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00:00Then Leclerc second George Russell is leading this race and we're on lap 13 of 19. Let's head to Bernie
00:06Collins
00:06Yes, Croft, you're just going to pick up McLaren. You said they're running a little bit off the pace
00:11But looking for opportunity always looking for opportunity Crofty
00:14They've just been told for Lando Norris that his safety car window is open because they have that big gap
00:21back to Lawson
00:22Norris and Piastro could potentially pit if there was a false safety car. Thanks Bernie
00:29Oh Valtteri Bottas is coming in slow-mo and being told to box
00:35Meanwhile, it's kind of boxing for Hadjar and Verstappen. We've seen teammates getting very close to turn three now
00:41It's the Red Bull turn Hadjar ahead of Verstappen, but he's really suffering. Oh, and we've got a problem on
00:46track
00:47It's Nico Hülkenberg who stopped now is this that safety car window that Bernie Collins was talking about where the
00:54McLaren could get in
00:56And maybe make a pit stop. We'll see if the safety car comes out Verstappen
01:00Meanwhile does get past Isaac Hadjar who's dropping back down the field that soft tire gamble not working out for
01:07him in this race
01:08Kimi Antonelli now on Charles Leclerc
01:10Kimi Antonelli down towards the hairpin is this Mercedes want to it is and he's done it just before we
01:18get the safety car
01:19George Russell rounds the final corner and Antonelli slows down and so will the rest but will the McLarens come
01:28into pit?
01:28Because they've got that gap to Liam Lawson and disco. Oh look. We've already got in the pits
01:35Antonelli and also
01:37Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, but George Russell
01:42He's pitted as well. So Mercedes had double stacking here, but they had enough time between the two cars
01:47Luckily and that was a really important pass wasn't it for Antonelli to get that done as you pointed out
01:52properly before they came into that safety car
01:55Hamilton's lost time here. He has because he they were double stacking at Ferrari and he's been passed in the
02:00pit lane Ted Kravitz
02:01By Lando Norris and now there's a fight between Kimi Antonelli and Oscar Piastri
02:06Antonelli still ahead of Piastri, but even on a good day Ferrari seemingly get it wrong with the strategy
02:11Lewis lost so much time just waiting behind Leclerc
02:14Many people now hitting the still Williams are coming into that is a shocker for Kimi Antonelli
02:21He has severely lost out in that pit stop
02:27procedure and has come out now
02:29Well in the seventh place because others have stayed out and he's got a ten-second penalty to come
02:35Hajar as well losing time here hand over fist he had to come in obviously behind his teammate
02:41Only just gets out in front of stroll who peels off now, but I didn't see what happened to Antonelli
02:48He had look like ample time for the team to get themselves prepared for his arrival
02:53Yeah, definitely he had more time than Lewis Hamilton did for example
02:56He served the penalty didn't he he served that he said because he came in he served the ten-second
03:01penalty
03:01Which is probably kept him out to be fair good spot Crofty
03:05I mean depending on how long it takes to recover
03:08But would it have been better to keep Kimi Antonelli out on the track get track position?
03:12He would have been leading the race when burnt my lander and the safety car appeal off to put their
03:16feet up and could he open up?
03:18more than a ten-second gap or
03:21Could he up and open up a decent enough gap to still be the points?
03:24That's for stuff going into turn one
03:26Wow two into one corner
03:29And I don't think the two he was fighting with expected him to do that as Hajar had a big
03:34lock-up
03:34That's a big lock-up for Max Verstappen on the inside
03:39Isaac Hadjar thinking right okay, I'm just go hang this out. Let you go. That's not what I expected you
03:45to be doing
03:45I already saw one car do that to me earlier on and got hit because of it
03:50And that's why we saw that that repass from Verstappen around the outside of his teammate through turn seven
03:56Right recovery vehicle is there for Nico Hülkenberg
03:59Steve Nielsen is with us on the pit wall down at Alpine and Steve
04:03Managing director of the Alpine team great to have you with us for the first time
04:07You're a long-serving endstone man
04:09Pierre Gasly had an opportunity for points today. Has that slipped away a little bit?
04:15Hey Crofty yeah, good to join you guys
04:17Well, obviously we had a good start and PS slipped back a bit
04:20But it just shows the strategy involved with how you use your deployment in these
04:24In this generation of cars, all is not lost and the people that passed us are not that far away
04:30So let's see what happens
04:33So Steve in these kind of situations as we saw with a few drivers
04:38Can you use all of your battery just before that safety car and then obviously under the safety car
04:43You'll top it back up again. Are you allowed to do that?
04:47I believe so
04:48I think I think that I think that's what we're doing
04:51So we're all in it together. Yeah, we're all learning together
04:53Yeah, exactly
04:54It's been a crazy race so far. You are under investigation though for an unsafe release
04:59On the laps to the grid and just take us through what what what happened?
05:04Yeah, unfortunately we had a
05:05Arpita on the top of the chassis has a little cover on it and we managed to release the car
05:11with that still fitted
05:12So I don't think that's going to be a sporting penalty
05:15It'll probably be a post-race, a post-sprint fine of some sort
05:18I imagine I mean we shouldn't have done it and we'll learn from it
05:20But uh, it's not not uh, not a major
05:23Steve, thanks so much for joining us. We'll talk more in qualifying a little bit later on
05:29Here's the situation. George russell is ahead and on the soft tire from charle claire from lando norris
05:36Who benefited when the ferraris were double stacking with lewis hamilton having sister to hold back a little bit?
05:42Norris has moved up a place
05:44Hamilton then behind him lawson stayed out his fifth on the hard tire
05:49Behrman stayed out is currently sixth on the medium tire
05:54Antonelli served his penalty and has dropped down to seventh
05:58So he's now on the soft tire and he's going to be charging hard after the rest piastri down to
06:03eighth in this race
06:04And then gasly and ocon will be nipping at the heels and we're probably going to get about three laps
06:10of racing
06:10I think so the reason why they served that penalty crofty
06:13When they did for antonelli is because the field was still spread out. Yeah, and now they're all completely bunched
06:18together
06:18If you think about it if they served the the penalty right at the end of the race instead
06:22Then you'd be dropping right to the back
06:25Look at that was too close for comfort for carlos science and ocon
06:29Just weaving around trying to warm his tires up
06:33It's about to crash in my back all the time that guy understood and a double yellow as well
06:40Well, he was was he caught out a bit by esteban ocon or was he just not watching that carefully
06:46enough chain reaction?
