Max Verstappen and Future Engine Rules

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK F one Checkred Flag is sponsored by Cadillac Cadillac has entered Formula One, bringing its racing ambition to the world's biggest stage, uniting V sereries performance with race bred presence. From street to circuit, every detail is engineered to thrill with precision, innovation, and adrenaline V series is where luxury meets race ready performance, head turning design, advanced technology, and the kind of power that makes every drive feel like you're pushing for position V series The definition of luxury performance, disiscover more at Cadillac. comot Take the leash off your lap processor that gives you long battery life Work on the go, jump between back to back calls, stay locked in from brewing morning coffee to burning the midnight oil get maximum performance, even when unplugged Finally The freedom to move across the room or across the world is here Snap Dragon That's how Five live, Formula One Four races down and four victories for Mercedes so far, but three of those have gone to Kimmy Antonlli. Can a nineteen year old Italian continue his remarkable start? Or a McLaren and Llando Norris forcing themselves back into the conversation Lots to talk about over the next hour. I'm Eleanor Olddrod and I'm joined by five live F one commentator Harry Benjamin and W series race winner Alice Powell, hello both. Hello, goodood evening. Loly to have you with us. I mean, it's been a weird kind of start to the season, hasn't it, Harry in a way because we're well into it You know, we're halfway through May over halfway through May before Miami. And then We've had another big gap to Canada. It does feel like in Asiao. we started this season. We got going We had three in a you know, three in a row, first three races. Th then obviously we had this April break with the cancellations of Bahin and Saudi Then we finally got going again in Miami and it was sort of straight back to it sprint as well. But then we had another week off and now we're back in Canada. It feels quite stop starting. I feel like I'm going to have another week off next week And then we get to Monaco and then it's a bit relentless. And then I think from Monaco, we're going to start to feel like, o, right now Formula One is back and going. but we'll be inune' beenally permanently behind a safety car. And I'm usually sick of seeing Harry by this point because we've had several more races, but no, it's been different season. that's sure to say, but I love Clenda. It's a track that I've never actually raced on myself, but I have had the privilege of going and watching it. and it's a driver favourite too. So I'm glad finally, F one is back and yeah to be racing and seeing them race at Montreal. We had a great race last year and I'm sure we're going to have another great one this year. Why is it so much of a favourite among the drivers It's fast, it's a street circuit as well. So pretty much most drivers enjoy a street circuit, the challenge. There's a whole weather system there. I think we're meant to have potentially some showers at the weekend on Sunday. It's fast, low downforce, you've got some medium speed corners, you've got real heavy braking as well. so it does produce a lot of overtaking That's what drivers love. They love that kind of challenge of being inches from the wall and of course a track that you can certainly overtake on. Yeah. And another sprint weekend Harry. Yeah the first time. We're going to have a sprint in Canada. Again, I sort of had to double take got a sprint in Canada. Is that right? But yeah, I think it will be a really good track actually for a sprint race. It's normally quite fun as Alice alludes to there. So more points up for grabs and more flat out racing on the Saturday, we hope. This is actually I don't want to get bogged down in energy management and engines and power units This is to be technical, one of the most energy starved circuit will come to so far. and that basically means they're going to have to do a fair amount of management of their battery, but kind of split half and half on the track because the first part of the lap around Montreal is quite stop start. There's quite heavy braking zones that you can kind of top up your battery pack, right, Alice. But then once you get into the second half, it's pretty much straight with a hairpin. So not a lot of chances to really top up your old battery. No, there isn't. And of course, that's going to be a challenge as well for the drivers. The heavy braking is going to help because that's going to help recharge some of the battery Of course this partial throttle that they might have to do through some of the Chicanes, but yeah, there's obviously been annou some changes that are going to take place for next year, but I guess we're not we don't want to bore people at ten past eight mon of it Thursday evening because we could be talking about it for a long time. You know, it's even better than energy management. It's weather Because as you said, there will be a bit of weather. becausecause're on a kind of man madeade island is the Iill Notre Dame. It's where they did the exppo back in nineteen sixty seven, something like that and it's become a museum since and hosted the summer Olympics years ago as well. So ninet seventy six, I think it was Yeahes seventy six. the back straight runs parallel to the basin that they used the rowing and the canoeing for As a result, it's kind of got its own microclimate. So it can be sunny and blue skies elsewhere in Montreal, but actually on the island where the track is, especially it parts of it are covered in a lot of foliage and trees. that can really be quite conducive to holding in moisture and wet weather. Also, this race is a lot earlier than it has ever been before, so temperatures It's going to be a lot colder than we used to. So tire warm upp and things like that A lot of new things that we're going to have to get to grips with or the drivers and the teams are going to have to get to grips with with only one practice session because because it's a sprint before we get going. So That's going to be good. Well hopeully that w whets your appetite a bit for what's to come over the next few days in Montreal. plenty to come before. nine o'clock, We'll be hearing from some of the key protagonists ahead of this weekend. They are speaking with the media at this very moment. Plus the BBC's F one correspondent Andrew Benson will join us to react to all