Hamilton-Verstappen-Antonelli - an F1 podium for the ages | 2026 Canadian GP Review | F1 Podcast

[00:00:00] A day after the Canadian Grand Prix has finished in Formula 1 and we're all still reeling from what could have been if George Russell had not retired. Yes, Kimi Antonelli has now won four Formula 1 races in a row and is now 43 points ahead of his teammate George Russell in the point standings. But still, the big question from the Canadian GP is what could have been? What could have been, Kunal? What a battle we had before Russell went out.

[00:00:28] Indeed, and what could have been if George Russell would have not had all those issues with luck that he's had all these races? You know, it's easy to point out, yes, it is Kimi Antonelli's title to lose. That's what George Russell is saying. That's what the stats will say. That's what I would say. That's what everyone's belief is. That's what it's looking like, that it is going to be, you know, Kimi Antonelli's title to lose. But what if George Russell didn't have those issues that he's had, whether it was the...

[00:00:58] And you know, this was just the climax in Canada with the power unit failure. The other races, which were, which, you know, suddenly it was impacting his qualifying position or it was impacting just how the starts went or so on. So that said, we've got to put our helmets off to Kimi Antonelli for what a drive he's put out there. To me, it doesn't matter if he wins this year's world championship or no Samil.

[00:01:22] You know why? Because he has shown that he has those big whatever of steel. He has the audacity to go up against George Russell, to go up against whoever. He's like, I've got a fast car. I will put it in the wall if I have to. I will put it on grass. I will mow on the lawn, but I will keep fighting for positions. I love that about 2026. I love that this is Kimi Antonelli rising up.

[00:01:49] Kunal's trying to be all nice with his words because he has a daughter now. So he doesn't want to swear and he wants to be an example, which is which is cool. But Kimi Antonelli does not have a daughter. He does not care because he was swearing on the radio after the sprint. And in fact, during the sprint race, when George Russell was tussling around with him and when Antonelli went around the outside and Russell did not bail, Antonelli was heard by it. He was swearing around. He was saying, guys, no penalty. Is Russell not going to give that position back?

[00:02:18] And yes, objectively, if I look at it, there was no reason for us to do so. But I love the fact that Antonelli asked for it. He could have been nice. He could have been nice and said, I would follow my team's orders, but he didn't, which is champion material. And that too against who? His teammate. So if, if literally there was a penalty, it was coming towards Mercedes. And I loved, I loved how Mercedes let them battle. It is very different from what we saw last year with McLaren.

[00:02:47] It is very different with what we've seen with the Red Bull. And truthfully, this is what Formula One should be like. You know, elbows out, hard racing, fair racing, of course, crossing boundaries of being fair, but team bosses not getting onto the radio saying, hold position, papaya rules or whatever we've actually been, you know, spoiled by. Like thinking about this, 2025 was so depressing, right? Because every time Oscar would come close, his race engineer would be, Oscar, this is too close.

[00:03:17] Stop it. Don't do it. And I just now imagine if Bono came on the radio ever yesterday and told us, hey, Kimmy, don't do this. You're being too aggressive. It would have been such a mood kill. It would have been such a mood kill. So thank you to Bono and Mercedes. You're right, Kunal for letting this happen. Because... Do you remember Austria last year? Yeah, that's exactly. Yeah, actually, slams the brakes, locks wheel, just about narrowly misses McLaren's Lando Norris. And what does it say? That was too close for comfort.

[00:03:45] And they almost sort of wrote him off and said, you cannot do that again. That killed his momentum. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. But, you know, Mercedes did tell between the sprint and the Grand Prix, they had a chat. They, you know, Antonelli was told, listen, he's not going to just give you a place because you're his teammate. You have to still fight for it, especially if it's a 50-50 condition or whatever. The main point is, in the Grand Prix, at no point did Mercedes say, back off.

[00:04:12] They said, keep it clean, keep it fair, or we will call this off. That was a clear message that they sent out. So hats off to Toto Wolf, to the board, to whoever makes these decisions. They're saying, we've got a fast car. We will go up there, dominate. We will win everything we can. But we will let the drivers entertain the 900 million Formula One fans that are around the world. And thank you so much for that. Seriously, hats go out to Mercedes. That was beautiful. And we loved it in the sprint race too.

