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00:23ДИНАМИЧНАЯ МУЗЫКА
00:43The lights are out on a brand new era in Formula One
00:47and it's already delivering.
00:49We're just two race weekends in and we've had it all.
00:52Wheel-to-wheel battles, reliability woes
00:55and a teenage Grand Prix winner.
00:57Fresh new chapter and it's already full throttle.
01:02It's time.
01:04A journey into the unknown.
01:06New cars, new teams, new rules.
01:08Oh, what's happened?
01:10This is what Albert Park did not want to see.
01:16Wow!
01:19Crowd absolutely loving that.
01:21And stand by for a grandstand finish.
01:24Woo!
01:26Very nice.
01:28This is the worst possible start for McLaren.
01:32Lewis Hamilton leads the Grand Prix.
01:34The car said, let's go.
01:39Yes, Kimei.
01:41Yes!
01:43We did it!
01:46We did it!
01:50The early leaders in the championship are Mercedes.
01:5431 points, their advantage over closest rivals, Ferrari.
01:58A maiden race win for Kimi Antonelli,
02:01the second youngest in the sports history.
02:06And George Russell has notched up a Grand Prix victory too,
02:09plus a sprint win,
02:10giving him a slender advantage
02:12over his teenage teammates.
02:17And so too,
02:19the iconic circuit of Suzuka,
02:21revered by fans and drivers alike,
02:24where the clamor of F1
02:25is softened by nature,
02:28putting on its own show
02:29in cherry blossom season.
02:33Konichiwa,
02:34and welcome to a beautiful pit lane
02:37here in Suzuka.
02:37I'm delighted to be joined by
02:39Corinne Chandler and Jenson Button.
02:41It is good to be back, isn't it?
02:43This is your first race of the year as well.
02:44How are you feeling coming here?
02:46It's been great coming back
02:47and, you know,
02:48having the day yesterday
02:49to wander around the paddock
02:50and just chat with people.
02:52You know, what is quite clear
02:53is there is an energy around F1
02:56in terms of just how much there is
02:59in terms of being able to unlock.
03:01You know, the people have arrived
03:02with what they've got
03:03for the first couple of races,
03:04but they're all talking about
03:05the potential performance
03:07that they've got to unlock
03:08and that's exciting to see.
03:09Yeah, this year is all about potential.
03:11You have, of course,
03:12won here before, Jenson.
03:14Tell me, when you drive through the gates
03:15and you see all your adoring fans
03:17and now we're just treated
03:19this glorious sunshine,
03:20how does it make you feel?
03:21Are you also aware of the history,
03:23not just your own,
03:23but the many great drivers
03:25that have gone before you?
03:26Yeah, definitely.
03:26I watched so many races
03:27in my childhood here at Suzuka.
03:30You know, normally it was
03:30the championship decider,
03:32so it was a big one.
03:33But for me, I raced karts here
03:35in 1995 over at the go-kart track
03:38and then coming here in 2000
03:39for my first time in an F1 car.
03:41Yeah, it's an unbelievable track
03:43in terms of its layout,
03:44but also the fans here.
03:45The Japanese fans are so passionate
03:47about motor racing,
03:48so to win here,
03:49yeah, it was an extra bit emotional.
03:51Those fans are quite incredible.
03:53They're so creative.
03:55I mean, they must work all year round
03:56just to get those headdresses ready
03:58and all the incredible things
03:59they create to show us
04:01as we come in.
04:01But they're also so respectful
04:03and so knowledgeable.
04:04There's something really special
04:05about the Japanese Superfund.
04:07Well, exactly that.
04:08I mean, they've also updated
04:10and upgraded because I saw,
04:11you know, we used to see
04:12those fans with the DRS things,
04:13isn't it?
04:13Yesterday, I saw some
04:15where they've got active arrows.
04:16They even had a front wing
04:17that moves.
04:18I saw one walking around
04:19with a sign that said
04:20overtaken boost.
04:21You know, they've all upgraded
04:23for the 2026 rules as well.
04:25And as Jensen well knows,
04:27you know, they stick around,
04:29don't they?
04:29They stay on long
04:30after the track action.
04:31They just, they love being here
04:33as do we, of course.
04:34Well, a couple of drivers
04:35who've loved coming here
04:36because they're riding
04:37the press of the wave.
04:38Of course, the Mercedes drivers.
04:40Let's hear from them now,
04:42starting with our winner
04:43from China, Kimi Antonelli.
04:46I've been enjoying the moment.
04:48It's been good fun.
04:51And by the same time,
04:53yeah, just move the focus
04:55very quickly onto this weekend
04:57because, obviously,
04:59you know, China was incredible.
05:01You know, winning Shanghai
05:02was probably the best day
05:05of my life so far.
05:06So, yeah, but we've still
05:08got 20 races left.
05:10So, just want to keep
05:11the momentum going
05:12and hopefully we can achieve
05:14something great this weekend
05:15as well.
05:16I mean, it's race two
05:17of 22 races.
05:19So, I'm not even thinking
05:21anything about a championship.
05:23My relationship with Kimi
05:24is very good,
05:26the same as it's been
05:26since we've been teammates
05:28and I see no reason
05:29for that to change.
05:31You know, he's a really
05:32fantastic driver.
05:33He's been super quick
05:35last year, this year.
05:39So, it's not something
05:40I've even given
05:41consideration to.
05:42It's just focus on myself,
05:44put the helmet on,
05:46drive as fast as possible
05:47and try and win the race.
05:50Well, of course,
05:51the podium in China
05:52was something of a fairy tale,
05:54particularly for Toto
05:55when you consider
05:56who was on it
05:56because both his drivers
05:59plus Bono
06:00plus Lewis
06:01coming back to form
06:02and joining him up there.
06:03I mean, it was incredible.
06:04Very popular podium
06:05as well, wasn't it?
06:06I think any time
06:07you see a new winner
06:08in F1,
06:09there's a feel-good factor.
06:10That is,
06:11it's a wholesome feeling
06:12for all of us in the sport.