that has been said in Montreal Plus we can't avoid it. we're going to have a bit more engine talk. Oh we'll leave Benson for that. We'll leave him to do that. But look let's talk about the championship battle because everyone at the start of the season is talking about a Mercedes walkover, but with George Russell in their minds with this, but now we're talking about one of these intra team battles that we love as well, that rivalry between Antonlli and Russell. We'll talk about McLaren's resurgence as well. but I mean, Alice, what have you made of this This young upstart challenge I mean, George Russell iss pretty young as well, but Antoneelli really challenging him. He is. And I have to admit, I was one of those last year that was thinking when it was Kimy Antoneelli's first year in F one. He had one season of Formula two, skipped Formula three altogether, came up from Formula Regional straight into F two and that's not usually what you see, if we're going to talk about say Lando or George, they came through the traditional sort of F three F two then up into F one. No, not Antonlli. And I was thinking Is this the right thing? You know, he had for his first practice session that he had at the Italian Grand Prix put it in the wall He still got his chance to go into F one and Toto was saying, this kid is good. justust give him chance And I was probably yeah thinking not too sure. It's probably too soon, a lot more driving that he could and things he could have learnnt in the junior categories But wow, I was certainly wrong and so were many others and hence why why Toto said to him on the radio, mainly to us, people like me This is what what we knew. We knew that you had it in you Kimmy. and he has done a fantastic job, threeree pols. He's had three three wins on the bounce as well and been so impressive. And of course, as you said early, we were all expecting it to be George Russell to to be sat at the top of the championship at this early stage and it certainly isn't the case. it's coming on early. I mean, I agree with all that. I'm nowhere near as skilled or talented as George Russell, but if I am him, I'm worried Kimy Antonelli is achieving right now because we use this word far too often in Formula onene, but momentum is so crucial, I think to not only a driver' performance off track but their mentality off of it as well. bothoth feed the other. And right now, that momentum is well and truly with Kimmy Antonelli He's breaking all the records as well, not to mention youngest ever poll sitter, one of the youngest ever race winners. if he gets a race win and a poll this weekend, he'll be the first ever to get his first four wins and poll sitters consecutively. Nobody else has ever done that. And I know stats are stats and think you know, do they really mean much I think it does mean much because of everything that's happened to Kimy Aonlli in his rookie year last year, all the struggles that he went through. Now he seems to be getting on well with the car. He's got Toto Wolf in his corner George does as well, but Wolf and Antonelly very much seems like a closer bond, I think. Bodingon, his race engineer, the man who was behind Louis Hamilton's with The majority of Louis Hounton's championships at Mercedes is engineer. That is a massive relationship that will be helping will helping Kimy Anntonlli out as well. So It puts even more pressure on this weekend to go well for George Russell and pressure ramps up even more so because this is a track where George Russell goes well at the last two races he's been on poll victory last year. he runs well here and he'll be looking to pendul him swinging back in his favor. It'sally interesting after Miami on the Check of Flag podcast, Damon Hill was saying to you, Harry, that he thinks that that George Russell has gone missing a bit. and I don't know what what he what you think he meant and and I'll ask you, Alice whether you think that's That's a fair assessment. I think there was the There was Australia where it was the first race of the year and I think all expectation was this is Russell's championship to lose and He went out and won it and Antononeelli had a slow start fell all the way back through the pack and it was okay, here we go. Aonelli still young second year. he's having to get his elbows out. He's not going to be as clean and clinical as George who's got many years of experience now, even though he's only twenty eight years old, as you say, still quite young. He's got a huge amount of experience. But then I think China was probably a big turning point where There was electrical issues and mechanical issues on both cars, but hurteorge hurteorge Russell more. And Russell managed to come through the pack, but didn't idn't exactly cruise up to the back of Kimmy Antonelli, who won by a fair distance in the end and didn't put a foot wrong But you could argue, well bit of luck played out there in the favor of Kimmy Antonlli. But then last time out in Miami Mercedes as a whole, I felt didn't quite get on top of their energy management almost schedules and deployment where they were going to deploy, etc. They were a bit late to the game, which allowed McLaren to take victory in the spprints. But then in the race, Russell just, I think by gone missing what David Hill was referring to. just He didn't feel alive didn't look alive on the track. All the focus is up front Antonelli yet got another bad start but then made his way back through straightway. Russell was fast, but Antonly had the edge a weekend And I think George came out sort of saying, Well, Miami's not a track that I go well at. You know, I didn't go well last year. I haven't really done very well here And I think If you're challenging for Formula One driver's title. You can't have circuits that are, you know, I don't quite go or perform as as well there. So maybe that could have possibly been a little bit of an excuse from from George Russell. And I totally understand what what Damon was saying sort of he's gone missing. It's But the front is twenty points. we can see how quickly that can change from watching how the driver's Championship turned out last year. So it can change This has got to be the weekend when George Russell, if he's going to talk about tracks that he goes well at, this is one that he really goes well at. He got pole position in twenty twenty four and twenty five This is the circuit he needs to try pull it back contract and ultimately, yeah win, but of course beat his teammates Well, let's