Max Verstappen robbed us of a battle with Oscar Piastri - 2025 Saudi Arabian GP F1 GP Review Post-Race

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[00:00:30] Das ist phänomenal. Wir sind live heute auf multiple destinations. Die Inside Line F1 Podcasts YouTube, Kunal's Twitter, mein Twitter as well, die Inside Line Facebook page Sundaram's Twitter as well und mein YouTube channel. Es ist crazy. Wir sind auf multiple destinations. Es ist die Inside Line F1 Podcasts own Wrestlemania. Ja, es ist Wrestlemania weekend. Es ist crazy. Und wir sahen das level of drama und das level of action in die Formula 1 heute.

[00:00:57] Wir sind die Welt champion, die Welt championen, die Welt championen, aber wir sahen das, als ob es absoluter nichts. Für once, es felt wie Max Verstappen war die Desperate, der eine, die zu schaffen, was die Desperate, der eine, die zu schaffen, aus dem nichts. Und, at the end of the day, es nicht Lando Norris, der Leiter der Welt, der Welt championship anymore. Es ist Oskar Piastri. Das ist die Saudi-Arabien Grand Prix Review, auf der Inside Line F1 Podcast. Welcome along, everyone. My name is Somal Arora.

[00:01:27] Of course, we've got Sundaram and Kunal with all of us. I commentate on the Hindi Formula 1 broadcast. Kunal works on the Norwegian Formula 1 broadcast, but he speaks in English over there. And Sundaram's stats are present all over. In fact, we use so many of them during our broadcast as well. He is the stats guru himself. And this, guys, is going to be a live show where if you are awake at 2.17 a.m. India time, you can interact with us and tell us what you feel about the entire race.

[00:01:56] But let's start with you, Kunal. What do you feel about Oskar Piastri absolutely being nonchalant at Max Verstappen attacking him? Because to me, that's a moment that defines a generation. That it is. No, it seems like that. It's the handing over the baton which never happens in Formula 1, literally. And I don't think it's necessarily been handed over. I know I maybe sounded more dramatic when I said that. But I'll tell you what.

[00:02:24] I got this feeling that Oskar Piastri did to Max Verstappen what Max Verstappen has done to hundreds of his rivals in the past while racing in Formula 1. Let me elaborate. Okay. Firstly, Oskar got the better start. Offline P2, you know, 5-8 meters behind in the staggered grid. He got that better start. We saw the numbers on Viaplay, three-tenths quicker to 200 kilometers per hour than Max Verstappen.

[00:02:51] And mind you, we actually spoke of in the preview episode how this is just a 194-meter straight. So he got that jump on Max Verstappen at the start. Something we've seen Max too. Max has been phenomenal at his starts. Max just had a lot of wheel spin. And suddenly Oskar was, you know, even more than halfway before the straight sort of ended, Oskar was ahead. Which is why Max realized, oh my God, I've lost that position. I've got to do something radical. I'm going to do what I'm great at doing.

[00:03:21] Take the outside and act like I didn't make the corner. Because, hey, Oskar is also going to break late and not make the corner. Which is why I think this was the second point where Oskar did what Max Verstappen does. Dive bomb, go in late, make that corner and act like, oh my God. But there was no space I could give a rival. And he was so lucky that he had a couple of his left tires, front and rear, on the good side of the white line. Otherwise, both the drivers would have been off track.

[00:03:49] So I think he just, Max Verstappen, Max Verstappen. That's what I'm going to say. Yeah. And for the first time I saw Red Bull Racing and Max left without an answer, Max didn't have anything to say on the track. He didn't have anything to say in the post-race interview. And Christian Horner had a lot to say, which means clearly there is not a lot to say. When he actually brought out an image showing that... I find it hilarious. He's done that so many times.

[00:04:16] An image showing that Max Verstappen actually was ahead at the apex of the corner. You can use that rule to the T as much as you want, Sundaram. But the fact of the matter is, he was not making turn one. In fact, not making turn two. My apologies. And everything from that point onwards seemed desperate. To me, the fact that they didn't even accept the fact that Max made a mistake there was crazier. Because had they just let Oscar go, maybe it would have kept them closer.

[00:04:44] Maybe they would have been, I don't know, a second and a half behind Oscar instead of five seconds behind. As they ended up being after the penalty. When was the last time you've seen Red Bull actually admit to them making a mistake? Or... Yeah, because... See, we often hear this saying that the race has never won on the first corner. I think in this situation, it really was won in the first corner. And I think, like you said, Max kind of realized that, yeah, Oscar's kind of beaten him to the first corner.

