F1Weekly Podcast # 1123

MCLAREN GIVES MAX THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING! NORRIS KNEW THAT MICKEY DEE HAD JUST F…ED UP
OSCAR ON THE EDGE OF TEARING UP AND, FERNANDO HAPPY TO BE IN THE POINTS! 

NASIR HAMEED CORNER HAS THE USUAL BANTER AND MORE ON THE USF1 FIASCO!

LUSAIL CITY, QATAR – NOVEMBER 30: Race winner Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrates on arrival in parc ferme during the F1 Grand Prix of Qatar at Lusail International Circuit on November 30, 2025 in Lusail City, Qatar. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

MAX:

“I feel great, I am really proud of that one. We made the right call as a Team there to box: it was definitely what made us win the race today, as I felt like we were not on the same level as McLaren in terms of pace. When a safety car comes in it can shake up the grid and that was a great opportunity for us to then win the race. We did a very good job as a Team and I was very proud of us, especially as we nailed the strategy.

In Abu Dhabi, we have nothing to lose and we are going to give it everything that we have. Of course, we are relying on another crazy race like we had today, but we are going in there with positive energy. We need to maximise the car and be as competitive as we can. We will stay focused, try and have a good time and hope that we start the weekend well.”

LAURENT MEKIES:

“We can definitely be happy with that one. The pace in the car steadily improved from Friday night when we were in a tricky position, to tonight when we could fight with the McLarens, which is a testament to the Team once again. Of course, the decisive moment was the call to come in under the Safety Car and it was another great call from our strategy team here and those working back in Milton Keynes.

From there on, Max didn’t put a foot wrong, drove two incredible stints, taking great care of his tyres and managed to create a solid gap to the McLarens, which drove us to this most welcome race win! Yuki managed to recover to score points and his pace was promising at the end of the race once outside of the DRS train. We’ll need to perform again in Abu Dhabi and we will have absolute focus on getting the car into a position where Max can fight at the front and look ahead. What happens behind him is not something we can control.”

CARLOS:

Extremely happy! We had a very strong start and from there we executed a perfect race with strategy, tyre management, pit stops and communication. By the end of the second stint, I saw Piastri struggled to overtake me on fresh tyres, and at that moment I realised we had to go for the podium. I was pushing to the limit of the car but 6 laps to the end something suddenly broke! I started losing a lot of lap time in sectors 1 and 3 but I managed to keep it together and bring it home for P3!

Today’s result is testament to the team’s hard work; I knew we were taking the right steps and, despite some difficult race weekends along the way, I had full confidence in what we are doing. I’m extremely proud of everyone, we deserve this P5 in the Constructor’s Championship, and I look forward to finishing the season on another high in Abu Dhabi! Let’s go.

JAMES VOWLES:

Exceptional. Really fantastic performance from Carlos and the team when it counted and every detail adds up. Getting on the podium by milliseconds really is such a just reward for the incredible work the whole team is putting in this year. I was proud of Carlos and the team when we got our first podium in Baku; the second is a dream come true, but perhaps more importantly at a track that was almost our worst last year. And we’ve come back, we’ve reinvented ourselves and the result is there for everyone to see.

For Alex, we will come back fighting in Abu Dhabi. We haven’t got it all together this weekend, but I’ll reiterate that his performance across the season is why we’ve secured fifth in the constructors’ championship today. And more so than that, his pace is still there. We just need to bring it all together. 

Finally, fifth would have been a dream come true just 12 months ago when we were languishing in ninth in the Constructors’ Championship. Thank you very much.

LUSAIL CITY, QATAR – NOVEMBER 30: Race winner Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing Second placed Oscar Piastri of Australia and McLaren Third placed Carlos Sainz of Spain and Williams and Hannah Schmitz, Principal Strategy Engineer of Oracle Red Bull Racing on the podium during the F1 Grand Prix of Qatar at Lusail International Circuit on November 30, 2025 in Lusail City, Qatar. (Photo by Lars Baron/LAT Images)

OSCAR:

Clearly we didn’t get it right tonight. I drove the best race that I could as fast as I could and there was nothing left out there, so I tried my best. It wasn’t to be tonight unfortunately.

“I think in hindsight it’s pretty obvious what we would’ve done. I’m sure we’ll discuss it as a team.

