F1 gets a SECOND chance | F1 Explained & Simplified Rule Changes | 2026 Miami GP Preview

[00:00:00] Spring Break's over, guys. It's time to get back to class now. It's time to get back to school. It's time to go racing again in Formula 1. Five weeks of not going racing. It doesn't really feel like it, but here we are, and we are back with the Miami Grand Prix. Can you believe it? We have been going to Miami every single year since 2022. This is now one of the long-standing events on the Formula 1 calendar. I know, not comparatively, but it is now a mainstay.

[00:00:30] And we're back, Kunal, with so many questions. But the first one that I want to put forward to you is, what did you do during the Spring Break? Wow, okay. Well, for starters, I have a new garden. So we've got a garden in the Spring Break. And we're just spending a lot of time with the family. So I actually enjoyed the Spring Break while, of course, following what's happening. Because you said something very interesting. It's time to go back racing.

[00:00:54] Well, are we really going to have racing as we remember it so well? That's the main thing. Of course, you and I have been digging into what the rule changes have been. What does it mean on track? And trust me, my favorite moment in this break was watching Sebastian Vettel run the London Marathon in less than three hours.

[00:01:16] To me, and I'll tell you why that blew my mind. Yes, we've seen that graphic, you know, as Sebastian always consistent with his stints. He was consistent with every, you know, time taken per mile to reach where he did. But that's not the only reason why I was excited by that. Yours, a former world champion, not active driver, just getting up and making a dash for it. That's literally what Seb makes it feel like.

[00:01:41] Because why don't you and I think of all the Sebastian Vettel images that we have in our memory and join us all you audience people completely full of aura. It's aura. When you think of when you think of a fit Formula One driver, Sebastian Vettel is not the first name that comes to your mind. It's not to say he's not fit. But that's my point. He doesn't he doesn't look it. But just what he got up and he said, I'm going to make a run for it and sub three hour marathon. I loved it.

[00:02:09] Well, he's he's from the last generation. He's not from this generation of drivers who will be the brand ambassador of L'Oreal. L'Oreal. Vettel doesn't have to do up his hair all the time and wear Richard Meele like Charles Leclerc does, who, by the way, is now a brand ambassador for L'Oreal. That's been announced during the spring break. Vettel's more more normal. He'll he'll wear a normal T-shirt. He'll just go out there, have a run, be one of the normal human beings in our society. Whereas Formula One drivers now, according to Netflix, are well, what do we what do we say?

[00:02:38] European. Hot, white, European. Aggressively heterosexual. I was I was so dismayed when I saw that. I was just like, what can you know? Let's flip it. Firstly, wrong information. Not all drivers are European. Thank you, Lance Stroll. I wouldn't imagine I'd have said that. Thank you, Franco Colapinto. Thank you. Even Isaac Harja, to put it that way. Thank you, Yuki Tsunoda, even though he's not on track. And if you depend on who, depending on who you ask, even Arvid Lindblad.

[00:03:06] Yes, European, but roots all over. Who else is not European? But regardless, what the hell was that Netflix? And for all of you people listening in, I would recommend you go to Netflix's social media pages and check out this clip of a lady. I don't know what show it's from. I don't know what the context behind of it is. I know all of that matters. But just the way they've portrayed Formula One. I know at this point, I sound like, or rather we sound like oldies, Kunal. And we're like, how dare you do this to something that we love?

[00:03:35] But that was ridiculous. And that's not something I'm assuming. And someone will flip it. Okay. And I'm not saying that there's an audience for everything. But if you flip it, imagine you sell women's sport with similar comparisons. I think that's just unfair. That's just unfair to the athletes. That's just unfair to people who work hard showing up, you know, with all the stresses they go through with racing or whichever sport it is. It's just, I don't even know why. Anyway, that's what Netflix did.

[00:04:05] Yeah. Oh, sure. Let's not give them more airtime or should we? But what else happened in the spring break? Because Formula One has announced changes. We'll get to that. Even a Dominic Ali had two very powerful interviews, at least in his head. We'll get to that. What else? The Indian sports minister again made a statement. 2027 is when India is going to host Formula One. Please, Mr. Sports Minister, just look at the calendar, man. It's a long way away.

[00:04:35] But I'll tell you what, I went digging more, Samuel. And I'm not saying it's right or wrong. But his point is, if you're cancelling races, you need countries that are safe to go racing at. And if you continue to cancel more races, well, you're welcome to race in India next year. So, yeah, there we go. He's right that way. So, a lot of his comments were taken out of context. I'm just adding that context. And we would love to have Formula One back that way. But Formula One instead has decided to go to Portimao, which is amazing. The Portuguese Grand Prix will be back.

[00:05:04] And if you know me, that's one of my top three circuits in the world. In fact, Portimao for me beats Spa. It's a controversial take. But I could drive in Portimao for the rest of my life. Spa, probably a level below that. It's such a roller coaster. It's an incredible track. And we're also going back to Istanbul Park Kunal, which is another brilliant circuit. So, that way, for all the damage that Formula One has done to its old fans with all the new regulations, at least it's trying to win us old fans back by adding these two amazing race tracks.

