2023 Spanish Grand Prix Race Review | P1 Podcast

A decent-ish Spanish Grand Prix?! Strategy made for an interesting midfield watch even if Max was in a league of his own... Matt & Tommy give their thoughts on the race around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
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[@nanashiamaterasu8155]

I remember Seb arguing with his engineers back when he was at Ferrari. This team kills drivers. They took a prime Alonso and turned him into a mid table driver, (we can now again see how good he is once he gets what he wants), they did the same to a prime Seb, and they will do it to Charles. Ferrari isn't a great team anymore. They are a clown team run by people whose egos are too big. We saw this with Merc this past year when they refused to admit that their concept was wrong. Just imagine a team doing that for 16 years straight now.

[@artifundio1]

You are so right, it hurts. We tend to think they must be smart. And they probably are. But is not the smart people at Ferrari who's making the decisions, sadly. Poor Charles, poor Carlos. I think they feel very alone in there.

[@adam346]

Not sure how relevant Mercs situation is with Ferrari's. Toto is the team principle and co-owner of the team with Mercedes (33% stake by each) so I don't see the same high-level interference we assume is happening at Ferrari. Aston can do w/e it wants since Stroll owns the whole deal and sells portions off as necessary to sponsors/investors. Oracle Red Bull racing's CEO is Horner so *he* would be the high-level interference if there was any... we seem to see the worst flexibility out of teams that have principles that are neither owners nor part of the high-level structure that makes up the team's ownership... and Ferrari's pedigree means we see this inflexibility worse than any other team.

[@calumbishop7082]

There is a difference however, Vettel and Alonso were already pre-established drivers with championship success, Charles Leclerc doesn't have championship success and he may try to move on from Ferrari sooner rather than later in order to try and get that success.

[@Amer1kop]

Every decision questioned by their drivers … and rightly so.

[@CreepinCreeper145]

"Stand outside the Ferrari garage and you wonder why they don't win everything. Step inside their garage and you wonder how they win anything."

[@mattshipway1424]

After seeing that Ferrari strategy, Lewis said he will sign at Mercedes

[@lalalittle3900]

The man himself has been saying he was staying at Mercedes. It didn't matter what was going on at Ferrari. I don't even know why people were even entertaining anything different. I guess, like he said, they were bored and needed something to talk about 🤦‍♀️

[@bipolarminddroppings]

​@@lalalittle3900 yeah, anyone who thought he was actually goin to Ferrari is bonkers. Ferrari would need to offer him 100mil a year and a blow job from Beyonce...

[@ruukogchase5165]

@Mattshipway I see what you did there 👀 Good one 😂

[@paidquartz]

34:44 They pitted Bottas early to test the hard tires for Zhou knowing that Bottas had zero hope for points. And luckily that strategy worked. Also at some point during Zhou's 2nd stint, Zhou's TR instructed him to stop saving tires and that's when Zhou's lap time significantly improved (more than 0.5s a lap I believe). The team must have gained more knowledge about tire deg thanks to Botta's extra laps.

[@tarunr4827]

His floor was apparently damaged, probably why

[@Mr_Noooby]

As a McLaren fan, I am depressed

[@graphite718]

Same bro, same.

[@Lucid34]

As a yuki fan, I’m also a bit depressed

[@PH-jv4ik]

Glad I dodged that bullet feel for you and all McLaren fans

[@taylornerys6689]

As a Williams fan it passes I’m pretty happy as long as they aren’t last 🙃

[@tobinbuttram5699]

Likewise brother

[@abel6846]

The cars aren’t just more reliable, they’re also closer to each other. 25 years ago, in Barcelona, Hakkinen got P1 in quali. He was 0.7 seconds ahead of DC in second and 1.5 seconds ahead of Schumi in 3rd! Rn people are moaning if the top 5 isn’t within 1 second.

[@florisbackx1744]

You can't compare absolute numbers, if the average laptime was a lot slower, naturally the gap would also be bigger. If you want to measure how close the field is best to calculate in percentages.

