McLaren Prospects and Final Predictions

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Glastonbury with a few races in the middle by a very esteemed member of this paddock. Yeah, it is a total festival of motor racing all of the races we go to are great They're all special international sporting event but some of them feel like occasions and this feels like an occasion. five hundred thousand people are gonna come onto this eight hundred acre site this weekend And it is also one of the great racetracks as well, isn't it? five point eight ks of just fast twisting asphalt isn't it They've had so many different versions of this place since they first went racing here, but they always seem to come up with a classic. We've got some of the best corners of the entire season. in Maggots and Beckets. just anywhere you sit though, you're in for a treat and It is some of the drivers' absolute favorite out there. This is top of the bill for a lot. And the one thing I would say is This is this is a Big weekend in general in terms of presence. I've just walked down the commentary box row. It's completely rammed in a way that I've not seen So many broadcasters here. It is one of the best motor races of the season But what's amazing is sometimes you get tracks where It's a great race trrack, but maybe it's not epic for quality. This is both and it's why the drivers love it and it's why the atmosphere is red hot hall we go through the runners and riders? I mean we're just off the back of the Austrian Grand Prix where you know George Russell closed the gap again on his teammate Kimmy Antonlli in the worldorld Championship Good race from George he did everything he wanted to do in terms of winning and closing that gap. but what was your take on on the pecking order Who had the fastest car last weekend I think Mercedes had the fastest car. I think if you gave Kimy Aoneelli, do remember a couple of years ago we had a back to back races in Austria If we had a stiring grand Prix this weekend, I think Antonlli would be very, very confident. In the fine margins, the execution makes a difference George needed a response In terms of performance, I think more than anything Pole position in Spain was important. But winning. I mean, you keep casting your eye back to when did George last win with a car that has been the benchmark since we rolled out? for winter testing The season opener, he needed that victory to lend credibility to the championship challenge and he found a response You get twenty five points whether you win by twenty five seconds or you win by one second. So all that he needed was the win. he secured it Remember where we were a year ago, Oscar Piastro with the form, Lando Norris. clinging on to the title battle. You win one in Austria, you follow it up in Silverstone, the narrative changes very, very quickly I was chatting to Ollli Behman yesterday and he was saying, It'll be fascinating to see where the cops turn nine is flat and And then he went If you're in a Mercedes, it probably is. Yeah. So Mercedes, you think you're going to have the fastest car? Yes. Antonlli did a lot of his TPC testing here at Silverstone a couple of years ago. So do you think they start Es the two merk guys in terms of whoses favorite. I think they do Anton earally had his first F two win here as well. That was in the wet, but he left the field behind. Dn't matter what safety car restarts the way. He won the race. He was a second a lap faster everyone. It was it was just a glimpse of the raw talent when he had his breakthrough F two win here George Russell has been on poll position here before. Beating Lewis Hamilton to a poll at Silverstone is a mighty feat. doesn't happen very often. He did it in twenty twenty four when we had three Brits in the top three, but I do think they start completely even And it's going to make that FP one absolutely vital. Hitting the ground running And if you think of how many times Russell has been, I went into Q three and I didn't quite know if we had the car compomared to the baseline pace I'd say that Antoninety potentially on the evidence of the weekends so far this season. has a better start to the weekend. and if you consider they've got one hour to calibrate the cars, that could give him a slight advantage, but very, very close George has a slightly rubbish race result here. I mean, you talk about the poll a couple of years ago, but what is it? I'm just looking? I've actually noted it down. retetired fifth retired tenth. Yeah since he's been at Mercedes. Never on the podium here despite having a Mercedes cable with the podium. The year that he was on Pi broke down And that was a race that went all the way to the end. I mean Max Verstappen nearly won that race in a rebel that should not be capable of it. onene of the best Grand Prix twenty four British Grand Prie, gotaim to be of the best Grand Prixe I've ever commentated on. But you're right. He's raised distance here not particularly strong last year undone by a Tre gamble at the very start of the race. And if you get that wrong, it's a long lap here. as Oscar Piasri found out a couple of years ago as well, you get the strategy