- 5 months ago
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00:00:00Yesterday we witnessed history being made. Max Verstappen set the fastest lap ever in Formula 1 with an average speed of over 164 miles per hour and he took pole here in Monza.
00:00:16McLaren's Lando Norris will start alongside him on the front row, denied by just seven one hundredths of a second.
00:00:23Championship leader Oscar Piastri will start from third, a place he's yet to win from in his career.
00:00:32And of course it's a first race for Ferrari at Monza, a seven time world champion Lewis Hamilton. He does though carry a five place penalty and will start from tenth.
00:00:43His teammate Charles Leclerc will start from fourth, where he won from here last year. How he would love to emulate that success today.
00:00:54Monza is speed, it's history and it's passion distilled into one place. It's not just another race, it's F1's beating heart.
00:01:05And a very warm welcome to the pit lane here in Monza. And there are fewer, more iconic sites than this, the Ferrari red here at the Italian Grand Prix.
00:01:19It feels so good to be back Martin Vandal, Nico Rosberg, great to see you. Tell me Martin, why is this place so special?
00:01:26I think all Formula One races and venues are pretty special. But yeah, we talk about it often.
00:01:32It's the scary high speeds, the challenging braking points. But you know what, the stopwatch is the same wherever you go.
00:01:39But somehow or other there's a passion here. And that's why we always must keep the history and heritage intact.
00:01:46The great circuits like Silverstone and Spa, Monza, Suzuki would be another one. We need these places. And every time we turn up, there's a good reminder why.
00:01:56And a great reminder of the entertainment that is served here because Max Verstappen was simply sublime yesterday.
00:02:03A new, not just lap record, but record in Formula One, the fastest ever lap in Formula One history. How did he do it, Nico?
00:02:13Yeah, and I have a little bit of a touch point with that because my father used to have that record for 15 to 20 years back in the end of the 80s and 90s.
00:02:22And now it's gone to Max Verstappen, who fully deserves it as well. He's very worthy of that because he is one of the top five greatest of all time by now.
00:02:31And he showed it again yesterday. The laps he put in there at the end of qualifying when the pressure was the highest. Magical. I looked at the onboard, perfection.
00:02:40It really was. And actually, Lando Norris came incredibly close. He actually narrowly avoided elimination in Q2, but did ultimately put it on the front row.
00:02:50So how will he be feeling about that, Martin?
00:02:52Well, he's ahead of his arch rival in the championship, now his teammate Oscar Piastri.
00:02:56So that's something, although he'll be cutting a hole in the air going down to turn one, fourth longest run of the year.
00:03:03And I think he'd be pretty satisfied with the recovery. Max went into qualifying with only four new sets of tyres.
00:03:09They had confidence and he was actually only fastest in one sector, Max. It wasn't even the top three in the others, but he just puts it all together.
00:03:16But it was so close at the front and there's a lot to play for today.
00:03:20Talking of recovery, he's had to do that since the disappointment of that DNF, that heartbreaking DNF in Holland last week out.
00:03:28Just how critical is his response in the race today? Can he win from second?
00:03:33So I foresee a bit of a change here now. Lando doesn't have the huge pressure on his shoulder anymore of being the favourite for the championship.
00:03:42Because of the unlucky, because of the bad luck, now he's 30 plus points behind.
00:03:46And I think we're going to see a stronger Lando now, more relaxed, more concentrated.
00:03:51And that's why I think he's going to deliver a fantastic race out there today.
00:03:55And that's why the championship is also still wide open.
00:03:58Well, of course, Oscar Piastri does have a 34 point advantage in the championship.
00:04:02He'll be starting from third. Interestingly, it's a position he's never won from in his career so far.
00:04:09What about today?
00:04:10Well, statistics are there to be changed, aren't they?
00:04:12But I don't think Lando can afford to throw caution to the wind.
00:04:16Yes, I think I completely agree with you.
00:04:17His natural talent and juices will flow because there's a bit of pressure and expectation off now.
00:04:22But there's still nine races and three sprints to go.
00:04:25He can't just lunge into the braking zone down into turn one and risk a 50-50 move.
00:04:31He needs these points still because the championship is still wide open.
00:04:35OK, well, as we said, it was an unbelievable lap from Max Verstappen yesterday.
00:04:39Karun is at the Skypad to see how it all played out.
00:04:45Thank you, Natalie.
00:04:46Yes, the fastest ever lap in Formula One history by Max Verstappen yesterday.
00:04:50And let's take a look at how he grabbed pole position.
00:04:52He's on the right, Lando Norris there on the left.
00:04:54Now, Red Bull took a little bit of downforce off for qualifying.
00:04:58And if we just go up to the 50-meter ball, there, we'll sneak up to it.
00:05:01You can see he's already pulled a little bit of an advantage.
00:05:05Now, that is key.
00:05:06And that will carry on in a theme across the lap.
00:05:09Over the kerbs there, look at their hands.
00:05:11Watch the traction here.
00:05:13A little bit of correction on the way out.
00:05:15But great drive as they come up through the curva grande there.
00:05:20Now, once again, the Red Bull will just eek away a tiny bit, half a tenth,
00:05:25on this run up to the second chicane.
00:05:27Over the kerbs here, both cars looking really good, really compliant.
00:05:31I think the Red Bull, you know, has got good compliance of the kerbs all through the season.
00:05:36And that's coming to the fore.
00:05:37But through the Lesmos, now, look at the amount of steering lock.
00:05:40Max has got more understeer.
00:05:42And this is where the downforce, the extra bit of downforce of the McLaren starts to come into play.
00:05:47Through the two Lesmos, Lando pulls some time back.
00:05:50And this will help him as well as we get up to the Ascari chicane coming up at the end of this straight.
00:05:56On the straight itself, Max will pull away again.
00:05:59But fifth gear corner up the Ascari chicane.
00:06:01Look at the commitment, the precision required as they thread the eye of the needle.
00:06:06And I'll use the kerb right at the exit as a reference there.
00:06:09Look at it.
00:06:10Absolutely equal.
00:06:11So they come out of the Ascari chicane, they are absolutely equal.
00:06:15But you've got the long straight up to Parabolica.
00:06:19And this is where the Red Bull will pull away.
00:06:22And I'll pick the 50-meter pole.
00:06:25There.
00:06:26Verstappen's pulled half a car length.
00:06:28And to me, this is where Verstappen was exceptional.
00:06:31He's got less downforce and therefore less aerodynamic support to carry the speed through the Parabolica,
00:06:36which is a very quick corner.
00:06:38But he was exceptional.
00:06:40He hardly loses any time.
00:06:42He uses a bit more width.
00:06:43Look, he's slightly wider.
00:06:44Lando's really concentrating to bring it back in.
00:06:47Verstappen using that wider line but still getting great drive.
00:06:51And as we come up to the timing line, you can see he's able to maintain that half car length despite less downforce.
00:06:58And I think that's where he was really, really special.
00:07:00But Lando Norris, that's all the differences.
00:07:03You're talking hardly half a car length.
00:07:05That's how much he lost both.
00:07:06Seventy-seven thousandths of a second.
00:07:08And he's been chatting with Rachel.
00:07:10Lando, as we come off the track here, we've got that incredible podium up to our left up there.
00:07:16How much would you like to be up there at the end of the race today?
00:07:19Very, very much so.
00:07:21But only in one of the positions.
00:07:23Actually, even if you're not on the top step, it's still pretty cool just to be there.
00:07:28But yeah, the aim is the target is to win today.
00:07:32So that's where I want to be.
00:07:33Right, so winning today, how important is it going to be to get ahead of Max at the start?
00:07:37Because that straight line speed of the Red Bull is pretty intimidating if you're going to have to try and pass him.
00:07:42Yeah, to be honest, I think everyone's straight line speed is pretty intimidating to us, bar probably the Mercedes.
00:07:48So, no, it will be my best chance. A victory would be off the line.
00:07:56But it's still a long race, you know.
00:07:59They're still overtaking opportunities.
00:08:00We can still do strategy things.
00:08:02And I think we can still have a better pace than the Red Bull today.
00:08:05You're all right, Alex.
00:08:07Their pace is going to be very strong today, so I'm not expecting an easy race by any means.
00:08:12I know what happened last year.