[00:05:34] Istanbul is where I made my Formula One debut. So, for me, it was like, yeah, yeah, I get to relive all those memories. It's a beautiful racetrack, beautiful country. 2010 in May. So, now almost 16 years ago. Your debut was the race when Vettel and Weber crashed. But I don't remember it for that. I remember it for the Thursday fan park where, you know, drivers would come. And there was a fan stage. And you'd get to go and autograph.

[00:06:02] And I was just casually standing there, observing how the team does things. And suddenly walks up. A seven-time world champion. Looks at me. The only seven-time world champion at that time. And remember, we are in team uniform. So, I was in the Force India uniform. He was in the Mercedes uniform. Yes, I'm talking of Michael Schumacher. And he just, you know, walks up casually, you know, winks at me saying, what's up? And I'm just frozen saying, wait a second. Wait a second. He made the first move, is it?

[00:06:31] So, that's the memory. And that's when I'm like, okay. Istanbul Park. You should never go off this surface. Jealous. I'm jealous. Kunal, you got to meet Michael Schumacher. I am so badly jealous. Well, what do I say? What do I say? It's only fair that I segue on to other stuff. Because I can't live with this feeling of jealousy anymore. So, what else happened in Formula 1 during the spring break? Well, Liam Lawson did what I did. He went dirt biking. And that was incredible.

[00:06:58] Like, it's so cool to see more Formula 1 drivers go dirt biking too. It is the most fun thing in the world to do, as I can now vouch for after my first time. It's unbelievable. We need more Formula 1 drivers going dirt biking. And we, what else did we have? We had lots of off-track moments, right? I think, oh, Franco Collor Pinto did a demo run in Argentina and 500,000 people showed up. That's 5,000. 500,000 people for a demo run. And Argentina is nuts.

[00:07:27] And imagine if the Argentinians want the Argentinian Grand Prix to come back on the calendar. The earliest they could get it is 2030. Because all 24 slots on the calendar are packed, formed till the 2029 Formula 1 season. Which means, who are we kicking out, Kunal? Who are we kicking out? If we have to kick out one track on the calendar to get Argentina on the calendar. Because now we've got, actually, let me rephrase that question. Who are we kicking out if we've got to put Argentina on the F1 calendar?

[00:07:56] The one circuit, who do you remember? I would have said Paul Ricard. But that's anyway off the circuit. That's anyway going on. I don't know. I actually, let's see how Madring goes. But I know Spain is a big market. So even if Madring in Madrid is, you know, not going to live up to it. They've got Barcelona. Sanfut have said, we are leaving. We're going to, you know, look towards more American motorsport where real racing happens. Who else is, I don't know. I wouldn't be able to pick one. Because there's Austria. There's Silverstone. There's Monaco.

[00:08:25] There is Spa. There's Hungary. There's, I don't know. I guess so. You know, guys, when we were planning this episode and we made the thumbnail. And you'll see the thumbnail is not what we normally have, right? Because I designed it. And I told Samuel, you know, I can't see any part of the track. And Samil's response was, do you really think the track matters, Kunal? I was like, yeah, that's true. And anyway, so sticking more. The track doesn't matter.

[00:08:53] In Miami, honestly, the way things are, the track just does not matter. It doesn't. It's all about everything else around it. And by the way, just to put it out there, we're going racing in a country that's actively engaged to start a war. And that just doesn't sit right with me. That's also, that's also one more thing. Let's just put it out there. We're racing in a country that's perpetrated. And Russia lost its slot thanks to doing the same thing. So why not three slots could open up? Anyway, let's not do geopolitics here. Karna Rohan is here. He's saying Red Bull Ring should be off the calendar.

[00:09:23] No, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's the Wimbledon of Formula One. You can't take that off. No, Red Bull Ring's a good circuit. It's a really good circuit. And that's, it always makes for the best racing. No, we're not taking Red Bull Ring. And Bharat is here saying the episode is so needed. It feels like a long, very long break. Yes, it does seem like that. And, you know, the worst part is we're going to have Miami and then three weeks to Canada. So it's not that, you know, May is going to fill us up with a lot of motorsport action. But there was, there was, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[00:09:52] May has got Indy 500. I was waiting for you to cue that. May has got more MotoGP. Is there a WRC race in May? I don't know. But there's more racing and my staffer will be doing his thing anyway, right? But a lot more happened in the break because Ferrari had a filming day, which I think was very nice and cheeky of them to plan because they tested upgrades in that filming day. And I believe Red Bull also had a filming day and they tried and tested their version of the Macarena way. Isn't that sounding like fun?

