Leclerc COPIES Hamilton, Russell WILL NOT copy Antonelli | 2026 Barcelona-Catalunya GP Preview

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[00:00:26] There is a big dispute at Ferrari and it's between the two drivers. Ferrari have picked one's wishes over the other and the other one is deeply unhappy. It's like 1982 all over again. Finally, some internal drama between two drivers at Ferrari. It's absolutely brilliant.

[00:00:50] And it all comes down to one critical part of a Formula 1 car that we just don't talk about enough, Kunal. The brakes. The brake wars are on at Ferrari and I'm surprised we didn't see this coming because history repeats itself. History has repeated itself with Lewis Hamilton. Every time he's switched teams and he's done it from McLaren to Mercedes and now Mercedes to Ferrari.

[00:01:17] He's struggled with the brakes in year 1. So that's one aspect of history repeating itself. In year 2, he has forced the new team to switch from Brembo brake discs to carbon industry brake discs. So that's history repeating itself again.

[00:01:34] Okay. And now history repeating itself again this year is Lewis Hamilton's teammate after being beaten by Lewis on carbon industry brake discs. He's going to try the carbon industry brake discs himself. Rossberg did it in 2014. And now Charles Leclerc is going to do it at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix this weekend in 2026. So history repeating itself again.

[00:02:04] Some might say Lewis has politicked his way into making Ferrari do what's right for him. And since it's not worked out for the other person, which is Charles Leclerc in this case, they've had to follow along. So can we deduce that Hamilton is the more powerful driver in the political battle between himself and Leclerc because he got such a big change made for himself? I wouldn't necessarily go that far. I wouldn't necessarily go that far. We've got to stir the pot though, have we?

[00:02:31] Yes. Well, I'll put it this way that it's for the first time in the Hamilton-Leclerc relationship or for that matter, any partner that Leclerc has had, whether it was Vettel or Carlos Sainz, that Charles Leclerc has been scratching his head wondering what on earth is happening. And the reading on the wall is actually fairly easy. And I wrote a post about this, which I'll elaborate on.

[00:02:54] And Mark Hughes then offered some insight saying the reason why Charles Leclerc is struggling is not because of the Brembo discs or the carbon industry discs being off. It is because last year when Lewis was struggling, he kept giving inputs to Brembo and Brembo tried to make it work by changing components, changing materials on their brake discs. So eventually, Lewis's input to Ferrari and Brembo took the brakes away from what Leclerc was anyway pleased with.

[00:03:23] Okay. And now in Canada, they introduced a new version or a new variant of the brakes at Brembo and Leclerc is nowhere with his braking while Lewis is shining with his carbon industry disc. So in a way, Lewis's inputs took the brakes away from Leclerc and these are brakes that Lewis doesn't use himself now. Yeah. And there is a reason why Brembo kept working on those brakes. It's because Brembo and Ferrari have a long standing relationship.

[00:03:51] Brembo are Italian, by the way. They've been doing brakes for a long, long time. By the way, industry standard, they are some of the best, even in MotoGP, even in other sports around motorsport. They are insane. But what's happened here is because they didn't want to break that partnership, Brembo kept working on it. It's a partnership that's gone on for 50 years and Leclerc was fine with the Brembo's. Lewis just gave up and said, I know what I want.

[00:04:15] I want the stiffer pedal because I want to be able to brake later because I want that absolute stiffness and that last minute braking feel that a carbon industry's brake pad and brake disc can provide me. But Brembo is known more for feel and Leclerc likes that feel and that feel is gone. And we all know that the most important thing for any racing driver in this world, Kunal, is feel. Once they lose that feeling, they start to make all sorts of excuses.

[00:04:42] And sometimes they can't even come down to a rational solution. Well, they can't. And, you know, I normally say this with a disclaimer that none of this makes any investment sense. But ever since Lewis and Charles have been at brake wars at Ferrari since the Monaco Grand Prix, since Charles Leclerc said he is going to try Lewis's setup. Brembo has gone down in their listing. Okay. And their market cap has been eroded. Oh, God. Yeah.

[00:05:12] So it's been... Oh, God. Guys, it's just wonderful. Dip after Charles Leclerc publicly questions Ferrari brake performance. That's the headline. If I was the comms guy at Ferrari, I'd give Leclerc a huge, huge debrief as to why you should not do that. Like, just say the car isn't... I don't think he's going to listen. I don't think he's going to listen.

[00:05:42] Maybe he's bigger than all of these things. Don't you think so? I think Charles Leclerc actually in Monaco was, you know, despondent, especially after he crashed at home, beaten by Lewis. He was pitted at the wrong time, or at least he believes so. He believes he was sacrificed track position to protect Lewis or get Lewis better tires to attack Kimi, all of that. And he actually gave away a lot of technical details.