[00:05:14] And there's really no way to kind of challenge for the win than by going off track and trying to make a race out of it. And see, what Red Bull is really trying to do or what Max has always tried to do is try to play the rulebook. The regulations. The regulation that you need to be ahead at the apex. If you don't make the corner, that's a different story altogether. But if I am the car ahead at the apex, then I deserve to be given position. That's all that they're really playing into.

[00:05:41] I've really not seen the photographs that Christian's talking about. But if that's really the case, he probably has a valid point. But then I think it's the rulebook that's a little flawed. If the driver can't make the corner that comes after it, it really is a very tricky situation in that regard. And what I also think is, it's a very smart play. To go off track and let the stewards decide who's wrong. Because Max does understand that the stewards are a little inconsistent.

[00:06:09] And it also kind of builds a little bit of anxiety probably in the driver behind. I'm like, okay, when are the stewards going to give the penalty? When am I going to get the position? Am I going to get the position at all? How big is the penalty going to be? Is it going to be five seconds, ten seconds? So you're trying to psychologically try and play your opponent. And by that time, they've probably also worn down the tires a little. It's a smart play. I wouldn't say it's... You really have to be very ethical. And I think Max really knows that he has to play according to the rulebook. I think it's a very smart way of doing it.

[00:06:40] I'll tell you what. I think I was actually tuning in to watch 50 laps of a battle. And I think the one thing Max Verstappen did and the FIA, of course, I think they've been consistent. Like Sundaram also pointed out in 2021, Max did the same thing to Lewis, got a penalty, whatever. But I think the race was just decided within 200 meters, literally. One of the reasons Max wanted to stay ahead is how important clean air is.

[00:07:08] Because when Leclerc was in clean air, there was a different story. When Norris was in clean air, there was a different story. So I think Max just cost us a great battle. He robbed us of a fantastic battle. And guys, actually, come to think of it. We are yet to see a worthy wheel-to-wheel battle in 2025. We have five races in, six if you count the sprint. I'm saying at the top, Papaya rules have avoided or Papaya rules have meant that the McLaren drivers haven't fought in Suzuka.

[00:07:38] McLaren drivers were told not to fight or whatever. Lando couldn't go there and Max, sorry, Oscar was not allowed a chance. And then, you know, we've not yet had a battle wheel-to-wheel for the race win, I would say. And five races in, six if you count the sprint. And with drivers like Oscar Piastri, who are able to hold position with such nonchalance, I think that just makes their case easier, right? You don't need to have a big fight to win.

[00:08:07] You just need to be good at one decisive moment. And there, Oscar was perfect. I hate to bring in other drivers to showcase how one driver is so good. But there have been times previously when Lando or other drivers, in fact, as well, have capitulated when Max has attacked him that way. Oscar didn't seem like that. As a 24-year-old, that level of maturity is insane. And it just dawned upon me when I was sitting after the race, after having done commentary, thinking, wow, man, this guy could well be a world champion already.

[00:08:36] Because last year, we were discussing about his struggles with qualifying and tire management. A year before that, we were just saying, oh, is he going to find a seat or not? I'm just messing up the timeline a little bit. You get the idea. But here we are now, and he seems complete. Leader of the World Championship. Most wins this season. Back-to-back race wins. I mean, I'm mighty impressed with what I see. And also the decisiveness and overtaking. He had one opportunity to get past Lewis Hamilton. And he took it with both hands.

[00:09:06] That was so impressive. It was, it's a very unconventional place to go passing Kunal. Seriously. And we saw Lando struggle behind Lewis Hamilton for solo. Again, different circumstances, different tires. Everything. But still, one opportunity, and you take it. And that was another Max Verstappen-esque move by Oscar Piastri. He knew that he had to overtake Lewis. McLaren pitted him for that undercut attempt, whatever. Even though he was going to come back in traffic. GP told Max, don't worry.

[00:09:35] We don't want you to come out in traffic. Keep out on track. So he was out on track for a couple of more laps than Oscar. But Oscar, that overtake was decisive. On Lewis, he pulled it off on the marbles, on, you know, whatever, you know, throwing up all the dust. But again, very Max Verstappen-esque. He knew he had to go for the win. And he went for that overtake. And every moment when he needed to be decisive, he was very, very decisive.

[00:10:05] I mean, Sundaram, McLaren's conundrum is getting easier by the day. Oh, really? If they really don't have both drivers battling it out, they would love it. And I also think, even in terms of strategy, Norris was just that much further ahead. Although Piastri did say that it's hurting his tyres, they're not that close enough. So, like Kunal said, although we do expect to see papaya rules come into play,

[00:10:33] or we expect to see these two drivers battling it out wheel to wheel, we've not really seen that. So the longer this extends, the better it is for them. And for that reason, Lando Norris has to make lesser mistakes in qualifying. And if he had started on the front row or probably in third place, that would have been a different thing altogether. But yeah, what could have been in all of that? But yeah, for McLaren, as long as they are separated by that much distance, it's only easier for them. Exactly. And even that outlap was phenomenal. You were saying something, Kunal. Yeah, yeah.