hear from Geor Russell now. a short while ago, he spoke with Tom Clarkson and he was asked if this weekend was a must win. It's just another race for me. it's just another race and there's not even you know, my mind the championship. I know what I'm capable of. I know the speed I've got Obviously, Mi was a bad weekend. It was a tough weekend for me there last year and I went to Montreal and had a great weekend Do doesnn't mean this year is going to be the same, but I just need to focus on myself. go through my processes as I did in Melbourne, as I did in China and control what I can control. So you know there's really no need to panic at all. And as we said, we're four races down eighteen at least to go U And I actually look back on my F two season, which is obviously the last time I fought for a championship and askP six after four races in F two and about thirty five points down. So you know, at this point it means nothing. Your last year's winner here in Montreal. you've always gone well at this track. How much are you looking forward to getting out on track Like Per said, I mean we're end of May, we've done four races and it's felt very disjointed so far this year. So just looking forward to getting into Go racing and more races back to back. gettingetting into a bit of a grove Miami was obviously a very tough weekend for me but a huge amount learn from that and I feel great coming into this weekend What was the biggest learning? from Miami I think for a lot of us, we're also focused on the energy management that all of the issues from fromrom the past and dealing with the tires, dealing with the setup just fundamentals of racing has kind of been put on the back burner because we're also focused on energy management. You know, we missed some key things because we were focused ellsewear and that was a a good little reminder, so. As I said, as painful as it was, it was very much needed weekend because I think it's going to prove very benefial for the rest of the year Everyone's interested to see Mercedes's first big upgrade of this season. What are you expecting from it Well, I'm hoping it's going to be know as competitive as what we saw, the upgrades of McLaren and Ferrari brought in In Miami, they obviously took a decent step forward our numbers look pretty promising, but we know it doesn't often it may not correlate that way in reality. So There's no science telling us it won't be competitive, but as I said, until we drive it on track There's always going to be a few lonownans So we're talking about the situation at the moment. where you've got two teammates racing independently at the moment, but it's kind of ten years. I mean there are always memories aren't there ra intra team rivalries, and we mentioned Hamilton and Rosberg going head to head coming together in Spain ten years ago this month Could we be in a situation, Harry, do you think we're going to get something similar? This is Formula One, so that can happen. I think that that incident was for the ages, really, wasn't it? It feels like yesterday, I can't believe that's ten years ago, where Max Verappen went on to take his first ever grand Prix victory as a result I actually Canada is quite prominent for teammates hitting each other. twenty eleven, the two McLaren drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Jensen Button. last year, the two McLaren drivers, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. So yes, it absolutely could happen I know Alice, Is there something about Russell and Antonlli? It's not It's not giving me It's given me nothing in terms of fiery on track or Rothet. They're quite Polite. George is very kind of prim and proper and Kimmy is young and and not he's not exactly the I wouldn't say he's the erratic type So I'm not I'm not getting when that visor goes down. I tell you what you're in that cockpit and you're fighting both for their first world dririvers' Championship It's going to happen at some point this year. I mean, I want I kind of want to see think it will happen at some point this year. you know, they know they've They've got the best car Russell probably thought that he would be a lot closer to Antonyi in ts of points wise as I've touched on already It'll happen whether it be this weekend and plus it's tight that turn one. if let's say they both qualify on the front row You know, there's changeable weather conditions. You're going to be maybe if it's wet, you're going to be one of the driver that's leading the way so you're not stuck in the spray Who knows? we've seen stranger things before and yeah, we potentially see it this weekend. But we'll see. Yeah. I mean, know I know what Harry means about this idea that, you know, you kind of almost it's like it's like an East Enders, isn't it? really? you know, you want to kind of the personalities that that clash the history that off door slamming in someone's space. I mean Lewis Hamilton and Nicoa Rossberg, you know, they'd been friends. They were too maybe there was kind of too much similar background they fell out and maybe George Russell and Kimmy Antonlli are just a bit too different to do that. But do you almost want George Russell to have a little bit of that That fire in his belly? I think he does from way he talks on the radio and we've seen him clash plenty of times with Max Verstappen, haven't we in the past. So he's got the fire for sure. and a lot of these drivers would probably have got told on their early years of go kart where it's all friends, you're all playing football or running around in in the mud in between your go cart sessions. youre always and I certainly was told you've got no friends on the racetrack And that sticks with a lot of drives. and in a way it's very true obviously when you're in Formal one and you're racing for the team, but you know, of course the driver wants to win that driver's title. So they'll get to a stage where they're certainly not friends on the track at some point. I would just like to point out at this stage that Alice Powower is not the only racing driver in this commentary box anymore. because I got my racing license last week So if we race on traack, we'd less friends We be friends? No. We'd be friends. Wow, shocking. But we should probably throw in actually just briefly that we were talking about speed awareness courses. Now you admitted, Harry, that you've now got your racing driver's license because I did a speed awareness course this morning. And I knew I was going to be coming in here to talk