Charles Leclerc's Future and Ferrari Loyalty

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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. Light's about to fail, filters ready to clog, Hack 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 Granger, click Granger. com or just stop by Granger. For the ones who get it done It looks like it should be simple. It's not. It's a really complex circuit to drive. And if you get it right, you feel like a bit of a legend there. Montreal is a track that we know George does run well at. It's not an excuse like we had at Miami. And if Kimmy gets it again, you start to think this is now a proper scrap for George Russell If I said a year's worth of salary that you have to put on someone being champion this year guys, who are you going to put it on right now I would still go, George right now today I' be with Kimy. Wow. George has a level of experience and a level of maturity that he can go through a whole season without another phone call from Toto, and he'll be fine. Kimy still the team is still outwardly projecting that they kind of have to bubble wrap this kid a little bit. In the same way that it's a big weekend for George Russell, this feels equally big for Louis Hamilton. You'll start to see a picture of Lewis can't be strong in Canada that you're thinking, okay, the season's just drifting away from him again. so it's a big one Is this the moment where Charlotte going to say, okay, are you going to give me a carard that I can challenge for the championship with? or Am I gonna have to go elsewhere? It kind of for me feels significant in that way. That's a tough question right now From Miami to Montreal. It's race Week once again, Wlcome everyone to F one Nations' preview of the Canadian Grand Prix I'm Tom Clarkson and my regular teammates Jolian Palmer and James Henschcliff are with me. Now guys, talking of teammates. We had a lot of comments from people who really enjoyed us completely losing it on last week's show Have you stopped laughing? Have we got everything under control today? got over it I have got over it just about Hinch maybe not. I honestly, I've not laughed like that I trying to do a broadcast in my life. I don't know what it was. Something in the air last week. Yeah, seeven minutes of corpsing. I'm not sure exactly what the elapsed time was that stayed in the show, but I can tell ye, everybody listening at home. It was quite a scene. I couldn't even get my deep dive on Johnny Dump Frees and Satorian Nakadema properly in. I was laughing too much It needs another special, I think, TC We were discussing teammate rivalries and if you want to hear us cracking up for that full Well, not quite seven minutes actually in the final edit. do go back to last week's episode of F one Nation. But this week we're here to talk all things Mle seventy laps of the circuit Gil Villeve awaits forormula one this weekend. Guys, talk us through the track What challenges does it present the drivers in these new twenty twenty six cars It's a tricky circuit. It's really character fill, I think. I would say it's pretty much all chicanes So every corner apart from the hair pin the really slow speed towards the end of the l. is a sequence of corners. It's even turn one, you go left and immediately you carry into intos turn two It's all about curb riding. It's all about getting the right balance, having the right attitude of steering and momentum and everything else as you bounce over the curbs and get rightide up to the walls Wall of Champions is the famous one, but actually there's another couple that you can easily clip as well and we've seen plenty in the past that turns four and turns nine. the right left Chanes where where you can drop it on the exit there I really like it. It looks like it should be simple. It's not. It's a really complex circuit to drive Yeah, but what is the complex thing about it, Hinch? What? Yes, because it's not that many corners. So why is this one so demanding I think there's two elements that make it so difficult is it's got all these super inviting brake zones, right? And drivers love being the last of the late breakers, But that could come at the cost of the exits. And to Julian's point, these are all just chicanes. corner combos, but it's two corner combos. It doesn't really go much past that. So you can gain a lot of time on the brakes, but there's a good chance you're going to lose something on the exits and these chicanes are all followed by long straights. it's it tempts you into up just wanting to break later and break later But sometimes, you know, eventually that that payoff doesn't doesn't work out anymore And then the other side of it is the curb riding. You know there are some curbs that are friendly and you can take quite a bit. Oers less friendly, but you still have to take quite a bit Mistakes are so easily penalized because there's walls everywhere, like Julian pointed out. So it is it is I think character full is a great way to describe it, but it's a lot of fun to race on Technically How demanding is it? show my age now, but I'll never forget the two thousand four race there when both Toyota and Williams were excluded from the final results, both for break infringements. I think Ralph Schumacher had even finished P two in the Williams. I mean, is it one of the most demanding tracks for breaks It definitely is. you just loads of these just stabs on the brakes and you don't pick up huge speed until Basically you come back round to the final chockane, or the first into the first breaking zone as well. A lot of it is you're building up reasonable speed and then then slamming on the brakes with a bit of a sort of spiky brake trace, ninety degree corners and then you get out to the next one as well some of the breaking zones, particularly turn eight kind of in the middle of the l It's tricky. and you're always, I don't know if the brake hauling is always at a bit of a premium there. I rememember Nica Rosberg in twenty fourteen. It was one of Mercedes when they were they were romping everything And he was struggling with the brakes as well and it was one of Danny Rick's wins, wasn't it? It was his first win, I think in twenty fourteen. So It's always one of those ones that's pretty marginal. and again, it just adds to the challenge of things How do you approach a quick lap? Because a lot has been made you know, during the build up to this race that, you know, this is a significant race for George Russell. He's always gone well here, right Why does he go well here? What do you need? Is it being good on the brakes? let's go back to the brakes. Yeah, I think being efficient on the brakes is cly certainly a strength here I think