Melbourne Recap: Shanghai Preview

We review all the key moments from the season opener at Albert Park—who impressed, who struggled, and the biggest talking points from Melbourne. Then we shift focus to Shanghai and what to watch for at the Chinese Grand Prix. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Box up, box number, box, box, box.

SPEAKER_01 0:26

Welcome to the Box Box Box, hopefully your favourite Formula One podcast, where we bring you all the hits and highlights from the 2026 Formula One season. My name's Scott. I'm joining today, as always, with Mohan. How are you, Mohan? I'm very well, thank you, and uh good to be talking to you after the season opener. We've yeah, finally got a race under the new formula. Just quickly, what do you think of this new formula? I'm I've heard so many mixed reviews on this. What what are your thoughts so far?

SPEAKER_02 0:55

It's uh it's uh same actually similar, quite mixed feelings, and from a technical point of view, I think it's quite interesting how the drivers themselves are being very diplomatic about it. And we talk about this later, but the issue that Oscar had and Max had seemed to be very similar in terms of getting used to how the electrical component of these cars work out and the fact that they're having difficulty managing it. So it's it's uh the the good part about it was that actually until uh a certain part we actually got to see some good racing, and hopefully that's a trend that'll continue into the races to come. And to the point that it may not be necessarily one team dominating the the season as such.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

A lot of the criticisms I've heard about this are really based around cheap overtakes rather than quality ones. But I suppose the the FIA and and the team behind the regulations have been trying to do everything they can to increase overtaking uh a at least since the the the the kind of dirty air disasters of the hybrid era that slowed everything down, forced DRS to be such an important part of the Formula One back then. I don't really I don't quite understand the criticisms myself because I don't think anyone's been celebrating those procession type races. No one's I I didn't hear anyone saying, no, no, no, let's retain these these procession races because when we do get a a a quality overtake or we do get a good race, it's so special. I've never heard anyone say that. Yet now that we now that we're finally getting this yo-yo racing, I think they called it, now we're hearing criticisms that this is almost like too much too soon.

SPEAKER_02 2:37

Uh absolutely. And and where it'll actually really show is tracks where uh where it actually is difficult to overtake and how that actually plays out, whether that that procession goes away or whether this actually introduces an extra element that wasn't there before. Um, that looks at tracks like Monarch Monaco and things like notoriously difficult to overtake, um, whether that changes. Um but certainly Albert Park has got plenty of opportunity to overtake. Um and um the issue I see though is the fact that while the drivers are getting used to this technology, is the fact that, yep, they they love the fact that they've got this extra boost to overtake, but it also seems to be that they deplete the batteries very quickly and they get overtaken again. So it is quite a bit of back and forth. It'll the domination will come down to the drivers that are patient through this process and are able to hold off rather than needing to lead the race from lap one.

SPEAKER_01 3:33

You've been to several, if not all, of the Australian Grand Prix since way back when we were talking about earlier. How did you rate this one uh compared to the ones you've seen previously?

SPEAKER_02 3:42

Overall, I think one, obviously, one I was very grateful that weather didn't play a factor in it like it did last year, for instance. And the fact that that that element simply got taken away. The crowds have grown significantly and to the extent that the tickets sell out very, very quickly now. And um they are it's also getting pricier, but it seems to be selling out a lot quicker. As an event, it is uh again getting larger and larger, and it's not just confined to the track anymore. There are so many things happening in and around the city, um, so many pop-ups that are in around the city. Um, there's laneway artwork, there's all these things that weren't there before. And it is it's not just a race anymore, it is just a massive event and a carnival of some sort. So that's actually great to see as a local. Uh, and hopefully that the extension from that actually comes to a continuation of good racing on track.

SPEAKER_01 4:39

And for you, was this this race one of the better ones you've seen, or one of or not?

SPEAKER_02 4:44

Certainly, and I think I will talk about this later. I think uh obviously teams learning to manage their strategy, but it seemed to put a lot more teams on a f on an even playing field compared to previous years. So that some of the midfield teams stood a much better chance of delivering a better result. And certainly some of the junior drivers as well were able to show their, showcase their talents and to actually show, well, this is this is how good I was in a lower grade, and I'm able to bring that across to F1. Uh which under the previous system and the previous uh set of cars that existed, that wasn't a case. So hopefully that is something that continues throughout the season, that there is almost this yo-yoing for want of a better word, of results where one team doesn't dominate and one driver doesn't dominate in that sense.