about racing very, very fast. to get tips off Harry, And I thought I was you know, I felt a bitbarrassed to be doing it, but you've done one. I've done one a few years ago. yeah. I decided to r I was done one Yeah Damon Hill, you were saying Yeah I think I must have been discussing the fact I did one with Damon must have been last year, maybe then he suddenly pipes up that he had one to do or he'd just done one in the week prior. But I think it's a little different to everybody else doing a driver awareness course because obviously you lo in and then everyone pops up on their face and suddenly if you're there, you know anything about racing. Damon Hill, the nineteen ninety six Formworld Champion pops up. And I think Damon was recalling about the fact that basically even the person running the lesson was wanted to ask Damon questions about his career I think think he had to get least he would have brightened up the speed awareness of course. Yeah I did. wouldould have made it possible. and I'll name and shame Karin Chand doock as well. He's I know he's been on one I love this. Anyway, look we've completely got off off piece. Let's get back on track and talk about upgrades. Be because we heard in that interview with George Russell that this is kind of big upgrades for Mercedes this weekend. mean Is that going to widen the gap between them and the rest of the field again? Well, this is the interesting thing. We know as we heard from George, there's a big upgrade. We don't quite know the specifics of it yet They normally send out a little sheet which we'll get I think later on this evening or tomorrow morning. But what we saw In Miami was everybody bringing quite a big upgrade Bar Mercedes. It the upgrade kind of transitions are a bit lopsided because we lost two races in April. I know some of the teams were bringing were planning on bringing big upgrades for Bahrain. And then we're going to have a couple a few weeks off and then bring another one in Miami. So instead we're seeing big upgrades almost back to back. So we could get quite a big step forward from multiple teams, but just the way calendar fallen and all of a sudden But this is going to be interesting with the two Mercedes battling is okay, is this going to further edge them out away from the McLarens and the Red Bulls who made really big steps last time out Or is everyone going to make a big step and it's going to be a battle two, four, six cars wide now at the front, which would be great for us. But then that has an effect on this teammate battle between Russell and Antonlli because they're not just looking at each other all of a sudden. And one thing that has been picked up on is Mercedes have been on poll every single race so far this year. They are yet to lead Pinning lap. because their starts they're getting poor starts, particularly Antonlli. loses on average. I think he's lost on average twenty positions on lap one so far from the first four races of the year. So ven if they do the job in qualifying, they're suddenly at the back and we know the Ferraris regardless of upgrade have that smaller turbo, they get absolute rocket ship starts. track position is always king in Formula one. So even if they got a big upgrade, it's going to be tricky to see how this teammate battle plays out and it will vary and be dependent on that. And what's interesting with Antonlli is he starts he prior to Miami, he'd been away practicing some starts diving into what had gone wrong and he said, Yeahah, I think I've nailed. didn't get great starts at Miami, but I agree with you, Harry. I still think that it's going to be the Mercedes the team to be. I think Claren will be up there as well. of course they have a Mercedes power unit behind them. So I think say it is we'll be the ones, but I think we will still see the likes of McLaren up there. Ferrari They're one of the teams that I feel really need a good one because they bought a lot of upgrades to Miami and actually had a great weekend. I think they were expecting it to go a lot better than it did. The other thing though, we' going back to back sprint weekends and normally in a traditional Grand Prix weekend you'd have three one hour practice sessions, loads of time to really gather the data on your new upgradees. Again, I think Ferrari, you're right. I agree you, but I don't think any team was able to maximize what they brought enough because they only had that one practice session before you chucked into qualifying for the sprint and that will happen again here. So is going to be incredibly busy, but I still think we've got there's more there's more maximizing to be done for the likes of Ferrari McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes at front. So who's doing best with with the upgrades behind the scenes? do you think? I mean, McLaren looked to spot on you know, coming in Miami, what is it that they're doing right I think they made a great at Miami. And if you look at the other teams that bought big upgrades as well, Red Bull bought a lot. and I think personally they certainly closeed the gap a little bit Ferrari bought a lot of upgrades as well and then obviously some slightly further down the order that didn't make as much of a difference. They just seem to be ye sorting it. They've obviously got the Mercedes power unit, which makes a big difference because we talk about power units a lot and obviously they make a good difference. And we heard Russell on our intro there saying he likes the engine and it does work well. But yeah they're a team of wand constructors titles or experience seem to be a nice group of people that know what they're doing down at McLaren are clearly making the difference. It's much more comfortable for the drivers in the corners For Norris in particular, he's started to get his head round a little bit with the energy management of these these new Formula one cars. I think Piatri maybe started off getting used to a little bit better compared to Lando, but he certainly now to seems to have made big gains as it as Lando. And I think they'll be they'll be fighting the sharp end, whether they will be mixing it in amongst the Mercedes, they will certainly be hoping that they will. and of course they are bringing some upgrades again this weekend. I think McLarens will be one ones to watch for their upgrade plan because what we've seen characteristically from them over the last few years. you know, it was only what three or four years ago, they're at the back. qualified. on the