‘The fight is still on’. Is Lando in the title race? – Dutch GP Review

29:56Lawrence Barretto:Hopefully we can be even closer and even more in the mix between those guys. I could really feel how much you wanted it on Team Radio today. I don't think I've heard you that frustrated. Does that just show how competitive it is? You want to tag on those decisions? Yeah, I want to win. I want to win. I'm here to win. And it is difficult when you see, you know, when you're looking ahead and you see the two Mercedes drivers, they get the call and it's done and they execute straight away. They let Kimi by and let him get on with the race, and I was on a different strategy, and it's not the same here.

30:30Lawrence Barretto:And that's a little bit difficult, but we just have to take it. We'll take it offline, and when I go back now, I'll speak to them about it. Thanks, Bruce. I think when you look at this race, and maybe I'd include Hungary, the last one as well, on paper, they both looked good for Ferrari. they've under under delivered for different reasons at both racetracks how do we read what Ferrari's done here first of all honestly I think it's a case of what might have been I think the reason why we saw or heard Lewis Hamilton was so frustrated on the radio is because I think he just felt he had the car to minimum be on the podium and their qualifying form by Sean Lewis have said that has been their undoing this weekend because it's just put them out of the fight and And, you know, no matter how fast you are, once you're behind the McLarens and the Mercedes, you just can't, especially on a track where it's so difficult to overtake, you just can't get yourselves in the fight.

31:26Lawrence Barretto:So I think Ferrari, there are some positives because obviously they're adding performance to the car with updates. So the car is getting faster. They are making gains. They're just not generating results from them. And again, there were little, little examples today of strategic weaknesses within the team. They just didn't really handle operationally the race in the best way. and I think that's probably left Charles and Lewis not like angry or annoyed because they know fundamentally the car is good and it's just disappointed that they haven't been able to get the best out of it. Sometimes Lewis is very downbeat, sometimes he's very harsh on himself but he's always polished.

32:04You don't see a huge amount in the media from him of like naked ambition which is quite clearly there, obviously. Nobody becomes that successful in a racing car without a generous helping of it. And the eyes just turned to steel when you asked him a bad question. I'm sure you noticed it standing just in front of me and just went, I want to win. And I'm used to Mercedes or I see Mercedes, in fact, and no doubt remember Mercedes. And I think that that shows that he's got a sniff of a championship. That's what he came to Ferrari for, to win a championship in red, to win more championships than anyone else in Formula One.

32:48And he's seen something that has got in his way today of progressing that directly. And that sort of pure ambition escaped momentarily, didn't it? It escaped onto the airwaves and then it escaped into the media pen and you could see it. He's such a sporting mind, Lewis, that he keeps it under control most of the time I think that's what you saw from him today a comparison also perhaps between the environment he won those championships in where for the majority of it or if not all of it he was really you know he was top dock in the team and if there was movement to be done it was out of Lewis Hamilton's way to a scenario where as we know he's much more equal with Charles across the garage and doesn't necessarily have that button to push as directly or that facility to play with do you think you would have got a different interview in the pen without that late vsc he might have got that p3 and we would have had a different lewis hamilton right i think we

