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Do you have to treat Monaco differently to other street tracks? You can't treat it any other way. Monaco just treats you differently. If George is gonna beat Kimmy, he's probably gonna have to resort to some ways of beating him off the racetrack. It's operation take pressure and expectation off yourself, isn't it? That's what it is for George. This might be the closest, most competitive qualifying session that we have all season long. Alpine and Gucci are getting together from 2027. There's gonna be some excited people on the the old paddock walk-in on Thursdays, aren't there? When the the Alpine drivers come in dripping in Gucci . Welcome everybody to F1 Nation's preview of the Monaco Grand Prix. I'm Tom Clarkson and I'm back with my regular teammates J,olion Palmer and James Henchcliffe. Guys, first up, how are the boys? Good, very good, TC. Absolutely scorching in the UK. Do you remember how cold it was that Sunday of Canada? Got off the plane and it was like tropical weather. Bit of a shock. Yeah. Mind you, it didn't look much better in in Indie Hinch, actually, where you were, right? It was it was not a little little warmer, but the same threat of rain throughout the weekend, but um ultimately ran held off for the most part and uh and managed to get in all 500 miles of what was I mean an absolute legendary race at the speedway, gonna go down in history as as one of the greatest of all time, closest finish in a hundred and ten years to to be on site for that, to be in the booth for that was uh was something truly special. So congrats Felix Rosenquest on uh on quite an accomplishment. Yeah, it was mega. That last let was awesome, wasn't it? But we haven't spoken to you, Hinch, since the Canadian Grand Prix. I hope you've had a chance to to rewatch it uh since last Sunday. What did you what did you make of Kimmy Antonelli's fourth on the boun ce. I mean look, how much did we talk on this show about how this was going to be a pivotal one? And like look, let's let's let's ignore the the DNF from George for a second. Let's look at those first thirty laps. JP, you said it in the booth. You said, you know, this race has the making of a champion. It it was kind of like whoever came out on top of this battle, because it was an epic battle for those first thirty laps was really sort of planting their flag. But I I I gotta be honest, at a track that we know George runs so well at, for Kimmy to be as close as he was the entire weekend, and the aggression that we saw from him when it comes to racecraft, oh man, I've been so impressed. I've been so impressed. The little sprint race faux pas ide. I think he's the only driver that didn't see that coming, I guess, into the turn one on the outside. But uh but he cleaned up his act for for the the Grand Prix. Only just my God, it's close for teammates. But I love that. I love the fact that he's he's willing to push it to the absolute nth degree. That's what you see out of you know the max verstappins of the world. That's what you see out of champions. And so it's um and yeah, a record-breaking weekend in Montreal as well, right? First driver to win their first four uh in a row, and it's I gotta pick you up on one thing here, Hinch as well. Do you remember a few weeks ago? I don't know if it was after China or Japan and we were talking about the rivalry there and and I said, yeah, I've seen George get his elbows out, and you were like, I don't know if Kimmy's got it in him. To be fair, I didn't disagree. But what we saw in Canada was I think Kimmy has got it in him, no? I completely agree. It was uh he was pushing it I mean borderline irresponsibly at times, not even just for a teammate, just for for the sake of finishing the Grand Prix, firing it off a few times, but they never made contact. Ultimately, George was ahead when uh when his engine failed, but but man, Kimmy was quicker. You know, it I I don't think that there's a doubt in my mind that that over the distance it was going to be very tough for George to keep him back. That amount of pressure that he was putting on 'em the entire time, both drivers making mistakes when they were out in front. You know, we saw them both locking up into ten only when they were leading, never when they were the trailing car. So this is this is a this is a fun little battle we've got . And it's gonna be fascinating to see what happens in Monaco, which is such a unique race track, isn't it? And it's ten years since Red Bull infamously cost Daniel Ricardo victory in Monaco when they weren't ready for his pit stop. And perhaps more memorably for this show, it's also ten years, since F one Nation's very own JP had his first taste of Monaco in an F one car into the barriers. It is Jolian Palmer. The virtual safety car will now bring this race to a halt, and down at