SPEAKER_01 5:30

All right. So it was a statement win for Mercedes, George Russell's victory and the one-to Kimi in second. Was there a genuine pace advantage, do you think? Or did strategy and the the VSC, of course, play a decisive part in that victory?

SPEAKER_02 5:46

Uh I originally, when I was thinking about this, I guess I had a combination of three factors in mind, but I think I actually obviously definitely need to add a fourth factor to that. And those factors are obviously the the characteristics of the Albert Park circuit itself, the timing of the VSC, and I think in that sense, in that VSC, I believe Ferrari actually missed a trick and their strategy actually went against them. The other fourth possibility is that Mercedes weren't showing their full hand during testing and showed their true pace in qualifying and in the final race. We've been talking about how Mercedes potentially are going to be the biggest beneficiary out of these new regulations. And it is possible that this circuit just suited them very well. There are lots of sort of medium speed corners and sort of a relatively smooth surface, and it plays a huge emphasis on the front and grip and tie management, and we know all know how good George is at managing his tires. The virtual safety car period definitely helped. As we know, pitting under a VSC can save about 10 seconds compared to a normal stop. And Mercedes actually timed their pit stop perfectly. Ferrari, unfortunately, even though they were very diplomatic after the race about the strategy, during the race, you can Lewis in particular was getting really frustrated with these engineers as to why they weren't pitted. And they gave up a really good position in that race, they gave up a really good start in that race by simply sticking to a almost stubborn strategy for the rest of the race. But well, it might not necessarily mean that Mercedes are miles ahead. It might be that just the track suited their car. And the remaining races will show whether that is the case. And it's even more remarkable given what happened the day beyond qualifying day, and the fact that he put his car into the wall in FP3. And in the space of, I think something like three and a half hours, they almost rebuilt that car. It needed a new front end, a new back end, a new gearbox, and a whole lot of work. And they were able to put him on the track just in time to get some time in Q1. So on the race day itself, he delivered a performance that was far beyond what you would expect from a driver at the start of their fun career. He showed amazing composure, managed his tires really well, and his lap times are actually overall quite stable, sort of within three to four tenths of George Russell throughout. As we know, the Albert Park track is notoriously unforgiving, the walls are quite close, and the track evolves over the weekend, as we have discussed before, so that any mistakes actually punished quite severely. But I must admit, coming into Sunday, and given that he had a few skids, I believe, in qualifying, but still managed to post the second fastest time. I was almost expecting that he may actually not finish the race, but he proved me otherwise. So when you think of where he started at the end of FP3 and where he ended up on the podium on race day, I think overall it was a very serious statement from a very young driver.

SPEAKER_01 9:05

Now, moving on to Ferrari, just firstly, wow, they flew off the starting grid. The positions they got that quickly, especially Lewis, incredible. I think that car, that car could potentially be very special for them this year. Did Ferrari miss their opportunity to challenge Mercedes by not pitting under the VSC? Or was it were they just trying to manage kind of what they had at the time?

SPEAKER_02 9:27

First, to actually talk about the start, and there were hints of that, and I don't fully understand, I need to look into it a bit more in terms of the technicality of their turbo, which apparently is designed for all those far starts. And we saw a glimpse of this in Bahrain. There was a group practice start, and Louis, I think he was sitting somewhere fifth or sixth on the grid and just burst through by the first corner. So there was expectation that this they would have a similar start in Melbourne, and that certainly proved to be the case. And it's if anyone gets a chance to re-watch that starting vision, it's absolutely amazing to watch both of them do it. And Charles was able to hold that lead. It seesawed a bit between him and George for quite a bit, but he was for the large part was able to hold that lead. And Lewis was actually sitting third very considerately, I guess, in the sense almost waiting for an opportunity to pounce. Um but what is important to do, I guess, is to put that uh VSC decision into context in terms of how strong uh Ferrari actually looked across the entire weekend. Um their car showed very good straight line performance and sort of strong traction out of the slow corners. Um they over were consistently running in sort of the one minute 22 time range, which they said they had really had raw pace to be able to challenge Mercedes-Benz. Where I said where the it slipped away from them was in absolutely in terms of their strategy, and they should have at least one of those cars should have been pitted under the VSC so that they could actually maintain track position or challenge for track position. And in the end, it actually worked against them and it brought back memories of 2025. Particularly Lewis had a lot of complaints in terms of how the strategy was managed in that team. And I hope they have learned from this and and hopefully they actually take the driver's recommendations on board a lot more rather than being definite about their strategy, that they become a bit more agile and a bit more adaptable to carry out a strategy that suits the condition on the day.

