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00:00has done anything like a long fuel run a long run with heavy fuel so far this weekend in these sort
00:06of conditions so the teams really have no idea how it's going to go from here on in because fp2
00:12was disrupted by so many uh well two red flags and so many minutes lost they are all racing into
00:18the unknown a touch yeah but towards the end of the season they kind of know their cars quite well
00:23but you're right they don't know it's a bit of a mystery to them on this obviously it's a temporary
00:30racetrack and it rubbers in a lot you don't quite know where it's heading to i saw burnt my lander
00:36the safety car driver a bit earlier i said you're preparing for a busy night no i said no i'll be
00:41quiet i'll put my feet up nothing's going to happen obviously remembering last year where he
00:45he didn't come out they didn't even wave a yellow flag yeah that was incredible wasn't it not a
00:49single yellow we have had brief yellows out today haven't we but one brief yellow that was the
00:54first race in the history of the formula one world championship that didn't feature a single yellow
00:59flag or a safety car uh in in that particular in a particular race welly bearman's getting some
01:06racing done as he uh makes his way back through the field he's got uh past alex albon carlos sainz is
01:12the next ahead of him albon and sainz uh haven't pitted yet stroll hasn't pitted yet lawson hasn't
01:19pitted yet maybe hoping to take advantage of a safety car if it comes now claire's been struggling
01:25a bit for pace although the last lap was better and suddenly it's now hamilton coming at antonelli
01:32the youngster who took his seat when he moved to ferrari just out of interest lance stroll by the way
01:38started 15th running 9th at the moment he's on the soft compound tire so they've lasted 32 laps
01:46so far on that soft compound time which is a it's a pretty decent achievement even though he is
01:52lapping in the 139s at the moment only just in the 139s spend his dad's money on loads of new tires
01:58very parsimonious budget son budget is what he's been sold you want what some new tires
02:05another time what do you think i made of money
02:07three seconds the gap out in front as i say that it drops to 2.9 and a bit george russell
02:16ahead of max verstappen bit by bit and half a second on the last lap verstappen's coming at
02:23russell here you know he is isn't he he really is unless george has got a little bit of time in
02:28his pocket if he has he needs to start delivering it but um yeah that's a that's actually a tremendous
02:34job from lance stroll to get this far into the race on tires that were believed to be good for 18 to 20
02:40laps in fact it's a sterling effort and his sister's here as well and uh scotty yeah chloe's here and
02:45scotty her husband and and uh lawrence's uh lawrence's grandchild is here as well absolutely
02:52fabulous to see them at the racetrack this could be hotting up a little bit out in front russell
02:57and verstappen what's happening to pierre gasly towards the end of the uh field he's brushing
03:04the walls slightly there down in 19th place uh caroline it seemed clean when he only hit the
03:12throttle yeah not been a weekend to remember so far for the alpine team but that is a bang against
03:19the wall yeah that's a bigger bang uh that we saw lando norris uh scrape the wall a little bit
03:24earlier i said that verstappen was faster than russell norris was also about four tenths faster and
03:31piastri was about half a second faster uh than george russell so it's not just it's not just a pace
03:37advantage from the guy behind george it's a pace advantage that the guys behind max have got as well
03:46on george yeah we're just getting in the second half of the race so lando norris there being
03:49reminded to drink and that's a good it's a good thing to remind because you forget when you're in
03:54the car but uh all of a sudden george can see that yellow nose of the red bull in his mirrors and he
04:01might even just catch the papaya as they like to call it nose of the mclaren as well as on the
04:07longer straight so uh it's 7.2 covers the top three and if you remember what it was just under 10
04:14seconds that russell led before the pit stops yeah it might be a bit of a slow burn at the end of this
04:19race but there's enough tire offset out there to make this quite a competitive finish so i would keep
04:27everything trained to your screens are onto the track because i don't think we're done here yet
04:31charl de claire has by the way just set his fastest lap of the race trying to keep kimmy antinelli at bay
04:37strategists working hard on the pit wall trying to work out what the target lap times are for the
04:45drivers to get those tires to the finish and to get them into the place where they need them to be
04:50carlos science is gaining on lance stroll those soft tires he's struggling a little bit on at the
04:56moment so what they're hoping for by going long long long like this is a safety car so to get a
05:01cheap pit stop um and if they don't it kind of destroys the afternoon of the evening yes
05:0830 lap 35 out of uh 62 just watching the timing screens here and george russell i think has just
05:17picked up his pace a touch in the last uh lap and a half to uh try and keep the stappen at bay what
05:23he does i suppose what certainly what landon norris doesn't want is max to get into the drs
05:28and and get that advantage behind george russell i would imagine george russell would dearly love
05:34max not to be within a second as well carlos science is very much within a second of lance stroll here
05:40as we make our way through turn 11 towards this unrelenting sequence of uh corners across the
05:48anderson bridge and then on to the esplanade and ted we can head to you nothing aston martin can do
05:53about it but lance stroll doing this tire marathon on the soft is really hurting his teammate fernando
05:58alonso isn't it crofty because stroll behind him one second to science less than that to behrman less
06:04than that to alban and then hadjar with an engine problem and then alonso on hadjar's tail and uh
06:10alonso on the tires that are pretty new and you can't really make any uh spaces up even on hadjar with
06:16an engine issue a bit of a drs daisy train uh going on there at the moment let's see if carlos
06:22science can do something about it here and there's ollie behrman right on science's tail
06:26uh isn't isn't stroll actually backing the pack up nicely for alonso to catch up after that lumpy pit
06:34stop um so because there's quite a queue now and alonso can now start having a go at hadjar albon
06:43and co with his fresher tires that would be good teamwork if that certainly is the case