[00:10:19] And since we mentioned Alpine, Alpine did a two-day test in Sunfood. Interestingly, of course, Kushmaini was there, but they ran the old car, Samuel. They did not run the 22-25, the ground effect Zira, which means they were running the old car, which also means that, you know, the old cars are... The old, old cars? Yes. Like the 2018 car? Like the 20... Like pre-21 kind of item? Yes, they were running those cars. Oh, man. Yeah. But what else did we have?

[00:10:47] Well, Isak Hajar met Messi and Isak Hajar was on the pitch at an MLS game and he was the guest coin tosser and Lionel Messi was there. And Ocon and Gasly went to watch PSG versus Liverpool at the Parc des Princes. And I was commentating on that game. And did you say, Hey guys, I know a lot more about those two people than most other people in that arena out there. Did you actually call them out on... My co-commentator was commentating in that moment and I was like, Give me the mic.

[00:11:17] Give me the mic. I want to talk about them. I want to talk about them. It's accurate. I couldn't. But it's so cool to see. Lewis Hamilton went onto the beach with his girlfriend and they were snapped. Wow. So that is officially, officially happening, which is great. Christian Horner went to MotoGP last weekend with Stefano Dominicali, who's of course, you know, Liberty Media owns both of them. And I was just wondering, Christian Horner, he's saying he's got the millions and billions and people willing to invest and so on. And Gunther Steiner said,

[00:11:47] Now is the best time to invest in MotoGP before Liberty Media does their magic. Could Christian Horner become the first team principal of a MotoGP and a Formula One team? Samil. Please, please, Christian, put some money in. Honestly, Christian Horner, if there's something you want to do in MotoGP, buy the KTM team out. You know, KTM, now owned by Bajaj India, just don't want to run the racing team anymore. Hunt for a prospective owner and new bikes. So Christian Horner, please, it's your chance.

[00:12:16] Buy a MotoGP team. Race against Gunther Steiner. Won't that be fun? You've done that before. You've beaten him before. Exactly. Exactly. And the biggest storium of the world, Jean-Pierre Lambiasi, he's now going to leave Red Bull Racing at the end of the 28th season. Yes, that is correct. We actually did a special episode about that specifically. So a lot has happened. And if we can just summarize and move on to the next point, which is what is going to be different?

[00:12:45] Why is this going to be a new season? Literally, Samil. Unless there was an epiphany, and you remembered another off-track moment that happened. Yes. You spoke to Dave Greenwood from Alpi, and I spoke to Callum Nicholas. The mechanic from Red Bull. Exactly. We've not been quiet in the meantime, guys. We certainly have been active in our Formula One stories. And there's a lot to talk about. And then Kimi Antonelli, George Russell, and Alex Alban have given shout-outs to the Indian fan base via fan code,

[00:13:14] who I believe are doing fantastic stuff with content and, you know, with commentary. Yeah, there's a lot of good stuff happening. And by the way, Kunal and Chetan Narula will be on the Hindi commentary booth, or rather in the Hindi commentary booth for the Miami Grand Prix this weekend. So good luck to them because they're going to have a late night this time. And then three weeks later, it's going to be me in Canada who's going to have a late night. But it'll be a good weekend. By the way, sprint weekend too. So let's not forget that. Yes. But why don't we summarize

[00:13:42] what are the rule changes that... Firstly, why? Why change is the question. It's the FIA have looked at the first three races. And I've said there are tweaks to be made or adjustments to be made to the regulations, which, according to them, were always part of the plan. Because inevitably, when you come up with such a complex change, there are going to be things. So we figured, Kunal, that the biggest problem with the new regulations, above and beyond everything, was qualifying, wasn't it? Yes, it was qualifying

[00:14:10] where drivers were not being pushed to the limits. There were a lot of battery saving that was happening because from tires not lasting a full lap, we ended up with batteries that couldn't last up a full lap as well unless you did some trickery with recharge and discharge and so on. So it was qualifying. And then, of course, was fast closing speeds, which is what we saw with Colapinto and Behrman, the crash we saw in Suzuka. So it was also down to safety. And in general, the FIA who owns Formula One as a world championship,

[00:14:39] have it within their rights, have it within their powers to change and tweak the rules to make sure that Formula One ultimately races Formula One class and not Formula Two. So they are trying to tweak everything to make sure that we still get the best, most purest and the fastest form of racing we can. Most purest? Well, that's... That's... That... That's like littering inside a house and saying, oh, I'm trying to keep it clean. By adding the batteries,

[00:15:08] we'll not come to the most purest form at all. But hey, regardless, that's my heart speaking. Let's now switch to the rationale and the truth behind what's exactly going down. So super clipping is now more powerful. For all of you who didn't know what super clipping is, it's what happens when a Formula One car is already at full throttle, but then there's no battery left. So the car will just accelerate, but accelerate slower. Now that is also a means to recharge the battery.

[00:15:36] Earlier, recharging within that capacity was limited to 250 kilowatts. Now that's been increased to 350 kilowatts. So theoretically, you can recharge more battery while you are at full throttle and your battery is completely finished. So that's one means. So by that logic, Kunal, drivers would rather be on full throttle than lift off and lift off to recharge their batteries. You know what, Samul? I have taken Stefano Dominicali's interviews very, very seriously. What did he say? You are thinking like an engineer.