[00:11:03] I mean, and just to add more context, yes, the outlap was phenomenal. I think, in general, tyre degradation was lower, which is why all the teams were much closer. We'll come to that and we'll address if there are more teams that had the pace to win the race today. But still sticking to Oscar Piastri. You're wearing the colour. You're wearing the colour. It's a spoiler. Call it Ferrari. Also Corsa. Something. Okay. Yeah.

[00:11:27] But Oscar Piastri becomes the first driver since maybe Lewis Hamilton to win back-to-back races for McLaren. Who would have imagined that it would not be Lando Norris? No, it was Lando. Lando Abu Dhabi and Australia. Oh. No, no. See. Please. You know, this is where people with super memories like you should not be considering. And I can never understand. Yeah, okay. You know, whatever.

[00:11:57] George Russell has had a 15-rate streak from last race, last season to this season. Anyway, but to my mind. You can't blame him because Shane Watson didn't know he had actually achieved a hat-trick because he got two wickets on at the end of one over and one in the other one. It's like, dude, did I get a hat-trick or something? People have to tell him afterwards. So, yes, that's the statistician talking. That's why we love to have him on the show. Yeah. And Oscar Piastri becomes the first driver not on pole position to win a race this season. That's correct.

[00:12:27] That's correct. That's important. And then, you know, he's progressively... I think he said something very interesting on the radio after the race. He said it's been a fantastic three weeks. He got third place in Suzuka, first place in Bahrain, first place in... Where were we racing? Saudi Arabia as well. So, he's literally gone from 4, 3, 2 and 1 in the last four races. He's now leading the Drivers' Championship. And I would still say it's early days to call that it's going to be Oscar's Championship.

[00:12:57] If this is how close everything is going to be. But McLaren's... The raw materials. Yeah, the raw materials of a champion are clearly there. Let's remember he's, what, 51 races in only? You know, in Formula 1, Formula 3 champion, Formula 2 champion. And you know, I said this on Wireplay. It's one thing to have a quick car. It's another thing to win, dominate, get everything right with the quick car. And I loved what Oscar said on Thursday before Saudi.

[00:13:25] He said, I've been actually preparing for this all winter because I knew in the off-season that we're going to have a quick car. And that I will have a very good shot at the Drivers' Championship this year. And this could well be that big year in my career. You know, we very seldom get to see the lesser experienced driver kind of overshadowing the more experienced one.

[00:13:47] Looking at how teams nowadays want to not have two alpha drivers and really want to steer away from all the politics and the dynamics that really happens. You often see a driver who's that much good and one that's slightly lesser good. And you often never see them crossing paths. The last one you'd probably talk about is Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, eventually too, through 2016. But I really like Oscar Piastri's arc that way, that he's someone who started on the back foot over the last two years.

[00:14:17] Was able to match Landru, but at never point was able to get past him or really kind of dominate him. And what he's kind of done over these last five races, most race wins this year, most pole positions this year, has the most points this year, is leading the championship. That's a very good journey. That's a very good story about how Oscar Piastri's Formula One career has started. And he's only in his third season. So he's only going to get better and better. And that's something I'm very excited to see.

[00:14:46] How impressive was Piastri's overtake on Hamilton? Reminded me of Polonzo on Schumacher, Suzuka, says Abhas. Firstly, Abhas, good morning. It's clear you've either had a long night or you're watching WrestleMania in the morning, just like all of us are. No, but thank you. But it's amazing. Especially when you consider that the drivers were actually very critical of the marbles. The clerk said this in the cool-down room after the race. Dude, the marbles were crazy. And Piastri went there to make it all happen.

[00:15:13] Sure, at that stage of the race, it might not have been as prevalent as it was towards the end. But nevertheless, what an overtake that was. And commitment. Which actually then, again, this takes me back to something else. Because with Oscar, we saw commitment. We saw great driving. But there were other drivers who showed that there can be the opposite of that too. Like, this circuit really highlighted how smart or how quick you are as a driver.

[00:15:41] Like, especially the final couple of corners or the final couple of DRS zones. We saw Lando and Lewis go head-to-head over there for three laps? Three times. Three different opportunities. It took Lando the third time to be able to get past Lewis, who was driving in a slower car. Again, I have sympathy for Lando. I like him as a driver. Again, what we're seeing right now, probably the toughest time in his career. But that's where you felt that, oh my word, this guy isn't learning quick enough. I ideally thought the second time, that should have been it.

