An engine upgrade by Red Bull has penalised Liam Lawson ahead of Formula One's Italian Grand Prix, sending the Kiwi driver to the back of the grid.
Lawson only qualified in 14th place as Red Bull held back tyres and focused on him providing Max Verstappen with a slipstream.
F1 journalist Peter Windsor joined Piney to discuss further.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport Podcast with Jason Pine
from Newstalk ZB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Weekend sport. Liam Lawson will start from the back of
the grid for Formula One's Italian Grand Prix tomorrow morning,
copping a major penalty for the Red Bull team who
have changed the engine ahead of the Monza race. At
the front of the grid, Alpine's Pierre Gasly claimed a
shock pole position. He'll start at the front for the
first time in his career on a track where he
(00:34):
achieved the only win of his career six years ago.
Let's bring in award-winning and hugely respected Formula One journalist
and broadcaster and championship-winning race and test team manager, Peter Windsor. Peter,
let's start at the front of the grid. Pierre Gasly
on pole at Monza. How big a surprise was that?
Speaker 3 (00:55):
It was... Anyone who's critical of this year's championship regulations,
which I have been, I have to confess to that,
and I still am, the engine regs, on the other
side of the coin, you've got to say it's throwing.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
Up some really... Cool results.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Pierre had that very good race at Monaco and was
then obviously tainted by all the dramas with the speed.
limit in the pit lane and everything else. But here,
a very clear pole and shocking everybody. Yeah, absolutely brilliant.
I mean, one thing about Monza is that it is
what they call an energy-poor circuit, as distinct from an
(01:29):
energy-rich circuit. We're speaking electric versus internal combustion engine now.
It's all a bit complicated. But in qualifying, they reduce
the amount of electrical power you can generate quite considerably
so that the cars actually look a little bit quicker
on the straight and sound a bit better on the straight.
And I think that reduction threw quite a lot of
(01:50):
teams sideways. Mercedes factory team, obviously Ferrari too. And I
think it played into the hands of some of the
teams like Alpine who had fewer variables around which they
had to work and could just focus on some of
the good things about their car and keep the job uncomplicated.
And Pierre has always been super quick anyway. So I
think everybody delighted to see him on the pole. Really
(02:10):
good guy as well.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
Nice guy. So very pleased for them all.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
And also that team, Flavio Briatore is at the top
of it.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
But then you've got great guys like Steve Nielsen.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
You've got Jason Somerville and a very good Arrow.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
Team there now. So it seems to look really good.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
So what is your evaluation then of his ability to
turn that pole position into another race win?
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Well, my gut feeling is that when we go back
to a higher electrical rating tomorrow, it's going from five
megajoules up to seven for the race. We've been running
7.5 yesterday and this morning.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
I think it'll probably hurt them.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
I think you'll see the factory Mercedes, which historically are
the best team in Formula One this year in terms
of energy management. Again, it's sorry to be so complicated,
but that is what this championship is all about. I
think the energy management will play into the hands of
the factory Mercedes team tomorrow. And you see George Russell
in very, very good shape. He's on the front row.
(03:13):
And Kimi Antonelli starting at the back by Liam Lawson,
as you say. Yeah, could well get through to the podium,
I suspect.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Well, let's talk about Liam Lawson. A fascinating couple of weeks.
Really seventh at Zandvoort, then back in the Red Bull
for a second race. First of all, Peter, how impressed
have you been with his ability to jump between two
very different Red Bull cars and teams?
Speaker 4 (03:35):
Oh, very impressed indeed.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
I thought he did an outstanding job at Zandvoort just
to get in that car and go as quickly as
he did. He was right up there with Max in
qualifying and he drove well in the race. There's no
doubt about that. He hasn't had a very good Italian
Grand Prix through no fault of his own.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
And as you know, he had the engine change, as
we've just mentioned.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
And then he was very badly held up by Oscar
Piastri's McLaren in Q2, the middle session when he was,
I think he would have got through to Q3. But
for some reason, Oscar was going really slow in the
middle of the chicane at the beginning of the lap.