06:47george russell's definitely just picked up his pace a little bit compared to those uh around him
06:54and they're all lapping within a tenth of a second of each other the top four yeah three different
06:59teams in the top four and they were virtually identical lap times last time around lap 37
07:05here in singapore as george russell and max verstappen and lando norris
07:09cross the line if you don't mind at this moment i'll do a little shout out to a young man called
07:15will mac max max has had a bit of a drama somewhere i'm going to assume he's locked his front tires up
07:20going in here and oh yeah uh very much like lando norris did last year
07:26oh that's just given uh russell some breathing space but uh that was a that was a big lock up i'm
07:36not surprised that's that caught max out and surprised max that's estimate oh come on getting
07:41very very close with the alpine of pierre casley that's the battle for last place uh currently and
07:47this is fernando alonso and isaac hadjar and hadjar staying ahead of fernando alonso but only just
07:54because alonso's coming back at him and he's gone to the marbles a bit there has the uh racing balls he's
07:59got the engine issue of course and that's allowed alonso to get back at him and under braking
08:04hadjar manages to keep alonso at bay there's some decent racing going on out there at the moment
08:10i thought i thought for now i got the job done there but isaac hadjar had a different point of
08:16view drs down straight steaming around the outside but somehow hadjar keeps making the apex
08:23i'll tell you what there's a young man called will mac will mcintyre is going to be really enjoying
08:27that and all of this racing gb3 racer as alonso manages to get past is a good friend of mine
08:33well will mac 37 he has got a battle off track at the moment uh that he is fighting and had some
08:40pretty bad news a couple of weeks ago and the motorsport community has sent a lot of love and
08:44support to him and we do that as well as he continues uh his uh recovery uh back at home
08:50i'll see you down the gym soon will you can fight this one mate you really can
08:54trophy for the hero of race that's cheered alonso up isn't it you know i don't want to hear from you
09:02don't talk to me look now give me a trophy he means hajar does he presumably i think he means himself
09:06doesn't he yeah that was great overtaking it was very feisty racing good defense from hajar
09:13um but very very feisty from fernando and again then fernando can now cruise straight up uh behind
09:22they like he lost a lot of time in that battle but um if stroll stays out it'll put alonso on the
09:28back of albon and co as well who are yet to stop oh that's good defending there from lance stroll
09:34carlos science thought for a moment that the door was open it's not stroll's in the point but he's got
09:39to pit carlos science has got the pit too they're having a great old ding dong ollie behrman has
09:44pitted and would quite like to clear both of them gestapen has been off at turn two as well on
09:50the previous lap so seems to be starting to struggle with slowing that red bull down so the issues the
09:58downshift issues that he's been suffering from are they starting to affect him more i thought this
10:03was just great racing great racing to be fair fernando alonso getting all squirrelly as he gets
10:11the power down there slightly lost the rear end he just buried the throttle and and left a number 11
10:18with his black tire rear tires didn't he and uh and off he goes that was a very feisty and look then as
10:27we've got lando norris now beginning to really close max verstappen down so verstappen when he has
10:33a tidy lap is fast enough it's all right it's the it's the little errors that are creeping in where
10:39he's clearly struggling with the control of the car so the gap under five seconds now russell
10:45verstappen just under five seconds lando norris 1.6 seconds uh back verstappen has another
10:53lap deleted at turn two so he's gone off again at turn two with those struggles to
10:59bring the car to a slow oscar piastri was half a second clear uh faster than lando norris on the
11:05last lap so that gaps eight seconds but if it keeps coming down by half a second well he'll be there
11:11or thereabouts at the end i think it's max just running a little bit wide in turn two isn't it and
11:15breaching the track limit line there uh if he gets three of those he'll get a warning
11:20and four of them and he'll get a five second penalty so now he's going to have to very much
11:25keep it on the racetrack stroll pits which will be music to the ears of carlos science who's in the
11:34points but has yet to pit ollie behrman back up into 10th place he has pitted and the driver's
11:41championship looks like this currently we go to austin the next race out with a 22 point advantage
11:47uh for oscar piastri and max verstappen closing in again on the two mclaren drivers and to remind
11:55you on the night where mclaren can win the constructors championship this is looking a-okay
12:00for them with one driver currently on the podium that man there lando norris
12:056.3 covers the top three now it's really closing in
12:09so brake balance six yeah uh and then that's an engine setting but uh it'll be it'll be engine
12:24braking so that they'll be trying to uh they'll be trying to help him with so that when you lift off
12:30you know how it is on the road you lift off and your car starts slowing down doesn't it when
12:33when the when the car's actually spinning the engine instead of the other way around
12:37you can really tune the engine braking on these cars very well indeed
12:41in one lap's time the computer says lando norris is going to be all over the back
12:48of max verstappen he's got a fight on his hands here as max with his car and maybe
12:55uh with lando on the track just struggling in the jt already understood the staff is struggling
13:04in clean air so let's put pressure on yes he is that's allowing oscar piastri to put in faster
13:10lap times as well to close that gap down uh that has been caused in part by the slow pit stop
13:14anthony putting out to me who drives these cars on the simulator that the yet how i explained what
13:20they've got to do to help max but the problem with that is you lose a bit of regen for your battery
13:25regeneration um so there's there's a little price to pay for uh getting rid of it's some engine braking
13:33lap 41 of 62 on board with lando norris struggling in the dirty air
13:39oh my goodness lando pulls those first gear downshifts really early
13:45it won't it won't let you pull a downshift you're going to overrep the engine by the way so
13:50fascinating watching on board he dearly loves to have a bit of drs down this straight to try and