00:08:14I mean, that's not...
00:08:17Alex, out the way, Alex, out the way.
00:08:20Listen, you're not going to let anyone do that to you on the track today, that's for sure.
00:08:23We're not going to have a repeat of last year.
00:08:25So, what would it mean to you to win this race today and try and close that gap?
00:08:28Is that on your mind at all?
00:08:30I mean, just winning, that's all I can think of.
00:08:34All I want to think of, of course, is consequences of the race.
00:08:37So, the best thing I can do is just think about winning, thinking about executing a strong race,
00:08:42overtaking a car, and that's about it.
00:08:45It's a bit frantic, this little walk, but I've enjoyed it, Lando.
00:08:48Thanks. Have a good race.
00:08:49No problem. Thank you very much.
00:08:51Well, overtaking, winnings.
00:08:54Jamie Chadwick, somebody's going to be on the podium today.
00:08:57Three drivers, in fact.
00:08:58We've heard Nico's views on it.
00:09:00We've heard Lando's views on it.
00:09:01We're now going to turn Lee round,
00:09:03and he's going to be what the winning driver sees.
00:09:06What's it going to be like for them?
00:09:07It's funny, because when you win a race,
00:09:09you actually don't get much of a chance to breathe.
00:09:11You get pulled from pillar to post.
00:09:13You get out the car.
00:09:14You have a slight moment to celebrate with your team,
00:09:16but then you're straight into an interview,
00:09:18and then you have the cool-down room.
00:09:19But it's not until you actually get onto these steps
00:09:21that you actually get the chance to breathe.
00:09:23And this podium's so unique.
00:09:25It's more like being a headliner at Glastonbury
00:09:27than actually having the chance to celebrate a podium,
00:09:31because you look out to the sea of red if you're an Italian driver
00:09:33or racing for an Italian team,
00:09:35and it's a phenomenal, phenomenal podium, this one.
00:09:38Exactly.
00:09:39I can see what you mean.
00:09:41I mean, then you've got the second-place position.
00:09:43So, of course, you're the winner.
00:09:44You've done very well.
00:09:45Congratulations.
00:09:46Well done, you.
00:09:47And then the third place, the second place.
00:09:49No, I'm third.
00:09:50You're second.
00:09:51That's right, to the right of the winner.
00:09:52I have one-up on you already, Ted.
00:09:53And you always have one-up on me, Jamie.
00:09:55And then you've got your team representative here.
00:09:57They've got a little place.
00:09:59But just look at that view.
00:10:01And is the adrenaline still pumping at this minute?
00:10:04It is, but you have the moment to kind of realise,
00:10:07you know, what you've achieved.
00:10:08And this whole stretch rate will be a sea of red, hopefully,
00:10:12come the end of the race.
00:10:13And it's phenomenal.
00:10:14It's, like I say, it's more of a stage than a podium, this podium.
00:10:17It's incredible.
00:10:18And, of course, if you're the driver, the winning driver,
00:10:20you'd want to kind of wait until they let everybody on.
00:10:23But, as you say, you're being pushed out there
00:10:26by the organisers who want to get on with everything.
00:10:29And then have your moment in here.
00:10:31And can you understand, like Pierre Gasly,
00:10:33five years ago to this week,
00:10:35just taking his own little time to sit here afterwards
00:10:38and just have a moment to yourself as you see that?
00:10:40Exactly.
00:10:41And for Pierre Gasly, his first win,
00:10:42he would have been tense in those moments.
00:10:44So it becomes quite a physical race as well
00:10:46when you feel like that.
00:10:47So, yeah, this podium's seen some special moments,
00:10:50Pierre Gasly being one of them, Daniel Ricciardo.
00:10:52A lot of Ferrari wins as well.
00:10:53So let's see what we can see this afternoon.
00:10:55Wow.
00:10:56You racing drivers, you get the best views, don't you?
00:10:58Whether it's Glastonbury or Monza,
00:11:00this is just phenomenal.
00:11:05Wow, it certainly is.
00:11:06Right, a reminder then of the state of play in the standings.
00:11:09Oscar Piastri now has a 34-point buffer
00:11:11to his teammate Lando Norris.
00:11:13Then it's today's pole sitter Max Verstappen in third,
00:11:16a further 70 back.
00:11:18Then comes George Russell in fourth on 184,
00:11:2033 ahead of Charles Leclerc.
00:11:22His Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton is in sixth on 109.
00:11:26Albon had a great recovery drive in Holland.
00:11:28Can he do the same today?
00:11:30His fifth place in Zandvoort means he's now level on points
00:11:33with Italian star Kimi Antonelli.
00:11:35They are in seventh and eighth.
00:11:37Hajar's Holland heroics bring him into the top ten.
00:11:42Tied on 37 with Salva's Nico Hülkenberg.
00:11:47Stroll also fought hard in Holland to finish P7.
00:11:50He's in 11th, two points ahead of his teammate Fernando Alonso.
00:11:53Fairman doubled his points total last weekend.
00:11:56He's on 16 in 16th, tied with Carlos Sainz,
00:12:00who will be hoping for a turnaround in fortunes today.
00:12:03Fortoletto had hit a decent run of form,
00:12:06and he'll be looking to build on his 14 points.
00:12:09And in the constructors, the McLaren juggernaut
00:12:13is gathering even more pace.
00:12:15They're on 584 points, 324 clear of Ferrari,
00:12:21whose double DNF in Holland leaves them within 12 points
00:12:24of Mercedes, who are in third.
00:12:26Red Bull are in fourth on 214,
00:12:29and then Williams are on 80.
00:12:32Then it's just two points between Aston Martin and Racing Bulls,
00:12:35with Alpine at the bottom on 20.
00:12:38Okay, now let's hear from one of the home heroes.
00:12:41A proud day for Kimi Antonelli
00:12:43as he's racing in the Italian Grand Prix.
00:12:46He's with Craig Slater.
00:12:48Listen, how positive a headspace are you in?
00:12:51It feels like you've built some really good momentum
00:12:53over the course of this weekend.
00:12:55Yeah, it was pretty good.
00:12:57I mean, it was a shame because, you know,
00:13:00I started off well in FP1 and I had good momentum,
00:13:04and then in FP2 I ended up losing all of it
00:13:07because I went off so early.
00:13:09And it felt like a new start yesterday morning in FP3,
00:13:13but happy with how I built.
00:13:15I progressed during the session.
00:13:17And, yeah, just it's a shame because I felt a bit more to give,
00:13:22but we'll try to do our best today.
00:13:25Forza Kimi.
00:13:26Thank you so much.
00:13:28Well, he's looking cool.
00:13:31Hopefully he's feeling cool.
00:13:32A bit of pressure on the young man's shoulders today.
00:13:34Yeah, I think he recovered well again from his little trip through the gravel.
00:13:39We've seen him do that earlier on this season.
00:13:41It's a tough time, Kimi Antonelli, but he's got the talent.
00:13:45We know from Nico who ran him in carts and others.
00:13:48Maybe he's ended Formula One just a little bit too early.
00:13:52But he's got the talent.
00:13:54He's a protected species there because Toto wants that to be the right decision.
00:13:59And I think he'll weather the storm and make it through.
00:14:02One thing that I would say there again,
00:14:04he has a little bit of an approach like Lando in how he's speaking to us.
00:14:08You know, like now he did a great qualifying yesterday,
00:14:11but most of what he just talked about was in mistake is in FP2
00:14:15and how he was then on the back foot.
00:14:17And then he could have also just said,
00:14:19yeah, finally, the qualifying was super,
00:14:21and it sets me up for a great race.
00:14:23That's something that I will recommend to him, you know,
00:14:25to just stay more positive.
00:14:27There's no need to go back into yesterday's difficulties or whatever.
00:14:32Nobody asked you about them.
00:14:33You know, like, I think that would be something that could really help him.
00:14:35That's so true, isn't it?
00:14:36Because when you project it to others, it bounces back to you,
00:14:39and you said it in the public forum now.
00:14:41He will take heart, though,
00:14:42from being just tucked in behind his teammate George Russell,
00:14:45who's going to be starting from fifth today.
00:14:47Interestingly for George,
00:14:48he was asking to go back onto the mediums.
00:14:50Bit of a communication breakdown at Mercedes yesterday.
