Trackside Tea

Title: Turbo Attax & Trackside Chat

Description:

This week, we’re skipping the race recaps as it was a non race weekend just gone and we are in the summer break!

There are 2 versions of this podcast...this one is the audio only with all the natter and then I have popped a video version of it on youtube with something different – the brand-new Turbo Attax 2025 cards! Join me over there as I open a pack (or two) live on air and react to the pulls.

I did think about doing it on the audio but it really is a visual thing!

Plus, we spill some fresh Trackside Tea on an F1 rumours, from potential driver moves to team shake-ups, and share a few fun tidbits making the rounds in the paddock.

If you love your Formula 1 with a side of banter and none of the overwhelming tech talk, you’re in the right place.

Follow Trackside Tea:

Instagram: @tracksideteawithrebecca

YouTube: @tracksidetea

Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/tracksidetea

The 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix gave us all the drama, strategy and near misses we could hope for. Lando Norris pulled off a bold one-stopper to fend off teammate Oscar Piastri and keep McLaren's hot streak alive. From Verstappen's continued struggles to Alonso's solid comeback and Leclerc's penalty pain, this episode of Trackside Tea dives into every twist and turn from the Hungaroring. Less jargon, more juicy tea.

Trackside Tea: Hungarian Hustle

The Hungaroring delivered serious drama this weekend! Here’s what we’re spilling the tea on:

• Lando Norris' one-stop gamble and thrilling finish
• Oscar Piastri's relentless chase to the line
• George Russell returns to the podium for Mercedes
• Charles Leclerc's fading form and late-race penalty
• Hamilton's Ferrari weekend from hell
• Alonso and Bortoleto shine
• Constructors' and Drivers' standings update

Don't forget to share your thoughts on IG @tracksideteawithrebecca – we love hearing from you!

IN THIS EPISODE

I will be chatting about the Belgium sprint race, ooooo

The main event race, ahhhhh

What happened with my predictions, booooo

And a few other bits and bobs…

Buckle up

for a Spa showdown that had it all—delayed starts, slippery drama, and McLaren

magic. In this episode of Trackside Tea, I recap the chaos and class of

the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix. Oscar Piastri delivered a wet-weather masterclass,

Lando Norris kept the pressure real, and Ferrari played the strategy game to

hold off Verstappen. I break down all the key moments, surprise standouts, and

what this means for the championship race. Grab your brew—it’s tea time at the

top of Eau Rouge!

Instagram: @tracksideteawithrebecca

Support the pod: patreon.com/tracksidetea

Welcome back to Trackside Tea, your non-techy guide to all things Formula 1!

This week, we’re heading to the forests of Belgium for one of the most iconic

races of the year — the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.

And of course, it's all wrapped in your favourite no-jargon, judgment-free F1 chat!

Whether you’ve been watching F1 for years or just found out

Spa isn’t just a wellness retreat — this one’s for you.

Follow Trackside Tea on Instagram @tracksideteawithrebecca and tell me your dream Spa Belgium scenario!

Confused by softs, mediums, and inters?

This easy F1 tyre guide breaks it all down—no heavy jargon, just tea, tyre drama, strategyish, and fun, Trackside style!

#TracksideTea #F1Tyres #F1Podcast #F1BeginnerFriendly #Formula1 #Podsplainer #F1Fans #girlsintoF1

TRANSCRIPT

Hey.

Hey

And welcome to Trackside Tea, the podcast that proves you don't need a degree in aerodynamics to enjoy formula one.

Now there was no Grand Prix at the weekend.

So today I'm catching up with things that you've commented on and also I'm doing that pod splainer I've been wanting to do.

We're tackling something that seems simple but is weirdly confusing, f one tires.

Yep.

Those big round black things everybody yells about on race day.

So let's get into this.

What's the deal with tires in F1, and why does it matter?

What are these tire colors all about?

First off, Pirelli makes all the tires in f one.

No other brands, just Pirelli.

Every team, every car, they're all the same.