[00:06:09] So I like a Charles Leclerc who's pissed off because he really gives away a lot of details. But having said that, Lewis's wingman here is Frederic Vasseur. That man's contribution behind the scenes to switch brake suppliers that have been on Ferrari's cars, not just the Formula One cars, but the customer racing cars. And, you know, I believe Brembo's also put out a post saying how pretty much every car on the grid, even for the Le Mans, which is coming up this weekend. Yeah.

[00:06:56] And we remember this, don't we? We were talking about this at the end of Abu Dhabi. I remember saying that Lewis is asking for changes. And I remember we were having a bit of a laugh at it, like, yeah, sure. Of course, he'll ask for the car to be changed because he's been beaten by his teammate. But now we know what those changes were. It's taken us more than eight months to find the answer out to it. But now we have the answer.

[00:07:25] And it's that's why I love Formula One, because some of these stories, like the seed of these things is planted in one year. So many years later, and you can just join the dots. But it's still an active running story, because this weekend, Leclerc is meant to try out the carbon industry brakes for the first time. It's going to be different. Also bear in mind, Barcelona is going to be vastly different to what we saw in Montreal and in Monaco. Montreal was cold as hell. Monaco is narrow as hell. So very, very different circuits.

[00:07:55] Barcelona, it's not exactly the grippiest surface in the world, but it's also going to be super hot there. So I wonder how that works out. And it's not also the most challenging tracks for one of the most challenging tracks for brakes, because there's only really two braking zones out there that you really need to be worried about. So maybe one of the easier circuits where Leclerc is also able to test whether he settles into carbon industry brake discs. But what a beautiful story that here's a seven times world champion.

[00:08:22] And he's a seven times world champion for a reason, because he knew what direction to take. And he's taken that. And now he's forcing Leclerc. And remember, Ferrari is Leclerc's team. He is forcing Leclerc to take his direction. And I believe that is fantastic stuff. And since we always have great stats, here's a stat from F1 guy Dan. He said George Russell had the longest active point scoring streak to Canada, and he had a DNF.

[00:08:51] Then Charles Leclerc inherited the longest active point scoring streak in Monaco, and he DNF'd. You want to guess now who inherits the longest active point scoring streak entering Barcelona? Lewis Hamilton. Yes. So I'm really hoping he does not DNF. That's the main part. And the Tifosi's here saying, I'm loving this version of Hamilton. Yes, we absolutely are. Lewis Hamilton's 2026 season, Somal, is of Kim Kardashian.

[00:09:21] So there's a Kim in his life. And now he's going to chase a Kimmy in the driver's championship. And this is also a case of history repeating itself. There is something about Lewis finding his love interest with women whose names are similar or the same as his driver's championship challenger. What do you mean? Nicole and Nico? Exactly.

[00:09:44] During the Mercedes era, there was Nico Rosberg, his championship challenger, and Nicole Scherzinger. So... Were they still around at that time? I thought they were done by then. They were around and there was an episode on our podcast, which Mithila and I had done at that time saying, Lewis's life is a Nico and a Nicole. Hmm. Well, well then. Well then. I mean, it's a thing. It's a don't thing. Like, lady luck is a thing. It could be working.

[00:10:14] This could be the year for Lewis Hamilton. Who knows? Who knows? So that's the end of this Break Wars segment. Why don't we look forward to the Spanish Grand Prix? Are we going to call it that? No. Yeah. Actually, you know, that is a legitimate question. Because this year, we have two Grand Prixs in Spain. One is the Sane Spanish Grand Prix or the Sane Ring. And then one there's the other one, the Mad Ring or the Mad Grand Prix. That was a really bad dad joke. I just had to be done.

[00:10:44] Lois hanging fruit. But yeah, Spain has two races. And just like the football, there's a rivalry between Barcelona and Catalonia. And there's a rivalry between them and Madrid. Because Madrid is going to get the other Spanish Grand Prix or the Madrid Grand Prix, as we now are going to call it. And this is going to be the last permanent Spanish Grand Prix at the circuit of Barcelona-Catalonia. A circuit that I remember at one point people used to hate.

[00:11:11] And people were like, this is the archetype of everything wrong about a Formula 1 circuit. But a circuit that honestly is underrated as hell. I am going to miss Formula 1 coming back here every single year, Kunal. Or maybe we're going to enjoy it a little more since we're going to come back here in every alternate year. Yeah, but isn't this the first ever Barcelona-Catalonia Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalonia? Is it? Yes, it is. It is not the Spanish Grand Prix. It is not.

[00:11:41] It's the Catalan Grand Prix this weekend. No, no, no. It's the Barcelona-Catalonia Grand Prix this weekend. And the Spanish Grand Prix is going to be at the Mad Ring, which is in September later this year. And I remember growing up, it was always Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona. So at some point, Barcelona said, we're the bigger brand. We are spending more money or whatever. Our name needs to go first. And the Tifosi is saying it's a top three circuit for me. Well, I wouldn't place it up to top three. Yeah, it's top three. Top three, bro.