06:47Isn't it when you're when you're in traffic and everybody's on and off the brakes and you're trying to keep
06:52the the temperature in your brakes of course
06:54So yeah, but it's obviously science was a bit surprised by the
06:58By that ebb and flow of the speed and but
07:02Ocon's very quick on the radio there to try and uh dob his friend in it
07:06Yeah, you should be looking at that he did that under a double yellow as well
07:10So penalize him that was that was the coded message there. I think it was perez has been noted for
07:14a safety car infringement
07:15And I think this could be the last lap of the safety car so quickly down its head
07:19Yeah, the uh, the hard tires working out well for carlos science 11 that's nosebleed stuff for a williams
07:25Uh, so just behind esteban ocon another one disadvantaged by the safety car oscar piastri
07:30He didn't have quite enough time with the uh with the gap to liam lawson
07:34So has ended up eighth and just behind that lawson bearman who stayed out and then antonelli. Thanks ten
07:41What happened in the last call in the last corner was that will fit the following with the gearbox looking
07:48into it
07:50So all not well potentially with charles claire safety car is coming in at the end of this lap
07:56Now we started this race with five lights and away we go and the ferraris got away really well
08:03Who's to say that won't happen again when we get going uh once the safety car oh good
08:08It's just wheel spin uh safe ferrari when the safety car peels away george russell is going to have to
08:13watch his mirrors again
08:14I think he really will so yeah, let's see now
08:17How this one unfolds like say we've seen a standing start a few times
08:22But uh this rolling start behind the safety car it's going to be critical for all of the drivers
08:29But uh no more so than george russell to get the jump on the competition
08:34And that battery state of charge will change by the time we get uh racing once again
08:40Loss of power for valsery bottas
08:42That's why he's retired from this sprint limblad told to retire the car nika hulkenberg
08:48On the 16 years since he made his f1 debut not finishing this sprint race
08:53And who's going to win this sprint race because it is all up for grabs now
08:59Big wheel spin yet again that has given george russell a massive advantage here
09:05That wheel spin and has put charles leclerc on the back foot as there goes the green flag waving for
09:11the drivers
09:12And away we go racing leclerc second norris third then hamilton hamilton under pressure a little bit from liam lawson
09:19Going into the first turn the ferraris didn't start the restart as well as they started the actual start
09:24And i think antonelli also had a pretty terrible restart there crofty and lost a position to uh piastri
09:31Yes, he did piastri ahead now of kimmy antonelli
09:35And here comes
09:36Oli bearman
09:38Didn't change his tires those mediums might warm up a bit quicker than the hard tire
09:42So lawson under pressure there's pierre gasly scrapping away with esteban ocon
09:46Currently in ninth place and ollie bearman getting very close here
09:50And to liam lawson to try and make up another point in this sprint race currently running in sixth out
09:57in front george russell
09:58Is a second clear lewis hamilton is right on the tail though of lando norris and then oscar piastri and
10:06kimmy antonelli
10:07And so uh
10:08Bearman i should say so piastri's got a head of bearman right in the back
10:14Antonelli just bogged down a bit behind the british driver and his former teammate in f2
10:19Yeah, so bearman obviously dropping like a stone here crofty on those older tires
10:23And so that's why piastri and antonelli are making very quick work of that
10:27Bearman's fighting this one down the back straight there. He's going wheel to wheel with antonelli russell's got the advantage
10:32Hamilton on norris didn't quite make it here comes oscar piastri on lawson
10:37He gets that move done and then antonelli gets the move done on bearman
10:41Piastri overtook me before the finish line
10:43He said not allowed to do that no overtaking on a restart before you get to the finish line
10:48Which hamilton has just crossed behind lando norris pulls out to the left-hand side hamilton back up into third
10:56place
10:58A time penalty for sergio perez who's right at the back of the field
11:03That's not going to make much difference to his afternoon
11:05Will there be a penalty though for oscar piastri?
11:09And they're looking into that and mercedes and maybe at race control two
11:13Antonelli now on the back of liam lawson fresh soft tires should steam down the inside
11:19On the man from new zealand and does so lawson will try and fight this back though on the exit
11:24And he didn't quite have the grip so lawson tumbles down into seventh and antonelli up to six and he
11:29can get back
11:30Piastri again
11:32In a few moments time piastri told to give the place back before you get a penalty
11:37So antonelli will move up in a fifth. There's definitely the sensible thing to do there cropped. He must let
11:42antonelli by
11:43Will that be enough to satisfy the stewards because it's an absolute no-no
11:48You cannot overtake a car before the line on the restart
11:52Verstappen on the restart not really making a huge amount of progress
11:55He's now right on the tail of esteban ocon
11:57Charles leclerc still within touching distance of george russell
12:01lewis hamilton ahead of lando norris
12:03He's put a second
12:04Between himself and the other mclaren the mclaren that is not giving the place back to a mercedes
12:10And that's what oscar piastri has just done there. So
12:13Antonelli up in the fifth piastri six behind them
12:15Here's a battle downy inside goes esteban ocon forces
12:20Pierre gasly wide max for staff and says yeah cheers i'll have some of that and takes the place of
12:25pierre gasly
12:26And almost takes the place of esteban ocon. Yeah, he had to think about that one didn't he down the
12:30inside of the final corner
12:31But uh, yeah great move by ocon down the inside of his old sparring partner pierre gasly
12:37And now verstappen round the outside easily of the hass driver
12:41One more hass driver to go max verstappen could yet claim a point here in this race
12:46Uh, but he's not he's running out of time to do it. We are on the final lap of this
12:51sprint race
12:51The leaders going through turn six currently headed by that man there george russell
12:56And he has put a bit more distance between himself and charles leclerc
13:00Hamilton ahead of norris antonelli ahead of piastri
13:04Lawson bearman verstappen seems to be the closest scrap on the track currently
13:09Uh, with uh bearman right on the tail of liam lawson no further investigation
13:15If he has to be given that place back the stewards are more than satisfied and george russell will be
13:20more than satisfied with the way this sprint has gone
13:22He's been under pressure, but once again like in melbourne he's come through it and he's driven really well
13:28I mean leclerc has has actually gained some time here on the race he down to eight tenths now on
13:33this back straight
13:34So is he giving absolutely everything here leclerc on uh on russell?
