‘Cool’ Kimi, Ferrari full of surprises + a reset for Russell? – Belgian GP Review

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0:32Today was so mature and measured from Kimi Antonelli that I think he turned yet another corner. This is, you feel, the beginning of a Kimi Antonelli era. Are we being robbed slightly of a true comparison given the issues that are going on with George? Second in the championship, makes contact with third in the championship and Russell is in the gravel. We're watching in real time a lifelong childhood dream slowly moving further and further away from him. The winner of the Belgian Grand Prix is joining us now in the Mercedes motorhome. Charles, at the end of the race, he came to me and was like, were you all so quicker when you were behind me?

1:12I was like, yeah, I mean, it was a bit easier for sure. Nice tow from Isaac Hadjar. It's a little bit like doing the washing up that. You want to do it well, but you don't want to do it that well.

1:24Welcome, everyone, to F1 Nation's review of the Belgian Grand Prix. I'm Tom Clarkson and joining me in the paddock here at Spa-Francorchamps is the dynamic duo from F1 TV, lead presenter Laura Winter and two-time Le Mans podium finisher Alex Brandl. Very warm welcome to you both. Headlines, please, after that Grand Prix. Well, thank you so much for having us. And my goodness, headlines are, well, firstly, Kimi Antonelli does it again. Win number six, pole number six. He staved off the pressure from Charles Leclerc behind him. We asked before, were track limits going to be one of his biggest nemeses today?

2:03He got two strikes, no more. He kept it within the white lines after that. Reliability on his side today. He's extended his lead to 45 points over Lewis, 50 points over his teammate George Russell. He is the winner of the day. I think for me, it's very measured victory from Kimi Antonelli. He did what he needed to do in all circumstances, but it's a demonstration of how impressive he is in that Mercedes car that actually, even with a much cheaper pit stop for both Ferraris, despite Hamilton's issues and everybody else challenging him, he still had the full race in hand. And you could see that from behind the steering wheel.

2:45My question is, what would have happened if Verstappen had got a free stop instead of Leclerc? I have two more questions. What would have happened if George hadn't been punted out the race in lap one? And what would have happened if Lando Norris had started P3? That's the magic of Formula One right there, folks. But what a difference. Let's talk about Kimi Antonelli a little bit more. And what a difference 12 months makes. Let's cast our minds back to the Belgian Grand Prix last year. Qualifies 19th for the Sunday race. It was a sprint weekend, but qualifies 19th, finishes 16th. It was a massive struggle.

3:24Fast forward to this weekend, and he's the dominant guy. I appreciate he's got a very brilliant racing car, but there's more to it, Alex, isn't there? We talk a lot in this sport about diminishing returns, and I think when you look at a driver who came into Formula 1 relatively recently, he's still on the sharp upward trajectory of his understanding of how to deliver race victories and how to get the most out of the car. He's always been quick. He was quick the first time he jumped in a Formula One car in Monza all the way through the first two sectors till he ended up in the barrier in the third.

4:01And wasn't that indicative of the road he needed to travel to actually convert all of that natural pace and natural ability into the complete, almost complete driver that he's become with fantastic machinery underneath him? today was so mature, I've said it already, so mature and measured from Kimi Antonelli that I think he turned yet another corner in his pursuit of the world championship. I think that came off the back of a very mature performance in the sprint race at Silverstone where he was really patient in when he overtook Lewis Hamilton and then his response, because let's not forget he's had two DNFs in the last three races before this weekend, he's 19 years old, that's surely got to get into your head especially when as you said Tom you look back 12 months and go oh no is this the beginning of an unraveling here because I think once we saw Kimi going on a run this year we thought well eventually surely the wheels will come off at some point because he's so young because he's on this very sharp upward trajectory which is quite frightening for for the rest of the paddock if he is on this upward trajectory and this is already his level but it's just not unraveling for him in any sense and he's got such a mature head on his shoulders and I think that horrible period he had last year, three points in nine races, a number of DNFs through the European period, not least poor performances both in Italy as well, which will have really hurt him.