[00:12:12] We really think so? It is. It is. It's unbelievable. Okay, name the top two. You walked into a track, my friend. Well, Spa is definitely up there. Suzuka is up there. So that's two. So you're saying third is Spain. What about Silverstone? Unpopular opinion. I'm not too big of a Silverstone. I mean, I like it. What about Austria? Nah. What about Sunfood? Kota has to be there. Monza. Okay, I'll help you here.

[00:12:38] Third, top three circuits for you with the name starting from S. So Spa is first, Suzuka is second and Spain is third. And we leave Spain as. Well, I'm going to say it's a tier A circuit. It's not A plus, but it's tier A. Yeah, see, somebody's also said, what about Interlagos? What have I done? Well, but another thing I like about this place is it's incredible with cars and bikes and you can race anything here. So it's a great facility to come back to.

[00:13:08] And the circuit has changed and it's evolved itself to be able to accommodate Formula One all these years too. So back in the day, the speeds were getting a bit too fast. So they changed the final corner to be able to have a chicane there. Then the chicane got boring and the circuit was like, sure, fine. We have this space. We'll remove the chicane and we'll make you guys go faster. And that's happened. And in the meantime, they also reprofiled turn 10. They were also able to create a rally cross track around it. They were able to change that turn for MotoGP as well.

[00:13:35] And all this while, every single circuit that's rather every single series that's come here has had a damn good race. It's got a good safety record. It's tough on the tires. Smack in the middle of Europe so you can transport your parts over there. It's top tier. And this is one of the only active circuits where MotoGP and Formula One race without a change in layout. So you get an accurate comparison between two wheels and four wheels. And at the moment, four wheels are what? 24 seconds faster than two wheels? Insane.

[00:14:05] It's insane. 24 seconds over 14 corners. That's how fast it is out there. So I would say it's a top circuit. It doesn't definitely come in my top three. Sovik is saying Spa and Silverstein. So those are his top two. Shitman is saying Brazil, Baku, Silverstein. Yeah. Sovik is also adding Malaysia there, which is also... That's a damn good shout. That is... I love Malaysia. I love Malaysia. It's...

[00:14:35] But yeah, but also the story this time, Kunal, heading into Barcelona, is that teams just won't have as much data about this place as they would in the past years. Because it's the first time we're coming with these cars. Yes, they've done a bit of a shakedown. Yes. Yes, we've done a bit of a shakedown. But everything's changed so dramatically. Like we've changed how much super clipping we can do. The weather is totally different. Back when we came here in January, it was freezing cold. Now it's going to be super hot.

[00:15:03] And the reports I'm reading are that people can't spend more than 10, 15 minutes outside without a sunscreen. So completely different circumstances. And the cars have changed. And there's been upgrades. And it's no longer the go-to testing track like it was back in the day. It's going to be a fun shout this weekend. It will. Alexio is here trying to talk about the Monaco Grand Prix. Alexio would love to take this question maybe a bit offline. It's... Okay, simple. Was it brakes or tarmac that caused Lance and Charles to crash?

[00:15:33] It was the tarmac first, in my opinion. It was a tarmac that was breaking. And then Perez was the first one complaining about it. But now on to the Spanish Grand Prix, because it's a circuit that a lot of people are saying is in the top tier A, tier top three circuits on the calendar. And like Somal pointed out, you know, it's a fairly universal circuit. And the weather will make a difference. But Somal, I actually beg to differ a little bit. Because teams will get a direct comparison of data between January and June.

[00:16:03] So a six-month progression that's happened for the very first time in 2026, in different temperatures, in different regulations as well. Because, you know, clearly power outputs have been different. But this is what I would call is Formula One's home track. Just given the sheer number of laps drivers that have done. And I then went through this trench of trying to find out who has done how many thousands of kilometers here.

[00:16:31] And then I came up, I found a number. And I don't know if this was the maximum or not. But Jenson Button has done 38,523 kilometers here, which is higher than any other driver. Alonso is close to 33,923. And it's only a four-odd kilometer circuit. Can you imagine? And this is, of course, in the era. This is in the era where testing was permitted, mid-season, in-season, pre-season, all sorts of testing was permitted.

[00:16:59] So, for example, Landstroll is done only about 8,000 kilometers because of restrictions in testing. And so many historic races we've had. And we'll get to some of your favorite parts. But this is one real feather in Formula One's gap, which I tell a lot of non-Formula One fans that this is a former Olympics venue. Yes. Where we go racing at in 1992 Olympics.

[00:17:24] The time trial, the start-finish line was also used as the same line for cycling as well. So, cycling, MotoGP, Formula One, all three of them. So, beautiful. Rallycross and touring cars and ELMS. And God, so much more. I love this place. It's a home of motorsport. And we love places like that. We love places like that. I'll tell you why I'm eager to see the cars going around.

