any thought of full match? Mention us on X
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00George Russell at the moment. Let's hear from Zach. Zach, that must have pleased you.
00:04Yeah, we're happy. That was great. I can't believe we've never won the Bahrain Grand Prix in the
00:08early days when we were winning so many races, but to get this one for the big boss here is
00:14awesome. Our guys drove great, so that was well executed. What was it about Oscar this weekend?
00:19Because he dominated. I mean, even from the restart, he disappeared off into the distance
00:24and finished 15 seconds. I asked him yesterday what he had for breakfast, because I think we
00:28all need to have it. So he was just on form. I mean, as he's always on form, but just this weekend,
00:33he was just dominant and totally in control. And Lando had a mega race, and it's just great to walk
00:40away with the points. Damage limitation on Lando's side of the garage, of course, from yesterday's
00:45result, but he made it to the podium, and potentially there's still an ongoing investigation
00:50with Russell, so it could still be the one-two that you promised us before the race. I don't
00:53hold it. I promised, but I hoped for. But yeah, it was, I mean, George drove a great race. The
00:58Mercedes is clearly very fast, and there was some DRS issue electronics going on. So yeah,
01:06we'll see what happens. Unfortunate if, you know, from a sporting perspective, because George drove
01:11a great race. But yeah, very happy. Lando had a, I mean, had a flyer quite literally. Obviously,
01:17he had to serve that penalty for being in that, you know, in front of his pit, his grid slot. But
01:21what would you have said, I mean, the way he drove this race, how would you, you know, what marks would
01:25you give him out of 10? Well, you could tell on the first lap, he was, he was back. It was a great
01:29first lap. Unfortunate with the, with the penalty, but it was deserved. But he did a great job. Team
01:36did a great job getting that back. And yeah, he's back to the normal, the normal Lando we know.
01:42This is the biggest gap for a victory we've had in 2025. Plus, Lando did a great job coming back.
01:47How good do you feel about the position the team is in right now? I think it's one,
01:50two for the drivers and the drivers championship as well. It's positive way to leave.
01:54Yeah, but the gap's never big enough. And it wasn't a big gap. You know, we, we had to run hard. The
02:00Mercedes was very quick. The Ferrari was, was very quick. So, you know, we know how quickly things
02:05can move in the sport with an upgrade here, here or there. So a lot of racing left to go,
02:09but very proud of the team. Well, the evidence of last year, there were a lot of people thinking
02:13that it might be Lando who'd be miles ahead at this stage. That's not the case. Looks like this
02:18is going to be two of your men in with a championship chance. So how are you going to
02:24manage that? Three points between them, as Naomi was saying at the top now, all seems very cordial
02:28for the moment. Yeah, no, they, they race, they race hard. I'm sure we're going to have some excitement
02:34over the, the year, but you know, they race very cleanly and they're, they're free to race,
02:37as we've discussed. I think we've yet to see that epic battle between the two. I just think
02:42that's a matter of time, but you know, they're pulling the whole team forward and excited.
02:47There's not a lot of time to rest, although I'm sure there'll be great celebrations,
02:50considering this is a race that you guys consider a home race, but we're going to Saudi next week.
02:54So how do you think that's going to fare for you guys? Is it going to be a track that suits you?