00:14:53Do you think he would have qualified higher had he done?
00:14:56Well, he certainly looked good, didn't he,
00:14:57in the early stages on those tyres.
00:14:59And I don't quite...
00:15:00I find it incredible with all of the communication tools they have
00:15:03that the driver can drive out of the pit lane
00:15:05and go, like, what are these things I can see in front of me?
00:15:09Why are they not with the yellow stripes instead of red stripes?
00:15:11But I think he's about where he was going to be.
00:15:14But he's driving so beautifully, George.
00:15:16He really... he just looks the real deal.
00:15:18He's confident.
00:15:19But he said, I went to Mercedes,
00:15:21expecting to win world championships straight away,
00:15:24relatively straightforwardly.
00:15:25And, of course, that's just not happening.
00:15:27I'll agree with you, Martin, that, for me, George is top three,
00:15:30at the very least, in terms of driver this year.
00:15:33Phenomenally consistent.
00:15:34So rapid.
00:15:35He is always extracting the maximum from that car.
00:15:38Which is why it's so hard for Antonelli also.
00:15:40Because he's up against one of the very, very best out there,
00:15:44which doesn't help.
00:15:45Martin, question to you.
00:15:47Toto's going to have to decide on Antonelli soon.
00:15:49Pen to paper, sign him up for another year or not.
00:15:52If you were in Toto's shoes, what would you do?
00:15:54I'd take him.
00:15:55I would have signed George a long time ago
00:15:57because George is not happy, is he?
00:15:58It's very easy to see that George feels quite bruised
00:16:02about all the max talk and what have you through the summer.
00:16:05But when you look at the calm at McLaren and other teams,
00:16:09I just think they've injected too many of their own problems
00:16:12into the driver line-up.
00:16:13I'd keep him.
00:16:14What would you do?
00:16:15Everyone needs a bit of... Niko.
00:16:17I would... well, unfortunately, at the moment,
00:16:19you'd have to still wait.
00:16:21And you have to wait it out until the end of the season
00:16:24and maybe make the call in the winter then.
00:16:26Because at the moment, it's hard to, like, sign it today.
00:16:30There's too many mistakes still happening from young Antonelli.
00:16:33But I do believe he has huge potential
00:16:35and he should be there next year.
00:16:36Yeah, I suppose a good result for him today
00:16:38would be beating his teammate here at his Italian Grand Prix.
00:16:41I mean, that would go down well with the fans, wouldn't it?
00:16:43OK, all of this coming up ahead of the Italian Grand Prix.
00:16:49At 10 to 1, Martin explains DRS.
00:16:53There we go.
00:16:54The car really accelerates beautifully
00:16:56when you open the DRS up.
00:16:59At 1.05, Ted is going to look back at Ferrari's season so far.
00:17:04Ferrari is still second in the constructors' standings
00:17:07thanks to Leclerc and Hamilton
00:17:09banging in the points every weekend.
00:17:10So what went wrong?
00:17:12At 1.20, the pit lane is open.
00:17:17From 1.30, Martin and Niko are going for a stroll down the grid.
00:17:25And at 2 o'clock, it's lights out for the Italian Grand Prix.
00:17:35Well, the Ferrari faithful have flocked to the Temple of Speed.
00:17:40The place is awash with red.
00:17:42An intoxicating atmosphere ahead of the race.
00:17:45Join us after the break.
00:17:55Hello and welcome back to Magical Monza.
00:17:58Now, Drag Reduction System, better known as DRS,
00:18:02could decide the race today.
00:18:04But what is it and how does it work?
00:18:06Here's Martin.
00:18:25The Drag Reduction System, or DRS, was introduced into F1 in 2011
00:18:30and then migrated to many other racing championships.
00:18:34Its purpose is to reduce aerodynamic drag,
00:18:37therefore increasing top speed of a car
00:18:40which is following within one second of the driver in front
00:18:44at various detection points
00:18:46and so increasing overtaking opportunities.
00:18:49It's the only moveable aerodynamic part
00:18:52currently allowed on a Formula One car.
00:18:55And because the cars have so much grip now,
00:18:58braking zones are very short.
00:19:00And so DRS was designed to enable an attacking driver
00:19:03to at least move alongside into a corner.
00:19:06Around the outside goes Lando Morris and Charles Leclerc.
00:19:09Got it done.
00:19:10Just hasn't got the grip.
00:19:11The number of DRS zones has increased considerably too.
00:19:14And circuits such as Singapore and Melbourne
00:19:17now have four of them.
00:19:19Carla Sainz with DRS.
00:19:21He's almost wheel to wheel.
00:19:22Carla Sainz takes the lead.
00:19:24DRS can only be used after the first racing lap
00:19:28and is centrally switched off in rainy conditions
00:19:30or where there's been a yellow flag incident
00:19:33in that section of the track.
00:19:35When activated, this top rear wing flap instantly rises.
00:19:39The flap closes automatically
00:19:41when the driver hits the brakes.
00:19:43But if there's no braking point,
00:19:45it's up to the driver to close the DRS.
00:19:48And that doesn't always go to plan.
00:19:53Let's find out just what it feels like out on track.
00:19:58We're going to try the DRS down this straight
00:20:00when I hear the beep in my ear.
00:20:05There it is.
00:20:06Oh, wow.
00:20:07Oh, yeah.
00:20:09That is way, way more powerful.
00:20:16There we go.
00:20:17The car really accelerates beautifully
00:20:19when you open the DRS up.
00:20:21That's really worth having.
00:20:23I was quite impressed by how the DRS,
00:20:26like the car, really accelerated.
00:20:28Yeah.
00:20:29It makes a big difference.
00:20:30I mean, it helps, obviously, with the racing,
00:20:31the overtaking.
00:20:32But it can easily be almost six, seven, eight tenths a lap.
00:20:36Does that move the aero balance forward as well,
00:20:38then, if you want to warm the front tires?
00:20:40Yeah.
00:20:41So you can quite often do it
00:20:42to try and get more energy into the tires.
00:20:44The thing is, it makes the rear quite sketchy.
00:20:47So, you know, if you make a little bit too much
00:20:49of a weaving movement with the DRS open,
00:20:51it can go wrong quite quickly.
00:20:53So you have to be a little bit careful.
00:20:54Yeah.
00:20:55Sometimes, the more speed you can get,
00:20:56you know, the harder you can brake,
00:20:57the more temperature you can get into the tires.
00:20:59So there's a gain, but there's a small risk
00:21:02of it can be a little bit sketchy.
00:21:04Yeah.
00:21:05So your nose to tail, then you want to overtake
00:21:07and boom, and that goes, and then...
00:21:09Yes.
00:21:10And then you have to...
00:21:11Great big hand pushing you along.
00:21:13But it's more powerful than last time I tried.
00:21:15Yes, I think compared to a few years ago,
00:21:17it makes a big difference,
00:21:18which is a good thing for us.
00:21:20We need it.
00:21:21But it can make big differences
00:21:22to the closing speeds of cars ahead.
00:21:24So you've got to preempt how...
00:21:25where you're going to end up,
00:21:26how the other car is going to do things,
00:21:28all while knowing you can't make too much of a sudden move
00:21:32because you can start to lose the car.
00:21:34Because it's a bit front-end-y on the downforce.
00:21:36And then you've got this tiny little button,
00:21:38which I managed to fumble it against the downshift when I was...
00:21:42Yeah, I mean, this is driver preference thing.
00:21:43You know, and teams, teams have different things.
00:21:45I've only ever been with McLaren,
00:21:47so I've always been used to this little...
00:21:49Little toggle.
00:21:50Little DRS toggle.
00:21:51But then, you know, if you were to race,
00:21:52you could probably mould a little bit more
00:21:54or you'd move this up or out,
00:21:56have a little bit of a chamfer.
00:21:57So, you know, if you were sisters with your car,
00:22:00you'd have your own steering wheel.
00:22:01Yeah.
00:22:02Love it or loathe it,
00:22:03DRS will very soon be confined to F1 history
00:22:07as fully active and moveable front and rear wings
00:22:10will be introduced for 2026.
00:22:16Well, a big thank you to McLaren on behalf of Mr Brundle here
00:22:19because that looked like a huge amount of fun.
