How Oscar ‘lured’ Lando in, Leclerc at his ‘best’ + promising signs for Max and Mekies? - 2025 Belgian GP Review

0:00Meet the Red Bull Dragonberry Energizer. It's one of the many new drinks out now. Who knew ice cold drinks could be so fire? Try them all, only at McDonald's.

0:17He lured Lando away from the ideal line and then, hey presto, Lando fell for that in a way. The two contenders for the title, side by side. Not anymore, they're not. Oscar Piastri on the attack. Nicely done. Nicely done. Oscar have a little bit more advantage. The fight with Lando, car to car. He's a little bit more calm. He knows when to attack. He's an aggressive driver who brings it home. Little errors here and there from Lando. He can't keep doing these little errors, I think, if he wants to be a champion. That new rear suspension on the Ferrari. I was expecting a little bit more. I was expecting a car that could be closer to McLaren.

1:04Because the changing conditions for me is one of the best races this year from Charles Leclerc. He feels more comfortable having Lewis Hamilton next to him than Carlos Sainz. Is actually Max the right guy for this team now? Because he's all about winning and I think the team has got to go back before it can go forward. I think he's going to be a team player.

1:28The weather tested our patience, but the Belgian Grand Prix was well worth the wait, and the second half of the season has started in style. Welcome everyone to F1 Nation. I'm Tom Clarkson, and joining me in the spa paddock are Albert Fabrega and Juan Fossaroli from ESPN. Guys, great to have you on the show again, after what's been a long, wet day, but a brilliant Grand Prix. Hi, Tom. A pleasure always to be on your fantastic podcast. It's been long, that's for sure. I would say that it's been a spa, spa-style weekend. That's right. In the first six positions, maybe it was not that exciting. Maybe we have to look a little bit to the back.

2:09But it was a race of high tension, wasn't it? Yeah, I mean, obviously. Could Oscar get the medium tyre to the end of the race? What could Lando do on the hard? Nothing to choose between Verstappen in fourth and Leclerc in third. I loved it. I mean, I loved every single race of Formula One. Maybe I was expecting a little bit more action in the front runners. And, you know, obviously what happened with Lando, have to pit it one lap after, you know, 7Ks around this track. You lost a lot of time and even more time with a pit stop. After that, it was like the race looks like it was over. Well, let's talk about that battle at the front.

2:46Oscar Piastri's first win in four races. He went into this weekend eight points clear of Lando Norris at the top of the championship standings. He's now doubled that advantage to 16 points after beating Lando in both the sprint and the Grand Prix itself. I thought it was masterful. Yeah, yeah. I mean, Oscar proved himself from the first and only free practice that he was the guy to beat. And maybe in qualifying he was not that happy. but when he got the pole for the sprint, he said it's not the best place to have a pole position and obviously Max got the first position but yesterday he was upset because he didn't got the pole position but today it was better to be second than first I mean, he did a great job but I think Lando have also something to do with what happened finishing second A little error in starting the race, and then after that, he has nothing to do when you have to stop one lap after your teammate.

3:56And a bad speed stop also for Lando. But I agree with you. When he's starting to, you know, five seconds, three seconds, I say, OK, come on, we have a beautiful final lap, and then nothing happens. When it's so close between these two guys, Lando Norris cannot afford to run wide at Pujon. He can't afford to lock up at La Source. And actually, he can't afford a whole 7K lap when Oscar pitted. Clearly, I think they should have double-stacked their cars. We were discussing this. He could slow down a little bit, maybe just give him three seconds of space. He was about 1.7, 1.8, so one second slowing down on the lap before getting into the pit lane.

4:46Double a stack and you are just three or four seconds behind. But when he went back after the pit stop, he was like eight seconds. But I think that they were trying to do something different. The same thing that they choose the hard compound instead of the medium compound at that point. I think that they had an idea in mind that in the same conditions it was so difficult to overtake your teammate. So they tried something different. Stopping later, maybe it could work. Fitting the hard compound instead of the medium compound that Oscar did, it could work. They tried something different to overtake Oscar during the race and it didn't work.

