Hello everyone, a very warm welcome to this week's episode of the Sky Sports F1 Podcast with me, Matt Baker, joining me for this one fresh from her time in Miami, Natalie Pinkham alongside our very own green chandok and a British winner from this weekend in Miami. Drumroll, please, it's Abby Pulling, who won not once, but twice this weekend. So Abby, look, huge congratulations. I guess his race weekend's go. That is pretty perfect, isn't it?
Yeah, oh my god. It was, I mean, it's what a place to do it. The vibes were immaculate. And I think I scored 57 out of a possible 58 points over the whole weekend. So it was almost perfect. Wow. That's incredible. Okay, fine. So not quite perfect. One point off perfect. We'll give you that. We'll give you that. And Natalie, how is your weekend? Robbing shoulders with the stars in Miami. I see you've got a wonderful jersey. Miami Dolphins jersey on.
I mean, just living the dream. And Abby, I want to start by saying congratulations. So proud of you. And I think I can speak for all of us when I say to see you up there on the top step for nominal. And actually, Matt and I were discussing earlier what odds we would have got for two brits to be winning in Miami. I mean, yeah, fantastic job. I mean, it can't have been easy. There was a lot of pressure. And huge amount of intensity, I'd say, in Miami.
Not just for those racing, there was just so much. It's kind of hectic, wasn't it? Brilliant. But bonkers. Yeah, I think I think come into Miami. I just raised my game a bit more, especially after Jedda, you know, obviously the controversy or whatever. You want to call it happen there. I think we're on track. And I definitely come and want into a preview point showing that I can do it on track. And let you say it's not just intense on track with the heat and everything. It was insane off track.
You know, obviously it's just been an out set Netflix are going to be following us. So it's, you know, every, every way you turn. There's a camera in your face and a microphone to your mouth. So it's, it's pre-intense on that basis as well to be honest. But it's, I think it's just great, you know, putting us on a platform like that showing the behind the scenes of the racing. And you know, it's not just about jumping out the car. There's so much more off track that goes on.
Yeah, it's going to be really exciting to see that documentary. That's due out in 2025. Isn't it in production at the moment? Part of Reese Witherspeins production arm. Karin, how was your weekend? I'm going to guess it was as unglamorous as mine compared with these guys. Yeah, it was lovely. I was at home. I had a barbecue, watched the robbery, watched the sprint, watched the fun academy. Did, yeah, had the kids running wild. All things that, you know, I rarely get to do these days.
So yeah, it was really nice actually. Yeah, not on the bike for this one. No, I, although I did manage to sneak in a couple of Zwift rides on the, on the old turbo trainer, I watched, I watched the sprint from my Zwift bike actually. Which is good. Yeah, very good. No, we're better to do it. And let's, let's start by doing our little what I've learned segment. Abby, I didn't give you a heads up on this.
So I'll come to you in a sec. We'll get Natalie and Karin to have a go. And I'm sure I'm sure you're working out. And but basically it's a chance to say what we've learned this weekend in Formula One or indeed, F1 Academy or any of the series that have been going on now. I'll start with you. What have you learned? Well, Matt, I have learned that Miami is now my new favourite, Grand Prix.
Oh, I know it's a big call. I get up this all the time. Which Grand Prix should I go to if I could go to just one? And I'm always torn between the British Grand Prix because, you know, I'm loyal and passionate and I grew up in Silverstone. Monaco is just crazy, but wonderful and full of history and glamour and prestige. But Miami, wow, it was something else. And I think they've ironed out the TV problems of the first year.
