F1 2025 Japan GP Saturday: Verstappen Steals Pole As McLaren Stumble

It was an emotional Singapore GP for Daniel Ricciardo, with strong rumours circulating at the time it may have been his final race in Formula 1. Today we got the confirmation from RB that the team will be switching drivers for the United States Grand Prix as Liam Lawson takes over for the rest of the 2024 season. Ben Hunt and Stuart Codling join Bryn Lucas to discuss whether or not Red Bull was right to move on from Ricciardo immediately, whether the team treated Ricciardo unfairly, and what to expect from Lawson as he returns to the sport. There’s also discussion on the potential knock-on effect the move could have on Sergio Perez, whose future remains up in the air, and chat on the Singapore GP as a whole, with Lando Norris dominating up front, and some optimism in the Red Bull camp as Max Verstappen returned to the podium.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

26 Sep 202437min

After nearly an entire season of the World Endurance Championship, the series finally had a repeat winner at the Six Hours of Fuji as as the #6 Porsche team of Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor took a sixteen second victory over the WRT BMW team, with the #36 Alpine team scoring their first podium of the season in third. Gary Watkins joins Kevin Turner to review all the action from Fuji, including the missed opportunities left on the table by Toyota and Ferrari, as well as Cadillac's Earl Bamber, who span off into the outside wall late on. There's also praise for Charles Milesi with chat about Alpine and BMW's improvement over the course of the season. And as usual, there's a full review of the LMGT3 class too, as AF Corse got Ferrari's first win of the season, and the Manthey PureRacing Porsche squad of Bachler, Malykhin and Sturm wrapped up the Championship with a round to spare. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

18 Sep 202450min

Round 17 of the 2024 F1 World Championship had the sport head back to the streets of Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. And despite Charles Leclerc's early breakaway, it was Oscar Piastri who stunned the Monegasque driver with a brilliant pass into Turn 1 and then held off Leclerc's attacks to take his second career victory. Ben Hunt and Filip Cleeren join Bryn Lucas on this edition of the Autosport Podcast to discuss the epic battle for the win and the difficulty that Piastri's victory places on McLaren's driver management after their soft commitment to team orders for the rest of the season. Is it too quick for a U-turn now that Piastri's just 32 points behind Lando Norris in the standings? There's also a deep dive into the penultimate lap crash between Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz and whether either driver could have done more to avoid the incident, the strong rookie drives of Franco Colapinto and Ollie Bearman, and how Red Bull's new floor upgrade will fair with their Singapore struggles of 2023 still fresh in the memory as F1 heads back there this weekend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

17 Sep 202435min

It's almost time for Round 17 of the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship as the sport heads back to the streets of Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Joining Steph Wentworth on the Autosport Podcast is Stuart Codling and Haydn Cobb and together they discuss the big (Non-Newey) stories heading into the weekend. After Monza, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella gave the media his biggest hint yet that the team may start favouring Lando Norris in pursuit of both major titles. Will we see that in Baku? Charles Leclerc has always gone well at the track, with three straight pole-positons, but has played down his chances of back-to-back wins. Is he bluffing? There's also more on whether Red Bull can figure out the balance issues on their troublesome RB20, the return of Ollie Bearman and what to expect from his 2nd F1 start, and the latest on whether Alpine will drop their engine department and become a customer team for 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

11 Sep 202434min

The worst kept secret in F1 was finally confirmed today as Adrian Newey will be joining Aston Martin as a shareholder and Managing Technical Director on a three-year deal in March 2025, rumoured to be on as much as £30 million a year. Fresh off the press conference announcing his arrival, Jon Noble joins Bryn Lucas on the Autosport Podcast to discuss the move and answer some of the big questions. Why did Newey join Aston Martin instead of Ferrari? How will he fit into an already loaded technical department at Silverstone, including his ex-colleague Dan Fallows? And how he will get the best out of Fernando Alonso as they finally get to work together for the first time in their careers? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

10 Sep 202428min

Bryn Lucas is joined again by Jake Boxall-Legge and Filip Cleeren as they continue their analysis of the Italian Grand Prix. On this episode, the trio discuss Kimi Antonelli's exciting F1 debut, with the 18-year-old showing scintillating pace until a crash at the Parabolica on his second hotlap put him in the wall. A promising sign for his talent, a reckless crash on debut or something else entirely? And what can we expect of the teenager now he's confirmed to be joining Mercedes in 2025? Also, Kevin Magnussen became the first driver since Romain Grosjean in 2012 to be banned from a Grand Prix after picking up his 11th and 12th penalty points at Monza. But with multiple drivers thinking Magnussen's punishment was too harsh, is it time to look at the penalty point system? Also dialogue on Franco Colaptino's debut for Williams, and whether a young driver race at the end of Abu Dhabi's testing could be viable in the future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

6 Sep 202434min

This past weekend the World Endurance Championship headed to Austin, Texas for Lone Star Le Mans at the Circuit of the Americas. And across an epic 6 Hours, the AF Corse #83 Ferrari of Yifei Yi, Robert Kubica and Robert Shwartzman held off the #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing team of Kamui Kobayashi, Nick De Vries and Mike Conway to win by just 1.7 seconds, marking Ferrari’s first win in WEC outside of Le Mans since returning to full-time competition, and the sixth different winner in WEC in 2024.  Kevin Turner sits down on this edition of the Autosport Podcast with Gary Watkins to break down how it was the Yellow Ferrari that came out on top, the controversial crash caused by Sebastien Buemi that led to penalty points on his license, and the state of the midfield in WEC with Fuji less than a fortnight away. There’s also a full review of the LMGT3 class as the Heart of Racing Aston Martin team continued their excellent track record on home soil.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

4 Sep 202455min

The Italian Grand Prix is never short of emotion or drama and 2024's version certainly didn't disappoint! After McLaren locked out the front row in qualifying, it was the surprise of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc running a one-stop strategy that earned him his second win of the season, and home glory for the Tifosi. Jake Boxall-Legge and Filip Cleeren join Bryn Lucas in the first of two Podcasts analysing all the action at Monza, including Leclerc's winning strategy, and McLaren fighting amongst themselves and the rise of their "Papaya Rules". Is it time for team orders in Woking? There's also a deep dive on the state of Red Bull. With Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez sixth and eighth respectively, the talks of the RB20's balance have been front and center. Just what has happened to the dominant Champions? And has the loss of Adrian Newey come back to haunt them? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

3 Sep 202434min