SPEAKER_01 11:35

So Lewis finished P4. Um, so encouraging start, or there's still signs that Ferrari has work to do. I'd say encouraging, but but what do you think?

SPEAKER_02 11:44

Uh I think it's a it's a bit of both. I think um finishing P4 for him was definitely a solid result compared to where he was coming from in in previous uh previous seasons. He certainly showed flashes of strong pace during the race, but the overall picture is that the the team itself looked a few tenths off Mercedes' uh pace over the over the whole length of the race. And the fact that they potentially start to struggle with tie degradation a bit more with Mercedes, but that also comes down to when they decided to pick as well. So while the P4 is definitely an encouraging start and Lewis has looked the most comfortable he has in the car or in a Ferrari since since joining the team, what they have to sort out is how they execute the strategy if they want to definitely challenge for wins consistently.

SPEAKER_01 12:33

So moving on to Piastri, how devastating was Oscar Piastri's pre-race crash for the Australian crowd and McLaren's weekend. And this was this was um this wasn't even the formation lap, was it? This was just the this was just getting in the cars and the grid, wasn't it, before the race?

SPEAKER_02 12:48

That's right. And um uh it uh initially obviously it was absolutely devastating for all of the Australian fans for McLaren. And given his performance in the practice and in the qualifying, there was a genuine hope that he could actually fight for a podium place at his home race, which would have been amazing to see. Um as we know, Albert Park, the crowd has continued to grow. Uh, I think we win the order of something close to 450,000 spectators across the whole weekend. And a massive portion of those fans were actually there to see an Australian deliver a big result, including the fact that I think there was a stand just simply dedicated to Oscar. They had special livery made, special shirts made, special caps made. Uh, and all of these fans were left uh severely disappointed. There were not just children but adults in tears at what actually happened. Um, what made the incident even more frustrating is that it actually may have been linked to a talk issue on the corner exit. And several drivers have actually reported difficulties with that particular aspect. This appears to have been a very similar issue to what Max experienced the day before, and where there appears to be initially uh the drivers having difficulty getting power, and as a result, they are flooring their pedals, and then there's a sudden talk delivery, which is unexpected or at 100%, and forcing the drivers to actually lose control. So the actual crash that happened to Oscar was very uncharacteristic, very unlike him in a part of the track that it shouldn't have happened. And so this might actually be a technical issue rather than uh a mechanical issue rather than a driver issue of the drivers getting used to how the power is delivered in these cars. And I've hate to say it, but it might not be the first last time we see this happening across other tracks as well, while the drivers get used to how this uh how this new technology is managed. Unfortunately, the for the hometown fans, they'll have to wait another year. However, uh, we'll uh talk about this a bit later. There is rumored that Melbourne may end up with a second race, and uh there has to be a decision made in the next couple of days, actually, to prevent um all the infrastructure being pulled down, uh, including the pit uh pit lane which is being redesigned. Um so we may see that sooner, hopefully. If not, unfortunately you're gonna have to wait another 12 months to see this again.

SPEAKER_01 15:17

Yeah, and I think the torque issue might even be the wrong way to say it, right? It's just a feature of the car and the new formula. So the cars, the cars zip because of that torque as well, out of the corners. So I suppose it also goes back to um I'm pretty sure we discussed this, that this is Piastri's first time in a non-Ground Effect F1 car. So I do wonder if that leans into it at all. And uh it's yeah, I I I I completely agree. This is probably something we'll end up seeing again. So um regardless, he dropped it coming out of the out of that turn, and uh that was all she wrote there. So tell me Mohan Verstappen's recovery drive, uh, starting P20, finishing P6. Impressive, but uh, I suppose the eyes weren't exactly on him uh in the race. Was this the best drive of the race from Max Verstappen?