Sandavart, Jolion Palmer crashes out of his first Monaco Grand Prix bringing to an end what has been a pretty wretched weekend for the British driver. On the zebra crossing it was the zebra crossing lit up the rear tyres spat him straight into the barrier. Absolutely nothing he could have done about it. JP, I'm so sorry to remind you of that. Are you? Yeah, cheers, TC. Cheers. All all the great memories come flooding back on this show. A stute from Martin Brundle and maybe a lead-off from Crofty there. Nothing I could have done about it. Possibly I could have gone a little bit slower over it or or something, 'cause I was the only one that got tripped by the zebra crossing, but ah, haunting days. But JP, let's let's put a positive spin on it now because you actually won at Monaco twice in in GP two. Uh the feature race, the most recent one in your championship year. Just tell us about Monaco and what this legendary race track has in store for the drivers. Yeah, it's honestly it's my favorite track. It's unbelievable. Uh I was I was actually always quick there when I was when I was racing in GP two, one there twice as you said, and yeah, I the buzz of driving is just it's insane. It's absolutely insane. The track feels as narrow as it looks on the telly. Uh possibly it feels even tighter. But you just get locked in. You get locked in, you're in the zone, the bumps, the curbs, the walls, it all just becomes second nature. And yeah, I up until Formula One, loved it. Got there in a Formula One car and as Crofty mentioned, it wasn't weekend 'cause I already crashed a couple of times then. So uh it was a different experience. But it is such a cool race. And actually, even now, it's one of my favourites in the year. Do you have to treat Monaco differently to other street tracks? Is it different tobacco? Is it different to Singapore? Yeah. But I it's almost so different that you you can't treat it any other way. Monaco just treats you differently . I mean you leave the pits, you head up the the hill out of Saint Devot , and you're just staggered at how narrow it is, how easy it is to crash at any given moment. You've got so much, so much horsepower . It's dirt dirty and dusty. The start of a race weekend is obviously a temporary track and all of those all of those things play out. Um and you you cut you just cannot attack from the off. You have to build into Monaco. I think the other circuits, you've got a little bit more leeway, Singapore, Baku, your big breaking zones, you've got more margin . Even if you go off at Saint Devot or Mirabeau, you know, there are some runo ffs there, but you don't really want to guarantee that you're going to be using them. You still have to build up because they're a tricky reverse out. If you get caught in two mines, you can easily stuff it in the barriers. And then there's the whole second half of the lap after the chicane, which is the probably the one where you will see loads of yellow flags in practice because you can bail through there a bit quicker. But the rest of it is pretty exhilarating. Tob ack the swimming pool, uh, and then the Raskas and Antini Noges right at the end as well. How many times have you seen someone just brush the barriers there? It's it's just like nothing else. But that's what makes it so in insane and puts a smile on everyone's face. It's so unforgiving. I mean, Hinch, of all all the race tracks you haven't yet raced on, is is Monaco kind of top of the list of of the ones you'd love to do? Yeah, it's on the podium for sure. Yeah, you know, I I always loved street tracks. I always loved that challenge. You know, the the zero margin for error. How much are you willing to push through that mid corner? How early are you willing to get on the power? You know, is is it gonna stick on the exit? Uh I always really loved that challenge. And then obviously, you know, the history of that place. That's what makes, you know, these these Hallmark events so special is the history, right? You could go put a tight twisty street course somewhere else in the world, but it's not gonna be Monaco. So um for for sure that's one that uh I've always wanted to take a crack at in something. Maybe not straight into an F1 car. But it'd be nice to go there. I don't know. Your debut with Haas. Yeah, we're gonna take the Monaco hinge. We'll take two boxes off with one. Look, what what do you think the twenty twenty six cars are gonna be like there. I mean, uh I have been excited about Monaco since before the start of the season. You know, all the added talk that we have with the electrical motor now. It's kinda like these cars were made for Monaco, is my feeling. What do you Yeah, I a hundred percent. I think from the very moment I arrived in Bahrain and saw them moving around lot a lot more, they've got less down force, and I really think the shorter wheelbase is gonna