last row for the first Grand Pri of the year, but they brought huge upgrade packages in the first quarter of the year and then another one followed that up in consecutive years and it transformed them from where they were. They've gone from literally the back to the front. Yes, they've not straight away this season, but let's not forget they were fighting for a championship right up until the season finale last year. So they unlike other teams around them plowed more energy into last year's performance before fully focusing on this year. But I think from what we saw in Miami with the huge step forward that McLaren took, I think given their history with big upgrade packages working straight away, they will be ones to watch when it comes to performance upgrades. So C we see Lando Norris competing? This weekend for Vict Trum andy was second in Miami I think so absolutely. I think so. I still think it's going to be it's going to be one of say say. Yeah, I think they they will. But as we heard from George Russell, you just never know in terms of how they're going to work. You could run it on a simulator. Absolutely perfect. you think, ye, that's great. You get to the track and you go, well, this is a disaster. And actually Lewis Hamilton has touched on about how he's going to have a different approach. He's not even using the simulator apparently leading up to this weekend because he feels like it's been hampering his preparation. so We'll see, but I still think that there'll be certainly the ones ones to be You mentioned Ferrari, you mentioned Louis Hamilton. Not quite come together yet, has it? for those to at Ferari, even even th they're kind of there were Ding fast early promise It's not just then they're not getting there at the moment. No, and it simulator, is that going to be the answer? Well, yeah, Lose Hamilton feels like he did touch on in the press conference that he feels that You know, there's a great team of people there. The simulator is really useful, but to him in particular, he just feels like it's not setting him up correctly for race weend in these new cars. Soll see we'll see if it how he gets on with that this weekend. But I think you could kind of tell, particularly with Charlaclea' s of body language in Miami that he was expecting a lot more. I was actually quite surprised of how sort of chippy and happy Lewis Hamilton was after the race because He had a disappointing showing, I think for him he would have been like to have been a lot closer to Charl Clelar. But I feel like it's stillort of getting into the stages where you said they started fast, off the line, they were fantastic. They were still a little bit away from Mercedes But I feel like other teams are creeping up now. the gap is closing at the front with with as we touched on M Claren Verstappen and Red Buller there as well. So I feel like Ferrari really start need to have a good weekend because we were all talking about how they were going to be so competitive up there with with Mercedes And they haven't really okay. Charl is sitting third in the drivers' Championship. Lewis is is in fifth, but I know that they all want to be particularly with the amount of upgrades they bought last time out. You know, I'm I'm actually really loving what Ferrar are doing right now because yeah, okay, they're not out and out winning There They're trialing things and they're bringing quite quite ingenious designs. They're almost you know this whole macarina wing thing that's going on where the rear wing goes full, It's not quite three hundred sixty degrees, but it goes pretty pretty nearly all the way around. They've got these little halo winglets, they've got these other you know new aero designs that they're bringing before anyone else. And I feel like that we've not seen that Historically from Ferrari. they've I think their culture has always been they're a bit afraid of trying anything because they don't want to fail. So they'll wait and see what other people do and they'll go, okay, that works. We'll do it. Now they're actually kind of taking charge of their own destiny and leading the way and sometimes it will work and sometimes it doesn't. Look Red Bull have also got this spinny rear wing now too. So I actually think Ferrari in a good place. I don't think they've maximized their upgrades fully. Lewis Hamilton is coming here Like in China, he didn't use the simulator. He's not used the simulator this weekend. That should bode well for him. Charlot Cler doesn't have a great history in Montreal I think he's never finished high than third. But I think they will be in the mix. And I think the fact that they're not afraid to fail anymore. There's a whole culture change going on that we're finally seeing the fruits of team boss Fred Verer and his actions there But you know what? the thing that we were saying earlier on about It's ten years since Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg's batt in Spain. It's nineteen years since Louis Hamilton won his first Grand Prix whichich was at Montreal and he's still he's still going and maybe this this is the race which, you know, because he loves it he loves this circuit, doesn't he? He Yeah, he's won seven Grand Priz here. Yeah, the one the most as well is along with Michael Schumacher here. So he's got great history, six pole positions But yeah, last time he won round this circuit was back in twenty nineteen. so' It's a while ago, but partarticularly if we're going to get these changing weather conditions we're meant to be getting on Sunday. That is Lewis Hamilton territory all over. whether he's kind of got the car underneath him, you know that he enjoys and thrives off those challenging conditions. So I would really love to see to see Lewis desperate to see Lewis and Ferrari fighting. The front, I think , it's a track when you do have that sort of sort of as George has put it in the past sort of have that connection with a circuit that can spur you on even more. And I think he's really appreciated by the fans there. is Lewis. So We'll see. I still think Ferrari do have a lot of work to do Th changing weather, you just never know Well, let's hear from Louis Hamilton. He's been speaking with Tom Clarks and in the official press conference ahead of this weekend, And he began by dismissing rumors that suggested his days in the sport are numbered I'm still in contract so Everything's one hundred percent clear to me Yeah. I'm still focused, I'm still motivated. I still love what I do with all my heart