13:59close in on max verstappen he hasn't got it yet he needs to get another six tenths of a second
14:03now here's a big deal george russell is a is struggling now he's radiating in i'm struggling
14:10to overlap stroll and get close to him because of the dirty air but ahead of lance stroll
14:15is half the rest of the field yeah so the leaders are now going to start encountering
14:22back markers now when they get within three seconds of a back marker or somebody they're lapping let's
14:29call them back marker seems a bit cruel doesn't it they're all going brilliantly well but um they
14:34start getting a warning and when they're within 1.2 seconds they get the blue flag
14:39and what what the driver's saying is i'm struggling to get that you know that close to these drivers so
14:45um it's it's now they're the they're gonna have to be really good with the blue flags here
14:50to uh to give to let the leaders make their way through the pack that they're about to come across
14:57is it time for my annual ban blue flags in formula one uh campaign here that was wide there for
15:03lando very wide on the way in and then just uh just up against the wall through the exit
15:09so i'm gonna assume it'll be a scruffy lap for norris it is it's a 37-0 he lost nine tenths
15:15of a second with that little moment we just picked him up with there
15:18yeah it just compromised his exit and then went wide uh coming out of it lost a lot of time first
15:25blue flag has been waived for lance stroll and if you go past three of those and he's now letting
15:31russell through go past three of those you'll get a penalty you've got to get out of the way
15:35at the first opportunity yeah but martin why do we need these blue flags doesn't it make things
15:40way more interesting if the back markers don't have to jump out of the way like scared rabbits
15:45yeah you know when you were racing around spa last week did you did you respect the blue flags
15:51were any blue flags being waived for you i had my eyes closed most of the time to be honest
15:55well done though top stint yeah yeah i enjoyed it oh here we go this is the replay then
16:01of lando getting deep in and then having to rescue it on the exit
16:05yeah you see it's a like last year these little couple of mistakes during the course of this race
16:14for lando norris didn't cost him last year at all he uh went on to win a course from pole it's not
16:21costing him this year in terms of he's on course to finish higher than he started
16:25his teammate oscar piastri on course to finish a place lower than he started and davidson reminding
16:31me that remembering qualifying yesterday when max said i will remember because he thought he got in
16:35his way entirely convinced he did but max was sure he did um well he's certainly sending plenty of
16:41dirty air lando norris's way today so that payback didn't take long did it talking of dirty air
16:47fernando alonso is breathing it in currently with alex albon ahead of him not breathing it in
16:54for long although a big lock up from albon as he tries to defend that takes him off the track and
16:59alonso skips through they're all trying aren't they desperately hard to keep fernando alonso at bay
17:07but nothing doing there for alex albon who hasn't pitted yet remember yeah you have to get up pretty
17:13early in the morning to maneuver fernando in those sort of situations here's a battle you've got two
17:18saubers an alpine and a has hulkenberg ahead of bortoletto ahead of gasly ahead of ocon yeah who's
17:25lost a bit of uh end plate there as bortoletto gets very close to gasly stays ahead of him and
17:33ocon is just playing a watching brief here thinking someone's gonna make a mistake something's gonna happen
17:39i'm gonna skip past a couple of people and ahead of these yuki sunoda in 14th as max verstappen gets
17:45on the radio and complains once again about the balance of his car but he's still doing the lap times
17:51he was quicker than russell who's now really getting into the traffic though russell's coming up behind
17:56that massive squabble we were just looking at that is a lock up and a half rattle the fillings
18:02out of his teeth apart he doesn't have any does he i wouldn't imagine alex albon
18:06there's more smoke there on the track than on stage at an iron maiden encore this is yuki sunoda
18:12uh behind colopinto that could have been what that could have wiped both of them out of this race
18:18and that could have been sunoda losing a bit of front wing again i wonder if that will it did make
18:23contact with his front wing colopinto then goes off and sunoda skips through
18:28guy's getting desperate out there isn't it
18:31we can see again another lock up as the alpine of colopinto disappeared off there did he actually
18:40leave a car's width at that final corner and that is where we lost a bit of front wing end plate
18:46and it's come off the uh the sauber and i'm not surprised something got clipped off a car there
18:52that were that close all of them for so many corners it's hulkenberg's front wing on that
18:57occasion so that's two sauber front wings uh in the bin and as you mentioned george russell
19:02is right on the tail end of this so pick your way through this one george and with a little bit of
19:09a care and attention oscar we now think we should take the safety car for a song just let me know if
19:16you strongly disagree
19:17i don't know what to do right now you don't know who you think it's best copy that we've got it
19:24he's not happy is he
19:26um interestingly verstappen is nowhere near nowhere near catching and passing strong yet so
19:36max is whereas george is sort of already steaming into that next pack yeah he's got past dock on so
19:44first of that pack has been laps just saw max in the distance behind stroll this is lando norris that
19:51was that was throw the car straight into the corner and see what happens and that is the effect of the
19:58turbulent air of a car in front when you're uh full beams so uh we cut live to that didn't we just as
20:05he was jockeying the back end of the car around the corner and that incident between hulkenberg and
20:09color pinso has been noted and that lap from lando norris that we caught the tail end of was half a
20:14second quicker uh than uh max verstappen uh and oscar piastri now six seconds behind uh his teammate
20:20lando norris and anthony davidson what have you got for us at sky race control oh i'll leave this one
20:25too oh that is well the front wing damaged already but that is nico hulkenberg at turn seven
20:33uh heading off the track and that's one less car uh now for george russell to try and lap
20:38i hope he's going the right way he's sort of arrived in there backwards didn't he
20:42what happened to me in a race once in adelaide i wasn't sure it's going the right way but it
