F1Weekly Podcast # 1152

ON TODAYS PROGRAM…

THREE BRITS ON THE PODIUM…LCH TAKES THE WIN IN BARCA AND TOTO SAYS…MAYBE HIS GIRL FRIEND HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT!!!

LECLERC CONTINUES HIS DOWNWARD SPIRAL

KIMI’S DNF SLOWS DOWN HIS MOMENTUM AND…

SO SO SAD…FERNANDO DEAD LAST IN QUALI…THE FINAL CURTAIN!

TOYOTA WINS LEMANS AND NICK DE VRIES GETS THE LAST LAUGH!

CORVETTE WINS THE GT3 CLASS AND…

THIS WEEK’S NASIR HAMEED CORNER WE HAVE: A MOMENT IN MOTORSPORTS HISTORY…AN INTERVIEW WITH MIKA SALO. MORE GREAT TRIVIA FROM ANDREW.

LEWIS

First I have to start and say a huge grazie to everyone here, my team here at Ferrari, everyone back at the factory, Fred [Vasseur] for believing in me and bringing me to this team,” Hamilton said after the race. “I started out a dream last year which seemed almost impossible during my time last year, but we never gave up hope and the team just continued to lift me up.

“We made so many changes and we made so many improvements, and on top of that I’ve got the greatest fanbase a sportsman could ever ask for. Thank you, thank you to everybody.”

Asked where this win ranks among his 106 total victories, he added: “They’re all special in their own way but this one’s something else.

“I watched Ferrari have all that success when I was younger, watching it on TV, and as I’ve been racing here I’d always watch the screens and wonder what it would be like to win in that car, and it’s come.

“Everyone worked so hard for it, everyone truly deserves it, so I am forever grateful to them and this is just the first I hope of many. But great pit stops today, great strategy, the car felt fantastic, and forza Ferrari.”

GEORGE

Congratulations to Lewis (Hamilton). He drove a really impressive race today after being incredibly quick in Qualifying yesterday. Coming into the weekend, I don’t think we expected that pace from Ferrari, so we know we’ve got a challenge coming from them in the races ahead. We will be working hard to tackle that challenge and get back to winning ways.

On my side, the race today was not straightforward. I was struggling with the tyres towards the end of my second and third stints; the Virtual Safety Car didn’t help us either and it would have been a fascinating race with Lewis without that. I will take the positives from this weekend though. It has been clean from the very start and I come away with 18 points, which is 18 points more than I managed across Canada and Monaco!

We will regroup in the week ahead and look to improve for Austria. We’ve got a big double-header coming up with Spielberg and Silverstone and I am already excited for it.

KIMI

It is very disappointing to retire from P2, but these things can happen in racing. George suffered an issue in Canada and now it’s happened to me; we know our reliability is something we need to work on and I am sure the team will be pushing incredibly hard to improve that. It’s more important points that we’ve lost but we must remember that it is the first year of these new regulations and we are all learning quickly.

Congratulations to Lewis (Hamilton) on his victory today. He is a great driver and has been so much help in my career so far. I am pleased to see him up there once again as he really deserves it. I think we had the pace today to challenge him for the win, but the Virtual Safety Car came out at a bad time for us, and we didn’t get to see how things would have played out.

We have one week without racing before returning in Austria. We have seen our competitors take a step forward here this weekend and we will need to raise our game there if we want to fight for victory again. We will pick ourselves up, learn from this weekend, and come back stronger.

MAX

“Today we just didn’t have the pace to keep up with the cars ahead. I was really just doing my own race as we were a little bit behind the guys that finished in front of me. As a Team we did everything right, it was the winning strategy, so we made the right call there with the tyres. We were just too slow compared to the cars ahead on each compound, unfortunately. We tried our best and put everything into it but ultimately the whole weekend was a bit tough for us. We do struggle more with these high energy tracks with high degradation and we just need to work on things and try to find more pace in the upcoming races.”