And u I'm going to be here for quite some time, so get used to it you know, there's a lot of people that are trying to retire me and that's not even on my thoughts. I'm thinking I'm already thinking of what will be next. U And planning for like the next five years But yeah, I'm still planning to be here for some time. so yeah Well let's bring it on to this weekend. I mean, seven wins here in Montreal, including the very first of your one hundred five victories. justust how special is it to be back at a track where you've had so much success? It's always one of my favourite places to come in the season. The weather's fantastic today. I landed this morning My momum's coming this weekend because it's just the atmosphere in the city is electric and then just to come to this little taly island and have such an iconic weekend where the fans are probably the closest that they get through the year and the track is just it's one of the best tracks in the world And yeah, obviously had some great races here in the past. so excited for this weekend. What can we expect from you and Ferrari then this weekend? I think hopefully a better weekend. I think there's a lot of learnings taken from the first races and particularly from the last race I think there's been a huge amount of work, which I'm really grateful for all the team back at the factory working incredibly hard to try and analyze where we've been good, where'' not been so good and we've adjusted processes and approach. and so I'm hoping that we're able to extract more from the car because I still think we're still Trying to extract the most from the package that we have, and then also just being realistic of where we stand currently compared to Mercedes, for example. But lots can happen. So it's just about trying to extract the most from the carl thiske can. Where do you think you do stand in the pecking order with the upgrades that you brought to Miami last time up I mean, it probably adjusts each weekend. obbviously no Mercedes are at the top. McLaren looked incredibly strong last race as well. They took a good step and obviously Red Bull have made a huge step. So I think we're kind of in and around McLaren and Red Bull, I would say, which order there it is we'll see. but I' obviously no Mercedes have a big upgrade this weekend. so even without an upgrade, they were very quick in the last race or still won the last race. so our focus is just going to be on ourselves and just trying to optimize. for me I'm really excited to hopefully have a better weekend If your best finance people are doing expense reports, chasing receipts, or spending time on monthnd clothes, it's time to get BEX AF, a GentTch finance that eliminates that work before it starts Learn more at brexs d. com slash A processor that gives you long battery life. Work on the go between back to back calls, stay locked in from brewing morning coffee to burning the midnight oils. Get maximum performance, even when unplugged Finally The freedom to move across the room or across the world is here Snapdragon That's how Formula One is all about precision, tiny margins, massive ambition, flat out performance And that's exactly why it's exciting to see Cadillac entering Formula One, bringing an American luxury brand with performance pedigree onto the biggest stage in motorsport. But this isn't just about the grid That same racing mindset, the obsession with engineering, the pursuit of perfection, lives in the Cadillac V sereries lineup giving you the chance to experience the precision and performance of the grid on the open road. Cadillac V series, Distinctive Luxury performance, enngineered to Thrill Discover the Veries lineup at cadillac. com So Lewis Hamilton, Harry Benjamin, and the fact we've said nineteen years since his first race win it seems absolutely extraordinary. Is it good news that he's still sounding like he wants to stick around a bit lo? I mean he started off by saying I'm under contract. not I'm deeply in love with this sport as I always have been. Well since he's joined Ferrari, the speculation has begun because obviously it hasn't been the fairy tale yet. I think that was probably the biggest indication that he's ever given that he's here for a few more years yet because there was some talk that this might be his final year. mayaybe there's a plus one into into twenty twenty seven It all comes down to his enjoyment of it, whether he's under contracts or not because we all know contracts aren't really worth the paper they're printed on Formula One or indeed, any other of sport He As long as he's enjoying it and he sees forward momentum with Ferrari, he will stay there. And I think Maybe there's something about obviously dominating and winning, I'm sure is great. But is there something Alice about, you know working to rebuild and chase, particularly when you're within a team like Ferrari, which every kid dreams of racing for Yeah, of course there is. and I think those those times, I would love to see, of course, Lewis Hamilton winning in a Ferrari. that would be incredible. could be it could be this weekend. could be this weekend, who knows, But I think crucially as well If he's enjoying it as you've touched on, that's a huge part of of motorsport and racing. You've got to be enjoying it. And particularly if you're feeling competitive whichich he clearly still is, he still is competitive. And particularly when you've got, well we haven't had twenty four racers this year because we've had obviously Bahrain and Saudi not take place. It's hard. theres' a lot of work for the teams, a lot of back and forth for the teams and the drivers. It's a brutal, brutal calendar and I think I honestly think if Lewis Hamilton is not wasn't enjoying didn't have an opportunity to win and challenge and fight at the front. I do believe that he'll be like, you know what I'm getting on a bit now been there done that got the t shirt. I don't need to continue. I think he genuinely would, but he clearly feels like he's still got it. He still feels that he can challenge at the front and you know he's enjoying his time. with Ferrari. and I think that was a real nice thing to see and hear from Lewis Hamilton. He was very smiley and happy in the press conference. and we know when Lewis is smiley and happy and that he usually goes on to have a very good race weekend Second year with the team, that will always be better. He's more embedded because Ferrari is unlike any other team. it's not just a team change, it's a whole