Liam Lawson is surprised to be a creditable 8th on the grid for this afternoon's Formula One grand prix in Melbourne.
With the field of 24 getting to grips with radically different cars and new power units, the Kiwi driver feels he's still finding his feet.
Australian Formula One broadcaster James Baldwin joined Piney to speculate ahead of the race.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from News Talks ed B.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
George russellers looks an absolute certainty for pole so far
this Saturday here at Albert Park, Mister Saturday comes good
and takes provisional pole. It's a Mercedes want to with
Kemey out tonally at the front row. Isaac hatyall still
out there this first race for Redford. Where does he starts?
(00:34):
Starts in Dirk place, ahead of the Ferrari, ahead of
the McLaren.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Surprises up and down the grid. Lo's of storylines heading
into today's race. Plenty of interest of course in New
Zealand about how Liam Lawson is going to go for
the season ahead. He will start eighth on the grid.
George Russell and Kimmy Antonelli, the two Mercedes drivers at
one and two, Isaac Hedger, charl Leclear and the Ferrari.
Then Oscar Piastre and Lando Norris five and six, the
(01:00):
two McLaren's, Lewis Hamilton and the Ferrari. Seventh on the grid,
Liam Lawson eighth and his teammate Arvid G Lindblad, the
other Racing Bulls driver ninth on the grid to break
down qualifying and look ahead to the race itself. We're
joined by Australian Formula one broadcaster, the voice of F
one in Australia, James Baldwin. James, thanks for joining us.
(01:21):
Let's start at the front. George Russell is on pole
for Mercedes teammate Kimmy Antonelli alongside. Is that a sign
that Mercedes is going to be the team to beat
this year under the new regulations?
Speaker 4 (01:33):
Thanks Jason.
Speaker 5 (01:34):
Yeah, great to be with you and what a great time.
Finally as a Formula One fans around the world can
finally see the true pace of these twenty twenty six
cars and the teams that may have been sandbagging a
little bit in testing and free practice sessions ahead of
qualifying yesterday. And I tell you what, Mercedes are looking
(01:57):
exceptionally good. Oh he's totally surprised by that.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
Probably not really.
Speaker 5 (02:03):
I think the way that the team has been sort
of aiming towards this new rule set change has been
that they were trying to be as dominant as possible, as.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
Quickly as possible.
Speaker 5 (02:14):
The surprise, I think to many people is just that
Ferrari haven't quite got enough pace at least yet in
qualifying to get into that top podium position just yet.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
One of the book shocks, Max was stapping crashing out
early and qualifying. What happened and how much does that
shake up the complexion of today's race.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
Yeah, that's a good question.
Speaker 5 (02:34):
And going down the main straight into turn one, he
applied the brakes basically and then the rear axle locked
up and you can see on the replay. If you
haven't yet watched it, I encourage you to do so.
He just lost control of the rear of the car
as he prepped going to turn right into that first turn,
and the car spun around on him entering the barriers.
(02:56):
It looked like after the incident that may have hurt
his hands or his wrists. The front axle collected the
barriers there, but in true Max of staff and he
sort of just brushed it off immediately. And I think
for Red Bull, of course sad that they aren't towards
the front for them. But if maxis Staffin drives anything
(03:17):
like he has done for his Formula One career, he
will not be remaining at the back of the pack
for very long.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
All right, Well, Oajac Hadja is up in third on
the grid, isn't he So it's not a I mean,
obviously you don't want to lose your top driver or
have them start at the back of the field, but
not an absolutely catastrophic day for red Bull.
Speaker 5 (03:37):
No, that's certainly true, and I think if anything to
take away from qualifying, specifically for Isaac Hadja, red Bull
may have finally broken this curse so to speak of
trying to find a driver that can be comparable to
Maxis Staffin, Because up until the point of where Max
had his issue in qualifying, all the way through the
(03:57):
free practice sessions, Isaac Hajar was there or thereabouts or
even ahead of Maxis Staffen in timings and certainly with
the race simulations, the qualifying simulations that the team would
have been running in those times, I think everyone would
be quietly happy with his performance, especially compared to this
time last year where he didn't even start the race.
(04:19):
So for him, he'll be wanting to remedy that, I
suppose and be looking to finish on the podium in
his first race for Red Bull.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
The Australian crowd, of course, will be watching Oscar Piastri closely,
starting fifth on the grid. What are his chances of
fighting for a podium finish.
Speaker 5 (04:36):
I spoke with Oscar a couple of days ago and
he is quietly confident.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
I think.