02:58And what can we expect? I think we should be strong there. It's a, it's a quick,
03:02quick track, obviously a street course. So, uh, not much room for, for error there,
03:06but we should be, uh, we should be good. So we'll, uh, do a little debrief now,
03:10a little celebrating time back in business on Monday. Do you think that you've got a car compared
03:14to the rest of the field at the moment that is going to operate well at most tracks? I mean,
03:18when we look at your, your opposition, obviously it was max last time out in Suzuki, it was George
03:23this week, the Ferraris actually had a very, very strong middle stint on the mediums. Do you think
03:27it's going to vary from track to track? I think it will vary track to track. I think we'll be strong
03:31everywhere. You know, the Mercedes has been strong everywhere and, and the Ferrari's been very
03:36strong. And then, you know, we're only a few races in. So I think, you know, including max,
03:40they seem to be, uh, off today more than the normal, but I think you've got to show up every
03:45race weekend, looking at those top four teams, not knowing who's going to be where celebrations
03:49tonight. Yeah. Why not? Have you? Okay. Appreciate it. Uh, yeah. Congratulations to McCona 1-3, uh,
03:56this evening for them here in Bahrain. Let's go to the Skypack. Karuna is there to have a look at a
04:00mixed day for Lando. Lando Norris had a bit of a rollercoaster day. Let's take a look at it. First,
04:05when he pulled up at the grid box, look, he's in neutral. You could see the end on the steering
04:09wheel. Then he thinks he needs to go forward. So it turns the wheel a bit, goes forward,
04:13back to neutral out there. So in the end, it was a 1-3 for the two McLarens, but a bit of a roller
04:19coaster for Lando Norris. All starting, first of all, with qualifying sixth, but then also that penalty
04:25that he, uh, had for parking the wrong spot. Okay. Well, if you go back to yesterday and
04:31what happened after qualifying, that interview that he gave, just saying, oh God, I don't know
04:35what's going on. I can't drive a Formula One car anymore. He seems so much more confident,
04:39doesn't he, Lando Norris, on a, on a Sunday than a Saturday at the moment. He does. Although I
04:44still felt that in his post-race interview and even in the cool down room, he was a little bit
04:48self-deprecating as well. It's, uh, you know, for him, I would say it wasn't a good weekend.
04:52You know, it started yesterday with obviously, uh, qualifying low down, making that mistake in
04:56sector one, but it just kind of continued, you know, the, the grid box, then the locking up,
05:01then the running off the track to let Lewis, uh, to when he was overtaking Lewis,
05:05all those small things added up to what ends up being a deficit to his teammate. That's
05:0915, 16, 17 seconds, whatever it was in the end, which he can't afford to have. But ultimately,
05:15they still finished on the podium. So it's good to see that they have enough capacity within them,
05:19that even when they're making all these mistakes, they're on the podium. Nico said it last year.
05:22He said that he felt that Lando talks himself down a little bit too much. And then you compare him
05:27with Oscar Piastri as we, as we talked about in the buildup to the race, if this is going to be a
05:32championship whereby mind games are going to play a role at the moment, he's just so calm,
05:37so level headed, isn't he Oscar Piastri? Uh, what does Lando need to do to kind of
05:42bounce back from this with his teammate, putting him under pressure and driving the skin off the
05:47car? Well, just not making mistakes. I mean, seamless weekends is what he really needs.
05:51I think that part of the reason why he is so hard on himself is because he wants to get ahead
05:55of people, particularly the media and others making criticisms of him. I think he wants to be the
06:00first one to own up to his mistakes, which he does very well. But I think he also needs to
06:03take it a little easy on himself and not add that extra level of pressure. Oscar seems like he's
06:07just, you know, he's sailing. He's smooth sailing. Andrea Stella, the team principal was elected by
06:14Zach to go up onto podium to collect the Constructors' Trophy and he emerged
06:20absolutely soaked in rose water. And after that, Ted spoke to him.
06:25Andrea, tell me, does, does rose water sting less in the eyes than champagne? Uh, it stings less,
06:34but what stings is that I was late with the spraying. So I gave Oscar and Lando the opportunity
06:40to attack first and clearly I lost the battle. So that's, uh, that's a bit disappointing, but, uh, uh,
06:47you know. Eyes undercut, always undercut, always undercut. Yeah, today the undercut was very powerful,
06:52even on the podium with the, with the spraying. So, uh, but apart from that, it was a very positive
06:59day for us. Uh, Oscar drove, uh, a perfect race. If anything, I would say a perfect weekend. Uh,
07:07a little bit of a shame for Lando with the five seconds penalty. Otherwise, I think, uh, good racing
07:13from Lando. We recovered and, um, yeah, I think he would have deserved to finish second. Uh, just the
07:21race finished maybe a couple of laps too early, but, uh, it's good. It's good for the team, good for
07:27the, our drivers. We are definitely in a strong position on both championships and this is thanks.