[@Selterboy]

@@florisbackx1744 Alright then, Schumachers time was 1.9% slower than Hakkinens was (80.262 seconds * x = 81.785 seconds x = 1.019 (which is 101.9%, or 1.9% slower). Verstappens pole time this weekend was 72.272 seconds, if you multiply that by 1.019, or add 1.9% (72.272 * 1.019), you get 73.645 seconds, which is only about four hundredths faster than Piastris time for tenth place. So even with percentages the field is quite a bit closer, when looking at these examples alone

[@stevenst6337]

Quali gaps in Q1 have been around 1 second all season from Redbull to whoever is the worse car. Monaco Quali had about 3-5 drivers would could’ve been pole.

[@GloomGaiGar]

@@florisbackx1744 Yes you can lol. Now the stopwatch is lying?

[@abel6846]

@@florisbackx1744 fine. DC would have 3rd and Schumi would have been 10th this year with their % difference.

[@winapp22]

16:57 guys, lando had the end plate stuck near the front suspensions 😂

[@leenux1707]

leclerc "pit for soft" ferrari pit wall "computer says noooo"

[@Adwnpinoy310]

Matt in RBR is almost as weird as Tommy in SF gear

[@IxNAPxI]

Who do they actually support?

[@Adwnpinoy310]

@@IxNAPxI Matt loves Ferrari and LeClerk. To My is a huge Max fan

[@joostprins3381]

SF gear? Science Fiction gear? That would be a good name for it!

[@Kieran_OPC]

Just rewarching the 1998 championship just to feel something as a mclaren fan...

[@yb.11]

Watch 2008 as well

[@bryangarcia2980]

The Aston Martin RedBull shirt technically worked, just on Alonso

[@GenerationallyYours]

I actually love you guys hahaha WTF1 isn’t the same and everyone is moving over to Matt and Tommy!

[@joshsmith7521]

I've not watched any wtf1 since they left

[@JPD2587]

@@joshsmith7521it seems like WTF1 has already given up on “replacing” Matt and Tommy with the new personalities and have instead just gone with pure faceless content production.

[@soundscape26]

@@JPD2587 Their long format videos keep having faces on camera but they shuffled personnel around. Only Dre remains from the initial replacements.

[@szkcsdom8550]

I think a number should be next to the tire compounds letter in the graphic which shows how old the tires are.

[@kevinralph1874]

You can get that info on Multiviewer, including whether they were fresh or scrub tyres when they were put on.

[@empty1892]

It does pop up throughout the race at certain points but it is quite rare

[@abigailcooling6604]

Like the idea but it might get a bit difficult to read though. My tv's not massive and the current graphics aren't the most visible from the other side of the room.

[@lvdv6851]

I was really wondering how Yuki got at P9 in the first place. Had a very good race (again)

[@dustinabigan2776]

It's nice to see that Mercedes is back somewhat but personally I'd put caution on being too confident about their comeback. Brazil 2022 and Austrailia 2023 were once seen as supposed turning points for Mercedes. Yet after both those races the team just went back to the same state they were before. And I'd argue more that Brazil 2022 likely did more harm than good because it probably fooled the team into thinking they already have a winning package. 2 races this season, meanwhile, is hardly a good sample size for knowing how good the upgrades are. I'd give it until Hungary to see whether or not Mercedes can now be more competitive.

[@gameofender4463]

Exactly. But they seem happy both with the car and each other (calling each other “bro”) so that can only mean they’re confident it won’t be a one-off in Spain.

[@janjochem20]

people seem to have forgoten that last year after spain everyone was saying the same things

[@nanashiamaterasu8155]

I think one of the reason why people are more excited this time is that Mercedes even during those races in the past were quite vocal about not being able to figure out what was wrong with the car. And the fact that this new concept of their car is as fast if not faster than the car they worked on for 1.5 years gives people hope that maybe in 2024 we will have a title fight again.

[@dustinabigan2776]

@@gameofender4463 Confidence is good, but remember that they were also confident that their previous concept would work and it didn't pan out that way.

[@Minifliek]

@@nanashiamaterasu8155 Don't know Red Bull still has plenty of pace in hand, and won't do much for this years car anymore and put more focus on next year. They still have 1,5 years in development advantage. I'd love to see it but I doubt it will happen, plus there's still Ferrari and Aston Martin who are possibly still ahead of Mercedes.

[@07034784]

DTS fans are not always F1 fans!!! Great race!!!

[@jdbb3gotskills]

Merc did well in Spain last year. So I hope that it's not just the track and it's actually a good race pace for them.

