeky but not illegal. Ill.

the week. Oh man. Counterpoint to the whole Lawson and Perez thing, by the way. It's just funny. Like, just Lawson and Perez, it's just funny at any point. They're on the same banter in it. Yeah. I went with a C plus here.

The results just look kind of eerily similar to the senior team here. I think the car looks okay in that they haven't shone anywhere, but equally they haven't been uncompetitive anywhere either. They're definitely, I think, slower than Alpine and Huss, at least in terms of race trim. But it is a solid qualifying car. And one thing I've noticed about them so far this year is it's a very difficult car to overtake. Because if you look at Australia, Limblud had off Bortoletto for quite a while there and also held off Bairman too. Behrman did eventually get by, but it took about a long time to do it.

You look at China. That's where Lawson was able to hold off Isaac Adjah. and then you look at Japan where again it's Lawson being able to hold off Esteban Ocon and Nika Holkenberg. So defensively, I've been quite impressed by both drivers as well

but the ability of this car to keep those maybe faster competitors behind them and the lineup overall a plus Lawson's been pretty good. Limblud's had a good start to his career. I think that is a positive so far. So C plus. That's going to do it for those four teams.

We've got four more to go on the other side. Welcome back, everyone. Before we get into the four final grades that we'll hand out, a quick mention on Patreon, because if you listen to Sunday's show, we mentioned some of the... Sorry, if you listened to last Wednesday's show, I should say, we mentioned some of the documentaries, TV shows

that you might want to watch in this very long break between F1 action. And tied in with that, we did a Patreon episode that's just gone live, Sam, which was us looking at the last 20 years of F1 and grading them accordingly. Yeah, and I do think you forget some of the key moments that came out from the last two decades of Formula One. And we had some different opinions on what was a belter

or what was a get in the bin. And we'd like to hear your opinions. So if you want to get over to the city, it's a democracy over there. All opinions welcome as long as you are kind and presented. As long as we agree with them. As long as we agree, no. obviously you get the whole

Manifest. What's the crime? A pectoral city meal. A succulent pectoral city meal. Check over there. Give it a try, please. I'll hang out for this plug. We appreciate the support.

Good work. Harry, what would you say to anyone who is a fan of 2015? Should they watch it? No, we don't want your money. Go away. I do. I do.

I still want the money. No, we don't want that opinion with our city. I'd like to do this full time. Don't tarnish our city with your stupid opinions. Hope a smarch. The 2015 sucks. No, I'm sorry.

I think that's gone really well. I'm glad we've done that. It's not just the bonus episodes you get on Patreon as well. We're going to be recording our historic race review later this week, which is the 2016 Brazilian GP. Way better than 2015, don't you worry? And power rankings will be back sooner rather than later, too. Shall we go into Audi next? Good old Audi with their two points.

have at the moment. Sam, your grade for them? Primed for a little joke or something there. I'm really surprised that you didn't. We'll go into Audi. I thought you've got it made here. I've gone for a... Good. I've gone for a C plus. I've gone for a C. Harry? Audi's actually Latin for B minus. Is it? Wow. Wow. You've given me no choice but to go to you first, Harry, because I need to know more about these Latin translations.

Hey, I don't make these things up. We just have the same book. It's just a fact of life. Yeah, look, I, whilst there's been some issue so far for Audi in terms of reliability, I mean, the first couple of races, they only had one car in them. I think overall, they should be really encouraged with how they've started this year. And I appreciate that they have risen from the ashes of Salba. very Easter

very we've moved past that but yes correct yes and on the no anyway I appreciate they've they've come from a team that already existed but there was a lot a lot to change here including a brand new

a brand new engine from a team that hasn't never made the F1 engine before I know they've made engines before but not an F1 F11 so I think there's a lot of work that's gone on to this and whilst it's been whilst there's been a few ups and downs, I think they should be really encouraged by how this year has started with them,

minus losing their team principal. But that's maybe what the minus is for, in my opinion. Did you factor it in like the off track losing weekly? It's not great to lose them three races into a season, is it? So I think it does need to be factored in, even if right now it's not directly affecting performance and probably won't do for a while. I think it would just be really annoying from Audi's,

perspective that they've lost Wheely for many reasons, but one of them is, I know that the launch event that they did wasn't brilliant in that the 20 minutes of people walking upstairs wasn't great. But I feel like that will be, if they go on to have success, they'll want to go back to that event as like, that's where it all started, except that it's plastered with a guy that only was there for like two races now. Like, it's somewhat tarnished as a result of that. I went with see they've only scored two points. That's the same number of DNSes that they have so far this year. So I couldn't go any further than that. But I do think the ingredients are all there. I said at the beginning of the season, I could see Audi leading the midfield this year.