[00:16:13] Truth be told, let's summarize. You know, you're right with the numbers, 250 kilowatts, 350 kilowatts, you know, 9 megajoules, 7 megajoules, all of that. People don't care. All that matters is you will have more chances to, what do you say? You will have more chances to recharge your battery over a lap, but you will also be using lesser of your battery through the lap. So the cars will get a couple of seconds slower. Please don't complain about that next

[00:16:41] because I'd rather have slower cars, but drivers being pushed to the limits than the other way around. Yeah. Yeah. All in all, they're going to try this and see how it goes. There will be changes to how start line procedures happen. So if your driver's having a bad start, at least it'll warn off people around with a light saying, hey, bad start, bad start, avoid me, you know, like a Mario Kart thing. I don't know if that's a Mario Kart thing, but yeah, that's there. Because in Japan, we also had the Mario Kart crew out there promoting the movie itself. So very cheeky of Formula One.

[00:17:11] But you know, the more I read about these rules, Samuel, I have a theory and I don't know what you think about it. Formula One drivers are no longer Formula One drivers. To me, they are Formula One operators. They are operators who've got a type rating to drive a Formula One class car. Okay. What I mean by that is when you think of a pilot, a pilot has all that technology, right? But the machine is doing the flying and you've got the type rating. Pardon me, all the pilots. I'm not one,

[00:17:39] but largely a lot of the pilots procedures are written. You have a book, you've got to go through all the procedures and that's what Formula One seems like. What it could mean is so long as you've got a super license, which means you're type rated to drive a Formula One car. So you've become a Formula One car operator versus a Formula One car driver. And I'm hoping the rules in Miami take that away and bring the shift back to focus on driving. 8500 this week, guys. It's an incredible race where drivers have to do

[00:18:08] 500 miles of racing over four hours. It's consistent stress, fueling, tires, everything comes in the mix. My mind immediately, when I hear these things, when I hear the complications, when I hear the batteries, when I hear all of this. Now, in the first three weeks, I was obviously very positive about it because the racing was exciting. The more I stepped back, the more I started thinking, I can't call it the pinnacle of motorsport anymore. Formula One is just doing its own thing, which is fine, but it's not the top of the mountain. It's a separate mountain.

[00:18:38] Let's challenge you this weekend. That's what Formula One is up for because you are in the same boat as all of us, including the Verstappens and Hamiltons and Norris of the world saying this is no longer the pinnacle. So let's hope that Formula One is able to convince you and all of us. And like I said, you're a driver and not an operator. And I love that. I read about it somewhere and I love the analogy saying you're a pilot, but hey, actually the plane is just flying itself. Similarly, hey, you're a Formula One driver, but the plane is or the car is just driving itself and all you're doing is, you know, following all the racing lines

[00:19:08] as you would on a map where you have a GPS to say, okay, you know, fly straight for 500 miles and then turn three degrees left or whatever. Yeah. On to sporting things. What else do we have? Yeah, time to swallow our feelings and be like, let's see. Let's see what happens this weekend. Like we'll be watching and we'll have a lot of time to watch because we've got free practice one now extended to 90 minutes specifically for Miami. And we've also got

[00:19:37] a sprint race this weekend. So two qualifying sessions, two starts, two races, always better. And that brings us on to Miami. Now, when the circuit came onto the calendar, Kunal and I, among many other fans, were the first people to absolutely mock it. Like a race in a car park, fake marina, fake boats, what the hell's going on here? But after a long while, I really can look back Kunal and be like, this is one of the circuits that has consistently delivered good racing on the Formula One calendar.

[00:20:07] I don't remember a bad Miami Grand Prix. I only remember lots of drama. I remember lots of overtakes. If I open up the track map and tell you where exactly, I love turn 17, 18, 19, like that, that slow hairpin, the final three corners of the circuit where you have a passing opportunity and then that swooping section leading up to the start finish. I quite like the rundown of turn 11, 12 too because the straight curves in, you've got that passing chance. And then when you come to the fake marina,

[00:20:36] there's always someone willing to go around the outside there and then they have to back off because they come to that little underpass chicane. So it's a, it's a circuit with character, even though it's not traditional character like, like we have at Spa and Monza and Soundfort, but it's got its own thing. It does. And you know, fake marina, they, at least they've not wasted water filling it up, but now they put a fake yacht out there. There's a Formula One sponsor that's built a fake yacht. So literally you will buy real tickets to sit at the fake marina in a fake yacht

[00:21:05] to watch fake racing this Sunday if the rules do not, do not deliver what they intend or they are intending to deliver. But yeah, it's a fun circuit. I love the Mickey Mouse stuff. Turns 14, 15, 16 onwards, you know, we're turning left, right? And then the old cars look like, you know, really obese humans trying to just about turn. I'm eager to see how these new, lighter, agile. They'll be better. They'll be better for sure. Yeah. Do you think they can race

[00:21:34] through that section? No, I still think it's a single file section. I don't believe you'll be able to make an overtake, but I think you'll be able to close in up onto someone and try and make something out of it. So it's a nice track, I'd say. And I love that it's a vibe. There are lots of celebrities. Tell me one celebrity you'd love to spot in Miami Somal. Kodak Black, it's his home. Do you know Kodak Black? I do not, but I know another celebrity who you love, DJ Khaled. He's coming this weekend. Yeah? He is? Oh, wow. Guys, watch out for the DJ Khaled content.