And even though Max Verstappen was there in front of him,
ready to give Liam a tow, by then the damage
was done and Liam couldn't do anything about it.
Speaker 4 (04:15):
He was rightfully very annoyed about that.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Monza turned into a difficult one for him anyway because
of the power unit change, the big grid penalty. How
difficult is that psychologically, knowing that before qualifying, effectively, it
isn't going to determine your starting position?
Speaker 4 (04:33):
No, I mean, it is.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
I mean, for Kimi Antonelli and for Liam, in a way,
you could say if you're not going to be on
the front row or the first two rows, I mean,
Kimi can't say that. But of course, I think you
can say that about Liam. Being at the back is
not horrendous because there are two very tight chicanes in
the Monza in the beginning of the lap. And inevitably,
(04:54):
I say inevitably, almost certainly there's going to be some
sort of incident there. And if you're at the back,
you can avoid that and stay out of trouble. So
that's one positive, if you want to look at it
from a positive point of view. Also, Monza's not bad
for overtaking if you've got a quick car and it's
going well. And I suspect for at least the first
half of the field, Leon will be pretty good in traffic.
(05:16):
And I think he'll pass quite a lot of cars.
Once he gets to sort of high midfield, it's going
to be more difficult, I think. But it'll be a
fun race for him. I think he'll be looking forward
to it in a way because he's very good at,
you know, he's good at late braking, he's good at passing,
he's an aggressive driver, and he's good at getting into
a rhythm and driving well within that rhythm in the race.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
So I think he's probably looking forward to it.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
But.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
You know, it's obviously not great.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
I mean, to be honest with you, if he was
standing in the middle of the pack, you'd say, you know,
he's pretty vulnerable to somebody knocking the front wing off
or something.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
At the first corner.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Where he is, you know, he's going to come through unscathed,
hopefully at the end of the first lap.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
And he's got a race in front of him. So
that's a good thing.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
What then would represent a good race for him?
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Oh, P7, P6 from where he is in the Red Bull.
I mean, well, that's being a bit unkind. I think P8, P9, actually,
because it's quite probable Max could finish fifth or sixth,
to be honest. If nobody retires, he's going to be
struggling to finish higher than fifth or sixth. So on
that basis, Liam, I guess, you know, in the points,
(06:21):
you'd say he's a good drive by Liam, for sure.
Speaker 4 (06:23):
If he's in the top 10, he'll be doing well.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
All right.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
And just on his journey, I mean, it's been unusual.
Dropped by Red Bull earlier last season. He's getting another
opportunity now. Do you think this latest spell in the
Red Bull gives him a genuine chance to change how
Red Bull view him long term?
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Yeah, I do.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
I do.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
I think if this was the Helmut Marko era, you'd
probably say not because he just loved all those young
guys coming through and he loved sort of shouting and
screaming at the ones he didn't like, who didn't deliver
and then getting another batch. But they seem to be
a bit more mature now, I think, in the way
they're approaching their drivers. And I think that's shown with
the way Yoki Tsunoda has been treated as well. I mean,
he's just the third driver at Red Bull and they
(07:03):
put him into the the B team, and he's done
a very good job. And I think they will treat
Liam with a lot of respect now because what he
did at Zandvoort and the feedback he's giving, I think,
you know, they'll realize they've got quite a valuable property there.
And I don't mean that in terms of financial terms.
I mean in real terms. And I think I'd like,
(07:23):
I'm pretty sure they will treat him quite well now.
I'm not quite sure what that will manifest itself into being,
but I think his stock has risen as a result
of the drive at Zandvoort.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
All right, look forward to that. Just to circle back
to the race, then to finish, Peter, as we say,
Gasly on pole. He's got George Russell and the Mercedes alongside. Look,
as you've outlined, Monza's a track where there are overtaking opportunities.
What do you see playing out? And to ask the
question I asked earlier, can Gasly actually win it from
(07:54):
pole or not?
Speaker 3 (07:57):
Well....
Speaker 4 (08:00):
My gut feeling is no, for the reasons I said.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
I think with the more electrical power with which they
have to play in the race, Mercedes are so good
at the way they manage the energy around the lap.