07:33Thanks very much to the work that the team have done. And I want to take this opportunity to say
07:39thank you to all the men and women at McLaren for, uh, having delivered such a, such an incredible
07:45car and, uh, and this racing. Not only that, it's that the work that everybody does at Woking and
07:51each race track around the world is only made possible by, uh, the support that you have from
07:56your shareholders, the largest of course of which are here in Bahrain. And so I guess that must make it
08:01extra special. Very meaningful, very meaningful victory. First victory in Bahrain is our second home
08:08Grand Prix here in Bahrain. So, uh, it definitely retains, uh, a special meaning for us. Uh, our
08:16shareholders have been, uh, so supportive, you know, we have given them, uh, certainly the opportunity to
08:22be very patient and they were patient and they were, uh, believing in us. Uh, I'm so happy that we can, uh,
08:30reward our shareholders, reward them overall with this season, with last year championship, the victory in
08:36Bahrain. And let me add also our fans that, uh, even them have been very, uh, very faithful in the
08:44job that McLaren could do and how they are enjoying this moment. I'm sure they will enjoy yourself as
08:50well. Thank you very much, Andre. George Russell finishing in second, his best result here in Bahrain,
08:58best result of the season, but beset by problems. Let's hear from him, but first his team radio.
09:03P2, brilliant driving, brilliant job. George, great job to bring that car over the line with
09:13soft tires and with, uh, basically the BB brake power wire going passive. Really great, great, great,
09:19great, great job. Thank you. Man, that was not easy. Even got my heart rate going down.
09:27No brakes, no steering wheel. What more do we need? At least just stayed on though. Yeah,
09:37yeah. Ah, happy, happy, happy.
09:42Hi, George. Hi. On a scale of one to 10, how happy were you to see that checkered flag today?
09:48Yeah, probably nine and a half to be honest. It was really challenging race. We had all sorts of problems in
09:53the last 12 laps. We had, it was called a brake by wire failure. So when I was hitting the brakes,
09:59the pedal was going all the way to the floor and I had to do some resets and it was coming back to me
10:04and then the next one had failed. And so for 10 laps in a row, I didn't know going into every corner,
10:09I didn't know if my brake would be solid or if it would be going to the floor. So, uh, yeah,
10:14really compromised the race, but at the end of the day, coming home in P2 was mega.
10:18I also had issues with the DRS transponder, I believe, because actually whenever Lando or
10:22Char got close, they weren't able to actually be sure in the fact that they had DRS or not because
10:27the transponder wasn't sending the signal that would tell them if they were within a second.
10:31That was a bit complicated. Right. So, so I don't know whether it helped in the end or not,
10:35because they didn't know, but for you, how tricky was it dealing with that? And what were you dealing
10:38with in the car with that? Nothing really, to be honest. I think every time I looked in my mirrors and
10:43they were within a second, they had DRS. So, and I wasn't using DRS, you know, I was ahead. So,
10:50that didn't compromise at all. You've got to go and see the stewards about the DRS and about using
10:56it at a point where you weren't allowed to. What's your defense for that today?
11:00Well, it was, you know, there was technical problems. I backed off and it was probably open
11:05for less than a second. So. Are you able to just explain to people how it works in that
11:11for people watching? Well, I don't know why. It's triggered automatically, isn't it?
11:15Yeah. I don't know how it got triggered. There was some, there was all sorts of problems going on with
11:20the, with the transponder and the signals going to the car. So I honestly can't give you an answer
11:26because I was losing everything on my steering wheel as well. I had no data on my steering wheel.
