The Past, The Present, and The Future

In this episode, we cover the recent Canadian GP, focusing primarily on race dynamics, driver performances, team strategies, and the upcoming Monaco race!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome back to the fifth episode of the Into the Chicane podcast. Uh, we are your hosts, as usual. I'm Tasha, I'm Alicia, and we're super excited for this week's race, I guess this past weekend's race, our home race, which I wasn't expecting to be as exciting as it was, but I'm proud to say our home race was incredibly exciting. The Canadian GP.

SPEAKER_01 0:27

Yeah, agreed. I would say the most exciting race so far of the season. So much happened, no shortage of drama. Uh, and we're gonna unpack it all for you. So let's maybe start from the beginning. Um, we had a sprint uh for the first time ever in the Canadian GP. So that was exciting. Many points up for grabs uh over the weekend. And we had George Russell taking the top spot for the sprint, followed by Lando Norris, and then Kimmy Antonelli in P3 for the sprint. Uh, what were your thoughts on on sprint performance for those guys?

SPEAKER_00 1:01

Yeah. So it's it's funny now thinking back to the sprint, I had to like give myself a little bit of a refresher because I feel like the race had so much going on that I like forgot what happened in in the sprint. But it was, yeah, I mean, like you saw McLaren fighting at the the top of the podium, and it was it was really interesting to watch the the the tension between Kimmy and George. You know, George came into this weekend ready to to claim back his his position as first driver at Mercedes, and you really saw that in the sprint race where these two were going head to head. I know Kimmy was not happy with some of the moves George made. There was a lot happening on the radios, and it was almost reminiscent for me of the old school days at Mercedes with with Nico and Lewis.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:52

We all saw how that played out. So I'm I don't know, those are I'm getting I'm getting almost like deja vu flashbacks of of those days about a decade ago. So that was really interesting.

SPEAKER_01 2:03

Yeah. It's so interesting that you say that because that's probably like Toto's worst nightmare is having to grow go through something like that again with two top drivers. Although I will say it's pretty hard to imagine sweet little Kimmy Antonelli, you know, really going after George like that. I I think they're so far doing a pretty good job of like leaving it on the track. And then once the race is over, like they're teammates again and like they have that mutual respect for each other for sure. Like nothing I've seen would indicate otherwise. But very interesting developments. Like obviously, Kimmy has all the momentum right now, and George is coming from behind, and like he really needed to have a good weekend, so he felt the pressure. And so I bet that played into things as well in terms of those like on-track dynamics. But it'll be interesting to see what the team does from here. Like, obviously, we have two really talented drivers, but we don't want to see them battling to the point that it negatively impacts their results. So we'll see what Mercedes does in terms of like letting them race, letting them, you know, fight it out, or saying, like, you guys gotta pump the brakes on this and we can't have this anymore.

SPEAKER_00 3:18

Yeah, it's uh it's really, you're right. It is really interesting to see, and I'm I'm curious as to what the team's guidelines are gonna be. I I know Toto got asked a little bit about like papaya rules last year and and how that's gonna play out. I think Toto is gonna have like more of a he's gonna he's gonna rein them in a little bit, but oh yeah, like we saw a little bit of anger from both drivers this weekend, right? Like sweet little Kimmy who's like just just you know, sweet summer child. He was like pissed in the sprint race. Like, I haven't heard Kimmy, you know, that aggressive on the radio. And you could see it in his driving, right? Like he was driving angry, made a mistake, and Lando just, you know, capitalized on that moment. Capitalized. Yeah, he was just waiting there, right? Waiting for one of the two to do something to so he could sneak in there. And and it was Kimmy who did that, right? Yeah, there was a lot that he just he made a lot of mistakes because he was so angry driving. I hope they're able to, you know, coach Kimmy and and you know, I could hear Bono on the radio trying to calm him down and and work him through his anger almost and being like, hey, you need to calm down and on racing. Um, because they've obviously seen this play out and and know it's never good when they're driving that mad. But he's 19 years old, right? And and he's still fairly new to F1. He doesn't have as much experience with things like this. That I think it is gonna take some coaching, but I don't know if it's gonna happen this like like yeah, I I'd be curious to see if this continues to happen this season.