[00:16:11] Because we've seen the same instance, Kunal, with Leclerc and Verstappen in 2022. And this is what we mentioned on the Hindi broadcast as well. For some reason, people on Twitter took offense to it. Like, why are we talking about Leclerc and Verstappen while these guys are fighting? But driving dynamics, it all matters. And in this whole scenario, I was surprised that Lando didn't learn that on time. I thought second time would have been enough, if not the first one. Because he was clearly much quicker. You know, Abhishek has said the same thing right now.

[00:16:41] Lando's rookie-esque mistakes in battles versus Lewis by not waiting until turn one twice to make the pass. Left points on the table. I would say one of the reasons why I think Lando was a little cautious was because he was on that hard tyre. He wanted to make sure that he made the overtake without messing his hard tyre up too much. Because he knew he had to go long if another safety guard did come out.

[00:17:05] But yeah, I mean, you know, when you don't dig in deeper into the data, there's possibly this feeling that could he have actually done different with Lewis. It did seem like Lewis was able to play him at will, if that's what we'd like to call it. And, you know, Lando Norris from trying to battle Max Verstappen ended up battling Lewis Hamilton, both of which were almost outside of the top five or at least at that point of time.

[00:17:31] And for Lando, I think he will probably just take heart in the fact that he climbed up six positions, even though he finished off the podium for the first time in 2025. Yeah. And yeah, it just goes to show how tough it is. And the question I'll ask you lads is, do you think he's going to get the driver's championship lead back at any point of time in 2025? Someone's answered with a no. Doesn't come back.

[00:18:02] Championship lead is... It will. It will. It will. I don't see this championship being sealed or I don't see Oscar running away with it, but I'm sure this is going to get very much more interesting. We have different circuits, different layouts, more different strengths and weaknesses for every driver. So I think it's going to go back and forth a little bit. I hope it goes back and forth a little bit. You know, the thing I'm actually worried about is momentum because... Yeah, of course. For Lando, I say.

[00:18:32] Because yes, we have a bit of a break, but when the races come hard and fast, and if the momentum tanks in any one of the races, can't go like this triple header. Like, you can't have two races like that. That's too long. And the reason why I think that way is thanks to you, Sundaram. Because before you put out that quarterly division of the world championship graph, I wasn't looking at a world championship that way. You look at the final points, Talia, and be like, ah, he won or he lost. But there's a different phase to every world championship.

[00:19:01] And in this phase, or in these three races, if you have to break it down, there's a lot of points left on the table because momentum didn't go well. And it's all mental, right? We face these issues in our normal life as well. It's so hard to recondition and rewire your brain at such a high performance level so quickly to come back from a setback like that. It's very tough. Especially if you're someone younger because you don't have as much experience.

[00:19:28] With Orlando, I'm actually, I'm just hoping he gets a bit of a break. This triple header, this one week. It'll be important because if the momentum keeps sliding off, Oscar's that kind of ice-cold person who's always going to be second, third. And I'm sure the numbers are going to back it up, Sundaram. I don't think he's actually qualified lower than third. Or finished outside of the podium as well. Apart from Australia. Oscar. PST? Yeah, yeah. He's been there, up there.

[00:19:54] And I think he's the only one who's started or qualified in the top three in every race, every Grand Prix this season. But also, like you mentioned, that phase thing. It's very important. Because someone's put out this tweet on X, L4NDODD. A tweet on X? Yeah. Yeah, whatever. You get the point. You get the point. But someone's actually written that Lando has had a lot happening for him in these last five races. In Australia, rain, three safety cars. Then his brakes failing in China.

[00:20:25] In Japan, it was a very weird qualifying and not up to Mark McLaren strategy. Qualifying wasn't great for Lando and Bahrain. And then he had the crash here. So he's really had quite a bit happening for him. And he would prefer that. The lesser this happens, the more he'll be able to maximize in terms of points. So like you said, he goes back, comes back two weeks later after this little bit of a break and knows that his next phase of races have to be that much better. And I really hope we get to see that slightly change, Lando, here on.

[00:20:55] But I know what on this, Kunal, before we head to talking about other teams. I know we said a 30-minute limit. Going overboard. It's not impossible. Because while I was digging up for the race today, I found out that Sebastian and Nico have also not won races from lower than 10th place. I was trying to create a narrative of sorts to say that Lando needs to do something big. Who? Sorry, who's not won from lower than...

[00:21:25] Which two names? Seb and Nico. Have they not? Nico clearly hasn't. Seb has never won out of the top three. You don't want me to bring that standard. Yeah, exactly. So it's not that Lando is soft or he's weak. There are other drivers who also have a style of qualifying high up and keeping it there. So it's not new or it's not alien. It's just a matter of momentum. And momentum is hard to get in a season this close, Kunal. It is.