[00:04:39] By the way, some intelligent person will probably come back and say that, oh, Mercedes are only able to give the drivers the comfort because they have the best car. But I'm also going to look at the sprint race as my example for that because McLaren were close. And theoretically, they could have lost a sprint win if Russell and Antonelli went a bit overboard. And they took that risk. They were okay with the fact that Lando Norris could come in and steal one position. And that's exactly what happened.

[00:05:08] But zooming out from all of this, is it just me or did I feel like George Russell was making more mistakes than Kimi Antonelli in the middle of the race? I actually got the same feeling. I got the feeling that Antonelli was schooling George Russell. And mind you, George Russell was driving fair. He was driving clean. He was defending very, very well. At some point, I thought Russell is literally bullying Antonelli. He knew Antonelli, you know, had the energy and the aggression to overtake him. Russell's car placements were fantastic. Yeah. Lots of time.

[00:05:38] But in that battle, Russell being the veteran still ended up making mistakes. So I loved, you know, it was that David versus Goliath kind of thing. And for whatever reason, everyone thought Russell's going to walk away with it. And here comes Kimi saying, no, you don't. First, you got to beat me on track. But I like how the narrative is all Kimi Antonelli schooled Russell and he looked more impressive when, actually, when Russell retired, he was in the lead. So it's so hard to say.

[00:06:07] And it's, it's amazing that Russell is so rock solid in defense, Kunal. And Antonelli is so gung ho. Like he reminds me of Lewis Hamilton from 2014 to 2016. Like just that, that raw aggression. Well, while Russell's the more calm, the more composed one in that, in that whole lot, like just trying to defend position. Indeed. And, you know, I love the podium out there and we'll get to that.

[00:06:29] But, you know, all in all, just seeing, you know, at all points during the last five races, and we've had a lot of time between races because of the scheduling and whatever. Right. There was always this question. When, when will George Russell go up a gear, which Kimi is not able to match? Or when will Kimi just implode? But none of that is happening. Every session, every qualifying session, every sprint race, sprint start, whatever you call it, Kimi's right up there. So let's acknowledge this is Kimi Antonelli.

[00:06:58] This is version two of him, which is a share of what the version we saw last year. And this is what George Russell and everyone else has to beat. And Kanishka, Kanishka is here saying that was not aggression. That was losing head. Well, he lost his head. He lost his car, but he was still up there entertaining. He was, you know, at all times, it seems like Antonelli was okay with losing those 25 positions. Okay.

[00:07:25] And there was some daredevilry, maybe foolish daredevilry, but that's what I love to watch. We don't see that in Formula One. This is what Formula One should be. This is what IndyCar was, right? Yeah. Felix Rosenquist, they're on the outside, held it like for the entire final lap and past David Malukas to win in the closest finish in IndyCar history.

[00:07:46] Like he, Felix Rosenquist was not even in the same car length at the final corner, but he's still like, this is the daredevilry behind motorsport that we love so much. And we got to see it with Antonelli. My petition is that we need more 19 year olds in top Formula One cars. And there should be an age limit. You should not be allowed to have a top car after 24. Like people get too much off after that. They don't take risks anymore. Like I want to see more 19 year olds in a Mercedes or McLaren because that's where the drama is.

[00:08:15] But Tanishka's also asked the question, don't you think George's DNF was a bit confusing? Because I don't think we've gotten down to the bottom of why that Mercedes stock did it. Mercedes put out an official statement saying there was an apparent power unit failure, which they faced. And they said, we'll only get to know more once the car is back. But I have a theory out here, and it's not a conspiracy theory. That Mercedes power unit is not meant for wheel to wheel battles. That Mercedes power unit is meant for domination.

[00:08:44] It is meant for their driver putting it on pole, leading away, pulling all the laps, being in clean air and driving. This whole wheel to wheel battling for 30 laps? It couldn't handle it. And it just so happened to be George Russell's car. And I would have loved to, of course, see that battle go on for all 70 laps. But, well, maybe Monaco. Maybe Monaco. Well, these cars in Monaco will be very interesting. But before we transition on to the other elements, we need to talk about the big picture here.

[00:09:14] Because the difference between Kimi Antonelli and George Russell now is 43 points. For context, after round five of the 2023 Formula One season, which happens to be one of the most dominant by any driver, Max Verstappen was only 12 points ahead of Sergio Perez at that stage of the season. Kimi has a big lead. Kimi has a big lead. And, you know, his lead is definitely going to help him cushioned against, you know, more attacks and defenses,

[00:09:43] more positions in the lawn where he's going mowing rather than racing, including maybe even a DNF. It could very well have been Kimi Antonelli who would have had the DNF. So this cushion is important. And I believe the way 2025 was and now the way 2026 is. I'm far from saying it is Kimi's title to lose. We still have the duo. We still have upgrades. We still have drivers settling in. We still have cars that are quick but are just overweight.