[@mamavswild]

I hope it is just the track but hey, we all got opinions 😅

[@michaeld.uchiha9084]

​@@mamavswildme too 2014-2020 was enough.

[@jdbb3gotskills]

@@mamavswild see I missed most of it. I've paid attention to F1 since 2017. But half way through 2021 was when I started watching every race lol

[@sadikurrahman4833]

@@mamavswild hope you cried since 2014 RB fans always crying when there’s competition ffs

[@Sonde169]

I've been waiting for this all day long 😢

[@gerryg505]

I totally agree with Tommy on the apparent lack of trust in the Ferrari garage regarding strategy. It was weird for me to hear him vocalizing my exact thoughts in real time.

[@Randomlycreatedbyme]

To be fair, the second stint Charles did on hards was much better than the first, he said it himself in the post race interview. He probably didn’t want the hard because of the first experience. Engineers have access to much more data then drivers, call should be on them plus it’s not like it was a mistake to do the hard.

[@SheAirFire]

17:59...Thank you Thomas for the "rant" (angry Tommy makes me 😊). 0.00001% chance! There's always talk during the race between teams & drivers about who they're actually racing...Lando should have been protecting against Stroll's move above trying to retake the position back from Hamilton. ***Lap 1 Shenanigans*** Russell Barcelona 2023 = Alonso Sochi 2021

[@07034784]

I hope Redbull exchanges Perez for Lando. Sillyseason transfers 😃👍

[@AbcAbc-th4yl]

Maybe get leclerc

[@snoopythedog3266]

Listen to Peter Windsor analysis straight after the race and LeClerc tyres explained

[@wickcolloran]

I like the 2 stops, but if that becomes the norm they need to keep the tire-age numbers up on the screen the whole time. It was hard to keep track of who is where.

[@cadet15]

They’ll do well at front limited tracks but blow it at the real limited ones. It wasn’t the upgrades either because they were in shape to the same thing in Australia.

[@knightlautrec4311]

Very good point, I cant actually recall any other ream wihere drivers regularly argue strategy mid race. Sainz especially is always getting heated with his engineer over their wonky decisions.

[@alissax3542]

As a Mercedes fan, it was a good day😄

[@gewglesux]

i'm still depressed this season..

[@whippetcanister4278]

as an utter red bull hater, red bull have the best car, #1 driver, best management, best strategist, best pit crew, shit probably even the best lemon water or whatever. can they be beat? of course. can they be beat more often than not over a 20+ race season?? oh god no and i don’t see that changing anytime soon.

[@edwinmadzinga1457]

Leclerc did say the hards were not working for him in the first stint.

[@alexandroskoskinas]

Racing is at its best with the new regs, maybe people new to rewatch some grand prix from previous eras..

[@mamavswild]

4:12. This is UNFORTUNATELY what the season is bringing… ‘other comments such as ‘sadly, Max wins…’ I agree with your statement. I am an engineer, and I have to say, I feel disappointed that they are literally bemoaning what Formula 1 is all about. This is a constructor’s series. It began in order to create competition that drove innovation, was tested on the race track, and the winning components found their way into the cars you and I drive every day. It is not boring. What you are witnessing is Perfection. The goal of F1 is the perfect marriage of the perfect driver with the perfect car. When that happens, we are witnessing greatness. We are witnessing greatness right now. I find nothing contrary about that. It is not RBR or Max’ job to create the environment where there is greater competition at the front…the onus is on the other teams for that. People who think like you don’t cRe for the engineering greatness of F1 and just want run of the mill, 20 year old design stock cars where all variables are whittled down to maximize racing only…well there is a series for you and it’s called Indy. Appreciate this greatness. Enjoy watching teams innovate as they attempt to reach the standard set by the greatest driver and greatest car on the grid…Mercedes is showing that potential right now. Enjoy the races not one by one but as a whole. Perhaps my comments are more appreciated by those in STEM fields. But you ‘true’ Formula 1 fans? Why don’t you ACT like it instead of bemoaning your own sport, and that goes for you too, Matt and Tommy.

[@laurenmp7486]

@@mamavswild Thing is any claim to any sort of technical whatever goes out the window when F1 changes rules to appease a team. Like raising the cars after Mercedes whined about porpoising. Which also makes harder for the cars to stay close together. And teams clearly don't want cars to be able to follow, which just makes passing less likely.

