Michael Lamonato: Formula 1 writer on Liam Lawson securing first points of 2026

0:00You're listening to the Weekend Sport Podcast with Jason Fein from News Talks at B Talking Formula One on the program now Liam Lawson yesterday picked up his first points of the season This battle still going on behind Liam Lawson will make it to the line just ahead of all the family claims the final points place and finished four tenths ahead of Max for Stappen We're joined in now by Michael Lemanato. He's Formula One that right if I accredited to boot out of Australia Talking about the Formula One Michael welcome on board always great to talk race cars with you So if we learned anything after sprinting and coughing yesterday Well, we've learned I think that a lot of lessons we gained in Australia still holding even at this very different fact That is Mercedes is very fast. That was a little less so in charge of the more conventional circuit But also accounting for the fact that every team learned quite a bit in Melbourne was able to optimize things a little bit more

1:01I think we can say after the sprint that Ferrari's race pace isn't so far though It was interesting to hear Charlotte Claire took afterwards about acknowledging that but then saying they don't really know why and they can't explain it so there's a bit of up and down in that as well And then we've got a bit of a gap to McLaren, but then a massive gap to Red Bull racing at least to the track like this They're pretty much down in the midfield. They were out qualified by Alpeam I know it was the same in the sprint Max was definitely the downcast after the sprint Everything they could have gone wrong hit go wrong. They've got their pace cutters and work both ounces a huge list of problems So still the same order I think from Australia We've learned a little bit more about the detail and we're exactly those cars are all sitting in China What also we picked up that Liam Lawson given half a chance isn't that bad a peddler and his decision door There's team's decision to run a hard compound during that It worked pretty well for him Maybe the safety car kind of helped or maybe it hindered. I'm not really sure at the end of that

2:04Where did you see that going because you think you could have lasted a bit longer? Maybe you could have come and I simply don't know Michael Yeah, it's it's tough to say because he's essentially held the position that he had before the safety car at the flag, but Then you get caught out in in the pit stop drama of course most cars pitted so the pit lane was very busy I'm having started on the hard tire meant that he didn't need to pit anyway So you may as well have had to go but it was interesting to see because that would have been around 16 laps deep into the sprint His tires were still feeling pretty eight by the time that the race three started and a couple of drivers passed But still scored points, which is important for racing But that doesn't mean he's got one fewer hard going into the Grand Prix And even how to how high tire usage was in that sprint Including as I said on him on the hard tire We'll have to see how that pams out for him in the Grand Prix But considering that you know points on the board are important They saw a chance to get points in the sprint. He got that point in the spring We've got a couple points in the spring

3:04The outcomes kind of there and now it's up to them to see what they can make of the race As far as surprises in qualifying look we look at the top six cars We all saw that coming pure gas there's got to be a surprise mentioned in the Alpine popping in ahead of the step and but Are you look at the performance of of Behrman, of Hulkenberg They put in a pretty good show didn't they at least I forget Esteban Ockin we love the Haas team Yeah, well uh three eleven places in a road for Nico Hulkenberg and all of them I have to try to remember what it was in Australia But all of them really narrow. I think it was two Thousands of a second that he missed out on the top 10 so how did he actually doing? I think a lot better than preseason expectations suggested they would be they're right on the cusp of course got points Uh, last weekend as well. So they're looking really good But Alpine as you say a little bit of a surprise based on Australia And where they were kind of just a bit nowhere But then I guess we should remember that Australia being a bit nowhere was also a bit of surprise because they looked good in preseason testing

4:07So this is a bit more It's probably a little bit better a bit of the qualifying or a bit more racing going but Being in the top 10 probably feels a bit more Alpine thought they would be in hopes They would be at the start of the season he executed really well And then when you give Pierre Gasly a car he can drive he tends to get the most out of it if it doesn't have too many problems I know exactly what happened here comfortably out qualified at least teammate Frank Ockindo who did get out of Q1 though So a little bit of success for him there and then all of the Behrman and Esteban Ockin he's an increasing way I think interesting comparison even early in the season them in another top 10 He really looks like he stepped up from last year when he was clearly fast But we haven't really seen any big mistakes in this year in the way we did last year And he's really shading Esteban Ockin Now I know Alpine thinks he would have made the top 10 had the yellow flag not come out late together A portal letter in Q2 and he was asked we don't know if he would have made it But he certainly was up on his best lap time up to that point But it's just again that he's being beaten by this driver much younger and much less Experienced than him in a brand new car where