06:14Kimi's a lovely young guy
06:16and he, you know,
06:17he's brought
06:18a different type of energy
06:19to that team.
06:20Replacing Lewis
06:20is a tough thing to do.
06:23But I think he's brought
06:25a lot of positive energy
06:26into that team.
06:28It's been a tough time.
06:29You know, last year
06:30there were certainly
06:31quite a few races
06:33in the middle part of the season
06:33where he seemed to be struggling.
06:35But he rallied.
06:37You know, he did a fantastic job
06:38at Vegas
06:38to the back end of the season.
06:40Grew in confidence
06:41throughout that last part
06:43of the year.
06:43And he's carried that
06:44into the season.
06:45And seeing him win
06:46for the first time
06:48was really nice to see.
06:49And it is a sample set
06:50of just two.
06:51So we can't necessarily say
06:53that George is odds-on favourite.
06:55But would you say
06:56that his nose is just ahead
06:58despite Kimi getting that win?
07:00Because I suppose
07:00some may argue
07:01there are a few caveats
07:02to the victory.
07:03Yeah, we can't forget
07:04that it wasn't the easiest
07:06qualifying session for George.
07:07He would have been up there
07:08challenging for the win,
07:09I think,
07:10if he had the opportunity
07:12in qualifying.
07:13But no,
07:14you'd still say George
07:15is the favourite.
07:15But this is going to give
07:16Kimi more confidence
07:18within the team,
07:19within himself.
07:20He's not had the easiest
07:20start to the year,
07:21to be fair.
07:21You know, the starts
07:22have been really tricky
07:23for him.
07:23He's dropped back
07:24and he's had to fight through,
07:26which is what's exciting
07:26about it,
07:27because he's had to fight
07:28for those wins.
07:28He's not just been out
07:29in the lead,
07:30it hasn't been easy for him.
07:31No, certainly not.
07:31I mean, actually,
07:32George was great then,
07:33wasn't he,
07:34at sort of managing
07:34the dynamic between them.
07:35You do still sense
07:36that it's kind of
07:37the big brother vibe
07:39going on,
07:39like he's putting
07:40his arm around him.
07:41Now, there has been
07:42some chatter, Karun,
07:43about the front wing
07:44and the legality of it
07:45here at Mercedes.
07:46Just explain a bit more.
07:47Yeah, there's some images
07:48that appeared after China
07:49which seem to suggest
07:51that the wings,
07:52the front and rear wing,
07:53closing at a different rate
07:55at a different time.
07:57Mercedes clarified it yesterday
07:59by saying,
08:00you know,
08:00they had a couple of issues.
08:01Both cars had issues
08:02in qualifying in China.
08:05They have come out
08:06with a clarification
08:07saying if there was
08:08any discrepancy,
08:09that's actually a problem.
08:10It's an issue they've got.
08:12It's not by design.
08:14So that's certainly
08:15Mercedes version of events
08:16is that hasn't been
08:18designed that way.
08:19Whatever images have appeared
08:20are something that's an issue.
08:23But certainly, you know,
08:24I think it'll be something
08:25that other teams
08:26will be keeping an eye on
08:27and seeing whether they believe
08:29what Mercedes are saying
08:30because that's part
08:31of the gamesmanship
08:31of Formula One.
08:32Well, that certainly suggests
08:33that actually Kimi had
08:34a bit more to grapple with
08:35than we perhaps even knew
08:37at the time.
08:37So even more impressive
08:38and mature to be able
08:40to bring the car home
08:40as he did.
08:42Now, the new regs
08:42have treated us
08:43to some great racing,
08:44particularly in China
08:46and particularly
08:47between the Ferrari drivers.
08:50And it was great to see,
08:51wasn't it?
08:52And I suppose this is
08:53a big part, Jensen,
08:54of what's put a spring back
08:55in Lewis's step.
08:57He's enjoying racing again.
08:58Yeah, he's in and amongst it.
09:00You know, the car's working well.
09:01He seems to be enjoying it.
09:02Both drivers have said
09:03the actual car itself
09:04is really nice to drive
09:06and it's quick.
09:07They're losing probably out
09:08a little bit
09:09with the power unit.
09:09But, yeah,
09:11it's nice to see him
09:11fighting with Charles
09:12and also for the lead
09:14of the race,
09:14which is awesome.
09:15And it's been a little while
09:16since we've seen that
09:16with Lewis.
09:17OK, well, should we hear
09:18from him now?
09:21For all of us racers,
09:23when we come through karting,
09:24we're overtaking
09:25and battling all the time.
09:26You sometimes make a mistake,
09:27you lose three places
09:28and you have to work
09:29your way back
09:29and that's what racing is about.
09:31And then the higher you get up
09:33in the ranks,
09:33the less of that
09:35you get to experience.
09:38And this year,
09:39so far,
09:40we've seen more overtakes,
09:41which is, I think,
09:43the name of the game
09:44and more fun.
09:44But obviously,
09:45there's such a disparity
09:46between front and the back
09:47and I'm hoping
09:48that that closes up
09:49and people,
09:50we all get to experience
09:51more downforce
09:52and better performance
09:52from our cars.
09:53But coming to Japan,
09:55I'm really,
09:55this is one of the best tracks
09:56in the world
09:57that hasn't provided
09:58necessarily great racing
09:59in the past,
10:00but I'm really hopeful
10:02that it does this weekend.
10:04If it doesn't,
10:05then we have to see
10:06what can be done
10:07to make it better
10:09for racing.
10:11But I really,
10:12I really have a feeling
10:12it could be,
10:14I don't think
10:14it could be worse.
10:18Karim,
10:18what do you think
10:19the key is
10:20to him getting
10:20his mojo back?
10:21I think the car
10:23seems to be
10:24suiting his style
10:24of driving.
10:25You know,
10:25clearly the lower
10:26rake cars
10:27and just the way
10:29the cars were set up
10:30during that previous era,
10:31whether he was at
10:32Mercedes or Ferrari
10:33didn't give him
10:34the comfort
10:35that he wanted.