[@jebus456]

I forgot you have the full video out for the pod!! But I couldn't wait either so I just listened to it. :)

[@turbo_brian]

For me when they killed refueling they killed strategy. Forced two stops would also be artificial and not very entertaining. I think having a choice between doing a one stop and doing faster laps but two stops is really what made the pre 2010 era entertaining. Like having force india qualify well in 2009 because they took less fuel into qualifying created so much buzz. It was so good and they need to bring it back. Keep the fuel flow limit but eliminate the 110 kg total limit and let drivers go back to the schumi approach of doing a race full of qualifying laps and just killing tires with no regard for the well being of that rubber. That's formula 1.

[@jay2xdam]

Regarding the first ~9 minutes and first question, I 100% agree with Tommy's take that (especially considering this was at Barcelona) the use of all three tires/deg-required-2-stops created an excellent baseline for future F1 races being **at-least** interesting. If it wasn't **exciting** that's not the fault of F1, but the rest of the teams/drivers not being near the level of RB/Max.

[@dan7845]

I do not think the answer would be mandatory two-stop races. As soon as the optimal strategy is found most will go for that. The thing that works is when they do not all go for the same strategy. Stopping only once is not in itself the issue. It would likely be most exciting if not all stop the same amount of times. It may need more variables than just the tires, though. This aspect worked better in the days when refuelling was allowed - but just reintroducing that would not be a good idea for many reasons.

[@Hechaldo]

+23 seconds to Max. They are not back, everyone else made a step back this weekend.

[@s-pracing8514]

This logically makes no sense, RB has been holding back his pace all year he can push and make the gap at the front bigger when he wants

[@ghoulishchutoy]

@@s-pracing8514 true because max said he had pace in hand and went over a second faster for fastest lap, if he was pushing im sure he'd be 30+ easily

[@daarom3472]

Ferrari was faster in Barcelona last year.

[@bvb09cards26]

​@@ghoulishchutoyhe was on softs but he is most definitely hiding the true pace of the RB19.

[@Zachary_McLaren]

​@@ghoulishchutoyhe was soft, also Hamilton wasn't pushing either. Hamilton also backed off about 4 seconds in the last 2/3 laps. He lost time behind stroll and Sainz after he got hit by Norris. I agree that Max probably had more in the tank than Lewis did, but it probably comes out to about 20/25 seconds when you account for everything. Remember we have seen the Bulls true pace in Baku. Are the Mercs gonna be racing the Bulls anytime soon, no. Is it a great step forward, yes

[@SirWolfbane03]

Would it be worth increasing the race distance by 10-15% to increase the likely hood of pitstops and reliability will become more of a problem once we reach the 12th/13th round

[@SirWolfbane03]

provided they can make it fuel wise

[@MiniBrothas]

Great review. It was also great meeting you briefly in Monaco Tommy.

[@JG3RTR]

As a Verstappen and RB fan. Every race is good, when RB is winning. But for real. I thought it was a decent race. Disappointed rain didn't happen.

[@TheFulcrum2000]

George had a (very little) bit of rain 😂

[@AndreSomers]

@@TheFulcrum2000 😅

[@mamavswild]

I don't know what everyone is talking about....if Max wins every race I'll be as happy as a pig in sht! 😝

[@jennieross5985]

Yay Tommy time again🤣🤣🤣 Matt you're alright 🤣🤣🤣

[@messier4033]

I watched the race at weekend and listened to several pods. Everyone excited about Mercedes but everyone all with short memories. Recall how good their car was on this track last year? Russle Podium. Cant believe not a single pundit mentioned it.

[@winapp22]

10:46 starting from the pitlane aggravates the fact that they have awful tyre management because he had all this free air to do clean laps and manage tyres!

[@Zachary_McLaren]

Everyone was. Loving it when Alonso was corner cutting whilst within the rule. Russell does it and people are moaning. Just have some consistency.

[@Ennui.]

Everyone was loving what Alonso did because he told us his plan a few days before he did it. He cut the corner because he wanted to expose how inconsistent the FIA was with cutting corners/gaining advantage on the 1st lap... The best part is that he got away with it. Since then, they started penalising them much more for that, except when there's a British driver in question.

[@Zachary_McLaren]

@@Ennui. Oh cry more with your British bias.

[@Ennui.]