SHANGHAI, CHINA – MARCH 23: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing and Gianpiero Lambiase, Head of Racing of Oracle Red Bull Racing talk on the grid during the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on March 23, 2025 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

ISACK

“I felt like I had good pace this weekend once we got to Qualifying and the race, but I had a shocker at the race start with so much wheelspin, so that’s one aspect I really want to focus on before Red Bull Ring. We could have fought with Oscar if we had a good start, so it’s a bit of a shame. I think we did way better than we thought we would this weekend given the track layout and conditions. Austria will be a better track for us, and we expect to have a stronger car. We just need to work on the starts.”

TOYOTA TAKE ITS SIXTH VICTORY AT LE MANS

Toyota executed a perfect, textbook strategy throughout the 94th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans to claim its first victory since 2022, securing a sixth overall triumph and equalling the tally of British marque Bentley.

To spectacular fanfare, Japanese powerhouse Toyota Racing lifted the iconic trophy at a sun-kissed Circuit de la Sarthe for the first time in four years, in front of hundreds of thousands of spectators at the venue and millions more watching around the world. Drivers Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries and Mike Conway emerged as the team to beat at the end of the race, guiding the #7 Toyota to victory ahead of the sister #8 Toyota Racing entry, the #20 BMW M Team WRT and the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA machine in an epic four-way battle to the chequered flag – underlining the “Platinum Era” status that the Hypercar category is building.

For Kobayashi, it was a second Le Mans victory. It marked a second triumph for British star Mike Conway and, for the first time in 38 years, a historic win for the Netherlands as Nyck de Vries became the latest Dutch driver to conquer Le Mans.

It looked set to be another Toyota one-two, but BMW’s never-say-die attitude ensured that the FIA World Endurance Championship points leaders – the #20 crew of Robin Frijns, René Rast and Sheldon van der Linde – claimed second overall and a valuable haul of championship points.

Toyota could still be delighted with third place, although a few costly mistakes and strategy calls denied the #8 Toyota of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa another victory.

Meanwhile, Cadillac can take plenty of plaudits once again. A crowd favourite throughout the week, the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA crew gave everything in pursuit of victory, and the pace they demonstrated at Le Mans suggests they will remain contenders for years to come.

Inter Europol Competiton lock-out LMP2

It was a grandstand finish in LMP2 as Inter Europol Competition worked well overnight to bring both cars into the rostrum contention, but a second day charge from Forestier Racing by Panis had everyone on the edge of their seats, but after 24 hours of racing the Polish #43 ORECA with pilots Jakub Smiechowski, Tom Dillmann and Nicholas Yelloly win the penultimate race at Le Mans for this specification LMP2 car!

Corvette charge back to the top!

Corvette capture the magic of Le Mans once again with iconic yellow #33 Corvette run by TF Sport took LMGT3 laurels with Ben Keating, Jonny Edgar, Nicky Catsburg taking a popular leap onto the top step of the podium. Akkodis ASP Team put Lexus on the podium for the first time at Le Mans with the #78 car second and the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin joins in the celebrations in third.

Top 5 Results – 24 Hours of Le Mans:

Toyota TR010 Hybrid #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing – Mike Conway / Kamui Kobayashi / Nyck de Vries – 381 Laps
BMW M Hybrid V8 #20 BMW M Team WRT – Robin Frijns / Rene Rast / Sheldon van der Linde – + 10.913
Toyota TR010 Hybrid #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing – Sébastien Buemi / Brendon Hartley / Ryo Hirakawa – + 20.417
Cadillac V-Series.R #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA – Louis Delétraz / Will Stevens / Norman Nato – +32.381
Ferrari 499P #51 Ferrari-AF Corse – Alessandro Pier Guidi / James Calado / Antonio Giovinazzi – +2:22.423

Category Winners:

LMP2: Oreca 07-Gibson #43 Inter Europol Competition – Jakub Smiechowski / Tom Dillmann / Nicholas Yelloly – 361 Laps
LMGT3: Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R #33 TF Sport – Ben Keating / Jonny Edgar / Nicky Catsburg – 336 laps