5:33That I think has done wonders for who he is now, the driver we see today and also the way Mercedes have not wrapped him in cotton wool but nurtured him from the minute he stepped into the paddock as a rookie in Australia last year to now. They have pushed him where they needed to. they have protected him when they needed to. And I think we're seeing some of that work now. The winner of the Belgian Grand Prix is joining us now in the Mercedes motorhome. Kimi, that looked amazing. Just how good do you feel now? What are we, two hours after the end of the race? Are you still on a high? I'm very happy, very happy, very satisfied with the win.

6:09It was a hard-fought one, not straightforward at all. and this weekend we brought a package, a lower downforce package. We tried it in FP1. We were scratching a little bit of our heads after FP1. We came back slightly, not fully. We changed, obviously, we came back on rear wing, but the other bits were still on the new package, and it worked nicely. It was a good combination, and the team did a great job on that, and, yeah, it was a good race. I know they were fortuitous with the timing of the VSC, but how surprised were you perhaps with the pace of Charles Leclerc, certainly in the Ferrari? How wary are you of them going forward to Hungary, where we're expecting them to be that bit closer again?

6:59Yeah, for sure. Well, we knew their long run would have been, their long run was strong already in FP1, FP2. They were strong. They lacked, obviously, a bit more in single lap, but in the long run they were there. so we expected them to be up there. Then, of course, with the VSC and everything, it meant that it was close. But, yeah, it was not easy at all because the tow was very strong. So when I went ahead, it was hard to break away and then also a lot of deployment differences between me and Ferrari. So we had to make quite a few switch changes in order to try and break away from the overtake.

7:41when you had made the move we thought you'd disappear off up the road from Charles is that just because the overtake is was was really strong or or was that you managing the car to the end of the race no I mean the overtake was very strong plus the toe was very powerful going into turn 18 with the headwind uh you know it was you could feel it massively uh especially with you know you We were spending quite a lot of time with the wings closed. So it was very powerful there, the tow. So it was a mix of things. That's why also Charles, at the end of the race, he came to me and was like, it was like, were you also quicker when you were behind me?

8:21I was like, yeah, I mean, it was a bit easier for sure. So, yeah, just also because these cars, at least for now, it's easy. It's quite easy to follow. So you don't lose so much in corners. Definitely you don't lose as much as last year. it's much easier to follow tyre suffers a bit less from it so it just allows you to stay closer. Kimi, it's been an amazing day. Who's the most famous Italian now? You or Yannick Sinner by the way? I don't know I don't know. I still think Charlotte Clarke is the most famous one along with Lewis Hamilton Thank you so much for coming and joining us. An amazing day.

9:01Really really well done from all of us. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thanks Kimi Wadham. he's so cool now just think of the effortlessly isn't he so he he missed out on the vsc again here like he did in austria yet no ranting on the radio i even asked him about it in the press conference afterwards and he just said well some you win some you lose you know i got lucky in japan with the safety car and okay i missed out here it's kind of so balanced so measured you say he's i think alex did you say earlier he's almost the complete package i think there's a very strong argument to say he's already there?

9:35Potentially so, although, you know, there are still some moments. I would point, for example, at the yellow flag issue back at the Austrian Grand Prix, where George read the situation perfectly, sometimes off the start. There are a few starts where he doesn't manage the situation perfectly. Don't get me wrong, you know, outside Formula One, in the grand scheme of motorsport, you're talking about a brilliant, complete competitor driving against 21 other brilliant, complete competitors. But in the level of Formula One, he's still relatively early in his career, which should be terrifying for everyone else, shouldn't it?

10:15Are we being robbed slightly of a true comparison given the issues that are going on across the garage with George? Maybe. But I think that that is helping with Kimi Antonelli's confidence and the calmness that you relate to, Tom. I mean, in comparison, for example, to Lando Norris, who painted the radio channels blue when the VSC didn't fall into his pit window. You know, it's really interesting to hear that mindset and an idea of how comfortable he is within the team. Last time I was on the pod, you were asking, is he a generational talent? Is he a generational driver? I think we all sort of unanimously said, yes, I think he is actually.

