Music, radio, podcast. five live formula one the japanese grand prix has come to a close the checkered flag has flown and from pole position it was max verstappen who drove himself to victory ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. The racing driver Alice Powell is alongside me and our pit reporter Jenny Gao. My name is Harry Benjamin. Alice, what an incredible result for Max Verstappen in a car.
that is not capable in anybody else's hands of even scoring points. Safe to say coming into this weekend, we know F1 can be unpredictable at times, but none of us and even Red Bull wouldn't have expected and Max too. to be taking pole position and a race win. A solid job from Max. He controlled that race beautifully. He drew the McLarens into maybe thinking that they
to overtake him towards the end of the race. But he was just controlling the pace out front. He didn't need to overdrive. He didn't need to push too hard. And a real solid job from Max. A good haul of points for him. Just one point. now separating him and Lando Norris at the top of the Drivers' Championship. Norris in the lead, Verstappen second. So a nice battle we could potentially have on our hands for the remainder of the season, straight into Bahrain.
weekend. Gemma, would you say that was one of Verstappen's not only best races, but best weekends? For me, it was his best qualifying. One of his best qualifying laps I've ever seen, actually, that final lap in Q3, where he just got everything out of that Red Bull, which we know...
He's cantankerous at best of times. And I thought he was beautiful yesterday. He's struggled this weekend. He's obviously done a lot of setup work, tried to get that Red Bull performing. And yes, he got it all together. But the work was done yesterday and in qualifying when he...
had to pull it out the bag and he did so to perfection. It really was an incredible weekend for Max Verstappen and Red Bull. It will give them a lot of confidence going forward as they continue to try and develop this car to try and find that consistency, I suppose.
We haven't seen the Red Bull up until this point being able to challenge for a race win. I think this is a threat of intention for Red Bull and for Max Verstappen. It's him. He alone is in control of this championship and their challenge. to try and take it to McLaren, to Mercedes, to Ferrari. It's only him in that car that's winning, that's scoring points. And this is him saying to the world, don't write me off, don't write Red Bull off, because I am still here to win and I want it again.
year in a row that's what he's trying for for the title this year and he's threatening right well let's hear it from max verstappen today was was key to start first They were trying to get into my DRS, but it's very hard to follow around here. I think also the track dam today helped us. Less overheating from the tires naturally when the track is cooler and just incredibly happy with this result.
touched on it there can you take us into the cockpit i mean how much pressure were you feeling from the mclarens behind and we did also see that moment exiting the pit Could we just get your take on that as well? I was quite calm. I mean, I've been in this position before, but just trying to focus on my own laps, trying to not make any mistakes.
making sure that the balance was drivable because of course throughout the stint the tire life you know it definitely changes the balance a bit front to rear but yeah we managed everything really well and yeah of course she's very happy with With this result and then of course with that pit lane thing. Yeah, I mean it was tight
Max Verstappen absolutely elated then with that result. And I think across the team radio this weekend, I don't think we've heard him that enthusiastic for a fair while. What about, though, the two McLarens? Alice chasing down Verstappen. weekend we all having them as the ones to beat really and they were absolutely up there between the both of them Piastri and Norris but in the end both having to finish behind Norris second Piastri third did McLaren miss a trick here this afternoon in Suzuka
I would say Piastri looked the stronger of the pace in terms of missing a trick. Yes, I think Piastri did have the pace to close the gap and challenge Verstappen. But I know that... McLaren wants to be fair to their drivers. They know how important the Drivers' Championship is to the drivers. The constructors is more important to the team. But I think they gave them a fair shot in terms of the drivers. Constructors, they might...
look back at the end of the season and go, well, actually, we did allow Piastri through. Maybe he could have got through from Verstappen. But at this moment in time, it's two McLarens against one Red Bull. And Red Bull are down in third place in the...
So McLaren are fairly comfortable at the moment at the top of that. So in terms of constructors, yes. In terms of maybe getting a stronger fight, but for us to watch for the win, yes, we certainly missed out. I think they missed a trick. Absolutely.
at home listening to that I would have been out of my seat saying switch them over please because a it would have made it a bit more fun we know there wasn't much overtaking opportunity out there but let Piastri through let him have a go at Max Verstappen see how hard you Can you force him into making a mistake, maybe, for Stappen? Whatever it is, just unleash Piastri, let him go. If it doesn't work out, fine, switch them back. But I just think they missed a trick there.