[00:21:54] And you know, Lando Norris, if I again read my notes, his average qualifying position is 1.75. Okay. His worst qualifying was in Japan, which was third place. The next best is Max Verstappen, which is 3.2. And Norris is only fourth with 4.0 as his average qualifying position. Of course, Norris is undone by sixth and tenth that he had in Bahrain and in Saudi Arabia.

[00:22:21] And if we were to look at the drivers finishing positions, Lando Norris actually has better finishing positions. He's got one, two, two, three and four. So one race off the podium. Whereas Oscar Piastri is, of course, had a ninth place in Australia and three wins out of the last four races. So I think that momentum has clearly been Oscar's way. And like, you know, Abhishek has again said, I'm putting it on the stream, Oscar getting to the same number of wins as Lando's entire career.

[00:22:51] And stopping Max from converting pole, that is definitely bragging rights in the papaya garage. Absolutely goes without saying. And I think Norris will regroup. He will sit back and understand what is it that he can do different? What is it that he can do better the next time? And remember, next race is Miami, where he picked up his first Grand Prix win, where McLaren changed their fortunes last year.

[00:23:14] Hopefully those positive emotions is what would come his way and sort of help him get back in the fight. Because I would love to have more drivers in the fight. Because, you know, I think even Leclerc could very well be in the fight if Ferrari's upgrades keep coming and delivering at some point. But, yeah, are we changing that? Wait, wait, wait. Okay. Could or should? Because we were having this debate before the episode went live.

[00:23:43] We were thinking, and this is something you brought up, Kunal. You said that Ferrari could have won. I'm thinking of it turning it around and saying, yeah, Ferrari should have won. Their pace was incredible towards the end. And they were actually quite good with the strategy as well. Sorry, that came a little bit late. It might seem like we were interrupting each other. But for once, their strategy of going longer and having fresher rubber at the end was the one that seemed faster.

[00:24:11] And, of course, higher temperatures, Maseri is not exactly the best there. Whatever it was. But they seem like the ones in control of that podium battle today. I would say any team could have won today. And by any team, I don't mean sour. But I think the race, there was very little or low tire degradation. So teams and drivers were pushing. If you remember post-race, Lando Norris was sweating like, oh, my goodness. This is, you know, I'm just out of a sauna. Oscar Piastri said I'd love to have a couch.

[00:24:39] Or whatever was the word he used in his post-race interview with David Coulthard. My feeling is that if Max was up ahead and he didn't have the penalty, he could have won the races. I mean, even again, this turned out to be a one-stopper. Despite Pirelli going one step softer to try and have two stops, it became a one-stopper. And again, it was because there was almost no degradation that was happening. The team that actually had overheating was Mercedes. But we'll talk about that. I don't think Mercedes could have won.

[00:25:06] But I do believe if Leclerc had qualified higher up, if he was on pole, that Ferrari had the pace to win. Especially, you know, if he followed the same strategy or something else. When he was running in clean air, when he did his offset strategy, you know, he did 29 laps on the medium, which was more than any other driver. Everyone else, Piastri, for example, did 19, Max did 21 and so on. So he went, you know, almost eight, nine laps longer than the others on the podium.

[00:25:37] And then did a much shorter stint. I mean, imagine he did a shorter stint on the hard tire than on the medium tire. But that medium worked very well for him. So I had a feeling, I have a feeling they could have won if they had just started higher up. Which is why Leclerc was so disappointed to qualify P4. And he eventually said, guys, I am feeling so one with the car. I am extracting so much from that car. I am very pleased, but this is the maximum we've got. We just don't have more pace in it.

[00:26:04] So if and when Ferrari brings more performance, I think they will make it up there. And congratulations to Leclerc for becoming the fifth face on the podium this season. Because, you know, we've pretty much been the two McLaren drivers, Russell and Verstappen, sharing all the podium honors today. Yeah. You know, if you look at the, if you go into the preview of the race, Pirelli said that we're going one step softer because we want to make it more exciting.

[00:26:32] We want to have more closer wheel-to-wheel battles. And if you look at it, after the safety car came after lap one, you had a Jack Doohan, Estevano Con, Gabriel Boteleto pitting on lap after lap one. And then running the hearts for 49 laps. That just goes to show how much of, how less degradation there's been here and what possibly could be the case in Monaco. So, and it's a good thing that they've actually mandated that you have to do two pit stops.

[00:26:59] Otherwise, if they don't do that, you could actually see that degradation has been quite lower on street circuits. And this might be the norm for a lot of races. So despite Pirelli going one step softer, so what can they possibly do beyond this? Is this not the softest of their compounds this weekend? Yes, it is. So there's a lot of pondering for them to do. Yeah, I actually don't mind compounds. Let's remember, they are more robust for 2025 to make up for more, you know, cornering speeds, etc.

