2022 Emilia Romagna GP Race Review | WTF1 Podcast

There was plenty of drama for the first sprint weekend of the year at Imola. Charles Leclerc's mistake at the end of the race, Lewis Hamilton trying to pass Gasly 25 times and Red Bull surging back into the championship with a 1-2. Lots of things to discuss in this week's WTF1 podcast!
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[@xtheamazingax]

Since nobody else is going to do it, I'm gonna sing praises for Yuki Tsunoda. He's another driver who's done far better than his teammate in Imola. Ever since Abu Dhabi last year he's looked so much better than at the beginning of 2021. If he keeps performing like that, he's got a bright future ahead of him.

[@foob4thought]

Yes, perfectly said. Shame Yuki doesn’t get that much airtime both on TV and in social media. I’m rooting for him and Pierre (and Magnussen).

[@BelegCuthali0n]

Yes!!! I posted it on twitter that Yuki is the most underrated performance of the weekend. Out in Q1 on friday, climbing up to P12 in the sprint and finishing P7 on Sunday, beating Gasly all weekend and making some great overtakes.

[@patricktho6546]

He got an A...

[@Sam-SW]

Tommy would be loving how good Yuki was

[@samuelsiltala119]

True and I am not surprised, he is very talented, definitely can challenge and even beat Kobayashi and Sato for best Japanese driver in F1 history. Would not be surprised to see him win a GP or two in his career, time will tell..

[@7BD273]

Switch the names. If that'd be Hamilton in P4, everybody would be hailing it as an outstanding drive, and Bottas in P14 would be dragged across the mud. George's performance on Sunday was absolutely amazing, and I'm so tired of everyone, including Merc, trying to downplay his racing, and it's ridiculous that everyone at the team is expected to act all sombre because Lewis couldn't overtake an AT for 30 laps. George has carried that team to the absolute maximum results both in Imola and Jeddah. Also, this is not to shit on Hamilton. Everyone who knows F1 and isn't blinded by hate will tell you that he'll bounce back, and this should not be a controversial thing to say about a 7 time champ. Making excuses for Jeddah and Imola is just insulting to his abilites, he can take those L's, everyone with a brain knows he is capable of performing better. And the fact that George gets hate for respecting Lewis, and for not gloating about beating him is ridiculous. If any other driver would publicly support their struggling teammate, they would be praised for the very same behaviour.

[@72Kraken]

This! The disrespect shown to George is honestly pretty shameful. He beats his team mate by a mile, and all we hear is excuses excuses. Let Lewis take a few well deserved Ls and appreciate what George is managing to do with what clearly isn't the easiest to drive car.

[@bhargavpavuluri3118]

@@72Kraken Same disrespect was shown to bottas too. Absolutely disgusting

[@72Kraken]

@@bhargavpavuluri3118 Agreed! While Bottas had his flaws, he was thrown under the bus more often than not.

[@Nitrox-.]

It is a bit ridiculous indeed. But I'll have to say while it was a very good drive considering where he started, the Merc seems to be the 3rd best car atm (although not in Imola specifically) and with that in mind 5th and 6th would generally be the expectation - so I can see why you wouldn't praise it to the sky.

[@mohammeded-dahbi7603]

Literally everyone said Goerge mopped the floor with him. Check your facts

[@Aemond2024]

How we miss Tommy now. Matt escaping the righteous rubbing in.

[@tt-nm4yj]

Yeah i miss him actually

[@sumitblogs15]

@@tt-nm4yj so true Tommy is the only logical person I find in this podcast

[@sjoerd7512]

Yeah I was really looking forward to Tommy getting to rub it in, especially since Matt has been a bit over the top with his Leclerc fandom this season. I mean I don’t blame him and still really enjoy the content, but if this continues or gets worse it might get too annoying 😅

[@Ibol406]

Hope Max wins in Miami so Tommy can rub it in on Matt

[@OnionChoppingNinja]

@@Ibol406 Seeing how the season's been going so far his car will probably die on him again. I hope not but I have little faith in Red Bull Power Trains at this point.

[@cousinwil5808]

One could say that Leclerc actually got lucky… what are the odds that you spin off the track, end up facing the wrong way near the barrier, and somehow only drop a couple places?

[@samuelsiltala119]

True, but Leclerc did manage the spin well (no way saving it that high on the kerbs), which does seem to go unmentioned. If some of the rookies or pay drivers spun in the same way, they would have retired. I think combo of talent and luck. Obviously he should have never pushed over the limit in that instance.

[@willamcars1]

Thats the sort of shit you only see in the f1 game usually.

[@petiertje]

@@samuelsiltala119 Nothing to do with talent, the fact he got away with that spin was only luck. if you get in an uncontrolled spin (in any car) you are just a passenger and are lucky if you don't end up breaking the car completely. certainly on the circuit where speeds are usually much higher then on public road. I'm not saying Leclerc isn't talented, he is, but in this case he was just lucky. Nothing wrong with that either.

[@PozzaPizz]

@@petiertje yeah but even a spin like that and a wall tap can mean stalling out. Most rookie drivers tend to stall out.

[@ninjamuffin289]

I raise you Hamilton at Imola 2020, crash on your own and break front wing, come 2nd #blessed

[@wilseph1]

Nico surely must be loving the Lewis shambles.

[@Skillzvideos]

Listening to sky sports he definitely was 😅😂 he was make fun of him pretty much

[@wilseph1]

@@Skillzvideos Lewis attempting to get past Gasly 20 times! That comment had me in tears.

