Hello everybody, ciao and bonjourno and welcome back to the F1 show, the Sky Sports F1 podcast feed and to Ted's pod book as Formula One comes home. Well, if you can call Europe home, which I think we can, not too many days after the absolute actual anniversary of the 75th year of the FIA Formula One World Championship we are back in Europe and specifically we're at It's not the San Marino Grand Prix. It's the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. I'm just going to read out the sign that's behind me.
The Autodromo Internationale Enzo and a Dino Ferrari. There's also a Made in Italy there, and there's also a sponsor. in there as well. There it is. Grand Premio Dell made in Italy and of So the Grand Prix of Made in Italy and of Emilia-Romagna. To give it its exact title as I like to do and we're just outside the circuit gates because them's the rules And I wanted to come out and just see what the scene is we're on the corner of the via Santana the Santana Street
and the Via Ravatsa Street or Way. There is an opal... It's a campervan with finished number plates. called Peg Travels. who has even broken down or is looking for where he or she parks their finished camper van right outside. There are various sort of paddock vehicles you can hear going by. Here's a camper van with Italian plates turning up a Riviera GT, if you know that kind of campus. We've got fans here wearing it and center hats and Ferrari tops. A lot of Ferrari tops around the place.
A lot of people are waiting to see Charles Leclerc, who would have been disappointed because he's not well and hasn't attended. the circuit on media day here Thursday And apart from that, it's been all about the championship, it's been about McLaren, it's been about Lando Norris, it's been about the Italian heritage of Oscar Piastri, who he's been visiting the town of in a very busy week that championship leader Oscar Piastri has had coming here.
Do you want to know the name of it? So, the name of the piastri, it's his great-great-grandfather, he said. and his name was Giovanni Attilo Piastri, and he was from the village of Liciana Nardi. Liceana Nardi, which is on the way between the road that goes from Bologna to Parma to Imola, between there and the coastal town of La Spezia.
that's where there's villagers an Oscar after getting the Lorenzo Bandini trophy from the nice people in Brizighello which I had the pleasure of going to last year Oscar went down to Licianna Nardi and met some people who might have been his distant cousins who might have been related he thinks they were related to old Giovanni Piastri his great great grandfather
So that was quite interesting. So what should we tell you about first? Should we do McLaren first because they are leading? So Oscar Piastri was in the press conference just talking about who wants to keep Everything going. Everything's going well for him, obviously. He's at one with the car. He doesn't expect, nobody expects, indeed, McLaren to have the advantage that he had in Miami. Here in Imola, very different track and everybody else
is going to be a bit closer. Everyone's going to be closer as well because it's a very short lap time. It's a very short track and lap times in the 1.13 and 1.14 so it's going to be very much tighter anyway. But the crucial thing is for Lando Norris, he is somewhat of an Imola expert. He doesn't know why. He says he likes Italy. He likes the Italian food. He's always gone well here. He's always enjoyed this circuit. And he's hoping that this will be a sort of continuation.
of what he's now started to admit was Well, how should we put it? He said in hindsight, I shouldn't have gone for the move that I did on Max Verstappen at the start, which bundled him down to a fifth or sixth or whatever it is. And they didn't expect his explanation. Ah, pig travels have got going.
off you go bye bye hope you found your campsite he's saying that had he obviously not challenged Max and just tucked him behind him obviously it's not the way racing drivers are wired then he said in hindsight it would have been a very different race But I asked him whether his woes in qualifying are linked to the same thing that keeps the rear tyres cool in the race. He says, I don't know, which I found Interesting. Maybe. Maybe. I don't know.
but I think they'll have a pretty good idea around now. Here we go. In hindsight, I would have changed the lap one in Miami, Lando said. But as I said, he loves Italy. He says, Oscar's doing a very good job, said Lando. But I'm focusing on me, raising my level, qualifying better, and we learn from each other. Oscar was also talking about doing the test at Zandvoort. Both McLaren drivers did a Pirelli tyre test at Zandvoort in the week. I think Aston Martin and I have done one.