33:52Lawrence Barretto:would we would have had a different lewis hamilton in the sense that he would have been happy to have got what he thought was the bare minimum i still think he probably would have wanted to get across this hunger that he's got in that he feels he can feel he we saw it when he won that race in spain he feels like they're on the precipice of something and i think he just doesn't want them to let it go and i think he might feel like that was a really good opportunity to speak externally but also internally about what they need to do because they're fighting you're in the fight now right there's no messing about there's no excuses and so i think it was really refreshing to have that kind of lewis i think he he knows when he's talking to you that he's also going a bit off piece right in the middle of that answer goes yeah we'll um we'll take this offline but and and that's kind of a i know i'm talking more directly than i normally do but i want everybody to know this and it's exactly to your point is is there a repeat of the problems that he had with ricardo adami last year his his race engineer do you think carlos santi his current engineer is going to be like hang on this is slipping away how do i keep my driver happy no i don't i don't think it's a repeat um admittedly we haven't really heard Lewis talk much more about Carlos Sante recently in the way that he did just off that win in Spain but I actually think today was maybe more just generally the way the team is operating you know they didn't maybe bring Charles in as early as Lewis felt they should have done based on the strategy that they were running so I think it is more like a bigger picture kind of thing rather than specific problems because I think actually generally lewis is in the best place that he's been for a long time in terms of the setup that he's got around him the inner circle that he's got the way that he's communicating with the team but i think this is all adding back to that same point that i think he can feel it's there and i think that's why he's getting so agitated because i think it's not just having a bad day for just having a bad day it's having a bad day losing some real potentially good results that was a pure rage against the machine it was like the the way this team is operating is preventing me from getting what i deserve out of this race and i'm not happy about it but and i think he'll consider himself joint with his engineer as well like that's a that's a that's a you and me should be upset about what what's going on here um the thing is i don't i don't think what happened today you know if you would have for example pitted Leclerc lap earlier would have really constituted prioritizing Hamilton I just think it's you know when you look at how Mercedes did it and George gets out of the car and goes yeah it was sensible Kimi was in front of me we moved we switched the cars around it it all made sense it's just it's just efficiency the anger is not you know I should be the number one driver and you should be burying that guy for me that's that's not the way that he's that's not the inference and that's not the way that he's speaking the anger is there is a better way to do this you know the cogs of this machine can turn more efficiently and that's what they need to do and make cleaner calls in the races it's 59 points now that he's behind Kimi Antonelli in the championship I know but you know realistically he's now he's now also joined he's now also joined with George the the reality is that if the Ferrari goes considerably quicker and is considerably more reliable than the Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton has the opportunity to win the Drivers' World Championship.

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40:29Oh, big crash. Massive crash in the background. Max Verstappen into the wall and the greasy surface finds the home hero into the wall and out of the race.

40:47The grandstands were orange, weren't they? The last Dutch Grand Prix, people were here to see their main man, Max Verstappen, and he crashes on the opening lap. I mean, thoughts on what happened there, first of all. I mean, it could have happened to anyone accident. I think you know, though, how aggressive Verstappen can be on those opening laps. You only have to look at the Grand Prix here last year and see him go hauling around the outside of turn two, just about hang on to it. You know, these cars have a tremendous amount of torque

41:28and occasionally brilliant drivers drop it and that's what happened. I mean, you're not exactly short of mitigating factors in the way that the conditions were in the scenario Verstappen's in. He's had difficulty with the balance of the car all year but it's not really that, is it? It's just damp at the area of the circuit. It rained last. He's trying to make hay because he knows that realistically if you look at where Lawson finished to sort of distant seventh. The reality is the Red Bull's not really fast enough on an even playing field to beat the Ferrari, the McLaren or the Mercedes. So he's trying to do something on a slightly damp start and puts it in the wall.

42:08Lawrence Barretto:It is just an example of where Max is and where Red Bull are at the minute. He's having to overdrive the car, you know, constantly. He didn't need to maybe take the kind of risk that he did going that close to the white line. But to Alex's point, well, he had to, to try and make something happen. And I think that it kind of is a microcosm of where Red Bull are at the moment. They're the fourth best team. They're seeing that Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari on any given weekend are pretty much of a muchness. You know, the three teams were within a tenth of each other in sprint quality. You know, so from that perspective, Red Bull are falling away from this fight on a weekend where he obviously committed his future to Red Bull until the end of 2030.

42:46Lawrence Barretto:Four more years with that team. It was pretty disappointing, especially as it was the last Dutch Grand Prix. but I think that that's just where they are at the moment. That's what they've got and it's a question of now, how long is it going to take for them to get back again? It's a short lap here at Zandvoort. Were you surprised by the gap between Red Bull and the guys in front? Yeah, I was actually. But, you know, Verstappen's then not in the Grand Prix, right? So you've got Lawson on his, not his first day at Red Bull, but that's a very long story. But his first day this time round. and he is then in sort of no man's land, just driving his Grand Prix, doesn't really have a benchmark.

43:28I actually think it's a bit of a shame for Lawson that Verstappen wasn't in the Grand Prix. You know, obviously it might move him, move him a position up the road, but in this opportunity, wouldn't it have been great for him to have that benchmark to be able to point at? Now he's not going to be able to say, you know, finished in seventh place, three seconds behind Max Verstappen.