SPEAKER_01 4:49

Yeah, I completely agree with you. I think we can maybe chalk it up to lack of experience and he's super young, and this is his first time really being in a position like this where he's suddenly the favorite to win the drivers' championship. Like, I think all of that plays into like letting anger get the best of you. And I will say that like he has the right people around him to help him through that. He has a really like strong group of people over at Team Mercedes. So certainly something that you know he'll be able to, you know, like learn from. And I I don't think we'll see that impact his race to the same extent in the in the near future. Um, but a good lesson for Kimmy, like P2 was very much within reach for him. And, you know, you can't have that happen when like things get so close in these championships, obviously, is a huge gap right now, but I I don't expect that to last as we go into season, whether it's George Russell gaining on him or someone from another team. So hopefully just a lesson learned for him and something that we won't see again.

SPEAKER_00 5:53

Yeah, I I hope so too. I I think it's interesting because I think Mercedes needs to make sure that these two drivers, like, yes, they can be angry at each other, they can be fighting it out on the track, but they still need to get along with one another and like one another. Because we saw this happen with with McLaren last year, right? Where there were times where they needed Oscar to, you know, to to help with strategy, right? To okay, like you're the second seed, realistically, like we're trying to get Lando all the points here so he can win the championship, right? And there's a lot of strategy that goes behind that. So as the season progresses, if it continues to go the way it's going, is George gonna cooperate, right? When in those moments when when they or is it gonna be a similar situation as last year where you know Kimmy starts out similar to the way Oscar started out and then Lando came back? Is George gonna come back, right? And you're gonna need both of those drivers to to help the team as a whole, right?

SPEAKER_01 6:57

Yeah, absolutely. I think that's a very interesting point, actually, because we you're right, that exact situation played out where we had one driver like really up in the front of the standings, and then uh midway through the season, that momentum like shifts the other way completely. And obviously that impacted team dynamics heavily at McLaren. That was like the talking point of last season. I will say McLaren definitely suffered by not really like prioritizing a driver until the standings forced them to. Um, Mercedes, I would say, is like a little less likely to dig themselves into this like the same level of a hole, but nonetheless, it's a concern. And um, yeah, they need to be on like at least respectable terms with each other so that we're not impacting team standings and so that we can actually like guarantee a Mercedes drivers' championship for the team as well. So something they'll have to figure out, and I'm sure Toto is very much watching that situation.

SPEAKER_00 7:59

Yeah, right. He's had this happen before with Nico and and Lewis, and he's like, nah, not again, not under my watch. This isn't gonna happen.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

Yeah, absolutely not. Okay, so let's get into the race recap. This was a spicy one. Let's start with a podium. So we had Kimmy Antonelli in P1, followed by Lewis Hamilton with a very strong race in P2, and Max Verstappen in P3, who also had a really good race on Sunday. So those are the highlights. Let's talk about the lowlights as well. We had six DNFs throughout the race. I guess maybe Linblad was a DNS. He didn't really start the race, but we had Linblad who didn't get going. We had George Russell, which we'll get into, Lando Norris, Perez, Alonzo, and Alex Albon. So lots of drama in terms of DNFs. There were some incidents on track, there was uh some surprise situations that led to these. So yeah, let's start unpacking it. Let's start with let's start with George Russell, because that was sad and shocking, and just I don't think summed up what this weekend was really about for him.

SPEAKER_00 9:12

Yeah, I my jaw physically dropped when when his like engine like his engine stopped working. Like I I don't I don't really even know what happened. Like his car just stopped moving. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:23

Umit failure. Yeah, but like just the worst possible time, right?

SPEAKER_00 9:30

And like I don't know if maybe somehow it got caused because he had just gone through the grass pretty, like, pretty badly there. And and I think I saw some debris coming off his car when he went through the grass. So I don't know if by doing that maybe jiggled some wires somewhere and and caused that issue with the power. I have also never seen George Russell that angry, and and understandably, I get it. He's under so much pressure. I think a lot of the press leading up to the weekend was like, like, is is you know, what's going on between you and Kimmy? Like, are you, do you feel like you're you you can't perform as well? You know, it's a lot of noise coming at him, a lot of the things we've been saying, right? So I felt like he went into this weekend being like, I have to win. And he loves, like he's he's done so well in in the Canadian Grand Prix historically, that this just felt very much like his race to lose, right? Like he was going to win this one. And as soon as I saw him throw the with the headrest or whatever that is, right? Like out the car, I was like, oh shit, he's mad.