[00:10:08] So when you factor all of that in, yes, Kimi's got a jump start to everyone, given all the circumstances and the performances. But is it really his title to lose? It's way too early to call that. Well, would you switch him around and put him as your title favorite right now? Like, is Kimi Antonelli your title favorite right now? Because I said George Russell at the start of the year and I'm having to think. But you said you're not going to desert George Russell. You said you'll stick by him. I will stick by him.

[00:10:37] But I would be lying if I said that I don't have thoughts of Antonelli winning the title too. Like, I'm tempted. Let's see. I mean, I get a feeling it's difficult to... It's like this. If I had to put my money, yes, the easy money is on Kimi Antonelli. Okay, but I still think it's far from done. I still think, I mean, the others could still come into play. Mercedes is still not rock solid, reliable as we've seen. All you need is one DNF and then everyone comes roaring back.

[00:11:06] And so to say, and you know, there is again a message saying, Mercedes told George on the radio to stop battle else they would stop the race. Well, that's not true. They said that to both drivers and I have the radio transcript. They said, keep it clean, keep it fair or we're going to call off the racing. So Mercedes was being absolutely fair out there. And another comment also is Kimi was so bad at the European races in 2025. And maybe that is where again, Kimi will benefit from this 43 point cushion.

[00:11:33] So all in all, Kimi Antonelli, fantastic start to a Formula One season, especially when you've got a, you know, world championship potential car. And this is also where I really want to touch upon the podium we saw. It was the past, which is Lewis Hamilton for me, at least the present, which is Max wished happened for me at least. And then seemingly the future, which at this moment seems like it will be Andrea, Kimi Antonelli. What a beautiful moment. What a beautiful moment. What a beautiful moment.

[00:12:03] I was so happy to see this at the end. And Lewis was happy for Kimi. Max was happy to be there in the top three. And then Kimi was happy just to be winning and incredible maturity by Kimi, by the way, to say that, oh, I don't want to win it this way. Like this is something a 26 year old Formula One driver would say. Like it's a very George Russell line to say. So George is, George is rubbing off on Kimi a little bit, but let's, do you want to spend a moment on George? Because he's, we, we, we should spend a moment on George.

[00:12:33] But the reason why I love this podium is when we look back at the podiums between Schumacher, Prost and Senna, there was that one podium we have from 1994. Okay. Oh, yes. Similarly, there were, there were such iconic limited podium memories. I, I, I hope this is not a limited podium memory. Antonelli, Hamilton, Verstappen, whatever order they show up in. I hope that this repeats because it was lovely to see the duo there.

[00:13:01] Of course, a lot of respect for each other that they have. And interestingly, Samuel, every single race of the season, we've had a different podium combination in 2026. That was one of those things that really stood out for me. Yeah. Yeah, that's right. Oh, that's a big moment actually. Yeah. That's so cool. Like Max's first podium of the season, Lewis's best result with Ferrari ever makes it a very, very big moment too. And I was just having this conversation with my dad.

[00:13:31] Like maybe we wouldn't have had this if the McLarens for the normal option, which everyone else did like the normal in hindsight option, which was the start on the slicks. Like maybe we would not have seen Lewis versus Max battling for the podium at all, because clearly Lando Norris was in the mix. And Lando looked very good. Like I don't know if you saw this, saw this analysis that a few people have put out after the sprint qualifying as well, just comparing all the cars and, and how they gained their lap time.

[00:13:57] And it seemed like the Mercedes were incredibly good on corner entries. The Ferraris were just smooth throughout, but ended up losing time on the straights. But the McLaren canal, like even, even in the eye test, even whenever you watch them, they seemed so stable. And I was shocked that McLaren ended up getting their tire choice so wrong. And they had two chances to clean it up, right? Because the first formation lap, they could have pitted, changed it.

[00:14:22] Second formation lap, courtesy of Arvid Lindblad, they could have pitted and changed it, but they chose to stick to it. And they claim that the two formation laps actually did them in because it just gave the rain enough time to go away with it. Okay, which is, which is true, but I wish, I wish they would have just come in and changed tires and acknowledged we just made the wrong call. Let's just go with it. Having said that, there are two things to remember.