00:22:21Enjoyed yourself?
00:22:22Yeah, to have a real car and to try these things out.
00:22:25We've got some other features coming along
00:22:26on the Formation Lab as well that I really enjoyed.
00:22:28They'll go out later in the year and stuff.
00:22:31We can just really get in there and feel it.
00:22:33As always, I get out of the cars
00:22:35with even more respect for the drivers
00:22:37than when I get in.
00:22:39But it was really good of Lando there to sort of share.
00:22:42As always, there are so many depths and elements
00:22:46to everything that happens in Formula 1.
00:22:48Sometimes unintended consequences,
00:22:50but other opportunities.
00:22:52And I hadn't really thought about
00:22:54don't move the steering wheel too quickly.
00:22:56You'll spin off if you've got the rear wing open
00:22:58and it's a bit damp or something.
00:23:00And the closing speeds.
00:23:02There is so much happens when suddenly
00:23:04you can go a lot faster.
00:23:06And as Lando found out in Canada, of course.
00:23:08Yeah, like a rocket.
00:23:09And Jamie, you felt it on the sim.
00:23:11Perhaps not in quite the same way,
00:23:12but just tell us the effect of it
00:23:14when you drove the Williams F1 car.
00:23:16It's got a huge effect,
00:23:17but I think I like it from a tactical point of view.
00:23:19When you see the racing, you see now
00:23:21they're so well used to using it
00:23:23from a just race point of view,
00:23:25just switching on and off.
00:23:26But in races like Singapore last year
00:23:29where you see them actually tactically using it,
00:23:31trying to, you know, put the other driver off
00:23:34or give them less of an advantage.
00:23:36So I quite like it because they're now trying to optimize it
00:23:39more than ever before, in my opinion.
00:23:40Yeah, I mean, it's had its critics.
00:23:42Some say it was something of a gimmick.
00:23:44How do you think it's impacted racing?
00:23:46And do you think we'll miss it?
00:23:47How will things feel different next year?
00:23:49Well, it's been a sticking plaster
00:23:51for a problem of the aerodynamic loads in our car
00:23:54and how much downforce they have.
00:23:56And at least it's enabled some, you know, wheel-to-wheel racing.
00:24:00I think it's overall been a success, to be honest.
00:24:03Otherwise, you just follow each other around all afternoon.
00:24:05Came in, of course, when cost Fernando Alonso World Championship.
00:24:09He couldn't get past Petrov for the entire Grand Prix,
00:24:12if you remember.
00:24:13Absolutely, in Abu Dhabi.
00:24:14In Abu Dhabi, definitely.
00:24:16So I think it's worked.
00:24:18But next year, both wings are going to go up and down
00:24:21at many more defined points on the track.
00:24:24So there won't be a car-to-car difference.
00:24:27That'll be about the battery deployment,
00:24:29which is a whole new story to tell.
00:24:31But we'll tell you that in the early part of next year.
00:24:34We certainly will, because it is here to stay for now,
00:24:36at least the next nine races.
00:24:38So what are the opportunities here?
00:24:40Karuna and Nico are at the Skypad.
00:24:43So, Natalie, this weekend at Monza,
00:24:45we've got two DRS zones.
00:24:47One down the star finish straight to the first chicane
00:24:49and one coming up from Lesmo 2 to the Variante Ascari.
00:24:52Nico, how important is DRS at Monza?
00:24:55It's very, very important.
00:24:56It's hugely powerful, even though, as Martin said,
00:24:59because there's so low downforce here,
00:25:01the actual DRS is one of the least powerful of the year
00:25:04here on this track.
00:25:05But still, we can see a perfect example here from last year,
00:25:08down the main straight.
00:25:09You have Lando against Max here,
00:25:11and he's starting to catch, catch, catch,
00:25:12and now we're going to see the DRS point coming right there.
00:25:14You saw that.
00:25:15And then it's like a slingshot.
00:25:16You see the wing opens, and then he's like overdrive,
00:25:19and that's what allows him then to go for that overtake.
00:25:21Which gives us the exciting racing,
00:25:23and I'm sure we're going to see a lot of that again today.
00:25:26Yeah, and actually, I think people need to understand.
00:25:28You know, the purists will say,
00:25:29well, DRS produces sometimes fake overtaking.
00:25:32But actually, I think it's a good balance.
00:25:34The FIA constantly look at the distance,
00:25:35and they try and judge what is the right distance
00:25:38to make it still challenging for passing.
00:25:40The other DRS zone is, again, I think, important,
00:25:44because it creates another opportunity somewhere else on the track.
00:25:47This was George Russell on Esteban Ocon, Nico.
00:25:50Yeah, let's have a look at this one then from last year.
00:25:52But this was a pretty easy overtake.
00:25:53Esteban Ocon just kind of made space for him.
00:25:55This DRS is usually, though, just to get close to the car in front.
00:25:59Usually there's no overtakes there,
00:26:01but it allows you then to get close for this last part
00:26:03and then to then go for the overtake on the main straight.
00:26:06I sometimes look at it and go, you know,
00:26:08there are tracks where it looks a bit too easy,
00:26:10but I look at places like Austria, for example.
00:26:12They've tuned it, and really now,
00:26:14I think it's an incredibly powerful tool
00:26:16to make racing exciting, isn't it?
00:26:18Yeah, of course it's artificial.
00:26:19But then again, it's also not fair that the guy driving behind
00:26:22has these air turbulences and cannot get closer,
00:26:25even though he's faster.
00:26:26So it's kind of just a way of compensating for that also.
00:26:28And, yes, it's artificial, but I think it works great.
00:26:31They've fine-tuned it well.
00:26:32It gives us awesome, exciting racing
00:26:34because it makes overtaking possible.
00:26:36That's what we want to see.
00:26:37We've seen awesome, exciting racing, as Nico said in the past.
00:26:40Let's see what we get here today at Monza.
00:26:45We will indeed. Thank you, gentlemen.
00:26:47Now, Ferrari is like a religion over here in Italy.
00:26:50It's a sea of red with a dash of nostalgic
00:26:53Niki Lauda blue in the grandstands.
00:26:56And after the break, Ted will assess the Scuderia season so far.
00:27:00In the races, this car has been a big disappointment.
00:27:02Ferrari fell into the same track Mercedes did a couple of years ago,
00:27:05whereby they designed the car to give its best downforce
00:27:08when run very low to the ground.
00:27:10And what happened in the second race in China
00:27:12was that Lewis Hamilton's car was disqualified for running too low
00:27:15and wearing out the legality plank underneath the car.
00:27:18Since then, as they've had to raise the ride height slightly,
00:27:21the car has really struggled for performance.
00:27:40Are you okay?
00:27:41Yeah, I'm sorry, guys.
00:27:44And a second Ferrari goes out of turn three!
00:27:47We'll see!
00:27:49We'll see!
00:27:50We'll see!
00:27:54We'll see!
00:28:00Thoughts of Ferrari!
00:28:02Thoughts of Fernando!
00:28:05John Lagarde, Vinter!
00:28:07The winner of Otho!
00:28:17Listen to the crowd!
00:28:23This is my greatest day in my career.
00:28:29Willis Hamilton wins the Italian Grand Prix once again!
00:28:34That's it done, everyone.
00:28:37Iconic scenes here last year. Another chapter written in Ferrari folklore, but things haven't quite gone to plan in 2025.
00:29:03Here's Ted to take a closer look.
00:29:05Lewis has come in and he said, this is not the way that I'm used to working.
00:29:11There's no chemistry.
00:29:12Today was a horrible day for him because he was just slow out there.
00:29:14There's a problem, isn't there, that they're struggling to get on top.
00:29:17The team doesn't feel Lewis is with them. It's not gelling and you can hear it.
00:29:21It does just feel like your day has sort of fallen apart.
00:29:24Charles is disgruntled. There's no doubt about it.
00:29:27To compound his woes, he got a penalty.
00:29:30Look, I think there's nothing Charles could have done there.
00:29:33This is as bad as it's been.
00:29:34This might be the Ferrari way, but it might not be the best way.
00:29:37Let's wait.
00:29:38Let's wait.
00:29:43Hope.
00:29:46That's the beautiful thing about Ferrari.
00:29:49No matter how bad things get, there's always hope.