They categorically said, at least not what we heard on the public display of the radio, it wasn't like they said hold position at any point. So they weren't purposely denying Piastro the opportunity. Neither did they say let him through. No.
But there comes a point where, well, Piastri kind of made his bed in qualifying. And if he couldn't overtake on the track, then that's the scenario you have to deal with. And that's the name of the game. They wanted them to race, didn't they? They left them to race.
They allowed them to battle it out against each other. There were times where Oscar was very close going down into Turn 1. There's only one DRS zone on this circuit just because of the nature of the track, and that is going down into Turn 1 on the main straight. And he just wasn't close enough to make the pass. It's hard to overtake here. So yeah, Oscar sort of put it forward to them on the radio. We didn't hear what the response was. I think it was more like, yep, that's noted.
eventually not to swap the two round. What about that incident at the exit of the pit lane between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen? Norris actually had the better pit stop. They both came in together. Norris had the better pit stop, the quicker one and let out into the path of Verstappen.
side by side Verstappen on the left Norris on the right hand side they get to the exit of the pit lane where the exit actually sort of phases to the left and if you carry on going straight you end up in the grassy verge and that's where Lando Norris found himself nearly lost
in the wall very quick on the radio to go Verstappen left me no room in the end the steward said no that wasn't an issue Verstappen did nothing wrong and Alice I think you agreed at the time during the coverage yeah and I still agree now I think that when Lando looks back at this
In the debrief that he'll be taking part with the team shortly, he will say, yeah, I probably should have slotted right behind Max. He had a faster pit stop by a second compared to Verstappen. So that's why he ended up coming down the pit lane near enough side.
side with him. But that door, you're racing Max Verstappen, that door was always going to close. The pit lane narrows there anyway. It's almost, you know, they merge into leaving the pit exit. Verstappen just kept his wheel straight. He had every right to.
Norris wasn't fully alongside, and I think maybe it could have been a different story of this race if Norris did slot in directly behind, because Norris lost about, I think it was two seconds more to Verstappen by going on the grass, but if he slotted in behind,
he would have only been a couple of tenths behind heading down into Turn 1. If you were listening at home, you possibly didn't hear this, but in the warm-down room, the top three were watching that incident, and it was Max Verstappen who said, that's quite an expensive lawnmower.
I found that very funny. Those warm-down rooms are quite an insight into the drive-up's cool-down room. Sorry. I was thinking, was it warm-down? I was for a similar thing. Yeah? Cool-down. We'll go with it. But yeah, they are always quite fun.
to have a little listen in. Sometimes, though, you can tell if there's been a bit of a strained Grand Prix where they're not really chatting. And I found it quite interesting that Piastri picked up on the race highlights going, I felt like there was a lot more going on than there actually was. We've said this already off air.
We always find it frustrating when we end up doing a race and it doesn't meet our expectations. And for you, the listeners at home, we want to deliver the best race ever. And you can't all the time because that was not the best race ever.