5:26A lot of tiny little errors on Lando's side of the garage, wasn't it? Whereas Oscar, I can't think of an error he did all weekend. Okay, he was a little bit unhappy with Turn 14 in Q3 on Saturday afternoon. But that's it. I think, yeah, and I agree with Albert because that and you also, because you mentioned little errors here and there from Lando. And you cannot afford that. And more if you're fighting with the same machinery, you have your teammate and he's a super fast driver. and I mean the skills both are fantastic drivers the best opportunity for Orlando this weekend was a sprint race if he was doing well on Saturday and win a sprint race and have a point extra and win this race maybe they were tied in the championship obviously that's the perfect situation but he had the chance to do it before the weekend started but that's why I don't know sometimes he excelled he drives like Silverstone or Monaco and the other hand Sometimes he does these little errors that are costing him a lot of points.

6:31It's a lot of races to go, 11 races to go. But he can't keep doing these little errors, I think, if he wants to be a champion. I was really intrigued to see how Oscar would bounce back after the disappointment, and I'm putting inverted commas there. He still finished second, but with the safety car infringement and the 10-second penalty there, how was he going to bounce back? and I thought he was emphatic on Friday here, wasn't he? That was everything I needed to know about his mindset after what happened at Silverstone. Yeah, I think so. And the way he scored that first lap, it was crazy difficult to understand how he could be quicker than his teammate and then almost half a second of the other contenders.

7:16So I'm a big fan of how Oscar Piastri is affording the challenge every weekend with that calm, with that, you know, no panicking anywhere. And yeah, I think that this calm, the way that he's hitting every challenge every weekend is giving him a little bit more of, I don't know if it's a chance to win the championship, if it's just an extra tool for him. But it must be really difficult to be on Lando's side, you know, to have someone at the other side that is all time, not panicking anymore. It doesn't matter what happens. it has to be really difficult to digest. And one final thing on Oscar. He's now done 31 races in the points.

8:03Whilst also, you know, pulling some moves out there. You know, he's not a conservative driver. He's an aggressive driver who brings it home. Yeah, well, like back last year, remember? And first corner, he did it. I mean, the best move I've seen him from Oscar. Maybe he was this year a little bit conservative. No, but giving a lot of space to Max and Imola and cost him the first position, but Max was flying. But apart of that, I don't see many errors from, or maybe Australia, you know, when he went off and luckily he got a point. But at the end, he's always executing everything very well. pole positions also race execution I think he's working very well but I insist I like Lando, he's a nice character we all like Lando, he's actually a brilliant team player as well he's lovely, now we're going back to Hungary remember what happened last year the thing is going to be like that, I think it's going to be more and more friction because you have two drivers fighting for the champions is completely different.

9:14And McLaren is performing well everywhere. The last win was here 2012 with Jenson. I mean, it's been 13 years. How important is Hungary in this intra-team battle at McLaren? We've then got the four-week summer break. It's super important because after the race we go on holidays. That's a critical moment of the season. But apart of that, I would say that it's going to be the border. It's going to be the line where I think that the things will change. If both McLarens are in front there, I think that the gap to, you have the list there, to Verstappen is already 80 points. If they perform good there and they are one and two again, I think the distance is already too big for someone, even for someone like Verstappen to try to get the title.

10:05So from that point, I think there will be something like a release from McLaren. Look at the strategies of McLaren. They are trying to avoid them to fight on track, to split them as much as they can to avoid any clash on track, to avoid to give any team orders. Do you think that's what was going on today with making Lando go a lap longer and have a different compound attire for the second half of the race? I don't know if it came from the engineer or from the driver. I haven't heard the radios yet. we have to analyze the whole week and listen carefully the radius but sometimes looks like they try to avoid to have both cars fighting for position in in no or getting closer it looks like it looks like i don't know if it's a it's a team order strategy but i think that the things can change after the summertime where everything will be decided even drivers but what about between the two guys at mclaren you know if if piastri wins again in Hungary and extends the lead by another seven points?

11:03No team orders. Meanwhile, Verstappen is getting further backwards. There's no reason to give any team orders. It's a completely different situation than last year. For me, last year, McLaren did a mistake, not giving priority to Lando Norris to get more points in order to be capable to fight to Verstappen at the end of the season. For me, that wasn't a mistake. This season, for me, will be a mistake to give team orders. Yeah, but even just psychologically between the two McLaren drivers, you know, carrying the winging momentum into the summer break. Yeah, I don't know. You never know. You see how, for example, Lando has performed much better with the changes they did in the car, with the suspension upgrade they did.