And I still think that could be the case. They haven't been able to put it all together, largely because of their horrific race starts. But I think it's all there. I actually had a look at the lap one sort of woes that Audi have had so far this year. There are four starts that they've had. They've been 9th, 10th, 11th and 13th on the grid. They have turned into 11th, 13th, 15th and 19th after lap one. So they are almost, they're almost qualifying like two or three positions worse on average than what they actually are because of what is happening on these first laps. And it's just giving them whilst they've got all right pace, It's not brilliant enough pace that they can recover

and actually make these overtakes on their midfield rivals. Look at Holkenberg, for example. He went all the way back to 19th in Japan. He was fighting for the points at the end of that Grand Prix, but he's on the back of Ocon and Lawson and can't make a move. If he's not having such a bad start, he doesn't need to make that move. So I do think there's something there if they can sort that out. And Sam, you went bang on in the middle, C-plus.

Yeah, I just think the engine sounds proper naughty. So I gave it a solid school. You've said everything else, so move on. Nauty engine. Nauty galsy engine. Quote. Williams, so much hopium, so little productivity. It's not great.

It's a lot of hope, not a lot of seeing through on that hope. Harry, what was your grade? I've gone for an E. Oh, I've been a lot more generous. E plus, Sam. Thank you very much, PBCS slug. My street name. You've gone with an E, Sam. I would say why, but it feels fairly obvious.

Yeah, they have literally reneged. Is that the phrase? Ringet of all promises. I am a pizoros today. Look at me going. You got word of the day toilet paper or something. going on. I am known for my

simplicity big whistics folks. Wow, look at my even. Whoa. M&M, call me. Honestly,

they make a lot of promises. They set us up here and it's the ultimate. We've been fraud. There you go. We've been fraud. That's as a good fraud. So.

Well, we're about to go back. We're back. This is being fraudulent. The way they have turned up to this season after. giving it all the big man talk for years about how we're working for the future. It's not our time.

The new regulations is where we're going to thrive. And you've produced a big fat monster that can't do anything right. And it can't drive properly. One of the wheels doesn't stay on the track properly. Your drivers hate it. Carla Sykes has got the worst haircut in 2026. You can't get out of that against them, man. I have.

It was a A-you-before. No, I'm joking. And this is just being atrocious. It's so bad. I think you're lucky you've got. two points. I think that has made it look a bit more rosy than it actually is. He only did that because of our eight cars didn't finish and someone else took someone else out. It's just been atrocious because when they've got the best engine package in the car, they should be doing

far better than this. Then being that overweight is just not acceptable. So yeah, I couldn't really do any better than any. Good job from Carlos Sine so far this year, getting that ninth in China, even if he got maybe a bit fortunate to get there. But he did a great job in that Grand Prix. and I like his new hobby of just keeping Colopinto behind him, which seems to be what he does now in races. But he was 14 seconds away from the points in Japan. That's, I think, works out to be about half a second slower than Lawson and Ockon, the guys who did just about finishing the points.

