2 Soft Compounds
2 Soft Compounds is a weekly podcast focusing on Formula 1, hosted by radio broadcaster Rick Houghton and motorsport journalist and GrandPrix247 founder, Paul Velasco.
With a focus on unfiltered analysis, behind-the-scenes insights and expert commentary, the podcast offers fans an entertaining and informative take on the fastest sport in the world.
2 Soft Compounds
Imola GP: Max The Intimidator - The Battle For Imola
Imola GP: Max The Intimidator - The Battle For Imola
On this episode of 2 Soft Compounds, Rick and Paul dissect a potentially decisive moment in the 2025 drivers title race, as Max Verstappen reasserts his dominance with a clinical win at Imola.
đ„ It started with that lunge - Verstappen's audacious dive on Piastri into Turn 1 set the tone and released 'Max The Intimidator.' This was less about lap times and more about psychological warfare. Like the legends before him, Verstappen now races with an aura - and the rest of the grid knows it.
đ§ The guys also dig into McLaren and ask do they have the mettle to bring it to Red Bull. Their refusal to let Norris pass Piastri when it mattered most raised eyebrows, especially with fresher tyres in play. Was it team harmony over championship ambition? Jacques Villeneuve certainly had his doubts.
đ Elsewhere, Alex Albon delivered one of his finest F1 drives, splitting the Ferraris and proving Williams' resurgence is more than just PR spin. Hamilton showed flashes of brilliance climbing to P4, while Leclerc simmered in frustration and George Russellâs Sunday unravelled after a strong Saturday.
đ Next up: Monaco. Overtakingâs a myth, but a two-stop mandate could shake up the usual processional script. Will McLarenâs superior grip shine through? Can Red Bullâs upgrades hold up at the slowest track of the year? Or are we heading for another masterclass from Max?
This one's all about momentum - who's building it, who's blowing it and whoâs about to shift the balance of power again. Hit subscribe and get ready for Monaco.
Production Credits:
Presented by: Rick Houghton & Paul Velasco
Studio Engineer & Editor: Roy D'Monte
Executive Producer: Ian Carless
Produced by: W4 Podcast Studio & GrandPrix247
Hey, welcome to another episode of Two Soft Compounds, with me, rick and Paul Velasco, the chief editor and founder of GrandPrix247.com, and we're talking off the back of the Grand Prix at Imola. Some of the talking points we'll cover in this podcast McLaren under pressure, a turning point for Red Bull, perhaps Ferrari qualifying struggles, mercedes on a difficult day and the best of the rest, featuring the likes of Hadja Albon and Kola Pinto. Should I call him Crasher Pinto? Paul, how are you?
Paul Velasco:Yeah, all good, nice to be back and it's the doubleheader, so we're also going to do a bit of a Monaco preview at the end and yeah, I'm ready to go. I don't think any of us got it right.
Rick Houghton:I should have gone with max, mate, I should have gone with max, but more of that later I don't because you got. Who did you get? You had piastri, didn't you think I had piastri? Yeah, and I think when we last spoke to jad he was talking about norris wasn't he something like?
Paul Velasco:I just know we all got it wrong and when in doubt, bet max.
Rick Houghton:But anyway, over to you rick, yeah, so we thought we'd start today by talking about not the race victor, which is Max Verstappen we will, of course, talk about him a little bit later on but starting to talk about McLaren because they looked a little bit out of sorts and Jack Villeneuve was speaking to our friends and colleagues at Sky TV and he made, I thought, a very interesting point. I'm going to play the audio, paul, and then we can discuss what he said.
Insert:What do you make of the way mclaren approached their race today? They show weakness, basically. They don't show the strength that red bull have are always showing year after year. It's as if they're afraid to be aggressive in trying to win the driver's uh championship and they're afraid to go against castry. It's really, really odd. Castry messed up that first corner. He got caught out sleeping. He should never have come out of the corner. Second, and then he didn't have the pace, which was odd. Norris has more pace On the restart.
Insert:Mclaren knew that it was a matter of laps before Norris would overtake Piastri with the tire difference. It was obvious, 100% sure he would get ahead. So why make him lose three laps instead of giving him a shot at Verstappen? Because Verstappen is in for the championship. You don't want to give Verstappen wins. That's more points for him in the Drivers' Championship. So they were putting off the inevitable and making him wait longer to do it. Yeah, and they seem to be happy with second and third. Mclaren has a car where a good weekend means first and second. Anything less is a little bit disappointing. First and third is fairly acceptable, but they seem happy with second and third. Okay.
Rick Houghton:Paul, are your thoughts on what Jacques Villeneuve said?
Paul Velasco:Jeez you know, guys, I love Jacques Villeneuve. To me he's a superhero, indianapolis 500 winner. But I'm going to say no. I say like, as much as we want to believe, mclaren dropped the ball. You know, I think I blew a lot of smoke up Max's ass at the last episode. You know, it was almost a eulogy and I've got to say this again.