11:49that it allows him to feel more comfortable with the car, having more risk, doing less mistakes, I would say, at this part of the season. But I don't know if psychologically, obviously, going on holidays with a win, being quicker than your teammate, it gives you a little bit more of confidence. But, you know, for me, the fight will be like this till the end of the season. I don't see another point like that. Yeah, I mean, after Monaco, when he did a fantastic weekend with Poland win. I say, okay, this is another Lando, but then we go to Canada, and what happened? I'm trying to overtake Oscar in a difficult place.

12:26But then he comes back, and he performed fantastic in Silverstone, even in Austria, when they were allowed to battle. I like the Austrian Grand Prix was fantastic. It was such a good battle. And maybe the one who was almost wrong was Oscar, because in that turn four, he can end the race of both drivers. But that's the way I would like to end the championship. It's like with Luis and Nico in 2016, where they were allowed to fight. That's why I think Oscar has a little bit more advantage. The fight with Lando, car to car. He's a little bit more calm. He knows when to attack. We see all the fights with Lando, with Max.

13:10You know, always Max was having an advantage mentally over Lando. I think now, Oscar, at some points, he have a little advantage. But did you see at the start of this race in the wet, safety car pulls in, we're on our first racing lap. It was lap five of the Grand Prix as such, wasn't it? But did you see Oscar pull out on the run to La Source and he lured, he lured Lando towards the apex, away from the ideal line and then hey presto Lando got too much oversteer under power at the exit and Oscar passed him on the run to turn five I think actually the toe was so powerful it would have made no difference either way but I thought it was really interesting that Lando fell for that in a way yeah he's like a little trap no yeah but I think also say the the toe with intermediate tires are much efficient.

14:07That's why he did it perfect. I think that he executed, as you said, maybe turned it into a little mistake, and then he knew he's going to get him with that toe with intermediate tires at the end of the chemist straight. That's why that was a great move. And if he was the other way around, and Lando will not lose the first position, we will pit first, no? And give him the advantage. The race was there, yeah. Yeah, I mean, but I don't know the rules exactly, how the papaya rules are, but if you finish the first lap and first position, you have the option to pit first and not do what happened in Hungary that you cannot undercut your teammate.

14:46No, that was the main thing last year.

14:56Let's bring it on to Ferrari now. Charles Leclerc finished P3 to secure his fifth podium of the season and his fourth of the last six races he's on a great run only Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have been on the podium more times than Charles this year now Albert this one's for you that new rear suspension on the Ferrari neither driver was being that informative about how the car felt how it improved the car What did you find out? Personally, without having any information, I was expecting a little bit more. I was expecting a car that could be closer to McLaren. And not to be then, but at least to be closer.

15:38Obviously, it's a little bit early. It was a sprint weekend here. And you have no time to scan different ride heights, to scan different level of downforce or set up options. We will see in the following races. They will have more time to test. but I was expecting a little bit more from them. It's been a good race this weekend for Charles Leclerc, but I think that it goes together with the lows of Red Bull and Verstappen. They did a step forward for sure, but we'll see if definitely the thing that they were waiting for and they'll be capable to keep this momentum. On the other side of the garage, I don't know, it looks a little bit more tricky for Luis to adapt to the changes.

16:23There's still not, that momentum is not arriving for him. And I think that mentally he's a little bit like, not on a low point, but I haven't seen yet, maybe in Silverstone a little bit, that Lewis that is connected to the car, he's hungry and he's aiming to fight for important things. In the wet part of the Grand Prix, Lewis was on fire. Yep. okay they were able to change the car because pit lane start and he obviously he had the downforce for the conditions but it was a little bit of the Lewis of old that I think you're talking about he was also very bullish we're talking about Lewis Hamilton now bullish coming into this Grand Prix he was talking in the press conference on Thursday about writing documents to all the senior management at Ferrari he had meetings with all the senior management in that little mini break between Silverstone and Spa.

17:21I thought he's really trying to grab hold of this situation and make a difference. So to go from the sort of high of what he was telling us on Thursday to the disappointment of Friday must have been difficult for him to get his head around. It was a big frustration for him but at the end what happened in Quali for the sprint he mentioned that all this new suspension and some part of it, understanding it, cause that spin, that it's the first one in his career that kind. We know how he controls and manages the back of the car. Not an excuse, but I think caught him by surprise. Then other mistake by him, yeah, of course, when he got deleted the lap because he exceeded the limits of the track for a little margin.