11:00I think we can now quite more vehemently say, yeah, this is, you feel the beginning of a Kimi Antonelli era. The one thing I'd say today is he very nearly absolutely punted it into the pit wall, didn't he? The pit lane wall. And that could have been really quite costly. But he didn't. So there you go. That's the point, right? Exactly what I was going to say. That's the point. And even actually that run down to Eau Rouge on lap one, where Max gave it a whole load of extra boost going down the hill. And Kimi got out of it in time, didn't fight it. Yeah, I mean, those moments are easier to manage when you know you're going to be three tenths quicker for the rest of the Grand Prix.

11:40And so in a way that the speed is everything, particularly at a circuit like this, particularly at a circuit like Silverstone. if that moment happened into turn three in hungara ring when you know you're not going to be able to pass the guy for another 30 laps then it might have been a bit of a different story so in many ways you know not to to detract at all from i mean the brilliance of of of a 19 year old racing driver who could keep his head down to eau rouge with crowd leaning over the track waiting for this magic moment in a dominant Formula One car. But having a car which can deliver dominant pace at will certainly helps, doesn't it?

12:23I'll make one final point on it as well. I think Kimi Antonelli is so ably supported by Bono on the radio. The calmness with which Bono delivers, okay, that's two track limits. We don't want any more. I think that partnership is one that has grown, is growing. and I think the level-headedness we see in the car is reflected from what we get from the pit wall as well. So much trust between those two already so early on in their relationship.

13:12Struggling for speed all weekend, but it's contact coming out of Lecombe, and he is mired in the gravel on the first lap of 44. Huge implications for the World Championship because his teammate got back the lead. Let's explore what Alex was saying earlier about, are we being robbed of one of those brilliant championship battles because of what's going on on the other side of the garage? Let's start with just on track lap one here at Spa today. Russell didn't finish the race after contact with Hamilton on lap one and here's his take on what happened well it all started from the build-up I came out of turn one for whatever reason I was 30 to 40 percent down on my battery and I just got totally swamped up by three cars and incident with Lewis I've not really seen it I thought probably a racing incident but I'm not I'm not gonna blame Lewis you know it's if things were normal I wouldn't have been even battling with Lewis, I'd have been battling with Kimi and Max ahead.

14:10You touched on the frustrations yesterday that you're feeling. Where do you go from here, George?

14:17Yeah. It's one thing after another, after another, after another. Yeah, not good enough on all regards. So, try and reset again. Done it enough times this season and see what we can do. Right, racing drivers view, first of all. Is there anything think more george could have done to avoid that contact with hamilton um i mean obviously he could have gone left a bit more but do you think he left him in off room uh i think that george is trying to open up the second apex which is he's entirely entitled to do it's definitely not george's fault um i agree with george's assessment that it's probably a racing incident in the um which is which is head in the pen afterwards it's clearly uh for me a racing incident i don't agree with the stewards take on it on this particular occasion.

15:06Just because it's the first lap, George has come from behind, trying to go around the outside of Lewis. Lewis is making his best attempt to stay right, but is essentially already committed to his breaking point for Lecombe. It's definitely not George's fault, but I also think it's not really on Lewis either. So I would call that one a racing incident. The stewards say that there were mitigating circumstances in that it was the first lap. and the rules stipulate that should be a 10-second penalty, but because it's lap one, we're only going to give him five is what they said in their explanation.

15:39Yeah, I know, but I think the reality of the scenario is that kind of thing will happen on first laps again in the future and won't be penalised. I think any other lap than that, if you run Hamilton into the side of Russell, then it's a penalty. But on that lap, especially with the way that the deployment was playing out, you had the drivers talking about it in the cool down room, how crazy it is for the drivers when suddenly they get a burst of straight line speed in the middle of the run till they come. Suddenly you've got a driver on the outside of you. You've committed to your braking point.

16:15You've given them as much racing room as possible and then effectively slide into the side of him or make contact on the apex. I still see it as a racing incident. Okay, right. That's the contact. But what about where George says, you know, I was swamped by three cars. What have we learned about his problems with the car this weekend? I think that's it. George's gripe post-race, gripes too kind of word for, I think, how he must be feeling, was actually, well, why was I in the position in the first place in the dominant Mercedes to be swamped by cars and then to have to be that close to make contact with Lewis Hamilton?