wrong at any point. a long lap of silver stone can destroy your race. Yeah, it'd be interesting to see whether we can bring slightly stronger stints across the board across the entirety of the fifty two laps, because as you say Not a lot of evidence that he's done that so far in the Mercedes years. And for Antonelly. He made a few mistakes in qualifying. last weekend although he's still got a healthy lead in the worldorld Championship You know, with Hamilton winning a couple of races ago, teeammate winning last time out. you I sort of feel that I think in his mind He needs to change that. He I think there's an impatience starting to enter his driving. That's why we saw him make the mistakes in qualifying. He needs a win just to settle things down Always helpful. I think we have to remember is's in his second season Tuter in Austria felt to me A driver who's been there done that has eight seasons of experience up against someone that is still feeling. Remember last year when Russell was on poll in Singapore and Antonelly had a car capable of that and looked the better driver all the way through He admitted after that that he was still feeling the adrenaline he was getting emotional thinking of the opportunity for minimum front row and it affected his driving That is still going to be there until you get about three or four seasons. The progression has been A leap and a bound from season one to season two, but he's only human And you're going to come across things. Did the LED board say single yellow or double yellow? George knows Instant got the capacity in real time to process that in essentially what is a you go over the crest for that corner as well. Eesssentially that's two hundred meters of decision making. dririverving their second year just doesn't have the s in the same way that a driver with all of the George experience has and I think that is what made the difference there. I think he can come into this weekend. We're just delighted with his core pace across the season. And that will give him the confidence. But as you say, and as I pointed to Lando vers. Oscar last year, You can rebuild momentum very, very quickly with back to back wind. So it's I think it's more about keeping Russell in the difficult place than Antonlli being reassured with a victory Granger knows when you're a procurement manager for an office park, you're not managing one building. you're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to see through walls and around corners. Lights about to fail, filters ready to clog, HVC on its last leg, If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind. Count on Granger for quality products, easy reordering, and twenty four seven support Call one eight hundred Ganger, click Granger d. com or just stop by. Granger, for the ones who get it done So you know that uneasy anxious feeling you get when you think about dealing with your insurance company? Well, there's actually a term for that. It's called insureanoia And if that sounds like something you're way too familiar with, you should really think about getting NJM insurance They go to great lengths to do what's best for their policyholders likeike providing dedicated reps whose priority is you. And that means you'll find more peace of mind with them. Relieve your insuranoyia with NJM insurance by visiting njM. com for a quote today Now what about Ferrari. Louewis Hamilton wasn't so long ago he got his first win in red. He loves this place. He does. That record nine wins difficult to read what happened in Austria. They lacked straight line speed despite bringing the engine upgrade there. How do you predict what Ferrari are going to do here at Silverstone? I think they takes on us from the fact that Barastliner has a lot of long duration, medium and high speed corners. they were very, very good there. It was warm. It's expected to be warm here. The Silverstone wind is biting. so even when it's thirty degrees, it sometimes feels that it's fifteen, but it will be a warm track temperature crucially for Ferrari with a similar corner profile that you get in Barcelona. The one thing is the deployment, Mercedes deployment their energy management. with these power units is just superlative didid see Charlte Cler being overtaken into turn nine, for example, in Austria. So I think Louis Hamilon called it a reality check, didn't he? And I think it really was. But that is not a Ferrari circuit. Austria has never been In the way that they always turn up to Monaco with a sniff because that car has good mechanical grip. They never really seem to go well in Austria. So I think they'll be much happier. And the fact that Lewis was talking about, o, I wouldn't mind if it rained. I think that is telling about their dry weather performance because I think they know they'll be just a touch off Mercedes. You know how Nigel Mancell used to say I think it varied from year to year, but was it half a second or two tenths of a second that the British crowd was worth? I think Lewis feeds off it. He's such an emotional passionate manan and driver, isn't he? that It brings out the best in the greatreat manan, doesn't it? I've spoken