May 26, 2025 • 9 mins
Optimism from within the Racing Bulls Formula One team after a superb return from the Monaco Grand Prix.
Kiwi driver Liam Lawson's come home eighth - his best finish in F1.
Motorsport journalist Eric Thompson joined Piney to discuss.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Wildergrave
from News Talk zed be.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Lawson eighth at the Monaco Grand Prix this morning, picking
up his first points of the F one season.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
So hat Ja second on seventh, Lawson eight.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
What a great day has been for those three drivers.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Certainly has Motorsport commentator and correspondent Eric Thompson has with
us et how significant is this for Liam? How much
confidence will this give him picking up his first points
of the season.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Parently, this is exactly what he needed. He's had you
and I touched on this before. He's had. The only
word I can think of was a pretty fought start
to the season. He's been comprehensively beaten by his teammates,
and you know, he's had a bit of bad luck,
bad strategy calls. But everything, everything came together at Monaco.
(00:57):
He was super fast in practice and he got to
Q three for the first time. You know that everything
aligned at the start around Monaco, stayed out of trouble,
great race, and the team had a brilliant strategy for
him and Hadja. You know, there's been some of the
other drivers sort of winging and moaning a bit about
(01:19):
you know he held us up a bit in the
drawer or if any other team had thought of that strategy,
any other team and that entire good would have executed it.
But I don't think they would have. Honestly, Piney executed
as well as the racing balls did.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Tell us about that again, tell us about that strategy
because Monico being being a race track that's hard to
pass on. They've introduced two compulsory pit stops.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Is that right?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
And how did racing bulls use that strategy to their
advantage this morning?
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Well, right at the very start, you know they would
have talked about they said, look, had you out qualified you,
so you know we're going to make sure Hadja gets
a good result. And Lawson, you know, be a good
team player, would have gone okay, guys. So what happened
is had you was in front and Lawson was driving
probably ninety six percent ninety seven percent rather than one
(02:09):
hundred percent, he wasn't racing, racing to catch his teammates,
and the racing balls were going, okay, let how'd you
get ahead of you so that he can come into
a pit stop? As you right, he said, first time
mandatory to stop, get the tires on and still come
out ahead of Lawson, which he did, so it means
had you couldn't be you know the phrase undercut overcut
(02:32):
in the pets, so loud had you to come out
and then that then they raced along again and laws
and stayed behind Aga and then for the second pit stop,
similar thing. He just lifted off. You're talking tenths of
a second. You know. It's not like that infamous Bathurst
Day when Fabian Coulthard was driving at about two kilometers
an hour down Conrad straight. It wasn't as obvious as that,
(02:55):
but some of the other drivers knew and as you
rightly said, Piney, you can't pass around Mont to go,
so it's not as if he could, you know, suddenly
be monstered. But he was just that few tenths slower,
which again allowed had had to get a second pit stop,
come out ahead of Lawsons, then the two of them
just race to the finish. So from a team perspective,
both cars got manufacturer's points and they are the most
(03:17):
important points because that's where the money comes from.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Indeed, you know, so smart team racing from Liam Lawson.
I did see though that he wasn't entirely excited about
his group position. Could he have qualified higher.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
If sinnans, pots and pans, you know, the whole thing,
he could have I mean, he was certainly fast, very
very fast. But you're looking at hundreds of the second
around a whole lap, and I think some people think,
you know, like when you blink, that's about just under
a second when your island blinks, So you're looking at
almost a tenth of that. So and around the whole
(03:54):
circuit like that, that's the margin. So if Lawson had
like a super clean lap, he could have been fourth
or fifth. I mean, you wouldn't have been on pole,
but yeah, maybe two or three spots high up. But
the best thing for him and the team, and for
Lawson and his family and close mates and friends and
(04:16):
his personal team around him getting points, getting to Q three,
that should be the launch pad for him or the springboard,
whatever allegory you want to use for him to do
really well this weekend. It's the last of the triple header,
and if he can get into the points again the
weekend coming up now, he could be on for a
really good running for the rest of the season.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Outstanding here, So that's a grand Prix now number nine.
Is you say in Spain this coming weekend, is he
just starting to get the hang of this et?