[00:17:53] Because this circuit has a bit of everything. Fast corners, long straights, low, medium speed corners. And the usual adage is that if you have a car that is fast around Barcelona, you have a car that's going to be fast everywhere. And I get a feeling that the best chassis here will continue to be Ferraris. Okay. And then it's going to be a mix between McLaren and Mercedes to see who shows up.

[00:18:18] And it's going to be very interesting to see how that presents itself in sector times. Because sector 3 is where you need a lot of that mechanical grip. A lot of that slow speed grip. Where you're going through a lot of these slow corners. One after the other. You need to be able to control the car properly. But sector 1, there's a gigantic straight where your power deployment from the last corner makes a huge difference. And then there's the nasty, nasty turn 3. Where you're just chewing your front tires up entirely.

[00:18:48] Which is going to be a case of who's going to be softest on them. And tires are a very interesting thing, Kunal. Because Autosport and The Race both have written incredible articles talking about George Russell's struggles. And Russell himself has admitted that there's a big reason why he's lagging behind Kimi Antonelli. So Russell has insight as to why he's lagging behind Kimi. He knows. Part of that reason, he believes, is him not working well enough with the tires.

[00:19:17] His natural driving style is not suiting the tires anymore like it was in the last few years. And we'll get to that. Because that's the second part of the title. And I'll say why we'll get to that. I just have one or two more comments on the circuit. Because you mentioned sector 1 and sector 3. Now the beautiful part here is that even the best qualifying tire does not last over a single lap in qualifying.

[00:19:42] So drivers typically end up compromising a little on turn 3, the fast right-hander, so that they have some bit of tire left for the last part, the sector 3 of the circuit. So it's just such beautiful technical reasons to love Formula 1, including there are 14 corners. And, you know, I've made some notes because I know you're in fan court commentary and I'm in the studio with Wireplay. 14 corners, 6 left-handed, 8 right-handed. But again, these are asymmetric corners.

[00:20:12] And this allows for asymmetric setup. So all the fast corners, like turn 3, turn 9, are all right-handers. And the slow and medium corners are all the left-hander. Yeah, so one of them doesn't even have a braking marker. Like in its entire history, over what, 30 years now? Nobody knows where to brake for turn 5. You just brake on field. It's just one of those corners. There's no board there. There's no marker. There's no nothing you look at and you're like, that's where I brake.

[00:20:41] Like turn 3, for some people, it might be a few meters ahead of the bridge. That's what we all do. Usually, just the bridge. The bridge is where you brake. There's nothing like that for turn 5. It's always been that way. And it evolves because the weather changes. And the grip changes. It's so good. It's so good. Okay, so since you were then on Antonelli versus Russell, and you were alluding to Russell having tyre issues or not being able to get the tyres in the working range, and Antonelli's just been wiping him clean. A couple of points.

[00:21:10] First is, this is going to be Russell's 100th Grand Prix as a Mercedes driver. Okay, it could well be shadowed by Kimi Antonelli winning his 6th Grand Prix on the top. But also 6th Grand Prix in his career, which then matches Russell's career tally. So Antonelli winning 6 races in 31 races that he's raced. And George Russell 100 in Mercedes.

[00:21:34] And then another, I think, 60 odd or 55 odd that he would have done in Williams. Can I add something on that? Of course. Drivers who have won 6 in a row have almost always gone on to win the world championship. That's because drivers who won 5 in a row have always won the world championship. So 6 definitely does. I think there are 10 drivers who won 5 on the trot, but just 8 drivers who have won 6 on the trot in terms of racing.

[00:22:03] Do you want to go name them? I just know 2. I know Max Verstappen, Rosberg. Vettel, Rosberg, Hamilton, Fangio. No, Hamilton doesn't have 6 in a row, Samuel. Does he not? Hamilton's maximum is 5. And that's why Antonelli matching 5 in Monaco was such a big deal. But it's insane. It's insane that whenever drivers end up winning more than 5, they end up being champions. And Kimi is going to be joining people like Rosberg, like Ascari,

[00:22:32] like Schumacher, like Verstappen, like Vettel, in this list of drivers who have won so consistently. And it's hard to imagine. Once you get 6 wins in a season, Kunal, that's more or less it. Like, remember that used to be it. Like, you need to win 6 or 7 races and that's it. You are the world champion after that point. And everything you do, you can string together like a mediocre season and still be able to cross the line. I suppose now with 22 rounds,

[00:22:57] that number can be stretched on to say 7 or 8 Grand Prix wins. Because I remember like, even in MotoGP this one year, Peko Banyai won 10 races and he still didn't become champion. He used to DNF so much. But that's not going to happen. So, Kimi is nearly there. Like, this may be the last set of victories he needs to take to put one hand on that title. Nah, Somal, come on. Inge, he, it's, how do you come back from,

[00:23:25] like, everyone else, Kunal, has won five times less races than you have. How do you come back from that? Let's see. I would still say it's a long way to go. There are 16 races, maybe 17 if they bring back one of the Middle Eastern races as well. But I'll tell you what I'm excited to do. I'm excited to see if Kimi Antonelli does win the Drivers' Championship. Like you're saying, it's easier for him now. Okay. Can he also win the Constructors' Championship? Like we've seen Verstappen do it. Like we've seen Vettel do it before.