[00:14:45] When we watch the race at the start, we just see straight, you know, the start, the main straight and the finish line, we probably see turn one, turn two maximum. But the teams do have information of the other parts of the circuit, which are wetter, and they were definitely wetter during that formation lap. So McLaren still stand by saying that we did what we did right because we had information that certain parts of the circuit were wetter. So that's point number one.

[00:15:11] Point number two, one of the reasons why despite having such a short dash from the start line to the entry of turn one, why did Lando Norris, why was he able to get the jump on the two Mercedes drivers? Because the soft tires were actually colder. Despite aggressive weaving, they were not able to get into temperature range for most of the drivers or literally all of them. But the intermediate tires, even though they were the wrong tires, they were in working temperature range.

[00:15:38] So Lando just had the jump over the Mercedes drivers because of that. So what a bittersweet moment for McLaren. Wrong tire, but in temperature range and boom, you're leading the race. But hey, I got a pit because it is still the wrong tire. One of the weirdest moments in Formula One ever for me, like if you don't know the context, seeing someone go to P1 and then having to pit immediately after and go down is just one of the weirdest moments in the sport ever. Like imagine if you didn't know the difference between softs and intermediaries.

[00:16:05] Like if you're a new fan and you're just here saying, oh, Lando Norris, oh, last year's world champion. Oh, he got into first. Oh, why is he going back now? It would have been so hard to explain to them about what McLaren did. But I also didn't like the indecision, Kunal, because I was able to track the radio transcripts between both the drivers on the formation lap. And McLaren kept on asking Oscar, Oscar, what tire is it? And Oscar seemed indecisive. Like he was like, I don't know.

[00:16:33] No, that was actually Lando. Lando was saying, you tell me what you want me to do. Oscar was constantly saying the opposite, saying, no, I need to pit and I need to come in for. That was in the second, that was afterwards. Like, but on the, on the reconnaissance lap, you're right. Oscar was regretting the decision to go to the intermediates after the formations. But on the reconnaissance, whenever McLaren was speaking to him, he seemed to be confused. While other drivers made their choice at that moment. Like I saw so many drivers go for the soft immediately.

[00:17:02] And truthfully, Lando Norris put his hands up and said, I asked for the inters and I took them. So I'm guessing it was one of those things. Lando's taking the inters. Would you also like them? Yeah. Okay. And that's probably what happened. Interesting question. Since we are on McLaren, we're on Lando, especially. But that. Sadna is here. Hi. She's saying McLaren versus their own drivers. Loved it. Yet again. Yes. But there's this question from Kanish. Do you think Lando is the best driver right now? Who's doing everything he can if his team is, doesn't let him down. And I believe so.

[00:17:30] I felt this weekend, I saw that little step from Lando. Yeah. Yes. His race was compromised, but he was still doing, trying all he could to recover and score points. But Oscar for some reason, especially that overtake that, you know, happened into Albin. And unless he says I didn't want to make the overtake and, and you know, my car just went on and I had nowhere to go, which is what, you know, you know, Lando Norris has said before. I didn't want to overtake Lewis, but I just had to. So unless he says that, that was fairly lousy from Oscar Piastri.

[00:18:00] But yeah, Lando Norris is seemingly more clean, more patient, aware that I need to just bank in all the points I can as it goes. But yeah. Yeah. Lando has taken a step up. I think Oscar missing the first two rounds does not help his confidence and his understanding of the car. Obviously you'll come back and say, okay, Formula One drivers are fast, they learn things quickly, but missing two whole races makes a big difference. It's, it's like you're reading a textbook and suddenly you skip to chapter number six or seven.

[00:18:27] Like sure, you'll still be able to get it, but it would have been better if you went through chapter one to five. So it's, it's maybe a case of that. And Oscar has a bit to catch up to now, but you're right, Kunal. Lando has made a step up and it was, it's also nice to see him do a good start. It was also nice to see him be very patient in the sprint and that patience was rewarded. And also side note, very cool that Lando Norris did two things. Firstly, the helmet, which was for raising funds for dementia, which is very cool.

[00:18:55] And secondly, he also went to the Indianapolis motor speedway to congratulate Felix and throw some quests for winning the Indy 500 the next day, which is also super cool. So good job, Lando. Good on you. Absolutely. And you know, first, when I saw Lando congratulating Felix, I thought, is this AI? Because the official handle of IndyCar tweeted it. And then maybe this is why Lando Norris was like, okay, let me just park the car. There was some gearbox issue. And then he was seen leaving the circuit, this big crowd of people. So now we know where he went. He went straight to the Indy 500.