culture change. He hasn't really been able to bring anyone with him on sort of the engineering side. He's got a new race engineer this year, but I'm let to believe that was that was only temperamental, but they haven't yet confirmed who will be his permanent race engineer. So the bit of question marks over that What will be helping him is a bit closer on pace to Charl Leclerc this year based on my averages and my maths, which you should never base anything on. He's a little over a tenth off in terms of raw pace, but that will ebb and flow depending on the circumstances. So I think the fact he feels closer to Lecler will be really spurring him on. But just I mean, imagine could it be on Sunday? There's a sixty percent chance of rain right now, mixed conditions, Hamilton carving his way through the field. He pits exactly the right time to go into the intermediate tre. The Mercedes get it wrong. Hamilton's out ahead, ten laps to go and he takes victory for Ferrari. Can you imagine the scenes in Canada Now if you if that happens, Harry, I'm coming with you for a lot of it other information going forward, but I'll give a lot three numbers as well. That would be great, but no, it's good here, Lewis and I think the sport would be I'm all for because I often say on the coverage, I'm all for young drivers coming into the sport, taking the next generation of talent up. But of course, because it's going to happen at some point. Lewis Hamilton does step aside from from racing and forormul one, you know, he's one of the greatest drivers of all time. He will be hugely missed Of course there was plenty of talk and speculation of Max Verstappen possibly stepping away at the end of the year as well. canan you imagine forormula one without Max and without Louis can't really at the moment. Wellax, I mean Max isn't showing any signs of getting bored with driving, is he? Because you know, you have a gap between Miami and Canada and what do you do? you go and you do a twenty four hour race easy peasy if you' Max Verstappen. He just lives and breathes this stuff. You know what is so brilliant to watch. And he's really the only driver on the grid that can get away with doing it because so many have it in their contract that they're not allowed because of you could you could have a crash, you could get injured, the wrist involved, etcetera Verstappen clearly has this passion. He has his own team. you know, he has his own esports team and now he has his own's grown into this endurance team. He was racing a bas zooped up sports cars that you see on the road, a Mercedes AMG car the Nurberging the Nurberurging for the twenty four hours of the Nurburg Ging, iconic track. so many want to race there in a field of over one hundred and sixty cars leading the race with a thirty second gap and was leading the race for about three hours to go. and what in these kind of races he shares the car with two other drivers, so they do stints. But unfortunately, with about three hours to go, he had a drive shaft failure. They bring the car back to the garage and that unfortunately paid that for Max Verstappen, but he was on course to win it. And I think talking to some of the endurance commentators who were there, one of the most impressive things they saw was you race at night, twenty four hours, Verstappen Not really raced at night before whereher there's not big floodlights that you get in Singapore or Bahrain. racing at night, he's overtaking three or four cars on the Nordschliff a bit of the Nerberging, which is not easy for anybody and advice that in your speed awareness course. No, you would not. He would get an immediate fail, I think. But it was an immediate pass in this instance, in this instance and it just reinforces him doing this reinforces what a generational talent he is. You could not stick any other F one driver in a GT car like that and they would not they wouldn't be able to do the same thing as Max Verstappen, in my opinion. And joining us now from the media centre in Montreal is the BBC's F one correspondent. Andrew Venson. How are you, Andrew I'm good thanks, Ellie. a lovely day here in Montreal. a little bit brisk, but sunny and no rain in sight just yet. And we were just talking about Max Verstappen just now. And you've just come out of a media session featuring him, also Charles Leclerc. An any new lines to come out of that Well, there's a lot of talk this weekend about the rule changes that have been agreed for next year on the engines. People may remember that a few races ago, Max Ver Staffen was threatening to leave Formula One at the end of the year. because he was so unhappy with the rules. They're changing the engines in a certain way or at least they're planning to. It's not completely locked down yet. And he said it was definitely in the right direction. It will definitely improve the product. He stopped short of definitely committing to staying in F one next year, but it does it was very much sounding in that direction I mean, this is, I suppose the big question is I mean we've got to talk about engines. We've sort of slightly skirted around talking about engines so far. So I've read your piece on the website, Andrew, when you talked about the different options kindind of in the long term and in the short term about what's going to happen this season. and we'll maybe talk about the long term in a second, but you know, in the in the medium to immediate to medium term, it's changes to designs for next season and that's in response to the criticism of the power units introduced this year. Yeah, basically there's a nominal fifty fifty split between internal combustion and electrical power this year and pretty much everyone in Formula one. agrees, although not everyone saying it out loud, that they've kind of messed the rules up a bit. The engines are energy saved, so the drivers are having to do this s sort of energy saving techniques too often, basically. So they're going to adjust that split between internal combustion and electrical power next year, make it more in favour of internal combustion. That should reduce the amount of energy management and make driving more normal for racing drivers so they can be flat out more of the time, basically. That's what Verstappen's been complaining about notot just him but pretty much all the drivers, but he and along with Fernando Alonso has been probably the most outspoken of all of them. And they're moving it back towards what would be considered a more normal direction. So that's what