Now, the other big factor that people will be asking questions about RE McLaren's strategy for this Grand Prix was another incident to do with the pit lane. It was the fact that for the first pit stop, or the one and only pit stop that they ended up having, lead car alice but piastri boxed first now normally the lead car gets the gets the the the benefit of going first or at least deciding if they want to pit first that didn't happen and i wonder is that a big factor here
as to why one McLaren at least couldn't get in front of Verstappen, because the undercut was there to be had for Norris on Verstappen. It was, and they tried to call the bluff, didn't they, during the race? They came over the radio and said, right, box, you know, you've got to... box now box can confirm and of course he sailed on past past the pit entry as did Max Verstappen so Red Bull didn't bite but then they went for for Oscar they'll have their own reasoning of why they they would have done
But yeah, usually you box the lead car first, but I wonder if it was to try entice Max to then box to give Lando a little bit of free air, potentially. But then they didn't use it because they boxed Verstappen and... boxed on the same lap. Verstappen had a one second slower pit stop than Norris and it just to me seems like a possible wasted opportunity for Norris to have pitted one lap earlier when Piastri did and just tried to get
give him that opportunity of the undercut and I don't know the rationale behind it but I'm just a bit yeah that would be a question marker so could they have won the race if dot dot dot yeah there's lots of there's always ifs and buts could have Lando won the race if he didn't go across the grass
and overtake Verstappen on the pit exit but yeah that'll be a question and I'm sure a big part of the debrief for McLaren on top of should they have swapped the drivers around it will be a question I wonder if we'll come back to this again later on
like we did with McLaren last year and look at some of their strategy calls you know think back to the wet race in Silverstone last year and the pit lanes around that whether we go this was where actually they've really left themselves with work to do when it comes to the close of the season
see how that one pans out. Listening to Andrea Stella talking after the race team principle, he didn't bite on any of it. So what happens behind closed doors, we don't know. We might not ever know, but certainly publicly, they're staying strong.
united and they're staying together as what they choose to do is their choice for the best of the team but also when you have an advantage two cars against one you have strategic options available to you the wrong way perhaps but that will be in the debrief and we'll see what falls out from it but let's see what oscar piastri and lando norris said after finishing on the podium lando looks super close out there p2 at the end of it how do you reflect on that
I mean not a lot happened really did it just difficult to follow and even harder to overtake so Yeah, not a lot Yeah, I don't know what else we could have done really, you know if you when you look at a this you just think we lost out yesterday and not doing a good enough job. Do I think we're a little bit quicker? Yes, but I was gaining in the straights, losing in the corners so I don't think our pace was honestly that different in the end of the day and Max didn't make any mistakes.
nothing to capitalize on so yeah not the most exciting race but still some good points did see that moment on the grass exiting the pits could you talk us through that one from your perspective yeah i mean the guys did a really good pit stop much quicker than the others so
It gave us a good chance and obviously I was alongside Max but he had the line, he was in the correct position and I wasn't so of course I tried to stay alongside. Just some racing. Oscar, a podium for your birthday but I get the feeling... You wanted a little bit more out of that. When we did hear the radio message, I think I have the pace to get Max there at the end. So can you talk us through that from your side? Yeah, I said what I thought.
I felt like I was very fast today, just I didn't have the track position to do much with it, unfortunately. the results of qualifying um but yeah i think there's a lot of positives from today you know it's been a track that's not been great for me in the races the last couple of years and today i think I felt like I had a very, very strong pace. So I'll take that forwards. Yes, the result's not quite what I wanted, but... Yeah, there's still a lot of satisfaction for the touch on it there.
Taking plenty of confidence heading into Bahrain next weekend. Chance to go at it again. Yeah, definitely, definitely. I think I would rather be lacking the results and having the pace than getting the results and struggling for the pace, that's for sure. So obviously in a perfect world I'd love to have both. but it feels like I'm on the right track. I feel like I've put together three.
good weekends to start the year and I want to keep that rolling so yeah even though the results not what I wanted there's still a lot of positive. The two McLaren drivers then, Norris finishing second and Piastri third. So still a double podium for them and McLaren extend their hold at the top of the Constructors' Championship. Now, okay.
piastri said in the cool down room didn't he but he felt like it was a flat out race for him and it was i'm sure inside the car but for the rest of us not much went on now i just wonder weather wasn't that interesting Australia obviously was incredible but that was all down to the weather so have we teed this season up too much because we all said that this was going to be the closest season ever it's the final year of the regular
before we switch things up for 2026 theoretically it should be tooth and nail battling every weekend but that fell flat and i'm worried we might get a more of that as the year goes by i mean we've just had a race the top three are separated by two seconds. So I think it's- But also the top six are in the exact same place that they began the race in. Yeah, they are, but I still think that we had a close battle.
at the front and we didn't expect Max Verstappen to to win I still think there's a fight for the drivers championship maybe not so much the constructors because Red Bull have only got one car fighting up there and that's Verstappen at the moment as Yuki's was out of the points so I would still tune in for the rest of the year as hopefully everyone else will but yeah there wasn't much overtake this is naturally a hard track to overtake anyway
going to be different it's not the easiest of tracks still bahrain is easier plus bahrain there's a whole other host of things thrown in the dust and also the the hot temperatures tire degradation plays a big part so um I still think that there's some twists and turns that will happen throughout this season. And let's face it, okay, this race might not have been the best, but qualifying was brilliant. And you look at the Drivers' Championship, there's just one point separating Norris from...