SPEAKER_01 10:36

Yeah, I agree. Like he was super heated. I've never seen that type of emotion from him, but I totally get it. Like he's under an insane amount of pressure. And also, like he was performing very well this weekend. He got pole position, um, he won the sprint race, he was leading in the race. Like, this was very much a weekend that was like set up, like it was all going his way until it wasn't. And I think that was maybe the hardest thing for him is that the performance was there, the pace was there, uh, and it just didn't come together. I think he even said to the media, like he made a comment about like, someone really just doesn't want me to compete for a championship. Like the universe or some higher power just doesn't want it to happen. And I totally get that frustration. It's honestly starting to feel that way to me as well. Like he just can't catch a break.

unknown 11:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:26

Yeah, 100%. Like there's some somebody out there with like a George Russell like voodoo doll or something, just in it. Because it does feel like that, right? Like he has a good car. Like he just all the stars should be aligning for George, and they're somehow aligning for Kimmy instead. And you're right, like he he was performing well, right? The sprint was wasn't really, really good, right? He raced fairly cleanly. Kimmy may have other thoughts, right? Of of if he was in the wrong there, but for the most part, it was it was pretty clean in in the like the main race as well. He was driving really well, right? There were so many battles going on there with with Kimmy. Um there was nail biters and stuff, a couple of mistakes here and there, but mostly he was driving really, really well. So it just sucks to see that, right? I really enjoyed the race for many reasons, but that sucks, right? For for him to just DNF like that. I it would have been a lot more fun for him to continue going on and and to see how that would have ended up.

SPEAKER_01 12:30

Yeah, absolutely. I think we all want to see a true battle for the title and having, you know, one of your top drivers DNF like that in a way that was like really of no big fault of his own. Yeah, maybe the grass played into it a bit, but nobody could have predicted that would happen. Um, yeah, it's it's better for everyone, the drivers, the fans, if you know, we have them really close at the top, like going back and forth with each other, like winning races back and forth. That's what makes things exciting. And that's like the caliber of drivers that they are, Kimmy and and George. Like they do deserve to be battling it out between each other. Um, and we haven't gotten to see really much of that at all, apart from the very first race of the season. So I think it's gonna come together for George, but yeah, he's he just has to keep overcoming. I feel like every week it's it or every race, it's a new hurdle for him. And yeah, they just keep getting a little bit bigger, but I have faith that he can come back from this and it's really gonna be like a mental game for him, I think, to just keep it pushing and and look forward to the next race.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

Yeah, I agree. I think he has all the components that he needs, but it's I completely agree that it's a mental game. And as long as he doesn't let the pressure get to him, as long as he can stay in the right headspace. I you know, I think it's interesting last year watching Lando go through the same thing of everyone being like, okay, this is Lando's year. And there was almost a shift, I would say, after his DNF in Xandervoot, Zanderwoot, I believe it was. Because I feel like that was the turning point for Lando last year. And I'm curious to see if that happens with George maybe after this year. So I I don't know what the turning point is gonna be, and I don't know if there is going to be one, but it felt like last year everyone was saying similar things about Lando, right? Like this is Lando's year to do it, right? All of these like race, like the world championship is his to lose, and we've been saying that about George, and it felt like he was scared of losing, and that's what I feel like George is at right now. Of every race he's coming into this, and it feels like he's so terrified of losing, and Kimmy is just there, like, woo! Having fun having fun, yeah. Right. He's just having fun, he's taking risks and doing all the things, and George isn't. And I feel like George kind of needs to get into that mindset of not being so scared to lose every race. And I I don't know if he's gonna have that sort of epiphany and that mindset shift um that I think Lando did last year, but I hope he does because I he has all the things he needs to win it. He has a really good team behind him, he has a good car. Mercedes he seems to have really good strategy this year. Um, all the boxes are being checked off, and it's just it's it's just a mindset thing for him.

SPEAKER_01 15:21

Yeah, I agree with you. I think he just needs to start having some fun again. And obviously it's hard to have fun if you feel like you're underperforming or there's other circumstances that are out of your control that are affecting the the race for you. But if he can like start to find the joy again, I think that will help a lot mentally. And and then it's it's really just up to track performance. And we all know that he's capable of that. So maybe that's step one for him is yeah, start to find the joy again. Remember why you love racing, and that'll help like lift some of the pressure off and and let him just race free and and enjoy himself. Like ultimately, you only get so many years as an F1 driver, you never know when it's gonna be your last. So yeah. I don't know if he's lost a joy. I like that's not for us to say, but if that's something affecting him, I hope he can start finding it again. Yeah, yeah, fingers crossed.