[00:23:53] Because if you see the gap, Ferrari is at 165 points. Antonelli is at 156 points. That's a nine-point gap for who's going to fly the Italian flag with a lot more pride. It's slipping away from Russell. It's slipping away. But there is one more conspiracy, Samuel. And this is something very interesting. There are eight Mercedes-powered cars. Two Mercedeses, two McLarens, two Alpines and two Williams.

[00:24:21] Seven of them have faced some or the other power unit related issue. Seven of them. You want to guess the one driver who's had zero issues across these six races and three sprints? Yeah, Antonelli. What is it that Mercedes is putting in his car, which is not going in the other seven cars, Samuel Arora? Would you know? Are we trying to stir the pot more? Or should we just say that's luck?

[00:24:48] Because you need luck to win a world championship much as you need talent and a fast car. You do. You do. And it's working. It's the racing gods want to help Kimmy out in this case. I don't know. But I also believe what George Russell is saying. A lot of people have been saying George Russell has been totally rattled by Kimmy Antonelli and some of his statements don't make sense. I don't buy that. The odds will eventually even out. And it does happen. Like it's he's a seasoned pro. He's seen it all. It's true in the world of racing.

[00:25:16] You can't win a championship just on the basis of a set of a couple of months. And even Jenson Button who won most of his races in 2009 early had to see through a lot of it in the mid-season. So it's it's still a long way to go. But what what amazes me Kunal is that Russell is finding out that his way of driving that used to help him beat Lewis Hamilton by the way up until a couple of years ago is not supporting him the same way with these cars. And Kimmy is able to get the best out of these tires more than Russell can.

[00:25:45] And it's all about how aggressive Kimmy is. I mean, it is a different car as well. Even Mercedes's upgrades that have come in are different and they change how you extract lap time like we've been saying. And you mentioned what are the odds. Holy moly on Twitter. And I know you don't always use Twitter, but that's why I'm going to read it out. Holy moly said that the odds of just one out of eight cars, the probability.

[00:26:12] And this person has actually done mathematical probability of Kimmy Antonelli's car not being impacted by the Mercedes power unit problems. The PU related hardware problems is zero zero zero seven two. So that's four zeros after the decimal point. Seventy two percent. So Mercedes is really nailing it with Antonelli's, you know, Antonelli's power unit. But I think George Russell is going to bounce back. There is definitely a case. But I'll put it this way, Samuel.

[00:26:41] When you've got a 68 or a 68 point gap now, like we said in the Monaco preview or review as well, it will allow Antonelli to take more risks. It will allow Antonelli to make that amateur mistake when you're in your championship winning season. And remember, we are still in Europe. Kimmy Antonelli has never scored points in Spain, neither in Formula 2 nor in Formula 1.

[00:27:05] So he's, of course, up against a lot of expectations, while also a lot of his self-performances in the last couple of seasons before he made it to where he is today in Formula 1. But he just doesn't buy the mind games. That's what I love about him the most. Like Russell was like the ball is in his court now and he's the favorite. And Kimmy was like, I don't buy into the mind games. At 19, good lad. Some comments, the Defosio 5. People are comparing Russell to the early Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull era,

[00:27:31] where he got shadowed by a youngster called Max, who had the team built around him later. It's also a valid comparison because Kimmy has kind of got the silver spoon. He got Bono. He got Bono and the complete support from Toto Wolff to be able to make the mistakes. Like George had to come in after having to prove himself at Williams. And so he came into Mercedes as a driver with expectations on his shoulders. Like, hey, you can do this. Like, you're not going to mess it up.

[00:28:00] With Kimmy, the equation was different because it's only his first year. So even if it goes wrong, you can just point the finger and be like, first season. And I think the mental makeup and just how free you feel to take risks and all of that thing, all of it around, I think that definitely makes a difference. And similar with Max in that case, there's less of a burden when you're that talented, I suppose, and everything's around you. And this leads me to Savik's comment saying, how would you measure Kimmy to Piastri?

[00:28:27] We're talking about maturity that Piastri brings at such a young age. Or is Kimmy just riding the wave? And I think Kimmy, in my mind, is just riding the wave without knowing what it's like to be in pressure in Formula One. Even though it would be wrong to say that he wasn't under pressure last year, but he was never under championship pressure last year. Remember, last year was literally the time when Toto Wolff called him underwhelming in front of the media. So the way he's worked around it, he is riding a wave of, you know, performances.

