McLaren Let Norris Down | 2026 Madrid GP Winners and Losers

0:00What are you gonna do tonight? Let it be, what you're actually doing tonight Let it be, what you're actually doing tonight Take it away, Jordan Come on, come on, let's go Pop it down, all go out of it It's easy, take off all the lines We have a lot to do It's finally off on the road, catch it all Be a bell, bye, come on out, take it when you get it Hi Podvans, Max Russian here from the Chart Topping Guardian for the Weekly Podcast

1:01Don't not to crout If you enjoy the World Cup with us, you'll be glad to know we're back for the Premier League season Expect three episodes of week questionable predictions and the biggest stories in soccer from the Premier League to the Champions League and beyond Watch now on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts Whatever bike you're looking for from Mountain to Road, either pedal powered or electric, we've got what you want ready for super fast delivery Quality gear at prices you won't find in your average bike shop Likestoneline.com, ride more for less Acast powers the world's best podcasts New school year, new podcast obsession, hit play on this I was listening to Mark Zuckerberg on a tech podcast One, I'm sorry you had to listen to Mark Zuckerberg on a tech podcast Me too Would you like to read the email or should I? No, no, no, I would love to read the email My first internet memory It's like asking what's the first time I eat fish Do you ever go online and just get absolutely run over by the onslaught of drama, disaster and discourse? I'm Kate Lindsay, host of ICYMI, aka in case you missed it

2:04An internet culture podcast from Slate Twice a week, we invite smart thinkers across the internet to discuss the latest trending topics And how being online right now actually makes us feel Everything from our concerns about smart glasses These are predator goggles Yes, having a mid boyfriend is in fact embarrassing Someone will literally comment and say, oh, but that's not my exact experience with my partner Like Kyle is great and I'm like, yeah, but we're not talking about you and Kyle Come on and join us every Wednesday and Saturday across all podcast platforms as well as YouTube That's ICYMI, we're online so you don't have to be Acast helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts Class is always in session at acast.com We cannot have another race weekend like that This thing, if I had a dark bit of this hotel room It would go straight there Because yeah, it looked demanding from the driver's point of view over the course of a single lab

3:04But it was just more frustrating over a whole race distance And from the grandstands where I was located, I must admit it did drag The only races where I really got up in arms over something consistently were during the app two races When it comes to examples from Formula One, we had the staff and admitting Norris was quicker Yet he was able to keep him behind relatively easily And then of course there was the likes of Liam Lawson, him needing to make a risky move Just to try and progress amongst cars that really should have been simple to try and get by over like maybe monster circuits As much as I thought the facilities were solid enough for the first year in Bound Zone A This track does need to be changed up for next year Nico Rossbeth was right, Carl Scyth needs to be held accountable in part He's lauded this track for months Let's just say that on a Sunday, catching someone was a lot easier than actually trying to overtake them And Lando Norris demonstrated that perfectly Because he was a guy who was quick enough to control the opening stint But once he came out over that disastrous pit stop

4:07There was absolutely nothing he could do to try and get that win back You know what, to train things up a little, I'm going to keep you on your toes We're going to flip between winners, losers and the mayor So yes, indeed, Lando Norris, I think, was a winner of this weekend He not only was able to come back from a Friday where he couldn't really run due to a gearbox problem He then went on to take pole by 11,000 of a second before then building a 6 second lead before the virtual safety car And his reward was P3 Yes, Lance Stroll triggered another virtual safety car stop It started to get a bit weird now, this is happening twice And I find it even weirder that he wasn't even able to perform a doughnut Either that Honda engine is as bad as we thought Or well, let's just say that for maybe another video on this matter It was bad enough that his rivals were able to get their stops within that particular time frame And Norris didn't But as it was ending, the team seemingly didn't get over the radio to just go Oh, yeah, he had a 7 second pit stop, that change made things even worse

5:10Although the team were very quick to not blame that But instead just go, oh, it was just bad timing But no, quite frankly, it was both And he had a faster stop, it might have been different And Lando felt that he delivered absolute everything required And you know what, I would agree with that As was him wanting to drink his Coke in peace, dang it And Max just happened, I believe, is another one of those winners Because he indeed was one of those top three challenges And Red Bull seriously performed here But staff initially resisted Red Bull's instruction To surrender the positions gained before eventually complying And in hindsight, for the fact that Hamilton retired, it just felt really weird But indeed, he was being investigated, so Red Bull had a point there But that deliberate slowdown cost him as much as a five second time penalty would have done anyway You could say that maybe fortune helped him inherit that position But I think his defending was able to help preserve being one spot higher than he started Hey, the Maddering track organizers, you maybe want to have Max give you a call