Paul Velasco:Max reminds me of the old Dale Earnhardt. Remember Dale Earnhardt? You and I are old enough. Not the junior, I mean the senior, the real one, ironhead, also known as the intimidator. And this is what I'm seeing in Max. Max is the Intimidator. Every single guy on that grid fears Max. When I say fears, intimidated by him, I don't think Formula 1 drivers fear each other, they're intimidated.
Paul Velasco:And that move into turn one agreed. Jack said Piastri should never allow Max to get past him. But I'm telling you, that move Max thought about all night. He knew he was starting second. I don't know, I would love to see the telemetry. I mean, you saw it. You're going to give me your thoughts. I don't think he braked. Then he was on the outside turning in with Piastri in the ideal line on the rubber and everything. But I don't know, somehow Max squeezed through, got the apex to the next part of the, the chicane, and Piastri credit to him. He did give him space. I think Lewis would have put Max in the sand, much like Leclerc did later in the race to Albon. But definitely Piastri was tentative, but now he's leading the championship for the first time in his life, so he doesn't really know how to deal with this. He didn't want to go boom and then Norris wins the race and him and Max are out.
Paul Velasco:But once Max got ahead, the job wasn't't done. He had to get ahead 1.2 seconds, I think he did in one lap so that there was no drs ever. And from then on max was masterful. He made no mistake. Red bull were on it all day. They didn't mess up like they'd done previously. Obviously they all sat down at a think tank, said listen max to. For max to win this, they got to do this, this and that. And they didn't drop the ball on the day and as usual, you know it's nothing different. He's become McLaren's nemesis. You know when he shouldn't be winning races like this, he does. He did it at Suzuka, an incredible track, a real driver's track, and Imola, the greatest driver's track, especially now that they've got the sand. You make a mistake and you off. He never made a single mistake.
Paul Velasco:And as much as the brits don't like to hear how fantastic max is all the time and that maybe their british team actually dropped the ball and weren't good enough, I'm sorry, max is what makes the difference. I don't see any other driver in that Red Bull, be it Lewis, be it Fernando Alonso, be it whoever you want to put in the Red Bull, can do what Max is doing. And I'm going to suggest that, whatever Max, you put Max in any of the other cars and he'll be as good as the other guy, if not better. So yeah, I think the race was won with that, probably his best overtake move I've ever seen and it's hard to judge because he's had so many.
Paul Velasco:And then after that, he never put a foot wrong and McLaren were just left. You know, I don't know. They were left in nowhere land. And then I thought why is this? Why can't McLaren actually do this? Why can't, with two cars and two very good drivers? Why can't they actually beat Max? And it's very simple Max has 65 Grand Prix to his name that he's won with Red Bull. They know the way to the flag. They know every move. You know I think they've got what McLaren have won 11 times in June, the same period, or 12 times maximum. So you know you're talking in terms of experience. It's a no-show and fortunately this has happened, because the last thing we needed is McLaren to run away with this championship so early on.
Rick Houghton:Yeah, I think McLaren looked a little bit out of sorts this weekend. I really do think that. I think you make a very good point about Max being better now and on a par with the McLarens. But McLaren, you know, once again we saw them very reluctant to issue any team orders when it came to swapping the two cars, when Piastri was on older tyres and Norris was behind him on younger tyres and could have potentially challenged Max for the race victory towards the end. So they didn't do that. They were scared they seemed to be scared of upsetting either Norris or Piastri with sort of team orders. That's going to have to change as the season carries on, because it's going to get to a point where it is going to be one of those two guys who can do it and one of them can't, you know. So mathematically that will change as the season goes. But McLaren seem, from a management point of view, really reluctant to make any firm decisions.
Rick Houghton:On the pit wall at the Imola Grand Prix, I thought it was a little strange that they should have said OK, as soon as Norris comes out behind Piastri, we switch the positions. That gives us our best chance. And once again I saw Norris take two laps to get past George Russell, whereas Piastri went past the cars he was overtaking with virtual ease. But then Piastri looked as though he didn't have the pace towards the end of the race. So I think the point about Max Verstappen is Red Bull took upgrades to Imola and I think those upgrades have worked a treat. You know, this could be Red Bull's turning point in the season. You know, the first European Grand Prix with a big set of updates which has made that car much, much better. And the other thing I noticed about Red Bull this weekend was they have this uncanny knack of getting to a racetrack on a Friday and then dialing the car in ever so gently, so that it's at its peak on the Sunday. On the Friday, in practice, max was banging his steering wheel out of frustration. He couldn't get the car to turn the way he wanted it to, but by Saturday they'd ironed that out. Qualifying went really well. Obviously, he put it on pole and in the race I think the car was at its ultimate. You know, it was so, so good. And this is going to be very interesting when we move to Monaco, because we know that Red Bull have struggled in slow corners, which is full of them on on the Monaco circuit and McLaren do very well in slower corners. So this is going to be very interesting.
Rick Houghton:We're going to talk about the, the Monaco Grand Prix in depth a little bit later on, but yeah, I just think Max was absolutely superb. You're right, paul, that overtaking maneuver into turn one. He had thought about that all night, he'd played it out in his head, he knew exactly what he was going to do, and I think Piastri was a little bit naive. Another thing I think about Max is that Max knows how to overtake every single driver on the grid and he does it in a different way. He would have approached that turn one differently, I think, if Norris had been in the lead. He would have approached it differently if Hamilton had been in the lead. He knows every single driver on the grid, he knows their traits. He's that intelligent that he can read what they're going to do before they even think about what they're going to do, and that makes him a once-in-a-lifetime special in my eyes.