George is one of the drivers that is good at being a late breaker, Lewis was always very good here. He's kind of known for that as well So that is a huge part of it. But again, it is that balance because you still have to get off the corners, right? It's all about longitudinal grip here. There's not a lot of high spe There's really no high speed corners at all. It's not about the lateral setup. It's about how you can stop the car and start the car in a straight line and then how you ride the curbs. Being able to judge how much curb to take at a few of these places is so, so difficult and it takes just a special kind of finesse, especially that final chicane because it can go so, so wrong. And yeah, I think I think George's, you know, his left foot is very well trained and well suited for this kind of track and the walls Do they affect how you approach it? or I mean, let's talk about that wall of Champions at the exit of the final corner, right? Are you always a little bit concerned JP as you hitting the brakes going into that corner combo or does it feel like as if there was no wall at all? Do you have to treat it as if there is no wall at all So you you buckle up as you're heading up to that final channe. So you've got such a long run. You're on a good lap, you come out of the hep and you shuffle up through the gears as you're building speed And then you think you're right Deep exhale, let's take a little bit on the brakes But then the trick, I think generally is, okay, you can't brake early, but releasing the brakes is where you're going to gain the speed through the minimum. So Early on in practice, you get a chance to build up on the brakes there because you've got bit of runoff So everyone's going to attack and find a sensible place on the brakes When you get to qualifying and you're trying to be a hero last last throws of qualifying. I think don't take the last ten meters on the brakes, just brake softer, release the brakes, carry the speed through the apexes To do that, you need a bit more grip The track rub is up. Also to do that, you need to maybe get a bit more risky with the curbs as Hinch was saying. So that's where you just think, right, deep breath Let's go for it. Let's attack with another couple of KPH apex speed. And you know at that point, you're going to risk just running out of space on the exit. But that's basically what you do in Montreal. It's it's the final big Big thing And if you're on a good lap If you're cautious there, you're just going to lose a couple of tenths in the final chicnee So you have to still attack all the way to the line, keep it to the right hand side, minimize your distance I think the best up in Montreal is going to basically scrape the wall. it's going to be one of those ones where you get the perfect just brush on the exit and then you just hug the grass line on the way down to the end of the lap And if you get it right, you feel like a you feel like a bit of a legend there. And the other thing that's so interesting about it is you have to nail it twice one good lap because it is the final corner. If you don't get a good launch through there, if you're not floating a bunch of speed to come and start the lap, you're already starting the lap a couple K pH down and you're losing a few hundreds down to turn one. So it's kind of annoying because it's the most treacherous corner on the track and for a good quality lap, you do have to nail it twice. The weather forecast for the coming weekend looks a little bit iffy. There's rain around on both Saturday and Sunday, but just For the sake of this next topic, let's assume it's dry. The track was resurfaced a couple of years ago What a track? conditions like and This year, we've got F two, of course. It's the second leg of the North American double header. We've got F one Academy there as well. so How's that going to affect grip levels think we saw in Miami actually the track grip came up pretty high quite quickly. So in free practice for F one, it was actually It wasn't so much a procession of cleaning up the track as we've seen in Miami, which is a temporary circuit as well, which had F two They're both sprint weekends. so I would expect It' be actually quite nice for the F one drivers to have an F two session on before just to put some Perelli rubber down on the racing line and start to clear it up because Montreual as well is one of those ones where You're on the Iill Notre Dame It's really peaceful when you're out. have you been trackside, TC during a race weekend. Yeah, many times It's lovely and peaceful. You're by by the waterways on this island, there's just birds just cheaping and ground hogs. Ground hogs all are around you're in nature' paradise So Imagine when a Formula One car turns up on a Friday morning for the first time. That's why the groundhogs get a bit of a fright because they're like, what on earth is this I'm But it does also mean the track is generally It builds up a lot. is very green on a Friday I remember it was always Montreal for a simil reason was one just how many tear offs am I getting through? just bug splat all day on the Friday And then maybe they get the memo as well through the weekend. So having F two there will give the animals and the wildlife a little bit of a wake up as well before F one and and cleaning the track up should be helpful. This episode is sponsored by Lisa. If there's one thing I know for certain, after a long run of races and uncomfortable airport seating It's that you really do appreciate your own bed. And I'm sure a lot of people in the F one padd will agree with me. 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Companies like Eergy Transfer work behind the scenes, safely transporting these resources across the country through a network of underground pipelines Learn more at itakesennergy. com Let's talk about this championship fight now, the intra team battle between the leader, Kimmy Antonelli and George Russell, who's in P two. Now Hinch, you said in our Miami review that it's not panic mode yet for George, but if he doesn't beat Kimmy in Montreal, that's when he might need to start being concerned. Can you expand on that and tell us why you think This weekend coming is such a crucial one in the championship fight Yeah. Well, I think a lot of it comes from the fact that know, Kimmy's victories up to this point have been impressive. Two of the three have kind of had, you know, we've said we've starred them the in the record books as there were some elements of I hate to say luck, but to a certain extent, luck and also tracks that George mayaybe hasn't been as competitive on tracks that we know Kimmy has been. He was quick in Suzuka last year. He was very