13:39Well, he is uh, but george is looking in his mirrors to see where he is
13:42And I think he's a bit too far back charles leclerc uh shanghai sprint on a saturday morning george russell
13:49Won in melbourne the opening grand prix of the season
13:52He's won the opening sprint race of the season two russell wins here in shanghai
13:56It's mercedes ferrari ferrari as leclerc and hamilton cross the line second and third lando norris fourth
14:04This battle still going on behind liam lawson will make it to the line
14:08Just ahead of ollie behrman who claims the final points place and finished four tenths ahead of max
14:15Verstappen and he might have been a bit concerned today total wolf, but we'll get that smile eventually
14:20Antonelli uh fifth piastri uh sixth and then uh lawson of behrman verstappen occom finishing seventh gasly in
14:2811th and science bortoletto color pinto and hadjar the soft tire just didn't work for him
14:33In the middle part of this race albon alonso stroll and perez and we lost hulkenberg bottas and limblad
14:39And i'll tell you what there's a sprint race. I could have had a few more laps
14:42You know what that was over all too soon wasn't it croftier yeah 19 laps
14:47Absolutely flew by the safety car obviously spiced things up even more
14:51But uh, what a race and well done to liam lawson in particularly. Great job mate
14:57Excellent work today. Good job nice in the beginning
15:01Lewis did a very good job of those early lands
15:03But no yeah, like he had the tires well under control
15:09For all the talk of the mercedes power unit this year. I do think chassis wise
15:16It's a bit more benign on the tires than others. We've lost all that downforce
15:21This year, but the mercedes seems to have
15:23Just a better
15:25Overall appreciation of tire wear than the likes of the ferrari and I think we saw that today certainly today
15:31We saw that I think it played out a little bit in melbourne as well
15:34But uh russell managed that race perfectly didn't he um you know full calm and collected
15:39He tried in multiple areas on the track and where to overtake hamilton but hamilton as you would expect
15:46Very wise in in his defense and repassing so and use of of his boost button and everything he had
15:53available to him
15:54Someone made contact on the final lap
15:57It's a bit of barge board I think there on the track that they could just do with the avoiding
16:03the cars
16:04But it wasn't just that yeah, I mean that obviously happened in the midfield scrap and I really enjoyed watching
16:08that lawson
16:09Behrman fight great strategy call by the racing bulls starting on the hard tire
16:15Well done. It's a good race. Yeah pace was strong. It's a
16:20I think there was a little more sightseeing there. What I will have hope
16:25Never won a sprint race charlaclere and has to
16:29Settle for second place once again at that by the way is the first time ferrari have had two cars
16:34in the top three in a race
16:36since abu-dabi
16:382024 that you know they're not far away in race pace race trim and I think it
16:44I think with the grand prix tomorrow
16:46I think we could be seeing them even a bigger threat to what they were to mercedes than they were
16:51today
16:52I think when they got the full fuel on board. I think the car seems to get better and better
16:59McLaren, I think they're still the third best team out there
17:03What's happened there? I think that's just some of the tape from the you know the sealant around the the
17:07cape tins on the
17:08On the front there's come loose there and he'll be hoping that rebel have learned enough to take into the
17:13grand prix to to put rights
17:14Their struggles in sprints and george russell
17:18One of the hardest things he's had to do today is to find a way through the queue of cars
17:23To get into park ferme and park up right in front of the number one side
17:30Which is his for the second weekend running a second sprint victory
17:36For george russell to go with his win in sao paulo in 2022
17:40And he has still led every session after f from fp3 in australia onwards it has been russell very much
17:47on top
17:48And it hasn't been completely his own way off the line every time as well
17:52So yeah, that was uh, I loved watching
17:55Russell fighting his old teammate lewis hamilton there
17:58It was it was clean fair
18:01Really hard on the edge and hamilton gave exactly the same treatment to his own teammate as well when when
18:08leclair came up
18:08But yeah russell so far
18:10He is looking like he's well in his comfort zone
18:14He got a better start than his teammate once again kimmy antonelli might need to work on his starts just
18:19a touch
18:19That's two races two two starts that he'll think could have done a little bit better there
18:23Absolutely, and you know, it's really especially in the sprint race
18:26It can it works completely against you then he had to lock up into turn six and you know kimmy
18:32He's still obviously very young very inexperienced and I think you're seeing that difference between
18:37Where russell is in his career first, you know, you you all go through that learning phase as drivers and
18:43yes
18:43This is formula one you should arrive as a finished article, but still that learning
18:47Process never ends to the day you retire. He's already been on the radio kimmy antonelli to say sorry guys
18:53I mean the start I had no boost at the start, so
18:57They'll look into to why that was the case. It is the same for verstappen as well wasn't it?
19:02And I think you can only blame the driver up to a certain degree for these starts at this moment
19:07in time
19:09Job half done for today
19:12George russell will be going into qualifying hoping for a second pole position for a grand prix in a row
19:18Now what happened with sergio peres who picked up a five second penalty
19:23For a safety car infringement, and it was his body work. That was it was shredding itself
19:29Oh dear, is it one of those the barge boards again?
19:32We saw fall off the car in in melbourne during the race
19:35Now in this but that was after contact wasn't it with lawson?
19:39It was that small contact that was all by itself look cadillac as a young team going through a lot
19:43of teething problems
19:44And they'll look into why that was the case
19:47Somebody brought the right cardboard cutout face
19:51For the crowd
19:52It's a bit too serious for a man who just won there
19:56And he's already got a photo already got his qualifying expression on later on today, right?
20:02Hope in tongue good to see him here this weekend
20:04And he has the mic in his hand and is with george russell down in park ferme
20:09George winner of the sprint race here in shanghai those look like a very dicey first few laps again
20:15Again, yeah, I just spoke with charles. Well, I actually this is pretty fun in the end. So
20:19A lot of strategy at play and how you do the overtakes is not easy
20:24I hope it was a fun race to watch usually the sprint races are pretty boring and then got everything
20:30under control safety car
20:32But yeah, really happy to to get the win
20:34Yeah, you say it's not easy from the outside
20:36It obviously looks very easy, but can you describe how difficult is it from in the car for you?