Paul Velasco:I'm really glad you said that, rick, because that's what he is. I mean, I know this can't be another Max Verstappen idolization session, but I mean you can't take away from it. I mean, you know, if you look at his teammates Yuki Tsunoda, he was nowhere. He crashed, mate, did you see that crash in qualifying? And okay, credit to him. He pedaled the thing to 10th in the race and got them a point. But right now, red Bull, they're not going to win the Constructors' Championship, that's for sure. So whoever's in the second car is inconsequential, honestly. So they're going to focus 110% on Max winning his fifth title. And yeah, I think that's good for us because we're going to have a contest.
Paul Velasco:You really don't want to go back to the Santa Prost era. You remember the Santa Prost era? Everyone said, oh, the Santa Prost era, oh, it was rubbish. It was two McLarens, marlboro McLarens right at the front, lapping the field almost, and the two of them having an occasional dice. At least here you don't have the McLarens running away with this whole thing because they're on the cars. On another level, at least red bull have done enough to put make that car drivable for max to win again, uh, whereas the second car that I wouldn't even really care much about it because that that's done. So they just got to get it's in order to survive the season and yeah, so end of the day, there's the big gulf. So mclaren seemed to be going for the Constructors' Championship again. Maybe when they've got that in the bag, they'll let the drivers they might have team orders or whatever.
Paul Velasco:But I'm going to ask you this question, rick, you, zac Brown? Okay, who do you put the money on? Who do you put your money on? Do you put it on Oscar or do you put it on Lando? Right now, right now, right now. You said like they should have done something, they should get, but who? I mean, it's a?
Rick Houghton:tough question. You know, and I think I'm just gonna based on emma and what we saw there is it was an obvious on-track decision based on the faster driver being the one behind, and they should have switched them. But I think if you're zach brown and you're looking at the overall picture of your two drivers, I think you would go with the person who's leading the championship, which is Piastri, and you put your eggs in his basket. I think Zac Brown, like the rest of us, probably knows that Lando Norris has got his mental struggles with the way he questions himself at certain races. So I think Piastri would be the one that you would back and then you'd wait and see whether Norris could rise to the challenge and overtake his teammate and give him a good race, because that's what we're all after as fans. We want to see, you know, good racing.
Rick Houghton:I quite liked in Imola the way Norris had to work hard to get past his teammate. That was good because he did get past him and he he got past him in a fairly clever way, I thought, in a good point on the track. So I think if we'd have had that example of Norris being stuck behind his slower teammate for five laps, you'd have gone well. His race craft's lousy. This is never going to work. You'd put all your money on Piastri, but I thought Norris did a good job getting past.
Paul Velasco:Yeah, look, I mean, you know, the papaya rules are like very, I don't think there's any rules. I mean I don't know what to say. I mean, if I was McLaren deciding on who, I'd probably put my money on Piastri, just because of temperament I think the kid's got a good temperament but then he faded towards the end of this Grand Prix. I don't know what happened. It wasn't quite the Piastri, like you said, overtakes everything, fantastic, but there seemed to be a little bit of a spark, a bit of the magic missing, and then that's why he finished third, I guess. But all I can say is look, the world champion's going to be this year either Max Verstappen, oscar Piastri or Lando Norris. And if we're going to have races like this till the end of the season, then I'm very happy. I think we're going to be super entertained because it'll change and change. But at the moment I'm seeing it very difficult for anyone to stop Max Once he gets on a roll. It might be very, very difficult Because of that.
Paul Velasco:What I said right at the beginning he really reminds me of Dale Earnhardt Sr. Because Dale Earnhardt Sr, when people saw him in the mirrors, they thought okay, here's Dale, let's move out of the way or give him, and I think Senna had that to a certain degree. If you remember, in our day with the yellow helmet, people were like degree. If you remember, in our day with a yellow helmet, people like, oh, there's center, who will be careful? I think when they see that number one plate, I think everyone just starts shitting themselves because you know, max is max so max said after the race.
Rick Houghton:He said that the upgrades they brought for imla were track specific and it didn't mean that they'd necessarily ironed out the issues in the car as they moved towards monaco. But I think something's definitely changed for the better in the, in the Red Bull setup, and I think they can be more encouraged than they might have normally been as they head to the principality this coming weekend. It was a disaster, if you remember Monaco last year, for Max and Red Bull, but I think they should probably feel a little bit more encouraged. Ferrari you know Lewis Hamilton said after he got out of the car that it felt like a race win putting that car on fourth. He started in 12th.