10:36and now having moved away,
10:38I think the slightly
10:40higher rate cars,
10:41maybe a slightly
10:41smaller car,
10:42slightly lighter,
10:43it's just giving
10:44a bit more confidence.
10:45So let's see
10:46how the season unfolds.
10:47It's very early days.
10:48We've got two data points,
10:49right?
10:50But the early signs
10:50are good.
10:52From my experience,
10:53Lewis has always wanted
10:54a car that's on the nose.
10:55You know,
10:55the rear's dancing around
10:56a little bit
10:57and he's exceptional
10:58in that situation.
10:59But they couldn't do
11:00that with the previous cars
11:01because if they did,
11:01they were backwards
11:02into the wall
11:03with the way
11:03that the downforce
11:04and the ground effects
11:04were working.
11:05Okay, well,
11:06as Karun has said,
11:07we have only had two races
11:09but it does give us
11:10some semblance
11:10of a championship already.
11:12So let's just tell you
11:12how that is looking.
11:16So Russell is sitting pretty
11:17at the top on 51 points
11:19but not taking anything
11:20for granted
11:21given his young teammate
11:22is breathing down
11:23his neck on 47.
11:24Next up,
11:25it's the Ferrari duo
11:26of Leclerc and Hamilton.
11:27The Monagas
11:28just a single point
11:29ahead of his teammates.
11:31A fantastic start
11:32to the season
11:32for Oli Behrman.
11:33Tipped by many
11:34to be Hamilton's heir.
11:36He's on 17
11:37with current world champion
11:39Lando Norris
11:39two points further back.
11:41Five points then
11:42separate Gasly
11:43in seventh
11:43down to rookie
11:44Arvid Lindblad
11:45in tenth.
11:49Two failures
11:50to start
11:51for Oskar Piastri
11:52means he has just
11:53three points
11:54from the sprint
11:54in China
11:55where Carlos Sainz
11:56wrestled his Williams home
11:58in the Grand Prix
11:59to ninth
12:00for two points.
12:02Ocon through
12:02to Stroll
12:03are yet to score.
12:06Now Mercedes
12:07are charging ahead
12:08in the constructors
12:08just two points
12:10shy of a century.
12:12Ferrari
12:12are 31 points
12:14further back.
12:14McLaren
12:15who've had
12:15fewer racing laps
12:17under their belts
12:18than Aston Martin
12:18but are start
12:20still somehow
12:20in third
12:21on 18.
12:23An impressive start
12:23for Haas
12:24specifically Behrman.
12:25He's bagged
12:26all 17
12:27of their points
12:27in fourth.
12:28Red Bull are equal
12:29on 12
12:30with their sister
12:31team racing goals.
12:32Faring even worse
12:33though Aston Martin
12:34they've got severe
12:35power unit vibrations
12:36and no points
12:38so far
12:38in 2026.
12:41Right
12:42news last night
12:43that Max Verstappen
12:44ejected a journalist
12:45from his Red Bull
12:46press conference.
12:48Well it certainly
12:48hasn't been an easy
12:50start to the season
12:50for the team
12:51for many reasons.
12:52Perhaps the cancellation
12:53of Bahrain
12:54and Saudi
12:55will work in their favour.
12:58We can use that break
12:59as a little bit of
13:01understanding our car
13:03a little bit better
13:03and learn from
13:04the previous races
13:05and just
13:08try to be closer
13:09to the front.
13:10I think that's
13:10the target for us.
13:13China was not
13:14a nice
13:15this weekend
13:16for us
13:17so I hope
13:18that that
13:18for a while
13:19will be
13:19let's say
13:20our worst weekend
13:21so in that sense
13:23I guess
13:23the break
13:24will be good.
13:29Well look
13:29we've got to start
13:30by saying
13:30he is a full-time
13:31winner here
13:32at Suzuka
13:33it's not going to be
13:34easy this time
13:35I mean
13:36we said that last year
13:36and then he put in
13:37that sublime lap
13:38for Poland
13:38and took a consecutive
13:39fourth victory.
13:41What do Red Bull
13:41have to do
13:42to get things back
13:42on track
13:43for Max
13:43and the whole team?
13:45Build a faster car
13:47that's basically it
13:48you know
13:49they're still all
13:50understanding the regulations
13:51and they're still
13:51fine-tuning the cars
13:53as Karuna's already
13:53spoken about
13:54we're going to see
13:55a lot of upgrades
13:55coming this year
13:56more than normal
13:57but also within the team
13:58I think
13:59there's always
14:00space for improvement
14:01and you know
14:02hearing from one of the drivers
14:03in qualifying in Shanghai
14:04where he pushed really hard
14:06through the corners
14:07was going quicker
14:07and then on the straight
14:08he lost the time
14:09because he lost all his batteries
14:10so it's understanding
14:11what you have
14:12what tools you have
14:13at your disposal
14:15and maximising that
14:16I mean
14:16obviously he has been critical
14:17of these new regulations
14:19he hasn't come to terms
14:20with them yet
14:21in fact
14:21you see his eyes light up
14:23when he can go and race
14:23in other cars
14:24elsewhere
14:26what's going to sort of
14:27make him fall back
14:28in love with this sport?