11:31I lost all of that. So, you know, I was really compromising my last thing. So, yeah, I don't
11:38know. It'd be exceptionally harsh if something happened. Well, well done dealing with all that
11:42and still getting the P2. Back on the podium. Back on the podium. Back on the podium. After a little
11:52glitch in the last one. Must feel good? Yeah, I think it's, it's so difficult to see
12:01you can see how quickly you go from a very good result to a less good. And I think Bahrain, we
12:07expect it to be one of our worst tracks with the very rough asphalt and the temperatures. And I think
12:12leaving with a car that is able to go on the podium P2 today is great. Okay. Did you get worried when
12:18the electronics started playing up and George disappeared from all the timing? Yeah, I think it's
12:23the driver who saved the result today. Brake by wire was kicking in and out and he kind of started to
12:29manage it without losing any time, which is amazing. Almost indescribable if that happens to you.
12:36And he nurtured the soft tyres well. He was fast when it mattered. Defended in the right way. So,
12:43heads off to George. So, what happened with this DRS opening by itself?
12:46The DRS, the beacon failed. So, the automatic DRS, that's a F1 signal, basically failed. And you
12:54had to open it manually. And I think on one of the occasions, he touched the button, closed it again
12:59immediately. And that was, you know, that wasn't any performance advantage. I'm sure that will be
13:05fine. Kimi's race? Messi overall, I think. Let's start with the deficits of the team. I think we didn't
13:12give him the right tyre. Should have probably bet on the hard and go to the end. That would have put
13:17him in the top ten solid. But then the first lap was a bit messy, pushing a hard on the soft tyre
13:24and basically making it go. But that's the normal learning trajectory that is to be expected.
13:30OK. Thanks, Toto. See you next week.
13:36OK. So, just going to read this out to you, because this is from 2018. And thank you to David Croft.
13:42Putting this on the WhatsApp group. It's to do with Sergio Perez and misuse of the DRS at the
13:49Azerbaijan Grand Prix back in 2018. And as a result of that, because of pretty much exactly
13:57the same as what happened, this could be used as precedent. There was no further action. So,
14:02that all goes well for Mercedes on that front. But let's get into George. And overall, despite all that,
14:10what a great job. What a great start. Firstly, can I say, I'm very impressed you managed to do that
14:13without your readers. Yeah, you're right. That was a good job. Thanks very much. That was a good job.
14:17I can see. I can see. Yeah. The way he's driven so far this year, if you are his manager or his agent,
14:24at some point, you're going to go into Toto's office and say, look how well George is driving. Give him
14:29another contract. I have to say, George has been impressive. And it feels like he's already
14:34felt that way all season long. Even in Japan, he didn't end up putting it together and qualifying,
14:38but he was right there. And he's been right there all weekend long and he delivered. And with all of
14:42those extra challenges that he was dealing with today to still be able to fend off the likes of
14:47Lando Norris, I have to say, that's really impressive. It feels like a new refreshed George
14:51who's just clearly got his target set. And yeah, I would also, if I was his manager,
14:55be going into Toto's office and saying, lock me in, Toto, lock me in. Yeah, because it runs out at the end of
15:00this year, but there are a few raised eyebrows. We were watching up towards Mercedes. Gwen Lecruy
15:05was in there who manages the Young Driver program. We said, do you think he's going to be able to get
15:08to the end on the softs when the Ferraris are out there on the hards and both of the McLarens on
15:13the mediums, but actually on low fuel, as that dropped away, he looked really comfortable on them.
15:18Yeah, look, it was touch and go at the end. I think he was helped a little bit because Lando had to get
15:22past Leclerc. So how would you sum up that race for you today? You knew the McLarens had pace and
15:28it turns out that Mercedes could look after their car on those soft tyres at the end as well.
15:32We are just not fast enough. That's the summary. We don't have that pace in the car.