Fastest Lap: Rio Hirakawa (Toyota TR010 – Hybrid #8 Toyota Racing) – 3:25.041 – Lap 306

Retirements:

Oreca 07-Gibson #30 Duqueine Team – Doriane Pin / Julien Andlauer / Richard Verschoor
Ferrari 499P #50 Ferrari-AF Corse – Antonio Fuoco / Nicklas Nielsen / Miguel Molina
Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 #91 Manthey DK Engineering – James Cottingham / Timur Boguslavskiy / Ayhancan Güven
Genesis GMR-001-Hypercar #17 Genesis Magma Racing – André Lotterer / Luis Felipe Derani / Mathys Jaubert
Ford Mustang LMGT3 #77 Proton Competition – Eric Powell / Ben Tuck / Sebastian Priaulx
Cadillac V-Series.R #38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA – Sébastien Bourdais / Earl Bamber / Jack Aitken
Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 #79 Iron Lynx – Johannes Zelger / Matteo Cressoni / Lin Hodenius
Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo #54 Vista AF Corse – Thomas Flohr / Francesco Castellacci / Davide Rigon
Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 #61 Iron Lynx (Martin Berry / Rui Andrade / Maxime Martin
Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R #13 Thirteen Autosport – Orey Fidani / Lars Kern / Matthew

Indianapolis 500, INDYCAR SERIES Team Owner
Reinbold Dies at 65.

NDIANAPOLIS (Sunday, June 14, 2026) – Team owner Dennis Reinbold, whose Dreyer & Reinbold Racing has fielded cars in the INDYCAR SERIES and Indianapolis 500 for more than 25 years, died peacefully June 13 while surrounded by family. He was 65.

Reinbold, a longtime, successful Indianapolis automobile dealer, formed Dreyer & Reinbold Racing in 1999. The name paid tribute to his family’s legacy in racing, as Reinbold’s grandfather Floyd “Pop” Dreyer moved from being a factory motorcycle racer to serving as a crew member and chief mechanic on the famed Duesenberg driven by Benny Shoaff and Babe Stapp in the 1927 Indianapolis 500. Dreyer went on to build many Indy 500 cars in the 1930s and built championship-winning sprint cars, midgets and quarter-midgets.

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing started competing in the INDYCAR SERIES full time in 2000 and achieved instant success, winning the season opener at Walt Disney World Speedway with Robbie Buhl behind the wheel. That remains the team’s only victory, but DRR earned two second-place finishes with driver Justin Wilson in 2010 and four third-place finishes between 2001 and 2012, its last full INDYCAR SERIES season.

The Indianapolis-based team then ran a limited schedule of five races in 2013 before focusing solely on the Indianapolis 500 from 2014 through this year, except for a four-race effort for driver Sage Karam in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

Indianapolis native Reinbold was very proud he employed a year-round, tight-knit crew to prepare his cars for the Month of May, which attracted such “500” standouts as 2012 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay, JR Hildebrand, Townsend Bell and Conor Daly to multiple May starts with the team.

DRR’s best Indy 500 finish is fourth by Oriol Servia in 2012. But the team was in excellent position to contend for victory in 2025 when Hunter-Reay ran out of fuel while leading with just 31 laps remaining. DRR drivers also led the “500” in four of the last six years.

Another source of pride for Reinbold was that all 53 cars his team entered in the Indianapolis 500 qualified for the starting field.

That success rate, meticulous preparation and Reinbold’s passion for the sport and “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” led a veritable who’s who of the sport to race for the small team. Besides Buhl, Hunter-Reay, Hildebrand, Daly and Wilson, drivers such as two-time Indy winner Al Unser Jr., 1996 “500” winner Buddy Lazier, 2004 “500” winner Buddy Rice, 2019 “500” winner Simon Pagenaud, INDYCAR SERIES champion Paul Tracy and Sarah Fisher drove for DRR.