There are six different compounds of basic tyre which is basically the makeup of the tyre plus intermediates and full wet tires.

Each team is supplied with three of the basic tires which is decided before the race based on weather and track conditions mainly.

Now each tire has a color stripe on it: red, yellow, white, green and blue.

Each one has a different use I suppose is a reasonable way of putting it.

Different weathers need different tire types.

So let's work through the days.

A normal dry race weekend.

Now a dry one you would have red, yellow and white.

Red is the soft tire, the fastest but wears out quickly.

Yellow medium tire.

It's balanced not too fast, not too slow.

White hard tyre slower but it does last a lot longer.

So basically it's speed versus durability trade off.

Soft as your sprinter, hard as your marathon runner and medium is your steady jogger.

But what about the wet races?

Rain?

Chaos like in Silverstone this year but I also seem to remember Belgium was horrendous last year.

We had a friend sat on one of the hills in the pouring rain.

Poor Hedley.

So cue the wet tyres.

Green intermediate.

Light rain with a damp track.

Blue is full wet.

Heavy rain, big puddles, chaos mode fully on.

You'll hear commentators say things like 'they've gone to Winters' and now you can nod along like we totally get it but of course we actually do get it now so that's not too bad.

What are the tire rules?

Okay so the FIA, which is basically the f1 rule bosses, says that in dry races drivers must use two different tyre types during the race.

That's why you'll hear things like mandatory pit stop.

So if they start on mediums they'll have to switch to either soft or hard at some point.

They can obviously change more than that but they have to use at least two different types.

No exceptions.

Unless it rains.

And basically in a wet race the rules go out the window and the teams can do pretty much whatever they want.

How do teams decide what to use?

This is where strategy comes in like a game of chess but at 200 miles an hour.

Want to start fast?

You go for softs.

Want to run long and avoid traffic?

Hard tyres are the ones to go for.

Trying to split the difference?

Go for mediums.

Weather, track temperature, how good be the surface is?

All of that factors in.

It's why sometimes drivers complain about being on the wrong tyre because it really can make or break a race.

As much as the crew can help it is only the driver that can feel how the tires are when he's driving.

Any fun tire drama?

Absolutely.

F1 and tire drama go hand in hand together like tea and biscuits.

Back in the day teams used to explode tyres from pushing too hard or there are the moments when everyone goes on inter too soon and ends up sliding around like bambies on ice.

But based on what I said before and the driver being the best judge sometimes, Nico Hulkenberg proved that at Silverstone with his podium whim and he got there by ignoring his crew and staying on the tires he was on when they told him to change because he just felt right and then changing them when they told him not to.

Perfect for him and all down to the tires.

Tires aren't just rubber, they are drama and now you get the drama too.

So what have we learned?

So next time you hear softs, inters or they're struggling for grip you'll know it's all about tyre choice and when a driver pits early or late that's strategy baby!

Remember you don't need to know tyre pressure or wear percentages to enjoy the race but now you've got enough tyre tea to feel in the know.

So what have you all been chatting about?

I asked a couple of questions this week on my stories on Instagram.

One.

Who was your driver of the day at Silverstone?

Not including Lando as he is a given having won it.

Two.

Who do you think created the most drama at Silverstone?

So for number one we did have a couple of Landos.

I'm assuming a few people didn't actually listen to my story, they just read the question which is fine, very cool, thank you for joining in anyway.

But without a doubt Nico Hulkenberg won the day for everyone else and it was well deserved.

And the drama creators really seem to have two options crop up.

It seems we have Oscar Piastri's penalty, which was a little bit of drama I have to say, and The Rain.

The Rain was definitely the best drama maker of the day with slippy ground and a few spins.

And now you know what tyres they should have been on.

That's it for Trackside T today.

Catch you next time for another Natter podsplainer.

One more week off and it's back to the Belgian Grand Prix.

Don't forget to follow and slide into our DMs with your questions and answers @tracksideteawithrebecca on Instagram and @tracksidetea on YouTube.