he's talking about when I'm referencing that for next year. He's be more driving satisfaction and that's what he wants. Andrew, Harry here, BBCF on commentator.ase please tell us very formal all of a sudden. Please tell us about the BBC sport website Pll Yes, it was really interesting. So that article Ellie is referring to was about what they might do in Formula one with the engines in twenty thirty or twenty thirty one. The FIA President Mohammed Ben Salim is suggesting basically a reversion to V eight naturally aspirated engines maybe with a token amounts of hybrid power, which is basically where the sport was in twenty thirteen last. We did a poll in this article exploring the various options and the pros and cons of each one, more or less because there are various things that you can make arguments for or against in terms of all the different kinds of engines you could use. And the thing that stood out for me was we gave the audience five options And twenty five thousand people responded to the poll. And there was a out of the five options, if you club two of them together, which was a V eight or V six engine with a turbo and a significant amount of hybrid power so not just token That was a clear majority There was no and theest single largest vote interestingly was for a V six engine or V eight engine with thirty percent hybrid power And I thought both those numbers were really interesting because if you just listen to the noise that's out there on social media, you would think that everybody wanted a return to naturally aspirated engines. But it's very clear, know the BBC is not just for motorport fans, it's a general sports audience And so to see those numbers was quite illuminating and I've passed them on to a couple of quite influential people in F forulauan and they both also thought they were interesting So who knows, we may even have an influence on the future E daration in Formula onene. I love this idea that Andrew Benson and the BBC Sort website direct pololicy for Formula One in years to come. You said the word the word noise, Andrewa, and I don't want to get too stuck on this because we've got a race to talk about. But I mean Alice, for you, I mean you know I remember going to my first Formula One races kind of back in the late nineties, early two thousands. And it was the noise. It was those the sound of those engines, those VA engines which gripped your insides. Yeah, I remember attending my first British Grand Prix probably when I was about six years old and I had my little headphones and my dad said, do not take them off your ears And of course I don't listen to him, do I? And I remember just sort of I was sat on the pitch straight. Michael Schumacher was my hero took them off as he went past and I was like, yeah, I better keep them on actually. They just bleom felt like they were going to blow my eardrums to pieces. And I got goosebunts every time the cars went past, particularly when the race starts. So yeah, they the sound of particularly back then was absolutely incredible. That's thing I'm on the opposite end. the noise does nothing for me. Yeah, it's great to hear it every now and then, but actually when you're there listening to it go round and around, you can't hold a conversation and that doesn't make the racing any better. about mean. Yeah, I'd rather see whatever produces fantastic racing, close racing on track action. That's what you want to see at the end day. And you know and we are all about trying to help the planet as well, you know, clearly, that's also part of it. I mean, Andrew, just just kind of getting away from the engines and talking about what's going to happen on the track this weekend, what kind of a sense are you getting battle at the front of the grid. And the weather for say well Yeah, so the Mercedes have won all four races so far. McLaren made a big step forward in Miami, the last race three weeks ago with a big upgrade to their car But Mercedes have brought their own upgrade this weekend. So there's a bit of fear amongst their rivals, such as they are that they're going move even further clear. Having said that, McLaren also have another major upgrade of their own for this race is just the way things have worked out at McLaren. battle between those two teams. I would say they're the favorites going into the weekend. But at the same time, you know, Reel made a big step forward in Miami And Ferrari have had time to optimize the upgrade package that they produce there. So Mercedes go into the weekend as favorites, no question, but I think McLaren will be there or about. As for the weather, Ellie, it is supposed to rain on Sunday and they've moved the race start time back to four o'clock. and there's quite a few people in the paddock, including me who are a bit worried about getting out of here on Sunday night because we're all on a ten o'clock flight and I don't quite know how we're going to get to the airport in time There's a red flag or something. I about security at Canada Airport. there's a fairly lengthy queue from when I was there last year. so good luck,enny Thank you. I wish you well Andrew, thank you so much. Andrew Benson, our F one correspondent who is in Montreal and Alice and Harry are with me in the studio just for a couple of minutes just to kind of look ahead come up with your predictions For the weekend, I mean, can hate I hate the word three Pete. I'm not even going to suggest the word four Pete when it comes to Kimy Antonlli, but any chance Do you think Harry that he could do it again? I mean, abolutely, absolutely he could. I mean, right now it' great because I actually don I don't know. It's not a slam dunk because everyone's got big upgrades. but I'm going to go for an because I think it will be it will be remarkable, I think Antonlli for Sunday Grand Prix victory I'm going to go for Kimmy. sorry for George. I'm going to go for Russell coming back outstrong, needing to fight haaving great success here in the past in particular last year. So I'm going to say that Russell's going to come back, but it will be, I think the Mercedes want to It's such a fascin I think this is such a fascinating season that we've got in prospect isn't it really? Because you can make cases so much for all of these teams that we've talked about on the show tonight And that's and you know, than thank goodness we can because what we often see with a big regulation overhaul like this is one team gets out and way and runs down the road and they're gone until, you know