14:29I think we're in a situation
14:31at the moment
14:31where you know
14:32the racing is very exciting
14:33right
14:34we saw some
14:34really creative
14:35overtaking moves
14:36we saw some interesting
14:37overtaking moves
14:38of course we saw
14:39some battery related moves
14:40as well in Shanghai
14:41but I think the racing
14:42is actually quite good fun
14:44where the drivers
14:45are still a bit frustrated
14:47is qualifying
14:47because they feel like
14:48they're not driving the cars
14:50to their absolute limit
14:51of their abilities
14:53so there's some tweaks
14:54this weekend
14:55we know the FIA
14:56made some changes
14:56to the energy
14:57it's a journey
14:58that the sport is on
14:59we're going to see
14:59these tweaks
14:59and maybe that will
15:02come back to people
15:03like Max
15:04like people like Charles
15:05who have been
15:05a little bit critical
15:06about the way
15:07the car's feel
15:08in qualifying
15:09I appreciate
15:10as a driver
15:11I appreciate his frustration
15:12but on the flip side
15:14it is what it is
15:15it's the same rules
15:15for everybody
15:16and as Jensen just said
15:18you've got to figure out
15:19how to take
15:21best advantage of it
15:22it is what it is
15:24that's not going to change
15:25and I think
15:25but for Max
15:26and Red Bull
15:27there was so much talk
15:28about them being
15:29a new powertrain manufacturer
15:31and new powertrain supplier
15:32but actually the chassis side
15:33seems to be struggling
15:34a little bit
15:34I don't think
15:36they've got the car
15:37and balance underneath them
15:38and Shanghai
15:39illustrated that
15:40they've just suffered
15:40with the aero performance
15:41so I think
15:42you mentioned
15:44the month we got off
15:45the Enforce break
15:46I think that'll be
15:47much appreciated
15:49by the factory
15:49you'd actually say
15:50that their power unit
15:51is more impressive
15:52to start from nothing
15:53and build a power unit
15:55that is that competitive
15:56it's probably
15:57performed better
15:58than what the car has
15:59100%
15:59I mean Ben Hodgson
16:00the technical director
16:01on the rebel powertrains
16:03took me for a little tour
16:04around at the start of the year
16:05and he said
16:05we were in a portacabin
16:07with five desks
16:07in 2022
16:08they've literally had to build
16:10not just a power unit
16:11but build a company
16:12from nothing
16:13so I agree
16:14it's super impressive
16:15right
16:15what they've managed to do
16:16they're not that far off
16:18I don't think it does
16:19of the power unit side
16:20but as a package
16:22they do need to move forward
16:23okay well let's hope
16:24they can do just that
16:25and it's also been
16:26an awful start to the year
16:28for the champions
16:30McLaren
16:30a double DNS
16:32for their drivers
16:33let's hear from them
16:34coming into this weekend
16:35I don't know if it's too soon
16:37but it's like
16:37one of your targets
16:38this week
16:39just to take part
16:40at the Grand Prix
16:40that would be good
16:41yes
16:43yeah
16:44that's obviously not
16:45paid the best start
16:46to the year
16:46but
16:48yeah
16:48we'll try and at least
16:49see the lights come on
16:50this week
16:51and go from there
16:53but
16:53yeah I think
16:54we kind of know
16:55where we sit
16:55in the pecking order
16:57so we're not expecting
16:58too many surprises there
17:00but
17:00yeah
17:01just executing
17:01a solid weekend
17:02would be good
17:04I mean I don't know
17:05I can't remember
17:06how many points
17:06we were behind
17:07in 24
17:10from
17:11you know
17:11Mercedes and Red Bull
17:14Ferrari
17:16but I think
17:17it was
17:17you know
17:17we're over
17:18150 points
17:19or something
17:19behind
17:20and we still
17:20managed to come back
17:21and win the
17:21constructors
17:22so
17:24and I don't know
17:24how far we are
17:25behind now
17:25it's already
17:26quite a bit
17:26but
17:29I think we're not
17:29necessarily thinking
17:30of that just yet
17:31I think
17:32what we are thinking
17:33of is
17:35getting on the podium
17:36first of all
17:37and then just
17:37returning to winning
17:38races
17:40the points
17:40then take care
17:41of themselves
17:41and we'll see
17:42what we can
17:43claw back
17:44but
17:47and we're confident
17:47in that
17:48I want to say
17:49I think we're confident
17:49as a team
17:50and we believe
17:51in ourselves
17:51that
17:53you know
17:53we've won
17:54the last two championships
17:55and we won
17:56the drivers last year
17:57because we could build
17:58the best car on the grid
17:59and I'm confident
18:00we can get back
18:01to doing that
18:02this year
18:02so
18:03it just takes time
18:04you have to be patient
18:07but
18:07yeah
18:08I have a good belief
18:09in the team
18:09and I think we can
18:10have the best car
18:11this year
18:13Now ironically
18:14it is only
18:15the second time
18:17of a double
18:17DNS
18:19consecutive races
18:20since 1969
18:21and you know
18:22who that was?
18:24Their founder
18:24Bruce McLaren
18:26a shame
18:27but
18:27I tell you what
18:28listening to
18:28Lando Norris
18:29was calm
18:30confident
18:30speaking like
18:31a true world champion
18:32I feel as if
18:33they've got the
18:34wherewithal
18:34to get this
18:34back on track
18:35Yeah
18:36I mean
18:36it was a strange
18:37issue that they
18:37had in China
18:39obviously
18:39was out of their
18:40control
18:40McLaren themselves
18:42but yeah
18:42they'll be looking
18:43to bounce back here
18:44the car was
18:45relatively quick
18:45in Shanghai
18:46it wasn't
18:46Mercedes pace
18:47but there's a good
18:48chance of them
18:48fighting near the
18:49front here
18:49and every driver
18:51loves this place
18:52and they hope
18:53they've all got
18:53their fingers crossed
18:54right now
18:54hoping that they've
18:56got a car
18:56that they can really
18:57push up the S's
18:58okay so what is
18:59the key to nailing
19:00it around here
19:01because it feels like
19:02a flow and a rhythm
19:04is required
19:04get it wrong at the
19:05start so you kind of
19:06screw up your whole lap
19:07this is a track where
19:08you've got nowhere to
19:08hide
19:09you know
19:09it'll expose any
19:10deficiency of your
19:11car's performance
19:12because there are so
19:13many corners which
19:15are fast and flowing
19:17you've got a couple of
19:18slower ones
19:18but not many
19:19you've only got the
19:20hairpin and the
19:20chicane really
19:21everything else is
19:22medium high speed
19:23so it's all going to
19:25come down to
19:25aero performance
19:27and being this year
19:28smart with your
19:29energy strategy
19:30now of course last
19:31weekend we had a
19:32sprint so it meant
19:33that everything was
19:34sort of concertina
19:35throughout the weekend
19:36they've got three
19:36practice sessions now
19:37they're going to make
19:38the most of them
19:38aren't they
19:38you need to here
19:39you know it's
19:40it's really important
19:41that you're out there
19:42as much as you can
19:43because every session
19:44just just personally
19:45as a driver
19:46you you you improve
19:47quite a lot
19:48the S's you know
19:48if you make one
19:49mistake it turn two
19:50turn seven it hurts
