Alex Albon's Milestone and Williams Future

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It's called inssureinoia 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 insur an noia with NjM insurance by visiting njM. com for a quote today Now I really do think the pressure is on Kimmy in a different way. The expectations on Kimmy in a different way. He can play with that margin. You talk about pressure, but to me, it looks the opposite. Can he bounce back from the demons of last year at these races? That's going to be the defining thing of these next few rounds. Is the pressure completely off Jorel It's easier to do the hunting, isn't it than be the hunting. George isn't out of the fight but to not be out of the fight, he has to start performing. There's a pressure to maintain that grasp of the championship. Lewis, I feelar he's got his mojo back. And if not going on the S is what gets the best out of Lewis Forget this s. Llando said in Monaco that he was looking forward to this weekend. He need some reliability though, don't they? Yeah, that's probably been one of the biggest shocks of a year Welcome everybody to F one Nation with me Tom Clarks and I'm at the circuit of Barcelona, Catalonia, and alongside me is James Hinchcliff, and we're going to look ahead to this weekend's newly named Barcelona Catalonia Grand Brix Hinch, it is great to see you at a race again. How are you? I'm well, I'm well. It's great to be back on the ground and again, not just doing this through the Brady Bunch screen of a Zoom call It's It's always nice to be back Sat or sat on top of one of the motomes as well. That's a different vibe to the flyaways, isn't it? It really is. You're just chatting about this. I don't do a lot of the European rounds and every time I come to a paddock in one of the European races, I am blown away by these structures that each team you know builds and brings to to the track so so impressive. and I gota say, not terrible. I don't hate it T I got a. I don't hate it. H Th three days ago, they were in Monaco as well. I theg believe is extraordinary. But let's talk all things Spain now. This is a circuit that the teams know incredibly well. all four point six kilometers of it What kind of a challenge is it for the car and the driver? Well, I think, you know, it's interesting from the driver's standpoint, I think there's a lot of comfort coming from the fact that most of these drivers have more lapsed around this track than maybe any other one on the calendar. justust even coming up through the junior categories, there's lots of used to be lots of testing done here Um Fr fromom a dri' standpoint, long fast corners. you know, it's physical in that sense, tough on the neck And it's got a really nice flow to it. I think especially since they've kind of cleaned up the last sector. it's something that the drivers really enjoy coming to From the car standpoint, again, this is kind of the track that was always the baseline for ultimate downforce performance, right? This is the one, especially with the tracks that we've seen so far in the year extra especially because we lost the two Middle Eterian rounds in Bahrain and Saudi. proper circuit, long fast corners. This is where downforce is king and This is where I think a lot of teams are getting a sense of the pecking order in terms of who has been able to bring the most downforce to their car over the course of this new g set. And because it's actually the first place that these cars ever hit the race track Even though those times weren't published We know roughly what the order was. The teams at least will truly know how much performance they've added to the cars since since January, which is, I think going to be pretty fascinating for all of them sureure will Well let's talk. Mercedes and Kimmy Antonlli. actually can we get your thoughts on his performance at the Monaco Grand Prix last weekend I feel like we've said this three weeks in a row now. best best performance, I think we've seen out of him. I know we I know we said that after Miami. I know we said it after Japan. we keep saying this because he keeps out doing himself What impressed you so much about Monica It wasn't supposed to be a Mercedes dominant track. Throughout practice, it wasn't qualifying when everything is on the line. you know, I think if there was going to be a track where this youthful exuberance we see in his driving style and his racing style was maybe going to bite him. It was going to be Monaco And he was faultless all weekend when it came to qualifying, which is the most important qualifying session of the year Not only did he find the performance in the car, he found it himself, didn't make any mistakes And then in the Grand Prix he absolutely walked away from the field And that's before you put the pressure on of a second start after a red flag and a, you know, twelve lap shootout, whatever it was to the finish with a seven time champion on your gearbox. Drove away from Lewis then as well It was it was exceptional Setting fastest laps when the team's telling him to calm down and, you know, breaks the age record of of a grand slam holder by years. I mean, it was it was truly an unbelievable performance at a time where maybe we weren't expecting it. What has impressed you the most the way he's driving on track or the way he's dealing with the level of expectation and the pressure off track. I'm going to go with the former because there was still less pressure and expectation. coming into this first part of the season than there was on George, right So how he's been able to match and exceed George in a lot of ways at a lot of tracks, that's been what's super impressive Now we're to a point with I mean, he's got more than a two grum pre lead in the points. Now the expectation is there five grum free wins in a row Now that pressure, that expectation changes. George said it. It's now his championship to lose Kimmy, you know, bites back. No, I'm still