SPEAKER_00 16:15

In in speaking about all this and and saying a lot about Lando, I think we need to talk a little bit about McLaren this weekend. Boy, after Miami, I was like, all right, McLaren's here. McLaren's showing up. They've all the upgrades they've done to their car outstanding, right? The car is really fast. We saw that again in this. I think they brought uh like a smaller upgrade package to Canada, if I'm not mistaken, this weekend as well. And the car was performing great, right? We saw that in the sprint. Like they were the second fastest car out there. And then and then both Lando and Oscar come out on inters.

SPEAKER_01 16:54

I McLaren just reminding us who they are there. Hey, like we know that they're such a strong team, and yet they're prone to these like disastrous strategic moves. Like, they just wanted to remind us, like, this is who we are, guys. This is what it means to be deep McLaren.

SPEAKER_00 17:10

I swear they like, like, did they hire like Ferrari strategy team or something? Like that just felt so.

SPEAKER_01 17:18

They're all going out on the weekends together, swapping strategy, just telling each other, like, yeah, exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 17:26

I yeah, I saw that happen. And at first, like right kind of as they were coming to the like, you know, uh like in the first formation lap and stuff, I was like, okay, like the track seems a bit dry. And I think Oscar was on the radio being like, should we come in and change the tire? Like, what's going on? The the track didn't seem that wet and it wasn't raining very much, so logic would dictate that the track's just gonna continue continually get drier.

SPEAKER_01 17:56

I I don't get it. Yeah, I have to say, listening to those snippets of Oscar on the radio during the formation laps was maybe some of like the funniest F1 radio bits I've ever heard because for so we had three formation laps just due to like some weird circumstances at this race, but each lap, Oscar kept voicing like, hey guys, are you sure we want to be on inters? And he just repeatedly would say it, and each time he almost got more and more uh intense on the radio, saying, like, this is a mistake, this is a mistake. And by the last formation lap, which is ridiculous that we had three, but anyways, they had three formation laps to to figure this out. And finally, by the end, he was like, Yeah, we're on the wrong tires, but I just had to laugh because at that point it's too late. He knows they're screwed, the team knows they're screwed, nobody's brave enough to say it except for Oscar. Like, that just you gotta laugh at that.

SPEAKER_00 18:54

Yeah, it was just so I think the reason they had the three formation laps was because of Linblad. I think they noticed his car wasn't going into gear, and whoever, whichever one of the stewards or whoever caught that, I'm really glad they did because that would have been a terrible accident at the start there. So kudos to whoever, whoever caught that one. But yeah, you you just kind of saw or you could hear Oscar just getting more and more frustrated every lap. All of like we were just baffled watching this one. I'm like, why, why, why are they on these tires? I think it was Audi, maybe on a similar there was one other team on a similar strategy. I'm pretty sure it was Audi.

SPEAKER_01 19:34

Yeah, I think Audi and maybe Haas as well. Maybe Haas as well. But yeah, within the first eight laps, they were all in the pits, changing over the mediums.

SPEAKER_00 19:44

Yeah, and it sucked because Lando had such a phenomenal start. Like he just he had an incredible start in the lead, but he he couldn't keep it, right? Like the rest of them were on softs, if I'm not mistaken, right? Uh Antonelli and Russell, Max, Lewis. I think all of them were were started on the floor. The Ferraris.

SPEAKER_01 20:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:04

Yeah. And it was like he just there was there was no way he was able to fight that one, right? He brought a knife to a gunfight there. So I just I don't, I don't know. I felt really, really terrible for for both of them. And it just continued to get worse as the race went on with Lando having to to DNF. Um, I think it was just shortly after Russell, right? So I think something similar happened where he just did that.