Rick Houghton:They had a lousy qualifying Strategy, affected Leclerc a little bit in the race. Many, many teams were unlucky. Let's talk about the VSC and the full safety car. Those both fell into the lap of Max Verstappen. That happened at precisely the right time where he was on the circuit to take advantage of the Verstappen. That happened at precisely the right time where he was on the circuit to take advantage of the cheeky pit stop. Ferrari, especially with Charles Leclerc, missed out. They were in the wrong place on the track when they threw the VSC and the full safety car in fact. But Hamilton taking it to fourth, I think, was a great reflection of how they've improved their race pace. But the qualifying is still a big issue, paul, isn't it?
Paul Velasco:I'm actually going to take a leaf out of your book and say I don't think Ferrari watched the race. You know, you've often said that the strategists don't watch it, and I'm thinking with Leclerc I took a half the ball. Look, I'm very happy for Lewis because Lewis is a superb driver and again he showed he showed his class. He was just absolutely very, very good with that car at Imola and from P12, as you said, to P4, that's very good. And you could see that Tifosi was super, super impressed, super happy. They flooded that track and they really mobbed him virtually.
Paul Velasco:If you see some of the social media stuff going around, but want to point something out about ferrari which really intrigued me, you know, let's face it, le clac is the golden boy, right? Jad, our editor always calls him the little prince, right, the little prince of ferrari. So I'm detecting some frustration there because lewis is proving not to be like seb. He's going to roll over and le clac is just going to go all over him. In fact, in race I'm saying that Hamilton showing a lot more class than Leclerc and Leclerc is a lot more flustered. He's complaining a lot more.
Paul Velasco:I think he's taking the leaf out of Lewis's little rant that he had about the coffee and all that a couple of races ago. And I'm seeing a kind of like frustrated Leclerc, a Leclerc who's never been in the position where his teammate is actually handing it to him on all levels in terms of grandioseness, which is what Lewis. Lewis is the big figure in that team, so that's already a bit intimidating, but that's off track. But on track I'm detecting a slightly frustrated, increasingly frustrated Leclerc and Lewis more focused on just getting everything right. I mean, I don't know if you noticed that about Leclerc. Yeah, definitely.
Rick Houghton:I think you can sense it almost in his driving style as well, leclerc. I think the way he feels sometimes translates directly to the racetrack and I think his I mean just looking at him and climbing out of the car at the end of the race. His body language is kind of like it's full of disappointment, if that makes any sense. I think he's starting to realise. I think he thought that when Lewis came to the team because he'd been there for a number of years and had a close relationship with the mechanics and the whole set-up of the team I think he thought I'll show him and I'm going to look amazing.
Rick Houghton:And Lewis has proved that he's more than a match for Charles Leclerc in a car he's only been driving for five months and I think that's probably making a bit of an impact into Leclerc's frame of mind. You know, as he battles with a car that, let's face it, isn't the fastest. Certainly when they qualify, for some reason they fastest. Certainly when they qualify, for some reason they seem to almost turn the engine down when they qualify, which is the last thing any Formula One team would want. But their qualifying has been very disappointing so far this season and as they head towards Monaco. That has to be a worry, because if they start 12th in Monaco, you may as well switch the lights out and go home.
Paul Velasco:True, true, that very true, very true, which brings us mate Albon splitting the Ferraris and a really good drive by him. Carlos Sainz too, really, you know Williams are on the up here. I really feel that we're seeing Williams double scoring when, let's be honest, a year ago they were struggling to make it out of the top 10. 15 you know what I'm saying? It's it's an incredible turnaround by james vals's team and uh albon is embracing it.
Paul Velasco:I think uh carlos arriving in the team has really lit a fuse up him and he's really really doing really well. He's emerging as a solid driver and I was very impressed with him. Really I was very impressed with the way he he's going about his racing and, okay, science finished eighth. But I think, let's be honest, the virtual safety cars and the safety cars to a certain extent, as you said, they played in the favor of max specifically, but a lot of guys got shafted by that. But, end of the day, it's the results that count and when the results count, and when it when it matters, albon put it in p5 and very impressed with him yeah, I get the impression Carlos Sainz has an amazing work ethic.
Rick Houghton:I mean, I've never met the guy, I haven't seen what he does off track, but I just get the impression that he works incredibly hard to stay ahead of the curve. I think he does a lot. I know he does a lot of simulator work. I know he does a lot of work with his race engineers. I've heard that he's one of the last drivers to leave the circuit on a grand prix pre-weekend. On every session of every you know, every day he's the last one to leave at night when they're doing the debriefs. He wants to spend more time with his engineers to figure out the little tweaks that can be made.
Rick Houghton:We've seen drivers in the history of formula one who are good at that. You know michael Schumacher was an expert at working closely with his engineers and Senna was as well. And you look at the likes of Carlos and I get the impression he's that kind of driver. I think Max has just got pure talent and can turn it on whenever he wants to and that's it. Other drivers like Carlos have to work at it and I think he is working at it really quite hard with Williams at the moment.
Paul Velasco:Yeah, indeed, is working at it really quite hard with Williams at the moment.
Paul Velasco:Yeah, indeed, there was a little moment that maybe escaped some people or didn't escape me was Q2, when Carlos was fastest and neither Ferrari was in Q3.
