Is Ferrari still Charles Leclerc's team?

0:02Naomi:This is a global production.

0:05DC:Barcelona was just as dismal. This isn't show friends, this is show business. There's no closer enemy than the one that's right next to you. Lewis is a beast when it comes to that. Get the guns out. Who is the biggest underperformer this season?

0:16Naomi:I'm just really happy that neither of you suggested that I might have been the underperformer in this team.

0:27Up to speed.

0:32DC:It's Naomi. It's David. It's Jolie. Welcome to Up to Speed. Well, the celebrations for Lewis's first win in red have been continuing on, and I'm sure they will for some time. And today we're going to be answering your questions on his historic win and on much, much more. Well, let's get straight into it, because there's one man we've been keen to talk about for a while, and that's Mr. Charles Leclerc. it's underscore triz on instagram asks us do you think the tide is changing from leclerc to hamilton at ferrari now i'm going to briefly pick up on this before throwing to you guys but look there's no doubt that charles has had a tough weekend out there in barcelona and seeing your teammate win whichever way we want to look at it let's be blunt let's be honest it's not a good feeling and ferrari have again no secret not had a good few years that the last win was signed in 2024 back in Mexico City.

1:30Charles doesn't even hold that record. So now we're looking at it, how do we think he's feeling? Well, I think that he's matured enough in his career now

1:42Naomi:to understand that racing against a 7-time world champion, you're certainly not going to beat him all the time. He probably found it a bit easier than he expected when he joined from Mercedes. and he basically was still the pace setter within the team. But what we've seen this year, think back to Shanghai, where they were pass, repass, battling. We were questioning, are Ferrari doing the right thing, letting their guys race? But actually, it was brilliant entertainment for us. And it was the early signs that Lewis Hamilton was back to his brilliant best. So he will, of course, be disappointed in his own performance in the last couple of Grands Prix.

2:22Naomi:But he's got a multi-million pound secure contract going forward, even if worst comes to the worst for him, in that Lewis continually delivers, gets the wins, wins the championship. Lewis can surely only be around for another two years, three years. I can't imagine he's going to be around for the next five years, which I imagine is the length of the contract that Charles Leclerc has. Yeah.

2:46DC:And as you say, Charles has just signed that extension with Ferrari. And I think that that in itself will, you know, appease him a little bit. But I think that Charles is very, very hard on himself. He's always been like never been shy of criticizing himself when he makes mistakes. And he does make quite a few mistakes. And we've seen him quite regularly crashing and qualifying. And he's often over the limit. And that's why he is such a quick driver is because he goes to the limit and then sometimes beyond it. But it's always for the betterment of the team when you have two very competitive drivers.

3:19DC:And whilst it will definitely be frustrating for Charles 100 percent, Jolie, as you say, Charles wasn't the last person to win a race for Ferrari. That was Carlos. So he would have want to be the next one and not have it be Lewis. And I think the same thing goes for when Lewis scored his first podium with Ferrari. I think it had been a very long time since Charles had done the same. So those moments when you are competing against the person who's in the same team with you before you compete with anybody else, are extremely frustrating and I'm sure that he will be reflecting on how he can close that gap.

3:51DC:But, you know, I think Charles was very, very quick in Barcelona before he put it in the wall. And I think in Monaco, it was exactly the same. I mean, he was looking like the favorite for pole position. So it's not because of a lack of speed. It's just, you know, tying in the loose ends. But in terms of the energy within the team, I don't think that he's going to, you know, be forgotten so quickly and that the team's going to, you know, the tide's going to change to Lewis. I don't think that that happens that quickly, but it's definitely, definitely very frustrating to see your teammates on the top step of the podium when that could have been you.