SPEAKER_02 16:03

Um I I think so. At and at coming into uh the thought in my head, I remember going going going into the race uh and given what happened to him on Saturday, um he was very diplomatic and very gracious about what actually happened. He said, it's one of those things, you know, it happens, I'll try and do my best tomorrow. But you know, deep down Max is the kind of person, he's he's so competitive and he's so driven, uh, for want of a better pun. Um that in that in that in that situation, he's actually quite dangerous because he will be giving it his all. So him sitting in 20th is probably worse than him sitting in fourth because you know he's gonna give everything possible to get himself self up the up the grid. So I think personally, I think it is one of the one of the standout performances of the race. He basically at P20 had the entire field in front of him. By halfway, he had climbed into the top 10 uh through some very aggressive overtakes, particularly around turn three and turn 11. Um and his pace during the race was also extremely strong, uh particularly when he had some clear air in front of him. So climbing from last on technically on the grid to P6 over that 58 period, it's not just speed, but you have to you have to give credit to his racecraft at the end of the day and his ability to choose the right moments of when to actually attack. So it might not have been a winning drive, but you have to think of if he was sitting in P5 or P6 to start the race, whether that result would have been very different. And the fact of whether the Red Bull cars and the and overall, not just the Red Bull works team, but the uh the V-CAP team as well, whether that those two teams as over the year are probably going to be a better challenger to Mercedes than McLaren or Ferrari.

SPEAKER_01 17:50

Right. Well, there was other midfield surprises as well. Um Haas finished P7th with Oli Behrman. Uh great to see, by the way, because there was a lot of concern um uh with Haas coming through and struggling in this formula. Um is this uh uh uh will Haas be a genuine midfield contender in 2026, do you think?

SPEAKER_02 18:11

I think so. And we talked about this when we were when we were discussing the outcome of the Bahrain testing. And at the time we we were encouraged by the results that both Haas and Alpine came out of that testing and the fact that they Haas in particular, we thought would figure uh a bit more prominently in the midfield this year. So I think they're definitely on the on the back of that result, uh particularly Bierman's P7, uh, I think are definitely going to be competitive in the in the mid-race. Uh, what stood out was that just their race consistency, I guess. During the long strength stints, Bierman was comfortably holding sort of uh one minute 23 lap times, which sort of kept him clear of any of the other midfield rivals as such. Um and operationally they they executed a clean race. Uh the pit stops were solid, there were no strategic errors. Um I mean, historically they struggled with tire degradation, but in Melbourne the car looked a lot more stable in the long runs than it has in a long time. If that performance translates to other circuits, then I think they realistically have a chance, uh chance to challenge for a top eight spot this year.

SPEAKER_01 19:19

Just quickly, because we still have a little bit to get through, but what did you think of Williams? They they they weren't quite as bad as I expected, uh, so it was refreshing, but it still wasn't the greatest performance. So how did you see that?

SPEAKER_02 19:29

No, and I think this is overall, it wasn't you're you're right, it wasn't as bad as expecting it, but it wasn't promising either, I must admit, because this seemed to be a continuation of them seem still settling into these new regulations, the fact that they still haven't got things down settled and are potentially gonna take at least another couple of races to actually settle into this so that they weren't necessarily able to put a competitive two competitive cars on the track on the same day. Um and um obviously there are rumors of what's going on in the background and in terms of things that are happening in the factory and so on, but um compared to where they finished 2025, this is really disappointing, I must admit. Um and um it it they they could have done a lot better, I think, overall. So for me, this was more uh an I if equivalent of another testing session, as far as they're concerned, I think, rather than genuinely challenging for a result.

SPEAKER_01 20:30

And Aston Martin as well. Do you have any comments about that? That was a whole um like that was, yeah, it's kind of its could be its own episode, I guess.

SPEAKER_02 20:37

Yeah, and it's interesting actually, the the the the talk that's coming out now is obviously Aston Martin were putting a large part of this blame on Honda. And uh, we may have actually talked about this quite a while ago and the fact of when we were talking about the launches and particularly the Honda launch, and it and it at the time there was news that Honda, when they initially decided to pull away out of the sport, had let go of a significant amount of their personnel. And then when they decided to come back in and and support Aston Martin as such, they were left with quite a skeleton crew and then had to hurriedly rehire uh a lot of staff. And from what I understand, and basically the story coming out of Aston Martin, is that when they signed this deal, none of that was on the table. They were totally in the dark about it, and these issues are now starting to come out. And so they are questioning how much Honda can actually deliver and how well they can actually deliver. So, what the overall outcome, what we see, is what we see on the track, what we see in the garages, and all we are seeing is a team that's really struggling, a team that is disjointed, I guess. And for the amount of resource and amount of money behind the team, they should not be in this situation. And the talent of someone like Adrian Newey is almost seems to be being wasted there because of the fact that they cannot put a challenging car on the track.