There was a lot of complaints that all sorts of things kind of went wrong in the first year. So they're working it all out. And it was a slick operation. It felt like everything had been covered. And yes, there were a lot of celebrities there, but in the main bar, maybe one or two notable exceptions, they seemed to really know their stuff about Formula One. And so they were genuinely excited, new, passionate fans, which is what the sports all about. It really feels that we've not only cracked
America now, but we're running with it and it's really exciting. Yeah. Shout out to Camila Cabello, who I thought was she was, she was there all weekend, wasn't she? Her interview with Martin on the gridwalk, I thought was fantastic. She really seemed to fall for Formula One hard this weekend. 100% and I was, I had the the the honour of interviewing her on the Wednesday night as a as an exciting launch for F1 Academy. And she was just, I mean, you know, Abbey. She was getting
behind the girls as well as all the drivers in Formula One. And yeah, she's exactly the kind of celeb I'm talking about buzzing from being there and genuinely grateful to be there as well. It wasn't a given, do you know what I mean? Oh, I know that I never actually spoke to Camila. She was one of the ones that we kind of crossed past, but never had time to speak, but those even, you know, Zidine was there and he came over to the paddock and come spoke to me and even Charlotte
too. We were on the pit wall waving the checkered flag, you know, she was absolutely loving it and the, you know, fabulous. She, as she says, she was loving it and yeah, it was great to see all the faces there and they're genuinely really interested as well, like Natalie said. Yeah. So she just mentioned that Zinedine Zidane that you were talking about as you just had come. What did you call it? Zinedine just casually life. Somebody, you know, just me, it means it means Ed. I took, I took
the opportunity and ran with it for him to sign my pole position award. Oh, nice. It's signature. All on there. It's, it's going to look really cool on the manual face for sure. Oh my God. Yeah. Definitely. Karine, what, what did you learn? I don't know. As usual, I'm going to say I learned a few things, Matt, because I was watching from afar. I learned that Lada Doris is probably the most popular driver amongst his peers. Everyone
seemed delighted that he won and it was, it was so nice to see. I learned that the RB Farm Guide is extremely confusing. I don't know how they can go from Daniel being fourth, I think, all the Saturday to nowhere on Sunday and then Yuki going the other way, having a hopeless sprint quality and then an amazing race. So that was very confusing. I learned that Donald Trump is a Natalie Pinkham fan. Did you see the picture? Smirking away. Oh my God. He looked delighted to see
the pinks in the pittling. And I learned that F1 Academy is inspirational, not just for girls, but for boys as well. Because my son was an absolute fan and he was very hooked and apparently went to school and this morning and said to his classmate, a drop off, that did you know that girls also have a racing-chappy-champ? So there you go. I think there's an impact everywhere. That is really incredible. That just makes my heart sing as it must do yours, Abby.
As much as Trump's smirk. No comment. No comment. Abby, I'm sure you've got the hang of this. What have you learned this weekend? I learned that two F1 cars can go side-by-side, around turn 14 to 60. I thought even in the F1 Academy car we took a Pierre and Esteban there, got there, was that each other and showed that they can do it. And yeah, it was a very fun weekend, lots of racing, lots of moves. I learned, like Natalie said, there's such a big buzz
around Miami. It seemed I was there in the first year and it just seemed so much bigger, a better this year and the buzz around F1 Academy weren't being overshadowed by the F1. We had our own moment there and it was just amazing for all of us girls there and the fans, you know, you're going to get men and boys and girls wanting to kind of get into racing and just inspiring, you know, the next generation was so heart-warming for me, for sure.
Really, really cool. Is there been any fallout from that from the Alpine camp, Abby, with those guys going through that? It was pretty tight, wasn't it? No, not that I'm aware of, but at one point I was gritting my teeth and then closing my eyes. It was pretty, I don't know how they got around turn 16 because it is a very, very tight quarter, but you know, they made it work. They're very respectful of each other, which is what you like to see.
Well, at Ford's Worth, I've learned that Kevin Magnison is very, very close to missing a race because he now sits on 10 penalty points and only needs two more to get a race ban and he's got 18 races this season to go and Karin, maybe correct me if I'm wrong here, no driver has ever in the history since penalty points have been invented, been banned, right? So he could be the
first driver to ever be banned? I mean, Grochung got a band in a first spa when he climbed over the top of everybody else for the dangerous move and I don't know if there was a do with a congremble, if there was a combination of penalty points or not is what I can't remember, but was definitely for a dangerous move. Yeah, it wasn't for the build-up of points in the way that you were describing that. So interesting. Plays the team game and might end up losing a seat
to Ollie Bermann eventually and it might be Ollie that steps in. Yeah, but you know, I think
he was a little bit over the limit, wasn't it? I think what he did in Jeddah was fine because he was he was staying within the track and he was basically backing people up in a in a clever tactical way, but I thought some of the stuff with Lewis, you know, running when you're running off the track and taking the other car with you, I think then that's just not particularly sporting, is it, you know, I think you're you got to you got to play the game, but I think you've also got to
at some point be fair to the other competitors. Were you surprised that when he openly said in the interview with you all the penalties were valid? Well, I was surprised because I'm used to drivers coming in and saying, not my fault mate, you know? Yeah. And actually, if him to hold his hands I'm torn on this because I'm a big K-Mag fan. I think he's a great guy and actually to hear him be so candid and honest was really quite refreshing. And then to hear Lewis's response,
almost surprised me more as well. He went fair play. I really respect his honesty. I had never problem with it. Now, if Lewis Hamilton doesn't have a problem with it, then I certainly don't. I don't make the rules. I quite enjoyed seeing them tougher out, but you know, Karoon's a racer here and if he says that it was a step too far, then I bow to his greater knowledge, but I quite enjoyed it, if I'm honest. Oh, it was super entertaining. I agree. Happy, did you have a
view on that? To be honest, I think that's one of the parts of the race that I missed as I was running running out the paddock. So, but one sounds of it, you know, the respect they had for each other in the sense of putting their hands up. I think it's always best if you're in the wrong to admit to it and hopefully it will pay you back in the future. I like to think, but no, it sounds like I grew up Natalie with Lewis says it was a wrong bit than got a grooving. All right, let's talk about
the big moment of the weekend, then really, wasn't it? It was Lando Norris getting his first win in Formula One at the one hundred and tenth time of asking, he's now a Grand Prix winner. You sort of were right in there in the pen, chatting to Lando, try and sum up the atmosphere and the feeling amongst all the other drivers, amongst the paddock in general at Lando getting that win. Well, it felt like quite an apt ending to what was just a really buzzy kind of vibey weekend.