[00:28:56] Everything he touches is gold. Every lap he puts is P1, P2, which is true because he's yet to start off the front row in the Grand Prix format. And there's so much more because, you know, like I said, he's never been off the front row in qualifying. And what was Russell's case? If you look at Russell, after the opening couple of races, he's been nowhere when it comes to that. But can Russell or Antonelli score Mercedes' 150th pole position in F1 history?

[00:29:25] And remember, Mercedes has had nine consecutive poles here from 2013 to 2021. What a time that was. Or do you think there's another repeat of 2016? Sorry, your camera is frozen. So I didn't know. Or do you think there is another repeat of 2016? Mercedes in 2016 was unbeatable at the hands of Hamilton or Rosberg till they reached Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona. That's what it was called back then.

[00:29:54] Will there be a repeat of it at some point where Mercedes has been unbeatable in 2026? And now we've reached Circuit de Barcelona, Catalunya. Well, we're waiting for another flashpoint after Canada. And we're waiting for one more occasion for both these drivers to clash. And we're also waiting to see if George Russell can be as good as Kimi during qualifying. Like that's something that's genuinely missing. And he says, Kimi is just being able to manage the tyres better. He's more aggressive.

[00:30:22] And somehow the Mercedes gets switched on more by a driving style like that when you're making micro corrections. Whereas George is more smooth and he carries momentum and it doesn't work. But maybe it's going to be different. Maybe it does not pay off. Because being super aggressive at a circuit like Catalonia, especially when you've got turn three and all these other long corners around, may not be good for the tyres. I don't know. It could be one of those occasions where it levels out and we do see Kimi and Russell together.

[00:30:47] And what if the McLarens, who've been pretty solid and pretty stable too, find this to be a good circuit for them? And they don't have reliability issues. And what about the Red Bulls? Who've not been judged to be the best power unit in all of Formula 1, but are hilariously down on power and overweight compared to the top teams. It's a weird, weird, weird situation.

[00:31:09] While we talk about Red Bull, while we talk about Red Bull, while recording this, news has just come in that the 10, 11 Formula 1 teams and all the power unit manufacturers and FOM and the FIA have agreed on a package of changes to the Formula 1 technical, sporting and financial regulations for 27, 28. So breaking news, we're going to read it out live. So what does it say?

[00:31:32] It says that the internal combustion engine is going to increase in maximum power next year by 5%. So it goes from whatever, 53, 47 to 58. And then by 13, you know, in 2028. So they're increasing the fuel flow from this year, there will be 5% for next year and then a further 13% for 2028.

[00:31:57] And the MG UK maximum power will come down from 350 kilowatts to 300 kilowatts next year and the year after that. So it's going from 53, 47 this year to 58, 42 next year. So it is 2% less than what Max Verstappen is going to hold up for. So will the 2% cost Formula 1 Max Verstappen? But in 2028, we will eventually reach 60, 40.

[00:32:27] That's what the news literally says. I like that. Good stuff, Formula 1. Keep going. It's good. It's good because they're increasing the amount of power from the internal combustion unit. But they are reducing the amount of power you can deploy at one go from the battery while also keeping the same amount of power you can use in the overtake mode. So overtake mode will now kind of be more prominent because during overtake mode, you'll have more power compared to what you can normally deploy.

[00:32:54] Like the proportion of that will be greater, which means overtake mode will be more powerful, which is good for Formula 1. We need to see more of that because changes in power between two cars make for good racing and we like that. And on top of that, the harvesting will also increase. So cars will be able to harvest more energy while putting down less so they don't have to worry about harvesting as much because the capacity or the amount that they can harvest is going to be more, which is solid stuff. Like if people are upset about this, I don't get the fuss about it.

[00:33:25] It's the best you can do apart from getting V8s in the car, right? Well, that's what we are supposed to say, I guess, right? But will Max Verstappen decide that this is not enough for him because that's what eventually matters. It's okay for the power unit manufacturers. It's okay for 21 drivers. But is it okay for the best driver in motorsport, all of motorsport and Formula 1 in recent times? I know Samuel's got a wink saying, what? He probably is not the best. There's Alex Palou and there's... No, no, he is. Oh, wow. Okay.

[00:33:52] But Max Verstappen, interestingly, you know how people were doing all the boat tracking. People have been doing aeroplane tracking. So Verstappen landed in the UK and then he took off for Austria. And at the same time, Toto Wolff's plane landed and went to Brackley. And between, I think, the two airports, there was a helicopter that went through. So people are wondering, what is Max doing with the Red Bull Chiefs, Olau Minslaaf and Dietrich's son? And then did he also go to meet Mercedes?

[00:34:22] And of course, there's anyway, this whole conversation around, will George Russell be asked to leave if he's unable to match Kimi Antonelli by the summer break or the likes? And does that open the door for Max Verstappen? It's ridiculous. It could well be the case, Samuel. It's ridiculous. Sorry, that's the biggest piece of rubbish I would have ever come across. Why? Come on. Come on. That's ridiculous. Are you literally giving George Russell 10 races? That's all for someone you've invested four years in your car and team with?