18:09He was not even completely sure there was the right penalty. But I think after that, he was on fire, as you mentioned. He said, I have to do something different. And he knew with the rain, Lewis have an incredible record here, part of his five wins. And what he did on the race, I think, when he went to the pen, you know Lewis, Saturday was like, yes, no, yes, no. Today, he was speaking every single question, Every single answer was like, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I mean, and he was like, okay, I got it. And remember, we're going to Hungary, one of these best places, the first win for Mercedes there, only one win in 2013.

18:52And I think he had a good chance. He said he started to understand a little bit the upgrade. If he can't get it working for him, Ferrari will have a good opportunity in that kind of track. because remember Leclerc will have in Poland in Monaco and it's not the same track but have some similarities and I think maybe Lewis can excel there. Back to what you said about the changes and what he was talking about the structural inside the Ferrari. From the beginning of this I said, for me there will be a turning point in Silverstone. If in Silverstone the things don't go right, I think that we will see Lewis starting to do changes within the team or changing something to try to change the situation.

19:33And I think that that's the point that he highlighted on the calendar, where, OK, the time for me to adapt to the team, to understand the team, to understand the car, to understand what means Ferrari in Formula One, it arrives to the end. It reaches the point where now I will put on the table what I think that needs to change to make this team winner. So I think that Luis respects a lot Ferrari and didn't bring all that things on the table since the first day they landed in Maranello. He's waited a little bit of time. And I think that he reached the point where I said, OK, I think that if we want to win the world championship, we need to change this, this, this, this, and this.

20:15I think this thing is what I understand that happened in that two weeks after Silverstone. And how do you think what he was saying in the press conference, going public with that, will have been received back in Maranello? The call to arms, if you like. You know, he listed Alonso and Vettel, great drivers who never won the title with Ferrari. I don't want to be one of them. Do you think that will have gone down well? Yeah, I mean, Lewis thought when he signed for Ferrari, he had not a bad year on Mercedes. He won two races at Silverstone and also here last year. And he had to wait one year with Mercedes.

20:56At one point he was, oh, Mercedes is flying now. I signed for Ferrari. But then saw Ferrari fighting for the Construction Championship, and Ferrari was fast. And he started to have an ear to try to be competitive with Ferrari. Then Ferrari didn't start like the way Lewis or Charles wanted, because it's not only Lewis. Charles is struggling even. He has a lot of podiums. But then now he's starting to think, OK, this year's maybe over. I have that chance next year. It's that what I think motivates Lewis. and I'm sure he don't want to finish like Fernando and Vettel. We are not sure if he's going to win a championship with Ferrari, or maybe yes, but I think a lot of people say, oh, maybe Luis retires next year, but I think it's the other way around.

21:41Now he has that opportunity to think next year, maybe these big changes, he has an opportunity. He's a very emotional driver, Luis, isn't he? And I love that, and to me that makes him the perfect Ferrari driver. and while we're talking of perfect Ferrari drivers just how good was Leclerc this weekend you know to put that car in p3 in quali and then to keep Verstappen at bay with low downforce in wet conditions because particularly that first segment of the race you're right he did not make a mistake was that one of Leclerc's best races this year probably yes because he was starting already from from the second row he was starting from third position and he's kept look it's easy to say now yes he kept uh verstappen behind it's not easy how many races uh on the last 10 years someone has capable to keep max verstappen behind in a race with different conditions like that from wet to dry and not even being close, even close enough to attack you.

22:53So, yeah, it's been a really good race from his side. And, yeah, very well deserved podium. I mean, he did a mistake. Maybe it was costly, no? Because he lost eight cents to Max and Max was able even at one point to get to the DRS option. Didn't happen because it will be difficult then. but he recognized the error that was the only error i think he did um but i i love the team radio no leave me alone i mean he didn't finish i know what to do i'm not what i i know what i'm doing but at least he leave me alone it's too much information and then he focused and he started to make a big gap again and that's why keeping max behind with a low downforce he knew his options We're in the straights.