[00:22:04] It will be mind-blowing to see how DJ Khaled approaches it. DJ Khaled's one of those people who you always look at and go, I wonder what's on his mind. And he'll answer that question for you within the next 10 seconds. That'll be, that'll be amazing. I really want to see Kodak Black over there at Miami. It's his home city. It's, he lives close by. One of my favorite rappers. He brings in the energy. So it'll be messy. Karan Rohan is like, messy. Messy could be there. Why not? Not that I think he's there, but okay. I mean, I've received the talent attendance

[00:22:33] roster from FOM, which is why I know that Khaled. Donald Trump? JD Vance? No, they're not. Donald Trump might just show up and then he won't be in the talent attendance thing. He'll just show up last minute saying, it's a real race if I wave the flag. Maybe I want to drive one of those cars. He did show up in the McLaren carriages last year and McLaren issued a statement saying this doesn't talk anything about our political alignments. He's just shown up there. What else do we have? It'll be the, it'll be the biggest middle finger to the world, right? If Donald Trump is at a Formula One race,

[00:23:03] like given the oil and energy crisis and Donald Trump's at a Formula One race, that'll be, I would pay any amount of money just to see that happen. It would be unbelievable. It may well just happen. It may well just happen. What else are we expecting to see? Let's, let's open it up because there'll be celebrities. There will be lots of influencers, lots of content. By the way, Samuel and I were invited to host the Miami Fan Fest. So we would have been doing this episode in Miami, but for different logistical reasons

[00:23:32] that Samuel just about hinted to, we couldn't end up being in Miami, but we are doing this here either way. What else? You think, let's, let's get to sporting stuff. We've seen three races in 2026. It doesn't seem like that. Seems like a long time ago. All three races, we saw Mercedes winning, but that winning Mercedes pitted under a safety car. So we've had three races, three safety cars, and the Mercedes driver that pitted under the safety car conditions won. What do you think is going to happen in Miami? Will McLaren,

[00:24:02] who said we're bringing an altogether new car to Miami and Canada, will this be their best shot? What about Ferrari? Ferrari is, you know, Frederic Vassour has said, Miami is going to be a new world championship altogether. Will they be in the fight or will Mercedes be running away with it? For starters, McLaren, let's get your car working. So that's, but it did work in the last race in Japan, had it not been for one out of three. They figured it out and they would have won the race had that not been for that safety car, right?

[00:24:32] Oscar Piastri was on that. Well, technical, technical snags can come to anyone at any time. But that could be the same for Mercedes. That could be the same for Mercedes. Hence, my question is, will McLaren be taking the fight to Mercedes or will Mercedes be taking the fight to McLaren and will Ferrari just always, like always be third, which is what is their natural default position? Yeah, big questions. Big questions because everyone's bringing in upgrades. Mercedes are bringing in less than the others

[00:25:01] because they're confident about what they already have. And my thing with upgrades is upgrades are not always upgrades. They are updates, but it'll only classify as an upgrade if they genuinely bring better track performance. And it's conditional. Not every upgrade works. And an important part of an upgrade is to make sure that it correlates with all the other parts and also sinks in well. Like, remember, Mercedes had a new rear suspension midway through last year, which was meant to be an upgrade, but the car just did not perform as consistently because it just didn't sink in well

[00:25:31] with the other parts of the car. So, it'll take time. I still believe opinion. I still believe Mercedes will be by far and away the best. But then, as we've seen in every race so far, Kunal, it's all about the starts. And whoever gets a better start and whoever is lucky with the safety car will find a way up to win. And what Mercedes has to do is just put it up in one and two and run away. Because if they don't, we now know that these cars are so good at following each other and the yo-yo racing that we're now getting to see is so effective at keeping people close together

[00:26:00] that they will get sucked into that mid-pack at least for some time. And if any one driver gets lost, be it Russell or Antonelli, that's it. That's victory for them. That's what will happen. That's what should happen in the summer break or in the spring break, sorry, I'm pretty sure Kimi Antonelli went to a driving school just to understand what's the best way to use a clutch in a race car or in a road car. In the three races, if my memory is correct, he lost 15 positions only at the start. That's an average of five positions every time he started

[00:26:30] or technically there were four starts. So, you know, the average suddenly becomes lesser, three and a half positions or whatever you call it. Yes, it will still be about race starts. It will still be about calling the strategy right. But I get a feeling McLaren with their upgrades will edge ahead of Mercedes. And the big question is will Haas continue to be ahead of Red Bull? Will Alpine continue to be ahead of Red Bull? Red Bull with all the wherewithal and the experience and the technology and all the funding

[00:26:59] and the campuses, what would they have made of this one month's break? And how will they respond? Because they have they have had minnows actually beating them in the first three races. Exactly. Oh, on that front, have you heard about what the FIA has to say about the engine upgrades? What's the acronym that they... It's some goofy... Additional development... Is it UO ENO? What is it?