So it's not great. Like if you've given James Vowers that last year, he probably would have broken down crying, bless him. The expectation based on last year has just not been met. whatsoever. And Mercedes have done their job. Like, that is a really good power unit to be working with. It is purely on the car and how sluggish it is. They're pretty much a mainstay in Q1 exits. Carlos Seines, even though he got to Q2 in Japan, was one second away from getting to Q3. There isn't a lot of positive at the moment. E plus. Harry? Yeah. I don't. I mean, the points are all that's really key to any. other, we're stopping it from going any further down on the grading here. I think where we talked about Mercedes at the start and the expectation versus what they've

delivered, whilst it's pretty much matched in my expectations, it's, for Williams, it's, they're nowhere near where we hoped, they hoped to be considering all the hype that had been built up for this. Maybe hype's unfair, but the momentum that they've been building up to, awards this year really felt like they should be delivering war. And yes, we're only three races in here, but just they're nowhere near even where they were last year, this time last year. So that in itself is deserving of a bad grade. The new kid on the block, Cadillac, no points on the board as of yet. Sam, your grade here?

There's a lot of letters that you could have taken from Cadillac to pick out their grade, and I've managed to choose one that doesn't exist in me. the word, and that is a B. I've given them a big old B. I thought you were going to say, I've given them an I. No, well done. I've gone with a C minus, Harry. I've just gone for a C because they call Cadlac.

I like that that's the reasoning. No explanation needed. Did you have any further reasoning, or is that it? I don't think they can be at all mad with how this year has gone so far. the fact that they are even finishing in front of another team, I'm looking at all to that, but even the fact that they are, I don't think anyone expected that at all.

And to run somewhat even more reliably than certain teams is a win in itself. So as Sergio Perez said, at one point in Japan, they could see like an alpine in a house. So what more can you ask for after race three? Is there a more beautiful sight than an alpying in a house? Exactly. So getting in the Louvre. Getting further and further away from you.

Honestly, I think, you know, it's been solid. And whilst they haven't exceeded expectations, I don't think, they've certainly not gone below them, or at least my expectations of how this year's gone. I think they're right where I thought they were going to be. And that in itself should be a big achievement. Zari's gone with C for Cadillac. Sam, you went with B for Bottas.

B for Baddak, because they're actually. the opposite. They're Goodallag. This is great. I like a real streak of some good work. What happened, man? This is all in one episode. And that is the life in times of Samuel Sage. I'm getting flashbacks to Arvid Lindglud, I'm afraid with that one. I think Googlelack is up there. Yeah, it's great. Honestly, you're not last and you've integrated a new engine. You've joined a new sport. You've put together a car that's actually drivable. Yes, half of it does fall off before you get to the end of the Grand Prix. that's not ideal. Granted, it's not all there at the end.

You do want to keep it on the car before you get to the end of the race. That is ideal before you take it apart to ship it to the next place. I think they're above where I thought they would be. They're not qualifying multiple seconds behind every other team. I know it's alongside Ashton Martin,

but that's a fully established and competitive racing outfit. They shouldn't be where they are in comparison to them, and yet they are. They've done a really good job at putting an engine in a car. Again, there are other teams that have struggled with that.

They've met the weight load pretty much, really, really good. Bottas and Perriss, for the most part, are driving pretty well, apart from the time where Perrers try to just take out Valtry Botas at turn two in China. Don't do that again.

Don't need. I know you want a bit of fun. That's not going to be. But overall, I don't think they've got anything to be massively disappointing about. I'd like to see proper gains from now on, but I do think they can be quite happy with the start.

Yeah, I went with a perfectly okay C-minus at this point. They are a long way off, but I think they're about where I thought they would be, roughly. So a C-minus seems fair. Reliability, pretty good to this point. They finished five of six races, if you consider two races in one for each driver. Five of six is very good if you compare it to, say, 24 team, when we had a lot of bad reliability for teams trying to get used to this new engine

as Cadillac are at the moment. you had like Salba finishing two of those first six and Lotus finishing three and Caterham finishing three. Five out of six is pretty good from Cadillac to start this new era. Bottas and Perez have both somewhat had the opportunity to show something in that Perez had his turn at Suzuki. Bottas kind of had his turn at Shanghai. It'd be great to have them both at the same time.

But even at this early point, I think it's pretty good. So I think the other thing, and this is more of a, there isn't really a stat around this, it's just how you feel about them. They don't look out of place. Like, they kind of look like they belong in a weird way, even if the competitiveness doesn't quite match that at the moment. Like, if you see them in the paddock, for example,

they don't look like... They feel like... Manor or caterer them. Yeah. Yeah. But don't feel like they'd make a paper mashad car and decided to try and frug it onto the track. That's savage.