SPEAKER_01 20:28

Yeah, not too far after. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just the car just died on him. Yeah, I think it was a loss of power. And like you said, he was having an amazing race, got an amazing start. I maybe one of the best starts I've ever seen from him. Like, really, really impressive. And then to have it go the wrong way due to no fault of his own just sucks so much. Like him and George should have a little, a little chit-chat and commiserate together because they both kind of suffered from the same things this weekend, just circumstances beyond their control. But yeah, hugely disappointing for McLaren and Mercedes with with George's DNF. But yeah, McLaren, man, like they gotta get it together. Their car is too good to be to be making these silly mistakes.

SPEAKER_00 21:12

Yeah, and even with Oscar, right? Like, my guy, like you you should know how to use a steering wheel. Like, why are we crashing into Albon like that? Like, what what happened there, right? Uh and then he gets the the 10-second time penalty. Which also I thought there was a lot of penalties in in this race. Like, I just felt like the stewards were like, five seconds free. It was like an Oprah, you know, situation of just handing up the city. You get a penalty.

SPEAKER_01 21:37

Yeah. No, you're right. Like, I looked up, I think after one of the commercials and I looked at the standings, and there were half of the drivers that were either noted for an incident or had already been um awarded a penalty. Like it was it was crazy. They were very, they were very busy dishing those out. But yeah, that crash was I don't know, I don't know what happened. You just like drove straight. Straight into Albon. I've never seen Piastri make a mistake like that. So poor Albon for getting the short end of the stick there. But yeah, that was very disappointing. And obviously, you know, he he deserved to get a penalty for that because certainly that could have been avoided. Yeah, really disappointing. But actually, Piastri made some interesting comments after the race. So obviously he was frustrated on the radio with uh being on the inters, but then afterwards he made some comments to the effect of like, well, if it had rained a little bit more, we would have looked like heroes, but because it stopped raining, we looked like idiots, which I found to be quite interesting, like kind of a, you know, like a team-friendly way of saying it, like not wanting to throw anyone under the bus. Truthfully, like we all know it was the wrong decision, man. Like, we don't have to to protect the decision making that much. But I I found that interesting. I think overall, like, there's a lot of good takeaways for McLaren. Um, but we can't be fumbling points like that.

SPEAKER_00 23:05

Yeah, I like on the bright side, they they have a good car, right? And we couldn't say the same thing in the first couple of races where we were like, what is going on at McLaren? And they brought the right upgrades, they've learned about a lot about the car, but we can't be messing up strategy that badly, and and drivers can't be making the mistakes that they're making because we're just forget leaving points on the table. We're just not getting points when we do that, right?

SPEAKER_01 23:29

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So lessons learned, and uh hopefully we don't see the same at Monaco. But in terms of teams that did have good strategy this weekend, shout out to Ferrari for We are so pretty good.

SPEAKER_00 23:45

Weekend, it's happening. We're back. I hopefully, fingers crossed, I'm just knocking on wood everywhere. I am just my little little Ferrari Hart and Lewis Hamilton Stan Hart was just so happy. I had the biggest smile on my face during during the second half of this race. Really good strategy from Ferrari. I I found Charles Leclerc's comments a little interesting. He was complaining a lot about this weekend and and particularly the race. He was like, this has been like the worst race of like my F1 career or something. And I was like, I mean, you finished P4. Like I feel like we've had a lot of really terrible races. I like in Canada last year.

SPEAKER_01 24:28

If it's 2025, we take that, no problem. P4 is like getting dessert in 25 for our yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:36

I think last year in Canada, like, didn't his car just like his engine just similar to George, like his end in just like cracked out or something last year?

SPEAKER_01 24:45

Yeah, that's so true. I'm pretty sure that was Canada.

SPEAKER_00 24:48

Yeah, like I think you've had worse races and worse weekends than than finishing P4. So I thought that was interesting from him, but Lewis, it was watching old Lewis again, with especially watching him and Max battle that out. It was a nail biter. I was like on the edge of my seat, just like stressed, heart pounding, being like, oh my god, what is gonna happen here? And like just clean racing, a super clean battle between the two, and watching them at the end of that race, like you they both just had so much fun.

SPEAKER_01 25:20

Yeah, it was such a good highlight of the race for me. I think just watching them like truly fight it out, and then to have Lewis pass, like with a few laughs to go. I remember having the Salesforce Driver of the Day up on my phone being like, okay, if Lewis can can make this pass, I will be voting for him for Driver of the Day. And he did it, and it was just beautiful to watch. Yeah, great race for him.