quick in Miami last year So I don't think it was a surprise given the form that he's had, you know, end of last season, early part of this season that he was quick. Three wins on the trot, that's starting to give a driver a lot of confidence. That's starting to get the team to maybe look at one side of the garage in a different light than the other and Montreal is a track that we know George does run well at. So it's it's not an excuse like we had at Miami where he kind of went into the weekend knowning it wasn't his favorite place. Maybe some of it was, you know, self self fulfilling there and the performance And you know, you've got the upgrades coming from Mercedes. That'll be interesting to see kind of how that plays into this all. Maybe there's a ate that affects one driver more than the other. We saw it last year with their suspension that they brought that sort of knocked Kimy a little bit down and didn't affect George quite as much. But if we get to Montreal, we get through Montreal and Kimmy's even if he doesn't win the race, this is what we were saying last week, even if he doesn't win the race, if he just is ahead of George at a track at George runswell on the run that he's on That's when you have to start being a little bit concerned because We know what Kimy's been capable of this year and you know, Miami was by far, I think his most complete Grand Prix weekend And he's just going to keep getting better. I pretty well agree with that. I mean I do think George he's had the last two polls in Canada. He won last year comfortably when Mercedes didn't have a great season he does go well at this circuit. On top of that, Mercedes are really good around around Montreal. It's always been classically the colder temperatures that suit them, but for a long time now they've been quick. And so you've got these factors plus some expected pretty major Mercedes upgrades coming should mean that one of them will win the race this weekend And so it's most likely a battle for the win between the Mercedes duo Kimmy gets it again, you start to think, wow, that's four in a row. You've w one of Georgeia's strongest circuits on record and the Championship League go over twenty five points. So all of that would say, hey, this is this is now a proper scrap for George Russell to try and recover. a little bit like we saw with with Lano Noris last year. rightight now, I think it's still in his hands. He's controllable, but if he doesn't win this weekend you start to think, okay, maybe this is Kesier What was your take on how Antonlli performed in Montreal last year. I mean, the gap to George, I think was point four in qualifying. And then of course, he finishes third and gets his first podium in Formula onene. I mean, we talk about how good George is How would you guys view Antonelli's performance last year? Can he feel confident coming into this weekend that he can that he can shine, you know, shine a light and Right, att least run George close, if nothing else If we're honest haaving it was pretty much a half a second gap he had to George in qualifying last year That shouldn't have been enough to get him on the podium. I think you know, it was a great race from him to get the podium. He held off Charging faster cars later on the McLarens were bearing down on him And it was the first podium eighteen year old There is that. it was great But when you actually think the half a second gap, that's quite a lot in formula one terms. that's similar to what Yuki had compared to Max in the year. So that's actually what Kimmy had to to George last year. So It was a kind of flattering podium, I would say for Kimmy. I think the race was better than the qualifying any held pace there. but I don't think The fact that he got the podium will show that He was good as well. I think there was actually quite a gap to George Interesting stat, by the way. So it was Kimy's first podium. He became the third youngest driver in F one history to stand on a podium. I know you're both good at your history Who stood on a podium who was younger than Antonlli last year? Can you remember So it's I think a hintche you got's got to be one, right Max is one. Yeah. And the great Canadian, isn't it That is the great Canadian. The other great Canadian hinge. Yeah Baku, of course. Yeah Lance Strol, Baku twenty twenty twenty seventeen. Lance Strol. yeah U I'm not sure he's going to be troubling the scorers this year laun roll in the Aston Marty. Wst case scenario George Russell now is that McLaren are bringing the second part of the upgrade that They started in Miami last time out. Worst case scenario is that McLaren are super competitive, right and Lando Oscar wins the race Antonelli Beats, George And Mercedes suddenly realize that they've got a serious fight on their hands with McLaren. How do you think Toto Wolfe is going to handle that going forward. Are we going to see a number one number two scenario at Mercedes the number one becoming Kimy Antonlli Not a chance. No point. Not a chance at this stage. It would be I just don't think that would be a sensible call from Toto. I think as we're sitting here, If I said I gave you a year's worth of salary that you have to put on being someone being champion this year guys You have to put it on Who are you going to put it on right now We've had this discussion. We've done this little thought experiment U and when you and I had this conversation, I said George Russell. and that was pre Miami, to be fair I think I'd still if you had to put everything on one guy today I still look at the data set, the sam the data sample size that we have of Russell's performances is just so much greater than that of Kimmy's as impressive as his has been this year And if you're betting the farm, I would still go George Interesting because I would actually right now today, I'll be with Kimmy Wow One of one of you one of you' lost a far. How about you I would go George, becausecause I just think History has shown us that he is able to be consistent over the year. I think he's got a little bit more maturity on his side I think I still feel like like he's got the upper hand overall. And I think Kimmy has shown bursts of pace that have been really impressive. He showed some great races last year Miami was one Hangej already mentioned that Miami, Japan was strong. Also you look at Brazil, you look at Various other drives. Yeahah, very good But in terms of actually doing it over a season not having a blooper race, not having an Oscar Baku race where he just had a terrible half lap and the whole thing was blown And that's where I think probably the mindset of George is a bit more tested at this stage. It's not to say he'll do it, but that would be my