'A total curveball'. Who will master the Madring? – Spanish GP Preview

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1:35Welcome to the Mad Ring, Formula One's newest track in the heart of Madrid and hosting the Spanish Grand Prix for the very first time this weekend. This is F1 Nation with me, Tom Clarkson, and F1 TV lead commentator, Alex Jakes. Jakesy, great to have you on the show again. How excited are you to be in Madrid and commentating on a new circuit. Oh, I love a new circuit. And this one is more unusual than most, TC. So I think this is going to provide a very different challenge when you've got some of the best drivers in the world saying that they're struggling in the sim to put good laps together back to back.

2:13It's going to be a challenge. It's going to be a mistake generator and great to be in a new city. The last time I came to Madrid was when I was inter-railing as a teenager. So nice to come back all these years later and yeah it is going it promises to be a action-packed weekend and one of the lovely things is that you walk into this enormous paddock here and the first thing you see is the gil vilna ferrari that won the last race here in madrid was at the harama circuit back in 1981 so you've got that historical link from 45 years ago right there staring at you that's an all-time great win we've come off the back of monza an all-time great win that vilna of holding four faster drivers at bay that's a classic so always cool to see classic machinery jake see i think we should start this by talking more about the racetrack what sort of challenges with the drivers you've spoken to so far today what's the vibe you're getting i think the putting one lap together is not concerning i think it's the consistency of doing that across a race distance huge amount of fuel in the back I think that is going to under the pressure of early laps going to provide an issue and also you're not sure what the surface is going to do there are some parts of the circuit where it is very very much a pinch point turn five you don't want to be on the outside of turn five on lap one very tricky certain angles of the barriers are not going to allow for any sort of wide moment in the early laps and then it's the repetition of can you find the limit and can you do it without pinging the barriers it's going to be unforgiving is the easiest way.

3:54But isn't that what we like in Formula 1? It's a different thing isn't it, it's a different test I think when you've got a little bit of the energy's changing all the time and your breaking points aren't the same every single week and you're learning a new track and you're trying to find the consistency and it's a new surface so it won't be at the grippiest level. As an ingredients list, it is going to be very, very challenging for the best drivers in the world, which is great for us, but I think there's going to be a red flag or five across the course of the weekend. Now, can I ask you about one corner in particular?

4:27It's called, now how's my Spanish accent? Here we go. Monumental. Oh, beautiful. Nailed it. It's 270 degrees. It's 24 degree gradient. So it's got sort of final corner at Zandvoort. vibes about it what's your take on that love that you've got the possibility for different racing lines it looks extraordinary even though we've not put cars on the racetrack yet it looks incredible um because you have grandstands on both sides you think the great corners that we normally have you you know you have grandstands at one point so atmosphere i think it's going to be astonishing brilliant for the snappers and getting a brand new corner and so much to work with there uh But I think even with the reduced downforce of this new regulation set, I think they're going to be pretty comfortably flat by the time that we get to qualifying.

5:22Well, let's wait and see. I caught up with Bernd Maylander, the safety car driver, after his first laps earlier this afternoon. Monumental is not flat in the safety car. I bet it isn't. I bet it isn't. And he was loving it, I have to say. Well, what about the on-track action? why don't we start with Mercedes and Jake C you were commentating from England last weekend so we didn't get to speak to you after that sensational win by Kimi Antonelli just can we start with your thoughts on that it's incredible I was thinking on the last lap got two unbelievable things happening here maybe three statement driving the championship that if we get to the end of the year and we're looking at the retrospective that's a defining day if that's the moment where he you know he goes on to win his first title in only his second year.

6:12That is hugely significant. The hammer blow against your championship rival in any year, that's one thing. To win from 19th on the grid, preposterous. Only one win from further back in the entire history of Formula 1. Started in 1950, ridiculous. But then to end the wait for Monza to see a home winner, for all of that to happen in the same race, absolutely wild. and one of the few times I've ever held the microphone going, what order am I going to do this in? What's the most significant thing? So incredible. And it's the sort of day that just goes straight into folklore. All the cliches are true.