the underdog He's not He is, but he's not anymore. We were Jolie and I, we had this, right? We were still bet in the house on George until two weeks ago. Now I really do think the pressure is on Kimmy. different way The expectation, I should say, is on Kimmy in a different way because every new situation that he's been put in, he is delivered and delivered exceptionally He iss sixty six points ahead of Louis Hamilton in P two. sixty eight points ahead of George Russell He can play with that margin. I mean, you talk about pressure, but to me, it looks the opposite. He can afford to take the occasional P to George or Lewis. play playay the percentage game now. Yes, that's why that's why I change it from pressure to expectation because they are slightly different and you are right. The pressure in some ways is off because there's a pretty nice buffer there But the expectation now is that he's going to show up to every racetrack and and win whether or not he's able to execute when that is the overwhelming expectation That's going to that's going to be kind of the defining thing of these next few rounds Everyone's going to go back to o, his European season last year is when his his season really fell apart So can he can he bounce back from the demons of last year at these races? Based on everything we've seen, yes, he can But he starts to do it. So again, the expectations higher, but the pressure is put himself in in a really good position. Okay, so conversely Let's talk about pressure and George Russell now two races in a row where he scored Zero points. What have we got? Just sixteen races to go now Is the pressure completely off George? It's easier to do the hunting, isn't it than be the hunted? It is But the expectation is still also there and he has the pressure of if it gets any bigger being the gap, then, you know Be everybody's still pointing to last year, right? It's well, you know Leno had a thirty four point gap to overcome miles further into the season than we are currently. Max. hundred and eight points and he got all but two of them back, whatever it was Term four where it was So They're going to keep defaulting to last year's gapsays no no, George is' out of the fight But to not be out of the fight, he has to start performing So pressure to maintain grasp of the championship And if he doesn't perform, then yeah, I mean, the expectations there, the pressure is still there. I think until he's kind of mathematically out of it. I do still think there's a fair amount of pressure on him. We've spoken quite a lot about how some tracks suit drivers better than others, partarticularly George Russell when he, you know, he went into the Miami Grand Prix saying, this isn't my race trrack and it so it proved over the weekend Trial was his rac trrack and okay, he was he was going well until the retirement. I mean, he was so it prof. But what about race cars because he's now saying This car doesn't suit me That's that's more of a fundamental problem because he's got to turn up every weekend in this race gold. just As a driver How do you negotiate? problem. problem of not suiting a car So it's very doable, but it is very challenging because dririvers get to this level by doing a certain thing in a race car, driving a car a certain way And in the junior categories, everyone's in the same equipment And so you have to learn how to make that car go fast R? Not every F four F three F two. design is going to naturally suit every driver style. So to be consistent across all those championships, which George was You had to learn what made that particular car tick. It's kind of it's kind of what we've seen kind of going the other way with Lewis Hamilton and the last regulation set, it was not conducive to his style to being quick for Georgia was a little more his natural style suited that car better Now we've changed Lewis is doing better. George is struggling more relatively speaking Lewis never quite cracked it with the last one because I think the older you are, the further you get into your career, the harder it is to make those changes, especially because Lewis was with one organization for so long and the car characteristics were the same for so long, he didn't have to adapt George is kind of getting to that tenure. where it's going to be harder to change But it's still very doable. The information' all there. You can see exactly what Kimmy's doing. A lot of this is coming down to the tire prep that's one of the talking points that George has had, right? is it's harder with his style to get the heat into these tires the right way to prep them properly. Kimmy's natural style is a bit more aggressive. He can get there and qualifying a bit easier. Okay, fine If we've identified that as the issue You got it now just go out and fix it It's hard to do because it gets it's obviously going against his natural style is the way he's naturally inclined to find speed out of a race car. But if that's what has to be done, you just you have to figure it out. You have to learn it. Aren't your fastest slaps in a race car, the ones when you're not having to think hundred percent And so the work is making it second nature The work is not just looking at the data and And then going out and doing it once, it's getting to the point where that is now your default position. So that way the tires are where they need to be without you even thinking about it and then you can just carry on with the job of driving the lab. Right. And it's ourours in the simulator because there's no testing now. Wouldn't George have loved Formula One twenty years ago after every you could go testing on track. Could you imagine? Yeah. Imagine having your own test facility outside the back of the factory like they do at Ferrari. I mean, that would have been incredible That's part of what made Schumachher so good, right? was just like the relentless amount of laps he did in a race car during that period There now it's all simim