16:57unexpected loss of deployment is the line from the team George Russell said yesterday he has an astronomical lack of straight line speed they thought it was driving style he changed some things that hasn't made a difference the team are then scratching their heads they are then searching and scrabbling for what it could be and George was listing a number of things in the pen wasn't he that he did then say today there is a fix for Hungary but it seems the team is still scrabbling for an answer as to why the car is so different to the car in the hands of Kimi Antonelli. I actually end up feeling a little bit bad about it from a broadcast perspective, because you look through the data that comes out of the car from George.

17:38And it seems so clear that as he makes his way through the middle sector here at Spa, he arrives at the final sector and then Kimi has more deployment than you naturally. And that's been the difference throughout the whole weekend. It's a couple of tenths. The, you know, through Blanchement, there have been some other bits and bobs depending on which session it is. But that's really been the difference. But then, you know, you talk to the team and you say, well, yeah, that would, they say, well, that would have been a perfectly acceptable explanation. But we promise you, George has tried the things that we're asking him to do.

18:14And yeah, there are some things that he can improve with his driving, as with all the drivers, no doubt. and some ways that he can look at the way that Kimi's driving the car. But there is also a fundamental problem with the car, which is affecting his straight line speed. That, as I believe he's alluded to earlier on in the weekend, is so multifaceted. And the reason it's multifaceted is straight line speed is energy in 2026 Formula One. So wherever you're bleeding energy into, if it's the air in terms of drag, if it's the bearings in terms of the rotational drag, if it's the engine not performing and not charging the battery it's only ever going to look like a bit of deployment that you don't have at the end of the lap and so actually it's it's easy to lay that at george's door and i think that's what the team did first but then you eventually look at it and you think well yeah that could be coming from anywhere and i think the team have been very benevolent and honest in saying look we've got a problem with the car we've done what it is yet you know how teams do often though say look that there might be an issue with the chassis let's change the chassis so much of it actually is psychological helping the driver saying you know i mean kimmy had a new power unit this weekend could that be the difference there's as you i'm kind of just agreeing with you saying there are so many different yeah the power unit's just the generator as well that charges the battery so a new generator can't hurt right um and you as i said on air before the race in days of old in a situation like this what you do is throw the lot away and build them a new car right you'd literally go right can't find the issue make a new one but obviously we live in a four power unit three energy system cost cap of, you know, just over 200 million era of Formula One, where you can't just fire a load of budget into throwing the lot away and building them a new one.

20:11So they've got to actually chase down the realistic issue and try and sort it with this car, which is a problem. Hungary next weekend is going to be fascinating for George because there isn't going to be the deployment issues that we've seen both here at Spa and at Silverstone. So if there is still the straight line issue next weekend then i suppose it opens up another can of worms for the team as they search elsewhere for the problem but i think that could also be more of a headache for him because as we were saying in our post-race show it actually leaves the race far more wide open as to who could possibly win i think ferrari are going to be right up there i think red bull could be right up there the team certainly were looking forward to that race and looking forward on to zanvort as well so it's no longer a case of oh it's going to be kimmy or george you now bring the Ferraris were strong here, they were strong in Silverstone, you bring other teams into the mix as well, so it's not going to be as clear cut for George that, right, it's P1 or P2.

21:05It also kicks the ball down the road Tom, because what he really needs is a two day test at Spa that's what he really needs, with Kimi on the other side of the garage to go, right, you know, let's change the gearbox and see if it's dragging that, right, let's change the rear wing, let's change the front, what he's going to get is a full Grand Prix weekend with all of its turbulence and around Hungara ring. And if he gets a good result in Hungara ring, then great, that's some points. That's nice. Gets a trophy, takes it home. But, you know, what happens when he turns up to Baku? And the problem is still there, but it's just been masked by the layout.

21:42Alex, isn't it fascinating? Wind the clock back 20 years. Would these problems for George Russell be behind him? Because they would have just gone and done a three-day test and changed everything. no budget cap or is it more fundamental than that i think that well firstly the if you're going to go back 20 years it wouldn't have had nearly the data so actually you know there's a certain point at which you go off a cliff of you know where whoever your team boss is where ken tyrrell goes you need to pull your socks up mate sends you right there's there's a there's a certain there's a certain element of that so he can be thankful that they actually have got the data acquisition to understand the issue then there's a middle ground where you would have but they'd have they'd have changed everything and gone testing and sorted it a sort of you know Juan Pablo Montoya maybe Jacques Villeneuve era of Formula One I mentioned them because they're the two uh former Grand Prix winners and champions we've been on uh this weekend with so yeah I mean there's definitely an era in time where it's just like yeah change everything we believe in the guy send him with a new car and see.