6:11Because he wants to help you out He believes that's potential, he wasn't the biggest critic of this place in the end of the day But then we move on to a loser, Louis Hamilton The first of today's losers, in fact, well, you know, an actual person Because he was able to recover from his FP3 crash to qualify fourth Also, without the second ADO upgrade engine But not long after his start, his race was pretty much over Him saying that the brake problem began before he brushed the barriers So the contact shouldn't really be assumed to have caused the actual failure It might have been lingering before that But even then, his race was quite precarious after that really bold move to the inside Trying to catch those ahead of him napping It looked really balsy This was a messy weekend for him, which marred his serious potential here He believed he did have the performance to really go on and fight for the win But instead, all he got was his first DNF of the season In his championship stances, well, they're all but lost now, I think I think all that Louis can do now is try and push for changes regarding their rules of engagement for next year

7:12But then this charler cleared to consider because even though I've rated him as a mayor He led half the race and he did go on to finish fourth I mean, that's not ideal, but let's remember here He stayed out on those hard tyres while others were stopping around him And he kept them indecent nicks, so kudos to that Kimmy couldn't even get close to him to even try to overtake I think most of the grid were praying for a second virtual safety car Besides, there was also Russell threatening behind and back gap had to be considered He finished just barely in front of George And the clerk did back the gamble believing a conventional strategy Would have probably produced P4 anyway 29 seconds behind the podium's cities I mean, that is I think a very reasonable move His sharp criticism though was more aimed instead of the race prospects to the qualifying prospects Because the Monaco 2.0 complaints regarding the maddering Yeah, I'm starting to believe that Saturday was really the more interesting day out of any of them And yeah, oh my boy, my boy, my poor boy

8:13I mean, this was absolutely painful, right? It was bad enough that Piaztery qualified seventh almost half a second behind his teammate But then he had contact with Russell at the beginning which damaged his front wing And in he started on the hard which left him poorly placed to exploit the earlier pit stops Thanks to Vaunt Stroll And yeah, he was able to stay out until lap 42 But then the mediums failed to try and inspire him to do something better against the midfield And all he could muster at the end of the day was P8 And not once this weekend did he look poised to try and pull a fast one against land or indeed A1 There's just something about qualifying which is leaving something on the table with this kid And another one of the guys I like I'm not sure whether I like him anymore because Carlos Scynts His first homegrown pre in Madrid was an absolute disaster Because in peeling bot-ass was bad enough sending it back to P20 Although to be fair, Wiem's didn't warn him about the impending Cadillac driver But then he locked up at the start Quattering into Yuki Sonoda Then was moving under breaking into his compatriot to earn yet another time penalty

9:17And just like with Piaestry and Hungary He was not in the least bit remorseful He was not in the mood for apologising Oh, that's just what Fernando does He goes complaining and then I get a penalty I mean, this is just yet another example to say that this year has been Carlos's worst year for his reputation in Formula One Forget a revenge arc, I think he needs a redemption arc You know what? I need to do this This represents Carlos Scynts Don't put it you've got it, I mean I'm gonna need a whole video to do all this Because like I said earlier, he needs to be held to account in part as to why this track was so bad for overtaking We need a longer video here because we've got other people to talk about And indeed other teams because Asim Martin, yeah, they're a loser too Alongside of that clash with Scynts, that ended with a replacement from Wiem of course And P17 for his trouble, but that was not all He had a clutch problem on Friday to consider and then stroll had a suspected battery issue to compound all of that And then he suffered race damage before break trouble then forced him out around turn 17

10:21His stopped car triggering that interruption for the second race in a row Which once again changed the lead battle I mean, all because again, he wasn't able to perform a donut This weekend was an absolute horror show for this team And yes, Nui did admit that there will be some weight patches coming for Baku Which might make things a little bit better His partner in Rico Cardiolay basically said it's pretty much time for the 2026 car They won't be really any major substantial upgrades anymore Hi, I'm Max Rush in the host of the Guardian Football Weekly Alongside me Barry Glenn Denning my co-host, hey Barry Hello! Now, although every American found us doing a World Cup For the two that didn't, what can I expect? Found us and fell in love with us Max They can expect three episodes each week of occasionally insightful analysis Covering the Premier League, Champions League and beyond Football Weekly is back, watch on YouTube or listen where ever you get your podcasts Just two wheels, two pedals and you At Bikes Online, we share your passion for everything cycling