00:29:52This season promised so much.
00:29:54They had a brave new car design.
00:29:56They had Charles Leclerc at the top of his game.
00:29:58Fred Vasseur holding the reins.
00:30:00And they had the most successful F1 driver in history.
00:30:03But recently, hope has been the only thing Ferrari fans could cling to.
00:30:08So what went wrong?
00:30:10Well, first, some perspective.
00:30:11Ferrari is still second in the constructors' standings,
00:30:13thanks to Leclerc and Hamilton banging in the points every weekend.
00:30:17And while in qualifying nobody is as quick as the McLaren,
00:30:20on average Ferrari's deficit is only about three tenths of a second.
00:30:23Roughly the same as Mercedes and Red Bull.
00:30:26But in the races, this car has been a big disappointment.
00:30:28Ferrari fell into the same trap Mercedes did a couple of years ago,
00:30:31whereby they designed the car to give its best downforce
00:30:34when run very low to the ground.
00:30:36And what happened in the second race in China
00:30:38was that Lewis Hamilton's car was disqualified for running too low
00:30:41and wearing out the legality plank underneath the car.
00:30:44Since then, as they've had to raise the ride height slightly,
00:30:47the car has really struggled for performance.
00:30:50The limitations that we've had are now, I think, to be dealt with.
00:30:54But I don't think we are losing resources on this year
00:30:59because next year will be very, very important.
00:31:01But it's all about optimizing the known package that we have
00:31:05rather than coming up with solutions
00:31:07to try and deal with them in the best possible way.
00:31:10But I think it will be difficult.
00:31:13So that's it. No more fixes for this year.
00:31:16What they've got now, they've got to the rest of the season.
00:31:19Development is now fully on the 2026 Ferrari.
00:31:23But there is still time to develop Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari career
00:31:27from the lowest point of the season after qualifying in Hungary.
00:31:30Yeah, I'm useless. Absolutely useless.
00:31:34The team has no problem. You've seen the cars on pole.
00:31:38So they probably need to change driver.
00:31:41But the summer break saw a reset.
00:31:43Right now it's just about calming some things down
00:31:46and just focusing on getting back to enjoying what I... my job.
00:31:51I love... I love this sport. I always have. That's why I got into it.
00:31:55He is a seven-time world champion.
00:31:57And he isn't useless because he is a very great driver.
00:32:02I'm going to kind of drown out all the noise and just get back to...
00:32:09You know, this is a great restart moment for us.
00:32:13Given it was looking like a better weekend for Hamilton in Zandvoort,
00:32:17it was doubly frustrating that his race ended with a driving mistake.
00:32:21What only Lewis can know is whether at 40 years old his skills and human performance
00:32:26are just as sharp as they were five or ten years ago.
00:32:30But the signs for us watching are that,
00:32:32at just a tenth of a second off Leclerc's lap times throughout this weekend,
00:32:36any effect of age on performance is negligible.
00:32:39I'm really, really happy with the progress we've made,
00:32:42particularly, like, on my side of the garage.
00:32:44It's definitely been a lot more solid last week,
00:32:47but even more so this weekend.
00:32:48And I've been right there. It's within a tenth.
00:32:52So what's Fred Vasseur's plan to take Ferrari back to championship victory?
00:32:56Long term, we have still the ambition to fight in front, to be champion.
00:33:01It's just because we are racers and if you ask the same question
00:33:04to the at least top five, top six, they all want to be champion.
00:33:08He just needs time. Don't rush. Don't rush.
00:33:12Just need time. Let him cook. Let him cook. Let Fred Vasseur cook.
00:33:16Always keep fighting. Keep and not give up. You have to stay to Ferrari.
00:33:22I will say that Ferrari is the best in Italy ever and everybody is a Ferrari fan.
00:33:27I think the car is the problem, the main problem of Ferrari.
00:33:31As they did good in the past, they will do good now and later and forever.
00:33:35Dreams don't come true by themselves. While they wait and work, Ferrari can't lose hope.
00:33:42And that hope can stem for what was a remarkable result last year for Charles Leclerc.
00:33:52Actually, you take it as one of your favourite moments ever in Formula One.
00:33:55I mean, it was incredible what he managed to do in terms of eking out that result on a one-stop.
00:34:00Unbelievable. Last year, obviously, was amazing.
00:34:03It's actually 2019 that I remember being a standout as well.
00:34:06I think for a Ferrari driver to stand on the stop step here is so special.
00:34:10So let's see what they can do today.
00:34:12Something very magical does happen at Monza. I mean, I feel like they bounce into this place just buoyed by this incredible crowd.
00:34:21Yeah, I mean, there's no place like it. And the whole country today is behind Ferrari.
00:34:28There's 20% more people than ever here at the racetrack. I think also because of the Lewis Hamilton effect.
00:34:33So the atmosphere is magical. And of course, that carries the whole team forward.
00:34:38There's no escaping the fact, though, they had a terrible weekend in Holland.
00:34:41Double DNF, both ironically going out the same corner, turn three.
00:34:45I suppose the positives they could take, though, is at least they were showing progress with their pace.
00:34:51And Lewis is that much closer to his teammate.
00:34:53Exactly. They were surprisingly upbeat about it, despite obviously losing a huge amount of points.
00:34:58I mean, for Charles, not his fault. Nothing he really could have done and probably would have got a good haul of points for Lewis.
00:35:03A little bit of a different, different mistake.
00:35:05But at the same time, I think they seemed positive about where they were with performance.
00:35:10Lewis, especially happy with the progress they made.
00:35:12And we saw that in qualifying yesterday. There's not much between them, which all year they see this sort of discrepancy either one way or the other,
00:35:19where there's a gap between them. So it's nice to see them at least on the same time.
00:35:23You know Lewis well. What did he do in the summer break that helped him press that reset button so effectively?
00:35:28Lewis pressed the reset button. He just crashed on his own.
00:35:31No, no, but...
00:35:32We've never seen that before.
00:35:33He definitely was in a better frame of mind. Okay, making mistakes. So that's interesting.
00:35:38You don't feel as if he has come back as a new driver after the summer break.
00:35:41No, not at all.
00:35:42He certainly seems more positive.
00:35:43No, not at all. I still see him in a little bit of a challenging situation.
00:35:47He's done for it. I mean, that is a mistake that I don't think I've ever seen in his career,
00:35:52that he's driving on his own and just crashes out in the wall. Very rare.
00:35:57Nevertheless, yes, you're right.
00:35:58Why did that happen?
00:35:59I think the cars are very difficult to drive and he's not quite at one yet with the Ferrari.
00:36:04And also that does pull him down a little bit mentally as well, because he would love to really feel, you know,
00:36:09connected and just be on it with full confidence. And he hasn't found that state yet.
00:36:13Nevertheless, yes, I'll give it to you this weekend. He's looking definitely good.
00:36:18He's been driving well all weekend, put in a decent qualifying as I think you'll have great race speed.
00:36:23So, yes, today, I think we can see some fireworks from him as he's waking his way, making his way up from all the way back in 10th place, is he?
00:36:3210th place because, of course, he did get a penalty from Holland. And to explain all, Karun is at the Skypad.
00:36:41Thank you, Natalie. Yeah, let's try and remind people who maybe didn't watch the coverage in Holland to what happened with Lewis Hamilton.
00:36:48So before the start of the race, the drivers were all told on their way to the grid, there would be a double waved yellow through turn 14 at Sandburg.
00:36:57And I'll just pause it there to show you where that is. So you can see quite clearly there's a light panel there showing the double waved yellow.
00:37:04Now, that means the drivers need to slow down drastically and even be prepared to stop.
00:37:09Now, as you can see quite clearly, Lewis has come in quite a quite a rate of knots and there's a there's a wall of people up there.
00:37:16Now, that is a mixture of mechanics and engineers and camera crews and photographers and all sorts.
00:37:21Now, look at the speed that Lewis flies in to the pit lane with. In contrast, let's have a look at Oscar Piastri.
00:37:28He was a pole man that day in Holland, of course. And look how he's approaching it. Double waved yellow again.
00:37:33Nice and slow. And this is what the stewards wanted the drivers to do.
00:37:37And this is really, really important to try and illustrate the point.
00:37:41I'll use some graphics here just to show you. So you can see this is the speed trace and the green line that drops down.