19:51you so it's all a big
19:53flowing track that you
19:55need to get together
19:56okay quick words on
19:57Jack Crawford because
19:58he'll be stepping in
19:59to the Aston Martin
20:00in the absence of
20:02Fernando Alonso who is
20:04attending the birth of
20:05his first child so
20:06congratulations to them
20:08okay after the break
20:09we will be out for the
20:11first practice session
20:12ahead of the Japanese
20:14Grand Prix so as
20:14Jensen says plenty of
20:16learning to be done and
20:18it is a beautiful day
20:19here in Suzuka so much
20:20to be done
20:21and we will see you
20:22from Suzuka on the
20:24way next
20:43welcome back to Suzuka
20:45can Max Verstappen
20:46emulate the success of
20:47previous years here at
20:49this circuit so welcome
20:50back to Fernando Alonso
20:51he's arrived at the
20:52circuit after the birth
20:53of his first child
20:56huge congratulations to
20:58him okay these are your
20:58timings for the rest of
21:00the weekend
21:01you've got practice two
21:02at quarter to six and
21:03the F1 show at 7.15
21:05you as you enjoy your
21:06Corn Flakes
21:09and tomorrow 2.15 we've got
21:12practice three followed by
21:13qualifying at 5am and then
21:17race day we're on air at
21:184.30 with a race start of
21:20six o'clock okay let's head
21:22up to our commentary team
21:23and then Rachel Briggs
21:24Jensen Button
21:25and Bernie Collins
21:55we'll be right back to you
21:56next time
22:21hello and welcome to first
22:23practice for the Japanese
22:25Grand Prix race three of this
22:27now 22 race season and we've
22:29traveled just over a thousand
22:31miles east from Shanghai to
22:32here at Suzuka as always a
22:34fabulous warm welcome from the
22:36fans here in the knee
22:37prefecture we're about 233
22:39miles southwest of Tokyo and
22:42it's a 5.807 kilometer lap or
22:443.608 miles and Max Verstappen
22:48has won the last four Grand Prix
22:50around this circuit 18 corners
22:52eight to the left and ten to the
22:54right and they'll do 53 laps around
22:57here on Sunday and they'll use a
22:59combination of these three tires the
23:01C3 soft the C2 medium and the C1 hard tire
23:05the weather looks set there for the rest of the weekend and it is currently 16 degrees and sunny here
23:12in Suzuka we are here earlier than usual though we're here in March for the first time for this Japanese
23:17Grand Prix Bernie Collins is with me in the commentary box at the moment and Bernie what a fabulous sight
23:22Suzuka circuit is in the sunshine
23:24yeah it is and you can see the fans there there's a lot we had to walk through the
23:27fans zone to get to the commentary box and probably wait Jensen struggling to get here in Iowa because he's
23:32probably been mobbed with fans out there but there's a lot of fans in the circuit and they do really
23:36embrace the F1 and it's good that they have had a nice sunny weekend for us yeah it's so much
23:41better in the sunshine and they actually represent every single team and every single driver this is one of the
23:45few circuits where you will see
23:47all 22 represented by fans in the crowd the queue for the merchandise store is enormous right now I counted
23:5410 lines of snake
23:55queuing up to go buy the merchandise because they all want to show I mean they come with these fantastic
24:00hats and helmets and things as well some of the ingenuity is incredible
24:04I do love the creativity there's a lot even in the paddock people with different hats different sunglasses like you
24:09say pretty much every driver there's some fans out there for for them and it's it's everyone's wearing
24:16something F1 related and so yeah they really bring that emotion I think I think I think they've gone to
24:23the stands because Jensen's made it up into the commentary box which would have been hot footing it because I
24:27can see the pit lane where you were standing a few moments ago Jensen that is quite a walk but
24:31you've made it in time congratulations
24:33thank you very much there's a lot of steps as well there's a lot of steps and it's so nice
24:38to see some you know so many fans here uh for everyone I'm still breathing you are
24:44but it's lovely they're so passionate it's really cool it is great isn't it and it's always so well supported
24:49this race what are you expecting for them to see in this session then
24:52um hopefully a lot of running uh we want to see everyone out on track and they want to be
24:57out on track
24:58so every lap around this place is important for the first of all for the drivers to understand the track
25:02and get in a rhythm but also for understanding the systems okay well down in the pit lane ready to
25:07watch
25:07the cars come out is Ted Kravitz good morning to you Ted morning Rachel uh morning Jensen morning uh Bernie
25:13just have a look on the Mercedes N plate where it says Ineos I just want to show you this
25:17before the car
25:18goes out of the garage because Mercedes have a bit of investigation to do as to what their front wing
25:24is doing if you've been following some of the motorsport stuff uh since the Chinese Grand Prix
25:28you'll know this was an area of interest from some other teams Ferrari and McLaren and just as Kimi
25:33Antonelli goes out that caught my eye so uh one of the things Mercedes have to understand is what
25:39exactly their front wing flap part of the active aero is actually doing so that's a test uh for this
25:45session and as for the rest of the team well to quote the circuit announcer Rachel the great uh
25:50uh Bob Konstantinos Kimi Raikkonen on the uh on the podium and that's why if you're watching China and
25:59Kimi Antonelli going on the podium and him coming out and shrugging his shoulders and and you thought
26:04that was a bit of a strange victory celebration that was why Kimi was reacting to uh his namesake the
26:10finish world champion uh of course I can tell you Rachel he was going to do the Usain Bolt lightning
26:16pose that was the pose that Kimi Antonelli was planning on doing having won his first Grand Prix
26:23but instead he came out with a bit of a shoulder shrug and uh why are they calling me Kimi
26:28Raikkonen
26:28anyway we're all ready to go down here great stuff thank you Ted I think you should keep the shoulder
26:32shrug that'll be a novel way of celebrating uh podiums and wins in Formula One and uh as we see
26:37them
26:38queuing in the pit lane to get out at the moment Bernie well that ID's not moving so that ID
26:42I don't
26:42know which car that is is stopped and that's why we can see that the remaining cars behind it moving
26:48over to the right and trying to go around it with the sort of hazard lights were flashing on the
26:52edge of the wing where now there's nothing so it's a zoom finally off it got great got a rolling
27:00well as they take out take to the track here just go on yeah we're just going to come in
27:04I just got to explain the VSC that we've currently got the virtual safety car so that is a test
27:08that F1 are doing for both the beginning of P1 and the beginning of P2 it's quite unusual for them
27:14to
27:14do at the beginning and but they're just testing some of the martial lights and stuff around the