11:22Whenever Bikes you're looking for from mountain to road, either pedal powered or electric We've got what you want ready for super fast delivery Quality gear at prices you won't find in your average bike shop All bikes are pro-built and tuned before shipping to get you riding quickly If you find a better deal, we'll beat it by 5% Shop now at bikesonline.com and ride more for less And then we move on to a net driver I'm being generous, yeah, but I think Alex Albon deserves a place Because he did beat both Astins and the Haas Which he did consider was close to the Williams' potential But it was still P15 and yes, he did regain some brownie points and those comparing him with Karl loss Because Alex just looks like the more composed driver And he did gain two places at the start and had a tidy drive plus a bold pit call after clattering the barriers in practice But still no points, you really need to be toppling Audi's if you want to try and score points And the FW48 is not even close to that

12:23And then we move on to another backmarket team, Cadillac It was looking hopeful though Because Perez did feel like Cadillac was having one of its stronger weekends Actually racing the Williams car Something that Valtteri Bottas have reported on occasion in previous races But then you guessed it, reliability just kicked them off This time it was a suspected water system problem which forced him out He was boxing to retire the car As for his finished team mate, he finished last after managing early damage himself And of course he had to manage, yep, break temperatures So let's keep it brief here Reliability once again snuffed out potential Next, Oliver Behrmann, another loser His FP3 crash basically kept him out of qualifying and any contention of being anything other than a loser Because he also had to change engine components which then led to a pit lane start And from there traffic unhelpful timing for his hard tyres Limited his chances of making any sort of recovery, him finishing P16

13:23But to be fair, he did hold himself accountable Unlike Carlos' science, he did them and accept responsibility for his lot As has proved they had a car capable of bothering the points paying physicians As Ocon was able to demonstrate Speaking of, Esteban Ocon, I'm placing in the Met category Because now that I believe he's got the updated engine too He was able to pass both the Audi's at the start and reach the top 10 for a good long while when Hamilton retired He only failed to score that point thanks to mishandling of the pit stops and Holkkenberg overtaking and taking P10 back It was really close but no cigar Then afterwards, Ocon wanted to check whether his positioning in the pit box had contributed to the reason why he lost that position But instead, his boss pointed towards the equipment and that issue Rather than blaming anybody in terms of mechanics or indeed the driver So credit where it's due here for Ocon's drive, he did well But has it improved consistency? It didn't bring the many points to Tolstil

14:25And what's worse, the team that took away that P10 point is the one that's chasing them for P7 and the Constructors So we then move on to Nico Holkkenberg Who was the winner out of all of that Audi sent him out ahead of Ocon and he kept that P10 when all the cars sorted themselves out near the end And now that Audi are just four points behind tasks in the Constructors And it could be three if there's to no demonstra appeal goes through And indeed, that pit stop exchange made the weekend for Audi and brought them some sort of good fortune And he also made a soft tire start which meant the hat to make an early pit stop which ultimately suited him And then switched to hard was workable The Audi were able to preserve the task and I did notice that in practice that The Audi's medium-type performance was really good The tire deck situation with that team, it's really commendable So I believe that Audi got something that they could extract And he also credited the crew So not bad for this team And it's really important to remember that based in the car world Audi is a parent company, the VW group they're facing financial difficulty

15:27But then we move on to the other Audi driver This was a bit of a mess situation because yes, he was 12th at the start behind his teammate He started on the hards which meant that he had to wait for his own chance which never came And he ended up one place down in 13th Although he was flirting with the points But that then went on to criticize the strategies outcome while explaining that the original choice had been pretty reasonable He also argued that holding a collar pinto behind on much worse tires Exposed madderings passing problem And he was probably one of the most critical drivers out there saying at some point He almost fell asleep while racing that circuit But his defence wasn't spotless though Because the stewers did go on to warn him for moving under braking So even though he's my other boy His actions with forcing Franco off track Yeah, he did get a slap on the wrist for that We then move on to another midfielder driver, Pierre Gasley And I believe he was a loser of this weekend for multiple reasons Because even though he tried to drag himself up from 14th waiting almost to the end of the race to change from his original hard tires