15:41Mercedes were quite a bit faster in terms of, quite a bit better in terms of degradation
15:46compared to us. The soft, we couldn't keep them for long enough, but they called. So that was a
15:52surprise. But yeah, the pace was just not there. And it's just very disappointing when I think you do
16:00everything quite well, but it's only before. I was going to say, I mean, tyre-wise, we heard you on
16:05the radio at one point, strategy probably didn't really come into it that much in the end once you
16:09had that safety car, I guess. Changed everyone's plans. Yeah, yeah. I was in the opinion of doing
16:14something different at the beginning, which I think was the right thing. It ended up not being the right
16:19thing because there was a safety car that nobody could have known. But yeah, at the end, yeah,
16:25there's no regrets in a race like this. Just we need to find some place. Thank you. Thanks very
16:30much. Hi, Lewis. That looked like a much more positive day for you. Tell us what you've picked
16:36up from today that's going to help you going forward and how difficult is it to adapt to a new car? In
16:41commentary, they were saying it's harder to move into a new car even with experience than it is coming in
16:44as a rookie. I think it's, I think what's clear is, I mean, us as humans, I guess we,
16:53we get really stuck in our ways. And I think I've, I've been driving a certain style in a certain way
17:00with the same team for such a long time. I've moved to a new car and it's, it requires such
17:06different driving style and, and settings. Like I'm using engine braking, which we never,
17:10ever used in my previous year. Um, much different brakes if you're on Brembo's and I've been on CIs for
17:16the last 15 years or so. So, um, and this car just requires a lot, a much, much different driving
17:23style. And so I'm, I'm adjusting to that. And I think I am slowly getting it into my head and getting
17:31the balance right. I think what's clear is like Charles starts with a setup and he stays with it
17:35pretty much all weekend. And I, I was a long way away from him last weekend and this weekend.
17:39And just before qualifying, I go close to him, but then all the settings are all off. I haven't,
17:45so yeah, I've got a better, got to do a better job through the weekend. I know I can and, uh, I will.
17:51It sounds like you're having to use so much brain, more brain power now for all of this on top of the
17:57driving as well, the feel and the driving. It sounds exhausting, if that makes sense, in the, having to.
18:03No, it's not that you, no, it's just, I've got to just make it easier for myself, just doing it all
18:10the hard way at the moment. So I'll try next week to start in a better place and not deviate from
18:16that too much. Uh, as I said, I think I've figured out how the car likes to drive. So hopefully if I can
18:23apply that next week, if I can qualify best or I could have a much better weekend. So we'll see.
18:27Learning on the job and being helped out strategically, medium, medium. The first
18:34didn't, they didn't look particularly strong. In fact, they were, well, he was, it was all over
18:37the place. Then it came alive. He was making some overtakes and we were saying that the difference is,
18:43it's always interesting hearing when he has a positive session like that, it seems like he's
18:47finding answers as he goes. Yeah, it's, it's been tricky. It's been a tricky start for Lewis at Ferrari.
18:53Yesterday, he was particularly down. I mean, even coming into this weekend,
18:56it felt like energies were really low. From our understanding, we hear that the cars
19:03Supreme from the Australian every race this year has been one from pole, the largest winning margin
19:09of the season for George Russell best career finish in Bahrain and his best finish of 2025.
19:15London Norris passing the third in the closing laps kept him in the lead of the driver's championship.
19:21Leclerc finishes P4 for the second consecutive Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton in fifth, the best Grand Prix
19:28finish since joining for Ferrari. Verstappen P6, that's his lowest finish of the season, but passing Pierre Gasly
19:34on the very last lap. Rest of the top ten brought up by Estevan Ocon, Yuki Suroda and Oli Berman.
19:40Great effort from him. Kimi Antaneri suffering because he had the three-stop and it didn't work out for him
19:47behind the safety car. Alex Albon in 12.31, retiree and that was his teammate Carlos Sainz who had that damage
19:55to the side pod. So what it means for the drivers is this. Lando Norris, three points the difference
20:03between himself and his teammate Oscar Piastri who's closed the gap and is a one-two for McLaren at the
20:09moment. George Russell closing in on Max Verstappen. The gap between them six points. Charles Clare goes
20:15above Kimi Antonelli who was pointless today. Lewis Hamilton up into seventh and then it does Albon,
20:22Ocon and Lance Stroll who scored all the points for Aston Martin, but two of those in the bottom
20:27five today. It was a miserable weekend for the team from Silverstone. It means that Alonso still
20:33yet to get off the mark along with Lawson, Doohan and Portoletto.