be uh more interesting here. I mean the cars are just they they are just smaller as well, but not by uh not by a huge amount that's gonna change anything. But it's the shorter wheelbase where they're they're livelier. You could see it in Canada as well, you know, the way that a lot of the drivers are just hustling with the the rear sliding. Imagine you've got that now in Monaco. They are just a little bit pointier and they've got less downforce. You you combine those two, plus the fact they're a little bit smaller, and it's gonna be brilliant, I think. And the forecast is not great for Friday. There's gonna be a little bit of rain around on Friday. I think the weekend looks clear, but but you know, first laps for Ovid Limblad in a And first laps for these these cars for a lot of drivers, I know certainly on a race weekend in the wet, to be at Monaco. I mean we we heard all the all the concerns about Montreal with the walls being close and and all the rest of it. Well this is a completely different uh completely different thing there. So I I hope for their sake. I I'm curious to see what these cars are like in the wet. I really hope for the driver's sake, their first wet experiences in Mont So they were saying in Canada, they were saying, Oh, if if it's wet in Canada, it really doesn't get worse than this or harder than this . It can. It can. That'll be Monaco. Monaco's like hold my beer. This episode is sponsored by Shopify. Don't you find it amazing how quickly you can fill an online basket and how quickly checkout can make you give up on the whole thing entirely. 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Sign up for your one dollar per month trial today at Shopify.com slash nation. Go to Shopify.com slash nation. That's Shopify.com slash nation. Join the thousands of heat pump owners feeling warm and fuzzy. I've lived here 20 years, I ain't moving, so I thought better future proof me own. We started a trend, the old streets applying for the government grant now. With the energy it saves, I don't know what's better off. The planet or my wallet. And that is your little bookworm. Says it's three times more efficient than our old boiler. Feel all warm and fuzzy inside with a seven and a half thousand pound government grant towards your heat pump at gov.uk slash cleanergy. Eligibility criteria apply C website for details. Guys, let's look at the pecking order now because after Canada, uh Lewis Hamilton, who just finished second, was asked about Ferrari's chances of beating Mercedes in Monaco, and he said that's the one track that power is not king. I think it's definitely a car performance track, and I think our car can be really strong there. Um, our Ferrari favourites is you know, is Lewis H amilton favourite? Is Charles Leclerc favourite? What do you think? By far it's their best chance. Are they favourites? It's tough to call. It's really tough to call. I think when you look at the performance in slow speed uh and medium speed corners over the start of the year, they've been the the standout car. They've got really good ride quality, good good compliance over the bumps and curbs. Uh they never make bad starts. It looks like Mercedes have maybe started to figure out how to get better starts as well, but you can kind of guarantee the Ferrari starts. So maybe we do have to start thinking this is this is a a Ferrari the team to beat. Feels too bold. Feels too bold to actually say that right now, but it's their best chance by far. And I've been hanging my hat on this being their their race winning moment in twenty six. I'm sticking with it. Well and Hinch, which one? Which driver do you think I mean on the evidence of Canada you probably have to say Hamilton, but which of the two Ferrari drivers do you think will go best? No, I think on the evidence of historical results at Monaco, you'd go Leclerc to for me personally. I mean, as much as you know, he was touting Montreal being the worst weekend of his Grand Prix career, there is something special about that place. He is something special around that place. And and I agree completely with JP. I think it's I think it's impossible to say that Farrari's the favorite. Just you've got a team that's won every Grand Prix so far. It's hard to count them out, right? But if you were to pick a singular driver outside of the m of the Mercedes duo, I for me it's Shaw, the Ferrar I think can be competitive and he is just so special around there. Um I don't think that you know whatever gains um you know, Hamilton may or may not have found are gonna be enough to uh to overcome, you know, that hometown advantage that uh that Charles has there. So when you look at the sectors from Canada, you you get a bit of a tell as to who might have good monaco performance from particularly the first sector in in Montreal, a little bit the second sector as well. And