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Yeah, I think so, Monico. He's always liked to Monaco.
In fact, I think he's just moved there so as
you do. Of course, you and I might be able
to afford the walk around the place.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
We'll visit.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
We'll visit one day.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
I won't be able to a couple of coffee, and
so you know, he's moved there, so that's a good thing. So,
but he likes the place. It's a really tricky place, Monaca.
You know, you saw, you know, a couple of accidents
and qualifying and practice and during the race, so to
manage that car around there. I think he is finally
(05:26):
getting the hang of it. And I think he's just
not over trying anymore, like we've all done it in
the past. You know, things don't go the right way,
so you try too hard, then you make more mistakes.
I think if you just dial back a bit, and
I think, what's really good. Although he wanted to race,
and he wasn't racing racing, but he dialed back a
little bit, like one or two percent, and look at
(05:47):
the result by not over trying, brought the car home
one piece, picked up points. So you know, maybe that's
a really good thing.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Just while I've got you across the Atlantic Ocean. The
ND five hundred was on at the brickyard, very wet,
very challenging, and for the key with contingent, not a
day they'll remember with any fine. The Scott McLoughlin crashed
out in the warm up lap. Scott Dixon had mechanical
as you see, was twenty third. Marcus Armstrong the best
of the three of them in twenty first. Just a
(06:17):
bad day for the kiwis at the brickyard.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Et oh, maybe a really bad at the office for
three of them. You'd normally have three kewis in that field.
One of them would have been in the top ten.
And Dixon was so fast in the two weeks running
up to that for him to get a break dup fire.
I mean that was then at him and McLoughlin putting
it into the wall, and I think it's the first
(06:39):
time since about the seventies somebody's put it in the
wall during practice. And you know, and the accidents left,
right and center. You know, Schwartzman, the guy put the
car on pole, pulls into the pits and takes out
four of his pit crew. Yeah, you know, it was
just one of the weirdest thing. But I was talking
to Scott Dixon before the race and before the race weekend,
(07:02):
and he was saying, the hybrid engines that they're using
this and especially they're doing well over three hundred klimeters
an hour around that place, is that there's a lot
of weight out the rear of the car. And he
was saying, I think he's quote with something like it
acts like a pendulum at the back of the car.
In the past. He was saying, if it started to
slide or step out, you know, you could catch it
(07:25):
and you maybe get a bit of a twitch and
a drift, but you'd be okay. But he was saying,
because there's all this weight hanging out in the back
of the car, once it goes, it just goes. And
if you look at the accident, some of the monster
accidents and practice in the run up and in qualifying
to that race and during the race, I reckon there's
something in that the hybrid engine and how that extra
(07:47):
weight is mounted out the back of the car could
be catching a few of these drivers out all right,
and just to finish.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Sean Bengezberg and I see fourteenth at the Lattice NASCAR
Race and Charlotte. That's the second best finish of the season.
He was sixth at the Circuit of the America's back
in early March. How's the gids going in NASCAR?
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Ovals have been his bugbear show. We say road courses.
We all know if he doesn't get punted off, he'll
be there and thereabouts on road courses. But if you
look back at the qualifying for the All Star Race,
he qualified on pole on an oval, so you just
know he's getting the hang of the ovals and some
of all the old stages that have been around for years,
(08:27):
and some of the retired NASCAR drivers and said with shame,
the only way you can be fast on ovals is
to spend time on ovals. There's no magic thing, you know,
you can't get a coach to give you the right thing.