That is what they've done all year. They are the
gold standard at that. And as I say, when you
reduce the power, as we had in qualifying, it kind
of nullifies some of that advantage that Mercedes normally have.
(08:25):
But it will come back in the race at 7 megajoules.
So I think, not that Alpine will do a bad
job in the race, I just think that Mercedes will eventually...
prevail over the Alpine. And I suspect Ferrari will be
looking stronger than they did in qualifying for the same reasons.
I think they got hurt by the five megajoule thing
quite a lot. And I think with seven, they'll be
(08:45):
back pretty near Mercedes and probably therefore able to beat.
I'd probably be able to beat McLaren and Alpine, I
would have thought, in the race.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Peter, you've given us outstanding analysis as always. Thanks so
much for joining us across New Zealand. Really appreciate your time.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
Great pleasure.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
I just want to say how brilliant it was to
see Ryan Fox win the Open.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
So pleased to see that. Absolutely brilliant. So, Foxy, go
for it, man.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
I love it, Peter. Thanks indeed. Yeah, very proud of
Ryan Fox. That's Peter Windsor, award-winning and hugely respected Formula
One journalist and broadcaster. So, Liam Lawson, along with Kimi
Antonelli and Alexander Elbon, will all start from the back
of the field due to using additional power unit elements,
or their teams doing so, Oscar Piastri's also been handed
(09:32):
a three-place grid drop for impeding other drivers in qualifying.
Pierre Gasly in the Alpine at the front of the grid,
George Russell in the Mercedes alongside. Charles Leclerc and Lewis
Hamilton make up the second row of the grid in
their Ferraris. Then Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri in the third row.
(09:54):
So Gasly, Russell, Leclerc, Hamilton, Verstappen, Piastri. But Watching Liam
come from the back of the field will be a
really interesting exercise in itself to see how he goes.
in a fast car from the back, trying to pass
as many of the cars in front of him as
he can. We might find out quite a bit about
(10:14):
Liam Lawson's development and progress as a Formula One driver
at Monza. One o'clock tomorrow morning, the race gets underway.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Pine, listen live
to News Talk ZB, weekends from midday, or follow the
podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Weekend Sport Podcast with Jason Pine
from Newstalk ZB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Weekend sport. Liam Lawson will start from the back of
the grid for Formula One's Italian Grand Prix tomorrow morning,
copping a major penalty for the Red Bull team who
have changed the engine ahead of the Monza race. At
the front of the grid, Alpine's Pierre Gasly claimed a
shock pole position. He'll start at the front for the
first time in his career on a track where he
(00:34):
achieved the only win of his career six years ago.
Let's bring in award-winning and hugely respected Formula One journalist
and broadcaster and championship-winning race and test team manager, Peter Windsor. Peter,
let's start at the front of the grid. Pierre Gasly
on pole at Monza. How big a surprise was that?
Speaker 3 (00:55):
It was... Anyone who's critical of this year's championship regulations,
which I have been, I have to confess to that,
and I still am, the engine regs, on the other
side of the coin, you've got to say it's throwing.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
Up some really... Cool results.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Pierre had that very good race at Monaco and was
then obviously tainted by all the dramas with the speed.
limit in the pit lane and everything else. But here,
a very clear pole and shocking everybody. Yeah, absolutely brilliant.
I mean, one thing about Monza is that it is
what they call an energy-poor circuit, as distinct from an
(01:29):
energy-rich circuit. We're speaking electric versus internal combustion engine now.
It's all a bit complicated. But in qualifying, they reduce
the amount of electrical power you can generate quite considerably
so that the cars actually look a little bit quicker
on the straight and sound a bit better on the straight.
And I think that reduction threw quite a lot of
(01:50):
teams sideways. Mercedes factory team, obviously Ferrari too. And I
think it played into the hands of some of the
teams like Alpine who had fewer variables around which they
had to work and could just focus on some of
the good things about their car and keep the job uncomplicated.