20:47sounds ridiculous but there's a story i'll tell another day yeah down under him in many ways we're
20:52on board now with hulkenberg as he uh as he sense it under brake oh did he hit the wall
20:57no he um the rear axle long downshift
21:00went into anti-store which was good yeah heavy braking and then uh just lost some aero
21:08i'd imagine he had to suddenly brake a bit harder as well and it's nice and neatly down the runoff
21:14area uh right and back to you yeah sorry about that really interrupted by hulkenberg spin
21:18that is all right uh yeah so the driver's being told this might be here
21:22blue flags you know the way
21:25on top of the blue flags the other issues that the driver's being told to manage
21:31is obviously this late into the race look at the marbles on the outside of the last corner there for
21:35example manage the marbles whilst trying to pick your way through these slower cars
21:40and look after your own tires so the drivers really having to think on their feet here
21:46to to keep the speed going that's why we're seeing so many mistakes at this this later stage in
21:50the race yeah those marbles if you're going for an overtake aren't going to help either 1.2 seconds
21:55now norris behind verstappen yeah um what tends to happen though as you come up to lap back markers is
22:02they then become more aware of the leaders coming through so often you're having to plow a bit of a
22:08furrow as the leader despite the blue flags but russell has still got a couple of back markers
22:14between him and verstappen and he's hoping to make that three or four anytime soon yeah there's there's
22:21george russell three back markers then verstappen and norris and guess what lando norris is now less
22:27than a second behind max verstappen so is verstappen struggling with downshift issues we believe or is it
22:38the offset of the tires that are starting to come into play at these latter stages of the race either
22:44way he is struggling there and the back markers aren't helping either no i think it's more back
22:48markers right now because we noticed with stroll that um he moved eventually moved out of the way
22:54for max and stayed out of the way for lando to come through as well that's the what i'm telling you
22:59about about how you you know the the front car of a pair like this tends to wake the pack up a little
23:06bit for you but max on the radio i'm struggling a lot now so that makes me think it isn't just the
23:11back markers uh there's there's all sorts of struggles going on for max verstappen and that's
23:17seven tenths of a second the gap four drs zones for lando norris to use to get an extra 20 kilometers
23:24an hour by the end of that drs zone to try and get alongside the red ball and max's front left
23:29looks horrible so if you have to go offline to pass these cars you pick up those marbles the
23:33little discarded pieces of rubber they're cold that cold rubber sits on the surface of your tire
23:39max's front left looks a bit ugly hamilton is pitting to put himself on softer tires to the end of this
23:47race lando norris is now just a couple of car lengths isn't he behind max verstappen and this has
23:52implications for the championship because if norris can move in the second place he's going to be six
23:57points better off in this race than his teammate and that then does start to make a bit of a
24:02difference in the mindset of the championship leader yeah and it's a free pit stop for lewis
24:07hamilton because he's got a 50 second gap behind him so why not put him there's no point for fastest
24:13lap anymore which i think is a great shame personally and that came about because of this race with
24:18daniel ricardo didn't it a couple of years back yeah daniel his last race in formula one getting the
24:22fastest lap at the final lap and pinching it off the man we're watching now gaining on max
24:27verstappen lando norris he would have had a grand slam uh victory wouldn't he last year if that hadn't
24:33happened what he wants now is second place in this race and has he got enough straight line speed to
24:39put pressure on max verstappen at the end of the straight not quite and he's struggling in that dirty
24:44air to keep within a couple of car lengths of max verstappen through those corners now we get on to
24:50the main straight and there's another chance at the end of this but max has now got drs
24:55as he's trying to lap the back markers and that's kind of helping him in his fight against lando norris
25:01max was trying to get a bit of extra cooling there as well by ducking around uh but there again you see
25:08max clears the way and lando drives through the gap yeah he uh he got stuck behind uh gasly for a lot
25:16longer than lando norris did gasly getting out of the way as soon as he could the gap just under
25:22half a second by the time we get into turn seven and all the while this is happening george russell is
25:29extending his advantage out in front because of course he's now cleared all the back markers
25:35that verstappen and norris are having to plow their way through russell will now will catch another group
25:40though lawsell anonso science beerman and had jar sunoda as well so they will catch another
25:47but nothing like he's just had to go through it's a battle against the cars on the track it's a battle
25:52against the elements as well don't forget the temperature air temperature 30 degrees it's 60
25:58degrees in the cockpit we're on lap 48 it's a real race of attrition for these drivers who train
26:04for the season for this race as the most attritious race to keep their mind and their body alive at
26:10these stages as lando norris comes back at max verstappen again and verstappen having that drs
26:16again you have eight cars within 10 seconds massive following it's like starting the race in the middle
26:21of the pack and he's just been warned oscar piastri you're coming up against those back markers
26:26so verstappen is now just extended by three tenths on that lap his advantage over lando norris
26:33yeah because lando's got closer to the turbulent air being kicked off the back that's worked so hard
26:38to give the downforce on the red bull it's hot air as well um but so if max so there's a back
26:47opportunity finally if if um if lando can just keep him under pressure we know max has got some control
26:54issues going on there and that's all he can do but you know max has the high ground here yeah if he keeps
27:00it on the track i don't see any way that norris will pass him so what's happened here though is
27:06that verstappen's had that drs to help him against those struggles as he makes his way through the
27:12back markers now they've cleared those back markers lando norris still in drs range albeit only just
27:19if he can keep within drs range he gets the advantage max verstappen doesn't then we'll see if