@@Zachary_McLaren prove me wrong then, by all means... Find an example where a British driver got penalized equally as others for doing the exact same thing... I'll wait.

[@Zachary_McLaren]

@@Ennui. That's not how that works, you're making the claim that there's a bias so you have to prove it. And just so you know, one or two cherry picked examples doesn't count as proof.

[@Ennui.]

@@Zachary_McLaren 2016 Mexico GP... 2 identical incidents of corner cutting (just on different laps), Verstappen got penalised, Hamilton didn't... Hamilton deserved a penalty way more than Verstappen did. If the FIA wasn't biased, both would get penalised. Don't worry, I'll give you more examples if this doesn't satisfy you.

[@Switll72]

If I was Merc fan I wouldn't start popping the champagne just yet. Spain F1 2022 Russel on podium and everybody was like "MERC IS BACK!!!!" and then what happened ??? Merc spend 3/4 of there budget on this B spec car, we still have 14 races left with AM, Alpine & RB not even bringing any major upgrades (Not including Ferrari because they are there own worst enemy) Lets see how Merc goes at the summer break that will be a better reflection of where they are.

[@derekdfarrington11]

This race was one safety car or weather change from being the best of the year. We already had a mixed starting lineup, drivers going through the field, tire strategy, George Russell meme, it was still a good watch.

[@greatsageclok-roo9013]

Nah. It wouldn't have changed a thing. Now, a Verstappen DNF on the other hand...

[@Brugjeoverhetwater]

Yes, with the F1.5 Redbull still 30sec clear. Dont tell me max pushed.

[@charlesgarcia4660]

'Are Mercedes back?' I love how that always comes up after a decent performance. I mean look at Austrailia, great performance there but that's it. Similar, Barcelona is a mid-highspeed circuit, which plays to the weakness of Aston Martin, making Mercedes look great

[@mboelts]

I think Tommy's curse is stronger than Matt's simply because of the results this week.

[@ISirSmoke]

the level of enjoyment depends if one watches for the racing or the show

[@princemay73]

Thank you 🥹

[@alicekoppenol-pitti6257]

Wel said Sir.

[@mamavswild]

Well, MY level of enjoyment was watching it for the engineering and the love of Formula 1...where the entire GOAL is the perfect marriage of the perfect driver with the perfect car. We are witnessing perfection, and I as well as my STEM cohort love it. People that talk like you often say that they are 'true' F1 fans when they are nothing of the sort. There is a series for you and its called Indy. Go there and stop complaining.

[@mamavswild]

@@princemay73 ‘Oh it’s all so boring!’ ‘Why even watch the race we know who will win’ ‘F1 isn’t what it used to be (after massive eras of Hamilton, Vettel and Schumacher dominance ) and literally having SERIOUS conversations about turning F1 into a SPEC series. Where have you been? It’s all people have been talking about in the 1.5 years of RBR dominance (well…Merc fans especially who apparently are a bit on the hypocritical side of life here)

[@ISirSmoke]

@@mamavswild lmao, I've been watching F1 for over 20 years. what are you even attemping here ? get off your high horse, trying to sound smart but instead make yourself look like a fool

[@slaphands7703]

Just a thought. Seems like the budget cap is preventing drivers from sending it on the attack. It seems as though they’re so afraid of wrecking the car and running up the operation cost that they’re missing out on racing.

[@LordWay]

Matt did jinx the changes to the track making it an exciting race. I feel like the drs was activated too far down the straight so the cars were already at near top speed when being activated.

[@LordWay]

(I missed most of the drs overtakes apparently)

[@waiora8387]

Yuki qualified 15th, and would have finished in the points. That kinda puts in perspective just how bad Fer really was Lec was just nowhere, never looked like he would make it into the points.

[@calumbishop7082]

You know I do think F1 may need to consider changing its scoring system. For the majority of seasons since the current system was introduced in 2010, we have seen one sided whitewashes. Vettel in 2011 and 2013, Hamilton in 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, and Max in 2022 and now this season. The current system pretty much requires everyone to focus exclusively on who finishes first because the amount of points you get for finishing 1st is so much larger than all the other positions. Red Bull got more points for finishing 1st and 4th than Mercedes got for finishing 2nd and 3rd, when it probably should be the other way round. The gap between finishing 1st and 3rd is larger than the gap between finish 3rd and 7th. It very much allows the GP winners to run away with the title very easily. The title fight is already over, and we are only a third of the way through the season.