You were there, I was there, and what a weekend at Silverstone! In this episode of Trackside Tea, we relive Lando Norris’s emotional home win in wet-dry chaos, Oscar Piastri’s controversial penalty, Nico Hülkenberg’s epic first podium, and Max Verstappen’s wet-weather woes — no telemetry, just sheer F1 joy.

Speaking of Joy...what has happened to Christian Horner!!!! :-)

Listen now, relive the magic, and share your standout moment!

Follow/Subscribe op Insta: @tracksideteawithrebecca

New episode every week — no telemetry required

• Landos Dream Win
• Wet Weather Roller Coaster
• Piastris Protest and Penalty
• Hulkenbergs Emotional Podium
• What else went down?
• The Standings
• Celebrities with The Brundle
• LandoStand
• OMG - Christian Horner
• Virtual Safety Tea

TRANSCRIPT:

Hey.

Hey, everyone.

Welcome back to Trackside Tea, where we skip the nerdy engineering stuff and just drive into the emotion, energy, and entertainment of f one.

I'm Rebecca, and today's episode is truly special because I was at Silverstone last weekend.

You all felt the British Grand Prix magic.

Right?

Rain, chaos, home heroics.

Let's get into it.

Lando's dream win.

Let's kick off with the epic headline, which everyone's talking about.

Well, actually, there is more than one epic headline, but we'll start with this one.

Lando Norris.

What an amazing moment.

Wicked pace in the wet dry conditions and a home victory in front of his crowd.

He was even getting emotional crossing the line, funnily enough.

Oh my god.

We did it.

And when I say his crowd, not only was it a home crowd as in the location at Silverstone, but he had his own stand, the Lando stand.

Stow corner a, b, c, and an added extra d.

It was all pure Lando.

They decked it all up the sides with a logo, etcetera, and we all well, most of us got a free t shirt to wear as well.

More about that little issue later.

You definitely couldn't miss his fans.

That's for sure.]

I'm kinda glad it wasn't a stupid hot weekend.

With floral yellow T shirts, we would have been a wasp flying bee's favorite area.

Not sure I would have fancied that, to be fair.

It's been years since a Brit outside of Hamilton won at Silverstone, and it's the first McLaren win there since Hamilton himself back in 02/2008.

Lando, you are a legend.

And what made it even better for him?

His whole family were there, including his grandparents.

So sweet.

Wet weather roller coaster.

Oh my goodness me.]

The weather was bonkers.

It's like Silverstone has its own little microclimate, a bit like Avebury.

The amount of times Paul and I, my husband, for those who don't know, have been there, and it's glorious until you get to the outskirts, and then it's hammering down with rain.]

And then to drive out the other side, and it's gorgeous again.

This is how it felt at Silverstone.

We were keeping an eye on the weather all week before we left, and it kept changing.

So we genuinely had no idea what was gonna happen when we got there.

As much as they tried to predict the rain coming, it still felt a little bit unpredictable.

So the rain definitely set the tone for the race.]

There were multiple safety cars, lots of shifting tire strategies, and a pretty treacherous track underneath them.

I have to say ponchos are king at event like this.

Best purchase ever.

And we had see through ones, so you can still see our fabulous color t shirts underneath.

But you know that point when you get part of you wet, and then you just think, screw it.

I'm wet now.

Who cares?

That was me.

And to be honest, the rest of the family too.

It was Paul, myself, my youngest daughter, my step kids, and my mother-in-law all in a row ponchoed up.

It was quite a sight, I have to say.

Then the sun came out.

Poncho off.

And then you just slowly watch the next menacing cloud head towards you.

One spot of rain has a race to get the poncho back on because when it started, oh my gosh, did it start.

But when I say microclimate, I had a friend over the opposite side at Farmer's Corner.

What?

Farmer's Corner?

I have no idea where that came from.

Farm Curve.

And when it rained on us, at one point, it wasn't raining over there.

That is just it just seemed really insane.

But you gotta love the British weather, I guess.

I will say one thing for it.

It brings everyone together.