27:24there's a chance no man this is so much fun you have no idea oscar there's a lot of opportunity
27:31there's good points there tell you what for a man who is normally so calm and so in control
27:36he's letting everyone know that he is not a happy bunny here tonight and he really would just like
27:43to go home at the end of this and forget all about it it's not under any kind of pressure from
27:48behind but um the difference now of course is verstappen is not in the dirty ear of the back
27:53markers so uh we'll see we'll see now if we're so the two overtaking places really are if you can get
28:01a tremendous run down here into one and get a bit brave but it's turned seven and turned 16 where
28:09you've got the chance for a lunge but you know max is a as a long shot for the world championship
28:15lando's not lando can't afford to trip over max verstappen tonight that's a very good point
28:21uh liam lawson pits ted kravitz the only one you haven't seen in the pit lane is carlos sainz in this
28:27in this race tonight yeah so well done liam lawson got a medium tire to lap 48 49 actually haven't seen
28:33carlos sainz as yet goal hanging for a safety car no doubt whether when you start uh from that far back
28:38then that's what you have to do uh for the williams i'm just wondering with piastri that's
28:43two races in a row really we've seen him lose his cool baku ended up in the wall here hasn't been the
28:48usual so laid back his horizontal self i'm just wondering what rule it was that he feels lando
28:55broke was it that in passing him he clonked into him yeah that must be it and i'm just wondering how
29:01much that will be addressed in the uh in the midst of a constructor's championship celebration
29:06which it looks like at the moment mclaren are headed for such is their number one objective
29:11in this race yeah i say i think the gram rules changed this evening didn't they for the rest of
29:16the season between the two mclaren drivers it looks like gloves off to me now yeah well once the
29:23constructor's championship is done i did suggest to lando that the gloves are off in terms of the
29:27driver's battle and he said look there's little things we can do race by race that we become more free
29:32uh to go and race and when the constructor's championship has been done which it will be
29:37at the end of the next uh 10 laps well let them go and race and let's all enjoy the fun
29:43lewis hamilton currently down in seventh place on those soft tires fastest man on the track 134.3
29:49on the last lap i wonder yeah can he get kimmy antonelli before the end of the race he'll catch he
29:55should catch antonelli and leclerc at the end of the race lewis hamilton say he had that free stop
30:00if he can keep that kind of pace up uh yes he'll be there won't he he'll be there before the end
30:06of the race just on their tail that'll please charl leclerc for second race in a row lewis hamilton
30:11finishes ahead of him after they didn't swap him back and lewis was given that late pit stop
30:16here tonight back to the norris verstappen battle in a moment there coming up to the back of yuki
30:25sunoda is your race leader george russell so you mentioned martin there's that second pack that
30:30needs to start getting out of the way and george has arrived on the scene yeah george is there and
30:34it's max's teammate he's but he's obliged to get out of the way with the blue flags like anybody else
30:39but yeah russell then is it's a four car pack this time should be a little bit easier to get through
30:45this could be interesting lando norris has never been closer on this particular part of the track
30:50than he is to max verstappen but he just runs out of straight by the end of it he needs a really good
30:55exit here and then he might be able to get alongside don't forget his tires are seven laps fresher
31:02than verstappen's in the red bull verstappen's doing a super job with this defense but now those
31:09fresher tires are going to start to really pay dividends as carlos sainz who've been goal hanging
31:14for that safety car has decided now he has to pit and does so comes in at the last man to
31:20make a pit stop russell is past sunoda he's got hadjar and beerman ahead of him and then he's got
31:27clear air then until the end of the race maybe we'll have to pass along so there's a singleton car
31:33out there so this is key now for george russell just to get these two overtakes done in the next lap
31:39and then he can control his own destiny gotta say george russell he feels he's owed a little bit
31:45by this place after missing out on that podium as he was chasing down what could have been a potential
31:51victory a couple of years ago he has not put a foot wrong uh in this race uh tonight didn't put a foot
31:58wrong last night as well he is on for a well deserved victory and what a time for george russell to get a
32:05victory while he's still waiting to sign a new contract with mercedes where they might have an
32:11agreement they might not have an agreement ted was told in the notebook last night an announcement
32:15could be super close but how close is that what is the sticking point and why would mercedes want
32:20to risk george russell ever departing indeed i'm sure they don't but it's rather complicated there isn't
32:27it they're his managers as well as his employers which is uh what the hold up is yeah well let's just
32:34hope that common sense prevails and that they get that sorted because on the track he's uh i think
32:41he's having a splendid season i really do and called in to to step up and to start to lead that team
32:49as a driver after the departure of lewis hamilton and for me he's done exactly that meanwhile 10 laps
32:56to go lando norris still chasing down max verstappen after the qualifying incident yesterday where
33:04verstappen felt that lando's dirty air as he cruised back into the pits had cost him a chance of pole and
33:10i'll remember that he said but he'll remember this tonight if he can pull off the ultimate defense
33:15against the mclarens keep an eye on oscar piastri starting to get down into the 135s now
33:21just five and a half seconds adrift and as they're side by side going into turn seven if these two
33:28start squabbling piastri will be on their tail and i'm sure he would love to be arriving in a couple
33:34of laps on that one verstappen stays ahead then of norris leclerc now has antonelli within drs range
33:42and lewis hamilton he said was closing in on kimmy antonelli has got that gap down to under eight
33:48seconds in the last three laps so we'll keep an eye on that fernando alonso uh into the points
33:54after getting some great overtaking done currently eighth ahead of ollie bearman who started ninth