5:08Why it's a bit up for debate but generally speaking we think experienced drivers have a bit of an effort when the rules change like this Um, it's an interesting position for up on to be and still very early days of course for only halfway through a second round of the season But that's sort of a developing storyline already I think this year interesting theory though that the The new drivers especially the singular rookie in the pack they don't know what the other cars were like So this is all they know and formula one so if anything when it comes to adaptation they're probably in the box seat Michael I think there is a degree of that like we see David Lindblad that one rookie is being pretty good this year You know you had a bit of a patchy weekend uh this weekend But I think that really stems from the fact that he was out of practice one practice session I think we've got 15 minutes in and the laps just countless so much with these cars with their learning so much every lap I think actually And I think the rookie thing counts the younger drivers have tended to be good But we haven't seen that the younger guys suddenly disappear in fact We've probably seen the opposite for most of them But I think it's the drivers who understand how they drive the car

6:13Who are the ones getting the most out of it because they're the ones who can adapt it's the drivers perhaps who Have historically just got into car and driven it no no way they're fast Um who can't unpick their driving styles to make sure they work with this car We can still see a lot of learning going on in that sense anyway Um, I think it was interesting to hear it may have been all of a bit of another customer went back um to a couple of days ago Who was sort of saying you know and he's last like been qualifying he just crashed the car like it would have been an old car went slower Um, so it's things like that where where drivers have to if they understand what they're doing They're getting games, but if they're not understanding how their driving style Communicates with these cars then they end up a bit lost I think that'll that'll unfold the more we more more several sizes we get and the more races we go through Back to the Australasians are oscar pastery first uh, this is uh, well I'm not quite sure what to make of oscar and he's probably scratching his head as well But look he's he's on the grid. He's sitting in in fifth place He feels his room for him to move of course landon Norris

7:14And the fence of his championships not looking great, but it is only early doors right there and thereabouts from from an Australian point of view Where does oscar sit? Yeah, I mean it's good first of all for him to have got some laps on the board after crashing out of the reconnaissance laps last week So he's he started he sees and he's got a couple of points as well. So good news for him But unfortunately this the story of this weekend There's been on the one hand the clarin fields like they have made progress based on last week And qualifying times that just they have they've got closer to misadies But there's still nowhere near misadies and this is the problem there in this sort of Singular group of just him and let it host really for oscar pastery's respective that are a little bit behind Ferrari At this race certainly a hit of red bull. They were roughly on par with red bull in in Melbourne Um, and that's just reflective of where the car is and I think you sort of listen to landon or oscar Pastery tour. They're not so unhappy with the car. So if the car is driving badly This is just where it is. Yeah, it's just not as fast as it have the same group Still doesn't have the same power of the misadies But they've closed that gap a little bit by understanding the engine a little bit more

8:17So unfortunately without some Chaos up front and we do have teammates starting side by side with misadies and Ferrari which does tend to sometimes brief chaos Our podium is probably out of the question from a clarin this weekend and then like you say Bad news for landon or as a title defense because right now It's going to need some big steps from a clarin just to get into that mix We're joined by a Michael Lamanato from Fox Sport and if I accredited formula one right Liam Lawson squeezed in Q2 couldn't quite get up he possibly could have done but of course as you touched on before Collapinto drove off the track and that kind of scuppered his chances because those laps were getting faster and faster as you'd expect toward the end of Q2 Yeah, exactly right that the yellow flag Prevented quite a few drivers in that Q2 zone from progressing so we didn't get the ultimate order I suppose of exactly where everyone sits in terms of pace But I think it's been positive for Liam and for racing bulls that they are In that mix you know it's always feels like a bit of a bit of a guessing game trying to place that team at the start of the season

9:22Because you know they're never going to be quite on Red Bull racing's pace but occasionally They kind of look like they're actually very close especially when regulations change like this and they they inevitably buy a lot of a lot of parts from their sister team So that's sort of interesting in its own case, but yeah, he's been moving in really positively He's been getting a lot out of the car I think the test of course is he's against Lindblad and like we've said Lindblad's been probably half a step behind this weekend But as long as he can keep ahead of him because Red Bull's been quite impressed with Lindblad's a rookie They reckon he's as he's roughly where Isaac Hadjar is and obviously Hadjar has been promoted to the senior team Then that'll be really important for Lawson to to rebuild his reputation I guess not that he has a bad reputation But obviously the baddering last year of having to change teams and having to rebuild himself a little bit Because I think as we've said before notwithstanding Red Bull done the different management these days Very rare for a driver to go away in fact unheard of for a driver to go back to the senior team So to continue his F1 career in the next couple of years he's likely going to have to find it outside the Red Bull family So every little success he has now will contribute to that Angry Max first step in and sitting down