logic in thinking If I had to back everything on one, I think would I would have to go with George at the moment, which is why I don't think Toto should everything behind one, even the fact that we have disagreements It shows this is not black and white even if Kimy beat George, I think I just I just have been so impressed by the steps Kimy Antonlli has made this year. Yes, you're absolutely right. when you look at last year, there was a huge difference between George and Kimmy I feel that's diminished hugely this year. and Take as you find over the opening four races. There's no doubt in my mind that Kimmy Antonlli a few starts aside has done the better job So why can't he continue for the next eighteen races or whatever we've got left Well, let me ask you this, TC. how impressed were you with Oscar Piastri's jump at this point in the season last year from the year before huge But I mean, that's the point. These guys at the start of their He lost the championship. He lost the championship to his more experienced teammate S. My point is at the start of their career, these young guys are making huge steps from one season to the next. And I think George is now at the point where it's diminishing returns and so therefore the steps get smaller. So the gap between George and Kimmy, I think is is negligible and I think that Kimmy's sort of It doesn't have a care in the world. I love the fact that he doesn't seem to tighten up U he's enjoying it. I think he's protected by Toto Wolf brilliantly in terms of not putting pressure on him. He reminds me so much of Lewis Hamilton two thousand seven spec when he you know, let's not forget that Lewis would so easily have won that championship. He got those nine podiums on the bounce to start the year until he of course, he then won his first race in Canada two thousand seven So I think it can be done and I think Kimmy's made enough of a step to do it. but Hey, it's gonna to play, right I think you bring up a good point that's one worth noting is You know, Total Wolf, even even post Miami is still saying We have to protect them you know, we've got to make sure he stays grounded. We've got to make sure that the good days don't bigig him up too much, that the bad days don't get him down too much You don't have to do that with George. George has a level of experience and a level of maturity that he can go through a whole season without another phone call from Toto, and he'll be fine Kimmy still the team is still like outwardly projecting that they kind of have to bubble wrap this kid a little bit because they need to make sure he stays in this place. And if anything makes him deviate off that there could be issues, which is that's just one of those things. as an investor, when you're looking at betting your life savings on something, that's an element that makes me nervous compared to George, who's a bit more of a known quantity in that sense pare hch the, you know, the dip in the European season last year, starting at Imilar actually for for Kimmy I don't think we'll see that again this year. I think he learnnt a lot Why didd you think that TC Why? But I'm seeing a very consistent driver this year and I think he's learning from all the mistakes he made last year I'm not disagreeing. I'm just just curious, you know,'s he's had a good run and he's won the three races and we're all singing his praises because I'm not saying George Russell's not going to bounce back. George Russell could easily win this Grand Prix by ten seconds and know relaunch his championship campaign. That is a very realistic proposition. But my point is that I think Kimmy has the consistency now And think it will be a very real threat for the whole for the whole year. This is uncharted waters though, isn't it for Kimmy? I think that's the difference. I think with George, the season that he ran last year was was a title winning season if he had the right car, I think. Kimm's wasn' We haven't had that European season to confirm that he can be consistent over twenty twenty two races, twenty four races. and you know, we could easily have said the same for Oscar. The comparison, I think with Oscar and Orlando last year is a great one because we're in a really similar position. Oscar had another year under his belt, but the step was also big. He had Lando under huge pressure Then Zanvort happened and suddenly we I would have I would have bet the house on Oscar after that But Lando found that other gear. George potentially still has in his locker at the same time as Oscar started to struggle, maybe Maybe u It was a run of low grip tracks. Maybe it was a little bit of title wearing pressures and everything else. M'd be sorry to interrupt you, but you say then Zanvil happened, right? Yeah. Well, I'll then say then Monza And I think the ramifications of the swap at Munza really affected Oscar Piastri. And I think that sort of situation won't happen at Mercedes because of the way Toto Wolf is approaching the season and approaching the way he looks after Kimmy Aonlli So Kimmy wins in Montreal? no McLaren one two in Montreal. they had the best c car. Kimmy's third, George is fourth You are saying all in all in for Kimmy. I've seen enough No. I was asking the question. I was asking the question Jent. No, I was asking the question. off course it's too early to go all in for Kimmy But I think it would to hingche his point in our Miami review. I think it's that is the moment where George has really then got to step it up when we go to Monaco next time out. othertherwise Otherwise, Mercedes might have to start making some difficult decisions come come the summer break And they're a team that have got history of making those decisions, which McLaren haven't in recent times. You know, we saw with Valtter and Lewis, the famous give the place back That was when Valtteri was out of champs of contention and Lewis was still sort of tenuously defending from Ceb So maybe that will happen and McLaren still are confident that they can be a regular race winner as the season progresses. So I agree. you know For all the debate, this is a huge weekend for George Russells, and we take it back to that part and I do think he has to has to show what he can do here. And also the next point you make is Monaco is aroundound the corner Not an easy race for anyone. might not be a Mercedes stronghold circuit. There's been years in the past where they've dominated couldn't get ahead around Monaco. So You don't want to rely on Monaco being the one you're going to bounce back because you might just be kicking the can down the road Let's talk a little more about McLaren now because of course it was Montreal last year that was the scene of the crash between