27:18track so the cars do have to comply with the VSC time that the slower lap time that they do
27:24on this
27:24out lap but we do expect it will clear as it does time yeah as you say we usually see
27:28that towards the
27:28end of the session but at the start of the sessions this weekend I was just going to come back
27:32in on
27:33the Mercedes front wing that Ted was talking about earlier because Mercedes said it was a hydraulic
27:37issue in the actuator and not a deliberate feature which is why it looked like there was a two-stage
27:41closing of that front wing in some videos or some people thought they'd seen online so they are
27:45obviously going to be looking very closely at that but both front wings Bernie had issues in Shanghai
27:50for George and Kimi didn't they which is something that maybe got lost after qualifying because
27:54Kimi put it on pole but actually he possibly could have gone quicker as well yeah I think
27:58Gantt did a really good session at the Skypad with Kimi immediately after that pole lap in China
28:04and you could see that the wing basically it wasn't reset to its full downforce level through
28:10the corners so they were lacking downforce through some of the corners and then I think that issue
28:15continued sort of through the race with that wing just not being strong enough to return the front
28:20flaps to turn all downforce position and but yeah still incredible lap from Kimi that he didn't
28:26qualify to get that on pole I was just looking at the Ferrari's weaving there and you can see the
28:32amount of movement that's coming from those barge ports on the outside uh it just shows how much G
28:38they pull just weaving and warming up the tyres indeed I mean the last time you were here with us
28:43was in
28:44Australia and you were watching what did you make of the Chinese Grand Prix watching from home
28:47I thought it was great I really enjoyed it you know I always love a sprint race uh weekend uh
28:52I love
28:53it when they have limited time to set up the car especially with new regulations because uh it throws
28:58more issues up uh for for everyone um for viewing it was was great I really enjoyed the race and
29:03uh
29:03hopefully it will continue they're going to fine tune these cars and they're going to fine tune how
29:08the drivers are deploying around the lap and uh you know but I still think as the drivers are saying
29:14the
29:14racing is still going to be great and we're going to see still a lot of overtake the thing that
29:19struck
29:19me in China was okay obviously Charles and Lewis were very happy they got to fight they got to race
29:23they both really seemed to enjoy it in the Grand Prix on Sunday and Lewis said something which actually a
29:29few drivers have said to me now we are having to learn when to move when to deploy when to
29:33say we are
29:34learning and doing more work this year than we've ever done before in our careers Lewis was saying he's
29:37staying at the track later than he's ever done before because he wants to learn he learned from the sprint
29:41he used that on Sunday and that's essentially what they were going to have to do this season
29:45yeah and you have a lot of tools at your disposal and it's maximizing that and the people that are
29:49drivers that are putting in the time and the effort you'll see that they will have a benefit from that
29:54so a lot of series around the world now are very complex and you know the systems uh is pages
30:00and
30:01pages of the steering wheel of understanding the steering wheel uh which you know there's a lot of tools
30:05out there they can use and sometimes it can be frustrating it's extra work but if they can use them
30:10and it helps them
30:11put it quickest like lewis has just done uh it's worth it he's had a fun week in tokyo uh
30:17been out here
30:17for a while turned up at a car meet in a ferrari f40 was it the other day and surprised
30:23all the
30:23people who turned out for this car meet in the city in yokohama yeah yeah no it's uh wow that's
30:30a
30:30that's a rig that's a lot of aero testing yeah that is fantastic i've never seen one quite that big
30:36and we used to have wings that would sit that high on on racing cars sort of 25 years ago
30:40um but uh yeah so lewis has been busy um at car meets and lots of other things in the
30:46lead up to
30:46this race i think the drivers really enjoy being in japan you know it's a fun country and especially
30:51tokyo so uh they are ready to go racing though they would have been there for a few days uh
30:56getting getting prepared jack rawford pulls into the pit lane he's in for fernando orlando in this
31:01session the aston martin reserve driver ted's down there ted thank you rachel yes i'm actually just
31:06patrolling a lot of these uh garages and seeing a lot of these aero rigs and as usual in formula
31:11one
31:11there's a reason for everything and the reason for all these aero rigs is that they need the information
31:17to analyze and get solutions for in the spring break the brakes are really cold
31:26and i'm inside pulling but i already shot the camera why is it pulling like this
31:31i can't drive oh dear right well we'll have a look at that i wanted actually to get to red
31:37bull
31:38later because they have got a really significant upgrade package look at the side pods if you can
31:43if the car's not pulling to one side too much look at the side pods and see how shrunken they
31:48are
31:48to the bodywork underneath so shrunk that they're actually exposing the uh the side impact structure
31:53it's acting like a little wing anyway have a look at that on the uh on the red bull but
31:57on the aston
31:58martin on the audi on the mclaren down here at lando norris's car these big aero rates because they
32:04need that information to analyze in formula one's four-week spring break coming up of course with the
32:09enforced cancellation of those two grand prix in the middle east and that's all an engineer needs is
32:15a good to create a complete picture aero wise of the car at various stages that's why they're all so
32:20keen to get out that's why we're seeing so many aero rates in this fp1 well stuff thank you very
32:25much
32:25for the moment ted as uh jensen's just been pointing out to us gaby morteleto's done a very
32:29quick first sector that's russell oh george russell sorry i'm reading the wrong line all right george
32:35russell yeah he's eight tenths up in the first sector um that's it that's a lot through sector one i
32:41know
32:41it's very early days but these guys get up get to grips with it very quickly so all his time
32:45benefit
32:45came from that first sector the sweeping um s's up to dunlop and gone quickest on the hard tire ahead
32:51of piastri verstappen and hadja on the medium tires uh max verstappen fans in the crowd he's fresh off the
32:58four-hour gt race that he did at the nurberg ring which he seemed to enjoy despite the disqualification
33:04afterwards seemed to enjoy his run out there but we were chatting last night bernie weren't we and you
33:15all big snap of oversteer there um coming out the last corner they have so much power um a thousand