[00:27:28] Iduo, Audo... Additional development and upgrade opportunities. So, yeah. I love how... And what's the acronym? A duo. A-D-U. So, Kunal, today on the group was like, let's talk about a duo. I'm like, what on earth is this all about? Is this some sort of UFO that's landed or what is this? But, to summarize, it's Formula One's way of making sure that all engine manufacturers are competitive. And Laura McKeys

[00:27:58] has pointed out a very interesting thing that measure... Because Laura McKeys has been with the FIA, he knows how tricky it is to actually measure if every power unit slash engine is equal because they are so complicated. Like, some people have bigger turbos, some have smaller turbos. Some have different ways of routing the exhausts. The others have different ways of doing so. So, it's very tough to measure if an engine is really equal. So, what the FIA are doing, Kunal, is they're measuring the engines just by the pure horsepower they're creating from the internal combustion. So,

[00:28:28] just the fuel going in, just the cylinders working, no batteries, no turbo, none of that stuff. And by that logic, Red Bull Racing apparently have the best engine in Formula One. Can you imagine? And Rudra Pratap Singh is asking exactly that. What is your opinion on the outdoor? It's actually, yeah, we've all made that mistake. It's a duo and who are getting it and all. And does it apply to aero or floor? First things, it is only additional development opportunities

[00:28:57] for the power unit. And within the power unit, specifically, the measurement is around what Samuel said, which is the internal combustion engine or the IC. And there are performance benchmarks. If you're less than 2% away, you get one upgrade this year. If you're between 2% and 4% away, you get a couple of upgrades this year and for next year. And if you're more than 4% away, you actually get to have more upgrades. And that's pretty much where everyone thinks Honda might fall, which is more than the 4% deviation. Now, the tricky part here, and this is what I love

[00:29:27] about Formula 1, is a lot of people I've spoken to don't really know how exactly the FIA is going to calculate it. Because what you said, Samuel, it is on the ICE, but how teams are extracting performance from that ICE and they're saying Ferrari's got a special wing there, which is limiting ICE performance. And maybe it is for these a duo opportunities or whatever you call it. So a lot of politics at play. And Toto Wolff is pissed because he's saying we're not the class of the field, which is anyway annoying

[00:29:56] when he says that. But he's saying the out-duo is for people to catch up and not leapfrog. And this is where I'm going to say an old quote, Toto, this is called motor racing. This is Formula 1. Did you really think that a loophole or a gray area in the regulations like this would not be used to actually leapfrog you? That would be strange, no? It's inevitable. It would. It always happens. Toto, just watch MotoGP. They've got concessions and credits and Ducati are

[00:30:26] losing their world championship because other manufacturers have had more development time and they're going to pit them. And all Ducati do is put their head down and compete. So you've got to put your head down and compete too, my friend. Like it's, it's, it's motor racing. I agree with you. Xauteric is here. He's saying so many fiddly bits to manipulate to fix the rules. Yes. I mean, in a way, I'm glad that, you know, we don't get the 2014 scenario where one power unit is the class of the field and the others are just struggling to catch up and they can't catch up. You're,

[00:30:56] you're letting people, you know, you're giving concessions. It's like that example, you know, the, the weakest students in the class get more tuition time, study time or concessions to write exams and so on. So it's, it's somewhat in that direction. And I think Formula One realizes that they need to have as many cars competitive rather than, you know, a couple of cars running away with it. So that's what we are going to expect. It's what they signed up for. It's what Mercedes among all the other teams signed up for. And since we're talking of Mercedes, Mercedes is yet to win in Miami.

[00:31:25] It's the only circuit on the current calendar where they have never won Somel. And here's another fun part. Four races that we've had in Miami. Four pole positions that did not convert into a win. So a pole sitter has never converted into a win. And to make matters worse, front row is yet to convert into a win as well. Positions that have won are 3, 4, 5 and 9. Okay, so front row is yet to win. Who did it at number 9? Max Verstappen. Who did it

[00:31:55] at number 9 for? That was meant to be a quiz for the audience. But well, you got it now. But yeah, yeah. And also because turn 1 is so tight. It's a place where lots of carnage can happen. And every single Miami Grand Prix from my memory has had some sort of madness heading into turn number 1. Be it at the start of the race or during the race. That's an action spot. But very quickly on a duo or the engine. Before you move, I have the funniest comment of the race weekend already.