SPEAKER_01 21:56

And just onto the rookies in the race, uh Arvin Limblad uh scored points on the Debut. How impressive was his P8 finish?

SPEAKER_02 22:04

His P8 finish on its own actually was quite impressive. But what was also just as impressive was his qualifying times the day before. And the fact that he was at one point he was up at top at P4. So he came into this category and particularly with a lot of promise and a lot of history from the lower categories. And he certainly seems to have settled in very well where some rookies struggled to make that jump to F4. Definitely an impressive performance, but doing it at Albert Park is even more so impressive. He kept his race incredibly clean. He avoided any incidents except for, I think there was a near collision in the in the pit pits at one point. But for a debut performance, finishing P8 and scoring points immediately is a huge confidence boots not only for him but for the team as well. And it basically suggests that he could definitely be the standout rookie. He's the only rookie this year, but he would also count the second year rookies as technically rookies. But he could also, amongst that group, he could be the standout for this year.

SPEAKER_01 23:03

And what about Bortoletto as well? He delivered out his first F1 points. How big is this milestone for the new team? I suppose they're not Cadillac new, are they? They're more rebranded, but a big milestone for them.

SPEAKER_02 23:14

Yeah, it's a big milestone for them because when you think of all the other teams have had, as part of their works, have partnered with another manufacturer of some sort, basically, whether it's a power unit manufacturer, whether it's a gearbox manufacturer, what? But Audi have basically done this entirely on their own. So on that basis, this is actually an amazing result. But you also have to think of the resources that Audi have at the disposable back at the factory and you know the car size of the company that they come from. Unfortunately, Huckenberg was they weren't able to put his car on track. But Bortoletto's result, it's a huge milestone because it gives them a tangible result in the first race. And the fact that, you know, they in race one they were able to collect some points. As far as their goal as a team in the early years, similar to Cadillac, I guess, is the fact they simply want to establish a certain level of credibility and be consistent in the middle field. So getting points in race one is a bonus when you think of where they actually where the targets are, and it's a massive step forward for the team overall.

SPEAKER_01 24:20

Alright, so tell me, just looking at the overall championship narrative now, does the Melbourne results suggest Mercedes are the early title favourites? Or is it too soon to tell given that I suppose the drivers are still even trying to work out how to how to race differently under these new kind of battery modes and all that? How do you see it? Is this gonna play out this way? Will it be Mercedes and Ferrari at the front?

SPEAKER_02 24:42

Based on this result, it is quite tempting to call Mercedes early favourites, but I think it's still far too early in the season to draw any firm conclusions. As we know, Albert Park is a very specific type of circuit. And whereas other tracks like China next week in Shanghai and the following week in Suzuka will actually test very different aspects of the car. It does show is that Mercedes have a very strong baseline car. They're very good with their time management. And their team operation and the execution of the strategy is excellent. And if you collect all those factors together and they can put it together week in, week out, they will definitely be contenders for both the constructors and the drivers' championship. Having said that, if you see discussions early in the fact of um particularly with George and so on, is that part of their performance, and Ferrari showed this this weekend, is that they will benefit from errors of the other teams, and they are in a strong position to benefit from those errors. So if the teams actually want to challenge Mercedes and not let them have a free run, they have to get those things right. First thing they have to get is get their strategies right, um, get their setups right, um, even get their fuel management right, basically. And I think that that was a big indication in in terms of the FP3 times and the qualifying times that Mercedes-Benz showed was how they manage their fuel and outperform the other teams as a result of it. So while I think Albert Park shows that, yep, they're up there, um time will tell uh with the other circuits uh that are different setups, basically.

SPEAKER_01 26:23

I've certainly loved everything I've seen coming out of the Ferrari garage. And no offense to Kimmy and George, but I'd certainly prefer to have as an engineer, as a team having the feedback, I'd certainly prefer it to come from Clerclair and uh and Hamilton. I think the the racing brains they have combined are would be more than enough to to propel them forward. So uh moving on now, Mohan, Chinese Grand Prix next. It's a sprint weekend as well, which is great. Change this whole thing up, I think. So with that format in Shanghai, how much more chaotic could the weekend become for teams and strategy?