Paul Velasco:I found that, I don't know, there's some kind of like karmic, poetic thing going on there where, you know, the former Ferrari guy tops the timesheets at Imola in Italy and that's why I said to my you know, speaking to my son about it, I said, you know, I think God is a Formula 1 fan because he handed out a nice dollop of karma there that didn't last too long because science eventually fell behind them, but it was a nice moment to see Carlos just bring that. He got a toe, I believe, from Gabriel Botoletto that gave him that, that Q2 top spot, but it was a nice one. It was just a nice to see that. You know, he still got it and you know, look, you can't put three drivers in in two cars and one had to go. It's a shame science had to go because, yeah, as you said, I think the guy's got a work ethic second to none and let's move on to mercedes.
Rick Houghton:Then it was a disappointing day for mercedes on sunday, I think. George russell, I thought at the start I thought george russell was going to make a couple of places up and put himself maybe into second place. Didn't quite work out, but he had a decent start and he had a decent line heading towards term one. But then he sort of dropped back and it looked as though he was having to settle for a car that wasn't as pacey as I think he. He wanted antonelli, who was racing in front of his home crowd.
Rick Houghton:I thought it was a lovely touch inviting his schoolmates down to the circuit on friday a show around the garage. I thought all that was really nicely handled by the team. Antonelli had a nightmare, you know, couldn't really push on during the race, and then obviously the technical problem and the retirement that led to the virtual safety car being released. So they looked out of sorts. Mercedes. Toto Wolff said afterwards that he thinks they can turn it round for Monaco. Only seven days to do it, of course. What were your thoughts on Mercedes? They just didn't look as though they turned up really.
Paul Velasco:Yeah, for me, mercedes I don't. I'd say for the last two or three years, they just never know what kind of car is going to come to the track. It's going to be the shit one, the not so shit one, or the pretty good one. So far, far, they haven't won a race. And uh, yeah, george qualified p3, which was interesting because he used the medium and everyone else had done it with the softs.
Paul Velasco:I think tires played a huge, a huge role in it, in in the race also, and also the way they went. And again, discussing this with jared, because we always do like a sort of a post-mortem on every race, the thing about Mercedes is when it's hot and it was hot at Imola, the track temperatures were very hot. They don't have a car that runs in the heat and I think it chows the tires, it just yeah. And I think from P3 to he ended up, what P7, right? Yeah, that's not the Mercedes. I know that's like a Williams. Do you know what I mean? That the fact that they were beaten by a Williams and Carlos Sainz was just right behind him to me signifies that that car's not really that good. They don't know how to switch it on. And yeah, we saw George just go backwards.
Paul Velasco:In terms of Antonelli, I'm super impressed with the kid. Like I've said, I was proven wrong, but I'm going to say this, I think and as much as pretty and beautiful and everything is bringing the class there and, you know, having all these classmates and then posing for pictures with them and showing them, that's all very good, but I don't remember them doing that with max. It's too much, too soon. You know, this is ray seven of his formula one career. I would put that kid in cotton wool. I would not be getting him to do whatsapp, advert, netflix, whatever that shit that that they delivered. I watched the first three minutes and I just couldn't watch that documentary. And then they've already got Antonelli dolls. You know, little shit, little dolls with big heads, antonelli dolls that they're selling. And then the classmates. It's a lovely story but it's not appropriate.
Paul Velasco:Now They've got to get this kid focused on what he's doing racing, driving, race driver. You ask any guy who drives at home, especially Australians. Speak to Daniel Ricciardo, oscar, all those guys. When you're at home, the pressure is so much higher, so much harder. And there you're throwing him in with a bunch of other kids at his school. It's beautiful. It's lovely and I'm fully for it, but not now. You know, let him focus on what he's doing being a race driver. Don't milk him now. Don't already try and sell Antonelli dolls before he's even you know anything.
Paul Velasco:Yes, he's a great little driver, he's 18. Fantastic, but hold off man. You know Toto Wolff, he's not going to be listening to this, but I'll tell you what he has. He has a clip that I would would go viral. Toto, please take care of this guy. Don't sell his soul already. He's going to be fantastic, the potential is there, but don't burn him out.
Paul Velasco:And I'm going to say this to everybody the template of the modern racing driver is set by Max Verstappen. Okay, and there's no way Red Bull were putting you didn't hear Max go when he was at Toro Rosso early on. Have his whole schoolmates there and little Max dolls. No, I don't even know if that's happened yet. Is there a Max doll? I don't know if there's happened yet. Is there a max doll? I don't know if there's a max doll, and I'm sure he invites his mates and stuff like that, but don't make it a whole international headline thing and all the kids and they're all posing and doing selfies. He's got to focus on his home race. He's got to do what he's actually good at being a racing driver. So, yeah, I'm not surprised that he bombed at home. And if they don't protect him at monza, he's gonna bomb at monza, trust me. You know they've got to take this kid and absolutely cocoon him in protection.