43:48Lawrence Barretto:It's just what it is. I thought they did a great job. I think for you, he's never driven a 2026 spec car. And do you remember how the drivers were complaining at the start of the year, how different these cars were to drive? And Yuki is parachuted in with one practice session. Liam, to a lesser extent, but still impressive extent, has gone to the works team where he had some demons and he's still gone and got the job done. So, I mean, do you remember China last year? He was last on the grid and then he was given his marching orders after the race. I felt to come back in, to conduct himself in the way that he did so positively out the car inside the car to qualify within one tenth of a second of max verstappen was was nothing short of stunning actually by liam lawson i think it it proves how much he's grown as a person in the last 12 months or so and he still wasn't that pleased with that he still felt that there was more to come which i think shows how he's kind of moved his personal bar as to what he should be able to deliver I think that was his message to the media.

44:47I think surely inside he was hugely satisfied, don't you think? Yeah, I mean, I don't think it could have gone too much better. I mean, you can jump straight in and beat Max Verstappen, but I think that's potentially a little bit of an unrealistic game. You've got to remember that 2025 was Liam Lawson's first full season in Formula One. It seems like he's been around for ages, but actually he's got a full season under his belt now. and it's a great opportunity for both of them. I don't exactly see where Yuki fits in the field in terms of being offered a seat anywhere off the back of doing a good job in the Grand Prix, but I'm sure it won't do him any harm for the future.

45:30Now, we did a show on Thursday, just before the Grand Prix, Lawrence and I about Max re-signing until 2030. I'd love to get your thoughts, Alex, on why you think he's made such a long commitment to Red Bull? You know, I really don't like these sort of conceptual contract lengths because I know that there are so many caveats, clauses, hoops to jump that actually what you're doing there is, that is the absolute, what you're doing with all of these drivers is that is the absolute longest they're going to be in the car for. It's a long commitment. There must be something on Max's side and something on the team's side that says this needs to improve or I have the opportunity.

46:23In 12 months time, we're going to be having, is Max staying or is he going? Are you telling me that? But literally, you know, every single Formula One driver will have a sequence of clauses, however extreme or not extreme, that allow them to move on from their current contract. What it is, is a moment in time where Max has offered a vindication of Red Bull and the direction that it's going in. And I think actually, you know, the media report that we saw or the lovely social media content that they put out where Lauren Meckes is adding a hyphen between resigns and resigns is really the point. It's really the point is that, and I think that that's pretty much all of this, you know, is Max basically going, yeah, this is my intention for now.

47:15You know, in terms of like it being until 2030, there's a lot of Formula One racing to go before then, Mr Clarkson.

47:25Lawrence Barretto:I think that's very fair. I think that's probably always been the Verstappen's approach to contracts, which is let's just get this done. And if everything goes well, we'll see out this contract. But I think they are so smart. Raymond is an incredible manager. And I think he will always be looking out for the best for his driver. And the best is to give himself the best home and allow the team to rebuild around him, but also give him options that if it doesn't work out for whatever reason, they have got solutions in place. You know, they've talked to McLaren and Mercedes now in the last 12 months.

47:58Lawrence Barretto:So they already kind of know where they stand with both those teams. So he's put the groundwork in just in case. Can you imagine the flip side if it had worked out the other way for Lauren Mechies? And, you know, you take over Red Bull, well, you sort of take over Red Bull in the middle of this outflow of talent and then right on the end of it, Max Verstappen leaves. Max resigns. Yeah, it would have been disastrous. And the relief for Laurent must have been huge that Verstappen signed on the dotted line. Let's talk about Aston Martin now. Fernando Alonso came home in ninth to take two points, only the team's second points finish of the season.

48:40Here's what the two-time world champion said to you, Lawrence, in the pen. Very happy. Happy for the team. As I think they nailed all the decisions today. The strategy was the right one. The starting tyre was the right one. At the end, a couple of virtual safety cars. So we were debating if stopping or not. We decided not. So I think all the decisions they made, they were the correct ones today. So thanks to that mix, I think we are in the points. The car was performing well. Very low tyre deck today. So, you know, happy for the team. Hopefully we keep this momentum into the next few races. And big congratulations to everyone.