Nael takes dominant lights-to-flag victory in Barcelona

BARCELONA, SPAIN – JUNE 14: Theophile Nael of France and Campos Racing (1) drives on track during the Round 3 Barcelona Feature race of the Formula 3 Championship at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on June 14, 2026 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by James Sutton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)

Théophile Nael was at his brilliant best as he claimed a maiden FIA Formula 3 victory in the Barcelona Feature Race. The Campos Racing driver kept the lead at the start from pole, and resisted pressure from Van Amersfoort Racing’s Hiyu Yamakoshi, who finished second, early on before taking victory, with teammate Ugo Ugochukwu rounding out the podium in third.

AS IT HAPPENED
It was a great start for Nael who kept the lead from pole but his Campos teammate Ugochukwu was slow away from second and down to P3 behind Yamakoshi before Turn 1. Yamakoshi and Nael then went side-by-side into Turn 1 but having ran off the road, ceded position back to the Frenchman.

Freddie Slater was on a charge, going around the outside of Enzo Deligny for P7 at Turn 1 on Lap 2. On the next lap, the TRIDENT driver overtook Ernesto Rivera for P6 down the main straight. A Virtual Safety Car soon signalled with marshals having to pick up debris from the track following contact between Woohyun Shin and Yevan David.

Nael was struggling to break the DRS as Yamakoshi set the fastest time of the race on Lap 6, the gap just 0.6s between the top two. On Lap 7, Pedro Clerot made an excellent dive to the inside of Mattia Colnaghi for P18 at Turn 7.

Just as they did that, DAMS Lucas Oil teammate Nicola Lacorte and Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi made contact at Turn 10. It left the former out of the race, and with his car needing to be cleared, the VSC was called upon again. Racing resumed on Lap 9 and Slater was given a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage on the opening lap. The Briton was still showing good pace, as he overtook Brando Badoer for P5 down the main straight.

The VAR cars were keeping pace with their rivals ahead, with Yamakoshi right on the gearbox of Nael, while Ugochukwu, having dropped back from the leading two, was coming under pressure from Bruno del Pino. Debris on the racing line down the main straight meant VSC was called upon with Yamakoshi now just 0.4s behind Nael.

Del Pino’s pressure on Ugochukwu finally paid off as the Campos driver ran wide at the final corner, allowing the Spaniard to take P3 on Lap 16. Nael however was now 1.3s clear of Yamakoshi, as he started to set personal best sector times.

Badoer in sixth had just been informed by his Rodin Motorsport team of del Pino’s struggles, and soon afterwards, Ugochukwu used the DRS to get back to P3 from the Spaniard on the main straight on Lap 20. Slater then ran wide at the final corner, which allowed Badoer through to take P5 on Lap 21.

Out in front, Nael was 1.4s clear of Yamakoshi, who was over three seconds ahead of Ugochukwu. Badoer’s charge continued on the penultimate lap, with a move past del Pino down the main straight for fourth. In the battle for points, Taito Kato overtook Tuukka Taponen for P9 at Turn 1, while Maciej Gladysz went around the outside of James Wharton at Turn 4 to go to P11.

Del Pino’s struggles continued on the final lap, with teammate Deligny taking P5 down the main straight. Out in front however, Nael held firm to win for the first time in Formula 3, beating Yamakoshi across the line by just 0.7s.

Ugochukwu settled for P3, ahead of Badoer, Deligny and Del Pino. Rivera was seventh for Campos, with Slater’s five-second time penalty dropping him to P8 behind the Mexican. Kato wound up in P9 ahead of ART Grand Prix teammate Gladysz – after his final lap overtake on Tuukka Taponen.

KEY QUOTE – Théophile Nael, Campos Racing
“First victory in FIA Formula 3. I’m super happy, especially as it’s a home race for the team, so a one-three, I am super happy. There’s still a long way to the end of the championship but it’s good points this weekend.”

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Ugo Ugochukwu leads the Drivers’ Standings on 58 points, but Théophile Nael, who is now up to second, has reduced his advantage to just six points going to Spielberg. Bruno del Pino is third on 48 points, just one point ahead of Freddie Slater with Brando Badoer fifth on 41.