[00:34:52] Come on. Stop kidding. It's ridiculous. That's just gossip hunting. That's all there is to it. You never know. You never know. But that would be... You just switched from are you gossip hunting to you never know. In the sense that it could be for next year, but come on. That would be the biggest heap of rubbish I would have heard. Like if you just replaced Russell in 10 races, that's... You would have probably said the same thing for Carlos Sainz at Ferrari till Lewis Hamilton came.

[00:35:20] You would have probably said the same thing for Checo Perez at Racing Point or Aston Martin till Sebastian Vettel came. So when a world champion driver like a Hamilton or a Verstappen decide, that's my seat, you have to get up. Sorry, Samuel. I may have to do that to you. Because if they say, that's my seat, I'll have to tell you. Samuel, that's about it. Thank you very much. But we've got the world champion on the show. That's... Come on, Mercedes. Did you understand what I just said, though? I did. I did. I did. Yeah.

[00:35:50] I mean, that's... A show that has nurtured you and our relationship. Sorry. But if there's a world champion coming, I will leave if that's the case. Listen, we've got to do it together. And you guys need to tell us which world champion you want to listen from. And then we'll work towards getting that world champion and have three people in the room. Not just two. So that's the fun part about things here at the Inside Line of Phone podcast. But that would be crazy. I've lost track of all the points we are supposed to speak. Well, yes.

[00:36:18] We do have the last few minutes of this episode. So let's quickly touch upon what's happening in the midfield too. Okay. My internet says it's having a bit of a blip. So... Bear that in mind. I might... Yeah, I hear you well now. Oh, perfect. But the Aduo is delayed. If we just... You were talking about the Aduo till the 27-28 changes came in. The Aduo is delayed. And one of the reasons why... This was supposed to come out on the Monday at 2 o'clock or 3 o'clock. It's not come. And then the FIA on the Wednesday has slapped the 27-28 changes.

[00:36:47] And one of the reasons that is being believed is delayed is Red Bull is protesting against what they believe is not the right judgment that's come when they've said that the Red Bull engine is the best of the field. And as a result of that, they are trying to dig into what and how the FIA has measured things. So that is why the Aduo is delayed. And I'm going to switch to asking you who needs a good result in Spain apart from Charles Leclerc. And George Russell, because we've done the whole Mercedes-Ferrari talk.

[00:37:17] Who do you think needs a good result there? Pierre Gasly for his emotions and for his mind. Because the dude almost achieved a childhood dream until it was robbed away from him. And I'll be honest, I get why the penalties were made, but I still don't yet get it. Like, come on, man. That's why Pierre Gasly. The hitman says, I cannot say Gasly podium for Barcelona anymore. But I hope so. I hope so. I sincerely hope so.

[00:37:47] I mean, this circuit will really expose who's got a good chassis and who hasn't. And the midfielders might get hit. But if something happens, I really want Pierre Gasly to be on the podium. Yeah, and this, I hope Kimi Antonelli doesn't run away with it. Or George Russell doesn't run away with it. What do I mean by runaway? In Monaco, they lapped everybody till fourth place till the safety card came out. And Antonelli was 30 seconds up the road from Lewis Hamilton. But talking of Pierre Gasly, I actually tend to agree with that. Because Gasly has been the class of the midfield.

[00:38:15] He has scored in every race this season in the Grand Prix and the sprint format. And this is something just Antonelli and Hamilton have done. And this stat supports your wish that Pierre Gasly gets a better result. So progressively, he's gotten a better result here since 2023. 2023, he was 10th. 2024, he was 9th. 2025, he was 8th. And 2026, 7th is actually where he typically lines up at a Grand Prix. So maybe that streak will end up continuing.

[00:38:45] But I'll tell you who I'm looking for a good result from. It's Arvid Lindblad. Fantastic result in the top six in Monaco. And he won here in Formula 2 and Formula 3. This is the only circuit where he's won in both those categories before coming to Formula 1. Can he win this weekend? I doubt. But can he continue the progression and the momentum that he's been showing in early part of his Formula 1 career? I really hope so.

[00:39:12] And it's also an important race weekend for Valtteri Bottas. Because the rumors are, Sergio is already considered the top driver of that team. And Valtteri is facing a backward battle. Which had to happen, right? He's not bringing as many sponsors. Politically, he's not from the North American region. Obviously, Sergio will make more sense. And Checo has been great in the car too. So for the sake of Valtteri Bottas, he needs a good result here. At a place where typically he used to have a pretty good time. So pretty important weekend on that side.

[00:39:41] There's one more driver I'm hoping gets a good result. So of course, Albin got the best result in Monaco for Williams for the year. This is after getting the best qualifying as well. But he now becomes the driver with the most races under his belt as a Williams driver. Even more than Nigel Mansell. And he's going to wear a Mansell-inspired helmet this weekend. Okay. But he's gone 17 races without Q3.