20:41I feel a lot of wind here as well for example. Yeah, I mean, it's really windy at the moment
20:44It's not easy because this first corner is so long and only takes one lap of pushing too much and
20:49you can destroy your front left tire
20:51So it was just sort of managing and especially when we were when we were battling, you know
20:55Lewis did an amazing job in the early laps. He called me off guard
20:59But you know 20 years experience. So that's uh, yeah, I still got a little bit to learn there
21:04Can we inspect more from you in qualifying and tomorrow?
21:08I mean, I hope we can bring more but you know yesterday was a really great day
21:12Ferrari again seem to be offset and qualifying but really close to us in in race pace. So
21:18Ultimately, we probably need to to find a bit of improvement for for the race
21:22Good. Thank you. Good luck
21:24Charles from p6 to p2 what a race
21:31Obviously much has been said about energy management, but I think you already recognized left front was critical here because
21:36you saw your managing in the beginning
21:38Yeah, I was managing quite a bit, but uh, I'm pretty happy with the race
21:42I think the pace was was quite strong
21:44We had a bit of fighting which made me uh lose time maybe to george and then it was difficult
21:48to catch up
21:49But it's good to see that our at least our race pace is more similar to the mercedes than our
21:53qualifying pace
21:54And uh, yeah, pretty happy with with the car today. Yeah, I gotta ask on the restart exit p14 the
22:00hairpin huge snap
22:01They're overseeing what happened?
22:04Well, I think the tires were a little bit colder than what I expected
22:07I saw george actually having a snap and I was like, okay, this is probably my
22:11My opportunity to take the lead so I tried to go a bit more aggressive on throttle
22:15But I had the same rear grip as george. So I nearly lost it. But luckily
22:19Yeah, I didn't completely lose it and then also the last corner was very poor grip. Thank you. Thank you
22:27Louis p3
22:30What our entertainment from you in the first few laps great start again and then the battle turn one two
22:36three amazing
22:38Yeah, yeah mega job, um ni hao
22:43It's uh
22:45Amazing to a big thank you to to the team for us to be able to be in this position
22:50fighting with the mercedes at the front
22:52It's um, it was a close battle at the beginning that speed on the straights just a little bit too
22:56much at the moment, but
22:58Um, I think I put up a good fight, but I killed my left tire
23:01So I wasn't able to hold on to position
23:02Yeah, I see you standing here with a smile. How much nice are these cars to drive? How much better
23:07do they suit your driving style this year?
23:10Um
23:11I don't know. I feel it's just it's just a much better car
23:14Uh that that we've designed and uh, we've been a part of developing it. So, um definitely a lot happier
23:20in it and
23:21Uh, of course, um, I was in the lead at one point so to finish third is not the greatest,
23:26but I will
23:27Try harder again tomorrow. Thank you. Thank you
23:41Well, uh entertaining first few laps definitely, uh with between those two but in the end george russell's mercedes much
23:49kinder on the tires
23:51Uh than lewis hamilton's front left and it means that it is a one two three russell leclerc hamilton second
23:59career sprint race victory
24:01Uh for george's first was sao paulo
24:04In 2022
24:07That's what he said there. Sorry about that. Well, there we are. Okay, uh, there's loads more this weekend on
24:13sky sports f1
24:14As far as the racing is concerned race one in the f1 academy round one shanghai 5 30
24:20Precedes qualifying for the chinese grand prix at 6 30 on air
24:28And there's uh the details for sunday chinese grand prix race starts at seven on air from 5 30
24:33Similar casting with the f1 kids on sky sports plus from five to seven
24:38And then a replay if you can't get up from five to midday on sky sports f1
24:47Now lots to get through here. I was through it in terms of the football saturday night football
24:51From five o'clock on main event arsenal everton if you prefer
24:55Chelsea against newcastle on sky sports premier league
25:01And on sunday great choice for you man united villa forrest fulham palace leads
25:06Liverpool spurs is the later game in the monday night football is brentford against wolves
25:14Women's league cup final chelsea against manchester united two o'clock sky sports plus on sunday
25:22That's not all day three of the players from sawgrass one o'clock sky sports golf
25:31That's a tennis to the indian wells open atp semi-finals from 7 30 today
25:36At the finals on sunday 5 30 and 8 30 all of those on sky sports tennis and series two
25:43of the prequel
25:46Ted all episodes available now seth mcfarlane starring as the foul-mouth teddy bear
25:55Well, I hope you're entertained at home say what you want about the overtakes
26:00There were plenty of them and the lead changing hands a number of times even had a safety car
26:06But george russell winning it reaction next
26:17George russell has led every session from fp3 in australia onwards picked up his second sprint victory let's hear from
26:25his boss toto wolf
26:29Well
26:30Does george have to add most patient racing driver on the grid to his uh to his armory because it's
26:38it's the same as same as australia?
26:39The ferrari is going to make it difficult but in the end the pace of the mercedes shows
26:43Yeah, I mean the ferraris are really quick uh out of the box
26:47I think that probably they always stretch the tires a little bit so without the safety car
26:52That would have been a more difficult for them. But yeah, you know, this is this is a tough fight
26:57Especially in the first bits of the race funny how these new cars have returned
27:01lewis's ability or
27:03To or shown rediscovered his ability to race you couldn't race these cars in the ground effect and now he
27:09can it's quite fun to watch
27:10Yeah, I was uh, I was texting with him yesterday evening and I said i'm happy to see that you
27:14that you enjoyed
27:15To enjoy the race these cars and he said yeah i'm feeling i'm in a good place now after he
27:20finished inspecting your cars in park ferme
27:22Yeah, yeah, uh, sherlock holmes
27:25All right, and and the the kimmy accident did 10 seconds seem a bit harsh or is that these new
27:31guidelines we have it was a fairly innocent
27:34Well clonk against hajar i thought it was a could have been a five second penalty but you know at
27:39the end it's always difficult
27:41Uh difficult for the stewards to do the right thing there well he recovered well done today see you later.