[@GewoonGw]

it kinda also makes his achievement look less impressive, so a bit of both side i would guess

[@Sajuuk9]

I think a lot of people are loving Ham doing badly, make him eat a bit of humble pie for once.. the guy has been in the best car for 8 years.. he clearly forgot how it is to drive a not top 1 car..

[@justbob7828]

Wouldn’t Nico benefit from Hamilton not being exposed? I mean a lot of Nico’s credit has been due to the fact that he was the only one teammate that was able to beat Hamilton. If all of a sudden George gets in the merc and beats him as well, then Nico’s achievement could be seen as not actually that impressive, wouldn’t it? Idk just my thoughts

[@cmills-fl4gn]

A d for Ocon is very harsh. He gained three positions in the sprint after a gearbox failure in quali, then gained up to 11th in the race but the penalty put him 14th. Actually was a decent drive. Without the penalty he would’ve been the driver with the most positions gained in the race.

[@alenbhaii]

It's was his team who released him from pit which caused the penality. Not his personal fault.

[@Septimus_ii]

If it weren't for the unsafe release, he would have been released behind Hamilton and probably still finished 14th

[@idi8822]

To be fair, it's a rating for their race performance not their sprint performance

[@chris_wicksteed]

I wonder if part of the difference between Russell and Hamilton, is that Russell is willing to put up with more discomfort from the porpoising effect. Not only is he significantly younger, he's fighting for a career best season, so the headaches and back pain are worth it. Hard to imagine Hamilton wanting to go through the wringer for what would still be a rubbish season for him.

[@bobbollen87]

Great point

[@stevenst6337]

I think you might be right, I thought of exact same thing today. Russel getting neck, back and chest pains from the porpoising. Lewis not going to want to go through that for a season that wouldn’t even come close to a title.

[@arund6922]

@Chris: A very underrated analysis on the team Mercs. But great insight!! Bravo

[@natashakuzmanoska9656]

He do not have that luxury, if he finish a long way behind Russell all his legacy is tainted for a couple of years. So it is either retire or try to beat Russell. First one was missed so he have to battle with Russell.

[@mpolinsk22]

It's also only 4 races and significant luck has played a role in the finishing order in 3 of them. Russell's free pot stops in previous weekends are what put him ahead of Lewis and they were much closer in this race than the finishing order implied. The WTF1 folks touched upon this. If Russell just started on the other side of the grid (so even qualifying one spot better), it would have landed him in 10th because that's all it would have taken to catch him out with the Riccardo/Sainz trouble. So it's easy too early to really comment or denigrate Lewis's driving. Also I'm not sure they're the 3rd best team either.

[@geopoliticsweekly]

Whether the car (Merc) is compromised or not, the individual performances will still tell you, roughly, who’s getting the most out of it.

[@GigglingChinchilla]

Alex Jacques!!! Love his enthousiasm on the broadcast.

[@himanshukarekar1423]

Merc Fans: 2014-2021: It's the driver, not the car 2022: It's the car, not the driver Guess they should take a look at Russell still performing....

[@Marcushalberstram749]

I love the hypocrisy of LH fans

[@Shar4n]

I don't particularly like Hamilton and Mercedes but him being bad for 4 races doesn't mean he was always bad

[@hectorshouse7348]

Spot on…always thought Russell would expose Lewis.

[@animatedrank6525]

I think it's just too early to make conclusions.

[@madhavisingh9046]

Yeah 😂 mErCedEs aRe eXpErImeNtInG. And also, when Max wins, they're like, anyone could win in that car. It's insane.

[@simonbrunner3062]

It's not just Max with his grand chelem or whatever it's called, Red Bull as a team were one point short of scoring the theoretical maximum in the most points-inflated race weekend in F1 history. So it's worth talking about both drivers. With second drivers next to a superstar like Max, it's always a bit of a tradeoff. If you hire another alphadog, there's a risk of creating conflict, or at the very least he will get frustrated getting repeatedly beaten by Max. Note that the pairings with two top dogs have only ever led to title success if the car was so dominant they would've won it anyway (McLaren 1988/89, Mercedes 2014-16), while in close title fights, internal rivalries do more harm than good (Piquet/Mansell, Alonso/Hamilton). On the other hand, a driver that is happy playing the second fiddle will usually not get the best out of the car for the constructor's championship. With Checo, the way he is performing this season, it seems like Red Bull have hit the perfect middle ground. We've seen him fight down Max' main rival wheel to wheel last year (this time again, the move on Leclerc into Villeneuve after the pit stop was a masterclass), we've seen him get on well with Max from day one, but now, he's also consistently quick. For Red Bull, this is a dream scenario, and I cannot think of a reason why they could possibly want to make changes about their driver pairing. Sure, there may be younger, hungrier or even faster drivers out there, but why take the risk of disrupting what they have right now? And this is where we need to talk about Gasly. I don't know what must have hurt more for him, dropping behind his team mate in the championship for the first time since his return to AlphaTauri, or seeing Max and Checo on the podium. If he is still clinging to the dream of eventually returning to Red Bull, he needs to let go now and focus on other options. Because why would Red Bull ever go down that route again? Even for Mercedes last year it was a tough call between the proven quantity that is Valtteri Bottas, and the faster but potentially disruptive Russell. At the end of the day, Toto made a decision for the future. But here's the difference at Red Bull: Max is not 37 years old like Lewis. He has many great years ahead of himself. Like he said in Abu Dhabi: "Can we just keep doing this for the next 10 years?" If he stands by his words, Red Bull will be more concerned about keeping him happy than about bringing fresh blood in within the next few years. As early as 2020, when people said Red Bull surely would stick to their own driver academy instead of hiring Perez, I've jokingly hinted at the fact that Mark Webber, the last Red Bull driver hired from outside their own academy, ended up spending seven years and eventually ending his career at the team. After seeing Max and Checo on the Imola podium celebrating their first 1-2, I'll openly say it: I can 100% see Checo ending his career as a Red Bull driver, be that in three, four or maybe even five years.