Mercedes were really quick in the final sector. I think Kimmy was a tenth and a half up in qualifying over anyone, and George was the second quickest car. They have the best straight line performance, but like Lewis has said, that's not worth a huge amount in Monaco. And so that's why I think I think Ferrari got to be taken seriously. I think Lewis in sprint qualif ying was the fastest of anyone in the first sector. In actual qualifying, I think he was neck and neck with Kimmy up until sector three, where Kimmy made the difference of three tenths. So that's that's where it comes from. There's there's evidence. But what about Charles then? He's just had what he called his worst weekend in Formula One. He has actually just cancelled a whole load of commitments uh between Montreal and Monaco as well. Some of them related to the team themselves, not just media commitments. I don't know what how difficult is it to pick yourself up after what you think is your worst weekend in in Formula One? Do you do you think he's gonna be on the back foot going in or or can you just put in a different chip in your brain and and just get going from FP one? FP one will be really important for him, just to just to have that reset. And I think before I've been saying Charles Monaco is gonna happen, it's on the cards, I have to say Canada is not a good preparation for it because he was so despondent the whole way through Saturday, this is maybe or probably it is the worst weekend he's ever had. Sunday, he just sounded so glib, didn't he on the radio, just don't talk to me until the last lap. Had that sort of silly spin and I would say for the first time in in an awfully long time, almost in his whole career was categorically outpaced by a teammate. Before if Lewis has been ahead or if Carlos Sainz has been ahead, even if you take it back to Seb Vettel being ahead, it's been like ahead by hundredths and then they're fifty fifty ish and it lands towards the the teammate. Whereas Charles can then have these weekends where he's just two or three tenths up the road, a little bit like Lewis had in Canada. So I think that's why you saw a different side of him where he's actually just is not even it's not actually that close he is just not feeling the grip so then you the next race is is Monaco it's his best one is that the perfect tonic is that the perfect place for him to come back, just feel his groove or, is it a bad time to have his best race when he's arriving without the confidence? And as you said, cancelling the media commitments as well, this obviously shows that he's not in a natural headspace. He's feeling like he needs a reset I felt things spiraled in Canada. It just got worse by the day. And and I mean Hinch, how difficult is it to to pull yourself out of that out of that whirlpool of doom, if you like, when it's happening to you over a Grand Prix weekend? It's it's not. It's not that hard. We uh you know drivers at this level have been through weekends like this going back to go-karting. Um the if this was the the fifth race on the bounce that Charles was being, you know, handily beaten by Hamilton, that he was chippy on the radio, that he was canceling commitments, maybe a cause for concern. A bad weekend happens. It did seem like look, everyone's had bad weekends. He's had bad weekends before. This one did seem to affect him a little bit more and to make the claim that it was, you know, his worst Gromfree weekend ever is maybe mildly concerning. Maybe that shows more of kind of where he's just at with the team in general right now. This is an interesting period for him and for that team and what potential you know future relationship they have. But no, I I I think I think to your point, Jolion, this is the this is the perfect tonic. We were talking about this in relation to George coming to Montreal. This you know, Miami's a bogey track for George. Montreal's a strong one. He went there, sprint poll, sprint win, grumpy poll was leading when the car failed. He went to a track that is usually statistically good for him and performed. It helped kind of bring him back. This is a very similar scenario. You heard Leclerc say this is a that Montreal's a bogey track for me. We know that Monaco is a place that he has excelled at his whole career. It's not like he's had one good race there. He's had several incredibly strong performances there. Canceling all the all the commitments, it's a bold move. You know, it's uh it's an interesting move. But I mean, Julian, you can probably uh agree with me on this one. If you ever found yourself in a position for whatever reason where you had no commitments building up to a race weekend, my God, did you show up feeling better? Like you just feel more rested, more prepared. You know, whether it was an illness or a cellular, whether they're just for whatever reason you had