SPEAKER_00 25:46

A hundred percent. And it was just yeah, it was just that that moment of of Crofty from years ago with the through goes Hamilton. Like that was just the the voice in my head. It was it was beautiful, like it was just incredible to watch that. And like his mom was there, and like they they showed her, and she was so excited. I'm convinced she's his good luck charm. Please, please, Mama Carmen continue to follow the need to in every race. But yeah, just absolutely incredible to see that.

SPEAKER_01 26:20

Yeah, super fun and honestly good for Max too. Like, with all of the I don't want to say negativity, but maybe like the the less than optimistic view he's had on this season and their performance so far and his own personal performance. It's nice to see him on that podium. Like at the end of the day, he is Max Verstoppen. Like, we can never count him out in anything, and he's always gonna be that guy. Um, so very deserving one, two, three. And I think both of them, both Hamilton and Verstoppen, can be really proud of the race that they put together.

SPEAKER_00 26:53

100%. I saw just commentary going around about the podium of it was representative of like the past, the present, and the future. And I I loved that, right? Of like Lewis just like being That's beautiful. Yeah, Lewis just being like the goat, right? Like Lewis being Lewis, Max being kind of this current outstanding driver that we have, and and the future that that Kimmy has. And it was just, yeah, it was beautiful. It was just such a great podium. It was just all good feels.

SPEAKER_01 27:23

Yeah. Oh, that gave me chills a little hearing you say that.

SPEAKER_00 27:28

Yeah, I I loved it. Speaking of drivers who so with similar sort of Shar moment with Isaac, it kind of watching them battle for a little bit there was was really interesting. Yes. Really good racing from both of them. Isaac, similarly to Shar, you know, was not really happy with the race, was, you know, a bit negative about things, but also like finished P5, which both Red Bulls haven't finished in P5 since 2024. So I thought he that was a really good finish for him. Um I don't know what happened in Canada and why all these drivers are are like it's either they're really happy or they're really upset. But like I think there's there's a lot of things to be happy about for Isaac. That second Red Bull seat has really struggled and it hasn't been all, you know, unicorns and rainbows for him, but for him to be able to get the car to that point. Um I I think that's really good.

SPEAKER_01 28:26

Yeah, like I mean, LeClaire and Hajar both making comments saying that they're not happy with the weekend, but then finishing really well. Maybe that's just their own personal standards kind of playing a factor, but I would agree, super great race for Hajar on paper. Um, he should be proud of that finish. And that's kind of a shocking stat. The first time that both Red Bulls have finished in the top five in two years. That's that's pretty impressive. Like we've seen some major turmoil with that second seed, and people, myself included, were were pretty skeptical of whether Hadra would be able to hold up just because it's been so rocky. But I think that's a great proof point for him to say, hey, like I am just as capable of getting points and being competitive every weekend as like the best driver on the grid right now. So I think definitely something for him to be proud of. And you know, I'm sure they're always striving for more and and wanting more, but hoping that both Char and Isaac can can take that away from the weekend.

SPEAKER_00 29:33

Yeah, it was funny with Char, Fred Vesser had a like an interview or something like that, and they were asking him about Char's comments and stuff, and he was like, it's alright. In 10 days, it's Monaco. He's gonna forget Canada even existed. Like it's fine. It's so true.

SPEAKER_01 29:48

We'll be okay. Yeah, quick memory. Um, and and Monaco obviously is is his home race, so he's gonna be be locked in for that one.

SPEAKER_00 29:58

Yeah, yeah. Fingers crossed for him on that one. Speaking of people who did really well, uh Colapinto, amazing, like best best finish of his F1 career. He finished P6 and Gasly, I believe, was P8. So you had both Alpines in the points, which was really cool.

SPEAKER_01 30:16

You know, we're getting to that point where we say that it's Colapinto's best finish almost every race because he just keeps outperforming. Like it's it's amazing. And for someone who did not get a single point last year, like he's just like a completely different driver, it seems. Like, I'm super impressed with him. I had no expectations of Kalapinto in particular doing this well, just based on how rough last year was for him. And he's just really shown what he's capable of. So really happy to see that. And yeah, good for Gasly as well. Strong finish and having both Alpines and the points after they got like what was it, like 20 points all of last year. Like they're gonna be super happy with how the season is going.