In the Teams’ Standings, Campos Racing continue to lead the way with 126 points, with Van Amersfoort Racing second with 99. Rodin Motorsport are up to third with 57 points, while TRIDENT are a point behind in fourth. ART Grand Prix completed the top five with 34.

UP NEXT
The paddock will take a week’s break before hitting the track in Spielberg for Round 4 from June 26-28.

FIA Formula 3 – Barcelona – Provisional Classification – Feature Race

\|		\|	DRIVER	\|	LICENCE	\|	TEAM	\|
\|	1	\|	Theophile Nael	\|	FRA	\|	Campos Racing	\|
\|	2	\|	Hiyu Yamakoshi	\|	JPN	\|	Van Amersfoort Racing	\|
\|	3	\|	Ugo Ugochukwu	\|	USA	\|	Campos Racing	\|
\|	4	\|	Brando Badoer	\|	ITA	\|	Rodin Motorsport	\|
\|	5	\|	Enzo Deligny	\|	FRA	\|	Van Amersfoort Racing	\|
\|	6	\|	Bruno Del Pino	\|	ESP	\|	Van Amersfoort Racing	\|
\|	7	\|	Ernesto Rivera	\|	MEX	\|	Campos Racing	\|
\|	8	\|	Freddie Slater	\|	GBR	\|	TRIDENT	\|
\|	9	\|	Taito Kato	\|	JPN	\|	ART Grand Prix	\|
\|	10	\|	Maciej Gladysz	\|	POL	\|	ART Grand Prix	\|
\|	11	\|	Noah Stromsted	\|	DEN	\|	TRIDENT	\|
\|	12	\|	James Wharton	\|	AUS	\|	PREMA Racing	\|
\|	13	\|	Kanato Le	\|	JPN	\|	ART Grand Prix	\|
\|	14	\|	Tuukka Taponen	\|	FIN	\|	MP Motorsport	\|
\|	15	\|	Gerrard Xie	\|	CHN	\|	DAMS Lucas Oil	\|
\|	16	\|	Pedro Clerot	\|	BRA	\|	Rodin Motorsport	\|
\|	17	\|	Alessandro Giusti	\|	FRA	\|	MP Motorsport	\|
\|	18	\|	Mattia Colnaghi	\|	ARG	\|	MP Motorsport	\|
\|	19	\|	Louis Sharp	\|	NZL	\|	PREMA Racing	\|
\|	20	\|	Matteo De Palo	\|	ITA	\|	TRIDENT	\|
\|	21	\|	Jose Garfias	\|	MEX	\|	PREMA Racing	\|
\|	22	\|	Jin Nakamura	\|	JPN	\|	Hitech	\|
\|	23	\|	Ricardo Escotto	\|	MEX	\|	AIX Racing	\|
\|	24	\|	Fernando Barrichello	\|	BRA	\|	AIX Racing	\|
\|	25	\|	Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi	\|	THA	\|	DAMS Lucas Oil	\|
\|	26	\|	Fionn Mclaughlin	\|	IRL	\|	Hitech	\|
\|	27	\|	Yevan David	\|	SRI	\|	AIX Racing	\|
\|	28	\|	Christian Ho	\|	SGP	\|	Rodin Motorsport	\|
\|	29	\|	Woohyun Shin	\|	KOR	\|	Hitech	\|
	NOT CLASSIFIED
\|	DNF	\|	Nicola Lacorte	\|	ITA	\|	DAMS Lucas Oil	\|
	OVERALL FASTEST LAP
\|		\|	Hiyu Yamakoshi	\|	JPN	\|	Van Amersfoort Racing	\|
							1:32.408(Lap 5)
	OVERALL FASTEST LAP FOR POINTS
\|		\|	Hiyu Yamakoshi	\|	JPN	\|	Van Amersfoort Racing	\|
							1:32.408(Lap 5)