to the drivers about this and they say it's not so much you obviously can't hear with the ear plugs and the V six engine behind you. When the crowds start moving When you're making moves and the crowds start moving, the drivers can tell at that point Now Bless Nigel An unbelievable theatrical character and a massive player in Silverstone's great history. Half a second when it was basically completely flat? I not so sure. but it definitely gives the drivers a little. I mean, who wouldn't be lifted by a crowd that One of my favorite things about this weekend is that the Brits get Unbelievable support like I would you know football crowd, vociferous partisan support, but there is a great respect for everyone who's quick. The only requirement for this crowd is that you are rapid and you'll be applauded over the line. Doesn't matter who's on poll. Maxs on poll last year. You could see the crowd respecting that lap on the edge That's what I think makes this such a great win. There's a huge respect and a huge love for motorsportys. I think that that is reflected. Even when you put one hundred sixty thousand people around the circuit on Sunday, I still think that whoever wins gets a gets a warm and knowledgeable reception. And do you think Hamilton is the man most likely at Ferrari to do something? Do you think Leclller still a little bit off? I think he's lost I think he's lost right now in terms of the direction of what these cars need Doing research before this event, I found it really interesting to look at where George laid the blame for his form going slightly awry And he said The race is being postponed gave the team and his side of the garage. an unbelievably long time to dig into the data in the way that they wouldn't normally have. So they went into the miniscule stuff and found themselves going down the wrong path. I wonder if the same thing has happened with Charle L leclerc's side of the garage because We know he's not operating at his capability I wonder if these regulations have taken away posossibly his greater strength. which was Q three Absolutely Dancing on the edge of grip through the corners And he hasn't quite calibrated and his side of the garage potentially going down the wrong path, because it is Charle Lecler at the moment on the back foot in a way that we've never seen at Ferrari There's almost too much data available. You can just go down rabbit hole, cann't you? you sense I love what you say about George and actually you could say the same about Charl, who is such an instinctive driver, isn't he? Maybe he's lost. Some of that. let's talk about another instinctive driver. Max Verstappen Back in the fight. Do you think? Right? Back in the fight after what we saw in Austria. You know that if you can get him close is enormous capability get into the mix. And I think Hamilton being back at the front puts pressure on drivers in a different way. I think Verstnappen being back at the front puts pressure on drivers in a different way. There's an aura about the guy. No one, not even he would have predicted that he was less than two seconds from the win in Austria. Even with his capability it's one of his best circuits by Mile. ability. rememember when he put a lap on his teammate, Pier Gazley Grand Prix winner for goodness sake around there. So it's one of his best circuits and what he did last year gambling with the low downforce set upp and managed to make it work in qualifying and then didn't have the weather the next day. If you can get him in the fight He does the rest. and he heaps the pressure on. The one thing I was disappointed about in Austria that we didn't get to see them go wheel to whel for a win. George Russell versus Bacsterstappen. We have seen them side by side before, but never for a grand Prix victory with George running at the front. Sen it a bit in Canada a couple of years ago. But George being caught by Maxam, that was a tantalising prospect. I think Max believes the win was possible in Austria, one hundred percent. and that they made a few calls that he would want back again So that is enormous This is a very different circuit. We know the PU's great. If they can deploy the energy in an effective way, there's no reason he can't be back in the battle. I asked him after the race whether he thought the effectiveness of the upgrades was track specific, . just for Austria. and he said I said, I'm taking it one race at a time. Yeah. But there was a smile there. There was a knowing smile You know, that car is aerodynamically strong. It was a complete overhaul I think the biggest tell is when a team that of for so many years been so aggressive for the sidepods suddenly come with a sort of two thousand straight sidepod all the way down to the floor. You know they've found something, you know there's a confidence there to go away from what they used to do. And the tradition of that departmentment is one of strong development throughout a season. so I can understand why there's confidence there. Now Jakeie, max is ninety eight points off Aonelli Game on. I mean that is can you imagine if we said this a year ago and you'd think it was it was more a year ago and