49:22Lawrence Barretto:Did it feel like a step on the chassis and the engine side this weekend? Yeah, definitely on the chassis. I think we brought more new parts here and I think now in the race, you know, the car was very easy to drive, very easy on tyres. I think that's definitely a benefit there. So everything that we are bringing from the chassis side is delivering performance on track. On the engine side, it's even more difficult as we don't have a clear compare to the previous spec. Obviously, we're in the point, so maybe there is more power and we need to take it but still especially on the drivability side we need to to improve and to get a little bit consistency that seems that we lost with this respect too so how did he do it he did it with good strategy they started on the right tire he made the most of the chassis updates that they brought here for the second successive race and they had a new updated honda power unit they weren't too clean on the drivability both drivers here but the feeling from honda at least is that it was a step forward.

50:16Lawrence Barretto:I'm not sure Fernando was agreeing quite with that, but he was really pleased with the way the chassis improved. He's got a car that he can fight with now. And I think it's abundantly clear that he feels like there is opportunity here to make progress. And he also knows that the team have got to do everything right operationally to get the most out of a race. And on a race like this, where there was opportunity, they got the most they could out of it. He did strategy one, Tom. Nobody else did strategy. After the red flag, he did strategy. A big, long one stop, which was right at the top of my sheet.

50:51Nobody did it, which was slightly worrying. Yeah, from the soft to the hard. Benefited a little bit from the penalties. But not to be negative, because I think he drove brilliantly. And actually, the way he kept pace at the end on the hard tyres, under quite a lot of pressure from Gasly, I think, at the end of the race. um but yeah he obviously had some he kind of stealthed into it on a big sort of has of old kind of hail mary sort of sort of one stop and and it was it was great and it's great to see Aston get some points if anyone's gonna deliver you 37 laps or whatever it was on the hard tyre it is Fernando Alonso he is the tyre whisperer right you can just imagine him in in there can't you thinking it through front end rear end managing the managing the tyres as they degrade away communicating it all with the team it's experience it's experience it's what they in all seriousness it's what they brought him here for to deliver a drive like that and maybe pick up points early in the development curve of a car i mean i'm not sure they were expecting the development curve to be quite as long or curvy but they um you know to deliver points early in the development of a car that they might not have otherwise got and he's done the job so has Fernando seen enough felt enough through the steering wheel to commit to Aston Martin going forward he's the last big name really on the grid that we're still wondering what he's going to be

52:24Lawrence Barretto:doing in 2027 I'm not sure you know TC whether or not he's decided I kind of get the feeling he's kicking the can down the road a little bit longer just just what's he waiting for well a he's not in a rush right so he knows that aston will wait for him for as long as he needs to make this decision but i guess he needs to find out more about the steps that honda can make can they together as a team improve the drivability can the next set of upgrades that aston bring on the chassis side deliver can honda just prove to him that they have got on top of it and it's just a matter of time he needs more answers i think because it's still quite a small sample it's still hungry in Zandvoort.

53:04He said coming into this weekend, I just want to see that everything's pointing in the right direction and that we're making progress. He talked to you in the pen about how pleased he was with the chassis. Honda maybe have a little bit of work to do, but I think both drivers said it was better. He's going to have a think about it over the winter break.

53:27Isn't this him being the wily old driver that he is and he's realized that there's no other driver with world championship status out there and he's just waiting for Lawrence to agree to his terms.

53:42Lawrence Barretto:I mean, he's kind of earned it, hasn't he? In terms of what he's been able to achieve and he knows the market and he knows, Tom, that he is the most decorated driver still left on it. So I don't think he needs to move first. I think he's more than happy for them to continue the chase. he said that he's going to sit down with Lawrence and Adrian at some point in the next couple of weeks to chat more about it I think there probably is this underlying feeling within his camp and Aston that he is going to stay but he looks like he's going to make them work for it to kind of get that deal done because the reality is at the minute Fernando Alonso is not ready I don't think to give up on 4-1 to my mind that means he is going to sign a deal it's just a matter of when Well, would the Madrid Grand Prix be the perfect time?