20:40In the constructors, McLaren have extended their lead over Mercedes to 58. They had a further gap to
20:45Red Bull and Ferrari 14 behind them. What a day though. Haas into fifth. Oli Behrmann, one of the
20:55drivers of the day. Let's see here. Oli Behrmann joins me at the Skypad. Started at the back, finished
21:0110th. Best you didn't expect that. Definitely not. Unlikely result today. I was really, really happy with
21:07how things played out. Of course, a bit lucky to have caught the safety car and get a new set of tyres,
21:13but at the same time, I feel like I executed really well. Um, so I'm proud of my performance
21:17and I'm also proud of the team because they, they did a perfect call today. Listen, when you go back
21:21and watch it, you'll see loads of people who benefited that safety car. So don't, don't be, it wasn't
21:26just you. Uh, let's talk about the start because you made five places, I think, of the opening lap.
21:30Talk to me about the launch. Yeah, launch was good. It's tough to get a good start around here, uh, with the
21:34huge abrasive nature of the track. I found a little gap there. Yeah, you're in the middle, but I was like,
21:39if he closes me, I'm thanks. Thank you very much for coming down. Cheers. Right. Thank you.
21:45Show his talent once again. I mean, go back to Australia and that miserable first, well, first
21:51couple of days, and then he's just turned it around. He has turned around. Look, Oli already
21:55came into the sport last year. He got the golden ticket with Carlos Sainz's appendicitis and he just
22:00nailed it in the first moment. And we've seen that with other young drivers like George when he stepped
22:04in to replace Lewis. They have that spark and we're seeing more of that now. We saw him in the points
22:08last week in Japan and back this weekend and purely on merit. I mean, they didn't really do anything
22:12different, much different out there than most. He went a little longer in the first stint, but
22:16purely on merit, he made his way back to the top ten. Difficult weekend for Red Bull. Here's Max Verstappen.
22:24Hi Max, considering everything you were dealing with, you gave it everything, still
22:27taking up another place on that last lap. Is that how it felt today? I've just got to put,
22:31leave everything out here and see what I can get out of this. Yeah, I mean, uh, the start was not good.
22:37Then the pace was not good in the beginning already, just tires overheating again. The balance was not
22:42where I wanted it to be. And then, um, the first pit stop, something went wrong with the lights,
22:47they stayed on. Now you can drive through the lights, but that's not the protocol of the team,
22:52right? Um, so yeah, I had to, um, yeah, I had to just wait, but I realized there was a problem.
22:59Then I was stuck in traffic. The hard tires, unfortunately, they didn't work.
23:03They were just basically lower grip and even higher deck for me. Um, then we pitted again
23:08and even worse pit stops. So then I was last and, uh, considering everything to still finish P6 with
23:15also the pace that we had, I think it's still, um, yeah, good results. I mean, there's not much more
23:19that, uh, I guess we could have done. Did you expect coming into this weekend,
23:24did the team expect this was going to be a tough one looking at the track and the characteristics?
23:28It's just, yeah, we are bad on tire management at the moment. The balance is not, it's not where I
23:32wanted it to be. And then on a track like this, it all gets highlighted. That's for sure.
23:36So up next is a street track, street track with hot temperatures again. Have you got concerns going
23:42into that? Well, I mean, the tire degradation will be a bit lower in general, but if you are poor on
23:48tires, you are poor everywhere with management. Of course there, it's probably a little bit less,
23:52but still we're going to be, uh, weaker than our competitors. So you just have to take that into
23:57consideration, but at least maybe the layout will, will help a little bit, but tire management stays
24:03the same. You know, if you're weak on it, you're weak on it everywhere. Just finally, for me,
24:08having the two hards today, having the different tire options, did it help you or maybe it was not?
24:11No, it made it worse. Yeah. Um, even if I would have had two mediums,
24:15the position would have been the same. I was not at the same level as the cars ahead of me.