SPEAKER_02 26:56

So as we know, uh compared to nominal weekends, where they get three practice sessions, you only get one practice session. So obviously they have to commit teams have to commit to um their setups very early. Uh obviously the the the circuit itself has several challenging features. Uh there's sort of a long back straight and quite heavy breaking zones so that any mistakes it set up can be punished um very, very quickly. Uh we know last year, Ferrari, this is actually a circuit they did very well on last year and unfortunately got disqualified at the end of it. And given how promising they have looked this year, I'm looking forward to um uh a better performance and the fact that whether they can put the mistakes of Albert Pap behind them to potentially challenge for a one-two at the end of the day, both in the sprint race and the and the full race.

SPEAKER_01 27:51

And which drivers after Melbourne need redemption most in this Shanghai race? Uh we're looking at Versapinen's Piastri, probably.

SPEAKER_02 28:00

Uh absolutely. Uh, and if you look at sort of from a team point of view, Ferrari and Red Bull will both feel like they left opportunities and certainly points on the track. Their strategy call was quite um uh um questionable, I suppose is the word. Um and uh Red Bull overall spent a lot of their race positions recovering rather than fighting at the front. Certainly Oscar will be looking for redemption and given what happened in Melbourne. But the Red Bull works team, I mean the the the racing boards performed, the Red Bull works team will be looking for a better result. And you have to feel for poor Isaac Hajar because this is the second year in a row that he hasn't been able to finish the race in Melbourne. Um and Max hopefully has a better handle of his car compared to to Melbourne uh to be able to challenge for a podium up front.

SPEAKER_01 28:51

And will the long back straights in Shanghai and heavy breaking zones favor Mercedes again or will give Ferrari and Red Bull a chance?

SPEAKER_02 29:00

As we know, historically uh this circuit has suited Ferrari teams like Ferrari and Red Bull. But the the technical opening sector requires a lot of front-end grip and tire management, just trends for Mercedes. But I do think this track suits Ferrari even more so, as I mentioned before. And I'm looking forward to some promising results from them on this track.

SPEAKER_01 29:23

Do you think because of the technical changes that could switch up a lot given what we've seen so far?

SPEAKER_02 29:27

Uh absolutely. And and whether the same issue with uh this power management issue comes up again, and who else is at at the mercy of that issue and is is unable to manage it or unable to control it? Time will tell. And and also the fact that they there's such limited time for practice and limited time for setup, all of those factors thrown into it could actually throw up some interesting results.

SPEAKER_01 29:50

All right, prediction time. Who wins the Chinese Grand Prix? Uh and does Yeah, does anyone stop Mercedes' momentum here?

SPEAKER_02 29:58

I believe if Melbourne is an indication, Ferrari are definitely in a position to challenge again. Uh they showed very strong pace, including that that amazing start on both both the drivers' uh accounts. I think they would they are as far as if I was to make a prediction, I I would certainly consider at least one of those cars on the podium if they are if they are able to get their strategy sorted. Uh Mercedes-Benz are definitely going to be challenging them as well up front. And you can never count Max out on a good day, basically. I had a look at the weather for the weekend. I sort of suggest fairly cool sprint conditions around 12 to 17 degrees. And that can that can favor some teams with regard to tire warm-up, but basically that overall don't seem I don't see weather playing a part of this. Um so while Mercedes actually obviously arrived with a lot of momentum, if Ferrari's best in Australia carries over, they could definitely be fighting for a victory.

SPEAKER_01 30:56

I'll go Lewis to be first across the line of the checkered flag, just because I think he'll he'll take those risks or force those risks out of the Italian team. Moving forward, Mohan, just discussing the calendar, uh, the ongoing uncertainties around Bahrain and the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. How disruptive could potential calendar changes be for teams in terms of logistics, development timelines, and just the overall momentum of the championship?

SPEAKER_02 31:22

So at a worst case, if if both races are cancelled, then it is looking very likely that they are going to be cancelled. The worst case is if those if those races aren't replaced, I guess, uh, and not replaced in that gap. So if that happens, that actually leaves quite a multi-week break between Japan and Miami, which would disrupt the rhythm of the season and sort of slow down a lot of early development cycles that the teams have. So there is a lot of talk about replacement circuits, uh, and Melbourne actually has been touted for a second race, as has Japan. So that I think the idea is that if there is already infrastructure set up there, that they follow up um a second race very quickly so that they can make the most of what's already been set up. But the other tracks that have been considered are Porto Meo in Portugal, Istanbul Park in Turkey, and Imala. Actually, even though Imala is not technically not on the calendar this year, they certainly do have the infrastructure to take on a race very quickly. So this is this is a wait and see kind of thing, and certainly something that's going to evolve not just in a matter of weeks, but in a matter of days, basically, of what's going to happen with those races, uh, and whether they are able to be replaced, or whether we go from a 24-race season down to a 22-race season and uh miss out on two races overall.