Speaker 5 (04:41):
I mean this is we haven't had an Australian driver
successfully stand on the podium. We had Daniel Ricardo in
twenty fourteen, but then he was disqualified through a fuel
flow issue. So for us as Australians in that home
crowd sense we're all behind Oscar.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
He's quietly confident.
Speaker 5 (04:59):
It looks like he's got a better understanding of this
car than his teammate Lando Norris, who just wasn't.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
Able to get to grips with the way it was.
Speaker 5 (05:07):
Performing, certainly through the first sector of this track, whereas
Oscar was getting faster and faster. So we're quietly confident.
We don't want to put the mockers on him, of course,
but he is probably hoping to try and remedy last
year where in the last couple of lapses the rain
fell on turn thirteen, he's spun off onto the grass
(05:27):
and so he'll be wanting to get one up on
his teammate come race one today.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
All right, let's talk about our man, Liam Lawson eight
on the grid. How did you evaluate his qualifying performance?
Speaker 5 (05:37):
Liam is in a position that is sadly for him,
probably well under the microscope, and it's not necessarily his
driving that is doing that. It's the young rookie from
Great Britain, Arvid Lynnblad, who is the only rookie this
season in twenty twenty six, but is also his teammate.
And Arvid all the way through the weekend was exceptionally
(05:58):
impressive and in the qualifying in Q one rather he
outqualified Liam. But for Liam to then outqualify RV that's
exceptionally important for his mental state and also for the
team to realize who, you know, the more senior driver
is I suppose for this weekend. I mean, we all
love Liam. He is an exceptional talent and although the
(06:22):
quick trip to Red Bull Racing last year yielded him
going back to racing Bulls, it may have well and
truly saved his racing career because he does find himself
in this race seat again this year. Whether or not
Red Bull will take him back in the future is
yet to be seen, but he's still a Formula one driver.
He's still got exceptional pace and the way that the
(06:43):
regulations are working this year, Jason. There's more tactical and
strategic things that drivers can do from the cockpit of
their own car, including using straight line mode, which is
changing the way that the wings both front and rear operate,
and also an electrical boost mode too, and Liam's got
a wise head on those shoulders, so it'll be interesting
to see how he deploys those this weekend if.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
We just out a little bit, James, in terms of
the overall season, what does Liam Lawson need to show
this year or do this year to really establish himself
as a long term Formula One driver.
Speaker 5 (07:19):
The short answer is he needs to outperform Avid in
almost every race, as Avid's a rookie for this season,
but also because these cars are brand new, that might
be more difficult than we think, certainly because Arvid doesn't
have a reference point of last year's cars to get
to groups with like the rest of the drivers do,
(07:41):
including Liam. But if he is to remain in at
least in Racing Bulls, he would need to outperform. But
I would say if there's any opportunity for him to
grab some top five finishes this year, and I would
say probably racing Bulls are probably the fifth fastest team
that looks like at the moment after a Ferrari Red Bull,
(08:03):
McLaren Mercedes. So he'll be fighting around that sixth seventh place.
But if you can get fifth, and if you can
send some overtakes, especially on some of those other top teams,
then I think if you're starting to establish himself. But
I think the confidence he has already, the fact that
he's still in the sport is a big thing.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
It's a brand new year for him.
Speaker 5 (08:24):
We don't have to think about him being promoted and
then demoted back to RB. He can just be a
racing driver in this team and with any luck, maybe
he gets a promotion at some point back to the
team or he finds a home somewhere else in the
next couple of years.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
All right, let's circle back to the race today. To
financial Albert Park can be very tricky for overtaking. How
much of this race is going to be dictated by
grit position and by the start.
Speaker 5 (08:51):
It's a great question, to be honest, Jason and I
just don't know, because these cars are brand new and
we've never seen them in a racing format. Track position
is always incredibly important. So those sort of towards the
top ten will be having a much better time. Of course,
Cadillac is brand new this year, so we've got an
eleventh team and two extra cars, so twenty two cars
(09:12):
now will be circulating the Albert Park circuit. What will
be interesting in my mind is whether or not we
see a one or a two stop strategy for tires.
Come the race this afternoon and form my mind, I
think we're probably going to be looking at an interesting
way of this battery usage and how we regenerate the
(09:34):
battery for the drivers to use this boost mode. So
for my mind, who knows which is exciting in its
own way. Youre going to be honest because Formula one
has been you know, a little bit samey for the
last sort of six years especially, But to go racing
with these brand new set of regulations with one new
driver on the grid, but the return of two other
(09:54):
drivers and a whole team is simply just exciting.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Yeah. I can't wait to see how it plays out.