[@sky3line552]

love to see alex on the podcast, hopefully more guests like him in the future

[@mrdude9671]

Why the hell was I waiting for 20 mins for Albon to join the live stream before I read “Alex Jacques”

[@weirdwickedworld6111]

Commenting to get the comment higher. Repeat after me.

[@danielbrazil4683]

@@weirdwickedworld6111 yeah what this guy said

[@72Kraken]

I get your point about Lewis not being washed, but listening to Toto apologizing whilst George finishes fourth was as cringy and disgusting as it gets. Quit rimming his ass and let him finally do some midfield racing where he isn't driving the fastest car the last 10 years have seen.

[@JPD2587]

That Toto message to Lewis was embarrassing. It sounded like a nervous parent desperately trying to stop their unruly toddler from throwing a fit.

[@mazdaroadster-mx5]

This is so true. It's downright weird to just ignore George's success

[@FADHsquared]

Hopefully Toto doesn't give unequal treatment for his kids as well.

[@PozzaPizz]

It was disgusting. And it only happened for OBVIOUS reasons. We're all sick of this shit. All of it, not just Lewis Hamilton.

[@Milkywayboy]

So true

[@kanan1361]

We miss Tommy especially when RB drivers and Yuki drove well in the race.

[@Aemond2024]

Max dominating everyone, lapping Lewis, Toto's face Rosberg dissing Hamilton all weekend on Sky Russelll getting P4 in the same car This weekend has been cathartic

[@quigglyz]

Seriously. Just confirms what a lot of us have been saying for years.

[@explotion2500]

Im new in f1. What is to lap someone?

[@tt-nm4yj]

Lewis did get screwed during in quali with Carlos spinning so he couldn't set a lap, started on the wet side of the track unlike george and got stuck in a drs train behind gasly after beinf pushed out by Ocon in the pits. But I do think he should have gotten a point lmao, he is Hamilton after all and he get paid 40 mil a year

[@Aemond2024]

@@explotion2500 When you pass some dude that was already behind you

[@Shar4n]

@@quigglyz Him being bad this year doesn't undo his whole career lmao

[@Palmboom313]

No more Mercedes, no more Toto Wollf, no more Hamilton, love it so much. After there "F*ck them all" last seasons there should be no support for that team.

[@savannastreet7]

Oh man Internet giving voice to all idiots.

[@1990Critikal]

Miss Tommy and good wishes to him and his family with their new arrival :), but Alex Jacques was a great addition !!!!! would be brilliant to have him on more regularly with the three of you, remember the 2021 Pres season podcast with Alex on and he was great on that one too.

[@estino840]

I do agree that the mercedes isn't that great of a car ight now and that Hamilton has had some bad luck, But he definitely isn't blameless in this whole situation like Mercedes is making it out to be, he isn't driving like a 7 time world champion at all right now.

[@MA-eq7kw]

Gasly finishes p12 with a car that had the potential for p7: gets a D Lewis finishes p13 with a car that had the potential for p4: gets a D

[@72Kraken]

And yet they would let you know, that they definitely don't have British bias... not one bit!

[@samuelsiltala119]

Yeah Hamilton was an E tbf, no hiding it.. Mick E too, overall he showed some more pace, but too many mistakes when it matters..

[@terencetable1147]

Yes, a complete joke. Hamilton isn't worth an E for this GP

[@danilicious2308]

Gasly kept Hamilton behind him for 30 rounds. Should get an A*.

[@Ticklestein]

Nobody realizing that 2022 can still be “The Champion that was never meant to be” Sergio Perez. Good. Y’all can still have the surprise of a lifetime.

[@taz8808]

We can only wait.

[@maxdenbreejen9844]

Could be, but perez finished 1 race more than max and he is still 5 points behind him.

[@wo1463]

McLaren make huge strides and Lando wins a crazy 3 way title fight against Charles and Max.

[@mlnhh]

@@wo1463 Maybe in your sweetest dreams, McLaren isn't gonna improve 1 second, and Ferrari hasn't even bring any updates since the start of the season. Still the fastest car, on par with RedBull.

[@ddha0000]

RB will not allow Perez to compete dude. he is there to help max win.

[@mayanksharma5478]

Alonso got a C for losing positions in sprint and Ocon got D for gearbox issue in quali and finishing p11 on track. Nice analysis guys.

[@radpl35]

Guys please, you were asked if Russell does better than Hamilton in the mercedes and your answers are like "can't tell yet bcuz car is bad, tricky, tractor etc". They have the same car, so it doesn't matter whether it's a tractor or not. When it's about one team you can usually compare driver's skills easily, unless one is being clearly prioritized by the team. This doesn't look like Russell is being prioritized, I don't believe anyone would suggest Hamilton is not a preferred driver when he's 7-time world champion. Therefore the conclusion seems to be quite clear here (as much as it can be clear after only 4 races) - so far George Russell does a better job. Whether it's because he managed to understand the car better, or because he has more recent experience with a car that is not a top level car or because Lewis Hamilton has forgotten how was it when he had a car that was similarly fast to those of a lot of other drivers when he had to race them on more or less the same conditions - we don't know. It's obvious that those 7 championships come from somewhere and Lewis is not done yet, just like Carlos Sainz isn't done yet, it's just 4 races so far, they will get better for sure and I also believe Lewis will become much more competitive against George soon. Please just don't say that George is not doing better than Lewis - because the facts are that he is.