33:58career best line for him and isaac hadjar engine issues for him he's keeping sunoda at bay
34:03only just but in the last points position yeah close there but once again it's this exit here i think
34:10where lando norris needs to just stay a couple of car lengths closer yeah and what's sunoda going to do
34:15here what is sunoda going to do for the team he lets them both through yeah fair play absolutely
34:21let's just have a little look again on board with lando norris
34:25that was a bit close wasn't it i tell you what he knows he can trust max like that there's very few
34:32drivers you could trust with that kind of half move really max so aware of what's going on around
34:39who would have been looking in his mirrors left the space kept a straight line no chance of any
34:45collision or any contact there piastri now 3.2 seconds behind norris and you can you'll see him
34:53and uh he's got to get through sunoda yeah there's piastri in the background wow he's coming at them
34:59like a rocket lap 54 or 62 stand by your beds folks portiletto ahead is on 40 lap old parts
35:09yeah my mediums feel like 100 lap old compared to the softs that were what 32 laps old yeah
35:19oh dear great reply because in all honesty i'm not quite sure why that message was necessary in the
35:26first place but there you go uh right back to verstappen and norris and piastri who on this lap
35:33so antonelli's passed leclerc he has we haven't seen it yet but he has managed to get past charles
35:40he had that drs didn't he and lewis hamilton is now under four seconds behind his teammate leclerc
35:45i wonder if ferrari will be asking charles de clare to to let his teammate through
35:49to try and get antonelli and i wonder after baku what charles de clare's answer would be
35:54yeah so uh lewis tried to give him that eighth place on the grid but i don't think either of them
36:01were too fussed about it in the end were they eighth and ninth lance strolls got portiletto
36:06as he moves up in the 14th place on those uh ancient ancient tires and the gap is just max
36:13verstappen has just pulled out a bit more of a gap on lando nice by about you know a tenth couple
36:19of tenths on the last uh two laps so leclerc then with that last lap being an uh being overtaken
36:26he lost four seconds to hamilton who's catching him and there you go they reckon it'll be within
36:31a lap hamilton will be a lap i don't think so um only only if leclerc has another horror story but
36:40um yeah actually end of this end of this next lap hamilton will be ferrari will surely ask him to
36:47move over immediately see if hamilton can get a run at antonelli if you were max verstappen would
36:53you want lando norris about eight tenths of a second behind you keep him in drs which means that
37:01it means it makes it more difficult for his teammate to overtake him and therefore it kind of protects
37:07you a bit because you've held lando off for so long anyway uh he might do because he might think
37:12that helps him uh catch piastri a little bit more we saw um carlos heinz pull that trick didn't we by
37:18keeping norris in his content situation is clear on max on norris yeah thank you yeah and what is that
37:28situation you'll get a blue flag you've got to let them pass yeah you've got you've got basically
37:33the sister team uh so basically don't hold max up um and do hold lando up i'm going to assume that
37:42means if you get half a chance yeah wow don't forget isaac hadjar might well be max verstappen's
37:47teammate for next season as well yeah yeah which will go down very nicely in their first uh
37:52briefing together if that particular rumor uh comes true
37:56bestappen closing up then on hajar hamilton absolutely closing up on the back of his ferrari
38:05teammate charl leclerc and you can see now that he's got drs on charl leclerc that's switch
38:11lets him through and he does let him through that was uh instruction and instruction complied with
38:16because hamilton hamilton can still get after antonelli yeah no brainer for ferrari to do that
38:22so what is uh what kind of cunning plan do racing bulls have for the red bull here and more importantly
38:30the mclaren well maybe anthony davidson knows or maybe he's got something else for us i was just on
38:35this hajar news as both these drivers come up to him now crofty uh all simply who's getting told
38:41was they are closing in so be aware that norris is only one second behind max so i'm sure that he'll
38:47let both of them by like we saw yuki do i wasn't i couldn't hear any instructions to intentionally
38:52hold up norris just for the record and here we go and he does that's what i expected fair play
38:56isn't that great look at that salesforce driver of the day george russell 16 percent fernando alonso
39:0215 percent max verstappen 13 percent and i'm not surprised because all three have had a terrific race
39:09this is a great driving out there tonight i think fernando had himself about a hundred percent
39:13didn't he after that a big overtake but uh yeah and he's up back up into the points despite a nine
39:21second pit stop is fernando alonso sort of race uh he really enjoys six laps to go and lando maybe was
39:30just uh recharging his battery a little bit and that's why he dropped off behind verstappen to
39:35then get that battery charged up to go for a full scale assault in the last uh six laps but he's
39:41certainly got back in the drs range and he's got a lot closer on these last letter last three miles i
39:47think max has certainly uh match and certainly helped uh made george russell's evening more comfortable
39:53hasn't he because he's he's sort of basically had the mclaren of lando norris tucked up behind his
40:00gearbox pretty much all evening yeah it's uh it's been quite the battle for lando norris but
40:06starting fifth and having a battle for second place even if he doesn't get that second place
40:12you might just think you know i've done everything i can tonight from where i qualify yeah
40:16that was close to the 1910 that bridge was built um and i don't think it's gonna be not done any
40:26time soon by formula one car i think i know who would win if you hit that uh yeah just looking
40:33here 2.1 seconds the gap now antinelli to hamilton half a second hamilton fastest on that uh previous
40:39lap trying to keep you abreast of all the other battles that are going on albon on stroll uh a little
40:46bit uh further down the field and of course this one the staff and lap after lap after lap through the
40:52back markers driving into the clean air has got a uh wing mirror full of papaya
41:00yes norris makes his way down the straight again picks up a tenth of a second but only a tenth of a
41:07second and he just needs to find a touch of magic from somewhere if he can break the spell that
41:13the staff has got on this second place yeah unless he can make max drive offline and have to start