24:20Thank you. Thanks. Thanks. Thanks. That will anger him. Um, his teammate finished
24:27three places behind inside the top 10. So we must give a shout out to Yuki Tsunoda, but
24:31there were problems in, in the pit stops today. They had, but never went green or the lights never
24:36went off. So, um, yeah, they'll have to look at that and create some sort of fail safe because it
24:42happened multiple times. Max seems to be fairly pragmatic about it at the moment. We've not heard
24:48uh, a huge amount of whinging about the car or anything like that. He's not been complaining
24:52about it too much, apart from the obvious fact that he knows that it's where it's at. Uh, are we
24:57to read into anything, uh, from that? What do you think his demeanor is suggesting at the moment
25:03about, uh, you know, the team? Look, I don't think there's been any lack of pressure from Max's side
25:08onto the team in terms of his thoughts on where the car is at. I'm sure that compounded with today's
25:13issues, which was a lot of pit stop problems. I don't think they'll be, uh, leaving here happy
25:18at all. Um, and I know that the team know that, you know, Max is a competitor that wants to be in
25:23front. And if he's running third, fourth, fifth, it's, he's not interested in being here to do that.
25:27So, uh, I think everybody's well aware of that. I think from Christian to, to everybody in the team
25:32knows that they've got to deliver something better than what they've currently got. And, and of course,
25:35it's, it's a cause for concern. I mean, we've got new regulations coming in next year. Max
25:39has been very clear to say he doesn't want to be in the sport forever, but he wants to make the most
25:43out of it while he's here. So I wonder if this will get his head turned and maybe looking elsewhere
25:48in the paddock. I don't know if it's too early to say that just yet, but, uh, he's been pretty
25:51vocal about how upset he is with the state of that car. Best driver wants to be in the best car,
25:55doesn't he? I mean, Suzuka feels a long time ago, doesn't it? Yeah, exactly what a difference
25:59a week makes. Let's lead the, uh, the final word to the McLaren drivers.
26:05Oscar, huge congratulations. You just brought home McLaren's first win here in
26:09Bahrain and we barely saw you during that race. I mean, we often say to drivers, you made it look
26:13easy. I know it isn't, but just tell us how good was the car today? Uh, it was great. It was great.
26:19Um, you know, I think the, the first stint I could manage reasonably well, um, but, you know,
26:26I didn't quite know what the deg was going to be like. And, uh, then, yeah, the second stint felt very
26:31comfortable and then the, the final stint obviously very comfortable again. So, um, I'm very proud of the,
26:36the job everyone's done, um, including myself. You know, I feel like I've done a good job this weekend
26:42and, um, have the, the result that, that I, uh, that I wanted. So, um, yeah, very proud.
26:49It is looking like qualifying is particularly important this year. Um, how proud are you of
26:55the work you did to be able to get that yesterday, get that pole yesterday? Uh, yeah. I mean,
26:59it made life much easier today. That's for sure. I think, um, you know, we saw with,
27:05with Lando that, uh, being in dirty air of other cars was, was still very difficult to get through.
27:11So, um, very, not a lot. That was pretty good. Happy man, Zach.
27:18Thank you. I've still got my ribs intact this time as well. Um, no, very, very happy. Um,
27:25so yeah, I think, you know, qualifying is a massive part even around here where I think
27:30we thought it would be less of a, um, factor. It was still pretty useful to be, uh, a bit further
27:37up. So very happy. He's coming for you, isn't he? Your teammate in terms of it's going to be one or
27:43other of you on a weekend. I know George got in there today, but the fight was on or it is on,
27:48I should say. Yeah. I mean, you know, it's going to be a tight year. Um, I think we, we knew that from the
27:54start, I think, you know, we've seen in a few weekends now that we can't afford to,
27:58to slip up because there's a lot of competition, you know, fighting at our heels. Um,
28:05but yes, I think, you know, at the moment we have the, the strongest car out there. Um,
28:11and you know, we should be, we should be winning races. So, um, very proud that we were able to
28:16have this weekend. Great job. Thanks.