Unless you are grumpy, and I have to say we did have a few sat around us that are a little bit grumpy.

The majority, when you're all trying to get on your ponchos, everyone quickly helps everyone out.

When you got your poncho tucked up behind you, there's always somebody to grab it and put it down.

It was actually quite an epic moment.

Pastries protest and penalty.

Oscar Pastry has Oscar Pastry.

Piastri's protest and penalty.

Oscar Piastri, not Oscar Pastry, has come into the firing line this week.

Lando fans get annoyed at him because he's champion Lando for the championship, and some think he's got a little bit cocky these days.

He crossed the line second, but the drama in his race bubbled after a whopping penalty he received.

After one of the safety cars, Oscar was in front, and as the safety car left, he broke.

Admittedly, it was quite a hard break, and Max ends up narrowly missing going into the back of him.

He well and truly backed Max and Lando up, So Lando basically could find it easier to pass Max when they started, I reckon.

Now it is normal for a driver at the front to slow right down to give the safety car space to get away before the front car zooms off and restarts the race.

As going past the safety car or even colliding into it would be even more of a no no.

But he also broke really hard, and I think Nico was heard saying in the cooldown room after the race that they even backed up to him, and he needed to break.

It wasn't too bad stewards, and he was hit with a ten second penalty.

He called it extreme and asked the team to consider swapping positions with Lando.

He wasn't the only one that thought it was extreme either, with even Max Verstappen defending him, which is rare.

He admitted the penalty looked harsh.

Yes.

He broke hard, and he was a bit naughty, but ten seconds was very harsh in my opinion.

On the upside, it may have cost him the win, but he still got there in second place.

But I also will say he does need to get over himself a little bit for the after interview, though.

He was very salty, as the kids would say, and did not come across well.

I get that he was annoyed, but there's still fans there to support him, and he still got second.

Seemed a little bit over the top he did for that interview.

Hulkenberg's emotional podium.

Oh my god.

So the second epic headline.

What a race to actually be at.

So cue the underdog moment, Nico Hulkenberg.

After 239 races, he finally gets on the podium in p three.

Silverstone literally erupted.

The crowd loved it.

Everyone was so happy for him.

It was very well deserved, and he went from nineteenth to third.

How epic is that?

He can well and truly own this win as well as he turned down the advice from his race engineer at least three times.

They said to pit for wet tires.

He said no.

And then they said it again, and he said no.

And then they said stay out, and he said no when he went to change his tires.

Same tires, though.

I really must do a tire spanner episode, I reckon, as even then I'd learn a bit more about them as well.

I think that might be a good idea.

Others waited for a couple of laps to change their tires.

And in that time, he put in the fastest lap and raced up a fair few spots.

After that, all he needed to do was keep Lewis at bay, and he did very nicely.

It was an epic feel good moment and also shows that you should never give up.

Although not sure about the Lego trophy, your first when you get a trophy made at a Lego.

At least it's unique, I guess.

One of the sweetest Insta posts I've seen since then was the Aston Martin and Mercedes clubbed together and sent over some champagne for them to the garage as they never thought it was gonna happen.

So they were not prepared at all.

Bless them.

Oh, and a quirky snippet I read today.

In the run up to Silverstone Grand Prix, Sky Bet had the odds of Nico getting a podium spot of 750 to one, which 27 people took a bet on.

Did they know something we didn't?

But also, you know what's really spooky?

What's Hulkenberg's number?

Yep.

27.

It obviously was fate.

Other highlights.

What else went down?

Hamilton, having won last year in his Mercedes, was hoping for another home win in his Ferrari, but that was not meant to be.

Managing p four and just missing out on a podium spot.

Tough break in front of his home fans, that's for sure.

George Russell took a spin early on, which he never really recovered from, just scraping one point by coming in 10.

Not his finest race, and another homeboy too.

Max Verstappen.

Well, pole position was not his for long.

And after the controversial start after the safety car with Oscar, the next corner, Max spun out while battling to get back in front in the very wet conditions, dropping him to p five finish.