work. It's all simwk. and tire prep is much harder to mimic in the S than just a lab Right? I mean, the way these tire models are built and the way the track models are built, you can get it all very close But the intricacies of tire prep and you know, normally in a S Your lap just sort of starts, right? I mean, you just you just go And your first time into the first corner, everything is whatever they set it as, whether it's new tires or midlife tire or whatever. But you just go, it's just there part what he's struggling is getting it to that point. and I don't know if you can even act accurately replicate that and practice that in the sim. Hench I don't know where you were ten years ago. The Spanish Grand Prix I think you were probably I was sitting in a hospital bed I no, twenty sixteen. no no. I was yeah, we didn fresh off pre Detroit race or something. or prepping because it was back in May the Spanish Grand Prix back then, but I think you might know where I'm going with this. Aamilton's on to the grass and Hamilton's in a massive crash and he's crashed into his teammate The two Mercedes come together as Hamilton tries to pass on the inside and he can cover his hands over his eyes and he won't want to see that again And there will be a big, big inquiry behind closed doors into that Lewis Hamilton Nica Rossberurg Cied on that one and of course that sort of ends up giving Max Verstappen his first win for Red Bull, but What I actually wanted to ask you about is just how your man how Mercedes manage the Kimmy George team rivalry this year because it got out of hand didn't it between Hamilton and Rosberg. eventually Total Wolf was having to find the drivers and you know share the accident, damage costs and all those sorts of things Do you see the same problems arising for Toto Wolf with these two I would say the potential is much higher than I thought it was when we first had this chat at the start of the season I think the way that Kimmy has approached the year, the way he's approached racing George Personally I'm a little surprised not at all disappointed in fact, pretty impressed. U, But it's he's he's going for it. He understands at a very young age that this opportunity could be a once in a lifetime opportunity for as impressive as he's been in and and however and how many years he has ahead of them if he wants This could still be the only time that he's in a championship winning car against a teammate that he is level or better than So I kind of respect the fact that he's not like, oh, yeah, nineteen I'm already winning this much. I'll get my championship this one doesn't work out. He's approaching this one the same way that Llando and Oscar did last year like This might be the only shot youve got And I it's pretty admirable that at nineteen he's understood that and our Merc favorites this weekend Yes I do believe so. I do believe so. I mean, we know the car is good. we know the power unit' good They haven't lost a race yet. so you'd have to think of the fair. And this is a very abrasive circuit with fast corners. Do you think that will help George and his tire prep? If the argument at places like Miami where that it's low grip and it's hard to get the heatated then one hundred percent. This should be again, another one that George is very strong at. Not to say Kimmy won't be, but hopefully George is a little more in the fight Ascos, you haveacada project asent andiber. Our Achine Porento Nuna Alexion de Buertas andradas Santteriones personersalis Ss. Ademas our Achenta do Aresenuquit de doos Ramientas Wolf deente Voltos Max, Pentos Sente Nued doolres. Yenel Potes de Los try to listter the material escrita anduna photo in reivuna Cotision andinutos Aelisaus prorojectos Mintrasigz Ondo Coloves Piostacietoosotary resistance Mar Plua Let's look at the chasing pack now Ferrari S we start talking about Lewis. I mean it's back to back P two for him. S wins at this track. He's now P two in the worldorld Championship for the first time since twenty twenty one. I fe feelar he's got his moojo back. It certainly looks that way U you know, it's funny, we had the two best results before Monaco, right? were China and Canada and the two races that he hadn't used the S I'm a numbers guy. you know, two data points is not a two is a coincidence. Th is a trend Right. So after Canada, I'm like, I could argue that countries that have races that the country starts with the letter C. is the reason that he's running well, right The S thing I didn't entirely buy after Canada, I'm completely honest Monaco All right, now That's thir three is a trend. So it's it's trending that Hes he's figured something out and whether it's in the car, whether it's just in the prep Sim know Sim, whatever. He seems to be in a good mindset and that's always when Lewis drives his best. So It's going to be interesting to see I think a lot of people have mistaken him not doing the S for him not doing any prep. I think just because he's not in the sim still looking at it's very different's very different. Yeah ye ye. He's still looking at the data going through everything apart from the simimbed in the same way that I remember last year, we had the conversation about Lano Noris And his sometimes kind of self deprecating comments in the pen, post session, post race, whatever And some people thought it was not the thing a champion does, right And I always took the position of, I think that I think thattllando had figured out best forrlando and lying to yourself invest the media in public putting out something that wasn't true and you knew that when you went to bed didn't sit well with him and he didn't get the best out of himself in those situations. He did the best when he was the one that confronted the problem before anyone in the media could, right I think this's a similar kind of trend. Lewis has found what works for him. and if not going on the S is what gets the best out of Lewis, Forget theim He's doing a ton of prep