[00:19:24] And this is also what Max Verstappen did. As soon as he went into the official press conference room after the race, he's asking, so, okay, guys, tell me who's won the Indy 500. And you know, those two extra formation laps, by the way, allowed the Indy 500 to see the checkered flag. So in a way, it was a beautiful moment because I was doing Indy 500 as well as F2, as well as F1 on wire play. And there was this moment where we were like, oh my God, the Indy 500 is going to end, but the F1 race will start before. And that overlap is not good for broadcast purposes, of course.

[00:19:54] But when we had those extra two formation laps, we were like, okay, let them just drive around. No problem. We will watch David Malukas versus Felix Rosenquist versus even Marcus Armstrong. And, and you know, the top five, which was so close in battle. And that was another beautiful moment as well. But Kunal's in love. I finally pulled into the dark side. And this is a, this is a special moment because Kunal growing up has been a big Michael Schumacher fan.

[00:20:19] And correct me if I'm wrong, Kunal, you've not stepped into Indy car because of Schumacher also not liking it? No, it was not because of Schumacher not liking it. It was just like, oh my God, there's a lot of motorsport in my life. I'm happy to leave a few things aside for when I really need to pick them. But the good thing, Samuel, given our craft, what you and I do, we know what to look for. Even if you follow a new motorsport series. So I spent the week learning Indy car. I of course had several pieces of notes from Samuel as well. Look here, look there, look at that driver.

[00:20:50] That's this, that's that. So thank you for that. But essentially it's motor racing of a different kind as a different philosophy of racing. And it's just about finding out what you really know moves a needle in that series, because that needle, which needs to move. We definitely don't cover F1 Academy. I mean, that's again, a lot of racing that would, that would need to happen. Kanishk.

[00:21:14] But moving on, we should talk about Max Verstappen, who's issued yet another quit thread. So from the 50-50, first he said, I'll do 70-30 and I'll be okay with it. Then he realized 70-30 is not going to happen. So he said, he's now settled at 60-40. And he's put it as blunt. If it's not 60-40, I'm not doing this. I'm out of here. And interestingly, there are two teams that have agreed to 60-40. First is Red Bull, of course, because they have Max Verstappen.

[00:21:41] You want to guess the second team that said yes to a 60-40 road? Honda? Mercedes. So the two teams that can dream of Max racing for them in 2027 have said yes to 60-40. Everyone else who doesn't have a chance, whether it's Honda or Audi or Cadillac or, you know, Ferrari or whoever, they've said, no, no, no, sorry, we can't do 60-40. We've got to stick to the whatever 50-50 that's there. Oh, my word. I think Honda are closer to the exit, honestly, than anything. Yeah, it's actually true.

[00:22:10] I think Formula, what's that story as well, Kunal? That Formula 1, the teams are uniting to make sure that Honda stay on the grid because the executives are actually considering pulling out of that program as well. There's also some, what was it on that? Well, let's hope they stick around. Let's hope they don't give up. Because the last time they struggled in the hybrid turbo era and they did not give up, they came back and helped Max Verstappen win all those titles in that Red Bull.

[00:22:36] Imagine if they come back, you know which driver they will help win all those titles in that Aston Martin. No, no. I'm talking of Lance Troll. Come on, you had one chance to be a fan favorite, Kunal. Like, it's still, oh man, but I'm still going to harp on Fernando. And we shall get to Max in a second because Fernando's start, did you notice that Fernando Alonso was in the top 10? He gained, I think, nine or 10 places at the start with that Aston Martin.

[00:23:03] And then very honorably left the race because nobody's on the same level as Fernando. So again, his order was too big to handle. So he very gracefully stepped out of the race himself to avoid other people from getting lost underneath his shadow. But that happened too. That happened too. And this did Max Verstappen versus Lewis Hamilton. That happened as well. The other world champions on the grid who were battling.

[00:23:28] And, you know, I, of course we saw Max overtake Lewis and then Lewis sort of revenge overtook him later. And there are people who are celebrating that overtake. Here's my, here's my thought. Firstly, it wasn't a genuine overtake. Max was derating as we saw. So Lewis had more power and drove by. Hence, that's not what I'm celebrating. What I'm celebrating is how Lewis managed his tires, his tire temperatures, caught up to Max Verstappen. Only to know that the difference in engine mapping, difference in power delivery, etc.