You said Manor or Caterham. him and just didn't even regard HRT, just like they weren't even here. And rightly so. They don't deserve a mention. That's how bad they were. Speaking of bad, Astor Martin, final team to have a look at today. Sam your grade? Well, soldier boy tell them.

You! Cheers, soldier boy. How long have you had that set, lined up for? Six hundred degrading out of the day. Practicing in the mirror yesterday, yeah. Oh, a few friends. Yeah. Some good cranking.

You from me as well. You can say that from you. I'm a crank expert. You know me. It's a high compromise. I'd stop talking about that now. I'd stop talking about each other cranking. This is terrible.

I am an excellent cranker. What are you talking about? Okay. I don't understand the problem. I'm you as well. Harry. No, I'm you. No, I'm me.

Okay. I've gone for an F because it stands for Fernandez. doesn't deserve this. Is that what that means? Oh. Yes. Latin. It's Latin for.

Phanana doesn't deserve this. So we've managed to get to FU for Aston Martin. Interesting. An Oofu, if you will. Sam, again, feels like an obvious question. What's gone wrong? Why is it a you? What's gone right, in it?

Really. Nothing works. Honda lost most of its team. Didn't tell anyone. The engine doesn't put out one of six thousand. Rebs not ideal, vibrates their entire team. They don't have nerves anymore. Both drivers will go and do something else.

Lance Stroll is in a different category, being bad, but still in a different category. Fian is like a child, and that's the only positive thing that's happened to him this season. They've had another team principle change. Newy's miserable as it is. Cow is in Japan. I don't know when he's ever coming back. He's not. The car doesn't fit the engine.

The engine doesn't fit the car. It's atrocious. It is one of the worst starts to a new regulation that has ever been seen by an established formal long outfit. It is an embarrassment of the highest order. And they should be very much ashamed to hope they can turn it around very quickly. In my wildest dreams, I did not think it could be this bad. Like, if you'd asked me to picture back in like January or late last year, what is the worst case scenario for Aston Martin next year?

It's not anywhere near this bad. that's how awful it has been. I feel like we had a few warnings at Barcelona, but there was a bit too much attention on Williams at that point that Aster Martin were like, we're really struggling here as well, just nobody's talking about us yet. And then we got to Bahrain and it's like, oh, things aren't improving.

They're still really bad. And that's kind of how it stayed. You're right, Sam, the reason this can't be any more positive than the EU is because there are no positives. I can't find one. They finished a race? That shouldn't be a positive, but yes.

It's like me saying, I drank some water today. Like, yeah, basic human survival denotes that I should drink some water. Yeah, Alonzo's lap one starts. That can be the one positive. That's fair. That's probably why Harry's gone with an F. Yeah, fair. I mean, him just going for a gap against Gabby Bortoletto in Australia was so unnecessary.

the game. Just love of the game. Love of the game. And I respect it. What more can you say? It's been a horrendous, horrendous start for them. The only positive being Alonzo

just having some fun on lap one. Him and Lance having their own, as Lance put it himself, their own little championship at the back, which that's a bit bleak. But, you know, at least they can be friends. together.

So there's that. Brings a tear to my eye. Almost makes me want to go for an F instead of a U. Well, well done. Don't let it get you, Ben. Make it a fuf, not an oofo. Words to live by, man. We're cranking and fuths.

We need to move on. Well, what a day. What an evening. What an evening. We are going to move on. We're going to take our final break. On the other side, you won't believe this. We're building the perfect F1

driver. Welcome back, everyone, to the final part of today's episode. We're going to do something here. We're going to build our perfect F1 driver, which could be really interesting. We've got eight categories. We're just going to use current drivers with this. And we're going to pick a driver for each category. The rule being we can't have a driver in multiple categories, which is, I've discovered making this a lot more difficult and a lot more of a challenge, which is a good thing. The categories we've got are raw pace, race IQ. overtaking, defending, consistency, tire management, wet weather driving and mental strength.