41:19defending into breaking zones again um piastri's advance has just slowed a little now on the
41:25previous lap and he can't quite get anywhere now he had that one run didn't he down the outside of
41:31a breaking zone and that was about it i think i i pose that question is it advantageous for the staff
41:39and to keep norris in drs and i think the answer is yes and that it is stopping piastri's advance as well
41:46yeah because he's dragging that mclaren uh towards him but you know like a good boxer just jabbing
41:52away and keeping him still at arm's length uh ted let's head down to you oh that was a hello yeah
41:59there we go uh yeah so if we know that max has uh got all these problems with down shifts and uh
42:03handbrake on the rear then oscar will know as well he'll be passing that on uh just see if he can
42:08make a move at the end of the race an update on russell's car i've asked mercedes how's it going they
42:13say he is managing his pace and uh just taking care of the tires so the same lap times as verstappen
42:20and norris is the leader george russell but i think he's got an extra bit in hand if he needed it but
42:26he doesn't at the moment with six grand prix remaining mclaren on course for back-to-back
42:34constructors championships be the first time since that run of four championships 1998 to 1991
42:44whatever the debrief will consist of when it comes to the drivers racing against each other
42:50andrea stella will start with a congratulations to everyone for another job well done for a
42:56constructors championship that has looked about as likely to be won with this many races remaining
43:02since what the bahrain test yeah it's uh it's been a dominant year but the they've been called
43:09up haven't they i think when we get it'll be interesting in austin but particularly in qatar
43:13brazil abu dhabi will the advantage of the mclaren come to the fore again it should be stronger there
43:20than it is even here um or even indeed austin but they they you know we basically the pack of
43:28court mclaren they stopped developing and we haven't been at tracks that really work to their
43:34advantage which are long high-speed corners and when you've got really high tire wear because the
43:39drivers are going to say look you might have won the constructors championship we understand
43:43because we have to switch off development earlier because we've got less wind tunnel time
43:47less cfd time as well we understand why you do it but you've got to give us a car to go and win races
43:52because we want to win a driver's championship and we've seen here red bull and mercedes with pace
43:58extra pace over the mclarens stopping that mclaren win which you know maybe six seven races ago
44:04might have looked a bit more of a formality hamilton within half a second of anton early martin
44:09yeah that's what i was just going to say he is and uh in the slipstream with those soft tires
44:16so we'll see what lewis hamilton can do and uh he's still behind him as they head into turn 16.
44:23and piastri now two and a half seconds give or take uh behind lando norris and that gap's still
44:29coming down is he going to run out of time though is lando norris a little bit closer to max
44:34verstappen probably not lewis hamilton's been off the track in turn 16 and lost a lot of time
44:39to kimmy antonelli down two and a half seconds behind so a lot of that advantage just ebbed away
44:46that might just to cost lewis a chance for a top five finish here in singapore might be settling for
44:53sixth place which is of course where he finished last year might well have been a bit of a side-by-side
44:58overtake mind it we'll get a replay no doubt i know it wasn't apparently it's just lewis i've lost my
45:04brakes just lewis getting deep into 16 and that is why well that happens at the end of this race
45:12we've seen it before mark weber i think famously uh jensen buck was saying you know you do lose your
45:17brakes uh a bit here let's have a little look here this is on board uh with kimmy antonelli
45:26on lap 54 so hamilton had overtaken him hadn't he and then he's re-overtaken him
45:34wowzers um but you do you've got 10 braking zones four heavy and it is it's hot it's oppressive you're
45:44you're running with no cool air coming through it's very easy to to to lose your uh rear brakes
45:50or you saw your front brakes here yeah things like that happen you you've got to take it steady i think
45:55now if you're lewis hamilton to get at home to the end of this race there's been no break whatsoever
46:00for verstappen and his defense here against lando norris and he's still keeping him within drs range
46:07and piastri is still coming back at these two there he is in the distance but surely even for him just
46:13a bit too far away at this stage of the race yeah he'll start getting in the turbulent air which will
46:20give him a few more challenges oscar piastri but uh so eight and a half seconds covers the top four
46:26after all the dramas and issues and the rain before the start of the race um they will be
46:32exhausted when they get out of there um but you have to say max verstappen has room whatever his
46:39issues he's handled them beautifully that replay we saw that was kimmy antonelli getting past uh charles
46:45leclerc that was lap 54 i'm just trying to work out what was going on there but that is that is the
46:50latest latest of late replays uh to be honest it wasn't lewis hamilton's right back now he's fallen back
46:56behind leclerc again they've done the swap because hamilton's brakes have gone he can get to the end
47:01because alonso's 43 seconds behind him uh but hamilton is really really struggling uh and that's
47:06where they swapped it around at uh ferrari for lewis to get past charles leclerc and then we saw that
47:13puff of brake dust didn't we yeah um and this is where i think his brakes have completely gone yeah you
47:19can see look the sparks uh coming on that front left brake as he tried to uh apply it wow he's
47:27run out of front brake disc he certainly has and then uh charles leclerc getting past lewis is just
47:32cruising around here in an attempt to get home to the finish and maybe charles leclerc's brakes have
47:37gone a little bit as well but uh let's go back to the battle on the final lap george russell is making
47:43his way to turn seven through it now behind him comes max verstappen behind him comes lando norris
47:48behind him comes oscar piastri this is the top four and this has been great entertainment uh from this
47:53top four uh but it looks like lando norris might just have to settle uh for third place behind
47:59verstappen and verstappen might have to settle for second place after winning back-to-back races uh in