54:29Lawrence Barretto:You should work in communications, TC. That sounds like the ideal time to do it. On the topic of drivers re-signing, will they, won't they? Williams have got their men again for 2027. Alex Albon, Carlos Sainz committing in the build-up to this Dutch Grand Prix. They were fighting for 14th and they ended with Sainz locking up into turn one and crashing into the side of Alba. What a way to celebrate those new contracts. I mean, did you speak to them in the pen? What vibe did you get from them? Well, I expected two very different rated drivers when they came over to talk to me because normally when teammates go and they collide like that, it's the cardinal synth.

55:13Lawrence Barretto:So they're obviously going to be furious. One's going to be furious. One's going to be embarrassed. But actually, neither of them seem that bothered because the pace of the car is just not there. and that is their greatest irritation you know carlos essentially said i don't care about fighting for positions as low as this because points are out the window at the minute um and with alex he kind of almost just smiled because up until that point he'd made a bunch of positions at the start i think three or four places was actually tickling the points paying positions early doors and then the race just unraveled because they're too slow so yeah okay they came together yeah okay it's annoying there was damage yet they are actually limited on parts and that's not ideal but at the end of the day i think it shows the miserable position that they're in at the minute they're actually they're fighting for 14th aston have made this step like it just looks like they're in a world of pain and even colliding with each other isn't enough to kind of get them going because that's not the big picture here they would have been invisible in that grand prix had they not collided we are at least talking about williams in this pod pretty sure that's not what james wants there is it guys what a race um i want driver of the day from both of you yuki sunoda i think is my driver of the day put a great move on pierre gasly uh into uh down the backstretch into turn seven and turned up from greece you know for a jump back to milton keen's made a seat jumped in you know not crashing it's a good effort firstly on a on a on a wet start when you've not started a grand prix in eight and a half months um and so for that yuki sunoda is my driver of the day i was very impressed he was my driver of the weekend i know that's not an accolade we're allowed to be talking about but i think he had a stunning weekend i think lando for me um was the driver of the day i know he won the race that's an easy thing to say but i think the Orlando that we saw and we talked about it at the start was just so impressive from start to finish.

57:19Lawrence Barretto:So many different factors came into play as well and he handled them all perfectly. And at no point in that race did I think he couldn't win it. And I think that's quite a step forward for Orlando. I'm not sure I could ever say that in any other race that I've watched with Orlando. So I thought that was an impressive step forward for him. And for me, it's the man we were talking about about five minutes ago, Fernando Alonso. So it was so good to see him back with a smile on his face. And to do that one stopper, I thought, was sensational in what were hugely difficult conditions. One final question from me.

57:54We haven't mentioned Audi. Nico Hülkenberg, P8's second points finish in two races. There was some frustration bubbling away a few races back. I feel that we're seeing the real Hulk now.

58:09Lawrence Barretto:Yeah, I think there were some worries, frankly. up until Hungary, nothing was going his way. And Gabriel Bortoleto was outperforming him comfortably. I think he did a great job starting with avoiding his teammate who had that 360 right at the beginning. Incredible instincts to avoid that. And then he went on to build a really impressive race in the way that he hasn't always really been able to do this year. It's interesting because it's the first mention of development for next year that I've had from anyone. so far, was just checking in with Alan McNish, who said, Audi are pushing for this year.

58:48We could potentially gain a championship, a constructive championship position from Haas, who are having a little bit of a difficult time. But we have got half an eye on 2027. It's a bit of a moving target still. But Audi, I think, are on the ascendancy. They're doing a brilliant job. And I'm starting to expect to see at least one Audi in the points now, rather than it being impressive every time they are, which is where I think they started the year. Well, Audi currently P8 in the Constructors' Championship, five points behind Haas. Well, guys, thank you again. Great to have you on the show. And for more reaction and analysis from Zandvoort, please go to F1.com, the F1 app, and at F1 on social media.

59:32And make sure you check out F1's other official podcast this week. Cadillac's Sergio Perez is my guest on F1 Beyond the Grid. He shares some great insight about his Red Bull exit, the reservations he had about coming back to Formula 1 and why the Cadillac project is so motivating for him. That's out on Wednesday and you can watch our chat on the F1 YouTube channel. Well, thanks very much for listening. We will, of course, be back next Monday with our preview of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. So we'll speak to you then. F1 Nation is produced by Formula 1 and Audioboom Studio.

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