[@hardfer83]

Leclerc said on Post Race Show that he had no grip at the first stint. That's why he pit early. And at the end of the race the same compound deliver a much better grip and performance. Nothing makes sense at Ferrari this year...

[@alexanderbockmann9229]

I bet the cost cap also means that the drivers dont want to crash as much

[@YeeSoest]

😂"For Spain..." Reminds me of my buddy at University, Pirlo was his favorite italian midfielder of the late 2000s. Someone told him that's worth as much as saying Gonorrhea is his favorite STD and they ended up fighting each other over Andrea Pirlo's first name😂 Good times

[@nicsutton3831]

I had a thought of giving the drivers spotters and changing the side by side rules to make the lando-lewis incident something where you have to give room if you are anywhere side by side. It would encourage passing by just being able to stick a nose in but I don't think it would work and wouldn't be formula one

[@VitzPatel]

Counterpoint to the brilliant suggestion of mandatory use of all three compounds, it does give Ferrari more chances to screw up the strategy...

[@freudsigmund72]

"verstappen winning by a literal mile"... not to be pedantic (or OCD), but it was 1,40228 km or 0,8713388 mile

[@8BitZ0mbie]

I think we need to remember that was a good race not because there were two stops, but because the drivers needed to stop twice. I think the difference between the two is meaningful and I don’t think a mandatory two stop would result in the same outcome. Pirelli needs to make better tires that don’t last an entire race. I don’t know how we are even in this position. That’s just soo far off what the target tire should be

[@egeveke]

@Tommy, tire deg might have been worse if it was actually HOT in spain... the track was a bit cold

[@brodyjonescinema]

Honestly I think Ferrari wanted to do a "test run" on the second set of hards with Leclerc. You hear him say in the interview how bad they were on the first stint and then decent on the end stint. Not like they were fighting for points.

[@colonicus]

I think with the Hamilton Norris collision people are seeing Hamilton come back across to the left to avoid Sainz who was slow (and probably try to go around the outside, or at least set-up for it if Sainz couldn't keep his momentum). So from the front angle it did look like it was Hamiltons fault, I thought it was initially too. Then the other angles show what happened better and it's probably 90% on Lando, but like the guys said it's mostly just bad luck. With hindsight, he chose the wrong line, but it seemed like a good idea from his viewpoint when you watch the onboard as he had more speed that the guys ahead because of the battle between Sainz and Max. There was a space, but it closed due to the racing in front after he'd already committed to it.

[@jkliao6486]

For once, I disagree with the first half of ferrari strategy blunder. I believe they wanted leclerc to go long. But the first hard stint was so bad that they have to pit him so early. Proven by Leclerc stating how strange he also felt that it was so difficult on the first hard stint, but not at all on the second hard stint. Also, what Russel did was very similar, I think, to what Alonso did in Sochi 2021. Just overtake into the braking zone, take the escape road, and send it around and rejoin ahead. If anything, I think that's an absolute chad move there.

[@shaunlevin5081]

Honestly Ferrari needs to just have a complete make over. Poach Red Bull strategists, get rid of Xavi because he's literally the worst race engineer on the grid, and poach RB engineers to try and fix your car. This is a rebuilding phase for Ferrari.

[@liamcaswell2118]

For everyone who thinks Red Bull will win every race this year, just remember that the absolute minimum amount of different winners in any given F1 season is 3. It's fine, guys, there will be a day Red Bull have issues this year and someone else comes to collect a win.

[@peterthefoxx]

15:38 Still feel like they should have left Lando out and try to save at least a pit stop. knew that his race was ended as soon as he pitted, the pack was bunched up and it was way too soon in the race for a 1 stop. Felt like there was no loss to try leaving him out, pitting him just seemed to be guaranteeing a poor result, not pitting would have at least a minor chance of benefitting from a safety car or reducing the stint on other tyres.

[@awesomefacematt]

Think they may have if the end plate wasn’t stuck in the suspension

[@rocky_d]

I like how leclerc/sainz is not in the conversation when Tommy talking about who can steal a win in a Ferrari shirt

[@gokinka]

"Russell something up" - well boys, you did 😂🎉

[@pietervanbreda4360]

No, I do not think Merc is back just track related, and Ferarri and Alonso had an off day. Alonso said they will crush the opposition from Canada onwards

[@louisbeerreviews8964]

Wrong yes they are back

[@florisbackx1744]

I wonder, could the cost cap have a big influence to the reliability of cars nowadays?