with data analysis, how he's always done it. He said he's never been a big SIM person. He was going above and beyond with Ferrari to try to get up to speed faster, but clearly it's just not working for him. Yeah. and I think Carlo Santi used to work with Kimmy Reiichenen at Ferrari, Kimmy Reichenen was not a big SM guy as well. So I think he's obviously experience of how to extract the best from his driver without using the sim. Lewis has even described Carlo as his Italian bono, right So but let's look at the other side of the garrage. So if everything's seems to be well set for Lewis. I feel Charl Clc is He's reaching a difficult moment. and the irony of him having just committed long term to Ferrari while he's going through this little bit of a dip. I mean, let's look at the last three races. He lost the podium in Miami with that late spin. He had the worst weekend of his forormula one career, his quote, not mine in Canada. and then of course he lost the podium in Monaco when he crashed at Anthony Nooges late in the race. I suppose I'm saying Him and George could both do with a decent result this week, couldn't they For sure. I think I think it's a pretty big one for both of those guys. Maybe a little less so for Charl just because You know, he's a driver that's always been a little more sensitive to setup and car balance. you know, I remember Times when Science was his teammate And the car had a little bit more of a natural understeer balance and Carlos was out qualifying him, out racing him. And this is a guy who we kind of hail is one of the best over a single lap, especially And then they got the front end to feel the way he wanted to feel and all of a sudden Saturdayays was gone again, right? He's He's a little bit particular. I think Jensen Button was kind of the same way. He really needed a certain car balance. He couldn't drive around things the way that some other guys could. Not a criticism, just sort of an observation So I think if if Charl can keep working on getting the car back to the feeling he needs I think he can be, you know, very strong and him and Lewis can have a great little battle. So we'll see if this track And the setup they bring here is going to give him that feeling Braakes are obviously a question again after after Monaco.' be interesting to see if they have made a swap for for Leclair or not, but important for him have a good wee again. Just interesting a couple of years ago they changed the layout of this track from having the chockanes in sector three to just having those two fast corners. braaking points here, but the rest of it less so. so maybe the brakes evenven if he keeps what he what he's had at the last two races may not be as big of a factor for him. Yeah.'s good point. It's not a high breaking energy track in comparison to to many others. So Yeah, this one's just much more about kind of high speed balance, right? and corner balance, you know throughout the consistency. I mean, you look at turn three here, you can have three different balances in that corner because it's so long But I mean, it's it's High speed corners or what F I saying isn't necessarily a strength of theirs right now. So it willll be interesting to see kind of where really where everybody stacks up here because it's just kind of different from what we've been racing on the last few weeks. Red Bull and McLaren. Who do you fancy out of those two to finish ahead this weekend? I would have said McLaren, but I would have said McLaren last week as well. and that certainly wasn't the case you know, Red Bull claimed to be bad at bumpy tracks and curbs and They weren't You know, McLaren with a shorter gear stack and a Mercedes power unit, you would have thought would have been quite strong at Monaco and they weren't I think that's what's kind of fun about twenty twenty six is we're still learning as the cars develop every week who is strong and what areas is going to change as well. So yeah, my gut still says McLaren will will be the quicker car could very well be wrong. What's your take on Red Bull? because they've actually finished on the podium at the last two races, differentere drivers. but Are they starting to find a way for? I mean, the power unit is clearly strong Are they starting to find a path with that car? Tough to tell Maxes Qualalifying Lap Monica was just unbelievable. but it was very max, right? That was That was the max effect, I think, to a certain extent Hadjar's podium, impressive and amazing and great for him, took a lot of help. That was not a pure pace podium. Even Max in Montreal, you know, if George doesn't have a mechanical problem, they're not in the podium there either gain, There's a lot of caveats about both those podiums to is a coincidence three' a trend. There's's there's still for me as the numbers guy, there's still a bit of a bit of a gap there. I think directionally they're getting better. certainly whatever they did in Miami helped Max get the feeling back in the front of the car and they're going to keep making it better. But I'm not sure they've actually made as big a step as the last two races have made it look and back to McLaren, Lando said in Monaco that he was looking forward to this weekend because you've mentioned it already, but this is a benchmark racetrack. And I think you know they've been putting new parts on the car, taking them off. first time we've seen that at McLlaren for a few years. and I think to come to this racet trrack See what the front wing is doing. They've tried it at both of the last two races and taken it off. I think You know, they got so much data historical data at this track that I think it's coming at a really good time for McLaren and They were really quick here last year They need some reliability though, don't they? Yeah, that's that's probably been one of the biggest shocks of the year is just you know, how many issues and different issues. It's not like it's one consistent that they're struggling