27:46Thank you
27:48Well, what if that's going to be a feature of this year had shades of melbourne and i think the
27:53telling thing from toto there
27:55Yeah, it was great racing yo-yo racing until of course he breaks that one second for the overtake mode
28:00And then he kind of disappeared off into this but really entertaining was it lasted
28:05Yes, then you question is that pure racing or but it's an amazing skill the drivers have to use now
28:11how to
28:12Use that energy and when and we saw amazing uh
28:16Racing skills from uh from louis same as charles last race where it seems that russell takes
28:22More time to to to to get going uh to figure it out he's more on the defensive
28:27Uh and it puts him a little bit in the danger zone because he has to fight it's an existential
28:31question isn't it if i can pronounce it existential
28:35Because it it is that i mean look the people say well it just depends on your battery that's that's
28:39that
28:40But they've still got to make the passes and
28:43It's the show it depends on your on your take on what's more important are you a purist you want
28:47more entertainment
28:49I mean you're getting overtakes it does but then it's what we've got and i think the drivers are controlling
28:54their battery
28:55I quite enjoy at the beginning of the race. I thought it was interesting and and called it in commentary
28:58as well
28:58George went for a move kind of used too much battery didn't need to necessarily
29:02I kind of overshot it almost and then uh the next time he used no battery down into
29:07Into turn 14 and then the next lap he got him in the straight
29:10So i quite enjoyed the thinking in process behind the drivers because for me
29:14I was watching it thinking how i would think if i was them so in that sense it's good
29:18The bigger thing for me there is the fact that the mercedes as a car is much faster
29:24So once they did as you say get that second
29:27Gap and managed to get a bit of distance between themselves they were gone the tire wear wasn't an issue
29:31which ferrari had
29:32But whilst they were together. I think if charlotte got george as well
29:35It could have been interesting as well. We're sure quite clever
29:38Or do you think because obviously the battling really really did grain lewis's front left didn't it to more of
29:45an extent than george's did
29:46Which again going back to crofty's point shows you that it's a very decent mercedes chassis as well as engine
29:52Charles was pushing was pushing so lewis really had genuine pace early on then obviously was aggressive because
29:58Once you're in the lead you can kind of control it. So he was trying to stay in the lead
30:02there
30:03I found charl very aggressive on his defense against lewis that was a little bit almost over the edge
30:08I would say so because lewis didn't fight him off
30:10Mainly it was very clean then charl was pushing him off the track but it was a little bit tough
30:16What was your take on it on it jamie?
30:18I actually didn't see the last bit of this move so i heard them complain on the radio
30:22But at this point or it's not this battle is this one where lewis gets the cutback
30:25I didn't see the last bit exit of turn three so i don't know if he does push him off
30:29a little bit now
30:30We're gonna watch yeah, so because he went on board with uh charl. I didn't see where lewis ended up
30:34But yeah, I mean I think those two are clearly enjoying it because they're clearly battling as if you know
30:40They want to get in front of each other not as if you know their two teammates fighting
30:44For a world championship or teams world championship at this point, but I enjoy it
30:48I enjoy seeing the racecraft of lewis. I also enjoy seeing the racecraft of of charl
30:52And that is where you have to be smart like if you lock up like kimmy for example early on
30:57He's got a superior car. He still locks up and does some damage gets a penalty
31:00So you still have to have very good racecraft very good spatial awareness and all of these factors
31:06And when you get three top drivers like we have with with the top three at the moment, it's quite
31:10exciting quite surprising
31:11That's the first time that charl eclair has been in top three in any format in in shanghai
31:16Do you think though jack looking ahead to the race tomorrow if they can get off the line again in
31:21high fuel ferrari?
31:22Can they make this last a bit longer?
31:25They seem to be able to do it every time they get on the track that that energy that they
31:29have in the first few laps
31:30They will have it and even more so with full tanks. It will be more apparent then
31:35But I think george has learned a lot today from that race to not to try not get caught out
31:41Again, and an antonelli has to work on his racecraft because that that's too many mistakes from a car
31:46That should finny finish at worst second, but it's not just the start. It's the whole first lap more or
31:50less if not more than that
31:51And I think george kind of said I think lewis caught him out a little bit
31:54I think george got through turn one which he thought was going to be the issue
31:57Probably felt like right i can i'm gone now and then would have looked at his mirrors or even looked
32:01in his mirrors
32:01He would have seen uh lewis fly past him and what was interesting for me with george was
32:07He was checking his mirror and checking left so much when lewis passed him because the speed differential is so
32:12different now
32:12It's not like you pass the car and you know exactly where that car is you don't really know because
32:16they've got such
32:16Differences in in the way that they're approaching their deployment and the battery so i think tomorrow he would have
32:22learned especially george
32:24But it's not just the first lap. It's the first maybe three four laps. He needs to worry about okay
32:28good respect between the former mercedes driver
32:31And george russell himself. Okay, let's hear from the mclaren drivers starting with lando norris finished fourth
32:39hi lando um how was that sprint and what have you learned from yesterday's quali and sprint that you're going
32:45to be able to take into the rest of this weekend and try and get a
32:48even better result
32:50um
32:52i mean we learned i of course we've learned some things and there's some things we could have done better
32:56yesterday but
32:57i think uh yesterday showed we we kind of overachieved um because our pace to the ferrari was was just
33:04nowhere near quick enough today so
33:06um
33:07Yeah, very happy with yesterday and very happy with today
33:10Just not the pace in the car at the minute to to race the guys ahead. Um, they can get
33:14the tires to work better and and
33:16They have a much more stable car and we're struggling quite a bit with that here. So
33:20Um
33:21Yeah, people was as good as we could achieve today. Thank you
33:25Hi, oscar and i'm guessing you'll be disappointed with that in the end
33:29I know you lost a place as well in the pit stops
33:31Just can you sum up that race for me and what you can take into the rest of this weekend?