I mean, there was just so much energy and colour and music and glorious chaos. And for him to emerge victorious just felt right. I was surprised, but pleasantly so at the way he was able to pull away from Max after the safety car. I didn't think that would happen. I didn't think he would get that sort of five second lead that he did. But I remember, I mean, I was thinking back to sitting down with him at age 13 at MTC. And he was so shy and kind of nervous being on camera for the
very first time, kept looking down at the floor. And I just wanted to kind of reassure him that, you know, we weren't there to trip him up. We just wanted to get a sense of who this new kid on the block was. And honestly, to see him come through and take his first win made me really quite emotional as I think a lot of Brits will feel the same. You know, we've watched him grow in front of our eyes and he deserves it and he's still modest. He's still humble. He's still very much
a family guy. And yeah, it was wonderful. And you know, that was evidenced by the fact that every single driver to a man went over and hugged him and congratulated him. And that carried on in the pen and well into the night. And Lewis was urging him to change his flight. Party, party hard that night. And, you know, rightly so. It was great. Really great. Yeah, there's going to be an inquest. I'm sure into the partying when we next speak to the drivers in Imola, because it sounded pretty good.
Karim, what did you make of landows when it was? Look, I guess he got lucky with the safety card, didn't he? But as soon as he was in front of Max, apart from that first safety car restart, didn't look in doubt. Did I? Although it was a super driver. I had his team radio on for the entire race. And, you know, I think back even two years ago, Matt, you know, often the communication between them with engineer was Joseph would say to him, landed what do you think about this? That and he
go, I don't know. Do you decide? Or maybe not sure. Or there'd be a bit of flapping about something. But for me, there was a key point early in the race when Perez pitted quite early on and they said to lando, we think where our race is not with Perez, it's with science, we're going to look forward. And he just went, yep, don't worry, opportunities will come. He sounded really quite buoyant,
which I mean, you know, Matt, we often say isn't he's quite downbeat. Normally, that's his sort of tone, but actually all through the race, listening to the chap between him and Will, it was in a very sort of upbeat point, looking forward more, rather than looking in a defensive moment, which was nice to hear. And it told me a lot about his mental state. Would he have overtaken Max if not for that safety car? Probably not. Would he have been second, I think so. And he admitted so in
the press conference. But to your point, when he had that opportunity, he absolutely grabbed with both hands. I was a bit worried with the restart because it didn't look like he got the jump. But if I maxed out the toe into toe, but he absolutely nailed the first sector and broke away from the slipstream. So yeah, very, very strong. Right? I mean, I think, you know, there's a cow dog you need to say, if the pit stops had happened and need cycle through and there we had a
safety car, he could have attacked Max because I genuinely think he was faster. So yeah, if you're right and saying he was lucky to get the track position, absolutely, even he knows that. But I think if the safety car didn't come, let's say 10 laps later, and he was in that train behind Max, he I think he would could have got right behind him and attacked him for the win. So this was, you know, I know Daniel obviously won in Monzele, but it was a race where Lewis and Max had taken
themselves out of it. This was a win for McLaren for the first time since 2012, where both Red Bulls, both Ferrari's, both Mercedes, both Astans, all of their rivals were in it and they came on on top. There was a proper, proper win for McLaren. Abby, you were leading your races this weekend. Take me inside the cockpit. What's it like as a driver when you've got the track out in front of you? You're trying not to think I guess about what like the podium, what you're going to say to everyone
afterwards. How do you stay in the moment and how impressed were you with what Lando did yesterday? To be honest, for me, it was off the line as long as I was going out in front on the start. It was just about doing quality lap after quality lap. Obviously in Formula One, you've got to manage the tires quite quite significant amount more, but I thought it was super impressive what Lando did, you know,
soaking up the pressure of Max behind. Obviously it's a red boy. It's been so dawning this season. So to kind of have an ass head, you know what, I'm going to take this opportunity, I've got the advantage through the pit stop on the safety car. He just seemed so determined. I just, you know, I have to admire that a lot. I think he created one of the most exciting races we've had in a wild and informal one. So it's, you know, you just got to applaud him and like you say, everyone was
so happy for him. I think that's a really good point, Abby, isn't it? Because we, you know, we haven't had a great Miami-Veron Prix until this year. You know, I think it's been a fun, it's been a fun event as Max was saying and all the people have, you know, the good and the great of the world, the sport and the attainment and all that have come out. But the actual on track stuff was a bit dull until this year and I thought we had a cracking race.