48:06september george russell looks like he's going to have to settle for a win that he fully deserves and
48:11will be celebrating long into the singapore night yeah this track owes george doesn't it a result
48:17but he's gone and taken it for himself this evening tremendous driving pole led he hadn't led every
48:24lap did he because the mclarens took over a while after he pitted but um and hamilton's got fastest lap
48:30of the race but george russell common commanded qualifying didn't he two brilliant laps either which
48:36would have been on pole perfect start and has controlled the race nicely he certainly has
48:41before tonight we had five different winners in five years of the singapore grand prix make that
48:47now six different winners in the last six runnings of the singapore grand prix for the first time ever
48:51here he'll stand on the podium on the top step george russell wins the singapore grand prix and what a
48:58victory that was for him max verstappen settles for second place holds off lando norris who barged
49:05through and passed his teammate oscar piastri on the first lap mclaren finished third and fourth and
49:11mclaren are constructors champions in 2025 for the second year running behind mclaren comes kimmy
49:22antonelli on the road then charles leclerc then lewis hamilton but the fight is going on for the ferrari
49:28cars just to try and limp home and fernando alonso might yet get past lewis hamilton as they make
49:34their word to turn 13 and they're maybe both suffering brake issues leclerc sixth
49:41lewis hamilton yes mate well done well weekend well done oh yeah come on come on
49:50george that was that was mega today driver car combination perfect thanks made up for two years ago
50:02well done george you rode that for tonight you really were charles leclerc has managed to finish
50:07this race hamilton is trying to hold off fernando alonso we're watching mclaren celebrating we should
50:12be watching the track here because fernando alonso it was 43 seconds behind hamilton crosses the line
50:20four tenths of a second behind hamilton that was a desperate fight to the finish
50:24what about first piece please keep away and we are the world constructors championship we did we
50:31won two years running what about yeah i'm pretty tired man i didn't drink if you didn't feel so bad
50:40as you cares we all won another world championship for mclaren congratulations everyone you all work so
50:49hard uh so i'm so proud to be part of it all uh beautiful simply beautiful god and everyone very
50:57well deserved incredible yeah congratulations indeed at the circuit back at the factory there's
51:05so many people involved in the drivers are the final link in the chain but they are only a link
51:11in the chain chain breaks anywhere else it's no good to you at all it is the first mercedes win in
51:17singapore since 2018 it is for lando norris a podium that secures the team that he has been with
51:26for so so many years their back-to-back constructors championships well done to them and so behind
51:33hamilton and alonso ollie bearman came home to score two points and carlos sainz who started 18th and last
51:39in this race and ran the longest of anyone else on the first stint 50 laps on the medium tire comes home
51:46to claim the final point uh for williams uh terrific efforts uh from them terrific effort from george russell
51:54here tonight i'm sure there's going to be a lot of chat about the norris and uh piastri uh incident on
52:03on lap one in the end the team can celebrate tonight and lando norris closes in by another three points
52:10on oscar piastri's championship lead while we're talking about all that just up on our screen now
52:15lewis hamilton has been noted for exceeding track limits and it might just be that after being shown
52:22a black and white flag and he was because his brakes were basically going he's gone over the line
52:28a bit too often and he'll get a five second penalty here which could cost him seventh place yeah i think
52:33he will do because he's the last four five mentions on the you can make that six for track limits because
52:40he ran out of breaks so uh yes i think you could well be right there sadly for lewis hamilton there
52:46could be a five second penalty coming his way his last lap was one minute 47 seven and fernando
52:52was 136 too that's how much he was struggling by um but uh we'll await uh the news from the stewards on
53:01that one and that is george russell and his car and this will be a win that means a huge amount to him
53:11left no stone unturned in his preparation wasn't particularly well in baku
53:17and springs from the cockpit feeling full of the joys of it uh here in singapore tonight
53:26car 63 on top for what is george russell's fifth win in formula one his second win in 2025.
53:36last time i saw george this morning in the left he was going to the pool to have a bit of chill out
53:40time obviously did the trick nicely didn't it and i would imagine he's uh he's probably as damp now as
53:47he as he was when he emerged from that pool given the amount of uh sweat that the drivers have to
53:55consent with it losing four kilograms of weight during the course of the race
54:02yep george's signature stance as well delivered max verstappen congratulating him
54:11and yeah it's a big night for mclaren but it's a big night for george russell too isn't it yeah it is
54:16uh confirmation though is hamilton will be investigated by the stewards uh after the race
54:22for exceeding uh track limits his brakes had gone and basically he was struggling to stay uh very much
54:28on the track max verstappen what a great defensive job that was and we'll hear i'm sure about the struggles
54:34he had uh during the course of the race from quite early on he was complaining about the uh the down
54:40shifts well that's it it's a tidy second place for him and once again he closes in on the championship
54:46leader and uh lando norris to the the two mclaren uh drivers piastri 336 points now norris 314 max
54:56verstappen 273 the top three in the drivers championship it's uh 18 points between piastri
55:06and uh norris and then max verstappen uh 27 or 41 points uh further back what tends to happen now
55:14is you start welling up the heat wells up in you and driver of the day there fernando alonso
55:20salesforce driver of the day and uh he scored a fifth they're just i think it just reminds you how
55:26many great drivers there are out there but what happens to say that the heat wells up the adrenaline
55:32dies down and suddenly it hits you like a brick and you feel like you've been sat in a furnace
55:40for the last two hours i think we're going to hear from andrea stella uh in a moment as well as the top
55:46three smiles all around down in the in park ferme every time
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