33:35To get a better result
33:37Um, I think we just need to find a lot more lap time
33:40I think it was pretty clear that we we just didn't have the pace to match ferrari or mercedes
33:46Um, and we were quite a lot quicker than everyone else. So, uh, that's probably the biggest thing
33:50All right, thanks
33:53Yeah
33:53Yeah, on the evidence of what we've seen so far this weekend red bull have you know dropped off
33:57We'll talk about that in a big way. I can't imagine max is
34:01Uh, yeah, particularly happy out there in the in the debrief, but with regards to mcclann
34:05They know they've got to now. It's just a case of we have got to hunt down
34:08Ferrari and mercedes, but we're away off at the moment by themselves really in third
34:13Yeah, but it's different than last year last year they lacked pace, but the car was drivable max could push
34:17it now
34:18He can't I thought he had gotten eight there at the end on the last lap, but uh, it didn't
34:22work out and
34:23It's tough and when a car is so difficult to drive, it's hard for the driver to understand what is
34:28needed
34:28It's not a clear direction, uh, to to develop or to set the car up normally you stay stuck where
34:32you are for quite a while
34:33It's also kind of motivation and hunger inside the car
34:36McLaren are kind of in this no-man's land at the moment they're racing each other okay
34:39They had kimmy come through and they ended up at the end closer because of the safety car
34:44But they're on in their own race whereas at least ferrari have the opportunity to fight for the win
34:48And you can see that grip from them that the body language of the car is is exciting and
34:53McLaren don't have that because they are just sort of in their own sort of little league in between obviously
34:59what we've got with
34:59The mercedes and the ferraris and the rest of the grid okay
35:01We're gonna take a short break more reaction from here in the shanghai paddock when we return george russell
35:08Has continued his fine start to 2026 having taken pole. He's converted it to sprint following his win in melbourne
35:27Welcome back uh max for stab and p9 never crossed the line outside of the points in a sprint he
35:33has today
35:37Okay let's hear from the dutchman here he is
35:41Hi max so much to talk about from that race but essentially i guess i i want to ask you
35:46if you go back into the garage now
35:47What do you want to say to the guys to get turned around for qualifying what do you need now
35:51from this car
35:54I have not a lot of words at the moment to be honest um everything that could go wrong went
36:00wrong so
36:01Yeah start of course is one problem that we have to fix but then after that the balance is of
36:06course all over the place
36:07Probably the highest degradation of everyone out there um which is just uncontrollable um plus and some other other bits
36:15on the car that
36:15We're not yeah i would say well well prepared so yeah we just need to get uh get our stuff
36:23together
36:25Isaac took it took a punt on starting on the soft tires but it was a tough old race out
36:30there today for you
36:31yeah i mean we i think everything went to plan for the first sector and then uh kimmy
36:37um completely outbraked himself and we we had damage for the remainder of the race so it was a bit
36:43painful to drive yeah we didn't learn anything all right cool and the evidence of that they've got a
36:51mountain to climb and that's that's quite some strong words isn't it from max there i mean the
36:54worst degradation of the lot and he had a terrible start too yeah the start and then yeah in a
37:01sprint
37:01race to have that kind of degradation they were a bit brave to start isaac on the softs knowing that
37:05they had bad uh bad degradation but watching max there looks like as the lights go out he just bogs
37:12down um you know what's tricky to decipher now with the new regulations is how much of that is because
37:18of the formation lap how much of that is already out of his control um so he just gets absolutely
37:24swamped and then his race now he's having to fight back through the pack um and it's the degradation that
37:29was the biggest concern for me if you look at the front left at the end of this race it
37:32is by far
37:33the worst of him and isaac of anyone on the grid yeah one of the features though last year if
37:38they
37:38got it wrong in a sprint then red bull they could because it's back out of park ferme now they
37:43they
37:44tended to be able to dial it back a little bit um how much do you think that they can
37:47uh kind of
37:48change their fortunes round for this weekend not really because last year they had the car that was
37:53responding to max and his driving style maybe it was a little bit off the pace but they could
37:56fine tune it right now right now he's all over the place uh he has no feedback he doesn't know
38:01you just know the car is undrivable he doesn't know what to do with it and he's frustrated
38:05so he's not even in the right mental space so that it will be very tough for the team to
38:09make
38:09loose forward but you know the team has changed they've lost three of their head guys there was
38:13newey horner and el marto and those were the pillars of the team so maybe they're starting to pay the
38:19price
38:19for that yeah and a few others but you know that that does happen in formula one but this i
38:24mean this is
38:24a place that we are unfamiliar seeing max verstappen this is this is not him he's not you know in
38:31the last few
38:31years he's always been there or thereabouts so for him i suppose how does he how does he get his
38:37head
38:37together when he's just not got the car underneath him it's a different kind of challenge right it is
38:41he's always going to drive it to his maximum i don't think we can ever think he's not going to
38:45be
38:45motivated or he's not going to put 100 he's always going to put everything he's got into it on track
38:49even if he doesn't sound like he's that happy out of the car but it's frustrating he's motivated by success
38:54he's motivated by winning he is one of the purest racers on the grid in terms of his desire to
38:59to go
39:00racing we've seen that with everything else he does so this isn't fun for him but equally it wasn't fun
39:05for everyone else when he was dominating so it's part of the way that the sport kind of ebbs and
39:10flows
39:11but for red bull to be as far off as they are with a powertrain that they've developed in house
39:17with
39:17everything that they've got an experience that they've got i think they've got to really scratch their
39:21heads and put something together because otherwise they're not going to keep max for stopping for
39:24next year and i think results is only a part of it uh max doesn't feel he has a car
39:30that he can drive
39:31or he can do whatever he wants with it so even when he was a bit off the pace but
39:34the car was responding
39:35he was happy he knew he could fight now the car doesn't respond and that's the first time since he
39:40started f1 okay uh let's hear from kimmy antonelli finished in fifth eventually quite an eventful race for him
39:47kimmy tough start and then uh the contact with isaac but essentially had you stayed out and not pitted
39:53under the safety car and taken the penalty at the end of the race do you think that would have
39:57been any
39:57better result at all uh no i don't think i think would have been the same probably um i think
40:03would
40:03have been difficult to build a 10 second gap um i mean definitely i couldn't have kept the guys behind
40:09with the soft
40:10because obviously there was graining which was quite severe so it was not easy but uh yeah i need
40:17to check on the start i think there was a issue i mean a mistake on the procedure on my
40:23side and uh
40:24that then meant that i had a really bad start because obviously when i released the clutch at
40:29no turbo and uh i also reached to anti-stall so yeah need to to improve that on my side
40:37and
40:37make sure that doesn't happen tomorrow and but now we'll focus on the qualifying thank you