SPEAKER_01 32:45

Yeah, I've I've certainly heard that as being very likely as well that uh they could just drop the races just for to make it easier. Can you tell me, and I think the massive loss too, uh Bahrain and the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix are two of the best races on the calendar. So and not only that, usually the Middle East is uh the location that teams go to for um replacement races. If you think back to the you know the double uh Sakir Grand Prix at Bahrain, or I think Qatar's picked up the slack in a couple years as well. So um yeah, it's it's uh it's disappointing from a F1 perspective. Tell me before we um start wrapping this up completely as well, uh there was a straight line mode um or concerns and issues uh in Australia. Uh could you touch on that briefly and could this happen at future races as well?

SPEAKER_02 33:32

I think so, and I think this appeared to also be a regulation upgrade on the fly from FIA as well, which threw a lot of teams out actually. And it actually lent itself to a delay in in FP3 and qualifying starting, particularly FP3, actually, because they had made a modification to that, to that setup. And the teams had been working feverishly to comply with what FI had originally set up for that, and had to had to had to um be flexible and change to allow for the for the new setup as such. So it's interesting to see how this is actually evolved and whether uh FI themselves, while they've actually have all good intents with these regulations and how things are set up, it's also uh let's suck it and see, kind of kind of that there may be further changes that are that are brought on by tracks and by necessity that leave teams stranded a little bit in that sense, or having to frantically change their setups and affect the timing of some of the practices and some of the races.

SPEAKER_01 34:32

I know George Russell said that the straight line mode front wing felt unsafe. I find that quite shocking given that they're driving around in a in a rocket, but um it's hard to know what safe is on their gauge, but he clearly had some concerns there. So yeah, we'll see what happens there, Mohan. Is there anything else you'd like to like to mention from the Australian Grand Prix or looking forward to China?

SPEAKER_02 34:52

Um so certainly, I mean, uh from our point of view, from a fan point of view, it's fantastic to have the season kicked off. And I think we all, while we had seen all the theoretical side of it, we had seen the testing and all the science behind it, I guess we there's nothing like having Angry Cars on the on a track. And I think we were all waiting to see how this would play out. And this has played out in so many different ways, with unexpected crashes, with unexpected results, with the team at the midfield evening out or getting a lot closer. So all those things that were talked about, and Mercedes' potential power all the way that have been talked about, all those things that were talked about, it was great to actually see it live and see how things may evolve over the season.

SPEAKER_01 35:38

Alright, Mohan, well, we'll just go over the championship standings while we're here. So we've got Mercedes in first place on 43 points, Ferrari in second on 27, McLaren in third on 10 points, Red Bull in fourth on eight points, and Haas in fifth on six points. Moving to the drivers now, and George Russell is leading on 25 points, Ansnelly on 18, third, LeClaire on 15, Hamilton in fourth on 12, and Landon Norris in fifth place on 10 points. Thank you for joining me, Mohan. Uh we'll be back next week, uh, same time, same place, and hopefully bring you more of the lead up to the next Grand Prix lead up, or we have we'll have a race by then, will we?

SPEAKER_02 36:20

Uh yeah, so we've actually will we'll touch base again with you at the conclusion of the sprint race and qualifying in China. But uh we're expecting that between now and then there may be some evolving news about Bahrain and Saudi as well that we may have to report. Absolutely. And just our socials quickly, Mohan, while we're here. Uh so our website is boxboxbox.net.au, which also then takes you to our socials on Facebook, Instagram, X, and Twitter. Uh our email address is info at boxboxbox.net.au, or you can message us through the socials. We welcome your feedback. Please listen, subscribe, comment, share, and also send us recommendations for things you would like us to talk about. We particularly IF1D coded spin-off podcast because we are we are breaking down different aspects, particularly technical aspects of this sport. Um, and we have a calendar of things that we want to talk about, but we're also looking at topics that have we have not thought about. Please send us suggestions and we look forward to speaking to you.

SPEAKER_01 37:19

All right, thanks again. Thank you for joining us, and we will see you again next time. Thank you.