4:24And look, DC, you'll know it better than me, Naomi. I'm like really keen, you know, just Charles now put on a brave face. He smiles at him and Lewis, you know, really friendly behind the scenes. I don't know if either of you two have spent much time with both of them together, what the dynamic is actually like between them both. Is it all friendly, friendly? Like we see other drivers that really get on and we've also seen drivers that really didn't get on like in Gasly and Ocon when they were at Alpine you know they couldn't do media days together because they didn't like each other that much so I know it's nowhere near that and I'm not trying to create something that is like that I'm more trying to figure out what is the dynamic between them two.

4:59Naomi:It feels to me and Naomi you you have you know an insight as well when you're at the Grand Prix but it feels to me there's absolute respect between the two of them they're in two different phases of their life, let's say, it's all new and exciting for Charles. But I doubt very much that they're going for social dinners together or booking their summer holidays together.

5:19DC:Yeah, I don't think the summer holidays they spend together because everybody needs a break from Formula One. It's all like us. We're all going to be together on our holidays, aren't we? Yeah, 100 % on your yacht. Let's not forget. No, but you know, it's funny because before Lewis joined Ferrari, he did make the effort to make sure he went out for dinner with Charles and spend a little bit of time outside of the F1 environment with him. And we know that even in their downtime, they spend some time, you know, virtually playing chess together. And so they obviously enjoy each other's company. I don't think that it's anywhere near, you know, any drama between them just yet.

5:55DC:I found it quite interesting to hear Nico Rosberg's, you know, review of the race on Sunday and saying how hard it is to have Lewis as a teammate and that it's a very, very difficult mental space to be in. And I don't think we're just there yet because, you know, let's not, let's not say that this is some sort of internal team battle just yet, or that Lewis is really fighting for the world title just yet. But when it does come, it's going to be very difficult because Lewis is a beast when it comes to that. And he doesn't show his emotions in that sense. And I think Charles will struggle if it gets to that, but we're not there yet.

6:29DC:They do respect each other. They still have a lot of camaraderie between the two of them. And Charles is just going to have to, you know, dart his I's, cross his T's and avoid the mistakes he's making. He's already trailing Lewis by 40 points in this championship. So it's time to get things together again.

6:44Naomi:Yeah, I think what's been interesting, we've had a brief insight at the weekend of Barcelona of the wheel to wheel between George and Kimi. George with quite a late defence into turn one, but left enough space. So no issue there. And of course, we saw in China, the sort of playing with each other, Lewis overtaking, then Charles overtaking. But as we ramp into the middle part of the season, the pressure is going to build. The competitiveness of Ferrari is obviously super impressive to see. And we're going to see them not only battling each other for wins, we're going to see them battling each other against the two Mercs as well.

7:21Naomi:So that's going to be fascinating. Now, I've got a little question here, if I may throw it to you both, that's come in from a Mr. SE 2019. And he's asking us, who do you think is the biggest underperformer so far this season? And then in brackets, it says lots of suggestions. It's Adrian Newey, which I think is a bit harsh. I think that note was for us. Oh, really? That was for us. That wasn't his thing. Look, I think the obvious answer here would be Adrian Newey and Aston Martin, but I feel as if we steer away from that almost because from the get-go, literally from the launch, there was rumors and then obviously testing we saw more of it and then the first race and as it's gone on it's kind of showed hints of getting better then it's got worse then it's got a little bit better then it's got worse but I do think it being Adrian Newey is harsh I think it's Aston Martin as a whole their internal comms seem to be a mess their drivers are unhappy Adrian Newey stepping down or stepping back as team principal when he never really should have been there so I don't know if you guys are happy to do this but I feel as if if we're going to dig into this we should park Aston Martin.

8:30DC:Well, I don't know if we can park Aston Martin because the question is, who is the biggest underperformer this season? And you cannot, besides them parking their car during every race, basically. We can't park them, right? They've unfortunately come out this season, which should have been such an exciting season for them. I mean, they've thrown so much money at this. They brought the star signing Adrian Newey on board. You've got Fernando Alonso in the last phase of his career, hoping to come back swinging and unfortunately, you know, we saw moments where it looked like it was getting better and then Barcelona was just as dismal as it was at the beginning.