SPEAKER_00 31:07

Yeah, uh, it's really interesting because you know, at the start of the season, we were all really talking about Haas and particularly Behrman. I mean, he finished P10, I believe, so like he he got a point. But interesting, they brought some upgrades to Miami, and it feels like those upgrades really didn't work. And I don't know if they made any changes for for Montreal, but whatever they're doing is not working. Finished out of the points. It's just it I I don't know what's going on there, but it's interesting to make that comparison between, you know, in in the middle of the the pack here and Alpine kind of making their way up and coming for for Haas, who was really outperforming what we all expected.

SPEAKER_01 31:48

Yeah, like Haas got off to a good start, and then they've just been sluggish. Maybe just everyone else is catching up to them and now surpassing them. Not really sure, but yeah, a little bit unfortunate. Like it was nice to see them kind of like dig themselves out of a slump a little bit earlier, but I agree, like that momentum has kind of shifted away from them now, and and now we're seeing Alpine really climbing up from the bottom. So we'll see what Monaco brings, but hopefully they can get some upgrades together or just figure out you know why things are not connecting for them the way that they anticipated and uh yeah, hopefully just get them back to being competitive again.

SPEAKER_00 32:33

Yeah. Yeah, fingers crossed. I mean, the one team so far that has not surprised me. I think, yeah. I think the only team yet that has not surprised me is Martin. Aston Martin. They're just just you know, reliable. Every week, I just know they're gonna be terrible. Every other team I feel like I've had surprises with, um, whether good or bad, but Aston Martin, I can I can just bank on on being terrible every weekend.

SPEAKER_01 33:06

I will say Lance did surprise me by finishing the race. We had Alonzo DNF, but Lance did finish. He he did reach the checkered flag, so at least there's that. But he was like, I don't know, P15 or 16 or something. So pretty horrible day. And then we had all those DNFs, so he was effectively in blast.

unknown 33:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:25

But man, oh man, are they just horrible? Like, they're just so bad to watch. There's no improvement. Like, there was even that like funny ceremony before the race where Lance, I don't know, it was like something to honor the Canadian GP, and obviously Lance is Canadian. So there was some presentation, and he just looked dead on the inside, probably because he knew like there's nothing we can get out of today, anyways. And he was right.

SPEAKER_00 33:53

Yeah, like I I feel like Cadillac, like Cadillac is is learning and they're having made I think there was a couple of like really good laps they had or something in put maybe quality or sprint qualie or something. But there you're starting to see a little bit of like movement and improvement in a team that's brand new, that knows they're not going to be competitive, and to see that from them and and to see that they're at least making progress. And Aston Martin just isn't making progress at all. So I don't I I don't know. I don't know what they're doing. I feel like at this point, like they're just spending a ton of money and it's not working. Where I feel like they just almost need a recall at this point. Like you just you just need to start from scratch.

SPEAKER_01 34:37

Yeah, it's insane that we're saying this. We say this every episode, but like this team should not be doing this poorly. This is Adrian Dewey's team, and they're just like they look dead. It's just so insane to see. Like, you're right, no improvements, nothing to take away in terms of progress or even like any bright spot at all. It just seems like every race is the same, where they either don't finish the race or they're just so uncompetitive, or they're the slowest car on the track. Like, just no positive takeaways for this team right now. And I think last episode we said maybe they'll get one point before summer break. I don't think they're getting a point all season. I'd be shocked to see them get a single point.

SPEAKER_00 35:27

Yeah, I don't I don't think so either. And like you said, right, this is Adrian Newey's team. Like you have Fernando Alonso as your driver. Yes, he's he's older and stuff, but Fernando's a really good driver, right? Like he's one of the best on on the grid, right? Talent-wise. He's incredible. And you're like throwing all of that away. And I I just I don't I don't know. I don't know what's happening. I have no answer. I again, it's just I can count on them being terrible. And like I know I said I I, you know, I I'm I've been surprised with every team and not surprised by Aston Martin, but that's a lie. Every weekend I can I can guarantee and that it's going to consistently be bad, and I'm gonna consistently just be baffled by how they can be this bad.

SPEAKER_01 36:13

Yeah, if anything, they have surprised us with how terrible they have been, with literally no improvement at all. So they've got that going for them, at least. They're still surprising us in some ways.