[00:23:57] will give him a chance to overtake. So catching up with Max was where Lewis was hammer time. And that's what needs to be celebrated more than just the overtake that he eventually made on Max. Yeah, what a battle it was. And Lewis was clearly so involved. Like I've never heard Lewis be so short of breath since his title years. Because he was so invested into it. Like you could feel it in his voice like, man, I need more power, man.

[00:24:23] Which is, which comes in from a place of passion, which was amazing to see. And then, by the way, as much as we, as much as we downplay Formula One for these cars and these regulations, I have to salute them for making them easier to follow. And then the difference that, that the power unit deployment has caused, because they were able to chase rather be with each other for a long time. And even after Lewis overtook Max, Max was still close enough. He was still following around.

[00:24:48] So there was a realistic threat that that battle could move on and escalate even further towards the final few laps. So I, I thought that race would be done after George Russell's retirement, but what a pleasant surprise that was. It was and love that there were battles all around. We've said this before when the on track product improves, which is when we have a lot of racing. There are two other aspects of Formula One that get challenged, which we did saw get challenged in Canada. First was race control.

[00:25:14] Literally, they were, you know, putting out race control messages for impeding notifications, discussions, whatever. 15 minutes after the incident that happened, which was a bit of a bummer. And second was TV direction again. There were times when you would look at something, but there were three other incidents happening elsewhere and, you know, where, where it could go. So it was just down to, you know, one part of F1 improving and the others needing to catch up.

[00:25:39] And since we were talking of Hamilton, Rishabh is here asking why was Hamilton struggling with power when Max first overtook him in lap nine. And interestingly, you know, Ferrari has struggled with power with both the drivers. It's all down to engine mapping. It's all down to energy harvesting and use. And the smaller turbo as well. And Ferrari are, of course, driving to a deficit because they want to get the duo 2%, that's there. That's typically the word in the paddock.

[00:26:07] And Ferrari missed a sure shot P2, had Hamilton pit during the VSC. Well, that's another thing that I've noticed, Samuel. And I know in the commentary, you would have probably also felt that on track racing is so much more fun that you suddenly just forget, okay, there's a pit stop to be made. And there are positions that get changed in pit stops. So it was all down to, again, having a race where a VSC or a safety car was just the right window for pit stops to happen. Yeah. But at that point, I just didn't care.

[00:26:36] I was like, okay, VSC, get it off. Get it away. Like, remove it fast. I want to see what's happening further. Which is, it's interesting that you mentioned that now, because I will now have to go back and wonder, okay, is that something that we missed? Because we really didn't care about it, like at that point. Like, it just didn't even occur to us. That was something to consider. But, so is Max happy with the car now? Asks Sarika. And Max is definitely pleased with the upgrades that have come. He needs a car more drivable.

[00:27:05] That's what he's been saying. He loves this chassis. It allows him to follow. We heard him say that in the cool down room to Lewis Hamilton. However, he's still unhappy with the power units. And Lewis Hamilton himself is unhappy with the tires because for some strange reason, these tires are actually giving us a lot of energy. A lot of racing back and forth, back and forth. So I'm still puzzled as to why the drivers don't like the tires. One of the reasons I'm told is they are unable to put temperature and get it up to working range as easily as they could do in the previous years.

[00:27:35] Which is good. That again is connected to so many things like, you know, cars in general having 30% less downforce and the like. So many F1 is so complicated. Yeah. And honestly, to hell with the drivers. It's creating more drama. Like if it's more unpredictable for them, I mean, not in a dangerous way. We want it to be safe first and foremost. But if it's safe and then it's extremely challenging to get the tires fired up, I think that's a good thing.

[00:28:00] Because that's where the true skill of a good driver and the true sync between a driver and a car will really show up. Which is what we want to see. Like a skill difference between a team and a driver and their competition. So that's cool. Like I always refer back to IndyCar in this case. To me, one of the coolest things in motorsport is when IndyCar drivers come out of the pit lane. By the way, they don't have tire blankets. So it becomes a matter of them warming up their tires as fast as they possibly can.

[00:28:27] And that is a skill area where they need to work on. And that's where you see differences sometimes between some teams and some drivers and their competition. So I think it's cool, no? It's cool that the tires are tough. It is. And I think they are offering racing because unlike the last previous years, suddenly you took two laps of attacking and they were like, shit, I didn't make a move. So I will sit back, cool them down, and then I'll go to attack again here. At least there is more yo-yo happening that's there. But what are the issues with Russell's car? We actually spoke about it.