to cancel stuff or you had nothing to do before you got to a Grand Prix or got to a race weekend. It it makes it different. You feel better , more recharged, more ready to go. So I think you're gonna see the bounce back from from Sheryl this weekend. I think it's just gonna be the most intense weekend for him. Shaking hands with royalty and having just a really busy time of it on the weekend. And even then the intensity of his weekend is just that little bit more than anyone else's intensity in Monaco, which is all already, by the way, really, really high. So I I think if they were heading to Barcelona, I think he'd he'd get over a bad weekend. I think he'd I think he'd face the media and just say, you know, the same lines, tough weekend, he'll move on. But I think because he knows it's Monaco next, there is a great chance for Ferrari to be there. He knows he needs to he needs to bounce back and and people talk about just the reset after you have a bad weekend, and sometimes just having a few days away and just blanking it out and coming back just thinking, no, Canada pretty much didn't happen. You have to just think you're gonna be the man again. You're always good in Monaco. I I think that's what's going on. How much does he need to be doing back in Marinello? Because I'm I'm still fascin ated by something Matthew Bonotto said on last week's F One Beyond the Grid podcast, which was Michael Schuma cher was a better leader than he was racing driver at Ferrari. He said he set us in a direction and every single person, all 600 people, as as was the case back then, wanted to follow Michael. And I find it interesting, that's what Ferrari have been used to with Michael. I feel that's maybe what they've been craving since Michael left all those years ago because there'll still be a lot of people there who work with Michael. I think there's there's a couple of things to to throw into the picture here. Number one, Michael Schumacher never had a teammate like Lewis Hamilton. So it's very difficult I think for Charles to be the de facto leader at Ferrari when the other guy is Lewis, who's achieved so much. So the the team naturally have to balance out both. And you've got Lewis off the back of a really great weekend. So it's it's not easy for Charles to come back and be like, this is how we need to sort it out, this is a because they'd just be like, well hang on. But Lewis was Lewis was was good. It was just it up to you, pal. You work out how to sort you out. Um the other thing is there's so many races now. So when when Shumi was spending more time with the test team uh back at Marinello, they were probably I' sayd somewhere like sixteen, eighteen races in the season. You've now got another four to six to eight more races. And I do think the mental capacity then is is harder for the drivers now than it was in terms of the mental load for them twenty years ago when Shumi was at Ferrari. Nonetheless, I do agree, you know, Shumi was obviously an outstanding leader and galvanized them. But there that's just a couple of differences. I see that. I get your point about the number of races, but back then in the Schumacher era there was a lot more testing. I remember at the height of the Bridgestone Mitchellin Tire War, we used to have a day off in Monaco. So first practice, first and second practice used to be on the Thursday. Friday was a day off, and then you'd have final practice and qualifying on the Saturday and the race on Sunday. And Shumi used to go back to Maranello, to Fiorano, and practice his starts and just get out on the test track on the Friday to just put into practice what he'd learn on the Thursday. So, you know, that commitment, that level of commitment from him was extraordinary. Uh I think you bring up a great point though that because testing was open and Ferrari had a test track at the factory, yeah, Shumi was there all the time, right? So in all of his days off from racing, you'd be there anyway. So I I do think it was an easier landscape for a driver to to successfully kind of fill that role. Um I I I don't disagree that the leadership that Shumi had was was revolutionary and I think set the tone for uh some future champions, but it is it is a different, slightly different situation, I think, in twenty twenty six. Going back to practice starts on the Friday in Monaco as well is commitment. You only need a half good start in Monaco to hold position. He could have had a bad start and he'd still be winning the race. So extra marks for Shumi for that. This is a paid advertisement for better help. I love summer, but if I'm being honest, I do think it can sometimes come with this strange pressure to make the most of absolutely everything. There are plans to organize, people to see, places to be, and you often find that all the things that are meant to feel relaxing can actually start feeling quite overwhelming. 