[@peterhuston7888]

I'm no Hamilton fan, but there are enough circumstances that suggest the start of the year might not be representative. In Saudi Arabia, Lewis legitimately had a horrible setup for quali. This time, he did qualify worse than Russell, but that small gap was magnified a lot by the Albon train, when he was close to his teammate on pace.

[@ddha0000]

One, Lewis has had a lot of bad luck, 2, they are running different setups on the car each weekend to get as much data as possible. Lewis was running a skiing rear wing that Russell. fact is, its 2-2 in qualifying and would be 2-2 in race result if Lewis did not lost out to the safety car in austrailia.

[@markboots_]

Tommy not there... RB drivers not mentioned until ABCDEF1

[@sportsmag6148]

Mercedes powered cars Imola finishing order: 1st - Lando 2nd - Russell 3rd - Vettel 4th - Stroll 5th - Albon 6th - Hamilton 7th - Latifi 8th - Ricciardo

[@arie2242]

you forgot vettel and stroll

[@sportsmag6148]

@@arie2242 oops, fixed it now. 🙈

[@lolumo]

This is Lewis sympathy corner, nobody cares about actual facts and statistics.

[@IzzyMcKeever]

I just needed and loved this episode. Great chat, great analysis and just happy vibes. Thanks youuu!

[@sumitblogs15]

we want Tommy he is the only logical person in this Podcast

[@agarwalabhishek0911]

Super logical and consciously biased. He will tell us he is being biased so we can adjust the comments in our head accordingly. BRING HIM BACK

[@Meeko2689]

Love seen every British port ast and media justifying Hamiltons terrible performance and blaming the car and not giving rusell enough credit

[@sakshampandey895]

Always

[@CometF81]

The amount of British bias oozing out of every other sentence is just astonishing, A+ for that...

[@Loki-sk7bi]

Red Bull and Max have experience fighting for championships. It’s early in the season and Ferrari drivers are cracking under pressure. It’s only going to get worse from here. Ferrari’s culture will be their downfall. Charles is fast but not as mentally strong as Max. Sainz has been good but he was never under real pressure. He might want to prove something in next races and I can already see more tension between drivers soon.

[@Rasv-]

Perez doesn't exist then to you?

[@stephenmac23]

Great point, but I’ll just say, even back in 2007 when Lewis should’ve won he got beat out by 1 point to kimi. 2008, he comes back and takes the WDC. I feel like if Leclerc loses this year, he will only come back stronger next year and finish what he started as long as the car is competitive.

[@xlockedbmw]

@@Rasv- Is this comment a joke? Or does he need to name every driver for them to exist in your mind? Perez has been driving great this season, that's why he brought up Carlos, Perez isn't there to prove anything to anyone, he's there to race and he's doing great. As opposed to Carlos, who IS trying to prove something and it isn't working out

[@Loki-sk7bi]

@@stephenmac23 I think if they can keep the car competitive, all Charles needs to do is to change his mindset. He seems to blame himself a lot and take too much pressure on himself. Ferrari culture can wear him out once he missed a championship. Not a dig against Charles, I think he is a champion calibre driver. Just that Ferrari culture is so damn difficult to thrive in. Red Bull are also tough but they always fully rally behind their first driver. That’s how they got Vettel and Max to win championships.

[@sniperkuzi4083]

Leclerc is one of the if not the most mentally strong drivers. He literally raced a day after his father passed and won 2 races back to back in F2, he also won the belgian gp after his friend Hubert passed away. His godfather Jules Bianchi also died and Leclerc still made it to f1. Ferraris culture has also massively shifted since Binotto took over, it is no longer toxic as it was during Arrivebene and before that.

[@Sajuuk9]

So many people(yes also these 3) making up excuses for Hamilton, it's not like he is impeccable.. he has flaws, and in the last 8 years (except 2021) he could win the title with his half assed approach and doing A LOT of other stuff next to his F1 career.. those days are over and it seems mr Ham can't handle it, and the 2021 season also gave ham a hard blow mentally.. it seems like he did not overcome it yet.. so he is just driving worse then George.. yes, he is driving worse then George.. but that doesn't mean he can't come back, but there is also a chance he won't come back from this. And i'm almost certain his chances to win the title are over this year. 42:47 let's see how this will age..

[@chriscollins550]

He's faster than Russell in all sectors in every race this season so fare. Russell got a lucky 4th given to him by the cars dropping out in front of him

[@taz8808]

@@chriscollins550cars dropping out?? Are you kidding? Russell started 11th. Does that mean 7 cars dropped out? He made some amazing overtakes at the start

[@chriscollins550]

@@taz8808 he got in front of cars at the start that didn't make a good race start in the wet nothing special, silly fans that doesn't see the full details of the race. Russell was running in clean air all race didn't pick up anymore pace then lewis. Yet lewis was still faster in all sectors in every race this season. One bad race on a track stuck in drs train then got held up in the pits by unsafe release.