16:28He was hoping that interruption would kneel something But all he got for his trouble was a five second speeding penalty in the pit lane A painful reminder of his lost monocopodium He also acknowledged that the team hadn't really extracted its qualifying potential And the different strategies really complicated Sunday's own comparison But still Saturday's missed opportunity remains And oh yeah, there was the fact that all the conduct over the radio and his driving Led to Piazzerie almost passing his teammate for that critical 7th place that the Argentine got If I had the foam of doubt with me, I would be holding it right now Because I thought that he had beef with overtaking just kept to Ockham But now I'm not so sure I think he's got something stuck in his crawl regarding anyone who's his teammate and overtaking And also Alping, they were just not forceful enough regarding team orders We'll talk about that in Colour Pinto section because he's up next and oh boy I think this was probably one of the most impressive weekends of his career And he's having plenty of those this year, right?

17:28And yes, I know you're probably going to be saying, oh well you're biosal because you're a Franco file You must admit this kid now has 27 points to his name He's not that far behind gasoline in the championship And I think he's about to overtake Limblad for 11th place And hey, there's no beating about the bush I don't have a pint glass to my name here but I've got these two commemorative muddering cups So these will have to do in trying to make up for a pint so first one And then the other one Watch now on YouTube, hold us in wherever you get your podcasts Every game day you show up for your team, now it's your time We go, we go, we go, we go

18:29Ask your prescriber about Wigovie, some Maglatide Injection 2.4mg, a GLP1 Call 18334Wigovie or visit Wigovie.com to view the Medication Guide And to learn more about Wigovie, why wait? We go, we go As I seriously, the Spanish code tastes really different to the UK one He rose up two spots from his P9 qualifying, which is impressive enough and got as high as P6 at the start Until Lawson got back past him, but you know what? This weekend, this was one of the most heroic yet for Alpine Especially after catching a shake through Lamonio Mental in previous days, that was really, really scary You also had one of those early stops and that tire management really carried in through He had enough rubber to defend even against him a Claren and because of his efforts The gap to racing balls and the constructors got that considerably bit shorter Although PS Condat really did complicate things near the end and Alpine were again not bold enough to try and call time on all of those shenanigans

19:32Because come on, those two drivers won completely different strategies They needed to let Franco through since he had a lot more rubber left on his rubber Alpine still managed to get a good chunk of points and they managed to get one over their rivals And this time around it was the Argentine leading the charge Did touch upon Lawson just now and I think he is a winner as well And based on the fact that all of the stuff regarding the injury of Hajar has gotten really, really quiet in recent times I wouldn't be surprised if Leighin gets one more go around Baku And we all know how impressive Leighin was around Baku last time now in 2025 Who knows if he's in a Red Bull podium perhaps But I'm getting ahead of myself, let's talk about the Maddering performance Yeah, he was almost a lap down on the leaders in terms of time But P6, that's what Red Bull needs for someone filling in for the likes of Ezek Hajar He did start on the hards, meaning that the early stops favoured the other drivers But he did still finish higher than he started, he went from P8 to P6 And Lawson also felt that qualifying had limited him while describing growing confidence in the RB22

20:35I believe in because during practice and early qualifying he was right up there with the sappen At some point he was leading Q1, he was looking really good in that car A far cry from what we saw in last year And I think even if this stint in the Red Bull senior team is cap to three races This was far more commendable than what he was able to do last year Any F1 team that's looking for a brand new driver for 2028 They need to give Leighin more call Because surely Leighin's done enough to keep in that racing bulls for 2027 I mean come on, 14 points in these three races That is really really not too shabby for a stand-in We do believe Leighin's done himself proud in these three races And as I touched upon earlier, it might be four And then quite aptly we talk about the other Super Sub, Yuki Senoda Contacted with Carlos signs basically spoiling it all and according to Alan Permain The performance loss due to that clatter was maybe up to half a second of performance per lap In the midfield, at a track where you really can't overtake And you really need to do all you can to try and catch up