[@simonwoodthrillerwriter]

Unfortunately, Lando's crash with Lewis is on Lando. There was a good aerial shot that showed Sainz slowing and Lewis slowing for Sainz and Lando just barreling in at a much higher rate of speed.

[@cactusjax3779]

It’s been made clear multiple times that Valteri Bottas had floor damage.

[@maxkeilen4989]

I get the love for the two stop (even tho its bad for the "going green" plan) but why make all 3 types mandatory

[@greener_cfc4842]

The drivers today are definitely more conservative compared to previous years, they dont defend as aggressively, don’t attack as aggressively - DRS doesn’t help. Cost cap won’t be helping either - damage to the cars is just too costly for the teams they’d rather lose a place than a front wing

[@mikko3]

If what you said was true then there would have been no collisions in the Australian GP restart. You must be remembering wrong

[@valentinos_antoniades]

Love that you have switched team merch 🤩

[@jealva]

Alonso could have easily passed Stroll. On one camera shot down the main straight, Fernando was right behind Stroll and didn’t activate his DRS. It didn’t matter because P5 was too far ahead so it was a P6 & P7 regardless and I think Fernando just held position for team unity.

[@seven4221]

without the strategy element this would've been a 1 star race. With it i would give it 2 stars. There was just no drama, no fight for win, no controversy and all the overtakes were into turn 1. Not a great race, but the strategy element saved it from being terrible.

[@RoysIdea]

36:50 definitely NO point for Lance biggest good surprise. He only did what he had to do. Better Mercedes for implementing changes that at least worked in Barcelona

[@John-ok8ts]

Max explained why Ferrari probably did it. He said the hards were just a bad medium with the same deg but were awful. Probably better to get him off them and on to a better tyre.

[@carisi2k11]

Long time F1 fans understand what is happening because it is what F1 is normally.

[@BasicBodThor]

I actually think Leclerc had a new set of softs they didn't use at all...I wanna say they noted that in the breakdown post race?

[@senjutijash6967]

Yeah. He had a new set. They not only lied to him during the pit stop but also lied later before the press saying that they had put Charles on hards based on Carlos's data. When in reality Carlos did his first 2 stints on S and M. So there was no way they could've collected any data on Carlos being on hard tyres since Charles pitted just after him. The Ferrari pit wall is filled with pathological liars at this point!

[@thesunnynationg]

33:40 half the car's double the grid make them 3 cars per team, one for a "young driver". put back in the 107% rule and some BOP with weights like in DTM but based on team performance and not constructor like DTM did.

[@florisbackx1744]

Punishing the fastest team with adding extra weight is like killing Formula 1. The one thing that has made F1 unique all through it's history is the fact that it is a car development race. It's cars 1st, drivers 2nd.

[@seandp85]

@@florisbackx1744 how? Aerodynamic wise yes, but to freeze the ICE until 2026 is ridiculous.

[@thesunnynationg]

it's not really a serious comment. i know what F1 can and can't get away with. you cant go back to refueling bc its dangerous, you cant go back to v8 bc its worse for the environment. I've seen it all, I'm watching since'94, i feel like history of F1 myself 😂🤣😂

[@thesunnynationg]

@@florisbackx1744 you are absolutely right car development wise. and that is the reason why F1 always will have someone in the front dominating if its one or two teams, you just cant hope for more. manufacturers will always out-develop any privateers thats mostly referred to F1.5. this will only change if the regs are so frikin tight that you cant recognize the differences between the cars.

[@shig.bitz.3205]

Gutted for Lando, but it was just bad luck really, he hadn't spotted Sainz in front and didn't expect Lewis to back out so much. Maybe a bit impatient from Lando but mostly bad luck imo.

[@ValKillYa]

Please graphics on screen with prediction results... its hard to follow a bit

[@keyolive1053]

I mean if Lewis started p2 the gap sure wouldn’t have been 20 seconds to max. Still not equal in pace yet but we had wayyyyy more pace then Aston and Ferrari. Which are our top competition for p2 in everything. Race, standings. Upgrades looking good

[@princemay73]

Well, by that imaginary logic, had Lewis started on pole, the gap sure wouldn’t have been 20 seconds to Max. Merc are a long way off from RB (specifically Max). Max confirmed that he had pace in hand if he needed it. They made an improvement but we won’t know if their performance was just track dependent or because of colder temps until we see some sort of consistency in the upcoming races. AM are supposedly bringing big upgrades to the next race, Ferrari’s cars should be more at home as well - we’ll see how much Merc has improved on them.