00:37:48That is Oscar Piastri speed dropping down. And that's because over here, you could see the green line coming vertically down.
00:37:54That's him coming off the throttle pedal. Now, Lewis here, there's two laps that he's done, lap one and lap two.
00:38:01You can see the blue and the red line along there. He has come off the accelerator.
00:38:05He has tried to slow down. But the stewards have judged that he didn't slow down enough.
00:38:10And as we saw in the video, he was really coming in very quickly. I think it was fair and right that he got the penalty.
00:38:16They made it a point that the penalty should have been ten places. But because he did make some attempt to slow down, it's only five places.
00:38:23The part that I'm a bit frustrated by on Lewis's behalf is that this penalty wasn't applied in Holland.
00:38:30He should have been given, in my opinion, a penalty during the Grand Prix in Holland where there was a ten-second penalty or a stop or something in the race in Holland that didn't carry over to Monza and didn't affect his weekend here.
00:38:42Because the five-place penalty here is a big, big penalty to carry into the Grand Prix.
00:38:48So there you go. That's what I think. And that's a little reminder as to why Lewis is starting tenth and not fifth today. Back to you.
00:38:55Thank you, Karun. Yes, it has been a blow, but nothing will dampen the spirits of the Toposi as encouraged by Lewis's old teammate Nico Rosberg.
00:39:06Let's hear from Lewis then. He's out on the track parade.
00:39:10Ciao tutti!
00:39:12This is such an incredible experience for me, you know, being my first race in Monza with Ferrari.
00:39:19So I just want to capture it, yeah, because it'll only ever be a first.
00:39:25You're the driver that has won the most here. You can do great catch-ups. You started 19th, you finished fifth. What do you think is possible today?
00:39:34I mean, with this crowd, I think anything is really possible. I've never seen so much support for one team, you know.
00:39:42I think in England I get this sort of response and support, which is incredible.
00:39:48But the passion that everyone here, the Toposi, have for Ferrari is next to nothing, you know.
00:39:53So I don't know. It's going to be tough from where we are. Everyone's very close.
00:39:58But I'm so driven to try and move forwards and get further up there. I want to be right in the mix.
00:40:04Absolutely brilliant stuff. Okay, the pit lane is open. Let's head to Ted at the green light.
00:40:12Thank you very much, Natalie. Yes, here we are. 53 laps of the Temple of Speed.
00:40:18And world champion Max Verstappen has just passed me in the pit lane.
00:40:21Let's have a look at them pouring out of the pit lane and going to the track.
00:40:24But make no mistake about it. Let's talk. We talk McLaren. We talk Mercedes. We talk Ferrari.
00:40:31But Max Verstappen can absolutely win this race. This Red Bull is quick in a straight line and he's on pole.
00:40:38But Lando Norris has unfinished business with Monza. When McLaren last won this race, it was in 2021 with Daniel Ricciardo.
00:40:47On that day, Lando was told he could not challenge Ricciardo for the win.
00:40:52He was told he had to finish second. He was told he wouldn't win the Italian Grand Prix that day.
00:40:57It would be Danny Ricci. And so Lando has unfinished business with Monza.
00:41:02He wants to win today. Let's see if he can do it. The strategy is pretty simple because the tires are quite long lasting around here.
00:41:09It's a nailed on one stop. All the front runners will start on the medium tire.
00:41:14A roar from the McLaren from the crowd as the McLaren passes, an even bigger roar as Charles Leclerc comes out.
00:41:21Let's listen to them. Just going for a practice start at the end.
00:41:26If you start on the medium tire, look around lap 22 to lap 28.
00:41:30With the hard tire on, you go to the end. You can do a contra strategy.
00:41:34Start on the hard tire, go to laps 28 to 34 and a medium tire to the end.
00:41:40What will Lewis Hamilton do from tenth? Possibly either of those, but we'll see.
00:41:45David Croft is waiting for us in the commentary box. Crofty, it's going to be a crack of whatever and a short race.
00:41:51Could it even be the shortest of all time?
00:41:53It could be. From Charles Leclerc's win last year, you need an improvement Ted of about four tenths of a second per lap.
00:42:00And then we will get the quickest of all time at the racetrack that's had 19 of the fastest 20 races in Formula One.
00:42:07And there is Lewis Hamilton making his way out into the sunshine.
00:42:11Hugely driven, highly motivated today.
00:42:13As you said just now, you know, you always remember your first really tough ask for him today.
00:42:18Starts tenth and only one driver has finished on the podium in the last 39 years from tenth on the grid.
00:42:24That was Fernando Alonso back in 2012.
00:42:27But Pierre Gasly, of course, did win from tenth in 2020 here.
00:42:31Gasly, Ricciardo, Verstappen twice, Charles Leclerc, the last five winners of the Italian Grand Prix.
00:42:37None of them started from pole.
00:42:38Before that, 15 of the 20 races since 2000 had been won from the drivers starting P1.
00:42:44So there is no obvious reason why Max Verstappen shouldn't win today despite what happened in the last five years.
00:42:51Charles Leclerc won from fourth on the grid last year, as I said.
00:42:55If he repeats that today, starting from fourth, he'll join Michael Schumacher as the only two Ferrari drivers
00:43:01to win at least three Grand Prix at Monza for the Scuderia.
00:43:05And could there be an Italian winner?
00:43:08Well, it's possible, but you have to go back to 1966 for the last time we had an Italian winning here in Monza.
00:43:14Ludovicchio Scariotti for Ferrari.
00:43:18Kimi Antonelli starts sixth today. Can he end that drought?
00:43:22Well, like Ludovico in 1966, he's got a British teammate today as well.
00:43:26Martin Brundle will be on the grid soon for his famous grid walk at this most magnificent of tracks.
00:43:32Don't go anywhere. Jackie Hicks is here to celebrate, too.
00:43:35Qualifying at Monza and no surprises that Ferrari were the team getting the centre of attention from the majority of fans.
00:43:52And Ferrari sported a tribute livery for the weekend, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Niki Lauda's title win on home soil.
00:44:00The cars claimed the front row on that occasion, but it couldn't happen here, with Lewis Hamilton carrying a five-place grid penalty from a week ago in Holland.
00:44:07Zandvoort had seen Isaac Hadja claim his first podium in his short Formula One career, but six days later, the young Frenchman would be an early casualty.
00:44:16We're out. I mean, we're out of course.
00:44:20Liam Lawson sealed a bad day for the Racing Bulls in Q3 for the previous three consecutive races, both out in Q1, and Lawson not helped by running wide.
00:44:30They'd be joined by both Alpine drivers and the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll, an 11th Q1 exit of the season for him.
00:44:37Q2 was briefly delayed while Marshall swept gravel from the track, and when it did start, Alex Albon quickly undid their hard work as he re-sprayed the Lesmo.
00:44:47He and teammate Carlos Sainz would not be troubling the top ten come a session's end.
00:44:53Lando Norris put pressure on himself with a lockup at turn one on his first flying lap, and with the clock hitting zero, he was only 11th, forcing him to use a new set of tyres to grab fifth as he crossed the line, much to the relief of those in the McLaren garage.
00:45:08Gabriel Bortoletto used a tow to make it into Q3 for the fourth time in six races, whilst his teammate Nico Hülkenberg missed out by just five one-hundredths of a second.
00:45:18Joining the German and the Williams drivers on the sidelines would be both Haas drivers, Oli Behrmann and Esteban Ocon.
00:45:25Into Q3, Max Verstappen had been fastest in Q2, while Charles Leclerc raised the noise in the stands by initially going quickest in the top ten shootout, but it would be the Dutchman who would return to the top at the end of the first runs.
00:45:38Oscar Piastri could only manage third, but a strong middle sector on the final runs saw him usurp Leclerc for second, only for his teammate Norris to grab the top spot as he crossed the line.
00:45:50But Verstappen was still to come, and the world champion would not be denied, snatching pole position back with the fastest pole lap in F1 history.
00:45:59Pole position, Max, fantastic work.
00:46:01Yes, that's unbelievable.
00:46:05In Q3, both of my laps, there were barely any mistakes, which is not easy around here in Monza, and that's what we needed.