[00:28:57] It was a power unit issue that came up. And Mercedes hasn't after that put an official statement out. They needed the car to investigate, which they will do when they take the power unit back to Bricksworks. What else do we have? Since we are on George Russell, Samuel, why don't I put you in the spot? So, 2027, Max Verstappen becomes available. You are Toto Wolff. Would you do a Russell Verstappen now? Or would you do an Antonelli Verstappen? Come on, Toto. Why do you want me to go away from George Russell?

[00:29:26] You're really forcing me, Kunal, to leave George Russell behind because I put him as my title winner for the year beforehand. And with a question like this, you're tempting me to make him the third wheel. Well, is he making himself the third wheel? That's an evil question to ask. It is an evil question to ask. Sandhya, as you're saying, Toto won't do anything. He's happy now. Yes, he is happy now. But imagine this.

[00:29:51] George Russell was dreaming of battling Norris and Verstappen in 2026 to win his title. And now he's yet to have a definite answer to Kimi Antonelli. Okay. Antonelli is... Imagine Antonelli versus Verstappen. What we saw in Canada, the way Antonelli was throwing the car everywhere except the barriers. Do you think Antonelli versus Verstappen in the same car will be even more box office premium or not?

[00:30:18] Yes, it will be box office for the carbon fiber scrap collectors. Because I don't think they're going to go a couple of races without completely smashing into each other. It's actually very interesting you mention. Because I think Kimi Antonelli and George Russell now need to look up to Max Verstappen, according to Toto Wolff. Because after their combat on Saturday, Toto Wolff said both the Mercedes drivers need to think what Max Verstappen would do in a battle scenario like this.

[00:30:45] So Toto is literally telling his drivers to look up to Max and how he goes racing. So I wonder what it'll be like if and when Max joins Mercedes. You've still not answered who you'll pick next to Max. I can't. I can't. I can't. Sorry. I would do Antonelli versus Verstappen. I would do that. And I will see Mercedes literally building a third car every race because, oh my God, we really need to do that.

[00:31:10] But anyway, conjecture. But imagine all it's taken is five races for a Russell Verstappen in 2027 to look like an Antonelli Verstappen in 2027 should they want to go down that road. Exactly. And Uttaraz, you're saying Max, Kimi straight away. No, don't give up on George, guys. Please, please, not so fast. Not so fast. I know all of you have been calling him borderline violent and that's the trend that's been going on on Twitter and Instagram nowadays.

[00:31:37] But, geez, chill out, guys. Like, he will come back. He will come back. Rishabh's got a comment. He's saying, Versace's haven't been pushed like crazy chasing Verstappen. Did Ferrari peak its performance? I think they got the most of what they could, didn't they, Kunal, over the weekend? Like, especially with Leclerc's struggles and his inability to get to grips with the grip at the circuit. I think they got the best of what they could, I feel, especially with the McLarens having their own issues.

[00:32:03] Yeah. And at the end of the day, you know, it was also, I would say, down to, I got put backstage. Okay. Yeah. I accidentally clicked a button. Something happened. Yeah. Something happened. Yeah. Okay. Anyway, I was saying, wow, I'm lost now. I'm suddenly back in the race and I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. What was the question? The question was, did Ferrari maximize its pace in Canada? Yes, it did. And, you know, they'll be asking themselves, what are they even doing with the simulator?

[00:32:29] Because Lewis Hamilton was very vocal saying, I'm not using the simulator. I did not use a simulator. I worked with the engineers and the data and just see how it was. And there are, there is a thing to remember. Lewis suddenly, you know, steps up a gear when he's in Canada. We've seen that. And was it that gear or was it just Leclerc not doing well? And Leclerc has had brake issues, which Ferrari just couldn't figure out throughout the entire weekend.

[00:32:53] So that's why he was, he was so accurately predicting either I'm in the ball or I'm PA'd and he was PA'd. Which is sad to see, which is sad to see, but I'm sure, I'm sure there'll be more from Leclerc as, as the season goes on. Like you're right, Kunal. It could be a blip from Lewis, like, like, you know, in a positive way, like since Canada is his circuit. And I'm now going to refer back to what Kimmy Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton were discussing after the race. And they said, Monaco will be fun. Monaco will be a lot of fun.