And Pierre has always been super quick anyway. So I
think everybody delighted to see him on the pole. Really
(02:10):
good guy as well.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
Nice guy. So very pleased for them all.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
And also that team, Flavio Briatore is at the top
of it.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
But then you've got great guys like Steve Nielsen.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
You've got Jason Somerville and a very good Arrow.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
Team there now. So it seems to look really good.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
So what is your evaluation then of his ability to
turn that pole position into another race win?
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Well, my gut feeling is that when we go back
to a higher electrical rating tomorrow, it's going from five
megajoules up to seven for the race. We've been running
7.5 yesterday and this morning.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
I think it'll probably hurt them.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
I think you'll see the factory Mercedes, which historically are
the best team in Formula One this year in terms
of energy management. Again, it's sorry to be so complicated,
but that is what this championship is all about. I
think the energy management will play into the hands of
the factory Mercedes team tomorrow. And you see George Russell
in very, very good shape. He's on the front row.
(03:13):
And Kimi Antonelli starting at the back by Liam Lawson,
as you say. Yeah, could well get through to the podium,
I suspect.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Well, let's talk about Liam Lawson. A fascinating couple of weeks.
Really seventh at Zandvoort, then back in the Red Bull
for a second race. First of all, Peter, how impressed
have you been with his ability to jump between two
very different Red Bull cars and teams?
Speaker 4 (03:35):
Oh, very impressed indeed.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
I thought he did an outstanding job at Zandvoort just
to get in that car and go as quickly as
he did. He was right up there with Max in
qualifying and he drove well in the race. There's no
doubt about that. He hasn't had a very good Italian
Grand Prix through no fault of his own.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
And as you know, he had the engine change, as
we've just mentioned.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
And then he was very badly held up by Oscar
Piastri's McLaren in Q2, the middle session when he was,
I think he would have got through to Q3. But
for some reason, Oscar was going really slow in the
middle of the chicane at the beginning of the lap.
And even though Max Verstappen was there in front of him,
ready to give Liam a tow, by then the damage
was done and Liam couldn't do anything about it.
Speaker 4 (04:15):
He was rightfully very annoyed about that.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Monza turned into a difficult one for him anyway because
of the power unit change, the big grid penalty. How
difficult is that psychologically, knowing that before qualifying, effectively, it
isn't going to determine your starting position?
Speaker 4 (04:33):
No, I mean, it is.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
I mean, for Kimi Antonelli and for Liam, in a way,
you could say if you're not going to be on
the front row or the first two rows, I mean,
Kimi can't say that. But of course, I think you
can say that about Liam. Being at the back is
not horrendous because there are two very tight chicanes in
the Monza in the beginning of the lap. And inevitably,
(04:54):
I say inevitably, almost certainly there's going to be some
sort of incident there. And if you're at the back,
you can avoid that and stay out of trouble. So
that's one positive, if you want to look at it
from a positive point of view. Also, Monza's not bad
for overtaking if you've got a quick car and it's
going well. And I suspect for at least the first
half of the field, Leon will be pretty good in traffic.
(05:16):
And I think he'll pass quite a lot of cars.
Once he gets to sort of high midfield, it's going
to be more difficult, I think. But it'll be a
fun race for him. I think he'll be looking forward
to it in a way because he's very good at,
you know, he's good at late braking, he's good at passing,
he's an aggressive driver, and he's good at getting into
a rhythm and driving well within that rhythm in the race.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
So I think he's probably looking forward to it.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
But.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
You know, it's obviously not great.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
I mean, to be honest with you, if he was
standing in the middle of the pack, you'd say, you know,
he's pretty vulnerable to somebody knocking the front wing off
or something.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
At the first corner.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Where he is, you know, he's going to come through unscathed,
hopefully at the end of the first lap.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
And he's got a race in front of him. So
that's a good thing.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
What then would represent a good race for him?
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Oh, P7, P6 from where he is in the Red Bull.
I mean, well, that's being a bit unkind. I think P8, P9, actually,
because it's quite probable Max could finish fifth or sixth,
to be honest. If nobody retires, he's going to be
struggling to finish higher than fifth or sixth. So on
that basis, Liam, I guess, you know, in the points,
(06:21):
you'd say he's a good drive by Liam, for sure.