33:22horsepower when they apply that throttle and uh it's just uh losing a little bit of traction there
33:28just um yeah if we go back to max in the gt race bernie we were talking about the fact
33:33that when a
33:33driver in a single seater series goes into gt it's very different they have a lot to get to grips
33:37with
33:38yeah i think you know we've spoken a lot over the years about max and the red bull how the
33:43red bull's
33:43tailored to him how they've struggled to get a second driver in that seat working well and i think
33:50that gt is very different based on that they've got three drivers in the car typically maybe more
33:56for the 24 hour so the car cannot be set up exactly to one driver now they're all professional drivers
34:02they're all very good but you there's compromises to be made there's compromises in car setup there's
34:07compromises in the seat there's compromises in their sitting position even you know and max i think
34:12described it well yesterday he was talking about he almost felt like a rookie going in there because
34:17he's not had to sit at the side of the car and belt someone else in and all these things
34:21that happen
34:21through gt racing so i think there's potential that not only is it given him this outlet that he really
34:27enjoys it you know he's a he's a true racer he just loves driving you know a lot of the
34:34other guys do
34:34lots of other things in their spare time and he just wants to be in a car and driving and
34:38i think it
34:39has the potential to make him you know a more rounded driver because he does have to deal with
34:44those compromises he does have to work with the team in a way that he doesn't doesn't have an f1
34:48and some people want to realize that in a formula one car the pedals even are molded to the driver's
34:52foot they're designed and created and measured around the driver's foot like the seat and everything
34:57else for example so all those benefits you have in a single seater like this you don't have when you
35:02get
35:02the gt car as you say so yeah it's very personalized but but also with gt you know you i
35:07i didn't realize
35:08before i went to race in endurance racing there is so much talent um in gts uh and for him
35:15to jump in
35:16and to to win the first proper race competitive race with the best in the world in gts is unbelievable
35:23it really is and uh it's it's staggering how he he has talent which is just beyond anything i've ever
35:31seen um in the formula one car but he's able to translate that into a gt which is heavy lazy
35:36abs
35:36and simulation you know doing simulator work as well so it's uh it's very impressive and then he's just
35:42been driving a super gt in in uh fuji last wednesday i think in the i was chucking it down
35:48the rain
35:51um go on i think it's incredible and it's also highlighting a different aspect of motorsport a
35:57lot of people watch f1 obviously it is the most terrified motorsport we have but there's a lot of
36:02good motorsport out there you know i've got friends that are now going to the narrow bring
36:0624 hours that have never gone before because max verstappen's driving in it and you see these
36:11fantastic image of the crowd he's drawing to these other events that is brilliant for motorsport as
36:17a whole because most of the people in this paddock most of the people in the paddock in garbages as
36:22engineers as mechanics whatever will have started in gt or some sort of racing like that um and we love
36:29it you know and it's great to have a highlight a focus on something that's you know happens all over
36:35the world and it is a phenomenal circuit as well whenever i bring you're lucky enough to get out there
36:38and
36:39and take a very very long walk around because it is a very very long track if you do the
36:43full one
36:43right uh george russell top of the times at the moment if you'd like to go on board and see
36:48what
36:48these 2026 cars are like you can do so because sky sports f1 and now viewers uh jump on board
36:53with
36:53any of the 22 formula one drivers on this year's grid you can listen in on their team radio as
36:58well
36:58all you need to do is download the sky sports app to your phone or tablet device and scan this
37:03qr code
37:03that's on your screen right now once you're there just log in with your sky id and head to the
37:07sky
37:07sports f1 channel and choose your driver sky glass striking sky stream customers can also access
37:13this by the interactive button on your remote control it's a little bit there going on yeah
37:18it doesn't look well in that mclaren garage to be honest to land on our score i've seen
37:22um 80 the rear the gearbox mechanic around the back of the car so it doesn't look as maybe expected
37:30in
37:31in terms of their run plan and so hopefully they can resolve whatever issue is and get him out
37:37of the garage just let oscar come in and pull into the pit box and then pull away he's going
37:41back out
37:42on track again we have a fabulous view of the pit lane uh from up here in the commentary box
37:46actually
37:46and a very good view of ted kravitz as well so uh hopefully ted has found his way down where
37:51are you
37:52ted i'm trying to find you but there are a lot of people in a similar color shirt to you
37:55today i'm deceptive
37:56rachel just how i like it you can never find me when uh but you'll be assured i'm always uh
38:01here
38:01to tell you what's going on listen albert alex albin's got a problem uh they put a leak mat underneath
38:07the car can you see this i think that might be for some uh some aero some flow viz that
38:12they're putting
38:13on but the uh the front left as we look at it tire is just going on there you see
38:17the engineer with the
38:18flow viz they've actually just finished fixing something on the uh on the front right uh front left as
38:23we look at it the front right corner so that job is done and now they can get the car
38:28out but how many
38:29minutes have we done now 12 rach yes and uh yeah and he's been he's been in the garage i
38:35don't think
38:35he's done any laps so far has he album yeah he has been he has been out done one he's
38:40done one okay
38:40all right so they're uh they finally get to do the uh the the flow viz and then i will
38:46uh evade your
38:47view once again go back down to mclaren they were just taking that aero rake off lando norris's car
38:52that was the delay they might have been checking something at the back but i didn't see it as a
38:55problem but i'll go down there and double check great stuff thanks ted and keep out the way when
38:59he pulls out of the garage and that williams by the way i've been covered in aero paint before
39:03from standing in the pit lane as we see george russell then quickest so far we're watching
39:08sergio perez cadillac have done well they're both cars finish last time out in shanghai in a p13 for
39:14voucher you bought us starting from absolute scratch they said all they wanted to do was finish races to
39:19start with and now they've got to try and work on on performance yeah this is also a really tough