[@savannastreet7]

@@taz8808 Russel had a good start and also a lucky start. He had clean air most of the time. Lewis was just stuck behind the drs train. Also Russel is an amazing driver. No one is denying that. I mean he’s world champ material but Lewis was faster in the 3 races. He had one bad race which was luck as well as his skills too. Doesn’t mean he’s washed by Russel lol.

[@danilicious2308]

@@chriscollins550 if Russel got lucky with his 4th place, Hamilton would've been fighting to overtake Gasly in 16th position. Only makes it worse.

[@hamzarashid4306]

Let’s goooo, the gp weekend is now officially complete

[@ShadowsBehindU]

Man the double standards with you guys are top tier, love it.

[@SmokeDatQuack]

I am a simple man, I see Alex Jacques and I upvote.

[@jandrelabuschagne3712]

watching 3 brits cope with Hamilton's performance is just... beautiful.. Just gonna point out that hes lost to russel in every Race bar the first ...

[@ddha0000]

yes, mainly down to bad luck...........Lewis has beaten Max in 2 races this year.

[@jandrelabuschagne3712]

@@ddha0000 max's car committed sedoku. Is that really the best defense you could think of?

[@ddha0000]

@@jandrelabuschagne3712 yes, im just showing the fact that you are happy to accept Max's bad luck but yet you dismiss Lewi's bad luck. Again, he should have 2 podiums in 4 races in a shit car. his race pace was superior to russell in the first 3 races. yet you seem to dismiss this. I wonder why the double standard?

[@jandrelabuschagne3712]

@@ddha0000 uh no. He got out qualified and out paced by Russel. Some copium you're snorting

[@ddha0000]

@@jandrelabuschagne3712 er..........its 2-2 in qualifying. i don't think you are paying attention.

[@skylark1024]

Funny how they ignored the fact that Ocon had Gearbox issue which caused him to start P19, not to mention he was also running an old spec floor while Alonso had a new one. Without penalty (which wasn't his fault) he finished P11, yet it is a D level performance.

[@wodzekleaf]

1: 08:20 Katy ! hahahahahahahahaaha, btw You are great journalist !!!

[@2countbanschey]

Reason to watch the podcast: Alex Jaques and Katy Fairman. Reason to stop it: Matt Gallagher. (as always) Jokes aside. Is it me or is Tommy way less annoying in terms of "fanboying" about Max Verstappen than Matt "fanboying" for Leclerc? It's just unbearable.

[@fzriow]

He also very much hates it when someone disagrees with him. Least he's not as nasty to Katy these days, back when she started it was borerline bullying!

[@2countbanschey]

@@fzriow Yeah i noticed that as well. Also he's constantly interupting Katy in the beginning of this podcast when she talks about Charles. I like Katy tho. She is a great asset to this team.

[@Aemond2024]

He is always passive-aggresively shitting on Tommy for being a fanboy, yet I wouldnt have known Tommy was a Max fan if not for the Juich-Cape or Matt constantly reminding us

[@2countbanschey]

@@Aemond2024 Yeah that's the thing. Tommy's is just happy that his favorite driver won, that's it. But Matt on the other hand is rubbing it in everyone's face when Charles wins. That's the main difference.

[@kouwebande8009]

I think they both handle their fandom pretty good. I think even better then they think. Other podcasts (*uche* missedapex *uche*) are much worse in their fandom and became straight up toxic since last season.

[@WezMan444]

Thanks for reading out my question! I made THE Alex Jacques laugh! My life is now complete!

[@japserrwik4656]

Finally! been refreshing KZbin all day for this 😁

[@justice4g]

he may have the stats but Lando prevented Dan (and others) from out qualifying him through his crash in Q3, Dan was quicker in Q1 and first lap of Q3 but he didn't get a 2nd one.

[@carlosandresvillagra2372]

A lot of things were important to talk about after the GP. A guest that surely is very welcome to more podcasts if he wants to. A Tommy that is having the moment of a lifetime, and the perspective of different people about the same concept to have an open mind makes this an amazing content. Aand the hype of being The First question of the podcast(7:31), surely gave me chills.

[@anameyoucantremember]

Fun fact: Max Verstappen has finished either P1 or P2 in all races he has finished since Bahrain 2020

[@toodsf1]

P9 Hungary 2021

[@theglitch312]

@@toodsf1 *Where he wasn't crashed into, crashed into others (Monza), or had mechanical DNFs. Lewis Hamilton did a similar, even better stint back in 2014-early 2016. But those Mercedes cars were on a completely different level to RB in 2020-2022. Since 2016 Hamilton hasn't had a run as consistent as Max's current run. Max might be overly aggressive, but the stats speak for themselves. He gets insane results nearly on par with Hamilton driving in absolutely dominant cars.

[@toodsf1]

@@theglitch312 yeah I was just being a pedant tbh. INSANE consistency from Max. Cannot disagree with a word you say

[@anameyoucantremember]

@@toodsf1 Yeah, I forgot about the Bottas bombing tbh.. In my mind that was a DNF for some reason..

[@ddha0000]

@@theglitch312 'Where he wasn't crashed into, crashed into others (Monza), or had mechanical DNFs' the fact you have to put so many stipulation is embarrassing. Max crashes too much.

[@tinez85]

I'm a Lando fan but you don't get an A* for spinning in Quali do you? How many drivers were improving in Q3 before the late red that sealed his position?