Dappen, then Piastri in third with 49 points, Russell on 45. There is still a lot of drama to unfold. These races, last two, China, Japan, notoriously not the places for great overtaking moves, drama, but there are
plenty of those on the way. Discount Monaco. Don't get excited about that one. But everything else, I think, coming up, you can be excited about. Best qualifying of the year, though, at least, Monaco. That's always fun. So pros and cons. Anyway, let's see how it unfolds. But we haven't got long
We'll go straight into Bahrain. One man, I think we saw him maybe three, four, five times at a push throughout that whole race was Charles Leclerc, who had a quiet race to fourth. And I actually think he'll be really, really pleased with that because they haven't really looked anywhere.
so far this weekend. Russell has looked the quicker car in the Mercedes, and they had to settle for fifth. Leclerc, good result. 16 seconds off Verstappen, 13.9 off Piastri, but he had to fend off russell who uh charged him down several times during that race and we expected george to to sail on pass but he he wasn't able to antonelli had a strong race as well he charged down russell but uh the clerk yeah
should be pretty happy. A solid job for him in the Ferrari, unless he gets excluded like happened last time, but hopefully not for him. Don't say that. I've just been speaking to someone in the higher echelons of... And apparently Joe Bauer, who is the technical delegate and does check all the cars and all the skid blocks, he is furiously checking out all the skid blocks to make sure no one is going to be disqualified. No one has those technical checks that they...
like last time out so if I hear anything more I'll let you know but drama to the end juicy gossip it's very frustrating I'm sorry you wanted more I did I'll try and get some more for you it's very frustrating though isn't it not only for the drivers and teams that have
But for us, I had to re-record so many things at the end of China. We feel for you. That's why you're paid millions of pounds a year. Licensed payers fees, millions of pounds. I'm not sure it's that. But we'll move on then, shall we, and talk about George Russell. He looked at the pay... on Leclerc in the opening stages, I think, but I reckon he suffered probably more from being in the dirty air of the Ferrari a fair bit. They tried the undercut, nearly worked, but...
couldn't make it happen. And that was a tight margin anyway, because actually a lot of the pit stocks were a bit off the pace today. So it didn't quite work out for Russell. Still a good haul of points for him though. And George Russell continues a really great start. Two podiums from the first. races followed up with a fifth place finish today so that continues him up into fourth place in the drivers championship now for me though that whole lack of battling between
the likes of Russell, Leclerc, Piastri, Norris and Verstappen, does tell us more of a trait, doesn't it? That it's really hard to try and overtake behind a car. You've got dirty air. It was mentioned on BBC F1 and social media. that the cars just aren't able to overtake as we hoped they would be after this regulation. Yeah, weren't these regulations brought in for this precise problem? Maybe 2026 we'll see a different type of car.
sound effect is always going to be difficult. But I think, okay, race-specific maybe, but it is slightly disappointing to see these cars struggling and these drivers, who are the best drivers in the world, struggling to overtake. And it's just a couple of DRSs. It's not really where we want to be, is it? No, and this circuit, as I said, is always hard to overtake anyway because the corners are so close together, certainly that first section of track.
It's left, right, left, right. There's no long straights. You're straight in to another corner, then into another corner. So it's a bit like Monaco. There's no straights there. It's narrow. But there will be some more overtaking throughout the season.
But yeah, we'll have to wait and see with these regulations next year. But for now, we've got what we've got. Kimi Antonelli finished sixth behind his teammate George Russell. I actually think that was a really good run for Antonelli, who looked nowhere at the start of the week.