Good battles all the way down, even without that safety car. As you're saying before, the Alpine drivers, it was great. I mean, was it a fun track to drive for you? Did you enjoy driving there? Yeah, I for sure enjoy. I mean, if you're quicker at the track and you've got a good balanced car, you're going to love it. So I really enjoyed driving with track. I'm good. I couldn't get involved too much in the action because of being at the front because it's a track with such long
streets. They say it provides really great racing action and the obviously F1 is the DRS. But for us, we don't have anything. We've just got to go on fuel momentum, fuel slipstream. So it's one of the tracks on the kind of the sheer for us that is one that's really made for overtaking on. So it's like you say, provided great racing in all of the championships there this weekend and
especially the Formula One. Now, what about the reaction from the other drivers? I know we've mentioned it a little bit, but Lando winning was surely one of the most popular winners in recent times in Formula One, right? Yeah, and it just seemed so natural and so authentic. It wasn't forced. They were all coming up and slapping him on the back. And even though said, perhaps had tougher races, someone like Daniel, it can't have been an easy Sunday for him,
but he was genuinely full of praise and genuinely happy for him. It was great to see. And I mentioned that to Max, actually, when I talked to him at the end and I said, I know that you won't be happy with P2, but just a word on your mate winning it. And he said, if I can't win, I'd love Lando too. And I said, I don't know, there just seems such a sense of camaraderie. You know, your brothers and arms. And he said, absolutely, we are all mates. We do
get on really well. And it's kind of strange to see, isn't it, Karim, when you look back, the history of the sport is so many bitter rivalries. I don't think you get that sense. Another case in point we've discussed it already is Kevin and Lewis. Kevin, Lewis actually backing Kevin up there, despite what happened on track. And you just sense that up and down the grid, there's
genuine friendships and they do have each other's backs. Which, you know, people probably say, you know, I want them to be more ruthless, but actually when the rise that goes down, the racing is hardcore and it's intense and it's compelling. But away from that, they are able to genuinely be happy for each other. And that's true. Yeah, I can't wait to see what happens if they have either a championship fight. Yeah. Because that's the real test, isn't it? You know, that's where
it all gets a bit serious and the pressure cooker starts to fall over. See if Lando gets the same reaction if he starts beating Max everywhere. Yeah. We'll just let him have this one. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Elyve, on to the next question, I think the million dollar question in all of this. And this is what fans want to know. Karin, I'll start with you. Does this mean that McLaren have built a car that can compete with Red Bull? I think they happen to be with Red Bull when the circuit says
that all line up. Now, we have a data set of one, which is not very useful really. It tells of, you know, Miami's is a unique circuit. It's a street circuit. The surface is pretty unique. It's you know, it's got it's it's not a normal track. We're now coming up to obviously Himelo, which is a more traditional circuit, very different in terms of the fact that it's, you know, a traditional asphalt on the ground. But actually, you've got lots of high speed changes in the
direction. You've got, you know, a bit of elevation change as well. So you've got to have good stability and compliance over the curves, you know, Cain's as well. So it's a very different type of circuit. But I think they're in it. You know, they're absolutely in it. The update that they brought to Miami, the fact that you would make a decision to bring a big upgrade to a sprint weekend and only have one hour to dial the car in shows a huge degree of confidence in the development
program going back to the factory because I don't know of many other teams that would have that confidence, honestly, to make that decision because it's we've seen with Mercedes anyway, you know, they've been bringing updates, but it's we keep hearing that what they see on track is not what they're seeing in the wind tunnel. So for McLaren to make that call is brilliant. We believe
that Oscar will also have the update. We think in Imola so that, you know, he was shy of a couple of dentures and he, but even without that last little bit of performance, he was still running second in that first hint. He was, you know, he was surrounding a strong second. Didn't look like LeClear or Carlos could really attack him. Abby, what did you make of McLaren's performance as a whole this weekend? And I guess yeah, those upgrades really seem to be working, didn't they?