Oscar and Lando. onlyly a handful of laps left to go in the race when Lando Norris tried to sneaker sneak up the left hand side of Oscar between him and the pit wall and of course hits his teammate race overver Lando, to his credit apologized immediately. How much does an incident like that hang over the drivers? I mean, they'll smile about it, Does it in any way carry forward to the next time you race there No, I don't Now There's no no thoughts about that going into this weekend for either of those guys until Thursday when people like us bring it up in the press conference. I think you bank it though as a driver. If you're Oscar, you bank it And I'm not saying he's going to still be lingering on that. I think I think they're long gone because of the Monza thing and the everything else that played out Singapore and Austin and and everything else. But I remember Filipppe Nazza when I was teammates with him in GP two and he tried a move at turn three in Barcelona on the inside of me late on was for second place And he basically just drilled into the back of me. And I was like, you know, I think he came off worse than me. but I was like, we're not to fall out about this, but now I know how you're going to race and I don't love it. So next time we go wheel to wheel I'm gonna be that little bit more aggressive I had the same feeling ten over it on. Well, no, I'm still bitter about it, TC So if I ever get back behind the wheel and I've got Philpp Pay Nazare as my teammate, he's going to pay a heavy price for that Barcelona race U No, you do. you have to you have to bank these things, I think as a driver because it's you're learning a little bit about your rival. As I said for the McLaren guys, they learned a hugeount more. I think that was the first The first flash pointoint, wasn't it between them And then they had more And I think they're coming to Montreal in a different position as well. is I think they will be a little bit more cooperative with each other. There's not as it stands, the championship on the line You know, whether they finish fourth or fifth. It's not as important as it was last year I think they're figuring out stuff on each other the whole time What about Red Boo I mean, hinch, after what you saw in Miami with the Red Bull upgrade, of course, Max now much happier with the steering rack and the feeling he's getting through the wheel Can we see Max challenging I think it's possible. yeah. I mean, it just allows Max to do Max things, right? And this is the kind of circuit where you can take those kinds of risks that he just is so good at taking and pulling off, right? executing in those chicanes, riding those curbs. I know curb riding's not been a particular strength of the Red Bull historically, but new rule set. mayaybe it'll be a little bit better this time. but I think again, it's another kind of low grip circuit like we had in Miami We know he is comfortable on the absolute limit. So If the car continues to improve and they can continue to dial in performance, you know, now they've got it handling in a way that is speaking to him. Yeah, there's no reason why he can't be in the mix. Hintch, you've done some endurance racing, right? Now Max was doing the Nerburgering twenty four hours last weekend How long does it take you to get over a twenty four hour race? Is he going to be? Is he going to be on his eight? I mean, a kind of serious question. Will he arrive in Montreal just a little bit jaded or do you think it doesn't affect someone like him? No, I think he's fine. I mean, he's been doing twenty four hours S races, you know, during Gown pre weekends in the past. He He'll be he'll be just fine. So no look, he's young, he's fit. He's prepared. He knows what he's getting into. So I don't think it'll it'll hurt him too much at all D't Nico Hokenberg, he won Lamour decade ago now. And then I think he turned up in a force India to Austria and qualified it straight up in the top three again. he had a really strong showing when when he returned bearing in mind, he hadn't had a podium at the time. It was another great chance for him. So that was a winning lamour. Well, Andand you know what? I was at that Lomour in twenty fifteen when the Hulk won for Porsche and he'd had a damn good party on the Sunday night. I can tell you that. And even then he turned up fresh the next week. Yes. Eactly. Save more on what you need to get the job done right. Right now, at Lowe's. Get fifteen percent off, seelect custom entry and interior doors. Plus, save eighty dollars on the D Walp twenty Volt Max two tool combo kit, now just one hundred sixty nine dollars. And at the Lowe's Proesk, bring us your materials list and get a quote in minutes. Handwritten, a photo or even a sticky note is all you need. Keep your jobs moving faster and on budget At lows Valid through seven eight while supplies last. Selection erers by location Our Ramascal laws isac cada project while heent and. Our Achina Pento Nunas Alexion de Puertas andradas Santiores personersalis Ss. Adamasur Renta dool Aresenunquid the doos Ramientas the Wolf de Ve Voltos Max Pentosenta Nuueed doolares. Genel Proesqu the laws try to list the materialis sescriita and una photo in reciiba coticion and Mutos Aelisaus prorojectos Mintrasigz Oando Goloves, Piostacietoosotary resistancelect Mar Plua Now look guys, what about Ferrari, right? So this is a Hamilton track. He's won this race seven times, which is equal with Michael Schumacher, who is the most successful driver in the Montreal Grandrix history. It feels in the same way that it's a big weekend for George Russell, this feels equally big for Lewis Hamilton because after being quite close to teammate Charlacler early on this season the gap seems to have grown and This is the weekend where he' sort of got a bring it back under back under control again, really? Do you guys agree with me Yeah, I think so I think Did his track record around Canada is really supreme. uh he has I've only been out qualified by a teammate three times out of sixteen attempts So is a pretty good track record out qualified Charl last year, although I think Charl had a pace and missed it right at the end of Q three It does feel like he needs to just halt that that downwards momentum now as well. afterfter those early few races, very upbeat Lewis loves the new rules, input in the cars good The Ferrari was obviously a competitive race leading car. still was in Miami, but just not with Lewis. So it he sort of chipped away at it through the Miami weekend as well and got quite close But Canada's circy has always been Really strong at seven wins, six poles He needs to get it back here, I think I think he can as well. I think he's I think Ferrari