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Find support in therapy. Sign up and get ten percent off at betterhelp.comslash f one nation. That's better . H ELP dot com Slash F1Nation. People across the country are feeling all warm and fuzzy about their heat pumps. Installing it during the renovation was an easy call. The bathroom tiles, however. It's much nicer than the old boiler. The place is just always warm and cosy like. The government grant was the help we needed to start upgrading. You get a lovely steady temperature. Walking round without my slippers, are you? Feel all warm and fuzzy inside with a £7.5,000 government grant towards your heat pump at gov.uk slash cleanergy. Eligibility criteria apply C website for details. Let's bring it on to Mercedes then. The team that has won every Grand Prix so far this year. Antonelli is now 43 points ahead of Russell and George said after Montreal, didn't he, that it feels like it's Antonelli's title to lose now. Um I'd love your thoughts on those mind games. I'm sure he doesn't think that, does he? But it the fact that he still said it , what what what game is he playing? It's a fun game to play, isn't it? I mean you you've got to at this point because he's he's proving to be an equal at minimum on the racetrack. So if George is gonna beat Kimmy, he's probably gonna have to resort to some, you know, some ways of beating him off the racetrack, which we've seen before. We we've seen that kind of stuff with Hamilton Rosberg with Center Pross. That that type of mind game is I think a really important part of what we've got coming up. Yeah, it's it's gonna be interesting. Look, the the the points gap is nothing to worry about at this point in the season. It's the it's the performance on the track, right? It's it's the it's the stopwatch that should be the cause for concern It's operation take pressure and expectation off yourself, isn't it? That's what it is for George. So I felt in Canada that he he had a really good weekend, but it almost felt like a kind of losing weekend because he was only just beating Kimmy. And I think we've had this expectation on George that you we've spoken about all all season long. I think even after Miami was it, we had the discussion that you'd still put your house on George. And I I do now feel like it's it's kind of an unfair expectation just because Kimmy's stepped up a huge amount, and I I think you have to we have to kind of accept that Kimmy is not the same Kimmy from last year. So George doing a very good job. He's he's up against a different rival. So if he's just beating Kimmy slightly in Canada, which he was doing, that's that's good that's what he has to do and you know we're all thinking this is a George Track he needs to be two tenths up the road uh and the fact that he was duking it out with Kimmy it it felt like it was a kind of a loss even before he retired. Where do you think Antonelli's improved since last year? You say it's not the same Kimmy. Is it just consistency? Pretty much. I think you've got a y the speed is is clearly better as well. I think that comes from confidence . You could see a difference in Kimmy, I would say from China Saturday afternoon Sunday versus anything before and anything after. Um Jake C made a good point after after Montreal that he had already had a good few races at the end of last year and and the stats would back that up with some some great drives, uh Brazil being the obvious example. But when you look at the start of the year, you look at testing and it felt like every time George was in the car, he was just a little bit more on it. Uh you had Melbourne, where George again would look quicker. Kimmy crashed the car in FP3 trying to find something that wasn't there. Did an okay job in the race, but it felt like George had him at arm's length. China, Ditto, went through sprint qualifying. George was there. George was looking good in in the start of qualifying and then had his problems. And it was like click. The confidence that then Kimmy had. He had such a great race in in China. He's barely been toppled for a session since until Canada, where it was really, really close. So he's obviously got an in incredible amount of talent, it' whsy he's there. But now I think he's got the confidence and with it all, the consistency that makes him, I would say, championship favourite as of now. than last year. You remember he scored just those three points in nine races and actually he crashed in Q one in Monaco, didn't he, at the Nouvelle Chicane. So he started the race fifteenth in Monaco last year. Hard to believe it now, but neither Mercedes scored in Monaco last year. So do you think Anton elli is actually the favourite? We've just I've just raved about Ferrari and their chances. We've discussed that, but actually is Antonelli the man to be