[00:27:28] The basic step that cars have made in performance. I don't mind these. The drivers are able to push on qualifying, okay, which is great. They're able to reuse the sets like we saw Max do yesterday, for example. Even in the race, they're able to go and be on the limit for, you know, at a circuit where there is so much grip and not so much tire degradation at a smoother tarmac and all of that. I genuinely don't mind it, even though I know fans want to see more pit stops.

[00:27:57] More pit stops means more strategy at play and so on. But, you know, just me out there. And yes, you know, I think Pirelli will somewhat be told, like they've always been told, we want higher degradation tires. But guess what? I think this product is fairly okay. I mean, rate to race, what do you guys think on 10? Where do you think this race was? I think it was a fairly good race, I would say. 7.5? Give me a number. No. 7.5. I still liked it. It was a good race.

[00:28:27] I mean, yeah, even I thought Suzuka was a good race too. But then looking at the hate, people didn't seem to like it. And I get it because it's kind of skewed, right? We... I think we all look at it from a very different lens. Exactly. Exactly. That's what I was trying to get to. We're very analytical. We're looking at lap times, numbers, stories, tires, compounds, things people said, things people alluded to, car dynamics as well. We're nerds. We'd enjoy anything.

[00:28:54] I think we were really waiting to see when those tires will fall off the cliff and then who's able to then make those changes. And I think a lot of other people just wanted to see more closer wheel-to-wheel battles, more overtakes than what we already saw. But we were just waiting to see when the tires will fall off and that didn't really happen with the huds. Yeah. Again, don't blame the tires. Blame the cars. It's just what it is.

[00:29:19] And you can't even blame the circuits anymore now because this is top of the line of what you can get with a Formula One street circuit. It's incredible. It's near perfect, I'd say. Apart from the red light at turn number 10. You should also blame the drivers. You see, we don't have a lot of drivers who just casually crash. You also have a very capable lineup of drivers who very seldom crash. We have lesser DNFs than we would probably see in the last couple of years. So there's lesser safety cars and all those sort of things. So who are you going to blame it on? One second.

[00:29:48] So are we Americanizing the sport by having better drivers? Because in NASCAR, the whole thing works because there's big ones. What the hell? We've got Abhishek sending in his rating. He's saying if Bahrain was an 8, Saudi wasn't more than a 6.5. Bahrain is definitely higher. Bahrain is definitely higher. No. Mercedes struggled a lot with degradation. Hardly a race. Abbas is saying Mercedes, yes. In fact, they didn't have much of FP2 running.

[00:30:19] And that's what caused them with a lot of overheating degradation. That's what caused George Russell for once. He wasn't up in the running for the podium. He actually said that the Friday running cost him. He finished fifth again, which is where he's finished. If he's not on the podium, he finishes fifth in a race. But going back to the rating, I would say it was 8 or 9 or 10. I mean, you know, there was just so much happening. But it's always Kunal's ratings. It's always Kunal's ratings.

[00:30:47] So let's just pull it back a little bit. Hockenheim 2020. So 2019. What's that, Kunal? Is that off the Richter scale? Did we race in Hockenheim in 2019? I have no memory. Yeah, arguably the greatest or the best race of all time. Highest rated race at least. Wasn't it? Who hated that? Was that where Sebastian Vettel went in? No, the year after. Remember the one where the Mercedes had the special front wing, the white colored one to celebrate. The centenary or the 125th year or something like that. I don't know.

[00:31:17] It's something cool. You guys are insane. I have no memory of what happened two races ago and you're taking me back six years or whatever. That too in a circuit we've not been at since so long. I know the circuit layout. I know the old circuit layout as well at the back of my head. If you put me on the same. Why don't we then just go for a test? Just for fun. Now that we're here, let me just throw out a random race. And let's see if we remember who won it or not. Australia last year. Who won?

[00:31:49] Sainz. Carlos Sainz. You had to pick that. It was so easy. Yes. And that's my way to transition onto talking about Williams. I got you guys to talk about him. We'll talk about Williams. But you are like that, you know, that Max Verstappen fan. Whoever was sitting in that balcony playing that red blinking light, trying to fool Oscar Piastri into Billy. It's a red flag. If it was Carlos Sainz leading or Carlos Sainz chasing second, you would have been that fan sitting and putting that red light saying, beep, beep. Come on.

[00:32:19] What are you saying Carlos Sainz in second? What year are you talking about? We've all moved on. We've long moved on. The hard, we've long moved. But wait, one sec. One sec. One sec. We've got to settle this. Carlos Sainz, isn't he your driver of the day for helping Williams get that double points finish? That's why I'm wearing blue today. There's no other reason. I'm so ecstatic. That was phenomenal. I couldn't catch that radio message properly on the broadcast. And we're going pretty soon after it.