should have a sensible car still. and If you're Lewis, then you do just turn up with a little bit more swagg at a circu, you've always gone well up. But is it one of those things? it's almost the same argument that we're using with the Mercedes pair, right? Where Kimmy season last year started very strong. All the races that we've done up to this point. he was very competitive at get to Canada. Obviously had a great race finishing the podium, but in relation to George was a bit off the pace lastast year with Lewis, right? We know, we go through the first couple of rounds strong in China last year, strong in China this year, a little bit off in Miami last year, a little bit off of Miami this year. It seems to be almost following a similar sort of script. so Like you say probably had a little bit more out and out pace last year, even though Lewis did qualify ahead of him Do we think that This is an important one for Lewis going to att track that he knows so well that he runs so well at that if he is behind Charl again this weekend that It is an indication that maybe though he's had his fingerprint on this car from the beginning, it's still not quite what he needs it to be That's exactly it, I think. I think even for Lewis, if they're just close on pace, I think that's fine. If they're just back in the mix together, you know, on the same row on the grid. And we're talking about the two Feraris being in contention rather than can shall win it which felt like it was the case through Miami. You had Charl trying to hunt down the McLarens in the sprint. You had Char leading half the Grand Prix All the while Louis, I know he had a bit of damage in the Grand Prix, but he was sort of there because he was fighting with Colap Pinto at the start and He was just struggling a little bit more for that last last couple of tenths. And if it's the same on a circuit he's always been good at The next one once again is Monaco I know Lewis has been allright in Monaco, but Char's been brilliant in Monaco. It's his home track, he's sensational around there. so Again, you'll start to see a picture of Lewis can't be strong in Canada that you're thinking, okay, the season' just drifting away from him again. So it's a big one And when you think of the season I feel that this coming weekend is the moment where we're going to see sort of the pecking order as I think it probably will stay for the rest of the year because Mercedes are bringing their upgrades Ferrariia hopefully going to understand the upgrades they brought to Miami a little better. We're going to see McLaren bring the second half of their upgrades. Red Bull are going to bring a bit more and then we get into the busy European season where it's Bash Bash, basash it. everything happensed so relentlessly that I feel we're going to leave Montreal knowing the lay of the land. the front end at the very least. and feels significant somehow for Ferrari because since Miami, okay, there's been this three week break and you know the news cycle in Formula One never stops, but there's been speculation about Charl Lecler's future. you know have Aston Martin made him bid for him have reed Bull racing made a bid for him and You just wonder with, you know, the driver silly season starting to kick into gear. Is this the moment where Charl iss going to say, okay, where are we order. I've been here since twenty nineteen Are you going to give me a car that I can challenge for the championship with or Am I going have to go elsewhere? It kind of for me feels significant in that way Yeah. and he'll know what's coming up in the pipeline as well behind the big Miami upgrade and the understanding of them. So typically in a season, you get this sort of Miami weekend or Montreal weekend. this sort of used to be Spain, didnn't it where you bring this sort of first major upgrade package And then you'll see something around sort of Austria Silverstone could be Sa now weekend mid suummer for a conventional bigig Aero platform difference and you know, new floor, new aero surfaces that'll spruce the car for a few tenths. and then it'll be little bits and buubs of tweaking through through the rest of the year So Sar will know if Ferrari are telling him You know, this is good. let's fight. I'm sure Monica he can be fighting for a win anyway. Maybe he can be there this weekend on a circuit that that could suit Ferari a bit more And if they're saying, just hold in because when we get to Silverston, we've got the proper package coming and He'll know that. We don't know that at the moment. So if they don't have anything more, if they're sort of thinking, okay, we'll bring a little bit of bits and bobs, but no big upgrade package and they're not competitive right now I just think if your're show You have to start looking elsewhere. He's been so loyal to Ferrari He came through the ranks with them. Didy year at Salberg got into the main seat in twenty nineteen and he's just been sensational I think his level of performance is clelearly worthy of a championship So he has to start looking around. if Ferrari can't deliver even a championship challenge He has to be a driver that that has the talent to At least see a championship challenge one day And I think this is the time new set of reggs If it's not Ferrari, then where can I go to try and mount this Good question Where can he go? Be because I mean, he's made this point, right? How desperately he wants to win a championship with Ferrari. But at some point that loyalty has to waver if they're just incapable, you know, after a decade of him driving there of providing him with a car to fight for a championship Where do you go That's a That's a tough question right now. I don't think there's an obvious answer not knowing where Is Piastry going anywhere? Probably not. The Mercedes pair staying probably The domino's really max, isn't it? That's what makes this whole conversation interesting If not, I don't really see another option. He's not going to askston Martin. That's that's not a risk worth taking, right? He doesn't make the money, does he? No, no. based on the boat he just took delivery of, he's doing just fine You know, so I think I think What it does do is it gives him maybe a little bit more negotiating power with Ferrari to as bad as this might sound. I mean, he signed a a record breaking historical contract with Ferrari in terms of its length, right? I don't think he's going to sign for another five years. I think if he decides to re upp, it's going to be very much shorter term without clauses and it's going to be more kind of a Charl Biased sort of sort of contract. He's earned that. The team, I think, understands that if they want to hang on to him, they're going