[@emmaanderson9039]

No one because it rained more

[@justice4g]

Dan was quicker in Q1 and Q3 on their first lap so it was kinda annoying

[@emmaanderson9039]

@@justice4g Yase but that wasn’t Lando’s spin costing him because no one was improving at that point, Dan was unlucky tho with other red flags I agree

[@betrandguesclin]

They all forgot Norris binned it in qualy? An A ok but not perfect.

[@googleaccount3286]

Mate forget it, everyone is so biased with Norris. He gets a pass for everything and is absolutely never criticized. It's becoming a constant in f1 so not much of a surprise

[@justice4g]

yeah he was lucky, his crash screwed Dan and benefited him, Dan's crash did the same.

[@09csr]

Merc sure got it wrong this year, but most importantly it appears to have soured Hammy's mood, and when he is low he drives poorly. Russel is probably the better marker for where Merc' actual pace is. Another great race from Perez. Yuki has impressed so far aswell. And Albon in that Williams!

[@ddha0000]

its 2-2 in qualifying and would be 2-2 in race results if Lewis did not get unlucky with the safety car in austrailia and would have 2 podiums to russells 0. by your logic, Lewis and Max are equal as it is 2-2 in race results between Lewis and Max. The facts are that Lewis race pace was quicker in the first 3 races, can't judge the 4th as Lewis was stuck in a drs train.

[@Jaymess24]

Great to have Alex on the podcast

[@vampbl7291]

about DRS: New regulations + new cars + new race directors = play in the safer side. I wasn't really upset about not having DRS bc as you guys said, last year some bad shit happen in this track because enabling DRS too early. It will always depend on the track I think.

[@Livin_LLGAMING94]

Albon beat a merc in a williams what a beast !! A from me ... so glad to have him back redbull are too cutthroat

[@woofy9977]

wtf red bull have absolutely taken care of him. he was in the sims for them last year

[@rohananil1266]

@@woofy9977 yeah, and he's still sponsored by them.

[@nagenbn3197]

Ferrari will implode putting more pressure on themselves

[@tomislavnedanovski]

Red Bull will explode on track.

[@danilicious2308]

McLaren taking the wdc confirmed then.

[@delishdida]

Max is like 5 race wins away if you look at it if he's finishing 2nd on those races

[@nicksal4453]

Has Max in the thumbnail, proceeds to ignore him the entire podcast.

[@GregBrownsWorldORacing]

As I've been to Florida many times I don't think you can get 3 straight afternoons that will be dry.

[@greener_cfc4842]

Definitely prefer gravel to massive tarmac run off… but sometimes the punishment is too harsh. Sainz didn’t appear to have any damage and was just beached, he didn’t cause the accident either and ended up out.

[@jl4859]

37:00 incredible analysis wow guys

[@huubpeters7972]

Alex: "Justice for my crack!!" 🤣

[@parzival4442]

Missed Tommy, the trio is not quite complete without him. That being said, Jacques was a absolute gem. Loved him.

[@stephenmac23]

alex has great insight. long shot but you guys NEED jolyon palmer on one of these episodes lol

[@mildertduck]

And also Davide Valsecchi... his enthusiasm can even give Matt some competition!

[@agarwalabhishek0911]

and also ME. I would love to be in one of these.

[@Thegreat772]

Wow I thought Alex would be a middle age guy. There's wisdom in that voice. Awesome.

[@edwinreyes4059]

Perez continues to get overlooked smh

[@topno_]

Matt don't like him

[@edwinreyes4059]

@@topno_ no F1 media does

[@roozz33]

I enjoy the podcast, but I do want to point out that it took 4 minutes before anybody but Matt talked... I would personally like to hear more from the others, if possible.

[@LongbranchOlivetti]

Multiple times last year, you would criticise Bottas for getting stuck in a DRS train. Hamilton got stuck in a DRS train in Imola, but the narrative seems much different. It's not because the car was slow; Russel was P4 and was keeping pace with Lando, so the car is actually reasonably competitive. It's also not because George has a different, fast car, because if that were the case, Mercedes would have set lewis's car up the same. So the only possible explanation for lewis's poor performances is him, the thing behind the wheel. Either he has lost motivation, is just plain slower in age, or can't drive a car that isn't absolutely dominant.

[@PozzaPizz]

Also never forget that aside from churning through the entire field with a car that seemingly had 100+hp on the rest of the field, he's never ever had to be behind other cars for nearly 8 years. The merc was an F1+++ car for the entirety of the 13" hybrid era

[@Itzmebee]

31:38 Matt’s laugh will live in my nightmares

[@sidewalkere]

I think this Leclerc mistake thing is being greatly exaggerated.

[@mattclark5866]

I’m new to f1 as a viewer and don’t know the history (obviously): I don’t know how many “gravel” trap retirements there are a year, but I wish there was a rule (or car tech) that allowed them an assist to get out as opposed to ending their race with an otherwise undamaged car.

[@Szaboo92]

Matt, there were no passes because of the wet track outside the racing line. Thats the only reason, not DRS.

[@cattywampuswiddershins]

It was so nice to hear Alex.

[@moritzr466]

always a good time when alex is on!

[@asimb0mb]

Hamilton right now reminds me of Vettel in 2019. Accompanied by a new, young and exciting talent. Seems to be able to beat his new teammate sometimes, but other times gets absolutely destroyed. Especially Vettel 2020 was getting humiliated by Leclerc. I fear this is what will happen to Hamilton too.

[@chriscollins550]

No chance Hamilton was still faster in all sectors in every race this season so far. Russell had one good race.