Sorry, Max, but it was epic for us as it was on the stretch of track we could see in front of us.

The gasps that you could hear from our whole stand as with all the spray, you couldn't really clearly see it was Max, Orlando, or Oscar, or all three of them.

So the tension was quite wild at the time.

Charles had a wobble as well.

And right in front of us, he headed towards the barrier across the gravel area.

Luckily, he managed to pull it back and got himself back on track, literally.

Only p 14 for him though this time.

Cool.

Blimey.

There was more than I thought happened.

Oh, I cannot not mention the rookies.

Ollie Bearman was the only one to finish the race, and he was really close to points as well with eleventh place.

Colapinto didn't even start.

Lawson, Bortoleto, Hajar, and Antonelli never finished, which left just 15 in total in the race.

I'm not sure I've ever seen that before.

I definitely didn't get my predictions right on that one, though.

I think I said 18.

Oops.

And I could not go without mentioning Fernando Alonso.

He got points again.

He got two points because he only got in ninth, but Straw managed to beat him.

He got six points coming in seventh.

I have to say that was pretty good for him.

The standings.

Piastri still leads, but now just by eight points.

He is definitely feeling the heat from his teammate.

Norris closes in fast with back to back wins now, and Verstappen stumbled this weekend, and his only saving grace was that George also stumbled.

Meanwhile, the constructors' battle was heating up.

McLaren is surging ahead and no chance of someone catching them unless something goes drastically wrong for them.

Ferrari and Mercedes are close, and Red Bull, well, they really need to reassess themselves this time.

Celebrities with the brindle.

We didn't see the brindle trundle till we got home as on the big screen, you get different peeps to watch.

But was that an epic trundle or what?

The celebs treat Martin as if he's the celebrity.

And the best one by far must have been Hannah Waddingham.

Oh my goodness me.

She was well and truly starstruck.

I'm not sure that Martin even knew how to deal with it.

Bless him.

He is such a star.

Lando stand.

Well, as I may have said, we were in the Lando stand.

He had Stow Corner for all his fans.

It was brightly colored in its decor all around the sides, and we were all given a free floral yellow colored t shirt and wristband.

The only downside was that not everyone could have a t shirt.

Okay.

Time for a mini rant here.

We arrived on the Friday morning and went straight to the place where you collected them from.

There were three container type huts, each with different sizes on, so we thought, oh, this is pretty organized.

They scanned our tickets for it, which appeared on the app easily enough, and we got our t shirts and wristbands.

There was no fan pack though, which was one of the things that was promised when we purchased the seats, but we still got a t shirt and wristband.

We got all by my stepson's as he wasn't with us until the following day.

Now during the day, the queue was massive, and people must have waited a fair while for their t shirt.

So we were really pleased that we managed to go first thing in the morning.

The Saturday morning, when we had my stepson with us, we went to get his t shirt.

Not a big queue, so we only waited a few minutes.

While in the queue, we found out that they only had small and a few medium left.

We wanted medium, really, but the last one went to the person in front of us, so we got a small.

It wasn't the worst thing in the world.

It was just a little bit tighter than he would have liked.

What frustrated me was that then they only had small sizes for the whole of Saturday and for those who only had Sunday tickets.

I felt that it needs to be more planning, get more larger ones.

Small people can wear large t shirts, but large people cannot wear small t shirts.

I saw a young lad who was quite upset because he could not wear the t shirt he was given because he was handed a small blessing.

I felt so sorry for him.

If I'd actually had my one on me, I would have swapped over with him because I just felt so bad.

Although having said they just had smalls for the rest of the two days, within a couple of hours, they were out of those as well.

So there must have been a fair few people that didn't even get a shirt.

Now how do I actually probably know that?

Because the next thing that makes me so cross, people who ruin it for others.

I'm in a chat group for Silverstone, and in that group, people were saying things they heard.

People sat nearby saying they kept going back on Thursday, just taking the band off and getting another t shirt.

They'd said they'd already made £350 on eBay by selling the T shirts.