[00:32:49] Did Carlos Sainz say that we don't need to be scared of Isaac Hadjar's base? That's what he said, didn't he? Yeah, he said he's not going to get us on. He actually said there were some pearls of radio messages on the Williams chat. So first was, yes, he said, I don't think he's going to overtake us on because Hadjar was on the reverse strategy, finishing 10, scoring points, whatever. So he said that. Then after the race, sorry, James Wawel said, I now know why you won in Singapore. That was incredible teamwork at play.

[00:33:19] So, you know, wobbles and signs were sort of, you know, building onto that. Now, here's the fun part. Alexander Albin was asked, okay, did the DRS strategy where, you know, Carlos said, let him be my DRS and let's go and chase him. He said, well, you know, we would have anyway finished eighth or ninth. We wouldn't have gone ahead. Okay. But he said that DRS strategy was just the team overreacting, you know, and we were trying to keep Isaac at play.

[00:33:46] So it was his way of saying, yes, I finished ninth and Carlos got there. But it wasn't him who got me in the points. I would have anyway been in the points because genuinely, I think there was one team pulling off the overtakes. It was Williams and they had some fantastic straight line speed to do that. Yeah. And smart driving at the end too.

[00:34:05] You know, on the broadcast, I got so excited because this was a battle of generations, of strategies, of teams, and also of vastly different career circumstances. I felt it was thoroughly enjoyable the last few laps. And just seeing how Isaac Hadjar was very determined to get that, the raw pace was quite good. But then again, Williams are the real deal now, Sundaram. Track position and qualifying, they got it done. Albon's race was quite good too. Very well executed.

[00:34:35] And the best part is everyone's in that midfield because we had the two Mercs, then the two Williams, then the two Racing Bulls. And the Haases, okay, they had tough qualifying, but they weren't too bad that way. Oh, they were not. And I mean, I'm very happy that Williams is back up there with two very good drivers. And that's what even James Wawel said, that we have two world-class drivers who will be able to give us the sort of results that the car is capable of.

[00:35:05] We are past the era of Latifi or who else was it last year? Logan Sargent and the like. So now they have two very capable drivers who will put that car in the midfield. And they will be able to hold on to position because it's not a case of them just being quick on the straights. What Wawel's also said is that we are being able to be quick elsewhere as well. So it's not just that we'll be good on certain tracks. So that bodes very well for Williams through the rest of the year.

[00:35:31] They've got 25 points already and they had how many points last year? 17. So in a matter of five races, they're able to score more points than they did last year, which is very, very good for them. And even the Racing Bulls being there or there about Liam Lawson. Where did he finish today? Did he finish 11th or 12th? 11th. No, he was 12th. He was 12th. He was 11th on the road and then he had those penalties. He had a penalty as well. So you can really see a lot of these drivers coming into their own, delivering when it really matters.

[00:36:02] And in that sense, a midfield battle is great. I think before this race, Haas was P5. Now Williams is P5. And I think we'll see that changing a lot. Pierre Gasly wasn't able to perform this time because, yeah, of course, he crashed out on lap one. But what he was able to do or what he would have been able to do, we don't know. So you will see a lot of changing happening in midfield, which is great.

[00:36:52] Yes. I think he's been able to do it. He's a lot of times while either overtaking or being overtaken by other drivers. Very, very, very random. But also a shout out to... Sorry. Sorry. Now that you've mentioned F2, quick shout out to a friend of the podcast, Avud Lindblad. Congratulations on becoming the youngest ever Formula 2 winner in a sprint race. He won in Saudi Arabia. He was on the show. and we're really glad to see that he's doing incredible there in Formula 2. Hopefully the youngest winner in the history of Formula 2. We are actually

[00:37:21] trying to celebrate his race win by bringing him back on the podcast. So hopefully between now and Miami we are able to make that happen. But a quick shout out to another couple of winners. So Abhishek Ramesh voted for a Red Bull win. He knows almost could have happened. There was also Keshav Kumar who also voted for a Red Bull win. Thank you for interacting with us on Instagram as well. You guys are definitely the fans of the day even if you all weren't the ones holding that red torch

[00:37:52] at turn 10 as well. But should we just pick our own drivers of the day and then see where we go with this? Yeah, we should. Are you still choosing Carlos Sainz? No, I'm still... This is a tricky one, isn't it? So, I mean, you know, it's a very tough sport because with Carlos he did a Carlos Sainz race. It's nothing spectacular. It's not phenomenal. We could go the easy route and say

[00:38:21] Oscar P. Ashtray driver of the day. But that's the obvious. We guys don't do obvious, do we? I'm willing to lean on obvious this time because I really can't pick anyone else at this point. So I would still say Oscar P. Ashtray. Very sadharan. Yeah. Samal, are you both picking Oscar? I'm picking Oscar. I like Charles and what he did today. But not driver of the day. Charles, yes. Charles, yes.