Speaker 4 (06:23):
If he's in the top 10, he'll be doing well.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
All right.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
And just on his journey, I mean, it's been unusual.
Dropped by Red Bull earlier last season. He's getting another
opportunity now. Do you think this latest spell in the
Red Bull gives him a genuine chance to change how
Red Bull view him long term?
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Yeah, I do.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
I do.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
I think if this was the Helmut Marko era, you'd
probably say not because he just loved all those young
guys coming through and he loved sort of shouting and
screaming at the ones he didn't like, who didn't deliver
and then getting another batch. But they seem to be
a bit more mature now, I think, in the way
they're approaching their drivers. And I think that's shown with
the way Yoki Tsunoda has been treated as well. I mean,
he's just the third driver at Red Bull and they
(07:03):
put him into the the B team, and he's done
a very good job. And I think they will treat
Liam with a lot of respect now because what he
did at Zandvoort and the feedback he's giving, I think,
you know, they'll realize they've got quite a valuable property there.
And I don't mean that in terms of financial terms.
I mean in real terms. And I think I'd like,
(07:23):
I'm pretty sure they will treat him quite well now.
I'm not quite sure what that will manifest itself into being,
but I think his stock has risen as a result
of the drive at Zandvoort.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
All right, look forward to that. Just to circle back
to the race, then to finish, Peter, as we say,
Gasly on pole. He's got George Russell and the Mercedes alongside. Look,
as you've outlined, Monza's a track where there are overtaking opportunities.
What do you see playing out? And to ask the
question I asked earlier, can Gasly actually win it from
(07:54):
pole or not?
Speaker 3 (07:57):
Well....
Speaker 4 (08:00):
My gut feeling is no, for the reasons I said.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
I think with the more electrical power with which they
have to play in the race, Mercedes are so good
at the way they manage the energy around the lap.
That is what they've done all year. They are the
gold standard at that. And as I say, when you
reduce the power, as we had in qualifying, it kind
of nullifies some of that advantage that Mercedes normally have.
(08:25):
But it will come back in the race at 7 megajoules.
So I think, not that Alpine will do a bad
job in the race, I just think that Mercedes will eventually...
prevail over the Alpine. And I suspect Ferrari will be
looking stronger than they did in qualifying for the same reasons.
I think they got hurt by the five megajoule thing
quite a lot. And I think with seven, they'll be
(08:45):
back pretty near Mercedes and probably therefore able to beat.
I'd probably be able to beat McLaren and Alpine, I
would have thought, in the race.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Peter, you've given us outstanding analysis as always. Thanks so
much for joining us across New Zealand. Really appreciate your time.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
Great pleasure.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
I just want to say how brilliant it was to
see Ryan Fox win the Open.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
So pleased to see that. Absolutely brilliant. So, Foxy, go
for it, man.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
I love it, Peter. Thanks indeed. Yeah, very proud of
Ryan Fox. That's Peter Windsor, award-winning and hugely respected Formula
One journalist and broadcaster. So, Liam Lawson, along with Kimi
Antonelli and Alexander Elbon, will all start from the back
of the field due to using additional power unit elements,
or their teams doing so, Oscar Piastri's also been handed
(09:32):
a three-place grid drop for impeding other drivers in qualifying.
Pierre Gasly in the Alpine at the front of the grid,
George Russell in the Mercedes alongside. Charles Leclerc and Lewis
Hamilton make up the second row of the grid in
their Ferraris. Then Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri in the third row.
(09:54):
So Gasly, Russell, Leclerc, Hamilton, Verstappen, Piastri. But Watching Liam
come from the back of the field will be a
really interesting exercise in itself to see how he goes.
in a fast car from the back, trying to pass
as many of the cars in front of him as
he can. We might find out quite a bit about
(10:14):
Liam Lawson's development and progress as a Formula One driver
at Monza. One o'clock tomorrow morning, the race gets underway.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Pine, listen live
to News Talk ZB, weekends from midday, or follow the
podcast on iHeartRadio.
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