[00:32:24] Meghna is here. Hello Meghna. She's saying, where in the rules was it mentioned that Mercedes wanted the uniform to be seen from space. Those hideous purple uniforms. Oh my goodness. Yeah. I almost thought that there was some AI tool or whatever but now that Meghna said it, suddenly I'm like, oh my goodness. What's going on here? Mercedes have purple race suits? Yes. Mercedes has purple race suits. Can you imagine? Sorry guys, the recording has to take a quick detour here

[00:32:54] because your host has not seen. Oh wow. Okay. Megamind. Is that you? Yeah, this looks like Megamind. I have no idea what you're talking about but okay though. Have you not seen the movie Megamind, Kunal? Like the purple alien with a gigantic head? No, I have not. No? What? I don't even know who you're talking about but okay. Is that Cadbury or is that Teletubbies or what is that? Man. Well. Okay. Yes. Well, well, well, it's still better than Ferrari claiming they'll have blue on their car and just having blue

[00:33:24] on the HP. So, fair play. But, which planet are you spinning on, Somel? I have no idea. Okay. Anyway, lot of disjointed conversations. That's what happens when you have a break in Formula 1. But, what else do we have? Somel. Narratives and stories. Let's talk about what to expect this weekend because Kimi Antonelli walks in this weekend as the driver to have won the last two Formula 1 Grand Prix. I did not expect myself to be saying this at this point

[00:33:53] in the year. I have to hold my hand up and say he has outperformed my expectations. However, let's not forget there is still a long year to go and I think the championship starts now. Like, the championship starts at Miami. Ando Norris ended up kickstarting his championship fight in 2024 by winning at Miami and that's when he became a different driver altogether. And that's when McLaren took a step forward and ended up taking their first Constructors World Championship at the end of their year. So, Miami is that point nowadays in the modern Formula 1 world

[00:34:23] where things change in the season and I want to see that change. I want to see more people coming in that fight and I want to see George Russell dominate and bully other drivers because he's got the wealth of experience. He can't let Kimi Antonelli win two in a row and then move forward towards the third. Well, it all depends if his car decides to not let him make overtakes or make overtakes given how drivers are saying that they're ending up making overtakes just because the battery decided to make an overtake

[00:34:52] at that time. You remember that 98% throttle thing? That has also been actually shut down by the FI. I will definitely not go into the details of that because, dear Stefano, you actually reminded us that fans are not engineers, not all of them, which is great. But talking of Antonelli, his first ever pole position in Formula 1, yes, it was a sprint, came in Miami last year. He's actually super comfortable at this track. I would love to see him come in, take pole, go win the race and build on that

[00:35:21] Trivers Championship title gap that he's got with George Russell because everyone's preseason favorite, George Russell, is suddenly no longer the title favorite. In fact, he was not on all, he was not on the podium all three races either. Why not? Are you ditching George Russell as being title favorite after three races? I would say there's more to it than just the driver. There's so many things, even more needing to fire in your direction. There is so much more on the tech, on the luck, on the turbo. Is he still your title favorite? No, he's not.

[00:35:51] I actually have a feeling it's Antonelli and maybe the McLaren drivers are going to jump in as well. What? I get a feeling McLaren is turning this thing around and they have. You have given away, given up on George Russell after three races. That's all this took? Oh man, man, no, this is where we do a see you again and our paths split because I'm still on the George Russell train. Like, he is still incredible. But that's one narrative to watch for. The Ferraris. Can the Ferraris make a meaningful

[00:36:20] step forward? We know they're great at the starts but a race cannot be won at turn one. It can only be lost. So firstly, can they hold on to the positions they end up gaining? That's a story for us to watch. As Kunal mentioned, the McLarens, how far of a step will they take? And apart from them, I'm most agitated about Williams not having a great start. It pains me because they put all their aerodynamic development into 2026. The aero may be good but the car is overweight. Now,

[00:36:50] with the new updates coming to Williams, we shall find out how good they really are and where they truly stand. And I'm genuinely hoping for the sake of Williams, for the sake of Carlos, for the sake of Alex and the harmony in that team which looked amazing three months ago, they better have a good Miami Grand Prix. They better have a good one. Since you're talking of Carlos Sainz, a tip to Daniel, F1 guy, Dan, who writes a lot of interesting stats. He's written this, if Ferrari do not win in Miami on 3rd of May, which is this Sunday,

[00:37:20] it will be 555 days. So that's 555 days since Ferrari's last win, which was courtesy of driver racing car number 55 which is Carlos Sainz. Quiz time. Quiz time. Where did that win come in? If you guys remember. Singapore. No? No. Wasn't it Miami? No. Wow. It was at a place Yes. Nicely done. So,