6:52And we'll be talking about it for decades to come. How many drivers on the grid in that car could have replicated that performance at Monza? Max Verstappen, maybe? You've got to be great. That's why it was significant. you can't be very good and do that and it was fantastic there's a great bit where joley in in the commentary box was setting up the stakes he's saying he's got to do half a half a second lap for a lot of laps up against a proven race winner and he's got a clear world champion guy that finished third like he said he had so much to do he didn't just do it did it easily only great drivers are capable of doing that and that's the bracket he elevated himself into with that win And he's now got that 66-point lead over teammate George Russell.

7:37I mean, is there anything George Russell can do to stop his teammate becoming world champion? Yes, there is. And what I thought was interesting was he gave it to you in the post-race presser. Because I was interested in his mood and I hadn't seen it. So I was reading the transcript of what he said to you afterwards. and I wondered whether he would get into the mindset that he needed to or whether it would be waffle answers. Sometimes a driver, when they have a defeat like that, can be a bit punch drunk afterwards. And he said the thing that I think is his only hope of staying in the fight, Kimmy deserves to be out front.

8:18He's done a better job. All I can focus on is winning races. If he focuses on winning races and gets one breakthrough, you have no idea what pressure can do to the other side of the garage you have no idea what races are going to be wet you have no idea what races are going to have a clash on the first lap can you just get back to being a threat to win a Grand Prix if you can do it once you can build a run of form we saw how the season started with five in a row for Kimi the problem for George is not the points the problem for George is he has not reached the level of performance that he would have expected week in week out so he can take it weekend by weekend one of the greatest cliches in this sport but if he can find a breakthrough in performance this title isn't over until he looks like the rustle of last year How far away is he from the rustle of last year?

9:11The conviction you watch trackside with Kimi Antonelli he's at the extremity of the circuit that car is in vivid motion you know that he's getting the most out of it George to me feels like a driver at 97 % and you don't win titles at 97 % sometimes you have to play the percentages but I don't think he can access the entirety of his talent I still think there's a search going on there and that I think is is the difference if he can get back to finding the peak performance then he's still got a chance but that is still an ongoing search. You know how race teams at this time of year are saying well you know do we focus on next year's car yet do we keep developing the current one I wonder somehow if that applies to George Russell as well is the rest of this season for him all about getting himself ready for 27?

10:06It could be and to go back to the the previous battle in Mercedes history Rosberg once finished a season with all those wins in a row laid the foundation for his title winning year had taken a kicking had been well beaten in both of those seasons 14 and 15 closed out 15 hamilton had won the title job done closes out the season with a load of wins lays the foundation stone to win the title in 2016 he's not there yet but equally george is a smart driver knows the reality knows what's happening across the garage sees the momentum he's not into that mindset yet but that might be where he where he ends up and in terms of performance this weekend in madrid after such an emphatic weekend in in in monza do mercedes start as favorites here in spain mercedes start as favorites everywhere we go tom that's that's the nature of it look at the performance of mclaren in the two races prior to monza and you're absolutely right but we're still comparing everyone at the start of the weekend to mercedes we know ferrari are going to have a good day across the course of the year we know that Lando is again we're talking about the accessing all of the talent we saw that in Budapest we saw that amazingly in Zandvoort how many times was he playing the percentages in his title winning year there's just just elements of it he's completely unleashed so he's going to be a factor but Mercedes in most places we go start on the Friday as the team to be right they are the benchmark do you think mclaren will be closer here than they were at monza much closer it feels more like a sort of zanvorty it's a total curveball though because you can have all the simulations in the world but there are always differences you speak to speak to engineers you speak to mechanics you speak to strategists up and down the paddock you know there's always going to be an element like did everyone did anyone really know how tight the pit exit was going to be here yeah you know it's going to be 550 meters long but drivers might have to brake on that pit exit all right that's then a difference think back to paul rickard all those years ago when verstappen made the difference on on the in lap that's the sort of pit lane that we've got here did the sims show that or did they show an easy accelerate back onto the racetrack so there's these minor points that they're going to find out on friday and then it's then we'll get obviously a better idea, but it's a total curveball of a racetrack.