Rick Houghton:I think you make a really good point. Before we go on to preview monaco, which is coming this weekend, two more drivers I want to have a brief chat about. First of all, hadja. I thought he had a brilliant Sunday. He missed out dreadfully with the two safety cars which threw him back down the order, but he could have finished in sixth place at one point and I think his driving craft was superb. It was fantastic. He made a slight error in qualifying which meant he started a little further back on the grid than he should have done and in the race start he lost two places off the grid and he said afterwards that the thing he needs to work on the most is his start. But I was really impressed. He just kept himself to himself, didn't get into any dramas, didn't drop a wheel on the grass or on the gravel, just ran a really good race, paul.
Paul Velasco:Yeah, man, you know, this kid is really, really impressing me on all fronts. First of all, no one there's not a single guy apart from him and his inner circle that believed that Isak Hajo would be the standout rookie of the season, and he's already that. To me, he's the rookie of the year. I like his attitude, I like the way he's driving, I like the way as you said, he could have finished much higher if he had been a bit lucky. He's very passionate, but you know what I really loved about him this weekend and he took his shares shot up for me In the press conference the drivers were asked, the rookies were asked what do you think of the treatment of Jack Doohan by Alpine?
Paul Velasco:And he said straight it was horrible, it was unfair and it's just unacceptable. That was his words and I admire a young guy like that, who would normally sidestep a question like that. He gave it and I like that about Hadja. He's his own guy, he says what he feels, he doesn't give a damn about anything and he does his talking on track. He does his talking on track and I like that. I think I'm super impressed with the kid and I'm a fan.
Rick Houghton:And that moves me to mention Colopinto, his first race for Alpine at the weekend. Me and Paul are not massive fans of Colopinto. I think at times he can be quite fast, but many times he can be quite crashy, and we saw that in Q1. He binned it. It was a massive crash 50G which meant that he had to go to the medical centre, and it was well. It was a rookie mistake. He put a wheel onto the grass. You know, formula 1 drivers shouldn't be making mistakes like that, and I get the impression and I think you probably agree with me, paul, don't you? I get the impression that that's the way the season's going to go for Colapinto. I think he's going to have some decent sessions, but I think he's going to cost Alpine a lot of money in rebuilding of cars.
Paul Velasco:Yeah, colapinto, I'm not surprised to be honest with you. First of all, there's a supreme example of the travesty of the fact that formula one does not have testing. Can you imagine this? I'm not defending franco colapinto, but I'm saying this. First of all, the fact that he crashed like that again, god's a formula one fan mate, because that was karma embroiled into one, and I don't care what anybody says, I'm sure jack duran would have been leaping in the air. So there you go. You go, motherfuckers, look what you did, you see so, but let's take that away. Let's take away the fact that karma came to bite Flavio and his boy. I'm going to suggest this Can you imagine that a driver who's never driven a car is put into FP1 and does what he does crashes and FP2, and all those, the hard times that he had throughout the weekend? He was not himself because he just doesn't have testing.
Paul Velasco:Does it not make sense that a guy with a new car has never been in it? Shouldn't Colapinto have had at least a weekend at, say, barcelona, like they used to in the olden days, two, three days testing so he can acclimatize himself to the car? No, it's very expensive testing. We can't test budget. It's a. You know we can't. We can fly jets and and and waste money on on um, paddock clubs and stuff like that, but we can't spend money on testing that could save lives.
Paul Velasco:Now I'll ask you this question when people say testing is too expensive no, no, no, budget caps, blah, blah, blah I'll ask you this question how much damage have rookies done this year to cars and how much damage have new drivers like Yuki Tsunoda and the Red Bull done to cars? And you add up that amount of money and there's no way testing is going to cost as much as that. And this is the reality. All these rookies are struggling, all the new boys are struggling in the teams because there's no testing. And I'm going to tell you something guys are going to get hurt because they're not not famous this season, because now we're already in race seven, so the guys are more climatized to the cars. But if you don't give them more testing, especially with the next generation cars, really it's going to be a time where guys can hurt themselves because they just don't know this kit.
Paul Velasco:So when you come, like a guy like Colapinto he's been sitting there driving a simulator blah, blah, blah. He gets in the car and he breaks it. It's because they don't have enough seat time. That's all I can say about it. In terms of Alpine, well, they were a shit show again. Gasly was poor, as you saw. He went on the sand by himself. You know that team's. I think they just want to break it up so that someone.
Rick Houghton:Flavio can buy it for a dollar. Okay, aston martin fairly decent showing based on recent results for them. Alonso was running in the top 10 for most of the race, again sort of lucked out a little bit with the safety car situation. Lance strahl, as we've discussed many times, you know why. And the the Sauvers had a poor showing, as did the Haas team. That was really poor this weekend. We're going to start to talk about Monaco now, though, because we head to the Principality. I want to ask you a very simple question, paul. I know what my answer to this would be Should we still be racing Formula 1 cars in Monaco?
Paul Velasco:Of course, of course, but not these shitboxes, boxes, these things are like buses, mate. Of course. You see, the problem is this they haven't built cars to suit the tracks, they make the track suit the cars. That's the problem. Monaco is Monaco. It's the crown jewel of Formula One. As Nelson Piquet said, racing Formula One at Monaco is like riding your bicycle in your lounge. Okay, it's almost an impossibility, but it's also one of the great, challenging venues that has been around since almost the beginning.