to get on top of. It is a bunch of different things that have taken them out. But no, I agree that this is this is going to be an interesting one for them. The track layout in theory should suit the car if because we finally have, you know, it's a good high downforce track. but not like in the way Monaco is. And youve actually we're not a spring weekend, right? They can actually do a little bit of assessment and analysis over the weekend. So hopefully that front wing and all the all the effects it has down the carard and maybe some other pieces they brought this weekend. can make that part of the upgrade package, you know, stick and stay on the car. All right. well inch final thing, I just I'm looking over your shoulder and looking at Alex Albon's Nigel Mancell inspired helmet design for this weekend becausecause Alex is surpassing the nineteen ninety two worldor Champion as the driver with the most race starts for Williams. This will be number ninety six. let's assuming he starts That is a very impressive milestone, particularly for a guy who let's not forget, you know in twenty twenty was dropped by Red Bull and he's managed to not only back into Formula one, but commitment works both ways, doesn't it? It works from the driver to the team, but also the team to the driver. so he's clearly doing something right Oh, absolutely. And you know, I think u It is it is fascinating though. when I first read that, I was kind of blown away because you think about these names like you know, whether it is Mansoul or whether it was Damon Hill or whether it was, you know, these drivers that felt like they were at Williams forever. Yeah And of a sudden, he's the most tenured guy. I know we have a lot more Grand Prix in a year now than we did back then. so that helps the cause. but you know, it speaks volumes, I think to What he brings as a driver, what he brings as a leader, the fact that you know, his career was sort of thrown a bit of a lifeline after getting dropped by Red Bull, but he so quickly established himself as an invaluable part of that team in this very crucial phase of, you know trying to slowly build itself back up to to what it was like when Nigel was driving there and when Damen was driving there. So for sure, a lot of trust from Albon who because of the kind of resurgencecy he had there, I'm sure had interest from other teams. Post reedd buull alsoso that that the team has been loyal to him. Well, Alex is my latest guest on F one Beyond the grids and I asked him about the future and why Williams are on the back foot this year We're in this position more because we were taking a lot of risks. We want to be thinking outside the box and thinking as far ahead as we can and think realistically we bit off more than we can sh It's not for the same reasons of we're just slow. it was actually more the opposite of we were maybe too ambitious. James Vows has said he wants you and Carlos for the future is are you on the same page? I would love to st it. I think that for me it's I want to see it through. I want to see where we get to, I feel like There' unfinished business This year was actually tough in many ways, even just mentally because you You're seeing this forward momentum going through and now there's areas that we realize, okay, well, this is going to take a couple more years than then we would like, let's say, you know, as much as you want to immediately get pen to paper, you do want to see where and how the team evolve. And I think for me, it's one hundred percent I love the board. I love I love JV. I think the team is in a great place. so I want to see this see this work James has said twenty thirty is when he wants us to see Williams challenging for World Championships. Do you think that date is doable? Yeah, I would have said, you know, we're previous to the end of last year My eyes were kind of twenty eight, twenty nine twenty eight really I think from this year it's kind of gone okay, you know it'ss likeightly more twenty thirty. I believe it's a good number y Inch is twenty thirty realistic for those guys Yeah, I think I think any sooner might be a challenge. So yeah, let's let's go with that. I mean, so much of it and you know, James Vallis has spoken about this at length on numerous occasions. It's's the it's the process, it's the facilities, it's the resource they have back. all that stuff takes so long build up and then to build all the procedures around all the new equipment, all the new facilities again, takeakes such a long time while you're simultaneously designing and racing a car and off you go. So Yeah, it's not the work of a day for sure. But yeah, I think all the parts are in place. the pieces are in place up by twenty thirty. they could be there Drivers' careers are short. How difficult is it for a driver to be that patient? Nearly impossible I mean to tell your driver, just give me four more years and we'll be with it within a shout maybe of a championship. It's it's tough to hear, but you have to have faith in in the project. You have to have an option to leave. If if, you know, there might not be a do you want to be in a Formula one? this might be the best and only option. So it's it's a it's not what a driver wants to hear. certainly But But again, we were just talking about the loyalty that each party has for one another. So It would be cool. It is cool. There is something to say for a driver about being the one or one of the key members in building a team into a championship caliber thing. Well, and I think that's why Charl Leclerc has committed to Ferrari long time. and Charl will be the driver who starts the most races for Ferrari next year when he surpasses Michael Schumacher.and has Lando Norris has started more races for McLaren than any other driver You're right. there's a tre there's a trend there. There's a trend. It's it's what it's what Fernado wanted to do with Ason, probably probably not going to happen, but you know, it paid off Orlando