So we'll see if we can come to some sort of consensus maybe, but we do have our own individual lists. So Sam, who gets the nod for raw pace? I'm glad we started off with this one. I'm glad I get so first. I've gone with Max for Step and boy, he's quite quick in everything he ever does. And you know what? He's pretty much the only driver that I went,

would happily put in any of these categories without hesitation. So I work with this raw pace. So quite easy one for me. It's similar logic for Vestappen, which is why I've got him elsewhere. I don't have him here at raw pace. Instead, this is where I've got Shaolokla. Boy, he's very, very quick, especially over one lap. The pole to win margin still makes me cry a lot of the time.

But that raw pace has always been there and will be there for some time, I think, in F1. So yeah, Charlerclair gets the nod for me at raw pace. Harry? I've agreed with Ben, sadly.

I've gone for Charlotte Claire. And it is, it's just because the sheer rawness of his pace. That's a bright point. It's raw. Yeah, exactly.

Gordon Rousy would be proud. Yeah, he's very, very quick, is that boy. Where there may be some areas that let him down, raw pace is not, there's not one of them.

Race IQ, Sam. Who have you gone for here? George! I've given it to Roussel. Jorge Roussel himself. You hear a lot of radio from George, and we do take the Mickey out of him a lot of four-seg radio.

There are a lot of times that he is thinking about four steps and hang up everyone else. Is this the right strategy? Are we going on the right ties? Do I have to pick? Can I pull this one out a bit longer? That's go.

No. Are we cranking again? What's happening? No, we're not doing that anymore. Roger, boy. Get out of here. I know we got disqualified for it, but it's got a rule break anymore. But the strategy in Belgium was fantastic. And you hear this a lot from George.

So I do think, again, I can only put one driver in one category. So I had to weigh this one up. But I think he's a pretty smart cookie in the way he drives a Formula One car. Harry, who have you got for race IQ? This is tough because there's one driver I really want to put here, but I might save them. I've actually got, and I think very similar lines is it? Can I just clarify Are these current F-1 drivers we're using?

Only current, yes. Fine. George Russell then. Who were you going to pick? I was going to get for Jensen Button because I think very similarly those two think the way around a race show or, you know, J.B. did.

But yeah, George Russell is my shout. I think he is constantly thinking. Sometimes I'd say to his detriment, but most of the time not. he's out thinking, outsmarting most of the drivers on the grid, an exception to a couple. Russell was a contender for me, but I did go for someone else. And the way I like in this is, you know, when you're put in, you kind of dropped into the deep end, that's kind of how you learn best and how you develop your skills best.

It's a bit like learning a foreign language. Like the easiest way to do it is just to be dropped into an immersive situation and actually have to learn. And that's why I've got Carlos Sines here at Race IQ because... he's had to do a lot of, or he had to do a lot of his own strategy when he was at Ferrari. He was almost forced into it. And I think he was very good at it,

like raising some very good points over Team Radio in a way that LeCler maybe never did and maybe doesn't continue to do. But yeah, I had Russell in contention, but I went for Carlos Seines here. overtaking, Harry, have you got? Overtaking, I have gone for Lewis Hamilton. I think there,

There are a couple of contenders for this, but I've already used up Charlotte-Clair. And I could have potentially put Oscar Piastri, but I think Lewis Hamilton can still race better than pretty much anyone on the grid. And clearly so. So I've gone to Hamilton. You said you could have had Oscar Piastri. I do have Oscar Piastri here. Lovely.

Some of his moves last year, I'm thinking particularly, I remember lap one against Charles Lecler at Monze? a backer. Well, that's another one though. Yeah, two years ago. That was a really clinical move to get the race win in the end. It is clinical. It comes back to that word. Like, he is so good at just going up to the back of a driver and just getting that move done first or second time of asking. There's no wasted time with Oscar Piastri. So whilst Hamilton, very effective overtaker, of course, that's why I've gone for the Australian. Sam? I have three names that came to mind. You've mentioned two of them. I'm going for the third. You've already said to him for something else. Charlotte Claire gets my overtaking.