Then somebody else said the people in this tent next to them said they didn't even have Lando stand tickets at all.

But one of their mates did, so they kept doing it as well.

And they had at least two or three each.

They weren't even in the Lando stand.

It seems like everyone working on there wasn't all scanned in the QR code.

The woman who served us, she scanned our QR code.

And as soon as it gets scanned, it's marked as complete.

So you can't use it again.

But clearly, not everyone was doing that.

But the sad thing is, it's people that do that sort of thing that don't even think about the fact that some poor kid or adult may be quite upset because they didn't get their t shirt.

They came here to support Lando.

That was promised for them with their ticket, and they didn't get it.

I genuinely hate people like that.

But you know what?

On a positive vibe, another good thing about the Lando stand, he wanted to have proper party vibes, and it did.

Every time there was no commentary on or a race on, they had a DJ, and he was pretty good, I have to say.

I believe it was Shane from Boyzone was the actual DJ.

And then you had a guy who was on the microphone singing, trying to get the crowd up and going, which was really good.

So there's some real good vibes and the music was pretty good.

But the best top thing ever was the team leader that was running all the volunteers on the Lando stand.

He was epic.

And you know what?

He managed to get the fans up and dancing and clapping more than the DJ did.

He was absolutely amazing.

His name is Gary, and somewhere I will put his link to his TikTok because, oh my goodness me.

We found out afterwards he had TikTok.

He was absolutely epic.

If you ever get Gary in your stand, you'll know it.

He literally was walking up and down half the time, getting everybody to clap, getting everybody to dance.

It's just such an amazing vibe.

It was absolutely unbelievable, and everybody loved it.

He is what made it an even better race.

Thank you, Gary.

Oh my god.

So that was gonna be it for this episode.

But what on earth happened?

Christian Horner just got the sack.

Who saw that coming?

It's what so many people wanted for so long after the drama last year.

If you don't know about that, then just Google Christian Horner scandal 02/2024.

But mid season, he got kicked out.

And apparently, according to him, without warning.

In his speech to the staff, he stated he was not leaving Red Bull completely, but he had no idea what was next for him.

Oh, dear.

I have to say I'm semi happy he's gone.

So we'll see.

We'll see how Red Bull do now.

But why did this happen?

Has Christian been accused of something else and they're keeping it out of the press?

Or they said a while ago he's being investigated for last year again.

So did they decide enough was enough?

Or is Max planning to sign with Mercedes?

And the board told Christian if he goes, so do you.

Max has a get out clause in his contract that if he's lower than third place in the championship, I think, by the summer break, then he can leave.

And it seems Max is working towards that.

And, actually, if George had done better at Silverstone, he would have been even closer to that goal.

But he's gonna have to do a couple more races yet.

But then again, if Max went to Mercedes, where would George go?

I mean, they wouldn't get rid of Kimmy as he's too young and has a whole career in front of him.

But poor George, that is definitely a watch this space kinda moment.

Just realized this turned into an oh my god Christian got sacked drama to what would happen to Max and George drama.

Oh, well.

Never mind.

Virtual safety tee.

One more time.

Magical.

Top moment, celebrating Lando in the Landostand.

The atmosphere was epic.

Now your turn.

Were you team Lando?

Chewing for Hulkenberg or still miffed about Piastri's penalty?

Find me on Insta at Trackside team with Rebecca.

This was British Grand Prix Bliss, home heroics, chaos in the rain, and memories that are last a lifetime.

I loved it.

And if you enjoyed reliving a bit of Silverstone with me, please subscribe, share with fellow fans, and join me again.

Next stop's hungry.

Let's see if the vibe...

Norris dominates, Verstappen DNFs, and rookies clash! Get the full Austrian GP recap—no tech talk, just drama, chaos, and tea from Trackside Tea.

TRANSCRIPTION:

Hey. Hey. And welcome back to Trackside Tea where we skip the data but never miss the drama. I'm Rebecca. And today, we're heading straight into the chaos of the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.

Think pole to win, rookie collisions, team brawls, and maybe even a little redemption story? Let's go.