On ovals. It's just miles after miles after miles. And
if you think about it, he got one thousand kilometers
at the Cocola six hundred. This is the longest NASCAR
(08:49):
race on an oval. And okay, a little bit of
damage to the underneath of the car when you had
to take to the infield, but other than that, out
of trouble. And in fourteenth I reckon he's well on
his way to getting his head around the ovals and
they're just something weird. You know, the Americans grow up
on ovals. Nobody else in the rest of the world
does well. It's weird.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Good to know who's get on the hang of it
at Always love chatting motusport with you. Thanks for your
time this evening, mate. We'll catch up again soon.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Ye're always a pleasure. Pin it anytime, mate.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Good on you mate. That's Eric Thompson, our motorsport correspondent
here on News Talk s EDBS.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
For more from sports Talk, listen live to News Talks
it Be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Wildergrave
from News Talk zed be.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Lawson eighth at the Monaco Grand Prix this morning, picking
up his first points of the F one season.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
So hat Ja second on seventh, Lawson eight.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
What a great day has been for those three drivers.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Certainly has Motorsport commentator and correspondent Eric Thompson has with
us et how significant is this for Liam? How much
confidence will this give him picking up his first points
of the season.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Parently, this is exactly what he needed. He's had you
and I touched on this before. He's had. The only
word I can think of was a pretty fought start
to the season. He's been comprehensively beaten by his teammates,
and you know, he's had a bit of bad luck,
bad strategy calls. But everything, everything came together at Monaco.
(00:57):
He was super fast in practice and he got to
Q three for the first time. You know that everything
aligned at the start around Monaco, stayed out of trouble,
great race, and the team had a brilliant strategy for
him and Hadja. You know, there's been some of the
other drivers sort of winging and moaning a bit about
(01:19):
you know he held us up a bit in the
drawer or if any other team had thought of that strategy,
any other team and that entire good would have executed it.
But I don't think they would have. Honestly, Piney executed
as well as the racing balls did.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Tell us about that again, tell us about that strategy
because Monico being being a race track that's hard to
pass on. They've introduced two compulsory pit stops.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Is that right?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
And how did racing bulls use that strategy to their
advantage this morning?
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Well, right at the very start, you know they would
have talked about they said, look, had you out qualified you,
so you know we're going to make sure Hadja gets
a good result. And Lawson, you know, be a good
team player, would have gone okay, guys. So what happened
is had you was in front and Lawson was driving
probably ninety six percent ninety seven percent rather than one
(02:09):
hundred percent, he wasn't racing, racing to catch his teammates,
and the racing balls were going, okay, let how'd you
get ahead of you so that he can come into
a pit stop? As you right, he said, first time
mandatory to stop, get the tires on and still come
out ahead of Lawson, which he did, so it means
had you couldn't be you know the phrase undercut overcut
(02:32):
in the pets, so loud had you to come out
and then that then they raced along again and laws
and stayed behind Aga and then for the second pit stop,
similar thing. He just lifted off. You're talking tenths of
a second. You know. It's not like that infamous Bathurst
Day when Fabian Coulthard was driving at about two kilometers
an hour down Conrad straight. It wasn't as obvious as that,
(02:55):
but some of the other drivers knew and as you
rightly said, Piney, you can't pass around Mont to go,
so it's not as if he could, you know, suddenly
be monstered. But he was just that few tenths slower,
which again allowed had had to get a second pit stop,
come out ahead of Lawsons, then the two of them
just race to the finish. So from a team perspective,
both cars got manufacturer's points and they are the most
(03:17):
important points because that's where the money comes from.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Indeed, you know, so smart team racing from Liam Lawson.
I did see though that he wasn't entirely excited about
his group position. Could he have qualified higher.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
If sinnans, pots and pans, you know, the whole thing,
he could have I mean, he was certainly fast, very
very fast. But you're looking at hundreds of the second
around a whole lap, and I think some people think,
you know, like when you blink, that's about just under
a second when your island blinks, So you're looking at
almost a tenth of that. So and around the whole
(03:54):
circuit like that, that's the margin. So if Lawson had
like a super clean lap, he could have been fourth
or fifth. I mean, you wouldn't have been on pole,
but yeah, maybe two or three spots high up. But
the best thing for him and the team, and for
Lawson and his family and close mates and friends and
(04:16):
his personal team around him getting points, getting to Q three,
that should be the launch pad for him or the springboard,
whatever allegory you want to use for him to do
really well this weekend. It's the last of the triple header,
and if he can get into the points again the
weekend coming up now, he could be on for a
really good running for the rest of the season.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Outstanding here, So that's a grand Prix now number nine.
Is you say in Spain this coming weekend, is he
just starting to get the hang of this et?
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Yeah, I think so, Monico. He's always liked to Monaco.