I need to prove one example, go and watch his overtake of George Russell at Suzuki. That was phenomenal. And the boy can place to move on anyone and make it look very exciting. So, yeah, I mean, he's got raw pace, but I think he's better at getting past because most of the time,

the Ferrari's good enough to be at the front anyway. So he's going to get past a lot of people. He does it excellently well. where there is attacking, there must be defending. So, Harry, who is the best defender you've got here? This gets tougher as we go along, doesn't it? Defender, I've gone for Carlos Sines. And whilst they may, I will admit,

there may be other better defenders out there. I'm thinking back to his Singapore, 2023 win, which was superb. And I know Singapore's tough to do overtake. but he had like two cars behind him for, no, three cars, I should say, behind him for a chunk of laps. So, yeah, the smooth operator is a smooth defender. Sam, have you got?

There's only been one man in modern Formula One history that's earned an entire nickname for his defensive capabilities. And that is the Ministry of Defence. And that is Sergio Perez, who picks up my defensive record. If you got getting past him, he's going to take you off instead. I honestly think that's the only way to do it. And he's done it in multiple different times. teams, multiple different races, the guy is lethal when it comes to going wheel to wheel,

and he regularly comes out on top. So, yeah, I've got Sergio in defending. And my pick, different from both of you, unfortunately, hasn't had a lot of defending to do this year. But I think back to Hungary 2021, and I still think he is class of the field, Fernando Alonzo. I think his defensive work is very, very clever, very savvy. So I'd like to see more of it because that would mean he's actually in contention for something that isn't P-21. But I've still got Alonzo for that. Sam, consistency. Ah, well, a name that's already been mentioned for me, I've gone with the smooth operator, Carlos Sanks.

He was never the top of the field, right? But with Sanks, you so rarely ever got a bad race, a Dudd race, where he would cause an unnecessary issue or be out of a place by a long way in Ferrari so regularly finishing in the top three or four, never too far behind Charlerc. The same again when he was at McLaren. The same again when he was at Renault. He was so regularly delivering just strong, consistent performances. How regularly do we look at Carlos Sites to just go,

we've been all over the place. You've just not been good enough here. And yet you're amazing. I just, I don't think it ever happens with him. I think he really always brings a top performance, which might not be the very top of the game, but I can't pick certain drivers because they've really been picked up. So for me, Carlos Sikes.

That's the way the game works. And that's why there's a few, a few options for me to choose here. I did seriously consider Nico Holkenberg for this. I am going to go with, I'm going to go with George Russell since I haven't used him yet. He hasn't had a race-winning car up until this year very consistently. But if you look at the last couple of years,

fourth, fourth, fifth, fifth. Like just every week, it seems like getting the most out of that car, very consistent. It plays a little bit into the race IQ, because there is some crossover here as well. But his consistency is up there. with the best, I think. Harry, who have you got here?

I have gone for Max Verstappen. The man is just consistently quick. And again, you could put Max Verstappen in probably all of these, maybe. But I've gone for him for consistency. He is superbly consistent. Even in a car that's bad at the moment, he's still consistently good. Do you remember, I can't remember what Grand Prix was a couple of years ago, and he had a stint, and his, like, his times across like 20 laps or something stupid were just identical.

It's like 0.1 between all the laps or something. Yeah. So it's a very good shout there, no doubt. Tire management, Sam, have you got here? Tire management. There's a meme about one of our drivers. That's because he either gets pissy on the first lap or the last lap. And that's a smell of come.

It just keeps that rubber rolling. does all got con. And you know what? Fair play to you, sang. He's done a great job. Keep that. And it can last all race long.

Is any of this podcast usable? It's just pure filth. It might be like... Euphemism after euphemism. Mate, we started off with who's on top, Albinore sides. It was never getting better from there. We are missing a race, okay?

We really are missing a lot of races. Yeah. Harry, have you gone? for. I've gone for Sergio Perez for tire management. Whilst maybe it doesn't matter quite so much as it used to in like the sort of 2011-2012 era of F1, Sergio Perez could make a set of tie to go for pretty much the entire race back when you really didn't want them to. Superb. Superb at tire management. I think he often gets overlooked on that one. So I've gone for Perez. I also went for Perez. I think an underrated shout here is

Alex Albin. He's very good on tire management over the last couple of years. But Perez, yeah, particularly for his work in the mid-2010s, like he was exceptional in that department. Wet weather racing, Sam. I haven't mentioned him yet on my list.

