Bob McMurray: Motorsport expert and former McLaren race member on F1's Saudi Arabia Grand Prix

For the second Formula One race in a row, Liam Lawson’s chances were dashed by a time penalty, as the Kiwi finished 12th at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Oscar Piatri crossed the line to win the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and lead the driver's championship.

Motorsport expert and former McLaren race member Bob McMurray talks to Tim Beveridge about the race. 

LISTEN ABOVE. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're listening to a podcast from News Talks.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
It be follow This and our Wide Ranger podcast now
on iHeartRadio. Liam Lawson has had a crack at the
Saudi Arabi and Grand Prix. We're continuing with the if
one theme for time being. He's finished twelfth for the
racing balls.

Speaker 1 (00:27):
Oscar Piastre crosses the line now to win the Saudi
Arabian Grand Prix and lead the drivers' championship. Max Verstappen
is beaten into second place and got that five second penalty.
Charlaflair holds off Lando Narris to claim Ferrari's first podium.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
Of the season. Oscar Piastre took the check and flag,
gaining crucial Constructors Championship points for McLaren, while Max for
Stepan came in second for Red Bull. Motorsport expert and
former McLaren race member Bob McMurray joins me now and Bob, hello,
how are you going?

Speaker 3 (01:02):
Good morning to him? Yeah, very well, thank you after
watching a Grand Prix for what seems all night, but
it was good you would beat.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
I mean, do your allegiances still sit firmly with McLaren
haven't been a member.

Speaker 3 (01:14):
I've got to say, yeah, if I was going to
support any team, it would be McLaren and I still
have a lot of friends there and I still go
to our association of McLaren Old Boys. So yeah, underlying
it all, you can't get real thirty odd years in McLaren.

Speaker 2 (01:29):
Unfortunately, they still look like they do have the faster
car or they read ball with nex with Stepan's pretty close,
isn't he.

Speaker 3 (01:37):
Yeah, you listen to Orlando Norris after the race and
he said, you know, it's not not true. We don't
have the fastest car at all anymore. It's just on
the day and all sorts of things like that. But
you've got to say that everybody is quite close. But
in race trim it does seem to be that McLaren
has the edge slightly on the the Red Bull of

(01:59):
Max with Stefan up to now, but Max was incredibly
fast in the in the race overnight that to Selby.
So yeah, it's still a competition and it's a good competition.
A good thing about that race is that it's the
first race this year that the pole position winer didn't
win the race. I mean, that was getting a bit tedious,

(02:20):
but yeah, it was a race we had anyway, good one.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
Let's get on to Lawson's performance. Liam Lawson, what did
you make of his performance?

Speaker 3 (02:28):
Not much, to be honest. He was overtaken by his
teammates at the beginning of the race, despite the fact
he was on medium tires, his teammate was on hard
and he never betted his teammate all the way through,
depending on the even depending on the different tactics with
changing tires and all that sort of things. So he
got a ten second penalty, which I thought was a

(02:48):
little bit bizarre. When he overtook Jack Doing and went
off the road slightly, he got a ten second penalty,
whereas Max was to happened he went straight over the
corner and retained his place at the front of the pack,
only got a five second penalty. So I don't know
how those guys work it out early every time, but

(03:09):
I think it was a better display from Liam than
he has had so far on a very tough track.
But the overriding thing is you still got to beat
your teammate, and I believe Liam will start to do that. Yeah,
but that's the you know, that is the crucial thing
in any team. Beat a teammate.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
I guess, well, that is the thing that you believe
he can do it, so the improvement is what he'd
be looking for. Would qualifying ahead of Isaac Hadgow have
sort of helped his mental state and confidence?

Speaker 3 (03:40):
I'm sure, yeah, I mean it was, it was by
this limits of margins, but yeah, he did qualify ahead
of him, So that that means that there are an
equal footing in the team, and Liam's experience should see
him improve as he comes to tracks he's driven on before,
as has Hadji in Formula two with his whole different
world in Formula one, and you've got to give a

(04:03):
lot of credit to Isaac Hadjar coming in after, you know,
straight into his first season and being competitive straight up.
So you know, Liam has got a battle on his
hands with a very very good driver and he's been
spotted as a good driver all the way through Formula two.
So yeah, it's going to be tough.

Speaker 2 (04:22):
What's the speed of the car that Lawson's driving compared
to the rest of the field.

Speaker 3 (04:28):
Well, by the speed, you mean.

Speaker 2 (04:31):
The performance the potential.

Speaker 3 (04:32):
I mean, well, the potential is getting better and better now.
They obviously feed from the major team Red Bull and
they have a lot of parts that they're allowed to
have from Red Bull on that car. So it is
getting better and better, but it is clearly a midfield
team at the moment. It is clearly a team that
is going to be fighting with the likes of Aston Martin,

(04:55):
but they should do better than them because of one
of the drivers in Aston Martin and useless with Williams
with half that sort of thing. That's where they've got
to step out. They've got to step above that got stuff.

Speaker 2 (05:07):
Hey, thanks some much for your time, Bob, really appreciate it.
That's more of a most sport expert Inform Claire and
race member Bob McMurray for.

Speaker 3 (05:13):
More from News Talk sed B. Listen live on air
or online, and

Speaker 2 (05:17):
Keep our shows with you wherever you go with our
podcasts on iHeartRadio