[@ronmastrio2798]

If Russel and Checo got qualifying right Hamilton would have finished 4th.

[@y_fam_goeglyd]

Horner, on Channel 4, described Max & GP's relationship like an old married couple the way they bicker over the radio, and they're thick as thieves during non-race time. I'd suggest that it's much the same for Lewis and Bono. The drivers trust their engineers and the engineers trust their drivers. That's why they are (when both cars are the same level - in '21 for example) the best driver/engineer teams and therefore ultimately the best on the grid. No, that was not Lewis's fault. I adore Lando but he made a tiny mistake and misjudged where he was. He definitely didn't do it on purpose - who'd wreck their own race? But yes, it was definitely his fault. I'd say Mercedes is back on track - the right track, not the circuit... It'll be great if they can catch them up. But like the guys, I think it's more likely to be next year.

[@Bionda714]

I shouldnt be saying this but there was no safetycar because the guys that usually find the wall are not there anymore 🤣. Im sure you know who I am talking about.

[@ΚωνσταντινοςΚαρεκλας-υ8ε]

I think in the morning, you put on the wrong shirts

[@elliotttalksf1825]

Merc were good at Spain last year as well but because Hamilton has a puncture at the start it didn’t show as much as this year so it’s too early to tell

[@PulsingKrugotvoid]

No the mercs aren't back. They were miles off the pace still. I'm sorry but if your mercedes you set a standard and that is championships. So being second even by half a second isn't good enough for them.

[@paulmaxey6377]

In the case of are Mercedes back, I wouldn't take a good result in Spain as proof. Merc did well in Spain last year, both in testing and the race, and everyone were going that they were back then. I would rather wait and see how they do at tracks where they didn't do well at last year. Then if they improve on those you can more confidently say that they have turned a corner. They have a series of rounds now that they did well at last year so I expect them having a run of good results. In fact last year both Mercs finished in the top 4 all the way from Azerbaijan to Italy where 1 of them got 5th and the following round in Singapore when they got 9th and 14th. I still think Merc are better on standard short circuits than road circuits.

[@SocialMedium-gn8ft]

What does the safetycar look like again 🤔 lol its been a while

[@mignik01]

Mercedes was relatively fast last year in spain as well.

[@jasonwells7354]

Can we talk about Gasley continuing the penalties this year. For someone who was so upset about being “singled” out he commits a lot of penalty charging mistakes.

[@muhammedhanink5830]

I just want to know what if Norris didn't hit Lewis, what would have been the gap between Max and Lewis at the top?

[@Telecasterland]

If ye yearn for the battle for the win.... Indy Car awaits you both.

[@kurtru5selcrowe607]

Ferrari is done for if they make mandatory 2 stops. Anything that makes strategy more prevalent will only send them lower down the order.

[@CreepinCreeper145]

Just on the thumbnail alone, I wouldn't say Mercedes is back, but they've surpassed Ferrari and have closed the Gap to Aston Martin.

[@JustSomeGuyWithNoMaidens]

They were certainly faster than both Aston and Ferrari. But a team like them is only "back" when they're fighting for wins

[@CreepinCreeper145]

@@JustSomeGuyWithNoMaidens Well, Ferrari and Lance Stroll. Alonso has proven time and time again how capable the AMR23 is and it will only get better as the season progresses.

[@DanDan-fu6sd]

You guys are fun!

[@smplmher]

I think nobody thought the hards would be that shit, even Max pitted early with his hards cause he didn’t like them but he probably still could’ve won on them, think he was almost 40secs up before he pitted

[@nettlecider]

Fans allowed to complain: Williams, Alpha Tauri, Alpha Romeo, Ferrari, Mclaren, Haas: 100% Alpine: 20% Mercedes, Aston Martin: 10% Red Bull: 0% 😂

[@christianhansen5808]

I Think that ferrari underestimated how easy it was to overtake and wanted to wait for the others to pit then race on