22:48But neither here nor there are issues as so often the case in racing anyway. Do you think it's as simple as the guy needs a break? Bring on the August break for George Russell. Go and sit on a beach. Try and forget about Formula One for a while. Don't overanalyse data for once. Just go and chill out and he'll come back stronger in Zandvoort. Yeah, I listened to the preview pod. I'm not just saying that because I'm on. I genuinely do every week. I really enjoy it. It was interesting, the parallels we can draw to last year albeit the gap in Zandvoort was only 34 points for Lando Norris to Oscar Piastri but yes with that summer break and then Piastri falling away and Lando Norris coming up the four and obviously then the denouement in Abu Dhabi which was what it was but yeah does George just need a reset you feel that the last break we had actually where the Middle East races should have been did that give him too much time to think did that actually give him a chance to overthink his driving he's already said to us i'm i'm thinking about driving rather than just driving and i think we can all kind of relate to that sentiment in something we do where you're consciously thinking of something and therefore your output isn't never as good the fundamental difference with this break is that he can't be in the factory because everyone's on holiday he has shut down yeah he has to go to the beach and i just wonder i wonder whether that will help george russell sentenced to the beach though you make a very good point yeah you exactly and these drivers have done a number of off seasons and a number of summer shutdowns where they will have trained their minds to to shut down from formula one the reset it can't do him any harm can it at this point um because he's got to reset himself within three days now to go to the hungara ring and and as you said rightly alex yes that may sort of paper over the cracks somewhat because it's a different track a different circuit but the problems may still lie within the car and I don't know it's it's tough to get into George's mind but I think that was the most dejected I've seen him in the media pen he was kind of a loss for words at one point with a question about resetting and bouncing back he I don't know whether there was emotion I couldn't quite see sort of the eyes from where I was sitting watching but you felt that the weight on his shoulders was enormous.

25:05When you see drivers show emotion in that kind of media environment, I mean, it obviously depends character by character. I mean, we're talking tip of the iceberg stuff. You know, a driver for whom you can see emotion in their face in the media pen is punching the walls of their room back in the team bus. Well, that's how it used to be for me anyway. You know, it's a strong front. You know what you need to say. you know, what's required. And you're definitely not going to see as much emotion as there is. There are times, of course, when it breaks through. And you'll know very well, Tom, and many journalists have told me in the past, the moment you need to be talking to the drivers is straight out of the car and park ferme because that's when you get the real story.

25:48But, yeah, there is intense disappointment, I think, and upset in how this season is going for George. And I think frustration because, you know, rightly or wrongly, whatever's wrong with the performance of the car or something, I think he earnestly believes that there's a problem with the car and the team earnestly believe that too. We're watching in real time a lifelong childhood dream he has had, slowly moving further and further away from him. That must be, it's painful to watch and it must be unbelievably painful within George, especially if, as we're seeing, there are factors like reliability and like perennial underlying issues with the car that are so out of his control.