[00:38:51] I'm picking Charles. Okay. Oscar P. Ashtray. And so many scraps that his radio message was, I have never done a race like I did today. Never in my 25 years. He was so scared during the race. And I don't mean scared as though not driving, but he's like the number of

[00:39:20] risks that were being taken because of the pace around those, you know, full fuel tanks on rubbers that were not degrading, high grip, high speed walls out there. So, you know, Fernando is the oldest. The youngest also was Kimi Antonelli. So we've, of course, you know, sort of not spoken about him much because there's a lot happening around him. But he again finished just after George Russell. 35 seconds off the pace and seven off

[00:39:48] the race winner and seven seconds behind George Russell. I would say that's not too bad. And he actually said post-race, I had a few taps on the wall. I got really scared. Can you imagine? Okay. Abbas says Leclerc is driver of the day. And I think Liam Lawson would also pick Fernando Alonso as the driver of the day because he said that Fernando Alonso blocked him a little bit in the race. Yeah, Leclerc was actually pretty good.

[00:40:17] As Abhishek points out, 30 seconds ahead of Lewis and equal machinery. Yes, equal, not equitable. Is what I'd like to say in response to this. But yeah, very true. Leclerc was amazing. And the way he held on the composure. He's a great driver. Just missing that extra bit towards the end. And Mr. Tire Whisperer, Esteban Ocon. Again, something interesting. Actually, I had to do. Sorry. When you said Tire Whisperer, just a random thought.

[00:40:46] 34 laps in the hards. Good stint, buddy. Well done. But we had more. And I'll tell you what more I'm talking of. So when the race ended, Gabriel Bortoleto was like, oh my goodness. Did anyone else go longer than me on the hard? He did one lap on the medium at the opening and the opening like safety car. He went into the pits and then he took on the hard for 48 laps. But guess what? He was lapped, which meant that he raced one

[00:41:16] lap less, which means that Esteban Ocon, who was 14, actually did 49 laps on that hard tire. So technically one person did do one more lap than the usual that the others did as well. But yeah, there we go. So tire whisperers, if we may call it that. I think Bortoleto is just going to be a little hungry this this flight back after that scrap with Fernando Alonso.

[00:41:44] And yeah, we're going to release the entire France Toss episode on the Thursday or maybe Wednesday. We will see how it goes. Lots of videos to actually release. He gives a complete look at how he's groomed rookies, how rookies progress through the Formula One, working with Max and very crucially how he thinks Oscar Piastri is the next best driver in Formula One after Max Verstappen. So you can go back and watch that segment on our YouTube channel.

[00:42:12] But the full episode will be released later this week. And that is a phenomenal episode. And France said it. I see a potential world champion in this guy and we are now seeing it too. So it's incredible. But Miami is next. We have a week. We're trying to get more people on the show. We're trying to make it a lot more fun. We're trying to have a fun built up for Miami as well. So make sure that you can catch all of it by subscribing to the Inside Line F1 podcast.

[00:42:40] Abhas and Amishik, special shout out to you guys. You guys have stayed up till late. I don't know if it's for us or what. But the fact that you guys have been with us for all this while, it's amazing. And for all of you folks, we'll be live time and time again after qualifying, after the race. Make sure you join us. Make sure you can make sure you share your opinions and thoughts on the sport with us on a platform like this, because we love to discuss this in more depth. But for now, we must bid goodbye and we must bid goodnight because it's late and sleep is

[00:43:09] something we need to prioritize. So wait, wait, wait. One sec. You cannot prioritize sleep or Abhishek's latest message. He said Troll had a horror weekend, but still can't believe that he's the one who has scored all points for Aston Martin so far, even though Alonso has outqualified him every time. You know, the reason why I think this is great to put it up because Fernando actually said post-race. Fernando didn't finish the first two races. He was 11th in Suzuka and then I believe he was 15th and now he's 11th again. So he said, you know, I'm back to being 11th again.

[00:43:38] And then he said, finishing 11th for us is so tough that I don't think we are going to score points this season. He actually said that post-race in Saudi Arabia. On that note, ladies and gentlemen. Why do you want to tell this before I have to go to sleep? Why? Now I'll get nightmares. Hey, it could be worse. You could be a Man United fan. You could beat a team 76. There's nothing worse. There's nothing worse than being a Fernando

[00:44:07] Alonso fan waiting for him to win a title for 20 years. Please. Fair. We're just 10 years away from that. But okay. Enough. Enough of that. We've got to sleep now, guys. Thank you. Thank you for watching, everyone. We'll be back.