And in doing so, he stayed out for a very long stint on the medium tyre. And in doing so, he became the youngest ever driver to lead a Formula One race. So that's something for him. Oh, can I give you a stat? Yeah, please do. I know you've probably got to be I'm going to beat you to it. Go for it. Just because. So Max Verstappen was the youngest driver to set a fastest lap before today. He was 19 years and 44 days old when he set the fastest lap at the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix.
snaffle to that record, and there's not many records that you can snaffle him to, but Kimi Antonelli is 18 years, 224 days old, so he takes the youngest driver to set up fastest lap. Oh, well done Antonelli. So Chevy doesn't get the extra point. But I actually think it was probably a really big learning weekend for Antonelli. I mean, every weekend is. Him and Bortoleto are the two rookies in the field that had the least amount of any experience, even testing experience around the Suzuka track.
And we heard coming into this weekend, I listened to an interview he gave, and he was talking about his relationship with his engineer, Pete Bonington, of course, very famous for working with Lewis Hamilton, and prior to that, Michael Shiewacker, and now taking on Kimi Antonelli.
himself as lucky to be able to work with somebody like Bono. And I think we really heard that relationship is really coming on quite nicely on the radio at times. Bono is really kind of cheating up Antonelli and making sure he feels supported and surrounded. almost contrast that a little to what you hear from Lewis Hamilton with his engineer and they are a lot more straight to the point with their reflections across the race, aren't they?
They are. There was some very, I'm not going to say miserable, but moody, straight to the point drivers out there today. That just stems from frustration, doesn't it? Max Verstappen was passed on the radio that the team made a slight error in changing... the front flap on his car during the pit stop. I can imagine if Max was chasing down Lando Norris and Oscar to try and fight for a win, we probably would have had a response that would have been, come on guys, you know, it's not good enough.
But because he was comfortable now in the lead, we didn't get that. Albon, Leclerc, Hamilton, those drivers that have showed frustration on the radio during the race, they're not where they want to be. They're slightly further down the order, having their own sort of... frustrations and you're cocooned you're in that cockpit you're on your own but the only person on the end of the radio is your engineer and sometimes you just let out of those frustrations to
to whoever you can. Yeah, well, while Hamilton in seventh, frustrated with that result, I'm sure Antonelli will take a fair bit of satisfaction from finishing in sixth. Best of the rest, Isaac Hadjar. What a rollercoaster of a weekend. He's had first points on the board for this season. Four points to his name. Looks like he's sorted the seatbelt issues out. May well be paying the price for the issues that caused in the coming days in the build-up to Bahrain. But, I mean, Jenny...
impressed have you been with Hajar, and actually not only his performance this weekend, but he's looked quick from the start, if we just forget the little incident in Australia. Okay, yes, crashing out on a formulation lap, but never the greatest thing to do, but actually it's taught him a very big level.
very early on. He won't do that again. Hopefully. Probably. Maybe. But Hadja, I think, has really impressed. And out of all of the rookies, yes, Antonelli is in a faster car than him, finished ahead of him on the road. But finishing eighth on a weekend where there's been so much talk about Red Bull, Red Bull rookies, racing balls, Hadjo's position isn't doubted, but everyone around him is in the spotlight and underinvested.
and you just wonder how, if he just keeps his head down and carries on, how long will he have to wait until he finds himself on the carousel and jettisoned into Red Bull? Imagine if they did. That's surely not. See, I told you it could get exciting. Yeah, exactly. Lawson, though. Okay. Never doubt the podcast. Lawson in 17th in his return to Racing Bulls. Tsunoda 12th, not in the points. Still the best result so far of the year for that second car.
not what he wanted, not what the team want to see when the other car is winning. Hajar up there in eighth. The irony is surely not lost here. And you just think, well, will Red Bull just suddenly, okay, we'll put Hajar in now and give that one a go.
Do you know what? I wouldn't be surprised. They're just so unpredictable. But do you know what? I hope they don't in a sense because look what it's done to Lawson. He's not, okay, I'm not sure the ins and outs, but he's not had a great weekend. He's finished 17th.