in Monaco? Yeah. Well, there's still something nah, I I still I don't know if it's an emotional thing or what, but I still think Charles has has the best odds, you know, because Monaco is super unique. And even with that increased confidence that Kimmy's got, and even with the you know, the advantage that Mercedes has, you know, we've established that the type of track Monaco is does not play into that advantage. Um I I still again, if I look, this is why we don't bet, Jolion, because you just said you're now putting the house on Kimmy. So your house is gone, mate. Sorry. You don't even have that opportunity anymore. I'm cutting my losses down size. But if I were to, I think I'd still put my money on Leclerc. I I still just think there's something that clicks there. Even when other years Ferrari hasn't been the best car, he still goes there and can chuck it on pole. And, you know, if you're on pole there, it's pretty much game over. So um What about ov over the season? George or George or Kimmy or Char l. I plead the fifth. It's not on this show you don't I'm I'm run I'm running out of I'm running out of reasons to not not shift the chips, you know, over to uh over to Antonelli. It's it's the the racecraft has been so impressive. He's he's handling pressure. I'm not gonna say flawlessly, but uh better than I expected. Um, you know, the the rant on the radio and the sprint race and Toto having to jump in and be like focus on the driving, not the moaning. I feel like that's that's all very teachable. Like he's a nineteen year old, right? That's that's an easy thing to kind of calm down. So yeah, I he's he's just done a stellar job these last, you know, sort of three weekends and but again, you can look at history, you can look at statistics. I I like numbers. I'm a numbers guy. And as you just said, Tom, he had three points across the European season last year. But this is a very different season. This is a very different year. We've only got one data point, and that's not a very good one. So there's there's nothing to indicate that this is not going to be absolutely tooth and nail for the rest of the season. And with what you've seen, bad luck aside, it still looks like Kimmy has the edge right now. Now you mentioned him doing a stellar job. What a great segue to talk about McLaren because after such a such a disappointing race in Montreal, right, when they start on inters and it just goes from bad to worse from there. Are they in the picture for Monaco? Let's not forget that Lando Norris won the Grand Prix from pole position last year. Um okay, the front wing, the new front wing didn't work in Montreal. They've already said they're gonna run it again in Monaco, they still believe in it. Can Norris do it again or or can Piastri win for the first time? They've had a good car in Monaco for the last few years. Uh obviously Lando won it from Pol . Uh before that you've got Oscar running really quickly as well. And their car again is it's pretty compliant . So it is that's the key thing that you want. Well you want some downforce but then you really do need it to be to be compliant and trying to find the balance between the the two of those things which are some in some ways mutually exclusive is tricky, but McLaren seemed to have a good handle on it. So I wouldn't rule them out. I think, again, in the in the realm of trying to predict the order, I would say McLaren will be way it'll be their most comp etitive effort compared to Mercedes. I think Mercedes have a better understanding still on energy deployment, energy usage, that side of things, and it won't count for as much. I think the McLaren's tiles to put It's funny because I I feel like if we were having this discussion, you know, post Miami, you'd say, Yeah, absolutely, street track, you know, Norris was quick in the sprint and and the the team overall performed very well . But after Montreal, even though a lot of what set them back was strategic and not necessarily pure pace. It doesn't seem like they're as high on the list as as Ferrari. But we've been talking about Ferrari at Monaco for a long time and you almost just sort of forget that McLaren's in this conversation. But they I think they very much are. Again, they've they've got the right power unit. The car's been successful there. The drivers have been successful there. This might be the closest, you know, most competitive qualifying session that we have all season long. Certainly that we have had all season long, and uh probably one of the most difficult to predict, but for sure. They a great team, great car, two great drivers, they're gonna be in the mix, absolutely. How do you think the new generation of car is gonna perform? Do you think we could see Lando's pole position of what is it one nine point nine from last year? Do you think we could see that being beaten? Be surprised