Great to get your analysis and your expertise. James, thanks
so much for joining us.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Good on you mate, Thank you for more Weekends Sport
with Jason Fine. Listen live to news talks at B
weekends from midday, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from News Talks ed B.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
George russellers looks an absolute certainty for pole so far
this Saturday here at Albert Park, Mister Saturday comes good
and takes provisional pole. It's a Mercedes want to with
Kemey out tonally at the front row. Isaac hatyall still
out there this first race for Redford. Where does he starts?
(00:34):
Starts in Dirk place, ahead of the Ferrari, ahead of
the McLaren.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Surprises up and down the grid. Lo's of storylines heading
into today's race. Plenty of interest of course in New
Zealand about how Liam Lawson is going to go for
the season ahead. He will start eighth on the grid.
George Russell and Kimmy Antonelli, the two Mercedes drivers at
one and two, Isaac Hedger, charl Leclear and the Ferrari.
Then Oscar Piastre and Lando Norris five and six, the
(01:00):
two McLaren's, Lewis Hamilton and the Ferrari. Seventh on the grid,
Liam Lawson eighth and his teammate Arvid G Lindblad, the
other Racing Bulls driver ninth on the grid to break
down qualifying and look ahead to the race itself. We're
joined by Australian Formula one broadcaster, the voice of F
one in Australia, James Baldwin. James, thanks for joining us.
(01:21):
Let's start at the front. George Russell is on pole
for Mercedes teammate Kimmy Antonelli alongside. Is that a sign
that Mercedes is going to be the team to beat
this year under the new regulations?
Speaker 4 (01:33):
Thanks Jason.
Speaker 5 (01:34):
Yeah, great to be with you and what a great time.
Finally as a Formula One fans around the world can
finally see the true pace of these twenty twenty six
cars and the teams that may have been sandbagging a
little bit in testing and free practice sessions ahead of
qualifying yesterday. And I tell you what, Mercedes are looking
(01:57):
exceptionally good. Oh he's totally surprised by that.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
Probably not really.
Speaker 5 (02:03):
I think the way that the team has been sort
of aiming towards this new rule set change has been
that they were trying to be as dominant as possible, as.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
Quickly as possible.
Speaker 5 (02:14):
The surprise, I think to many people is just that
Ferrari haven't quite got enough pace at least yet in
qualifying to get into that top podium position just yet.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
One of the book shocks, Max was stapping crashing out
early and qualifying. What happened and how much does that
shake up the complexion of today's race.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
Yeah, that's a good question.
Speaker 5 (02:34):
And going down the main straight into turn one, he
applied the brakes basically and then the rear axle locked
up and you can see on the replay. If you
haven't yet watched it, I encourage you to do so.
He just lost control of the rear of the car
as he prepped going to turn right into that first turn,
and the car spun around on him entering the barriers.
(02:56):
It looked like after the incident that may have hurt
his hands or his wrists. The front axle collected the
barriers there, but in true Max of staff and he
sort of just brushed it off immediately. And I think
for Red Bull, of course sad that they aren't towards
the front for them. But if maxis Staffin drives anything
(03:17):
like he has done for his Formula One career, he
will not be remaining at the back of the pack
for very long.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
All right, Well, Oajac Hadja is up in third on
the grid, isn't he So it's not a I mean,
obviously you don't want to lose your top driver or
have them start at the back of the field, but
not an absolutely catastrophic day for red Bull.
Speaker 5 (03:37):
No, that's certainly true, and I think if anything to
take away from qualifying, specifically for Isaac Hadja, red Bull
may have finally broken this curse so to speak of
trying to find a driver that can be comparable to
Maxis Staffin, Because up until the point of where Max
had his issue in qualifying, all the way through the
(03:57):
free practice sessions, Isaac Hajar was there or thereabouts or
even ahead of Maxis Staffen in timings and certainly with
the race simulations, the qualifying simulations that the team would
have been running in those times, I think everyone would
be quietly happy with his performance, especially compared to this
time last year where he didn't even start the race.
(04:19):
So for him, he'll be wanting to remedy that, I
suppose and be looking to finish on the podium in
his first race for Red Bull.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
The Australian crowd, of course, will be watching Oscar Piastri closely,
starting fifth on the grid. What are his chances of
fighting for a podium finish.
Speaker 5 (04:36):
I spoke with Oscar a couple of days ago and
he is quietly confident.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
I think.
Speaker 5 (04:41):
I mean this is we haven't had an Australian driver
successfully stand on the podium. We had Daniel Ricardo in
twenty fourteen, but then he was disqualified through a fuel
flow issue. So for us as Australians in that home
crowd sense we're all behind Oscar.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
He's quietly confident.