Paul Velasco:So I agree with you monaco with the current cars is rubbish, but make them smaller. I'm telling you, I have a feeling that someone's not going to be able to turn around that happen. I think someone's just gonna, they're gonna get stuck. These cars are like buses. They even look too big for emula. So, to answer your question, I'm going to give you two answers. I'm going to get stuck. These cars are like buses. They even look too big for Imola.
Paul Velasco:So, to answer your question, I'm going to give you two answers. I'm going to say, in the current era, no, I mean because there's going to be no overtaking. But it was also very difficult to overtake 20 years, 10 years ago, 20, 30, 40, because that's the nature of Monaco, but at the same time, I think it's. You know, I've attended several of them, I'll say several, three or four monaco grand prixs over the years and I can tell you that, yeah, it's once you, you savor that atmosphere. You understand why monaco is there. But to answer your question, yeah, I'll tell you, I really have monaco on on on the calendar than miami oru or you know, those other venues really, oh, I love, I like Baku. I think there's something about it. But these pop-up venues that come up, I mean, how different is it to Las Vegas? Okay, they can race in Las Vegas, they can race in Miami. You've got to live with it, you know. I think you've got to live with Monaco. It represents everything that Formula One is about, I think.
Rick Houghton:Yeah, I would totally agree. I would always keep Monaco on the calendar. I think it's a special, special place.
Paul Velasco:Really, I thought you were going to say no. I thought you were going to say no.
Rick Houghton:No, no. Well, another reason for that is when I worked with the Jordan Formula One team, my first race was Monaco. So turning up there as a rookie, working for a formula one team for the first time, I was very excited about the prospect and all of that. But being given a paddock and pit lane and grid pass for monaco is like winning a million dollars and you savor that atmosphere and you're in and out of pit garages and and you're working the press pool near stars and bars on the quayside. It's just like it's the most amazing thing and I've found ever since that first time for me at Monaco I've been to many other Formula One races nothing really lines up and compares to the atmosphere that you get at the Principality. So I definitely always keep it.
Rick Houghton:It's just a pity you know that the cars are we're having uh, we're having to watch processions around monaco at the moment, but, um, qualifying ultra important ferrari need to try and improve their qualifying pace heading towards this weekend. I honestly think the upgrades in imola for max verstappen and the red bull car are going to pay dividends in monaco as well. I can't see them just bringing an upgrade package for one race venue at imola and not looking down the road to what's coming up in the calendar. So I think max has got a good chance of a powerful qualifying session this weekend. Would you agree, paul?
Paul Velasco:yeah, before I go on to that, I just want to, just also because you were sharing some flashback stories. Uh, I can tell you one thing from a photographer's point of view Monaco is beautiful Monaco. I could just photograph there all day. Look, you walk your ass off. You walk a lot as a photographer, but, man, you get like stuff you won't believe Super tight, beautiful light, amazing buildings. You know you can do it's an artist's paradise if you're a photographer.
Paul Velasco:As you said, though, I think pole position is going to be super, super important, and you know, I just think that Max is, he's just, he's living this championship battle, and it's going to be hard to keep him at bay, but at the end, the McLarens are very quick. It's going to be hard to tell. I don't know, with this generation, this year's cars, who's going to be better. Yeah, it's going to be a hard, it's going to be a toss up, and I think the weather is going to play a role, and I think this is the important thing. And also, you got to remember there's two pit stops. Now it's rule. You have to stop twice, which is going to, I think, spice up the show a bit, because you know, two pit stops means two chances of making errors.
Paul Velasco:Uh, blah, blah, blah. Um, I'm gonna. I I hate saying this, but I think it's going to be like a lot of rookie bent metal there. Uh, because it's the kind of track that's very unforgiving. You cannot make a mistake, and we've seen these rookies make a lot of mistakes, you know. So I, there could be safety cars vscs, it's, I don't know that. You know, yeah, it's a procession, but there come certain elements get thrown in that could cause a surprise yeah, I would agree.
Rick Houghton:I think the two pit stops thing I thought it was a bit mickey mouse when I first heard about it and then I thought actually no, that could mix things up quite nicely. We've seen, for some reason, lots of wheel gun failures at the monaco Prix. I don't know if it's the heat or the height or whatever it is, but we saw Charles Leclerc have a nightmare a few years ago where they just couldn't get the wheel off the rim. So we have had some pit lane dramas. I think there's a high chance of a safety car because we've got so many rookies on the grid this year that one of them is bound to make a mistake. I that one of them is bound to make a mistake.
Rick Houghton:I mean, I was going to ask about who you thought might win the race, but I think I'm going to ask who you think is going to put it in the wall first. Lance Stroll? You know what? Oh my God, I said exactly the same thing in my head as I asked you that question. I said Lance Stroll will be the first to put it in the wall If that happens.
Paul Velasco:Paul, we will, because I'm coming there in July and that's when you're going to buy me the champagne and we'll celebrate. Look, it's being nasty on Lance, but yeah, I don't like to predict those kind of things because when they've been it, yeah, but there will be bent metal In terms of the rookies.
