i i think this could be a mclaren uh red bull battle for third best and we see ferrari mercedes up at the front

kimmy said a few weeks ago didn't the i am my own opponent and it's kind of is to lose now but then it was felt like oscar piastri's to lose at this point last year but i sense some of the others thinking second place is a decent prize in lewis hamilton's case george russell i put to him Do you need to gain the upper hand at the end of this year to be confident going into 27? A little bit like Nico Rosberg did in 2015 and then won in 2016.

And I think clearly in his own mind that that's his target.

Try and get the upper hand in performance terms.

Other

stories, please? Esteban Ocon looks like being out of F1.

He's confirmed that he doesn't have a contract with Haas next year.

Haas is effectively letting him go.

Exactly.

exactly what you just said that it reminds us that there was clever psychology and thinking in signing him in the first place because how many drivers you'd sign and would sort of shrink and shrivel in an environment like this this has inflated him you can see him last night in the piazza duomo in front of thousands of of ferrari fans he made a very strong statement he just very simple statement last year we didn't have a car to fight for the win this year we do And everything he's said today has exuded self-confidence.

And maybe the rest of the field will take that on board just a little bit.

He sounds like he's going into a prize fight, but full of confidence that he's going to steamroller the rest of the opposition, which would be great to see.

Can you imagine what this place would be like if Lewis produces a performance like that? He's already visualizing that sixth triumph here in his mind.

Is he putting a bit of pressure on his back? Yes, but if anyone can carry it, it is him.

I think he's in a fantastic frame of mind this weekend.

Um, maybe, if I have win the lottery,

So w- why do you think he's stayed, and what are the merits, what are the benefits of sticking with one team in your career?

Well, I did ask him the question, "Were there any other firm offers on the table for you, Max?" And he said, "Doesn't matter now." [laughs] "That's immaterial." So he didn't wanna go down that road.

The other question I wanted to ask him was, you know, have the likes of Ferrari and, and Mercedes maybe missed out forever on, on signing Max Verstappen, 'cause he signaled there he's staying at the team long term.

Probably it was a combination of the two.

No obvious better place to go.

He is a loyal person.

There are signs that the team is improving.

Are you surprised, though, by the change in personnel at this particular point in the season?

What about George?

I do- I always think, and I, I've thought this quite often in Formula One, when you sometimes get someone with a big points gap or deficit, you, you start s- rationalizing a little bit too much why that is the reason.

And I, I, I do actually align with George on the fact that he's had a lot of bad luck.

He could have had a whole heap more points.

And so actually, I think the, the notion that Kimi is significantly quicker, uh, which people b- are beginning to see more often now, especially based on the last couple of races, that he, he, he looks faster.

I'm not entirely sure-

Lando didn't.

But it's because people think that the, the distance that the, the timing sensors were measuring was shorter... was longer, rather, than the actual distance is covered by the cars.

Yeah

...

they think, and it's not necessarily a permanent thing or built in for the whole season, but based on this test, they are a little bit ahead.

They've come with a very good car, that it's not just down to these conditions, which in the previous iteration of cars suited Mercedes, the- these cold conditions.

They think it's irrespective of that, and part of it only is this better understanding of, of the power unit and how to harvest and deploy the electrical energy.

That's not the whole story as far as they're concerned.

They, they think-

Yeah.

debuting

for the first time.

I mean, the reason we weren't there this weekend, I think, was because F1 were concerned that there'd be breakdowns galore.

It'd be a little bit like 2014 was when I think only four teams got into double figures on the first day in terms of that lap count.

So those are remarkable numbers, really.

And credit to...

That Red Bull powertrain's operation just started, what, five years ago, I think.

Well,