In fact, I think he's just moved there so as
you do. Of course, you and I might be able
to afford the walk around the place.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
We'll visit.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
We'll visit one day.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
I won't be able to a couple of coffee, and
so you know, he's moved there, so that's a good thing. So,
but he likes the place. It's a really tricky place, Monaca.
You know, you saw, you know, a couple of accidents
and qualifying and practice and during the race, so to
manage that car around there. I think he is finally
(05:26):
getting the hang of it. And I think he's just
not over trying anymore, like we've all done it in
the past. You know, things don't go the right way,
so you try too hard, then you make more mistakes.
I think if you just dial back a bit, and
I think, what's really good. Although he wanted to race,
and he wasn't racing racing, but he dialed back a
little bit, like one or two percent, and look at
(05:47):
the result by not over trying, brought the car home
one piece, picked up points. So you know, maybe that's
a really good thing.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Just while I've got you across the Atlantic Ocean. The
ND five hundred was on at the brickyard, very wet,
very challenging, and for the key with contingent, not a
day they'll remember with any fine. The Scott McLoughlin crashed
out in the warm up lap. Scott Dixon had mechanical
as you see, was twenty third. Marcus Armstrong the best
of the three of them in twenty first. Just a
(06:17):
bad day for the kiwis at the brickyard.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Et oh, maybe a really bad at the office for
three of them. You'd normally have three kewis in that field.
One of them would have been in the top ten.
And Dixon was so fast in the two weeks running
up to that for him to get a break dup fire.
I mean that was then at him and McLoughlin putting
it into the wall, and I think it's the first
(06:39):
time since about the seventies somebody's put it in the
wall during practice. And you know, and the accidents left,
right and center. You know, Schwartzman, the guy put the
car on pole, pulls into the pits and takes out
four of his pit crew. Yeah, you know, it was
just one of the weirdest thing. But I was talking
to Scott Dixon before the race and before the race weekend,
(07:02):
and he was saying, the hybrid engines that they're using
this and especially they're doing well over three hundred klimeters
an hour around that place, is that there's a lot
of weight out the rear of the car. And he
was saying, I think he's quote with something like it
acts like a pendulum at the back of the car.
In the past. He was saying, if it started to
slide or step out, you know, you could catch it
(07:25):
and you maybe get a bit of a twitch and
a drift, but you'd be okay. But he was saying,
because there's all this weight hanging out in the back
of the car, once it goes, it just goes. And
if you look at the accident, some of the monster
accidents and practice in the run up and in qualifying
to that race and during the race, I reckon there's
something in that the hybrid engine and how that extra
(07:47):
weight is mounted out the back of the car could
be catching a few of these drivers out all right,
and just to finish.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Sean Bengezberg and I see fourteenth at the Lattice NASCAR
Race and Charlotte. That's the second best finish of the season.
He was sixth at the Circuit of the America's back
in early March. How's the gids going in NASCAR?
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Ovals have been his bugbear show. We say road courses.
We all know if he doesn't get punted off, he'll
be there and thereabouts on road courses. But if you
look back at the qualifying for the All Star Race,
he qualified on pole on an oval, so you just
know he's getting the hang of the ovals and some
of all the old stages that have been around for years,
(08:27):
and some of the retired NASCAR drivers and said with shame,
the only way you can be fast on ovals is
to spend time on ovals. There's no magic thing, you know,
you can't get a coach to give you the right thing.
On ovals. It's just miles after miles after miles. And
if you think about it, he got one thousand kilometers
at the Cocola six hundred. This is the longest NASCAR
(08:49):
race on an oval. And okay, a little bit of
damage to the underneath of the car when you had
to take to the infield, but other than that, out
of trouble. And in fourteenth I reckon he's well on
his way to getting his head around the ovals and
they're just something weird. You know, the Americans grow up
on ovals. Nobody else in the rest of the world
does well. It's weird.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Good to know who's get on the hang of it
at Always love chatting motusport with you. Thanks for your
time this evening, mate. We'll catch up again soon.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Ye're always a pleasure. Pin it anytime, mate.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Good on you mate. That's Eric Thompson, our motorsport correspondent
here on News Talk s EDBS.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
For more from sports Talk, listen live to News Talks
it Be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
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