10:25We didn't like he's got his teammate right next to him But what watching him tear through the I'm sure they don't like it But off the grid watching him tear through everybody else At least we get some good into time and even though Max is entirely unhappy with what he's got underneath him Yeah, of course he'd much prefer not to have to be doing that to be famous to be come back was because he had a terrible start Um, I guess that's the second time a Red Bull driver's had a terrible start right because Lawson had one in Melbourne Um, it'd be interesting to see if there is a link there But he was down to 20th by the first lap So I had quite a few cars to pass but he was getting he ended up finishing just outside the points in nine But it felt like already at that point it was kind of topping out a little bit that the pace was getting harder and harder The manager because he was getting too faster and faster cars the safety car of course helped necessarily either It'll be interesting to see in the race today starting in the same place He was a little bit closer. He's a less than a second off pole which is I mean that sort of illustrates Two Red Bull racing is normally contending for pole to be just less than a second off Is nothing to shout about but he's really been as you said really downcast doesn't love where the cars out

11:30The team suggests that it could be actually because this track is Let's say more normal in the sense the energy the electrical energy is not at a massive premium the cars are actually working really well with this track as opposed to Melbourne Where it was all about the battery? But there's a lack of advantage in Red Bull in that that maybe the Red Bull engine is very good at recovering energy And that's why it looks competitive in Melbourne But maybe this is actually more where it really is at an average track that obviously boats even worse considering the average track is more common Over the course of the season, but we'll get more information as is the case with this year and these new rules over the first couple of races Touched on the battery and how that is working I find it a distraction for the drivers. I don't know if they need to be concentrating on that as opposed to just driving Is there any truth that in my hot take? To a degree like some drivers Are paying more attention to that they said this is that in Melbourne that they were paying more attention to Just having the battery at the right level at the right time. I think it's going to be very track-dependent China

12:31It seems like that's much less the case in qualifying it certainly was you know We talked about all of our criminals a bit earlier and he decided on his last qualifying lap Not to think about the management and ended up going slower So I think in qualifying it is and that to my mind still a problem because qualifying even in China where if you look at an onboard lap It looks close to normal You can still see areas where the cars just really not being pushed towards limits And I think that is a shame in the race though based on the sprint and when we'll wait and see with the Grand Prix as well today Because that'll of course look a little bit different I think it's a less so would attract like this with a battery over the course of a race Is just able to recharge itself without the drive is having to do anything different In that case they kind of race pretty much normally of course We got this the boost button that we saw a lot of overtaking between Hamilton and Russell is just one example I expect that to still play a role But as long as that doesn't mean that they're overthinking that I don't see that as too much difference in TRS which admittedly wasn't the most organic kind of racing anyway But it was understood and has become part of the show over more than a decade I'm hopeful that this race will actually look more normal both from us

13:34The spectacular point of view but also from the drivers in the cockpit point of view But we'll have to wait and see and last quite literally but not least pulling up the tail You've you'd expect this Cadillac a devastated Aston Martin I don't know how that year is bowling out Williams as well and that'd be a little downcast around that But I suppose we've got celebrate Valtteri Bottas Because he's coming and he's put a Cadillac a head of Aston Martin That's that's great news and he's such a great human and a wonderful drive. I'm really pleased for him Yeah, it's really good to see Bottas back on the grid It always felt like he's career didn't finish in the right way having been dropped back to the tower team Which just got less and less um competitive because he went I'm not even surgery repair is only for his own sake He doesn't want Red Bull chapter to have been his last Lots of problems for his car none for Valtteri Bottas Which is good that does seem like and this goes for every team but especially the brand new team Cadillac The more laps they get building into the weekend Generally the better that car is going to go which is not that surprising yourself But I think we've got the result here with Bottas out qualifying Lance Stroll

14:37There's the same more about the Cadillac that it does Lance Stroll I'll leave that to your imagination because Lance Stroll is more than half a second slower than Fernando Alonso who has a couple of places up the grid But the bottom line is I mean we'll certainly ask Martin Does not did not want to be here to not expect to be here Way at the back competing competing with the new team the team that's entered one and a half races so far And it's history um that is grim. They'll be thankful for the longer break We're about to get in April because the two Middle Eastern round have been canceled That might give them a chance to at least replenish their spa Their spare parts stocks And then Williams as well you touch on there This is absolutely not the way they thought that you started this season The car is really overweight. That's the first problem Um, but it also just seems like the car generally isn't that good It's not producing the same kind of grip on Alex Alvin was very unhappy described as terrible in one word on his pull down lap Um, so those three teams what no I should say two of those teams That's the Martin Williams with serious problems But Cadillac I still think performing pretty much in the way you'd expect a new team to Not quite there a hundred percent

15:38But by the end of the year I expect them to be looking much more beautiful I'm really happy for the teams I'm not happy for Formula One that they've got to not be in the Middle East But I'm happy that the hardworking guys and girls who were nothing Actually get a bit of time off to speak with their families And I reckon you could out-qualified Lance Stroll Michael Thanks very much for your time mate Thank you baby time And it will be too because I'll be pesting you again Trust me love what you have to say And I think you should too Michael Lemonato is a Formula One writer out of Fox Sport For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fein Listen live to News Talk ZB Weekends from midday Or follow the podcast on iHard Radio