00:46:17Okay, so this is how the grid looks. Max Verstappen is on pole for the 45th time in his F1 career, a new Red Bull record.
00:46:24Lando Norris alongside him on the front row. Championship leader Oscar Piastri starts from third.
00:46:28A position, as we say, he hasn't won a race from yet.
00:46:33Ferrari's Charles Leclerc starts the race from fourth, the position he, of course, won the race from last year.
00:46:38Then comes the Mercedes duo of Russell and Antonelli in fifth and sixth.
00:46:42Portoletto will start in seventh, tying his and Salva's best of the year.
00:46:47Then comes the Aston Martin of Alonso, racing bull, Yuki Tsunoda, and the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton with his five-place penalty starting in tenth.
00:46:54Oli Behrman starts in eleventh, Hülkenberg in twelfth.
00:46:59The Williams pairing of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon will be disappointed to be starting in thirteenth and fourteenth, respectively.
00:47:06What can they do from there today?
00:47:09Ocon starts fifteenth, Stroll sixteenth, then it's Alpine's Colapinto in seventeenth.
00:47:13Lawson in eighteenth with Hadja Gasly starting from the pit lane after power unit changes.
00:47:21Okay, a bit of news just coming to us now.
00:47:26Fernando Alonso has been noted by the stewards for a practice start.
00:47:31He's failed to follow race director's instructions.
00:47:34So, too, has his teammate Lance Stroll.
00:47:39Jamie, what do you expect to happen there?
00:47:42Maybe he's out of position doing his practice start, so they're all waiting to do their practice start.
00:47:46This is quite late on in the pit lane to be doing it, but they have a known area where they can do the start.
00:47:52Fernando's just come to a stop there, so I'm not actually too sure if it's an out of position thing.
00:47:57They are allowed to do practice start, so it must just be a conditioning thing.
00:48:02Okay, it will be investigated after the race.
00:48:04Let's head down to Martin and Nico, who are on the grid, just behind us.
00:48:09Thank you, Pinky. Yes, got my tour mentor in chief with me this weekend.
00:48:13So, Lewis, tenth place on the grid after that penalty.
00:48:17He just had a ruler, a metal ruler in his hand, Nico, measuring something on the side pod.
00:48:22What do you think that was?
00:48:23Yeah, I tried to figure that out.
00:48:24So they put a little black tape off to his eyesight to the left to put some kind of a marker.
00:48:30I don't know if he's trying to help himself find the perfect grid spot position later,
00:48:35that he has a marker like eyesight exactly so he stops exactly that the black tape points exactly under the Pirelli board here or something.
00:48:45I think that's the case, to help him find his grid spot perfectly.
00:48:48Because the visibility is so poor, it's really hard to sometimes see your grid spot well.
00:48:53Yeah, I think you're absolutely right.
00:48:55Because as soon as he got out, they then pushed the car back a little bit.
00:48:58So he's put something on the side of the cockpit to give him a reference point.
00:49:04Look how far that yellow line goes out.
00:49:08And it's still hard to see it, isn't it?
00:49:10That's super awesome to see how dedicated he is to still this perfect preparation.
00:49:15Because that will give him easily 40, 50 centimeters.
00:49:18You know, if he has the confidence that he can go all the way to the limit,
00:49:21because he has a perfect reference visually with his eyes, it will give him half a meter.
00:49:25Which is a lot, you know, maybe down in turn one.
00:49:27Yeah, well, especially if you want to try and cut in front of somebody.
00:49:30Let's just look at the livery on this beautiful Ferrari.
00:49:32It's a different red this weekend.
00:49:34It's to commemorate the 1975 Grand Prix here in Monza.
00:49:39And Niki Lauda finished third but became the world champion.
00:49:42Clay Rigg has only won.
00:49:44And the team became the team's champions, the constructors' champions.
00:49:48And the beautiful, the pinstripes and the white engine cover.
00:49:52And this will be particularly pertinent for Lewis, won't it?
00:49:54Because obviously, Niki played such a key role in Lewis going to Mercedes-Benz.
00:49:59Let's go around the back a bit.
00:50:00Yeah, I mean, Niki was the deciding person to convince him to come to Mercedes-Benz away from McLaren.
00:50:07And they had a very special relationship to my annoyance sometimes.
00:50:11But yes, Niki meant a lot to him.
00:50:13And so I think that will mean a lot to him to be driving that car today also in memory of Niki.
00:50:19Yeah, Formula One's all about the next session, all about tomorrow, the next championship.
00:50:22But it's great to tip your cap, isn't it?
00:50:25Let's just talk about, I spoke to Lewis' engineer called Ricardo.
00:50:28Yeah.
00:50:29And he was actually very positive.
00:50:31Science is behind us.
00:50:32Yeah.
00:50:33Oh, but he's too far.
00:50:34Missed that.
00:50:35He was very positive.
00:50:36He said Lewis is super excited to try and make up positions.
00:50:39We saw that in the interview before.
00:50:41And he said we're only two tenths away per lap perhaps from McLaren.
00:50:44Yeah.
00:50:45So he's quite fiery, which was very nice to see.
00:50:48So what's Lewis' job today?
00:50:50How aggressive do you think he should be on the opening laps to try to make up those places?
00:50:54Well, how many times have we seen a great recovery drive from Lewis in his career?
00:50:59If one person can do it, he can do it.
00:51:01He's brilliant also in understanding where to position himself in turn one to make up positions.
00:51:06So there's no reason why he can't have a fantastic race and really move up into the top five quickly today.
00:51:12I found a wheelsmith on the grid.
00:51:13We'll have a quick chat with him as we're getting the big no.
00:51:16You happy of a chat?
00:51:17Good to see you, Gabi.
00:51:18I saw you having a fight with Fernando in the paddock, trying to run him into a motorhome on a scooter.
00:51:23You might have broken his arm or something.
00:51:25Yeah, like this, maybe we don't fight on track after.
00:51:29Gabriele, you had another fantastic qualifying yesterday.
00:51:33Are you really still starting to gel with the car, you know, and you think it's going to be to convert that into the race today?
00:51:38Yeah, I think I'm getting more and more confident every race.
00:51:41And I don't know, I felt like I extracted a lot from it yesterday.
00:51:44And hopefully we have a good race pace today and have a good result.
00:51:49All the best.
00:51:50Well done.
00:51:51Have a great day.
00:51:52He's a bit of a rising star, Martin, isn't he?
00:51:54I think he's really a star of the future.
00:51:57Because we know how good Nico Hulkenberg is in qualifying and Gabriele has been beating him time and time again lately, which is very impressive.
00:52:04Yeah.
00:52:05There's a renegade somewhere around here I want to talk to.
00:52:10Swerving Eddie Irvine.
00:52:13Where is he?
00:52:14Can you see him?
00:52:15He's all dressed in black, menacingly.
00:52:18He's now behind us, apparently.
00:52:20So can you see him?
00:52:21Are there?
00:52:22No, he isn't.
00:52:23Yeah.
00:52:24He's back by the Merc, apparently.
00:52:26Oh, there he is.
00:52:27I can see him.
00:52:28We're seeing an ex-Ferrari driver talking to Emanuele Pirro as well.
00:52:32So we'll have to get rude and butt in on this conversation, Nick.
00:52:36I'm sure.
00:52:37We'll have to interrupt, like, really apologetically.
00:52:39Very sorry.
00:52:40Eddie, you're the one.
00:52:41That's why we're discussing pasta and cavanada.
00:52:44Eddie, you're the one, if anyone can tell us, how does it feel to be a Ferrari driver and to go around here with the whole country, like, expecting great things from you?
00:52:54It's better to be an ex-Ferrari driver standing here, experiencing this, because when you're driving, I never experienced this.
00:53:01I was, like, focused on the car.
00:53:03But the result was all that mattered.
00:53:05As you guys know, this is fanfare.
00:53:08I never paid any attention to it until a Sunday night.
00:53:11Then it was great.
00:53:12I love coming now because I get the experiences for the first time.
00:53:17Well, we've seen you at quite a few races lately.
00:53:19Are you thinking of a comeback?
00:53:20I mean, Bottas is coming back, Perez.
00:53:23You're only in your 50s.
00:53:24Well, because Stefano, the boss of Formula One, is a good friend.
00:53:28So Stefano always gives me a pass.