Rick Houghton:Yeah, it's going to be very interesting. It really is. We'll be back to give our post thoughts on Monaco in next time's podcast. For now, though, a couple of things to mention. First of all, Mickey Mouse is coming to Formula One next year. I thought it was a joke when I read it, but it's not no-transcript kids.
Paul Velasco:That's really cool. I can tell you the kids over 16 don't watch it. They watch the highlights. Because my kid's over 16. He's a super Formula One fan, used to kart. He only watches the highlights, you know, only watches the highlights. He watches the highlights of qualifying highlights because he can't be asked to sit and watch the race, which is a shame because I tell him always that the racing is probably the best it's ever been. But at the same time, yeah, I mean, if you can catch the kids young, why not?
Paul Velasco:Yeah, it's part of Formula One's business plan is just to milk it as much as possible. Just milk, milk, milk. Make as much money as possible, milk it as much as possible. You know, just milk, milk, milk. Make as much money as possible. And, uh, you, I'm sure, if you liberty, you, you're loving this. You know you're getting all these big american corporations involved, but I think you know what this opens up us for, uh, like, I think, a special edition.
Paul Velasco:Maybe we should discuss, uh, where formula one's going and how it's changed since we were kids. Because I'll tell you one thing max said a very interesting thing. And it's's changed since we were kids. Because I'll tell you one thing Max said a very interesting thing and it's on our site. We reported it on Grand Prix 247.
Paul Velasco:He's lamenting the fact that tracks like Imola are going to be dropped off the calendar. And again, this is part of this new era of Formula One where they go and chase the money and Miami's until 2041. Things like that. But you have Imola dropping off Zantwood's last race. These are classic arenas. These are arenas where our heroes died. They're the graveyards of the greats, you know, and we pay homage to these guys by going there, by remembering them, by racing on the venues that stole them from us and they're falling by the wayside.
Paul Velasco:And I thought, maybe it's just me, being a boomer and the old guy, that thinks this way. But no, max feels the same. He said these are the tracks that inspired me to become a racing driver, these are the great tracks of our sport. And although he said, what can I do about it, he said but you know, he can't do anything about it and it's going this way and he has to accept it. But can't do anything about it and it's going this way and he has to accept it. But credit to him for making us all realize that we're not that old and we? It's the fabric of the sport. Are these tracks, are these emilers? You know they're gonna even drop monza. I believe they're gonna emil and monza to alternate, spa is gonna go. You know what does that leave us? You? You know it's like it's and I'm really chuffed that Max mentioned that.
Rick Houghton:Yeah, I would totally agree. I think Imola is one of my favorite circuits to watch onboard footage from. I think the speed's amazing, the drivers all love it, and it's going to vanish from the calendar from next year onwards because they only want one Italian Grand Prix, apparently. So that is bad news. The second thing I was going to ask you, paul, is for your race predictions for Monaco this year.
Paul Velasco:I'm going to max, just max, max, max, max. I mean honestly, I think, until McLaren sort out their driver pecking order and I don't see that happening until they clinch the constructors, which will be probably by mid-season, I don't see that happening. Until they clinch the constructors, which will be probably by mid-season, I don't see anyone catching them. I think when we come back from summer, after that, I think they'll have it clinched and then they'll probably start looking at who's going to be world champion. But at the moment I just see Max growing in stature all the time. I thought Max is peak, but Max doesn't stop growing. He's just getting better and better and better, and at Monaco he knows what he has to do. He's already thinking about Monaco now. I can guarantee you that now. But the other guys are probably all on the beach or whatever Max is like, and that's, I think, what's going to make the difference this season is who can stay the most focused and, most importantly, which team executes the best every Sunday.
Rick Houghton:You know what? I can't disagree. I can't pick anyone apart from Max for Monaco this weekend. If I had to, I might say Piastri, but I can't get away from the fact that it looks like the Red Bull car and the upgrades have worked, which is great, and I can't get away from the fact that, like you say, max just matures with age. He gets better and better and better. And when he's heads down and he's chasing a championship which we've never really seen him have to do before, because he's always led a championship but the determination to steal the wins and to score the maximum amount of points that we're seeing at the moment is vintage stuff.
Rick Houghton:By the way, and I think you know, in 10 years time you'll look back and you go. You remember 2025, when max was third in the championship with five or six races you know done. Do you remember his attitude? Do you remember how he got his head down and he fought with his elbows out and he he did amazing things in a car which shouldn't have done amazing things. I think that's how we'll be looking back at this year. Which year was that? This year, 2025.
Rick Houghton:I think you know, in 10 years' time, you'll look back at this period and go. You remember that year when Max was a little bit behind in the Drivers' Championship? Well, do you remember how he raced? Do you remember how his attitude was? Just amazing. It's going to be a vintage year. Yeah Well, paul, thanks very much for joining me again on the podcast. Please tell your friends, your neighbours, your family members and your colleagues that Two Soft Compounds is here for your Formula One fix on a very regular basis. Follow the latest news and developments on GrandPrix247.com, too, and we'll be back next time to talk about everything that happened at the Monaco Grand Prix.