[@savannastreet7]

Lewis was faster in the first 3 races. Idk why everyone is over reacting with just one bad race. It’s normal y’all. Calm down.

[@asimb0mb]

@@savannastreet7 Saudi?

[@savannastreet7]

@@asimb0mb Jeddah was also not Lewis’ fault. Their setups were completely different. The only ‘bad’ race that he’s had was this one at imola. That too with various other issues being at play. Again I’m not undermining Russel. There’s a reason he’s a merc driver. Not any loser gets that seat.

[@chriscollins550]

Yes he was go look at the data. Or will you say it's wrong

[@jgagnier]

I think Norris is a proper talent, but his 2021 was eerily similar to Stroll's 2020. After 10 races, they were both dominant, but massively fell off in the second half of the year bar one performance (Stroll's pole on the worst track ever, and Norris's rain shenanigans). Lando Norris had anywhere from the 5th to 8th best car last season. From races 11-22, he finished better than 7th exactly ONCE. He was outscored, and it wasn't even close, by Pierre Gasly in that span. That's mediocre at best. He has the raw pace, for sure, but when I saw so many people putting him top 3 for the year, I was wondering if it was the boyish charm or the British bias putting him there, because so far he's closer to a Ricciardo or a Bottas than a Verstappen or Leclerc.

[@GTHWE]

This makes me wish we could get channel 4 commentary more easily in the US

[@davey2487]

You can just see the pain on Matt's face when he's talking about Leclerc's crash/spin. Too bad that Tommy wasn't there to rub it in even more.

[@roxannelyson7715]

"Sitting down. Letting the world roll by. Finishing third."...Lando says hi. LOLOLOL

[@hugochan2821]

Is it really purely Riccardo mistake for taking out Carlos? In a wet condition, first lap, first corner, even Charles back out and let lando by, and lando leaves actually even smaller space for Charles. If Charles is committed to take the corner, both will definitely crash. For Riccardo, he stick to the inside and the car just slightly oversteer in wet condition. Well, even with the oversteer, he still gives plenty of space to carols. Carlos refuse to back out and refuse to run wider, then the unfortunate happens. Even the most aggressive driver, Charles back out. Therefore, no penalties awarded to Riccardo. Stepping back, not much could Riccardo do. Stepping out when he has the inside line??? For Carlos, is leaving no space in wet condition, first lap, first corner really the best thing to do?

[@ByxxForMe]

I agree. Imo Sainz even had a tiny bit more space to go to the right more. He just went for it, thinking ricciardo would back out. Imo it was Sainz his mistake too. Just not smart from him.

[@LordWay]

Sunday I was devastated about the Ferrari result but a few days later just relieved Charles got some points.

[@karolinaC1997]

Aston Martin - no wonder - they stole Dan Fallows - the chief Red Bull’s aerodynamicist…

[@Nitrox-.]

In terms of DRS: Choosing a couple races where it is unavailable - much like they picked a couple races to try out the sprint format - might be a good approach to try how phasing it out would work. Just choose three races that usually provide pretty good overtaking to try out how they would turn out without DRS.

[@greatsageclok-roo9013]

More like they’ll pick races where overtaking never happens… Monaco, anyone?

[@Zer0613_]

I mean almost nothing happened in Imola without DRS which proves that they still need it.

[@Nitrox-.]

@@Zer0613_ True, you wouldn't choose Imola for that. But I would imagine Brazil could work just fine without DRS.

[@peterhuston7888]

It could be done more smoothly than that. Just start shortening the DRS zones, by moving the activation points later.

[@davidreichert9392]

Make Alex permanent. Great and sensible commentary.

[@emil5851]

Lol I love how every british media/podcast is trying to excuse Hamilton. So cringe

[@the1gladiator2]

Seriously what is the BS that we can't tell whether Russell is performing better than Hamilton? Maybe you can't tell, but anyone who is honest about it has no difficulty to announce the obvious. And you would never talk like that when it is 2 other drivers. Latifi or Albon, who is performing better? Well the car is that flawed that we can't tell. Are you kidding me? Furthermore Mercedes has the third best car on the grid. Russell was just as quick as Norris and Russell didn't even have a correct front wing setting and had to cope with a lot of understeer. So don't give us this BS about it being fundamentally flawed, that is as dishonest as a Toto Wolff.

[@ddha0000]

its 2-2 in qualifying and would be 2-2 in race results if Lewis did not get unlucky with the safety car in austrailia and would have 2 podiums to russells 0. by your logic, Lewis and Max are equal as it is 2-2 in race results between Lewis and Max.

[@the1gladiator2]

@@ddha0000 Wow you are confused. You're bringing up stats like 2-2 to argue Hamilton and Russell are equal. That is your logic, not mine. And to destroy your logic. Hamilton was slightly ahead of Russell in 1 race and might have been slightly ahead of Russell in another if not for a safety car, but the other 2 races Hamilton wasn't even close to Russell. This is why Russell has almost twice as many points as Hamilton. There isn't really much to debate here about who performed better and pretending that Russell hasn't been better than Hamilton is incredibly silly.

[@ddha0000]

@@the1gladiator2 er..........is Saudi he was literally 2 seconds behind russell in 6th then the safety car happened. Do try to keep up dude. Something tells me you don't watch the races but just watch the highlights on youtube.