[00:40:08] In fact, Williams are yet to reach Q3 with either of their cars in 2026. And this is typically one of their weakest circuits. From 2018 to 24, they had one Q1 progression. And they've scored no points here since 2016. So the scene of Williams' last Grand Prix win, courtesy Pastor Maldonado, is also the scene of one of their worst performing circuits. But Carlos Sainz has gained most positions in 2026 for any driver.

[00:40:38] Net positions, that's 21 positions. He, of course, is racing at home. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I don't even know what to make of that stat. I think it's a good thing, right? You're bad in qualifying, but you're making up for it in the races. I mean, if I was a driver and if I was told that, I would be more frustrated than happy because I'd be like, just give me a better car then. What am I supposed to do with this? He's also scored in 10 of his last 11 starts at Barcelona.

[00:41:07] But this year, each time he's finished a race in the points, he's finished 9th. So that's another streak that I hope ends up breaking. So if Gasly is 7th and, you know, Sainz is better than 9th, which is 8th or 7th, that's the midfield battle that we are already talking of at Williams' worst circuit. That would be exciting. And imagine if somehow Fernando Alonso is somehow able to pull something together and some crazy stuff happens. I don't know.

[00:41:35] We're still a long way off. And even with the duo coming in and supporting Aston Martin, it'll still take months for any reasonable progress to happen. But a man can only dream, right? A man can only dream. So we're hoping. We're hoping it's a good weekend. Now, his dream is to have an error-free race from the package because he's come out and said, in Australia, our engine was down. In China, our energy was down. In Monaco, our chassis was bad. In Miami, our gearbox had a problem. Hence, the question is,

[00:42:04] what else could be the problem in Spain? Have they run through the list of all the problems they could have and they're finally like, this is going to be the perfect race? Because 2013 Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Fernando Alonso scored his final Formula 1 win. Also, Ferrari's last win at this track. And it's been 230 races since that win, Somers. And what a memory. What a memory. What a start.

[00:42:33] He was electric. It's like he had a battery motor in his car and then he was just able to zip past everyone. I can't wait for Fernando. I cannot wait to see Fernando in action. But prediction time before we end. Who takes the win? I'm going Lando Norris this time. I really think McLaren can be back. Lando Norris. Wow. The least number of laps. McLaren has had lesser racing laps this year than Aston Martin. And if you want the exact number,

[00:43:01] which I was very curious when I read it, I said, what on earth is that really true? But McLaren has done how many racing laps? Where are my notes? Suddenly they've gone. Okay. But yes, so McLaren has done 503 racing laps. And Aston Martin has done 520. Insane. Insane. But winner. Choose a winner. So you've gone for, I'm going to go for Antonelli. It's going to be Antonelli winning. It's that time when everything he touches is gold.

[00:43:31] And I'm loving the freshness in his approach. How he's dominating Formula 1. The most unexpected headline of 2026. So I'm going with Antonelli. I get a feeling it's a special race for PS3. He won this from Paul last year. And took the lead in the Drivers' Championship. 75th race for McLaren. I think he's going to be on the podium. And then it's going to be George Russell in his 100th win for,

[00:44:01] or 100th race for Mercedes. So George Russell has never finished 5 consecutive races behind his teammate in his entire Formula 1 career. And that stat is about to be broken. Well, the prediction is already out there. That is going to be a fun weekend. I suppose that's all for now, folks. We should have a special episode talking about Atika Amir and the family. Shouldn't we, Kunal? We should. Yes, you're going to meet her in a couple of weeks' time. Yes.

[00:44:29] And of course, I'm very proud I could make this meeting happen and played a part in getting the sports minister along with Atika Amir. And what a kid. I mean, she's an inspiration for my daughter, of course, who calls her Atika Didi. And I'll tell you this. When I was doing fan court commentary for Monaco and she was hearing and suddenly she realizes the race was over. So she was nice to walk in and she's like, did Atika Didi win? That was her. She knew it was a Formula 1 race.

[00:44:59] She knew Atika Didi cards. But she's already manifesting there. And Sandy is here saying Kimi Antonelli. I suppose that's about who's going to win. And Tifosi here is saying, I can't imagine McLaren having a win before Ferrari right now, although that might just happen. But on that note, Somal, yes. Yeah. Even my water's finished. Yeah, it's time to call it. It's time to call it a day. Thank you so much, guys. Thank you for following along. Make sure you're with us on the Inside Line F1 podcast on Instagram and on YouTube at Kunal Aisha on Twitter.

[00:45:29] And myself, I am Somal Arora on Instagram. Catch you guys in a bit. I'll be on commentary duties for FanCode for F1 in Hindi this Sunday. And Kunal will be on the Wireplay studio. So use the VPN to watch him, unless you are in Norway. And use FanCode to watch me, if you are in India. But catch you guys in a bit. We'll be around. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Thank you.