00:53:31Why, when Bernie was the boss, he used to break your balls.
00:53:34I don't like my balls being broken, so I never came.
00:53:37You'll get me into trouble.
00:53:38You know you're going to get me into trouble.
00:53:41That's the end of that interview.
00:53:42You're a horrible person.
00:53:43Goodbye.
00:53:45Apologies for the colourful, spherical nature of Eddie Irvine's explanation there.
00:53:54Are you still here, Nico?
00:53:55Right, let's go.
00:53:56We haven't been thrown off air yet.
00:53:58Here's another of the beautiful...
00:53:59Let's go forward to see the McLarens and the Red Bull
00:54:04and see who we can find down there.
00:54:06We've got a little bit of time left yet.
00:54:08Anything else you want to talk about, Nico?
00:54:10No, I just saw Nico Lauda's son, but I missed out on that
00:54:13because that would have been nice to see his emotions for today.
00:54:16Yeah, where is he then?
00:54:17Matthias, yeah?
00:54:18We've lost him.
00:54:19He's such a nice guy.
00:54:20He does TV.
00:54:21I think he's working on TV.
00:54:22He's probably trying to do a similar thing to us.
00:54:25So let's see if we can find a round.
00:54:28We've got...
00:54:29We've got Laurent.
00:54:30Laurent, this is the one.
00:54:31Let's get Laurent.
00:54:32Laurent, Lee, are you here?
00:54:34Yes.
00:54:35May we ask you, so we're hearing from McLaren, they're really worried about your race pace as well.
00:54:40Not only the Max Verstappen magic yesterday, but they think, you know, you can really win this today.
00:54:45You know, at first, yes, he did really some magic yesterday.
00:54:48So, you know, we are conscious of that, you know, not only in the car, but also out of the car.
00:54:52He really pushed us into a rather unusual setup direction and it works.
00:54:56So he did a very, very good job.
00:54:58If you look at the last few past few races, you know, McLaren always have something more in the race compared to qualifying.
00:55:04Wherever we wear compared to them, they always tend to open the gap.
00:55:08So we expect to have to defend.
00:55:10How hard will it to defend?
00:55:11Will we be able to defend?
00:55:12It's a question for today, but we'll try hard.
00:55:15But are we also starting to see some Laurent magic at Red Bull Racing?
00:55:19I mean, the team is on an upward trajectory here.
00:55:22Is this...
00:55:23Are you doing a fantastic job there?
00:55:25No, no, no, absolutely not.
00:55:26There is no individual.
00:55:28It's a fantastic team effort.
00:55:30The guys are doing very good jobs.
00:55:31It was a very good job on the board.
00:55:33It's also a very good job now.
00:55:34Nobody is giving up.
00:55:36You know, we want to use these races to get to the bottom of what has been limiting us this year.
00:55:40And it's nice when you see some encouragement like yesterday.
00:55:43But we are very conscious of what is left to improve.
00:55:46Do you still burn a candle for the Racing Bulls, your team?
00:55:49Do you keep an eye on them or are you just blinking for Red Bull now?
00:55:52Always, always a candle for the Racing Bulls, of course, of course.
00:55:55All right, good stuff.
00:55:57Let's keep...
00:55:58So there's Jackie Hicks over here somewhere.
00:56:00He's been driving around the track, Nico, hasn't he?
00:56:03In a beautiful car.
00:56:05Let's see what his experiences were.
00:56:07There he is.
00:56:08He's been driving around in his car from 1971.
00:56:11I know.
00:56:12That he won the race year with.
00:56:13And he said he felt like 25 years old again.
00:56:16Jacky, apparently you felt like you were 25 years old again when you were driving your car around the track, Nico says.
00:56:22Almost.
00:56:23Because we went back in the past for 55 years.
00:56:27So 25 is the correct number.
00:56:30It was fantastic.
00:56:32You enjoyed it, yeah?
00:56:33Very, very, very much.
00:56:35Look around you.
00:56:37Monza is special.
00:56:38Is this the greatest thing for a race driver?
00:56:41To come to Monza, be in that Ferrari, and win that race?
00:56:44Is that the maximum?
00:56:45You're right, Nico.
00:56:47You have done it.
00:56:48You know what it is.
00:56:50That's why Monza is so different.
00:56:52The margin is narrow with all these guys.
00:56:55We are going to have a tough Grand Prix.
00:56:57Thank you so much, Jacky.
00:56:58Nice to see you, my friend.
00:56:59Right.
00:57:00We need to get under the rope, Nico, if we can.
00:57:03There was somebody else I was hoping to talk to up at this part of the grid.
00:57:10But you can't see the wood for the trees.
00:57:12How are you?
00:57:13Nice to see you.
00:57:14Who's your money on today, Martin, if you were a betting man?
00:57:17I would say I think Max is going to win this race, if I'm honest.
00:57:22I think Max is going to win.
00:57:23I'm going to go for Lando.
00:57:24I think the pressure is off.
00:57:26So, Jacky, we're just coming through.
00:57:30We're just coming through.
00:57:31How are you?
00:57:32Wonderful.
00:57:33I mean, Monza's the best.
00:57:35The spectators are the best.
00:57:37They know more than anybody else.
00:57:39And the climate's good.
00:57:42I'm going for Silverstone, personally.
00:57:44But I know what you mean.
00:57:46Do you miss racing here?
00:57:47Yep.
00:57:48I'm going to stay in here.
00:57:49I've got some people here.
00:57:51So, we're going to see it from here.
00:57:53If you need any help getting under the rope,
00:57:55I owe you a couple.
00:57:57Cheers.
00:57:58All right.
00:57:59We've got 1 minute 30, Nico.
00:58:00So, if we're going to find anybody to have a chat to,
00:58:03we've already talked to Gabby Borteles.
00:58:05You can't bother him again.
00:58:07And...
00:58:08I'll go for Oscar.
00:58:09Yeah.
00:58:10Oscar, what do you think?
00:58:12How important is the start going to be today?
00:58:14Pretty important.
00:58:15I didn't realize this was Nico's grid walk.
00:58:17No.
00:58:18It'll be important.
00:58:19So, let's see what we can do.
00:58:20Hopefully, make up two spots.
00:58:22That'll be good.
00:58:23Okay.
00:58:24All the best.
00:58:25And I've got Oli Beerman.
00:58:26We've got a bit of a double act going on here.
00:58:27Oli, how's it going?
00:58:28Another great performance in qualifying?
00:58:29Yeah.
00:58:30The quality went well.
00:58:31Just about missed out on Q3, but it's very close up there.
00:58:34We don't have great top speed, so we'll see what we can do today.
00:58:37All right.
00:58:38Good stuff.
00:58:39You're okay.
00:58:40They need to be careful about that, Martin.
00:58:41I know, I know.
00:58:42Because if they're not there on the dot, they get a big penalty.
00:58:43Yeah, absolutely.
00:58:44That's why they're running.
00:58:45Look at them running.
00:58:46Look at Max running.
00:58:47You know what?
00:58:48They're probably nervous about maybe getting penalty points as well as paying the fine,
00:58:56but they've all had their preparation.
00:58:58They've got their cold jackets on.
00:59:01How important...
00:59:02We've got 25 seconds left.
00:59:03How important are those cold jackets?
00:59:05Everything counts.
00:59:06And if that keeps your body colder and in a better state for the beginning of the race,
00:59:11it's going to make a difference because the race is tough.
00:59:13It's physically very tough.
00:59:14Today is hot.
00:59:15These cars are so fast.
00:59:17It's going to be a demanding race.
00:59:19We've got eight seconds left.
00:59:20Do you wish you were still driving on the grid today?
00:59:22I'm good.
00:59:23I'm good from this perspective.
00:59:24I wish I was on the grid, but this is the Amtel.
00:59:36This is the Amtel.
00:59:37It's either me or I am not tired.
00:59:38Let's go and today.
00:59:39My child is having fun.
00:59:40I wish I was a pal RCF sealed.
00:59:41It's
00:59:41didn't even happen to get bored now.
00:59:44They have to be feeling scared now.
00:59:45Cause they were near and bad.
00:59:47Oh my god.
00:59:49Because they are here.
00:59:50Transport of the Twoshtiers have been fun.
00:59:51Oh
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