12:32Yeah. We think still, though, that McLaren will be closer, and Red Bull too. Yep. With Max Verstappen, you can never discount them. He's always in the hunt, isn't he? Yeah. He's always in the hunt. And then, yeah, you've got a lot of mechanical grip corners, so Ferrari, edge closer as well.

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13:59Lewis Hamilton made a lot of headlines after Monza when he raised the topic of rules of engagement following his opening lap battle with Charles Leclerc. After a few days to reflect, here's what the Ferrari drivers said today. The Turn 2 incident is not something we ever want to see again. And for that, I mean, obviously reviewing the images, it's pretty clear that I could have done a better job just slowing down the car and not putting Lewis then in a difficult situation. So this is something I can learn from for sure. We spoke with Lewis. We've always had a great relationship. I have a lot of respect for Lewis and I told him in turn two I didn't behave the way I should have and the way a teammate should.

14:45And it happens when you are super motivated. Lewis is super motivated. I'm super motivated and we all try to do our best. and sometimes you go a step too far, which I did, and I will retune that in order for it to not happen again in the future. I think we've got a good racing relationship and I think the fact that we are grown-ups and are able to communicate with each other, which we have, I'm really firstly happy that he's really healthy and he's back here this weekend because we need him in the fight to challenge Mercedes together. And the great thing, I think, there is all this discussion about communication and just execution and stuff, But the communication between John and Benedetto and Fred and his drivers are really, really great.

15:29You know, we all sit down and talk afterwards and squash it and move on. So nothing like Lingers, nothing. You know, we're just looking forward as to how we can work better together. Jakesy, what do you do if you're Fred Vasseur and your seven-time world champion driver is saying, hello, rules of engagement, can we write something down, please? Do you write it down? or do you just say no this is how we do it here we don't do it the mercedes way we do it the ferrari way it's interesting because fred vasur has had rules of engagement when he's been a team principal in the past i know that for a fact so i wonder perhaps whether there are rules of engagement that lewis might want updating um they had rules of engagement at mercedes he said quite right.

16:17Do you remember what happened at Mercedes? Even take out the crashes, I'm not referring to the crashes between Hamilton and Rosberg, but there are, and you can go back and see them right now. So many moments where they were across each other's front wings, really on the edge. The rules of engagement were there and readily ignored. But I understand that if you have a chance of a podium at Monza and you are in the gravel a lap one there is never going to be a Formula One world champion who is happy about that fact they do seem to race each other fairly intensely at the moment but don't all the Ferrari drivers even Leclerc and Sainz yeah Carlos said in the press conference today they were he said there would always be three or four times in a season where Charles and I would fall out over an incident just kind of what happens because But that was almost part of Fred's liberation of Ferrari, wasn't it?

17:14That he was going to let them race. That they weren't going to get bogged down on this. You want the place, you get the place. None of us invert the cars, none of us mess around. To be honest, away from Ferrari's traditional number one, number two DNA. All right, Jakes, you're a man who's seen a lot of racing in your time. Do you think Charles Leclerc was outrageous with what he did on lap one at Monza? No, but I think when he stuck it in the barrier later in the lap, he would have known what was coming in terms of the reaction from Lewis, in terms of the response. I think that's why he held his hands up in his comments today in the media pen.

17:52So I think as a result, he would have known what was coming. This is just the nature of in 2025, Lewis Hamilton was not the Lewis Hamilton that we know. In 2026, he's a contender again. and so the simplicity of the natural order at Ferrari is completely melted away. They've got two number ones. They've got incredibly quick drivers and statistically the greatest driver of all time in terms of wins, podiums, polls, every stat. So what a glorious luxury problem without any easy answers in truth because they've given Charles a contract for years and years and years and years and there are plenty of teams that would have loved to have got the signature of Charles Leclerc so they've done that and then you've got Lewis going well you brought me here and I signed up for it and I didn't sign up for the occasional win he signed up to win titles so there's uh there's some money to be earned for Fred Brusser.