This one goes to Lewis Hamilton. He's a rangmaster. You only have to go back to, you know, Silver Sun 2008 for his second season where he absolutely dominates the field in one of the worst weather gramprees were seeing in a long time. regularly one of the top of the field across his whole career, whenever there's a drop of rain on the racetrack, he always excels.

Very rarely makes a proper mistake. The one I can think of that stands out the most was in 2021 in Imola, where he got quite lucky with a big of a red flag situation that meant he kind of got saved there. So even then, didn't face the consequences. So for me, yeah, I've got Lewis. I've got Vestappan, Brazil from a couple of years ago,

Brazil from a couple more years ago before that. that. Germany 2019, he's had some exceptional races in the rain. So I've got Vostappen here.

Harry? Well, I've already used Verstappen, and I've already used Lewis Hamilton, so I've obviously got to go for Lant and Stroll. Oh, of course.

Yeah. The stats don't like, so, obviously he's not a better wet weather driver than Lewis Hamilton Mastafen. People don't come for me.

But stroll is a detail. something happens. Like prime center when the heavens open. Something happens to him. And he's really good in the wet. We saw his first ever poll at Turkey a couple of years ago. There was, I think his first year, was it in the Williams and Monza where it was

hooning it down. Yeah. He was superb. Blown a hooly. It was, thank you, it was blown a hooty. Yeah, he's just really good and underrated somewhat in wet weather conditions. So whilst he wouldn't have been my first. First choice, he's my last choice.

And lastly, mental strength, Sam. I had to leave him for this. There's only one man that's been vibrating to the finish line. That is Fagando, a long son. What's happening? Good. Fagando, mate, you've got been through more than anyone else. You deserve the mental strength.

The fact that you keep turning back up with a smile and going, I can win this. One day, my friend, I hope you do win this. But, yeah, he gets through everything. This is where I've got Lewis Hamilton. He's had to overcome, I would say, a lot more than the average driver to be where he is and to be as successful as he has been. Yeah, experience comes into this as well, which is why Alonzo is such a good shout here as well.

They've just seen more and done more in the sport. But yeah, I've got Lewis Hamilton. Harry? I've gone for Fernando Alonzo on this one. not only the trials and tribulations that he's faced as an F1 driver, just even in just in the span of a race, the amount of capacity that man has to, and this is why I struggle because I could have put him at, you know,

the race IQ one easily, but the amount of capacity he has to think about what literally everyone else is doing, including all the other drivers, his team, the chef, what his partner might be making for dinner that night. It's unbelievable. That is mental strength. Until you hear him finally cracking, he goes, you keep talking, I'll unplug the radio.

Yeah, or this is where it was better. Like last year with the, was it last year when he had a bad back in Brazil or something, it was like, Oh, yeah. I'm back. I'll know for that. I know.

Oh, he's finally been broken. No. Do you know what is absolutely fascinating? We've had eight categories there that we've all picked our drivers for. The reigning world champion and the current championship leader this year do not appear on any of our lists. You know what? I think Kimmy's all right with that. I imagine the reigning world champ might have something else to say about it though. I was trying to find a category and nothing opened up for him. Not that there wasn't someone who I preferred for it. Sorry, Lando.

There you go. No, it was only one McLaren driver mentioned in one category at all. Did neither of you say Piastri anywhere? Nope. That makes sense. You do both hate him. Yeah. Good. Well, I've got, the results of that were very interesting.