So he's nearly 10 places below his teammate. And Lawson was thriving at the end of last season in the RB. And we've seen how that can really knock the driver's confidence when they... into that main Red Bull seat and they struggle and I don't want to see that happen to Hajar he's a rookie he's new to Formula One give him time to learn develop and then give him the opportunity to to step up they don't need to rush a driver
into that seat and then knock their confidence so early on. Well, let's hear it from the French rookie scoring point. and getting four on the board as he opens his account for the 2025 season, Isaac Hatcher. It was a perfect race, honestly. It's the first time I think this year I'm really happy. Even yesterday I felt I left some on the table, but...
Today, absolutely nothing. So really happy with the drive. Yeah. And what's your thinking now as we head on to Bahrain? Start of a triple header, of course. as a rookie in F1 and also with your new team. I think it's the first three races show that we have a good car on every conditions and and corners and every type of track so I think in Bahrain we still be up there even the testing was not the best but it gives us a lot of confidence
Okay, so Hajar in eighth. I think it is just worth sidestepping slightly and going to Tsunoda, who finished in 12th. He said to me at the start of this week that he would be happy and satisfied to leave Suzuka with a top 10 result and some points on the board. That hasn't happened.
Qualifying didn't pan out well. He managed to make one overtake on Lawson, ironically, in the opening laps to get himself up a position and benefited with Gasly and some others having some very slow pit stops. That's what got him up to 12. But then he was behind a lot. and never really was able to get close to him. But we do know how difficult overtaking was. How are you, Alice, reflecting on Yuki Tsunoda's first race for Red Bull? When will he be sacked? When will he be sacked?
he had a solid weekend up until qualifying. He made a mistake going into turn one in Q2, lost a load of time, was always then chasing it back, was never going to get it back. And then it didn't really get much better then. Okay, yeah, he gained... a couple of spots to move his way up the order, but he'll be bitterly disappointed. I think they will probably give him a few more races than they did to Wilson. Marco has said that Yuki has got to the end of the season.
there you go so he's he will see if he sticks with this word but he's got yeah as you said to the end of the season and yuki's just settling in finding his feet i think like i said he's done a good job at the start of the weekend until qualifying so So we'll see. We'll see. But he does. Yeah. I mean, Lawson deserve more time. But yeah, Yuki certainly does. I think it's still an encouraging start for Tsunoda, Jen, because I think it's not discouraging.
No, but when you've got to think, look, he's got more experience than Lawson, but also Lawson had pre-season testing with Red Bull. He had the first two races with Red Bull. Tsunoda didn't. And even though he's within this Red Bull program, it's still a different team. And we know a tricky car to drive.
even with the best of them at the wheel. So actually, I don't think 12th, I'm just trying to find the other side of this. I don't think 12th is too bad a start. He has had a decent weekend as weekends go. It won't be the weekend that he wanted. to come in at his home race in front of all those fans and dazzle set the world to light get everyone talking and i think the fact that that racing bulls car looks more punchy than red bulls easier to drive maybe saying
Agile finishing eighth, just goes to show what a task Tsunoda is going to have to do. And the field is so tight this year that the smallest of mistakes, not knowing, not being able to predict what your car is going to do. as it turns in as it as you come out and put it put your foot down on the accelerator not having the feel for that car can take away the smallest fraction which can find you actually at the bottom of the field the the fact that he's finished p12 okay not
which I know he'll be disappointed about, but we have to have a longer sample. And that's what frustrates me about Liam Lawson, is that he didn't have that base of six races. six races and see where he is two races is nothing and i think as media we cannot judge ternoda i know it's our job but we're not off one race um the jury is still out let's wait and see what he can do on
some more tracks with some more time in the simulator, with some more time with the team, his mechanics, his engineers, and then we can really see how it's going to shake out as we move through the season. Well, let's hear it from the Japanese driver after finishing his home race.
in 12 obviously as a result it's not the result i wanted at least i wanted to finish in the points this weekend so yeah I think just qualifying I just have to do better I think the pace was there just you know stuck in the traffic whole run so yeah I was pretty frustrating but at the same time I am I feel like I learned a lot of things in the 52 laps I guess I think I learned more than anything, so it's still positive for that.