overall. I just think that if it's going to be close, it's going to be close on this sort of circuit where it's um you the shorter wheelbase, the front end will will help. But also this is the sort of one where you wanna crank on as much downforce as you can get and they they are they are short on down force right now. I d I don't know. I I r it's really difficult to to know if it will get close to the outright pace. What I do know is that they're gonna be pushing as they were last year. So in the biggest thing in the driving is having your your differential of entry speeds and some harvesting and deployment. Whereas in Monaco it's it's flat out. So we will see the best version of these cars in in Monaco. And there's one team and driver we haven't spoken about. He's a he's a two time winner in Monaco. Max Verstappen . First podium of the year, last time out in Montreal. Red Bull Powertrains is first podium in its history. Um could you see them turning it on in Monaco or do you think it 's too big an ask? Too big. I think, you know, to Julian's point, compliance is so important in Monaco, and that was one of the biggest complaints that Max had in Montreal. And yes, first podium, great drive, great result, happy for them. It took a Mercedes DNF and a double McLaren strategy blunder to even be in the conversation. He was tracked down by I mean, what was that gap that Hamilton closed up? Six, seven, eight seconds, something like that. Um yeah, that that that podium comes with a you know, an asterisk beside it for sure and and I I just don't see what that cars struggles with, um meaning it's gonna be as competitive as as the first three teams in in Monaco. The only saving grace for for Red Bull that I saw was the change that they made from the sprint to qualifying, where they found a good chunk of that compliance . And actually looking through the sector times again, Max and Isaac Hajar as well were really quick in the first sector. So that's the only little bit of bit of hope that I could see for them is actually maybe they did find something there and it brought them closer towards the the picture at the front. Well we'll only know when they the car hits the ground and they I feel like they need to start better off than they they have done recently. So , podium predictions, guys. Where are we going? I'm all in, but I'm gonna go last. I'm all in on what we've discussed. But go on uh Hinch, podium for Monaco. So I've been saying it, I gotta back it up. Leclerc for the win and then um let's go let's go who's gonna be better, George or Kimmy? Um it's gonna be three different teams. It's gonna be three different manufacturers on the podium. It's gonna be a Ferrari, a Mercedes, and a McLaren. I'll go Lando third. Which Mercedes comes second. No, you know what? I'm gonna mm no, you know, I'm gonna go Lando second, George third. Okay, but Leclerc for the win. JP? Yeah, I'm gonna go I'm gonna go quite punchy here. I'm gonna say Leclerc wins, but I think Hamilton is second, it's a Ferrari one two. And I'm gonna say third is Lando. We got no Mercedes on the podium. They haven't all they haven't often gone well in Monaco. They've had dominant years where Red Bulls have beaten them, Ferraris have beaten them, you've got Seb and Kimmy back in the day. Uh they haven't been great in recent years either. I don't think they get on the podium. So that's my top three. Headlines, headlines. Look, I'm with you. I'm all in with Ferrari. I'm going for a Ferrari one, two, their first one two at Monaco since twenty seventeen. Charles ahead of Lewis with Kimi Antonelli P three. I have more fa I have more faith in Mercedes uh at Monaco. I think I think the car is too good. I think his confidence is too strong and it's and it's such a confidence track, Monaco, isn't it it's if he can just keep building as the weekend goes on and not clip the inside wall at the Nouvelle Chicane like he did in Q one last year. I think um I think Kimmy will be really, really strong. But a Ferrari one two at Monaco. Oh that's gotta be good for Formula One. Now guys before you go, can we finally, just discuss a huge deal that um was announced last week just after Montreal. Alpine and Gucci uh are getting together from twenty twenty seven, Gucci becoming the title partner . Um it's going to be called Gucci Racing Alpine Formula One team. And they're going to race in Gucci colours. I mean, it it's a huge story for Formula One. You know, what does a deal like that . What does it tell us about? First of all, Alpine. Let's not forget that they were last in the constructors' championship last year, and they've now gone and attracted, you know, one of the biggest global brands and a very glamorous brand at that as their title sponsor. They've got a good team of partnerships. That's what it tells us number one. It's and it also means JP that Luca DeMo