9:06DC:I mean, they were seconds behind in terms of pace, double DNF for the team again. And of course, Adrian Newey is a part of the organization and therefore, you know, you can't completely remove any blame at all from him. But I do think that a lot of the issues that they are, you know, enduring right now predecess Adrian Newey. We heard him, you know, last year saying that there was some problems with the correlation with the wind tunnel and all these small little things that will have helped to get them in the situation they're in right now. You can't really just point out one individual. But they are for me definitely the biggest underperformer of the season.

9:42DC:They should have been in that top five battle and they're nowhere near it. And then the only other one that I would probably say is Williams have disappointed the season.

9:51Naomi:Well, you know, my favorite quote from Jeremy Guire. this isn't show friends, this is show business. And in the context of Formula One, I'm just really happy that neither of you suggested that I might have been the underperformer in this team on the focus of Formula One. The data is there for everyone to see and point, make prizes. So we know that Mercedes, although they've had reliability issues, have just absolutely aced the beginning of this new phase of regulation. We know that, let's say, McLaren came forward and then have dropped back. We know that Ferrari have steadily improved. We know that Red Bull have taken a step forward.

10:28Naomi:And the rest is defined by where they've been finishing in the points. So I think that Alpine must be very happy with the progress they're making. RB and other points scoring finish at the weekend. Both drivers delivering. You've got to say a bit more spotlight on Liam Lawson because he's got the experience. But certainly delivering very well. So he can be proud of that. Cadillac, my God, what an unbelievable challenge to bring a whole team to the grid. So I think the fact that Aston are behind them and on the grid in Barcelona must make them go, well, look, it could have been a lot worse. And then, you know, the other point scoring positions and team results are what they are.

11:10Naomi:So let's just default to the championship position, shall we, and move on to the next thing? Exactly.

11:16DC:And as you say, in terms of championship positions, Aston Martin have only got one point on the board. The only person, the only team behind them is Cadillac with no points. But even the likes of Williams have about 11 points. And to be honest, even though Carlos Sainz finished the race in Barcelona, how many race finishes were there? Like 14, 13 people finished the race of 22 drivers. So yeah, definitely those two teams, I would say, have got a lot of work to do. Okay, well, moving on from the, you know, the back of the field, the next question is coming from Shalice Small, because there's a lot of questions around the midfield this season, too.

11:50DC:And Shalice Small and Mark in Alberta, Canada, both are asking about their beloved Williams this season and what they can do to sort themselves out. So what can they do, DC? What can James Vowles do to get his team back on track and back to where he had promised us they would be this season?

12:09Naomi:Yeah, I think that the disappointment for him, for the designers, for the drivers was all evident when they didn't make it to Barcelona. Clearly, they then had to explain because this is a public facing sport. This isn't a business where you just quietly work away behind the scenes. the media and the fans are what create the business model for Formula One. So that's why we have to take the praise and the criticism with equal acceptance. Easier, of course, to take praise, but the criticism was that they delivered an overweight car. It was also late getting to the track. I think they've made good progress.

12:52Naomi:So all credit to the journey that they're on. I think there's a lot of positives there. You can see the frustration for the drivers visibly, I guess, a bit more for Alex, who's now just celebrated being the most racy driver for Williams. That probably doesn't make sense in English. I'm Scottish after all. He's done more Grands Prix than any other driver for the Williams team. So he's embedded in that team. He's part of Carlos, which let's be frank, he's probably eyeballing, definitely eyeballing where his next opportunity lies because he's gone from Ferrari winning Grand Prix to Williams being happy scoring points.

13:36Naomi:He wants to be back there again. And that journey for Williams is going to take a few years. So I think we've got to give credit for the progress. But of course, it's Williams and that name in itself, we expect more.

13:48DC:Do you really think the frustration is higher for Alex than it is for Carlos?