to have to acquiesce on some of those things and it does put him in a position of power negotiating next time In mid twenty seven He is going to become the driver who's done more races for Ferrari than anyone else. He's going to pass Michael Schumacher. Now Michael Schumacher at Ferrari w Five World titles Chl might have won one in that time if the cards fall for him in the second half of twenty twenty six, but it's looking unlikely as we sit here now And that has to make you question Y loyalty, I think when you just look at the stats. you've now done more races for this team You've only won a handful. let alone world World Titles The difficulty is is where does he go? that is the problem. You've got wouldould you go to Red Bull If Max leaves is Red Bull a better bet at this stage? I feel it feels to me like a team in transition, but at this stage is Red Bull a better bet than Ferrari You'd want some serious assurances if you're going to go to Red Bull, just because of the exodus of people. We spoke about it when GP announced his move to McLaren. there's impending you want to know who they're bringing in to restructure the team, you know to take it back towards the championship because I don't If he doesn't have a lot of faith that Ferrari are going to be champions, There's not a lot right now that says the Red Bull can if they lose Max as well. And you've got to sort of restart this new driver coming in, new race engineers, all these partnerships once again They're doing a good job. their' upgrade package for Miami was great power units is really impressive You're leaving Ferrari who are capable of race wins this year, I reckon for a Red Bull who are certainly not going to fight for a title this year either Ast D Martin, as we said, that's such a long term project. I don't see him doing that So the only thing for me is If Max leaves Red Bull, Could someone else be suckered into a taking that red buull seat And then Chl could look at a McLaren or a Mercedes if that door would open Because that was the one rumor, right? was Piastri being coured by Red Bull as a potential max replacement. So then yeah, if that if Max leaves and Piastri moves then I think that's a no brainer. You know, I think if you're Charl, you have to consider that Do you think that rumor of Piastry to Red Bull was started by Sll's management to try and force the situation so that he can then go to McLaren TC, I hadn't thought about that, but now I hope so just because it makes a better story Unbelievable play if it is. and then it happened All right then Predictions time. Both of you guys, I w a sprint winner and then the top three for the Grand Prix on Sunday Who wants to go first? Okay, I'll go We were playing chicken there. We were both doing like the big inhale as if we're about to speak, hoping the other guy went first. No Okaykay. So I think that I think George will win the sprint. Um actually, no, do I? I don't know. Yeah. I think Georgia win this sprint. It's a short short run from Ple. It's a short run down to turn one, less opportunity for them to you know, have a bad start and he's been still a little bit better on the starts than Kimmy, even though It's not been Kimmy's fault some of the time. The teams admitted that. this is not thrown shade at Kimmy Um And I think he wins the grumpery I think this is what it it starts to turn the tides turn. the championship titans back up But I do think it's going to be a Mercedes track. So I'm going to go George Kimylando Pretty good. That's pretty good. That's the problem with winning the chicken is then you look like a chicken if you just bat the other guy. You should have gotone first? Yeah, damn it So I'll throw in a curve ball here and I'm going to say Chharl wins the sprint. because I think the Ferrari team can get up to speed pretty quickly. I think they'll have that start advantage And I can see them being pretty efficient around Montreal as well. Their handling characteristics should be good for two thirds of it They'll obviously be a little bit struggling down into the final Chockane, but I think he's shown great racecraft so far. so in the sprint, I think he can win In the race, I don't see him on the podium though. I see it being the exactly as you say, hinge. I'm fully backing you here. It's Russell Antonelli and Norris' top three. So it's all on new TC Do you think the Ferrari start advantage will be so noticeable given what Hintch was saying about it being You know, a short run to turn one It's actually it's similar. I mean, Miami is a short run to the first corner And still it was enough for them to charge through The only thing with them is whether Mercedes get on on top of their starts a little bit more as well. They're still trying to understand it, but their starts are still bad. If they're no better than they were in Miami, with Oviously Kimmy was terrible, but Geor's weren't good enough either If they can't improve as a team, they won't be leading the first lap The only thing is McLaren starts a good with the same power unit. So Charles going to actually have to out qualify the McLarens to jump them both off the line because Otherwise you'll see sort of Lando or Oscar probably because the Mercedes in the way that the Fries usually do Well, at my predictions, I think George is going to win U I think George is going to win the sprint and the Grand Prix and I think Kimmy's going to be second and I'm going to go for Oscar for P three on Sunday, but I think the gap between George and Kimmy is going to be really close. So while the gap will start to shrink in the drivers's championship I think Antonlli will come out of this race feeling like he's had a good one because he instead of the gap being four tenths, five tenths as it was last year in qualifying. I think in it's going to be down to And then he'll get all the backing from the Mercedes team to go on the title charge for the next eighteen races Yeah That's it. That's it, meate. you're predicting the future. L. look while we're talking about drivers and how they approach championships Canada always brings back memories for me of Jensen Button's sensational victory from the very back of the grid In what turned out to be the longest F one race in the history of the spore back in twenty eleven, more than four hours And Jensen is my latest guest on F one beyond the grid. and while we were reflecting on twenty years since his first win in Hungary two thousand six It led us onto a really interesting discussion about driver insecurities. Driver is weird flawed, we are insecure And I'll go for any driver. You know when I hear Lewis Hamilton on the radio last year in Nfari when he asks a question, they don't come back to him. and