For the team? Yeah, for sure. I mean, Lando said even at the start of the weekend that he felt really confident in the car, he just shared a few mistakes early on in the weekend and kind of put him further back in the sprint. So it's nice to see that there's still development going on and they're really pushing to be right underneath the red blift, not ahead, you know, like you say, Corinne, you'll be exciting to see what they can do in Imola and see how they kind of keep
the momentum going. Now, it's quite annoying, isn't it? Because it seems like at the moment, we're in Formula One, we have these regulation changes. We're obviously due a regulation change in 26. Are we going to see another situation where we don't have competitive teams in terms of, you know, it's just one team dominating, but in the final year of regulations, I next year, maybe McLaren, maybe Mercedes, all of them are going to converge and be the closest they've been
for the last four years. And then we're going to change the regulations again and one team might end up dominating. Yeah, but isn't that the point? I mean, I just think that convergence is inevitable. Weed out the problems that you have early doors and then everyone's kept on their toes with the regulation change and the cream rises to the top again. And that is the foundations of
a meritocracy. Yeah, but I, I, with you, ma, I feel like we're just finally getting this point where they're getting closer because what happens with regulation change, the rich get richer, the teams with more money, more resources, I know we have a budget cap, but actually they've got more resources of the factory and they've all got loopholes around the budget cap anyway.
You know, you, you actually get this split. And to me, I, I would have loved to see the regulation change pushback two years because we're getting to this point now where the teams are starting to close in a bit more on Red Bull next year will be closer. And then with the, the hybrid rules are coming out for 26. Somebody's going to get a massively right and somebody's
going to get massively wrong. Yeah, but that somebody may not be Red Bull. And so we might, as we always do with Formula One, see a cyclical pattern emerge again and a different team come out on top. And that's okay. Don't you want to see, don't you want to see, instead of one on top, you want to see multiple people fighting, don't you? Yeah, but one or two might get it right, Karin. We don't know that it's just going to be one. So you might get what you wish for. We don't have a crystal ball.
Alpine got their first point, didn't they? This weekend, Abbey. What, you know, obviously, take it into the perspective of Alpine. How do Alpine see these regulations? What, what are the conversations happening at the moment? It seems like there has been a pretty rapid improvement from the start of the season to getting your first points this weekend. Yeah, for sure. I mean, it's great. The team managed to get their first point. You could see in the garage,
everyone was kind of related. And it's definitely a tough start to the season for Alpine, but we, you know, listening in on some of the meetings that they have with all the team back at Endstone. They're very, very focused on development of the car this year. They're confident that we could keep progressing throughout the season once we bring the upgrades. So, you know, we've seen it done in the past with, like, same McLaren last year. They started, you know, in quite a tough
position, but by the end of the season, they were getting podiums. And, you know, they got a race win this weekend. So, you know, hopefully Alpine can continue the trajectory and keep developing the car and giving Esteban and Pierre, you know, what they're asking for. And that's the point, isn't it, Matt? Abby's spot on. Like, you can have a change in fortune pretty quickly. I mean, McLaren didn't
even get out of Q1 last year. They were languishing at the back and they won the race 12 months later. So, I think that keeps us as an audience on our toes because you don't know what's going to happen. And if you start going, you know, they're big upgrade started to come in Austria last year. And we just saw this massive turn and change in fortune, which they were then able to build on. They didn't kind of shimmy forwards and then back. The trajectory was a really positive one that's
carried on going. And so, I think that could give and should give all the teams hope. Karina, I just want to come back to Lando and Lando's win. And I wonder if, like, I heard we just heard from that earlier on in the podcast about meeting in age 13. I wonder what your experience has been with Lando? When was the first time you met him, for example? And have you got any good little stories of how he's changed as a driver, how he's changed as a man? I'll probably met him when he's
doing F3. I'm pretty sure three at the time. But I think, you know, I'm not there to pretend to be anyone on the inside. But I think what is quite clear is when, as I was saying before, for people like Antony and Bernie Colors, myself, you know, our role is we sit there watching the races, listening to a lot of this sort of communication. We'll listen to them watch it through practice. And I think that's where you can almost feel the maturity and the change coming, you know. It's
all such different characters. If I contrast with George Russell, for example, who, when you arrive in his first race of Williams, you listen to the radio and you go, Jesus Christ has done his whole life, you know, he's very clear and sure and confident of this is what I'm going to do with that. I'm going to view that to the car. I'll do this and, you know, completely and same with Max, you know, completely on top of things in that respect, really dominating
their situation. I think Lando's character was it like that, you know, he's he's was a bit more of a dimmer character. He didn't have this sort of chest out self-confidence of of George or Max. But that doesn't mean he's any slower. It just means it's a different personality and I think it actually is quite enduring, you know, I think that's why people have wanted him both within the
paddock and outside. But I think he's he's quite a gone about this this journey of becoming a number one driver within the team and he has led that team, you know, he when they had Daniel, they signed Daniel up alongside him. I mean, quite honestly, we all thought this is it. Daniel is going to blow, you know, he's going to give Lando a bit of a shake up really because he's a, how many of a time race with Elvin and the night light race been stopped? Yeah. And eight. And that didn't happen.