13:52Naomi:I think it's visible his frustration when you listen on the radio and you see him. This is not a new girlfriend when he's all giddy with excitement. This is a relationship and that relationship has been doing this and then it's done that. So, you know, it takes, as you know, Naomi, it takes a huge amount of an emotional commitment, physical commitment, life commitment to be a racing driver. It's not something you just turn off on a Friday night and turn back on on a Monday morning and a nine to five job. He is absolutely committed to this journey and the journey has not taken him closer to the moon.

14:30Naomi:So I guess he will be understandably going, well, look, I've been on this journey for a long time. What's going wrong? Why are we not seeing the progress? Which I think has been there in the last couple of races.

14:42DC:Yeah, I think also that just I think that that expectation from Alex's side has maybe come since Carlos came on board. I think that the team felt like they were all of a sudden moving in the right direction. But let's not forget that Alex Albin, after being demoted from Red Bull, spent a period of time outside of F1 in DTM. And I think that for a little while, he was just grateful to be back on the grid. But I think bringing Carlos on board almost reignited a fuel and a fire within Alex to say, OK, actually, you know, this is my career. I've got to take it by the by the horns and direct this ship.

15:16DC:And you're right. We do feel that sense of frustration a lot more from Alex this year than I think we have in the past. And but I do also feel we feel a lot of frustration from Carlos. I mean, this weekend, again, he was saying it's just not good enough. And, you know, when he was looking up and down the field or not necessarily looking, it was like courting a lot of different teams to find that perfect opportunity for him post Ferrari. You know, there was a lot of question marks about where he would go. And then he was holding out for the Mercedes seat. That didn't happen. And then he ended up, you know, signing with Williams on this on the basis of this long term project that I think should have really started to go in the right direction this year.

15:53DC:And it's not done that. So maybe he'll be looking elsewhere. I don't know. Does he stick around for the long term? Well, yeah. I mean, I was quite interested when you said that, DC, because the point that sticks out for me when I think of signs is fairly recently when he was at Williams and he said it was the best podium of his life when he was up there with Williams and given all his success with Ferrari. I thought that was quite the statement to make. When I think of him, look, it's easy when you're down in the dumps to want to be anywhere else. But I think exactly what Naomi said, he signed there to be part of this long term project.

16:26he's still young he's got an amazing career ahead of him he's a fantastic driver I don't see him leaving but I do see more internal frustrations than maybe he's let on I wonder really what their relationship is like with Vals I mean I know that internally that there are some frustrations with where his focus is actually do you think no I don't think so I mean I think we agree that James

16:53DC:James Vals has got his head switched on and I think he's already shown that he's done so much positive things and brought this team back on track in the right direction. But yeah, I think he is quite the statesman and he comes out and he does his presidential speeches and some appreciate it and others don't. I guess everybody can decide for themselves whether they like them or not. But I mean, he not only does he have a background as a driver also, but, you know, having spent many, many years almost potentially reaching the top at Mercedes to be a potential team principal. Like James Valls has seen it all and he knows exactly what he's doing.

17:29DC:And I think he's a great team principal for that team. Yeah. Speeches or no speeches.

17:35Naomi:Well, I think that we can all agree that especially in this modern, modern phase of Formula One, the team principal's always been a figurehead. There's no question about it, but they are more revered or more celebrated or more featured than would have been the case in the past where it was more focused on the driver. And some people step up and enjoy that and others are still, let's say, not the best communicators. But as we've seen from Gunther Steiner, sometimes it's not the actual sentence as a whole. It's a few statements within that sentence and a few profanities. and suddenly you get star billing.

18:15Naomi:So let's judge them on the race result, shall we? Rather than on the personalities because it's not that competition. And yeah, Williams, at least they've kind of stopped the downward curve that was there at the beginning of the year and they're coming back. But it feels like there's a big series of upgrades that needed to be brought to the car to be regular top 10 runners. And look, the spotlight's more on them because we're seeing teams like V-carb, Racing Bulls, whatever you might want to call them, do so well. You know, Alpine in the points. As you mentioned before, Cadillac, even though they've scored no points, they've had a really impressive start to the new life as an F1 team.