I'll be intrigued to hear what people think of our respective perfect drivers. But before we go, there's just a little bit of time left for us to go through the greatest segment in all of podcasting. It is time for the... Elby question of the week. Week. So many things to choose from in terms of what could have been question of the week, given the amount of news there is out there in the F1 world right now. We decided to pick something based on GP Lambiasi and Max Verstappen,

and it's quite simply name a better duo than Vestappen and his race engineers. So we said this before we started, Sab. There are some exceptional answers this week. yeah you know sometimes you do have to like be careful what you're picking and choosing and there are a few that are good laugh i was laughing all the way to the bank uh reading the comments this time but we had a lot of bloody comments what were you cash in mate i was cashing in jokes vibes oh lovely cashing in good times um i am quite disappointed though they've got a single person has said frank gambings on the uh the comics because that is like i can't get in chiro of

course so your first question of the week's submission is one that wasn't made Yes, it's my own. Could we just caveat the ones that just can't make it on? Yeah, Miguel, what are you saying it, mate? Yeah, I mean, yeah, there's many. Many that can't be said in a public forum, but... Not that guy and not that guy. You too know who you are.

Or establishment or... Yeah, anyway. I'm going to shout out... First of all, I'm going to shout out my cousin here who's just said, Harry and Hopium. So thank you for that. You're always on it. Walking around. Yeah.

Like Darth Vader of F1, you are. Darth opium. That's what to come. Oh, good. No, make it end. Really enjoyed this one from Louis. We've said, Sites and Albums last place at Bahrain,

showing the seat. It's good to go that you've been watching the same race as we have. Yeah. One from Sean, which is DJs and saying, put your hands up. it's really really funny that one I'm going to have to reig it out because it ain't going to end up me going to be so much but Shane said interligal saying it's meaguing up between two

legs very good very good grey primordial soup I'm not sure you realise what a duo is because you've said Ben Sam and Harry that's a trio Ben Sam is actually one person it's Ban Sam and Harry

Ben Sam I love being the story second part of being Sam. DG, my friend. I'm not sure I liked stroll and jam. It's a famous duo. To be fair, quite a few people said this, but Finn said Fernando Alonzo and Fernando Alonzo.

I mean, you're not wrong, are you? You're not wrong. Liam said Esteban, I've got a five second penalties, which is classic, classic one. I want to find the one that I want to read out because it was really good. I'm going to give you credit.

but someone said the gingerbread man and mungo just to make sure we get our now weekly or bi-weekly reference to the Star Wars prequels Uncle Timmy said Anakin Skywalker and Sand because of course hate sand Brant said Brundle and Shrek too

great combo So good. Ali said, Briatorre in hugs. Sarah also said the water and the seat. Yes. Nice reference to Charlotte Claire being full of water. I think my last one goes to late barking, who said Harry and the inability to pick an unchosen number.

Dude Rainbow said, Shagis's mouth and shutting it, please. Yes. Yappa, yapper, yapper. Yappa, yapper. It's not a lot. I like that. That's so good.

And final one from me, from Role, I don't know how to pronounce that, but just saying a hole in the ceiling and handyman Keith, very old references there. Chief, the best handyman. But didn't fix the hole in your ceiling?

No, he did not. He is the best. He is the best. Didn't do what handyman should do, but he's the best. Keith has got a lot to deal with, Right. Got a lot going on.

Oh, I mean, I think that's probably our cue to get the hell out of here. Sam, fortunately, we've got the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the weekend that we get to discuss. So that's going to be interesting. I'm excited to see what takes place with Saudi reinvesting its own Grand Prix, and we get a spectacular result, I'm very sure. Thank you to those of you. It feels like we're in the winter break again. We're having to really get through these week or week concerts.

But you, you are legends who stick around and listen. to whatever this episode has been, you're the real MVP's. You're the ones that we love. If you're even more great content outside of what feels like a real season, check out that Patreon. And Ben, I believe there's a little quiz

occurring on Discord. There is a little Discord quiz happening on Saturday. So that will be 9pm British time and you can work out what the time is wherever you are in the world. Just a quick note to people.

The first question. It's going to be like, like 1am for some of you. Like I don't have that control of time that it can be a great convenient time for everyone. I try my best but I don't I don't yet control time.

Control the time, Ben. Control the time, you moron. But it'll be a lot of fun, I promise. Yeah, got at 1am though. Yeah. Does that help as a plug? No. I've enjoyed letting that settle. I've really enjoyed letting that settle at the silence there. Thanks for

this game. In the meantime, I've been Sam Sage. I've been Ben Hocking. I've been besmirched. And remember, keep breaking late. Hashtag get besmirched. Get besmirched.