40:45yes that poor getaway really uh had a knock-on effect for kimmy antonelli i'm just going to pick
40:51him up here he is on the inside fighting hajar hajar's actually coming around the outside of him
40:55here so keep an eye on that but kimmy outbreaks himself just slow it down for you outbreaks himself
41:00there as he's fighting hajar and then runs out wide and there's the contact between the two of them
41:06so there's really nothing that hajar could have done this is what it looked like on board i'll
41:09slow it down again it's just cold tight classic cold tires you're in the middle of the battle
41:14hajar gives plenty of space bodywork flying off everywhere from that red ball so yeah it was clear
41:20clear cut that it was antonelli's mistake but you're only in that position because of that bad start
41:26things obviously got better for him he worked his way back through the field and then had to serve that
41:31penalty like he said in the in the pit stop but then we had this moment where he was he
41:35was on the
41:36radio to quickly complain about uh piastri overtaking him at the restart so i've got this side by side
41:41here and i'll just play it on at full speed what you're going to see is antonelli makes a mistake
41:46actually in the final corner piastri then capitalizes on that and overtakes him on the inside before he gets
41:52to the line so yeah here we go antonelli watching first runs out really wide piastri just sails past
42:00and then by the time they get to the timing line quite clearly piastri's ahead so it was kind of
42:05given to him that opportunity to just sail on the inside of of antonelli but obviously you're not
42:10allowed to do that so mclaren did the right thing in telling piastri to give that place back back to
42:16you
42:18simon christoph okay uh let's say here wrap things up if we could with the uh the rest of those
42:24in the
42:24points liam lawson and ollie bearman liam huge performance from you to get those points today
42:32any regrets at all about using up a hard today and not having it for the race tomorrow now you've
42:35seen
42:36how it plays out yeah that's the problem is now we won one hard down um and i think honestly
42:41when we
42:42made the decision this morning we have we had to sort of think about our our speed and yesterday
42:46honestly we did quite a good job and that was where we were so um we tried to maximize today
42:51take the
42:51advantage um tomorrow will be hard for us to fight for the points we need to find some speed which
42:57we'll try and do this afternoon but um yes it potentially hurts us a little bit thank you
43:03you've got a point though in the sprint as well that was the plan to make sure you're in that
43:06top
43:06eight today and you know exactly exactly you know we had a good start which is uh which is great
43:10um then i found myself after kind of two laps in clean air and basically i was just looking at
43:17my
43:17front left tire not even looking at the track just trying to protect my front left tire as much as
43:21i
43:21possibly could unfortunately still it started to grain and open up and uh at that stage there was
43:27isaac behind me fighting hard with liam when liam came past me it was like he was in a different
43:32race
43:32it was almost like the feeling i got when i was getting lapped last week you know he just flew
43:38by and
43:39i didn't even try and defend because he was just seconds a lap faster and then i saw he was
43:43on the
43:44hard so i could kind of understand why um but you know on the positive side we we scored points
43:49and we
43:49we scored a point not not multiple but one which is good and and we have two hearts for tomorrow
43:54i think
43:54it's going to be a good thing to have in the pocket yeah that is a good point it does
44:00look like the
44:01tire because there is a lot of grading here huge amount and some of the cars you can visually see
44:05how
44:05bad it is it does seem to clean up a little bit like at the end of the the race
44:09i was expecting
44:10ferrari to to lose a lot more time to george so i don't know if george was managing a little
44:14bit but
44:14yeah i think that's going to be a big factor in a big conversation and it's going to make
44:18the pit stops and the undercut more powerful which hopefully might promote something else with the
44:23strategy and it's also it seems to be a tire that's difficult to clean up sometimes they manage
44:28but once the graining kicks in it stays because you get more and more understeer than that the rear tire
44:32wasn't looking that great uh that great either and then on the restart there you know antonelli
44:38went off the track so at that point you've given up the right of staying ahead it was more than
44:43five
44:43car length behind the is it five car lengths the limit to the car ahead of you and you're supposed
44:48to
44:48stay within five car lengths and he wasn't anymore uh so what should you do should piastro have hit the
44:53brace and create mayhem behind him something has to be looked into the rules there yeah credit where
44:56credit's due um to the engineers or the strategy engineers very well done to them with those two
45:02just stay out you know we'll we'll gain the points yeah i think uh smart decision and yeah for oliver
45:09beerman especially just picking up the points constantly and uh in that has and he's been strong
45:14as we know last year but still uh start the year in australia very strong this weekend looking very strong
45:20and he's best of i know not quite best of the rest lawson started on the hard which gave him
45:24a bit of
45:24advantage but really is falling into that best of the rest category yeah ollie beerman impressed by
45:28him he's doing everything he needs to do is a listen he did a great job when he he went
45:32and replaced uh
45:34i don't remember was it charles and in ferrari when he had a few races there he did very good
45:38last year
45:39he's out shown his experienced teammate uh and he always always seems he seems to be the driver that
45:44drives better in the big league than he than he did in the smaller league okay we're going to take
45:48a
45:48short break when we come back we're going to hear from valtteri bottas who has adopted australia
45:53as his home nation these days with his girlfriend coming from there and we'll see what he had to
45:59say when he spent some time with rachel brooks
46:04oh wow look at that when i check inside i can yeah definitely i get my secret code
46:13uh-oh we can't get in oh i think they've changed the code they've changed the code on you and
46:21not told
46:26you
46:32welcome back a dnf for valtteri bottas in that sprint to add to the one in melbourne but between races
46:40rachel went to visit him at his new vineyard just outside adelaide
46:54we've come outside the airport about 45 minutes in adelaide where are we we are in my australian
47:00base at the vineyard retreat in mclarenville south australia this place is vast it's good size yeah i
47:07i like it this may be the daftest question anyone's ever asked you but why did you move here why
47:14not
47:15well it's um to me this is paradise you know you got i i feel like i have everything i
47:21need here it's
47:21so nice to have a place in australia my better half tiffany is from australia and yeah i've been
47:26looking for a place for a couple of years now it's not a bad holiday home i have to say
47:31i've had worse backdrops for interviews have you yes i mean this is amazing this is absolutely stunning
47:37for me it's the dream and yeah i know it's for me as well it's probably one of my favorite
47:42views
47:43in the world this is all going to be harvested tomorrow i hear yeah some were harvested a few
47:48days ago you see they're pretty right you want to try one yeah oh wow that is really good what
47:53type
47:53of these this is red wine grenache and these were actually planted almost 70 years ago wow yeah so and
47:58they call australian wine the new world wine the new world i watched the video the other day of
48:05you talking about how being with cadillac you've been able to get involved in everything can you