[@the1gladiator2]

@@ddha0000 Lmao, again you are so confused. Hamilton wasn't 6th before the safety car, he was 11th. He was 6th after the safety cars when other cars already pitted. He was basically already a pitstop behind Russell. The safety car didn't really cost Hamilton because it allowed him to close a 17 second gap. In the end Hamilton finished 41 seconds behind Russell. That is how bad his performance was. And like i mentioned, he wasn't unlucky either. Russells best lap time on the hard tires was 0.9 quicker than Hamiltons best lap time on that tyre. That's how terrible Hamilton was. Russell was even quicker on old hard tyres compared to Hamilton on new mediums and Russell was cruising. And your comment that i should watch the highlights is hilarious because i have rewatched the entire race multiple times from different onboards and analyzed the lap times thoroughly. I know what i am talking about, but it is very clear that you don't even recall the basics of what happened that race.

[@mrc0a124]

Yes I was waiting for this as it was the first time I got to vote for the abcdef1

[@stacysgrapesoda800]

What justifies giving Seb Vettel an A and Lance Stroll a B is the fact that Seb almost had no decent run in that car until Imola. He missed the first two races because of Covid and then had the problems in quali and race in Australia. He got literally just 1 hot lap in the Australia quali. And then retired from the race very early. So him being able to jump into that car and have his first ever full race weekend where he was able to complete all of the sessions and finish ahead of his teammate who's been driving the same car for his 4th race weekend is the showing of him being an amazing driver. Yes, I'm Seb fan so I might be biased at times but this weekend proved to everyone that he can still have solid performances. Aston are the second if not THE slowest car on the grid. So kudos to Seb and also Lance for Imola 👏🏼👍🏻

[@mazdaroadster-mx5]

Alex Jacques needs to commentate the main F1 broadcast already!

[@zerokool327]

Oh? A wild Alex Jacques appears

[@vamsiampolu8438]

That genie tricked Gasly good when he wished to finish ahead of Hamilton at Imola

[@alexpurrington8295]

I think that as long as everyone is on slick tires DRS sould be enabled

[@Duval-In-The-Wall]

Damn every time I hear Alex Jacques I think he’s commenting over F2

[@jasonwoodward3697]

Everyone is making excuses for Hamiltons poor performances this year. Russell is in the same car, pushing it to the limits. I believe we may be seeing a changing of the gaurd at Mercedes. ( Not a Hamilton hater either just making an observation ).

[@ddha0000]

poor performances??? Lewis should have had 2 podiums in the first 3 races in a shit car, how is that performing poor? He has just been very very unlucky. by that logic, Max being behind Lewis after 3 races in the best car is a really shocking performance.

[@henriwolbrink]

First we don't know if both cars had all the same parts. But seen the amount of work on Lewis's car in Q3. Mercedes really gambled on the car. And hearing Toto's comment, he's likely the one ordering the modifications.

[@Drrolfski]

NGL, Alex is definitely on a whole different level compared to your average F1 KZbin commentator. Please invite him more often.

[@mclarenF1race]

Rainy season is usually late May - October for downpours and thunderstorms, I've see these in Miami and they come without much notice past 4pm... 🤔 I'd give it a 75% chance of a dry race, you never know... 😜👍🌞⛈️⚡️☀️

[@splatyxd9623]

The thing with Katy also happened to me I said he’s pushing to hard at imola this can turn two ways either he gets p2 or he crashes and kisses a wall

[@bm8725]

See Charlie Whiting's comments on tarmac run offs from 2017 (should still be on YT). Tarmac slows down cars more than gravel apparently, so they prioritise it for safety reasons now especially for certain tracks that double up for other formulas and moto GP.

[@Luxx0002]

I’m not that impressed by the imola track, but it deserves to be there for the fans and the history. I think it would be awesome to mixup the European tracks more and drive them all half the seasons!

[@shadowpowahful]

The problem with mercedes is that the actual issue that they are having is the lack of pontoons, so to add that without having it tested it out will further put them on the back foot. I also expected Merc to come back but I feel there's little to chance right now as per other aerodynamics experts have said is that the vehicle design seems to be the reason they are having that insane porposing

[@tiagoferreira5368]

I believe that Russel is a better driver than most of us expected AND Hamilton is showing sings of slowing down probably mentaly because of the mental strain of the last season. To me is a little bit of both. But no one can be 100% sure here.

[@SchrodingersCat8813]

Yes! Who doesn't love Mick and yes he was a rookie in a trash car so we can't judge that year really, but perhaps Mazepin being so bad made him look better? I get K Mags has experience but he was a year away, was called up right before the season did no testing and with these very different cars, as Matt said not even in prime physical racing shape yet...right out the gate has been handily beating Mick. Agreed the excuses are starting to run out we now see what can be done with the Hass and he just isn't. Long season but by year's end if there's no solid progress we have to start wondering.

[@mayraalejandramoralesqueza5203]

Nice to have Alex. Would be nice to have him more often

[@seanorr5105]

Would love to see rosberg on one of these😂😂

[@SchrodingersCat8813]

I was having some fun on twitter with the grander and grandest slam stuff but for real, "triple" is a stat for Pole, Win, Fast Lap.... do we now need a "quad"? And what if someone leads every sprint lap, that really is like an even grander slam!

[@flphil4537]

Tears of joy watching Max win drivers championship (not even a Max fan). Now tears of joy almost every race so far watching Hamilton struggle

[@ddha0000]

it makes me cry tears of joy that Hamilton's domination of F1 has been making you sad for so long lol

[@flphil4537]

I think he’s a great driver, he’s talented. But his personality is hot garbage

[@ddha0000]

@@flphil4537 why? he seems the most inoffensive person there is.