there were fewer races It was preposterous that he could even get in the mix. I think there starts, the variability on the starts, the fact that Isaac got off the line very, very poorly in Bara, the fact that Max is race lasted a second in Monaco. I think there are There's just way more on relliability this year, which would help you if it works, but that rebbull does not look bulletproof. is where I'm going with this. So I think it's going to be far harder than it was for him last year. But if you you know you have a stamppping back in the mix for wins You've got George Kimmy every week. Ferrari, we will get an answer to where they are this weekend seeven point swing, that is tough. ten point swing, fifteen point swing, big margins disappear very, very quickly as we saw at the back end of last time. And we haven't even talked about McLaren yet. Yeah. Another team that you can take points off title favorites disappointing race for them last time out, but Lando drove a brilliant race in Barcelona. You've said it yourself already. this track is much closer to Bara in terms of what it demands of a car. So is there a reason for people in the Lando stand at Stowe to be excited? The bigger than ever Lando stand. I've never seen Stowe with the size of grandstands it's got this year yeah, they can be confident because Lando is when it's working and he gets a clean weekend And there's and I'm not sure he's had an entirely clean weekend in terms of all the sessions so far in terms of unreliability. his core pace this year is very strong. He's very unlucky not to win the Grand Prix in Miami similar opening sector there. U to what we saw The fact that Mercedes were having to mark him off with their strategy in Bara speaks to his strong performance there. similar characteristics. I think he will be definitely in the mix for the top three. I think there's a swagger aboutlando this year. He's definitely loving the world Champion tag. whether it's giving him lap time, but it's certainly I think he's more confident, he's more relaxed and I think perhaps that's one of the reasons why in recent races, o, perhaps not Austria, but There's been a bit of a gap, It's bit of a margin between him and Oscar. I think he's at full capability No longer has the weight of the world on his shoulders. no matter what happens in the rest of his career, he's achieved his childhood dream. As you say, he's wearing the tag of champion really nicely. If you look at all the events that he went to in the winter, even though it was going to be a short winter He went to everything. He said yes to every env And great Like he's worked incredibly hard his entire life for that moment and I think because they've got off to the slightly rough start becausecause he knows it's very, very unlikely he can retain his title He's driving one hundred percent. and JakeC, he is my guest on the latest episode of F one Beyond the grrid and he is reallyally interesting on how becoming worldor Champions changed him and and whether he sees himself as a one team driver I'm not going to tell you what he says. Have a listen, JC. One last team before we conclude, just racing balls phenomenal season they're having Last three races both cars in the points Any reason to think they can't do the same here? It's one of their home races. half of the team based just down in Milton Kenes. It's been absolutely outstanding If you consider that we've got a big four, we've got a defined big four from previous regulation set to this regulation set So if all goes to plan, you're fighting over ninth and tenth So to back to back and then to follow it up again in Austria even though few shenanigans with ignoring team orders from Arvid Lindberad or worked out No harm done Lawson with the finally with a full season with a preseason with no team switch, funnily enough. veryery, very strong behind the wheel. pleased he's been able to do that because I think he's always had that talent. And then if you look at the strange way he came in subing for Danny Rick and then a half season and then It should have been nowhere near Red Bull The team believed it, a lot of politics at play there Obviously, that structure has now evolved and his level of performance is Ever since he got the suspension update last year in Austria, which saved his forormula onene career, let's be clear. Hadjil was wiping the floor with him up until that, gotot the feel And then it's just built and built and built and built. And I think Limblag can be very happy with these rookie seasons Q three on four occasions, same as your teammate who's driving at his best. It's a very strong start for an eighteen year old Alan remains running that team brilliant He is indeed. Well, Jakey Thank you for your time Predictions is the only way to go now. Let's give a sprint winner and top three in Sunday's Grand Prix. Please. I love it. Let's go for S sprint winner I think's going to be Kimmy Antonelli U I didn't ask see for this but from Pol Yeah I think he's starting weekend so strong. I think Grand Pri win is going to be George ahead of Kimmy and I think we'll see Lando in third. And where is George going to pass, Kimmy