48:09just tell me a bit more about that what sort of things you have been able to do well i've
48:13never been
48:14part of designing a steering wheel layout or you know choosing the exact buttons for the wheels and
48:21you know example choosing the very own steering ratio i want stuff like that you know there's so much
48:27more you can do when you start as a new team when you're not really carrying any habits or or
48:32bits
48:32from from the past you know you can really be part of designing everything in the car which is really
48:38cool you've also got everything you need essentially on site haven't you i mean you don't even need to go
48:46out no i mean you know i love cycling you know there's endless roads and gravel roads here i've got
48:53my own
48:53gym in the shed the beach is 15 20 minutes away as well that way and yeah paradise i guess
49:03with you
49:03and checko there is so much feedback going back towards the team i mean your progression rate should
49:08be quite steep shouldn't it hopefully it should be and i think it will be you know we've already come
49:12a long way from from the first shakedown it's going to be pretty rapid improvement from here and
49:17me and checko from every session there's always a pretty long list of things we we can do better
49:22you were both with teams when they were dominating both watching it happen so i guess there's a lot
49:28you can bring to cadillac actually from that experience do you two ever talk about that about
49:32those times we do you know i think we've both seen a lot in the sport you know we've seen
49:37what works with a good team we've also both seen what doesn't quite work you know so we've seen the
49:42good and bad we i think we have good understanding on what the team needs what the car needs how
49:47the
49:47team needs to operate to to be at the best level so i think together also with the mindset that
49:53we
49:53both have that we are definitely putting the team first instead of us and that's going to hopefully
49:57help us to improve quicker so no number two drivers in your team no number twos or if that number
50:03twos then both we are both number twos yeah you've brought a little bit of finland to australia
50:08because i don't reckon there are many australians who have a sauna in their garden i don't think so
50:12it could be the only one in the region but yeah finnish sauna i thought it's a must i just
50:18grew up
50:18using sauna like pretty much every day and for me it's a place to relax kind of at the end
50:23of the
50:24day you go in you're there with your own thoughts and the view from in here i don't think there
50:28can be
50:28any sauna in the world with that view do you ever sit here and think i've done all right i
50:34do good
50:34yeah i try to do it every day you had that time out from the sport so did checker when
50:39you come
50:40back do you come with a fresh mentality absolutely you know for me it's made a big difference like
50:47i appreciate being part of the sport i appreciate the sport everything around it much more than than
50:52before and especially like the racing side of it like for me the whole process on sunday you know
50:58the you get ready you jump in the car get to the grid you do the national anthem you know
51:03you just
51:04have this appreciation um of everything that we are so lucky to be there you know so um for me
51:10it
51:10has made a huge difference and i think it can help me in the years ahead and this is one
51:15of the guest
51:15houses yes putting the cushions straight and absolutely this is brilliant oh wow look at that
51:22want to check inside i can show you around yeah definitely i'll get my secret code
51:28uh-oh
51:30we can't get in oh i think they've changed the code they've changed the code on you and not told
51:36you
51:38oh here we go the rest of it never happened this is beautiful you can have anything you want
51:45including my wine we have local eggs bacon soft drinks some more wine do you ever come
51:54meet the guests i've met a few yeah yeah there are some actually british some like two ladies they
52:01were british they do like a wine block or something or travel block okay they're quite fun um i met
52:05them
52:06i carried their bags when they checked out no way yeah we will be booking in for next year i
52:11hate to
52:12tell you and i'm expecting you to carry my bags and anyone watching the vineyard retreat mclarenville
52:16you're welcome what a life god i don't know jealous um but actually go back to the point that you
52:29picked up on about helping the cut you know designing steering wheels you know really getting involved
52:34in the process you did that with bar back in in 1999 did you like to get your hands dirty
52:40and do that
52:40kind of stuff it was fun but also i was heavily financially invested in the team so i built that
52:45team
52:45so that was a little bit different so i had quite a lot to say and and they would listen
52:48which was
52:49great but uh uh it was a great experience today that's the mercedes team so it was a worthwhile
52:53project and we're running top 10 most of the time so it wasn't bad it was an encouraging start
52:58encouraging testing but you know that this weekend's been a bit more difficult for them that there's
53:02obviously going to be teething problems for them to work through for maybe even the first half of the
53:06season you think yeah there will be teething problems it is a new team they've brought a lot of
53:11experience in the garbage actually there's a lot of mechanics that you've seen from up and down the
53:14pitley and in the past they're bringing that together but a bit like valtteri's alluded to
53:18there they don't have this prior knowledge of each circuit they don't have all the data from the year
53:23before they don't have everything's we need like he's talking about the steering wheel and the buttons
53:28and you know generally things are small evolutions of the year before and they've had this big challenge
53:33so it has struggled since testing but they are they're making progress they're making two very
53:40so i mean so experienced of sergio peres and valtteri bottas that's what you want don't you
53:44absolutely and they've got arguably two drivers that from the recent era of formula one had the
53:49dominant mercedes and then the dominant red bull at some point okay um both different sort of eras of
53:55it but that experience is going to be so valuable and just knowing exactly which direction to steer the
54:00team and i'm sure they're both aligned in what they want from the car and what they want from the
54:03team is
54:04going to be so invaluable bernie what did you learn from the sprint uh and what are you expecting from
54:08qualifying on the evidence so far you're going to get plugged into that data i know uh but what what
54:13you know what are your learnings yeah i think the learning from the sprint is the medium tire looks
54:18good for that 19 lap distance but the soft won't be able to make it so prioritize qualifying is still
54:24very important here even though we've seen a lot more overtakes in that sprint than we had in the past
54:28qualifying is still going to be very very important most of only four or five softs to do it so
54:33getting that lap when it counts can you expect anything else apart from a mercedes front row
54:38lockout jack anything else is a big disappointment for mercedes that's where they belong and if they're
54:45not it means a driver has made a mistake or the team has made a mistake let's see if kimmy
54:49could take
54:49it to george he's got one more shot at this weekend to see what he can do it's been a
54:53kimmy-esque weekend
54:53so far hasn't it but i wonder if you can turn it on in qualifying because uh george russell is
54:59having it all
54:59his own way at the start of 2026. ted's sprint notebook is next we'll be back with the build up
55:06to qualifying in a couple of hours time 6 30 very solid we had lots of overtaking early in that
55:12race
55:12but in the end it was george russell who prevailed over the two ferraris see you in a bit it
55:17was all here
55:18like that
55:18you
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