39:24track for for a new team now this is so aero dominant um especially the first sector of the
39:29lap you know he's one and a half seconds down through the first sector uh and uh it's that's a
39:35lot of lap
39:35time in such a short space of time so yeah this is one of the trickiest circuits for them um
39:39but it's
39:40going to be so so much you know useful data for them moving forward in terms of development
39:45yeah they've brought some new upgrades to this weekend as well i think they've brought a new floor
39:48and which we know is very crucial to how downforce is and provided on on all of the cars so
39:54and boss
39:55was quite optimistic when i spoke to him the way i about and the upgrades that were coming and and
39:59how
40:00they were sort of developing that car and hopefully the data they get from this weekend they can use to
40:04bring to bring some more bits as well yeah it's a huge ask to start from nowhere to to get
40:10onto the
40:10grid and and when you speak to graeme loudon and others involved in how it the team started out
40:16and how behind they were compared to everybody else it's a big achievement even just to get here
40:20as sergio goes 15th fastest and medium tires as you say 3.2 seconds down though on the quickest time
40:26which is now charlotte's on the hard tires in the ferrari he doesn't think they'll be challenging for
40:31wins yet he thinks they're not as close to mercedes as everyone is assuming right now they look quick
40:36but they tail off towards the end of the race they tail off on the second of the race yeah
40:40he's actually
40:40said that the the car seems to be working really well thinks they have a very good car aerodynamically
40:46mechanically uh it's it's the power unit that he thinks they're they're missing out quite a bit on
40:51mac's getting a bit of a wobble on there as well yeah there's so much engine braking in the cars
40:56now
40:56because it's obviously re-rejourning um that it does make it very tricky if you're a little bit out of
41:01shape it just exaggerates that issue definitely um not happy in shanghai saying they turned the car
41:08upside down after after quality after the sprint to try and find answers and they didn't really find
41:13anything that's a difficult position to be in frustrating yeah it's not the first time we've
41:17heard max be unhappy with the car you know through periods of last year he was unhappy with how the
41:22cars were responding and like we said earlier he is such a pure racer and he just wants the best
41:28car he possibly can so he's very vocal he's outspoken we hear him on the radio we hear the back
41:33and forth
41:34with his reason here gp quite often and he doesn't mince his words and that's brilliant you know we get
41:40a very honest you always get a very honest answer from max and but he is frustrated with how the
41:46car
41:46is currently operating and and we talk so much in the winter break about how the engine may not be
41:51up to perform but actually the engine looks much much better than i expected than that red bull and it
41:56seems to be more of the chassis i just wanted to ask you that on the back on the rear
42:00wing of the
42:00mercedes they had those yellow stickers as well the we saw them yeah the points we saw them looking at
42:06the front wing but they're looking at the rear wing as well is this going to be similar worrying
42:09about the actuator on it or not no i think they should have lots of data on rear wing from
42:15the drs does
42:17um but a lot of the points actually be put on the wing from an fia standpoint in order to
42:22see if there's
42:23any facts in the wings right some of the reason that they put the points in the wing but yeah
42:27as standard i think going into every race again they'll just be um dotting the i's and crossing
42:32the t's and we can show that the everything's operating as they want it to well our very own
42:36dotting the i's and crossing the t's person is ted kravitz and he's got some more for us from the
42:39pit
42:39lane ted so much going on um first of all with mercedes the reason they've got the dots on the
42:45rear wing
42:45is that they will sync up the two cameras that are looking at the rear wing flap and the front
42:49wing flap
42:50they'll sync them up and check that they're opening closing within the tolerance within the allowed
42:54time frame uh just to check with the fia right that's one story secondly lando norris the work
43:00on the car back of the car you saw was a rear suspension change so otherwise okay at mclaren
43:05and the reason you saw franco colapito out the car was because his radio isn't working uh ironically
43:11in japan where uh they've been leading the field in radio technology uh over the last 50 years or so
43:17but uh they had to get franco out of the car so they could fix his ship to shore radio
43:23but they are
43:23doing that and he'll be back in the car shortly great thank you very much ted for the moment as
43:27we see call off sites going wide as well that williams it's been a tough start to the season
43:34williams this year yeah he did a great job in shanghai didn't he carlos but it's been hard work
43:39they've had a couple of reliability issues they've had to get their heads around as well which is uh
43:43cost them a lot of time running uh hopefully they can have a nice clean weekend this weekend
43:47if the car is overweight as overweight as people think how difficult is it and how long will it
43:52take to get that down they've been in this position before at williams i think every team has been in
43:56a position at some point where the car has been overweight and they're always trying to see if we
44:01are out of it especially a new regulation you know i spoke to engineers at some point maybe two years
44:06ago
44:06actually with this new regulation they said with the engine changes that we've had and making a smaller
44:12car so it's shorter and narrower it was always going to be tricky to get down to the weight limit
44:17with
44:18these cars and we don't know what we any of the cars are running out and last year as well
44:23there was
44:24a number of times where or a few years ago a lot of the cars were running over weight and
44:29it's very
44:30difficult because you're looking at every designed piece on the car and seeing where can i take some
44:36weight out of it and it'll be milligrams here and there and just trying to do it all together but
44:41obviously in the current cross-camp era you can't just change every part of the car so
44:46we're trying to bring that in with upgrades so we're trying to maybe upgrade a front wing for more
44:51downforce but then also trying to take weight out of it and it's you have to do it incrementally so
44:57every designer in that williams factory will be looking at their parts and saying where can i shave a
45:03little bit out of it safely still get it through the crash tests or still make it strong enough to
45:08survive the curves of various tracks you know that's for example why many many components actually
45:15change for monaco so you might put on stronger suspension at monaco because it's
45:19you
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