“It’s not all bad, obviously,” Piastri said. “It’s been a really good weekend. The pace has been very strong but obviously it’s a little bit tough to swallow at the moment.

“I’ll just try and drive how I did this weekend, that’s all I can do. I obviously need a lot of things to go in my direction so I’ll just try and be as fast as I can and put myself in the best position possible and see what happens.”

FERNANDO:

“Two points yesterday and six today exceeds our expectations for this weekend. After the early Safety Car, we committed to the two-stop strategy along with everyone else. We didn’t have the pace to fight ahead tonight. We got a bit lucky with the DRS train of cars and with how difficult it is to overtake here. We also got a bit lucky with the spin mid-race, because on another circuit maybe I would have ended up in the gravel. The points are a welcome boost in the battle in the Constructors’ Championship as we head into Abu Dhabi.”

Martins wins in Lusail as Fornaroli seals 2025 Formula 2 title!

Leonardo Fornaroli:

It sounds amazing. I didn’t have many expectations because it was a new  car and my first time working with an English team, so it was a bit scary but their mentality since 
day one – I understood I made the right choice to go with them. Every day they were able to 
make me feel at home. We had so much fun over the season and they were able to give the right  suggestions to help me improve, to make me feel better after a mistake or a bad 
race or moment. Also, having Roman as a teammate this year, we’ve known each other for three  years, as we were together at TRIDENT, but in different categories. He has good experience in  Formula 2, so I was able to learn a lot from him, and he made me improve as well. To achieve this now, it’s a massive relief, and it’s a big boost of confidence, because I was able to show what I’m capable of, and also I’m quite happy about how the season went. For sure, there were some mistakes I could have avoided, some for inexperience and some were just my mistakes, but it’s part of the game.

The Championship is very competitive. You always have to be at the limit to score good results. So mistakes can happen, but nevertheless, I learned, was able to improve, and now to finally win this Championship, it’s a massive relief. It was a dream for me to become Champion with one round to go so I could race and experience the race with a lot less pressure. But still, I will do the best I can, because the fight for the Teams’ Championship is still on. So I will push as much as I can in Abu Dhabi, and try to still improve.

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FIA Formula 2: This title comes a year after you won F3 in 2024 following in the footsteps of
Oscar Piastri and Gabriel Bortoleto, who also won both titles back-to-back. What does this
mean to you, knowing that Oscar and Gabi are now in Formula 1?

Fornaroli: Well, it’s a big emotion, knowing that I’m doing the same that the top F1 guys did like
Oscar, Charles, Russell and Gabriel. To get to two Championship in a row, it’s amazing. And this
one feels even better than the first because it was in my first year, so just amazing.

FIA Formula 2: So far in Formula 2, you’ve had four wins, nine podiums and two pole
positions with one round to go. What do you make of these results so far?

Fornaroli: These are amazing results. Like last year, I showed that I’m very consistent. I mean,
even if there were some problems or something was not going in the right way, I was always
able to finish and to score good points. I still lost some opportunities this year, but as I said
before, that’s part of the game, I learned from the mistakes and, now that I’ve finally won it, I’m a
bit more relaxed.

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FIA Formula 2: Do you think you’re the same driver as the one that won the F3 Championship
or what are the differences between that and the one you are now?

Fornaroli: Well, I think this year, compared to last year, I improved a lot in my driving because F2
isn’t like F3. You have to be a lot more careful, both in qualifying and races, especially in the
races, because with a bigger car, more power, bigger tyres, it makes the tyre degradation more
tricky. So at the start of the year, I spent a lot of time in the simulator with my engineer and with
my driver coach. Then I studied the data lots, lots of onboards from the races of every race
weekend. Today, even if I wasn’t the quickest on track as Victor did an amazing race, I was able
to do my own and stay basically the whole time with him. In the second stint, we couldn’t catch
him. To miss the win, it’s a bit disappointing. I will see what we could have done better to try to
improve and finish on a high next weekend.

FIA Formula 2: Alright then what’s next for our F2 Champion?

Fornaroli: I have an idea of what’s happening with my future. My focus still remains on the last
round of F2 in the meantime. My manager and management are doing an amazing job, and I’m
very confident for what’s next. And I hope you will be able to see what will happen in few
weeks time.

FIA Formula 2: Well we can’t wait. From all of us at Formula 2, a massive congratulations, Leo.

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