21:36You basically screwed All you could do was P14 And what made this really sting in the eyes of many And this should be really clarified here Yuki did have a damaged car And the reason he did have a damaged car Is that Avid Limblad, his teammate, went on to score That really respectable P9 I think given the circumstances, Senoda is right to believe that what he was able to do in the race was pretty much reasonable It's a shame that it came to an end if it's the end for Yuki here He did nice to get a point, P10 At the time when he probably wasn't thinking he was getting any running in a 2026 machine That's commendable But then naturally we got to then contrast that with Avid Limblad In practice, this kid running in P4 before, of course, he brought out that red flag But then, unlike Ben, I'm not calling him a loser because he managed to come back from all of that And then get that 2.9 finish Although I think he probably made some of the racing bulls mechanics a little bit nettle for the fact that Well, it meant a very, very late night on Friday

22:36At least he was able to repay their efforts He felt like the car had more to offer Varying its electrical power deployment really couldn't create a passing opportunity Let's just say that Avid did what he could to try and get one place higher But I still believe he is a winner despite Friday's mistake Even as Colour Pinto's bigger hall of points helped Alpine close in on racing bulls P5 So very much like it was in Monza, this was a case with V-Cob, damage limitation, Avid leading the charge But wait a minute, Lord, you haven't mentioned George Russell yet Where is he in all of this? Well, here he is I am dubbing him a loser And even he admits that he is a bit of a loser because if you heard his comments Yeah, this championship is all but done now And it all started off so well from 2 He topped FP1 but then went on to qualify 6th and finished 5th A 15 points gap to his teammate means that the early promise was particularly hollow with all things considered Mercedes then switched him from hard to mediums hoping to gain on the clear But the tyres disappointed, prompting another stop for hard tyres

23:39And George was once again questioning this approach believing he could have made those hard tyres last longer But he once again got a stony reception from the pit wall And then with a really helpful bit of renews and morale boosting I'll just do what you did on the hard tyres I mean, thanks! I'm pretty sure George was elated with that advice And ultimately his title assessment hurt more because now he's 81 points behind Kimi With the European leg over and we could only have maybe like seven races left to go It's that dire of a situation for George that even with all of these opportunities And Mercedes reliability still being a little bit precarious It looks all but over for the teammate of Kimi Antonelli But yeah, speaking of Antonelli He too felt a little bit hollow after the weekend Him going as far as saying that he believed that landowner Norris deserved the win more than him But after the end of the day he may not have felt like he earned this win But they all count, still had to go up against two world champions right behind him Five seconds separating the top three

24:41And based on what he was able to do ultimately He may end up being a world champion himself in just a few months' time Put that besides Russell's assessment, his closest challenger is talking down his title chances And the other rival, Louis Hamilton Well, his brakes can't outpushing him into triple digits behind the Italian drivers So this was a weekend where offering a fast arrival the chance to gain instead strengthened Kimi's position Though he believes that Norris was the better driver at the end of the day Kimi still got maximum points And Norris may be putting in the performances of his life right now But he's now still found himself that little bit further behind the Italian driver And although McLaren are looking to be really competitive at the end of the season It's really not going to produce that ultimate push that he really needs to try and get his second world title It's all good in terms of redeeming Norris' reputation with all the naysayers But Kimi just got that opportunity And seriously, McLaren really need to sort themselves out

25:41But maybe with Lando having this change of aura about him He might be able to actually shove that change into overdrive Hi, I'm Max Rush in the host of the Guardian Football Weekly alongside me Barry Glenn Denning my co-hosts Hey Barry, hello! Now, although every American found us during the World Cup for the two that didn't, what can they expect? Found us and fell in love with us Max They can expect three episodes each week of occasionally insightful analysis Covering a Premier League, Champions League and Beyond Football Weekly is back, watch on YouTube or listen where you get your podcasts Whatever bike you're looking for from Mountain to Road, either pedal powered or electric We've got what you want ready for super fast delivery Quality gear at prices you won't find in your average bike shop Bikes on line.com, ride more for less Acast powers the world's best podcasts New school year, new podcast obsession Hit play on this What is a cyberdeck and how can it blend makeup and neuro-mancer?

26:42Why do we name birds, beetles, telescopes and principles after people? How does Omdahl's law explain when sometimes 10 times faster? It's not that fast. I'm Dr. Nikki Akramens, a scientist and I'm Hood Wet Down, an engineer And we're here to spill the tea on questions just like this at the intersection of science and technology And we'll also add in quite a bit of nerdiness and fun As well as a healthy pour of our experiences as women and staff on our podcast, Technical Tea Subscribe to Technical Tea wherever podcasts are found. We drop episodes every month Acast helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts Class is always in session at acast.com I traverse the ladder, I hope you have a pleasant day. Goodbye