23:42You can keep him behind. That's why I think, for me, yeah. Because the changing conditions for me is one of the best races or the best races this year from Charlotte. When you think of how bad the Ferrari was in the wet at Silverstone and how good it was today, is that the rear suspension talking? Not sure. There will be something for sure. if they could go a little bit down a little bit more with the car in terms of right heights if they can set up the car in a different way if they can change the rigidity of the car in a different way and change the right heights or control, mainly is to control the right heights of the car in all the different situations and be capable to play with the platform, keeping the platform more stable, that gives you the light everywhere It doesn't matter the track, it doesn't matter the condition, it's an overall performance increase, improving.

24:43So, yeah, it could be, it's part of. You know, Formula 1 is nothing, nothing gives you the green light on a performance of the car. You have to add little things that brings you the performance and the confidence from the driver. We will see, we will see if it's only a one-off, it's related to the track, or it's just a global performance increase from the whole car. You're talking about little things from a technical point of view. Can we bring this on to Red Bull now and talk about big changes? And I'm talking management changes, of course. This is the first race for Laurent Mechiez in charge, team principal, CEO.

25:24Give us your thoughts on his first weekend in charge, Juan. I think he did a great job. I mean, not only with, I mean, Max in the sprint, he had a win already under his belt, even as a sprint race. Maybe the changes they did for today, they were not that, I don't want to say lucky. The word luck in Formula One or in every sport is a little bit tricky. But they risk for so much rain and they did the changes. But I think in general, how he received everybody in the team, even if it's the same building. No, he said it. It started to go to the left. I have to go to the right. But I think he did a great job.

26:07He did a great job with Yuki. He knows him very well. He gave them the confidence. Some parts are new for Yuki. And I don't want to compare. I think I want to speak about Mikis only. He gave a good impression. Maybe he's going to take care only about performing and get a better operation inside the team that is coming with a lot of changes and difficulties. And I think he's a new face. Not that new because already he's working with the group. But I think he's such a nice guy. He was saying hi to everybody, coming in with a suit. And now I am a team boss of Red Bull. And I think he's going to do a great job.

26:48And you know in football, when a team has started to not perform, you have to change the coach. you know the team is not the same since the beginning of last year with Audrey Neu, with Jonathan Wheatley and more people that left the team and I think at some point you have to change something talking about Laurent I think it's going to having a new face, a new approach because we are seeing a lot of engineers that have a different approach, Andrea Steyl, Joe Komatsu, you know, even now Jonathan Wheatley or James Foles It's a new generation of management, and I like that. Did you see a different Max this weekend, just in terms of his approach?

27:28Do you think he's been encouraged by everything that's gone on, and actually the performance of the car in the sprint as well, which he won? I think, for me, it's been a... I'm not inside the team, you know, but I think it's kind of a decision that the timing was not expected. Probably I was expecting the decision to be taken in another part of the year, or during the holidays or at the end of the year. But I think that the decision will allow the team to grow again. I think it's the point where you can start building another successful project that I think will start, from my point of view, with Max in the team.

28:05Right, following on from this, can I put a point to you guys? Max Verstappen is an unbelievably brilliant racing driver. He's all about winning. He's a once-in-a-generation talent. and I think this is a team that is now in transition it is rebuilding is actually Max the right guy for this team now because he's all about winning and I think the team is going to make it's probably got to go back before it can go forward Max only wants to win the world championship do they actually want I mean I feel the irony of ironies is that maybe someone like Carlos Sainz who they turned down for this year is actually the type of character you need when you're rebuilding a team and Max Verstappen you know he wants to be in a McLaren or you know whatever he thinks the best team is going to be next year but what do you think about Max in the rebuilding phase of Red Bull?

29:00Has he got the patience? He's never going to have in his mind he's not capable to win the championship even he's going to fight until he has the last chance when he's out of the championship and maybe there he will start thinking okay i want to rebuild this team for next year or for few for the future but any chance he have to to win the championships he's going to fight for it and he's going to ask for the best car and for put more parts in the car but he also is a smart guy if he stays here if they do a big sacrifice this year they sacrifice the team, as you said, not putting everything together, maybe a step back, he's going to have issues next year if he's staying here.

29:45And he has to be smart for that. I think Max is a very smart guy. Also, the people around him are very smart. And when they see the chances of winning, it's not the championship he's going to think on the team. I think he wants to construct a team around him. He knows the team more than anybody from inside. what happened with the team, what happened with Adrian left the team, what happened with very important parts of the team, Rob Marshall. Remember that he was key on McLaren's also recovery. And he needs to think on that. How are we going to put the right people back again to make this team a great?