As well, but yeah, both Oscar and Lando looking forward to what's gonna be a very close weekend But both thinking they can win the Grand Prix, but I just wonder whether Lando Obviously, had he not made that challenge on Max and tumbled down, then eventually it would have been him who passed Max first and not Oscar. And Lando could have won in Miami. Of course, didn't. Kept his head. Oscar is...
won the race and is thinking that he can win this weekend as well. Who might challenge them? Well, Max Verstappen has some more upgrades on his car and for the first time, because Imola is comparatively close to all the factories we have seen a queue of vans not the trucks essentially transits and larger
turn up from we've had Aston Martin we've had McLaren we've had Williams I've seen Red Bull vans turn up and offload all sorts of new bits and wings and winglets and aero bits and mechanical bits at the circuit today Thursday
And Red Bull have got some more upgrades. It's not a big upgrade package, Max Verstappen was keen to stress. It's just a sort of continued drip-drip of new bits as they are made and devised. Yuki Tsunoda will have the same... bits he said as max which is good he said he's looking forward to
having three proper sessions with the upgrade so he can actually understand what they do and trying to get a better balance. And Yuki's very good around here because this is the European circuit that he has the most experience at, he said. So watch for Yuki Tsunoda's progress. If he can't get a good result and some good points here, then where is he gonna have some good results and some points? So yeah, I'm tipping Yuki for... at least the top six.
in qualifying and maybe more depending of course on the alternate pace of the red bull did ask max verstappen about the nurberg ring race uh he didn't know whether he broke the lap record i think it was he was four seconds shy on his first go around there but he said it was Fantastic, really enjoyed it. The Dutch guy's name on the side, was it Franz Hermann, was the guy who entered the car.
So that's why his name was on the side of the car. But it was definitely Max driving and he said he was lucky to escape the rain that often happens. at the Nürburgring but had a really good time and was also racing with the sim drivers who are now racing drivers. Not sure, it's not really Van Buren, is it? It's one of the... Or is it Raymond Vermeulen's lad? Anyway, it was one of the sports car racers on the GT3, the Ferrari. He was driving that around there, so he had a great time.
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Let's move on to Lewis Hamilton and the big within the absence of Charles Leclerc Lewis was saying, look, it's, you know, obviously it's fantastic. It's going to be a fantastic racing. a Ferrari and qualifying a Ferrari in front of the Tifosi and that's an experience he's going to enjoy and save a foot throughout the weekend.
I asked him whether it was a bit weird to actually be going into the Ferrari motorhome in the paddock after passing it for so many years. He kind of said, yeah. I asked him about a very busy week he's had after Miami, of course. He had the Met Gala, I think it was the day after, it was the Monday, wasn't it, in New York. A very rainy New York. But Lewis was absolutely thrilled with the way it went. He said he's been trying. working on this Met Gala, co-chairing it.
and working with Anna Wintour and Colin Domingo for three years. He's been planning it and was so proud that lots of people are discovering all the details on his tailored suit and the accoutrement to it. that mean a lot to him and if you don't know what I'm talking about then google it because there are lots of hidden meanings in there that the more you look into Lewis's tailoring and his suit
then the more you find out all these little messages in there, and he's particularly proud that people are finding out about it, and is very happy about that. He did have a few choice words, say about any of the doubters out there and any of the so-called armchair experts he said people don't know what's going on they know almost 99 of nothing of what is actually going on in the team
how hard we're working, we get criticized, but everybody at Ferrari is taking accountability, they're taking accountability, they are making themselves accountable. they are fixing the issues so I thought that was interesting. Then he was asked by my French colleague how we should judge his first few months. And he was very clear. This was one of the lines of the day. He said, do not judge these first few months. These are stepping stones.
Let's have a conversation about how my time at Ferrari went at the end of my contract. in two or three years. He said, at the end of my contract, which we believe to be two years, he actually said in a few years' time. then we can talk about the success we had with Ferrari. So any of you were doubting whether Lewis was going to be hanging up the helmet and hanging up the racing boots and not staying with Ferrari, I think Lewis very much dispelled those.
those doubts, put those doubts away, saying that this is, as he's always been consistent in saying, this is a long-term project with the Scuderia Ferrari. It's over, and these first few months, are just building blocks. That's what he was absolutely clear about saying today.