[00:37:50] wow. Fun times. Okay. What other narratives are we looking out for? Cadillac. Home race for them the first time. New livery coming up. They're doing all the stuff right with marketing. Will they have added more downforce to their car? That's what they've said they always wanted. And who will the American fan actually cheer for? A team that is marketed so well with livery and all the star drivers and the Andretti's of the world or the team that's actually beating a former world champion team in Red Bull which is Haas because the American fans for the first time since ever

[00:38:19] will have two home teams to cheer for. Who would you cheer for? Would cheer for Gazoo Racing Haas because why not? Hey, firstly because they have Gazoo Racing which is so cool and Gazoo Racing makes some of the most incredible rally cars in the world and by the way they've created a new rally car for the US as well so a separate rally car apart from the Yaris that races in WRC which crazy right? So as a racing fan in the US I know which direction you're leaning at and also as you rightly mentioned Kunal Haas are doing incredible

[00:38:47] and Ocon's also had a good start to the year which is good. Behrman has just scored all but one point of Haas Ocon's ST bestie your ST Ocon was better Ocon was better than Suzuka wasn't he? Your ST bestie is top of the list for drivers will be replaced by the end of the season mark my words I know I've said this every episode but yeah No Esteban was doing well like last time on wasn't he? Again Okay you know we can put it Esteban was doing well

[00:39:16] till such time the battery gave up then you'll all everyone will just believe that yeah yeah that's possible till the battery gave up but what about Colton Herta will man will Colton Herta be the most cheered driver in the Cadillac camp? Yeah because Colton Herta is going to be racing Formula 2 which for the first time in its history is going to happen across the Atlantic well not my first time in history you guys will now go back to 1960s and 1980s and be like hey we had Formula 2 level cars

[00:39:46] but the FIA Formula 2 For the longest of times fans think that racing started in 2020 after Drive to Survive so let's stick to that What? There are people who think that? Yes fish it's on Twitter at least What happened at the British jump in 25? Samuel would remember what happened in the 1985 British Hulkenberg was on the podium

[00:40:15] in that place I would guess so but anyway what else do we have we have 45 minutes you know Samuel told me listen it's a 35 minutes that's all we'll do we can't go more it is I told him I promised you five week of a break like Bharat said it's good to be back and suddenly there's 45 minutes in predictions we should take one last question and then go to predictions because Rudra's put in the question right we've been waiting on that besides the car and engine regulations what do you think about the driver market mainly as Fernando Alonso's contract is aspiring and about Arvid

[00:40:45] Advika or Max leaving Formula 1 let's summarize this in three bullet points I don't think Fernando leaves he's openly said he wants to do more I don't think Aston Martin would leave him what do you think about Max leaving Formula 1 I believe if there's any driver's silly season that has to happen any big moves that have to happen it will have to be something to the likes of Max leaving creating that big vacuum within the sport and then suddenly everyone else around that would follow through I wouldn't be surprised if the likes of Carlos Sainz jumps back to Red Bull

[00:41:15] racing because of various reasons so I think if Max moves we're going to have a very crazy driver's silly season if not there'll be slight movements with an Esteban or somebody in the midfield but yeah for any top level moves happening Ferrari is locked in McLaren is locked in Red Bull seemingly locked in I mean at this moment there's more uncertainty on whether Max will continue next year than Isaac Harjar who would have imagined yeah seriously and Arvid at V-Cup depends on Max leaving right so it's it's a case of that

[00:41:44] so there's that but finally predictions for Miami where do we begin okay let's do two predictions firstly sprint winners sprint podium and then final race podium I'll go for sprint podium first I'm going Russell Piastri and for the main race I'm going Russell Piastri Antonelli yeah yeah oh man I've kept it simple I will say sprint will be Antonelli Russell

[00:42:13] and maybe Leclerc I think Leclerc is going to step up but I think Grand Prix win is going to go to Landon Norris followed by Oscar Piastri followed by Antonelli I think McLaren's going to step up that's what's going to happen well we need McLaren to step up sprint pole tell me what you think is sprint pole does it matter yeah seriously because even if the Mercedes are on pole we know they could competitively have slower

[00:42:43] starts and the Ferrari is going to jump this sprint pole select one I'm going to go with Antonelli and Grand Prix pole and go with Piastri but crucially will Red Bull be beaten by Alpine will they continue to be beaten by Alpine no surely not I'm on the opposite side I would say yes they're going to be beaten by Alpine in Miami and you know that's why Miami is a key race not only the break but I think it'll also set in motion the pecking order that'll be for the next four five races till such time Formula

[00:43:13] one says guess what more data available more slots so there are no problems but why don't we have some more changes to make the drivers happy make them Formula 1 drivers and not Formula 1 operators exactly well we'll see Miami is going to reveal a lot at

[00:43:53] and I have a feeling it'll be Antonelli versus PS3 with an outside chance for Russell wow that's a bold one that we shall discuss after the Miami Grand Prix it's been a wonderful episode folks good to

[00:44:23] and I'm Sommel Arura on Instagram because more content will be coming your way Kunal's going to be in the commentary box for the Miami Grand Prix with Chetan Narula in