18:49Lewis is looking at bigger picture here right he I don't think he's talking about wheel to wheel racing into turn one I think this is more about my position in the team versus Charles' position in the team. I am proving this year that I am your best bet. I think that is what Lewis Hamilton is saying. Can we please have a Schumacher-Barachiello situation going forward? It's what he wants, isn't it? If the situation... He's talked a lot about the fact that, well, there's no point in doing it now. That ship's sailed. And I think you're on to a point where, I think they deep down know that Mercedes were always going to win this title with the drivers and the constructors.

19:27I think it's more that engine is going to be developed for next year. I think there's more laying the foundation for, hey, if this happens again and I'm your best bet, are we really going to repeat this if it happens again? Because he knows he's running out of years. It's as simple as that. He is in a race against time. Give me next year. Give Scholl the year after. No, I don't think it's as clear as that. but I think it's a, if I look like your best bet and I've done the winning and I'm the lead driver in the championship, in that scenario, if it repeats like we've seen in 26 into 27, he clearly wants the priority if he gets himself into that position.

20:07And I think at the moment, he knows that wouldn't happen because of the dynamic. Charles got the long-term contract. So Lewis, if Charles has the better start to 2027, you, Lewis, are you prepared to support him in his quest for his first world title. This is why Ferrari had a clear number one in the Michael Schumacher era and a clear number two, because you burn a lot of energy going through this that you're not spending on other parts of your weekend, and the management of the drivers, that's why the TPs get paid the big bucks. But this is tricky, because they're not going to be separated. Lewis at his best, Charlotte is best.

20:46they're not going to be separated by a huge margin. And you saw what that nearly cost McLaren the title with one of them, both of them, last year. Nearly let Max in two points for a driver that was 100 away. And now we now have to give the gaps all the way down to 100 because of that every time that we do the classification. So, yeah, I think Lewis looking for the opportunity that next year may provide. You know what they say, never work with family or really close friends. And you sort of feel that Fred knows those two guys so well that it must be hard for him to tell either of them that he's going to prioritise the other because he's too close to it.

21:31Indeed. I don't think it's workable to inflict that on. You can do long-term damage. you can do long term damage to a driver's self-esteem and self-worth in a team and ultimately therefore performance if you slap them with a number two status so i can see why fred's desperate to avoid doing that because you're going to put one of your drivers on the back foot if you issue that because there have been people all the way through the year going why are they not prioritizing lewis why they're like charles too far back he's he's crashed too much he's too far back but he's the guy that if Lewis eventually decides he's he's the guy that's going to be with the team long term they've chosen that and so they've chosen this conundrum for themselves well Jake let's look at a couple of other teams before we sign off here Pierre Gasly took that stunning poll for Alpine last time out at Monza any chance of another shock poll this weekend chance of a shock race result I think just because of the nature of the racetrack and aero generators, get a red flag at the right moment, and you've gambled correctly with your strategy, you can get all sorts happening.

22:43I don't think we're going to get a shock pole. I was trying to think. We're going to get an Alpine on pole. I don't think we're going to get an Alpine on pole. But then no one thought that last week. So you never know what might crop up. But yeah, that was certainly one of the more remarkable dry qualifying sessions you'll ever see. But I think it's all about the race here. I think it's all going to be about can you survive the big moments and are you on the right side of the interruptions, like a virtual safety car, like a safety car, like a red flag. And when you look at the midfields, what can we call them?

23:14Rabble? I'm sure they'll be delighted with Rabble. The team's immediately behind the top four. Racing Bulls, Alpine, Haas with their updates that they introduced last time out. It's hard to bet against Racing Bulls coming out behind, isn't it? or winning, should I say, in that little battle? It's such an adaptable race car that they've built. It's so, so adaptable to the different demands. Obviously, they're strong in certain circuits, but they, I think, start where they have deservedly got themselves to, as best of the rest. But you are in a situation whereby, I think, Audi felt they were quite unlucky not to score points for the fifth race in a row.