So I thought that was interesting. Kimi Antonelli, George Russell, they were out there for Mercedes as well. Done a nice feature with Kimi Antonelli, so watch out for that throughout the weekend. But I was talking about the cars, pretty consistent. But the gap to McLaren is still quite big. But this week will be emotionally and mentally draining. Lewis left him a note in his room in the race truck in Mercedes, which he's framed on the wall.
saying essentially, welcome to Mercedes, you're going to be great, you go kid, that kind of thing. And Kimmy is saying he's going to keep that note in a frame on the driver's room in the Mercedes race truck. So he thought it was very nice. touch George Russell saying that you know despite everything they've had a few lots of well some mostly perfect weekends and scored lots of podiums still in championship challenge contention more or less
and he's looking forward to the weekend. I did ask him with his GPDA hat on the Grand Prix Drivers Association hat. whether he was pleased that some of the FIA rules on swearing have been relaxed or rationalized. He said, well, that's one way to look at it. The other way to look at it was that it was silly that they were there in the first place. Oh, the bikers had turned up. I'm revving for absolutely no reason
So the swearing rules should never have been there in the first place. And George Russell also very much putting his support behind Carlos Sainz Sr. as a potential... FIA president of the future if he decides to run for election. against Mohammed Ben Salim. So that was the word from George Russell. He certainly got George's support. As Carlos Sainz Sr., Carlos Sainz Jr. said there would be absolutely no...
conflict of interest if his dad would run. He came up with quite a nice, he said, I'm the biggest fan of my dad, which I thought was nice, was sweet. I mean, of course he is.
um but uh he's got so much experience as my dad and he would be great at bringing people together not only on the sporting side but the uh but then the mobility side that he's already done a lot of work in in spain and he if he were to go uh to be papa presidente Carlos Sainz said that he would of course cut ties with his dad in terms of his management team and he would look after his own management with his cousin Carlos on Euro so that's very clear from Carlos
science juniors point of view was that there'll be absolutely nothing on a conflict of interest point that would stop his dad standing for the fi president if that's what he wants to do and it is a big if At the moment, Franco Colapinto, nice to be back, he says. It's never a nice to replace a driver, but there's been a lot of work over 10 days, a lot of sim work.
and I'd like a few more than five races than I've been assured of, but I think we can take it as Red that he will be in the car for more than five races. I think they were just doing that as a kind of... give you a bit of probation period franco but i think uh from alpine's point of view for many reasons uh colopinto is their man for the future rather than jack do and poor jack he will stay as part of the team and talking about part of the team
who Ollie Oakes is not part of the team anymore for personal reasons. We do have a new team principal in that position and it's Dave Greenwood. I think that's just been announced this Thursday evening. that it's dave greenwood ex of manor marocha already holds a director's license with the fia for a team so it's easier to do flavio briatore is the kind of you know top boss but flavia doesn't need to be doing all the mechanical day-to-day things that a team principal has to do.
So it looks like Dave Greenwood is only a few months after actually joining the team is actually going to be now Team Principal. So, yeah, the latest in the line of Alpine Team Principals. Good luck. to Dave Greenwood and we will leave you on a bit of a sad note which was Fernando Alonso paying tribute to Fabrizio Borra who was his long time physio and trainer a very important person in the life
of Fernando Alonso. If you remember the Hungary 2007 qualifying for Argo with Lewis Hamilton, Borat was the man who Ron Dennis put his hand on his shoulder and brought him down to meet Fernando and Luis at the Parque Fermé area. That was Fabrizio Borra, and Borra's been with Fernando. from Minardi, F3000, no, I don't think it's F3000, from Minardi through to Renault and then...
Ferrari and McLaren and Aston Martin and he passed away last week but Fernando talking about what a great influence he's been and how Fabrizio's sons are carrying on his work in sports science, not only motor racing. So, yeah, very sad. to hear the passing of Fabrizio Borra. Right, that is about it. Watch out for a mustachioed Liam Lawson this weekend. He's got a new tash.
little blonde sort of slightly slightly dark blonde tash which is which is quite sweet and a long-haired Esteban Ocon who's growing out his hair And on those really sort of insignificant and surface notes, I will tell you what time to watch out for us because we are on. on Friday at 12.30 in the afternoon for practice one.
4pm for practice 2, Saturday 11.30 in the morning for third practice, 3pm for qualifying and on Sunday the race build up is at 12.30, we're back to the European times on Sundays for the Grand Prix, 12.30 for a 2pm, lights out. There we go. Thanks very much for listening. Hope to have your company throughout the weekend. Bye-bye. When it comes to the beautiful game, Barclays is here for it all. From packed stadiums, top of your lungs singing and last minute winners. To money grassroots pitches.
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