26:37Laura, you've worked in many sports, not just in Formula One. if you were managing George Russell right now I've worked as a broadcaster to be very clear not necessarily as a manager if you were managing George Russell what would you try your best George what would you say to him about the championship would you just say mate write it off forget about the world championship all that's doing is burying your mind in something that is confusing and it's just exacerbating all of the problems forget about the championship it's gone it's gone look at you look at your teammate forget about it and then do you think from when you watch other sports people in other sports do you think they then that's the sort of bottom of the trough and then they can bounce back very good question TC I think what I've learned from interviewing a number of different athletes in a number of different sports is that they so rarely say they are thinking about the very end results yes of course they'll be thinking about it but the world championship is one thing George Russell's got to get to FP1 in Hungary and so I think the advice that I would give and I think it's incredibly hard advice to follow when you are in a hole in the way he currently is is to take it minute by minute hour by hour day by day focus on the process and the results ultimately you would hope will take care of itself do your processes everyone whether that's training at home whether that's your nutrition your sleep whatever element of your life keep it the same do what you do focus on the process and ideally the result therefore takes care of itself control the controllables is the ultimate cliche isn't it but a cliche because it's true that's all he can do at the moment he will be working super hard on and off track that's all he can do so i think that's the advice I would give him I don't know as as an athlete and as a person who carries emotion whether that would be advice I I could follow when you're lying awake at night trying to get to sleep at 2am I think your mind wanders elsewhere it's funny because you you the with with the phrase think performance not result I'm transported back sorry I'm transported back to visiting and it's a it's it's a pleasant transport but only just because I'm transported back to visiting hints of performance who were the utterly brilliant mclaren associating associated performance school where i was where a young alex brundle was sent uh to be bullied on a cross country ski slope by a very very non-consideratory gentleman called petri who used to like to read my vo2 max score back to me daily uh and but they they basically had it written on the walls You know, think performance, not result, was everything.

29:33And you're absolutely right. He's got to control what he can control. And the challenge of that, unfortunately, is us. We are the challenge of that. Because we keep on making noises about what's going on and everyone's got a theory. He has to turn up and answer the questions about everybody else's theories. So there's a little switch that has to go on on the side of his brain and he just needs to go glassy-eyed, answer the questions as best he can at the beginning and end of the race weekend, and then drive the car. My advice to him, and you touched on it at the end there, is I would go full Micah Hackenden in terms of don't say anything.

30:12Just don't say anything, because anything he says right now will get blown up by people like us. Less is more. Yeah, and again, the other piece of advice is the media is like a pond. Every time you touch it, you make a ripple. You try and smooth out your ripple, you make two more ripples. And so every time you touch the surface, exactly to your point, Tom, you add yet another story, yet another narrative that interweaves with the others. I think Hungary was going to be a better event for him. I think he can put that aside. But what he needs to not do is allow any complacency whatsoever whether within i'm sure they won't be but within his engineering team if the hungry result is better to to prevent them working on this issue for him i was going to say as a broadcaster not not necessarily a manager when i'm asking the questions about you know you're now 50 points away from the world title for example i'm so often met with what i've just the advice i would give george russell which is yes but i'm just taking it each day as it comes so and you get that across the board in all sports and that is sports psychology 101 and it frustrates me so much because i want them to be drawn into the emotion and the hyperbole like i am here are 35 words so you'll go away precisely exactly that yeah

31:45now what of ferrari they came into this weekend a bit like they did silverstone saying no no we're going to be well off here we're going to be well off and there's charlotte claire finishing pretty pretty close to kimmy antony yes he was helped by the vsc but the pace of the ferrari this weekend surprised me i don't know about you guys it surprised us in silverstone as well didn't it and then we thought oh they might struggle a bit more in spa because it's such a such a uh it's a much more power sensitive circuit the straights are just a longer and you were saying that fred Fassur was worried about the race pace through the weekend as well.

32:22They were brilliant today. And yeah, their pace surprised me. And we often do, you know, we point fingers at Ferrari strategy. Sometimes rightly so when they get things wrong and it's inexplicable. And Ferrari fans out there are sort of infuriated by it. But that VSC, calling them both in, bam, bam, double stack. Very, I mean, obviously for Hamilton, a tougher day. But for Leclerc, that worked perfectly. It fell for them, didn't it? Fell for some others as well. I think Piastri took that VSC. A few other drivers gained from it. It was in their window. They made the right call to take it. It would have been a pretty mad call not to take it if you put your reverse glasses on.

33:04What impressed me was the pace. It was only about three tenths that Leclerc was sort of behind Antonelli. And then with the benefit of the overtake, Leclerc could stay in touch relatively well. A little bit cooler seems to help. I think we've uncovered a bit of a car tendency with Ferrari that in the warmer races, they tend to struggle in general. It's got a little bit of oversteer and the switch back in the mid corner. They're really happy, as Fred said, after the race with the chassis side of things. Get off the line. Well, it's got a lot of strength. And again, you know, in Hungary and, for example, Sao Paulo, which will come up and so on and so forth, it'll be a strong car.