he's like, have I done something wrong? It's like, you're a seven time worldld champion. You know, the confidence you should have is out of this world, but You know, insecurities creep in You forget what you've achieved and you just think about that last session, you're like, I'm not good enough You know, was two tes pon my teammate. it's crazy and the pressure you put yourself under It's enormous and that's why you see so many drivers fail in the sport even though they have the talent Mentally, they're just in a really dark place and I've heard it from many drivers. and you know we think of it as a weakness, so we don't talk about it. And that's what amazed me with Lando, you know the way he's been outspoken over the last couple of years of mental health Really, really good and I think that gives you a lot of strength. JB was really strong on that and it was a wonderful track. but I'd love your thoughts, JP and Hinch, on justust your own experiences of insecurities. I mean, is it the insecurities that drive you on the constant need to prove yourself Yes. I mean, I think a lot of drivers thrive off an inherent fear of failure, right? It's It's hating to lose more than loving to win. U And and I think it's just it's such a competitive environment, motorsports that it breeds that insecurity, right? It's It's not a win or lose proposition. You can finish second, you can finish eighth, you can finish twelve. you can you can go down that dark hole if a teammate, especially is beating you on a given day and Racing drivers' memories are really short we love bigging ourselves up when we've had a good day, but we're just as quick to knock ourselves down internally when we've had a bad day. And I have to echo you know, Jenson's sentiments there. and I said it throughout last year. I was super impressed with how Lando approached the year, how he approached his own struggles, how he spoke about them so openly. I don't think it was just good for him. I do think it's going to have a waterfall effect in a very positive way for the future of Not just racing drivers, but athletes in general, there's kind of been a movement in professional sports that is A lot of athletes have been more openly talking about you know, mental health and some of their struggles But for sure, have you have some unbelievably dark days as a driver. I had them more often than not Um, because again, unless you're winning, you know, as as often as say Alex Polo is an indie car or as Max Verstappen was in twenty three, it's hard not to kind of fall down that that path JB, do you think Max Verstappen everything he's achieved in Formula One in recent seasons. Do you think He still has insecurities No, I don't I think they he's you know, the most all round talented driver in the world, isn't he? So I think he knows that He demolishes teammates for fun Honestly, I'm slightly surprised to hear Jensen almost describe the extent of it from him. I can only speak from my personal experience, which was In Formula one I got prettytty battered in twenty seventeen by Niica Holkenberg twenty sixteen my ups and downs, always felt like I could have a good run, but of course the level of competitiveness is so intense that can be you can be me in twenty sixteen, you can be Anyone in the field, you could be Lewis with Nika Rosberg, you'd be Lewis now with everything that he's achieved. If you don't have a good lap, you're not going to win. And if you don't put it on paper, it goes down as a loss forever So there's a little bit of that in your mind that You know you need to bank the result, but that's kind of professional sport, isn't it surprised the level with the level of his success that Jensen had that he kind of feels that in that way, obviously he had a very different career to mine Um So I Yeah, can't I can't really explain it from that side, but you look around and you just see I see a lot of drivers just brimming with confidence. You know, you see Ollie Bermman walking around the paddock young guy, I think he has so much inner confidence in his abilities. I don't see that level of insecurity, but But you have to be self critical, JP. A hundred percent. And there's a difference, I think between if any time you can do something better You have to look at it and take responsibility for what's yours. you have to own it and Also, point the finger if you think someone's let you down in the team, If you think that your setup wasn't right. you went with someone rather than your own feeling or you know, the way you left the garage wasn't right, which you hear a lot. You say, why guys, why are we in traffic And you have to you have to have ownership of that, I think I think there's an important thing too, though, that you can have those moments of doubt but you also have to believe you can pull yourself out of it I think that's where, you know, Jensen talks about some very talented drivers that don't make it I think that's the differentiator for me in some of these cases is you can have that moment where you get beat or you make a mistake or whatever and you get down on yourself But you have to believe that You've got the ability to turn it around right? You have to have that inner belief about you know, because I always had that that thing, right? Even if I got beat in a session, I'd go look at the data and I'd say like, okay, anything that this driver can do, I can do I never thought that somebody could do something I couldn't It was in the moment, they did it and I didn't, right? So it's I think it not having the belief in yourself that you can get there is what can be kind of the nail in the coffin for a career So I used to have this thing where any time after any session it could be on the way up to Formula One or even in Formula one literally get a print out of a track map, look through the data of a best laps and just write down where my time losses were and why. justust so I could simplify. the guy' got the same car as me If he's breaking ten meters later, Right, I need to write that down and bank it because I have to have the belief that Okay, he's doing that. I can see that he's doing that So let's go out and try and do that and improve. And of course it's not so easy and you come back in and now he's breaking earlier, but still going quicker or whatever. That's so much. Yeah. It really sucks. But then I write down Baking earlier, going quicker. And I'm just on this loser of a trail in my career, I wouldn't say until twenty seventeen that I always I think it's a fear of failure, isn't it? It's a fear of not putting down a result on paper that you think justifies it. You respect the competition so much that you know that if you miss a lap, they're going to beat you