23:57So I think they'll be close to the mix as well. but it's for the midfielders for that bunch getting it right splitting the strategies making sure that you can take advantage of if there's a red flag and you can you know not have to have a pit stop you change your tires under the red flag making sure that you call it correctly if there's a virtual safety car these are all things that reward your prep and reward the how deep you've gone into your possibilities so it's one of those classics for a midfield that even if you're not having a great season this is the type of place that if it's as chaotic as perhaps we think it might be you can rustle up a seventh out of thin air and for the midfielders that's massive do you remember that first race in Baku when it was the European Grand Prix and we were saying I think we if we'd been recording this show on the Thursday of that first race in Baku would have had a similar vibe to it wouldn't it turned into it turned out to be the most tame race of the year it did but I think the reason for that is that the GP2 race that year that I was commentating on featured an 11 wide restart and Formula One drivers are you know not short of confidence but I think when they saw literally 11 wide on the main straight because there was a little bit of confusion in that race where the restart point was we weren't uh we weren't start finish line back then there were safety car lines a little bit of confusion about where the safety car line was leader got the wrong one multiple safety cars total chaos as a result i think everyone dialed it back somewhat to the point where nothing happened in that race uh so if f3 and f2 is wild then maybe the drivers rein it in but if not i want to seem fully aggressive there's a big opportunity if you're having a bad season you know fernando alonso scored points twice for aston in chaotic races he'll be believing i was going to say there's a chance let's end it talking about the Spaniards you think he's has he got a better chance than Carlos Sainz of getting in the points about the same about the same they need things to happen if it runs to performance they're nowhere but he's got a home race he's got a lot to enjoy and chaos generator means that they could they could score a point okay well Jake see final thing podium predictions difficult one actually It really is here because, as you say, there could be that red flag chaos.

26:17I think it's going to be... I think it's genuinely tough to predict this, isn't it? Because it's brand new. I'm going to go for Lando, Kimi and George. That's crazy because I actually thought I'm going to do Lando as well. I think McLaren are going to come back this weekend. Chuck a couple of corners in it. They look terrific. And I think that lack of Mercedes development over the last few months is going to catch up with them eventually. And McLaren are going to lead the charge in terms of sort of undoing them. I do think, though, that we're going to get one surprise person on the podium. If it's on performance alone, I'm going for Lando for P1.

26:54I think Max will be there or thereabouts. And I'm going to throw in an Arvid Lindblad. Wow. Let's look at the expression on your face. But you know what I mean? Just someone coming through, having his sort of Isaac Hadjar moment that he had at Zanbol last year. If he gels with a circuit, it's absolutely possible that something like that happens this weekend. Keep the shocks coming. We want the shocks to keep on just a bolter from the blue every time. Jakesy, thanks so much for your time. Great to chat as ever. Looking forward to this one, I guess. Cannot wait. Something new is great. We haven't had a new race for a couple of years, so this is going to be excellent.

27:32In selected countries, you can watch all the racing with Jakesy's commentary on F1 TV and on Apple TV in the US. F1.com, the F1 app and at F1 on social media will also help to keep you across the action throughout the weekend. And do check out F1's other official podcasts as well. My guest on the latest episode of F1 Beyond the Grid is Aston Martin, Global Ambassador and former McLaren driver Pedro De La Rosa. He was great. That's out now and you can watch our chat on the F1 YouTube channel. And this week's F1 Explains is all about how the Madring circuit came to life with Lawrence Barreto and the Madring's chief operating officer, Carlos Jimenez.

28:12That's available on this feed from Friday. Thanks very much for listening. We will, of course, be back on Monday to review the Spanish Grand Prix. So speak to you then. F1 Nation is produced by Formula One and Audioboom Studios.

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