28:21Ladder, George thinks with another lap, you would have got him and you'd have had that P2
28:24today. I know you always want to win, but would you have been satisfied with that? And how are
28:29you feeling with the P3? Um, mixed. I mean, uh, my goal for today was P2.
28:37When I was P3, um, I mean, it was a good race. I think my recoveries every time from,
28:43from the mistakes that were made were, were good. Um, you know, with a five second penalty and
28:48having to let Hamilton go every time or that one time, I paid the price. Um,
28:54but mistakes that I shouldn't make in the first place, but the pace was, I think, pretty strong.
28:59Otherwise it's always difficult to say when you're in dirty air and things. So, uh, yeah, difficult,
29:05whether I would have got George or not, doesn't matter. Uh, I didn't. And, um, you know,
29:10policies that I got some points and the negative that, uh, we didn't achieve what we should have
29:14achieved. What was the issue in the start box? It looked like you almost rolled forward. I've just
29:18misjudged it, misjudged it. Okay. Um, okay. Well, it was, it was tough at the start though. You got
29:23a great start and you got up into P3. The fight was there in you. How do we, how do you make this
29:30a better weekend next weekend? What are you going to work on? Um, that's a good question. I mean, um,
29:36honestly, I'm surprised I'm achieving anything I'm achieving at the minute with how I feel in the car.
29:43I'm just, I'm just, like I said yesterday, I'm not comfortable. I'm not happy. I'm just,
29:46I'm not feeling good. So, um, to be getting these results that I'm getting at the minute,
29:50I'm still quite surprised by it. Can you tell us more about that? Why are you feeling good in the car?
29:55I mean, I just, I just, um, just something's not clicking, you know, something's not, um,
30:00I don't have an answer. So I, I can't give a good explanation of things. It's just, um,
30:08when you're a driver and things just aren't clicking and just aren't coming together, then it's just,
30:14uh, um, it's just difficult, you know, um, and not difficult because I didn't have the speed or the
30:20pace or whatever. Um, I know I've got all of that. I'm confident that I've got all of those things.
30:25It's, it's just, um, for some reason, I'm not able to show it and just not able to,
30:30to drive in the way I want or the speeds just not, not just flowing and, um, it's complicated.
30:37I don't have the answers now. I've got a lot of work to do as a team to try and understand these
30:40things because I'm so confident I can do a great job and considering how I feel for me to have had
30:46a win and a P2 and some of these results, um, I'm surprised by that, uh, even with how bad I feel,
30:52you know, so just work to do. I keep my head down. I keep working hard. That's all I can do for now.
30:59What's that feeling like when, when, when you just don't know where you are with the car underneath
31:03you? It's, it's a dark place to be, um, but you really rely on the people around you to,
31:08and the team to try and help you find those answers because you have weekends where you,
31:13where you just come away and think whatever I've done, the team, my teammates always been two,
31:18three turns ahead, which is what's happened here. Um, he needs the team to, to try and help him
31:23find those answers because by the sounds of it, he's not able to find the answers himself.
31:27Yeah, but I mean, I think, look, take what he's saying with a pinch of salt. He's trying to cover
31:31it up, but with all the mistakes he made today, he still was within striking distance. So it can't
31:36all be that bad. No, come on. He's still leading the championship. He's leading the championship.
31:40He doesn't, hasn't forgotten what he's doing. He hasn't pulled it together. He hasn't executed,
31:44and it wasn't a great weekend. Turn the page, move on. You got this. Yeah. I don't know. 15
31:48seconds behind his teammate in the last 20. With all those mistakes. In the last 25 laps though,
31:53that's a lot. Yeah, this is true. Got to get on top of it. There we go. But he's only got a week
31:58to turn it around because next up will be in Jenna Ted's race. Notebook is next. If you want to stay
32:03across, uh, the Stewart's decision on George Russell, just scan that QR code there. Uh, the latest news
32:09is on the Sky Sports app or available indeed on Sky Sports News. Uh, there we go. Well done,
32:15Oscar Piastri. He's won here in Bahrain. We'll see you next week in Jenna. It was all here. Bye for now.