Speaker 5 (04:59):
It looks like he's got a better understanding of this
car than his teammate Lando Norris, who just wasn't.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
Able to get to grips with the way it was.
Speaker 5 (05:07):
Performing, certainly through the first sector of this track, whereas
Oscar was getting faster and faster. So we're quietly confident.
We don't want to put the mockers on him, of course,
but he is probably hoping to try and remedy last
year where in the last couple of lapses the rain
fell on turn thirteen, he's spun off onto the grass
(05:27):
and so he'll be wanting to get one up on
his teammate come race one today.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
All right, let's talk about our man, Liam Lawson eight
on the grid. How did you evaluate his qualifying performance?
Speaker 5 (05:37):
Liam is in a position that is sadly for him,
probably well under the microscope, and it's not necessarily his
driving that is doing that. It's the young rookie from
Great Britain, Arvid Lynnblad, who is the only rookie this
season in twenty twenty six, but is also his teammate.
And Arvid all the way through the weekend was exceptionally
(05:58):
impressive and in the qualifying in Q one rather he
outqualified Liam. But for Liam to then outqualify RV that's
exceptionally important for his mental state and also for the
team to realize who, you know, the more senior driver
is I suppose for this weekend. I mean, we all
love Liam. He is an exceptional talent and although the
(06:22):
quick trip to Red Bull Racing last year yielded him
going back to racing Bulls, it may have well and
truly saved his racing career because he does find himself
in this race seat again this year. Whether or not
Red Bull will take him back in the future is
yet to be seen, but he's still a Formula one driver.
He's still got exceptional pace and the way that the
(06:43):
regulations are working this year, Jason. There's more tactical and
strategic things that drivers can do from the cockpit of
their own car, including using straight line mode, which is
changing the way that the wings both front and rear operate,
and also an electrical boost mode too, and Liam's got
a wise head on those shoulders, so it'll be interesting
to see how he deploys those this weekend if.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
We just out a little bit, James, in terms of
the overall season, what does Liam Lawson need to show
this year or do this year to really establish himself
as a long term Formula One driver.
Speaker 5 (07:19):
The short answer is he needs to outperform Avid in
almost every race, as Avid's a rookie for this season,
but also because these cars are brand new, that might
be more difficult than we think, certainly because Arvid doesn't
have a reference point of last year's cars to get
to groups with like the rest of the drivers do,
(07:41):
including Liam. But if he is to remain in at
least in Racing Bulls, he would need to outperform. But
I would say if there's any opportunity for him to
grab some top five finishes this year, and I would
say probably racing Bulls are probably the fifth fastest team
that looks like at the moment after a Ferrari Red Bull,
(08:03):
McLaren Mercedes. So he'll be fighting around that sixth seventh place.
But if you can get fifth, and if you can
send some overtakes, especially on some of those other top teams,
then I think if you're starting to establish himself. But
I think the confidence he has already, the fact that
he's still in the sport is a big thing.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
It's a brand new year for him.
Speaker 5 (08:24):
We don't have to think about him being promoted and
then demoted back to RB. He can just be a
racing driver in this team and with any luck, maybe
he gets a promotion at some point back to the
team or he finds a home somewhere else in the
next couple of years.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
All right, let's circle back to the race today. To
financial Albert Park can be very tricky for overtaking. How
much of this race is going to be dictated by
grit position and by the start.
Speaker 5 (08:51):
It's a great question, to be honest, Jason and I
just don't know, because these cars are brand new and
we've never seen them in a racing format. Track position
is always incredibly important. So those sort of towards the
top ten will be having a much better time. Of course,
Cadillac is brand new this year, so we've got an
eleventh team and two extra cars, so twenty two cars
(09:12):
now will be circulating the Albert Park circuit. What will
be interesting in my mind is whether or not we
see a one or a two stop strategy for tires.
Come the race this afternoon and form my mind, I
think we're probably going to be looking at an interesting
way of this battery usage and how we regenerate the
(09:34):
battery for the drivers to use this boost mode. So
for my mind, who knows which is exciting in its
own way. Youre going to be honest because Formula one
has been you know, a little bit samey for the
last sort of six years especially, But to go racing
with these brand new set of regulations with one new
driver on the grid, but the return of two other
(09:54):
drivers and a whole team is simply just exciting.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Yeah. I can't wait to see how it plays out.
Great to get your analysis and your expertise. James, thanks
so much for joining us.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Good on you mate, Thank you for more Weekends Sport
with Jason Fine. Listen live to news talks at B
weekends from midday, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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