And then we had a situation where you've got, you know, Lando has really pushed the team forward, I think with the upgrades you guys are talking about before, he's risen to that position of the number one. And it's been fantastic to see. But you have to give credulity, you know, they've created an environment that's allowed him to do that. They've allowed him to make the mistakes, they've allowed him to, you know, work with the with the structure of people around him that
it worked with him a long time. You know, Will Joseph, I mentioned before, a job is performance engineer, but even Zach, you know, most people don't know the Zach sort of semi managed him for, you know, he was, he's obviously managed by the ADD company. But Zach had a real hand in bringing him on this journey and they've really molded and created this driver who was, who's delivered the win. Yeah. And I think Matt, a crucial word in all of this is loyalty from both sides, a commitment and
a trust in each other. And they haven't wavered from that. Either the team, Orlando, they've committed to each other and other teams have tried to turn his head and he hasn't been tempted. At least publicly he hasn't in and honestly, I think he's telling the truth that he's never wavered from that. So I think starting with the team at a very young age and staying with them and growing with them is key to his success now. He's molded that team around him and also that is the only car
he's ever known. So he's, he's managed his driving style accordingly and perhaps it has been engineered towards him too. But whatever's happened, it's worked and it's great to see and it's kind of a lesson, I think, probably for a lot of young drivers coming through that loyalty actually can really pay off. Abbey, I was going to ask you, I don't know if you saw he did a lie detector feature with us this week and one of the lines that came out of it was Simon asked him, are you going to
win a race this year? And he was like, yes, yes, I am. So I'm fed up of not believing that I'm not going to win a race. How important is and just with reference to your inquiry, how important is that belief that you're on the right path that you're doing the right thing and keeping that positive mental attitude towards towards the end goal? But that was a big thing that I've said this year is keeping positive, keeping smiling. And I always say, I'm happy, I'll be as fast as I
am. So he's probably kind of going along with the same thing, kind of the same mindset saying, you know, happy land is a fast land, though, and you can clearly see the weekend he was very happy
and could feel the potential in the car. And yeah, I think it's, I think the mind is the driver's strongest kind of tool, having a strong mindset really, really can benefit your on track performance since you've got a belief in yourself before it was believing, you know, you've got to really, really, really, you know, tell yourself, you know, I can do this and I'm capable and give yourself confidence, 1000%, otherwise, you know, you can get in your own head and it can end up getting
in a bad kind of place and mentally. So it's like I say, it's one of the drivers' greatest tools and I think it could be overlooked sometimes. How do you train it, Abby? Do you have people
to help you? Like, how does it work in practice? So I work with a guy called Martin, he's from Gazing Performance Systems and he's helped me all through my kind of junior career since I've got into single-seaters and it's just about so many different things, I think every athlete is different and for me it's about keeping quite weightless, keeping lots of pressure on shoulders
because I can be my own biggest critic sometimes. So, you know, focusing on the controllables, that's a really big thing because motorsport, you know, although you're in the car on your own, you know, there's a big team behind you and so many variables that goes on on track that you just can't control. So it's all about kind of brushing them away, ignoring them and keeping focused on what you can influence and it is, I mean, I can keep going on about it forever, there's so many good things.
Hold on the podcast. Yeah, it's, there's just so much that you can go over and make sure you're in the right mental space and happy and, you know, very focused intense on what the job in hand is.
Abbey, how much does experience help you guys as well? You know, I think, I think most people perhaps don't realise because they see you at the F1 Academy Weekends or on Skyver, you're also racing the British F4 Championship, I believe, and a lot of the other drivers in Academy are doing other programmes on their Doriann is in from the from the Renault, I think it is and, you know,
there's other championships going on. How much and how important is it for all of you to be doing, doing all these other categories at such a young age because otherwise from between Jedda and Miami was quite a big gap wasn't it? And then again, Miami, to Barcelona, you got these big gaps. So surely keeping that momentum going must be really good for you guys. Yeah, I mean, I'm racing this weekend actually, it runs indie. So it's gone from, from Miami to runs indie, it's quite
a stark difference. It's about keeping sharp for sure. It's something that I've always said, I just need more seat time and F1 Academy and roading cars as support, sportiness here, Alpine, I'm driving with F1 Academy, roading cars in in British F4. So I can't thank them enough for the opportunities they've given me. You know, I'm, I'm chock-of-blocked this year with how much
I'm out in a car because of the dual campaign. And I think it's, it's so important, you know, the two cars, although they look, I almost identical, they're two really different cars to drive, surprisingly, especially, you know, the UK, it's very cool. I've gone from kind of 55 degree track temp to six degree track temp, it makes it quite hard. But I think that makes me an even better driver because there's the adaptability. I think one of the biggest strengths, as well as, you know,