Yeah, so I'm excited for the next one. But at the same time, it's a home Grand Prix, you know. It's once in a year, so considering that, it's a bit... It's off. You touched on it there, first full race distance in the car, first full weekend in the car. So what are the key takeaways now as we head to Bahrain and this triple header carries on? Reset and I mean I'm sure I feel different thing I'm sure compared to what I was feeling in FP1.
you know, in terms of car, in terms of confidence. I think naturally it will be better, you know, like naturally I will understand more about the car. I'm excited, like I said, for next one, but just have to better with the qualifying. Sonoda, then, will be hoping for more. He doesn't have to wait too long until he gets back behind the wheel of the Red Bull, assuming they make no changes in between now and Bahrain, but never say never. I just want to go to Lawson.
tough mentally for him coming into this week and it'll be a further blow to see Hajar scoring points even though Lawson still also has to do all the things that Yuki's doing but with racing balls but we know that car is slightly more drivable slightly more friendly. He would have come into this weekend wanting to prove everybody wrong and say, look, you should have not dropped me from that main seat. I can show you what I can do. Sadly, he did.
that this weekend. Still probably low on confidence. Confidence and mindset plays a massive part in any sport, any job really, let alone driving a Formula One car. So I think he's a decent driver. do rate Liam Lawson we've already said that he deserved more time but yeah not a great start to life back at RB a track that he actually knows pretty well certainly compared to Hajar he knows it much better than Hajar but let's let's
His confidence can grow again and we can get himself back up into the top 10, which he's of course more than capable of. Alice Powell, I want to pick your brain just momentarily because you do so much coaching with young drivers. Liam is slightly older than your average driver for you. But what would you say to him now to just get his head up, to get him back in the game? Because you have some good experience of this. Just total, total reset.
It's obviously clearly low in confidence, under pressure. They've got Alvid Lindblad waiting in the wings, who's racing in Formula 2 and doing a brilliant job, did a great job in Formula 3 last year. He'll be waiting. for one of these drivers in the RB to slip up. But I'd say, look, Liam, we just need a total reset. You know the team. You know you've got the talent. Just go out there and keep things simple. Do you know Bahrain really well? You race there in...
Formula 2, you've had the pre-season testing. So let's just take it session by session and go out there and start building the blocks again to make your way up into the top 10. Well, let's see if he can go again. Bahrain next week Lawson finishing down in 17th a couple of shout outs then to round out the top 10 good results for Alex Albon even though he was rather vocal on the radio wasn't he uh throughout the session very frustrated with his uh gear shifts finished in ninth and Ollie Behrman
Back-to-back points finishes for the rookie, Alice, getting top 10 for Haas. No, really pleased for Oli, really deserved. A lot of hard work has gone on for him behind the scenes. He had a much stronger race and even qualifying than his teammate Esteban Ocon, much more experienced. than him but he did what he needed to do it was going to be a real challenge I think for him to move any further up the field he had a charging Fernando Alonso who ended up just 2.8 seconds behind him
but a proper solid job from the young British driver. Yeah, I'm really impressed by him and his gaining fans every day. He already had a strong following coming into this season, but it's impressive to see how he's handling that. And as you say, when Liam...
and he's struggling for confidence, Oliver Behrman seems to have stolen it and is running away with it. But Behrman had to rebuild as well after that big crash in Australia. So it happens to all of them and it's how you bounce back, isn't it? But a good result for Behrman. And Albon, both of those drivers putting their teammates rather in the shade.
weekend with Sainz 14th for Williams and Ocon down an 18th for Haas. Right, that just about does it then for our Japanese Grand Prix review. Thank you very much, Jenny Gal. Thank you very much, Alice Powell. Max Verstappen took the win ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piazza.
but we don't have long to wait until we go again next week in Bahrain. A track everybody knows well. And it's Lando Norris, though, who leads the championship by one point. We shall be back next week with our preview show. Until then, this has been an IMG production for BBC Radio. Live Live.
Micah Richardson, my dog, as we dig into the top ten of the Champions League. We go through our favourite goalscorers, best moment, and even our all-time 11s. Now that, gentlemen, is a list. No, well, D didn't get on a list. You can listen right now on BBC Sounds.