[00:33:21] But hey, before we head also, we need to answer this big question. We need to pick Kunal, our surprise performers of the weekend. We've got to pick two. Who are you going for? Let's go one each. Wow. I would say my surprise performer first is Toto Wolff. Actually, I'm not surprised by him. He always lets his drivers race, but he's never seen such violent racing before. I mean, Lewis and Nico are much more civilized than they were here.

[00:33:51] Then, you know, Russell and Antonelli were in Canada. But yeah, I would say the first surprise performer was Toto Wolff. He let them race while putting things there. And the second I would go with Colapinto, because Franco Colapinto, ever since he did that show run in Argentina, front of 500,000 people, he's outqualified and outscored Pierre Gasly. So that's, that was fantastic. Did you see that thing? Colapinto came out of the pits, colder tires, and he brushes against the wall.

[00:34:19] That's what you do in rental karting. When you go karting the first time, you're like, okay, I'm out of the pit. What do I do? Do I have to drive along the periphery of the wall? So those would be my two. Well, I was going to pick Colapinto too. So you've stolen my point. Colapinto was insane at P6. His best ever finish with Alpine. I think Alpine in general were really strong surprise performers that way. But now that I can't pick Colapinto, I'm going to go for Arvid Lindblad for what he did in the sprint.

[00:34:47] And I'm really sad that Arvid did not get his chance in the main race. I think given the confidence he had, he would have been really good in the race. But well, we won't know. I mean, Liam Lawson got in the points. He got me seven. And Lindblad looked like the pick of the midfield ahead of Colapinto too with the sprinters. So I thought there could have been some solid points for him there. But if not that, I'm also going to end up picking... Well, who was I going to pick? Black dot. George Russell. Well, not George Russell.

[00:35:16] I was going to pick someone else, man. Fernando Alonso. Why do you think? Fernando Alonso got a start. Okay. Unbelievable start. My word, Fernando. Nobody saw it. Nobody noticed it. Nobody has put a tweet about it. But guys, I beg you, go back. Go to your local broadcaster and see if they have driver on boats for the race and watch that start from Fernando's point of view. My God. Ains. Yes, Fernando Alonso refuses to back down just as he shouldn't. But last word, are we liking these cars? Are we liking the chassis?

[00:35:45] Are we liking the Formula One 2026 season and how it's shaping up? Yeah. This is probably one of the best races of the season, no? Like the best weekends overall, like given the kind of racing we got. Did you feel so as well? Yes, you do feel so. You do notice that the cars are still overtaken because of battery reasons. It is still a battery world championship. But I can see that it's much better than what we started the season at or season with. And it's about being patient and letting Formula One and the FIA figure more rules out.

[00:36:15] Remember, these changes they made after Miami are still not sacrosanct. But it is still something that they will continue to work on so that we get the best show, which is Formula One class and not Formula 1.5. But I think I have not enjoyed Formula One as much for a long time. Like the last few races have been really good. Like who would have thought that having cars follow each other for the entirety of the race distance would make for such fun racing?

[00:36:39] The only thing is, when you look at the Indy 500, there were lots of changes for the lead of the race. But they were not down to yo-yo racing. They were not down to battery. They were down to actual racing. So there is some gap that needs to be... Well, isn't the battery part of actual racing now anymore? Like it's also... Wait, there's also battery deployment there. There is, you're right.

[00:37:07] But it's more about how you deploy, not where you harvest. I think that that's the big difference that we are seeing. You know, there could be a corner where you are harvesting and I deploying and I look like a hero pulling off a move there. But is that really racing? Should that be considered as racing or high speed passing? We never know. But till then, we should enjoy Formula One for what it is. And it's been fantastic to do this live stream, given how many comments we've had. And on a final note, Sandy is saying, I enjoyed the Indy 500.

[00:37:36] Well, I'm yet to meet someone who didn't. Exactly. Well, we enjoy all forms of motorsport. We really do. And thank you guys. Thank you. It's been a lot of fun to be able to chat with you here on the Inside Line F1 podcast. It's a pleasure as always to be able to be here listening to you guys, taking your comments, being able to engage with you folks on everything Formula One. And we'll be back soon for Monaco. We will be. Indeed, there will be some more fun around that as well. And we can't wait to see how that will go.

[00:38:03] So till then, make sure you're subscribing to the Inside Line F1 podcast. Make sure you're following at I am Samuel Arora and Kunal Shah as well. And we will see you for the next one. Bye-bye.