mental, the mental side of it is, is the adaptability. F1 weekends, the grip is always changing for us as F1 are laying rubber. So knowing kind of how to adapt your driving to the different conditions is really important. And yeah, the two campaigns are kind of, kind of helping each other and pushing each other wrong really nicely for me, like so. I can't thank Alpine and roading cars enough for what they're doing for me. Matt, I think Abby makes a really interesting point about
the power of the mind. And and actually, Lando's been quite vocal in this space. He's been really supportive of of mind, the charity and and and talking about the importance of your own mental health. I remember when he was just coming into the sport, he was getting two or three accounts on social media who were criticising him a lot and he didn't really understand why. I mean, none of us do. It's only human, isn't it? To be sensitive to criticism, particularly if it's
not deserved. And it was it was really niggling him and it was bothering him. And then what I found really interesting this weekend is that when he came out and said it was quite nice to shut the critics up and those that hadn't believed in him and those who do, there was one account that he referenced that was always poking at him for having not got a win yet in Formula One. And I think my takeaways from that are that one you you need to sort of leverage negativity and and use it
to fuel you so that there's a positive outcome from it. But another message to any of the keyboard warriors out there that it's so futile. I mean, obviously, if it's better than one to win, it's not entirely futile. But it's just such a I don't know, such a nasty practice and it's something that we really need to work on as a society and a sport is to weed this out. It's so destructive and everybody's only human and you know, here's Lando, a kind of national treasure
who's still affected by people that sort of poke at him online. So it's something that still needs to be sorted out in the bigger picture. But I was really interested and proud to see that he was able to turn that negativity around and use it in a positive way. He's been refreshing, he honest, hasn't he? And even admitting that after the race, you know, that's quite a big thing to confront that head on and say and say such a thing. His press conference went on for about
45 minutes. I was one of my jobs as we came as listening to that and it was really interesting. He was really, really open about all those struggles. I think we just need to educate people that it's a nasty practice and there's no time or space for it. Couldn't agree more. One thing I do want to pick up on is some of Christian Horner's comments after the race. Karini said that Max picked up quite a lot of floor damage from when he hit the ball hard. Is it fair to say that did
have a big impact on Max's car and his speed? Is that the only caveat of McLaren's pace seemingly abeasing the Red Bull? Is there a correlation there? Well, they're the only ones with the data, they haven't exactly publicised the loss of downforce numbers. I don't know. I mean, the reality is, Max, yes, he was leading, yes, he was quick, but he wasn't as far ahead as he has been in the past. Lando was within a couple of tents of him in qualifying. The Ferraris were within that as well.
If you looked at the sprint quality, Lando and Osco were quickest in SQ1, SQ2 and then had a terrible run on the softs in SQ3, but they were fast. They were genuinely fast all weekend. So, I'm sure that there's some element of truth in what Chris you were saying, but we don't know that could be a second, that could be a hundredth. What does it mean? As I said, the proof will be in according when we get to the next race. You can't look at
one track, one result and say, oh, this is it for the season. We've got a variety coming up, right? We've got the Emola, Monaco, Canada, Barcelona. They're four completely different circuits. But if McLaren can be competitive at all those four circuits, then you can say, okay, this is now a genuine threat for Redwell because to be a tidy contender, you have to be quick everywhere. You can't just be quick at one particular track. And actually, Matt, Max didn't
lean into that as an excuse. He was very magnanimous in defeat. And I think to Karin's point, you know, we had to wait until Singapore for a non-Redwell winner last year. We've already had to this year, albeit with a Max DNF in Australia, but we were able to see the pace of the Ferrari's in Australia. And I think Karin's right, it will be track specific and we've got a whole host of other tracks on the way. So yeah, it makes for a very exciting season.
Let's hope so. Just sort of find a few points before we go. I think we sort of discussed this at the beginning, but I've kind of put here, Miami comes of age. You know, this was a really, I thought a really strong weekend for Miami. Apart from the $180 fruit platter and the $190 chicken wings, which I saw go viral across the weekend, which I think is, yeah, no fruit platter is worth $180. But Abby, I mean, we referenced it earlier, you race in W Series in 2022. Do you feel like
finally, Miami has sort of become this racetrack now that everyone looks forward to? Like the actual racing itself was massively improved this year? A thousand percent. It's, you know, I was there in 2021 and, you know, there were some teething issues that have not been there since this year. So it's nice to see how much it's progressed, how the, you know, the organisation, even off track is much, much more. And yeah, like you say, the racing on track, they've opened up the
chicane a bit more since I, I'd been there. I think it's the same as last year, but it just provides a bit more minimum speed through there. It's less stop and go and you don't get bought by the car ahead and you can attack better into the last corner. So it's, you know, they're doing, doing all the right things and it's just nice to see how positive a reception has had this year. You know, it's been really, really, you know, it's not just been seen as a show.