SPEAKER_00 36:23

Um, I mean, I guess they're they're finishing races sometimes, right? Land's finished the sometimes.

SPEAKER_01 36:30

Every other race they finished.

SPEAKER_00 36:32

Did he not finish in Miami? I can't remember, but I maybe they might have finished Miami like writing a little hard on them. Miami as well.

SPEAKER_01 36:41

Yeah, but yeah, that's exactly it, right? Like it's so forgettable, like they're just so far away from like the pace of the race. It might have been in Miami where they were slower than the slowest F2 car, or maybe that was the race before, but yeah, just you know, just so bad.

SPEAKER_00 36:59

Like truly the the worst team, and it's not close. Yeah, agreed. I I I'm curious to see if Lawrence Stroll continues funding this team and continues being there, or you know, kind of what we talked a little bit about in our first episode of I went into that into the season being like, this is a super hot take and super controversial of is Lawrence gonna back away. But every week or every race, I'm like, I see this becoming more and more implausible. Like they're just not improving, and Lawrence is is a is a very successful business person, right? And if this investment is not producing any returns and just continuing to do terrible, are you gonna cut your losses anytime soon?

SPEAKER_01 37:45

Yeah, like at what point does Lawrence tell his son, like, hey man, I can't keep funding your your little career anymore? Like to me, I'm almost at the point where is this continuing just so Lance can keep racing? Like I don't wanna be too harsh on Lance. I don't really see him having opportunities at another team. The performance just hasn't been there. I think that's been clear. Without his dad backing him on a team, does he have a seat? No. So maybe that's what what's left now is give Lance the rest of the season, maybe one other season, let's see. And and surely they'll cut their losses after that. Cause yeah, the experiment has failed, I think is it's safe to say.

SPEAKER_00 38:34

Yeah, 100%. So it's interesting watching Kimmy now with 43 points ahead of George. And it's gonna take it's gonna be hard, I think, for George to to get past that. It's not impossible, but it is gonna be really difficult. And I'm seeing improvement in Kimmy. One of the things that I don't I don't think we talked about was leading up to this past race, Kimmy has had awful starts consistently. And I think we talked about that in our last podcast of just he really needs to improve, and he did in both the sprint and uh the main race this weekend. Yes, he had really good starts. So I'm seeing a lot of improvement with Kimmy. I I don't know if I am with George, and I I think it's Kimmy's starting to make it harder and harder for George to make up that gap and get past him.

SPEAKER_01 39:26

Yeah, it's gonna be tough. I mean, after last season, I won't say that it's impossible. We saw Max come back from 100 points down to, you know, the very last race. So, you know, definitely still very much a possibility. But yeah, you're right. Like it's it's just a a bigger mountain now. And especially with Kimmy improving, we know that that's been a weak point for him. He's showing that he's able to to tackle that hurdle. So that just means that George is gonna have to be like really opportunistic and and the the window for for error just becomes really, really small for him. So every race that he's not outscoring Kimmy or like not getting points is really disastrous uh for his championship hopes. So I don't know how that's gonna go for him. He really just has to take it one race at a time, but there's less and less room for error as we go on, and I'm sure George knows that as well. So we'll see if maybe experience can start playing a factor and he can use that as some leverage in the title fight. But Kimmy is very talented and he's learning very quickly and and fixing a lot in his approach. So it'll be interesting. Yeah, 100%. Okay, so we have another couple weeks off from racing, but our next race coming up is in Monaco, Charles Home Race. So whether you're a Monaco hater or a lover, may not be the best race for you, but still an iconic track nonetheless. Uh so that'll be June 5th uh to 7th. And we'll see how things shake out there. Should be an interesting one. Hopefully, it's an interesting one.

SPEAKER_00 41:12

Yeah, Monaco sometimes, you know, is known to be a little bit of a of a snooze fest. So we'll see what happens. We'll see how the new regulations play out in Monaco as well.

SPEAKER_01 41:22

Yeah. Hopefully, at least qualifying is interesting. I'll take a fun qualifying over over a boring race. 100%. At least we'll have that, hopefully. All right. Thanks so much, everyone, for tuning in. That brings us to the end of another episode. Uh, we'll be back in a few weeks after Monaco uh to give you a little bit of a recap and some updates. And in the meantime, don't forget to rate and review us on the podcast listening platform of your choice. And we will catch you soon with another episode. Bye.