It's been recognised as a proper racetrack and it's providing entertaining races for us. Tell you what, though, we need, we need, we need to send Martin with the service distils for the gridwalk. They just, he just couldn't see anybody, could he? I think it just looked like this. Seeing your people, he's just wandering around more stuff, saying, where are we? Where's everybody? It couldn't find a celeb for love, no money. He could be at points. It's just, army of people.
Yeah, it's, it's one of the gridwalks we look forward to every year. I thought it was, yeah, it's funny. As, as Abby says, though, the key was the reception given by Miami from the minute we landed. They wanted us to be there and they fully embraced us. And I chatted to Susie Wolf on the Wednesday and she said she was blown away by the enthusiasm that they had for F1 Academy. They were so up for it. It wasn't just an also ran, a tag on, if you like, to the main
event. They really brought into it. And Susie was saying it really felt like F1 Academy had arrived. And this was the momentum they needed. And the springboard to the remaining five rounds of the season. So, again, so proud of you, Abby. And so excited about F1 Academy. Yeah, thank you very much. Just mirroring everything you said, really. Like you say, it had its own, it's own little moment and it was so special to be one of the 16 drivers apart of it.
Now, the only thing is Matt, I did have a problem with getting anywhere in Miami. You were better off running from A to B. And when I left the racetrack on one of the days, I was trying to get an Uber across the South Beach. And one of the guys offered me a tuck tuck and he said, it's 20 bucks per minute on this tuck tuck. Yeah, I swear to God, $20 per minute. I said, well, how fast you go? Because if you're quick, I'll take it. And he went, well, you know, it depends on the legs. And also, I
may, I'm not taking that gamble. I can't be 100 bucks down before we've even got to the Uber. But I did quite appreciate his entrepreneurship and the fact he was willing to give it a go. Catching him at the beginning of the day might have been better when his legs were a bit fresher. Yeah, better value for money. Karin, is it a big thumbs up for Miami? I wasn't there, but for everything I saw on telly, yeah, I think so. It, you know, it looked great.
And I think, yeah, I mean, it's funny because people go, oh, we've got three races in America. Why have you got three races in America? We don't need that. Blah, blah, blah. You forget how big a country it is. And the fact that Austin, Vegas and Miami are, first of all, if you travel there, and know on F1 weekends on holiday, whatever, you realize they have three completely different cities and three completely different demographics that attract different audiences from, from the
continent, not just the country. You start to realize that the appetite is there, isn't it for F1? You know, all three races, I think it's been sellouts and it's good for business. See, I was reading an article on that actually, seemingly Miami is very, very good for business in terms of F1 sponsorship deals and being broke. Because profit is eating all those chicken wings at $180.192. Yeah. Find out final point goes to you, Abbey. How are you looking the rest of the year?
Obviously, you've got your racing this weekend and then you've got Spain shortly after for F1 Academy. It's a busy, it's a busy old year, you've got ahead, isn't it? Yeah, I mean, it's seven weeks now until Barcelona. So I've got actually a handful of British or four races in between. I think it helps being kind of distracted, you know, going into Miami, I was the championship leader. And it just gave me kind of, I didn't have to think about it too much, you know, I wasn't
overthinking it and again, being so busy in between, I won't be overthinking it again. I'll just keep in the same mindset, do what I can on track and yeah, it's only, only positive having so much sleep time. I think Barcelona is a team we struggle with in preseason testing, but we've
made a few changes. I think my engineer was, you know, we know what we did wrong in that test, so we're pretty looking forward to Barcelona and I just can't wait to see what season brings, but keeping grounded, keeping that mental kind of strength, not keeping my expectations too high, but of course, you've got to kind of celebrate and be happy over the weekend, you've got.
Well, I tell you what, Abbey, that is a really good point because Daniel made it. He said, you've got to celebrate when you have the opportunity because just look at the change in fortunes from his P4 and then falling right down towards quality and I think that's the same for Lando. Make the most, I'm not saying that you can't emulate that and do it again and again and you've obviously got a 34 point buffer in the championship now, but just enjoy these moments.
I remember Seb saying at Karin when he said to the team after winning the championship in Brazil in, when was it? I think it was his third championship and he said, guys, these times don't happen over and over again, so make the most of now. And so yeah, enjoy this Abbey and, but yeah, keep winning.
I told him about that. Easy. Easy. Just on to tell everyone about what's coming up, so no race this weekend, but we head to Europe and to Himalaya the weekend after so you can catch all the action from the Amelia Romaniagrompri from Friday the 17th of May across Sky Sports F1. All that's left to do is wish you good luck for the season ahead Abbey. Thank you very much for joining us on the podcast. Thank you, Nat. Thank you, Karin. We're going to be back next
Tuesday. Hope you can join us then. Bye for now.