Carlos chaos.

Okay. So let's start at the beginning of the race.

The racing team's pit crew have left them all sat on the grid to get going for the formation lap. Flags blown and off they go, except poor Carlos Sainz. He couldn't get the car to move. He just stayed there. The mechanics (*marshalls) ran to his aid.

They were shooed off as they weren't allowed to even touch the car until they had permission from the FIA. Permission came and they rushed on again to try and push start him. Well, that's what it looked like anyway. By this time the rest of the pack were over halfway around the track already. Next thing we saw was Carlos's car off and running down the track.

We have to admit it seemed very much a Sonny Hayes move to start with. Those of you who have watched the film will get that reference. Those of you who have not, I don't want to give too many spoilers.

Because of this, an aborted start was called, which meant all the pit crew having to run back to the cars to cover the tyres and the drivers and cooling systems down.

Those poor folks. Some of them have full race suits on as well. I do not envy them in that heat at all.

Carlos drove into the pits instead of the back of the grid. We assumed because the the problem that had happened maybe he had to start there instead. When he stopped he said "I feel like the brakes are still on" and poof they went up in flames.

The crew were on it instantly with coolant and fire extinguishers, but it just seemed to be a battle they weren't winning because it looked like from our perspective that every time they put it out, it started again. Eventually, they pulled him back into the garage, and the call was made to end his race there and then, a DNS, did not start. Poor Carlos.

They panned to James Vowles, the team principal, and he had his head in his hands.

Bless him. But I will skip a little bit ahead in the race as that wasn't the only issue for the poor Williams team. Alex Albon was out by lap 13. He came to the pits and then his car was retired. So both cars out for Williams.

That's not the only chaos in the race though with only 16 cars actually finishing, but we'll come to that in a bit.

Norris storms home.

Lando Norris. What a race. I said George was cool, calm, and collected last race, well Lando had it in the bag this week.

From pole all the way to the checkered flag, his third win of the season was total dominance even with fending off his teammate Oscar Piastri. To be fair, it was obvious Lando was up for it this weekend as in practice he topped the two he was in. They had a newbie driver for P1 in his car. So he didn't do P1. He did P2 and P3 though.

Then he topped qualifying one and two, so it would have been a cruel twist of fate, which would have caused him not to get pole in Q3. But not only did he get it, he got it with style and the biggest margin of the season so far. 0.521 seconds ahead of second place. That's unheard of, particularly on this track. It's such a short track. You would normally do I think it's 0.1. I don't think it's anything more than that. That it's 0.5. That's just insane. And I know I don't normally do, stats on here, but that's insane.

McLaren as a team had an epic race taking a one two finish and proving once again that they had the pace and the strength this season. And on top of that, the FIA president's medal was given to him by Bernie Ecclestone. Google Bernie Ecclestone if you don't know who he is. Bernie had to get to him to step down off the podium as he couldn't quite reach Lando to put it over his head, which was quite funny. Bless him. Bernie's not very tall.

This was definitely the other end of the scale for Lando to his last race in Canada, having crashed out so close to the end.

Piastri pressure.

Now Oscar is the current leader in the championship, so he wasn't going to let Lando off so easy. Starting in third at lights out, he bombed it past Charles Leclerc to be right up behind Lando right away. And then he was right on his tail for pretty much the whole race. And to be honest, we thought they might have taken each other out a few times, but they played safe ish. Well, except when Oscar's wheels locked, he could have easily lost control. But he pulled it back, thankfully. Oscar did take the lead at one point, but that was only when Lando pitted, and then they swapped a game when Oscar pitted.

The Inter McLaren tension is totally real, but Oscar still held on to second, leaving the team with an epic double podium and a continued mass of headlines about their rivalry.

Verstappen vanished.

Meanwhile, just lap one, Max Verstappen had his day end shockingly early after contact with rookie Kimi Antonelli, and both of them were spinning out. Luckily nothing too damaging to themselves or the cars with neither of them hitting a wall. Max didn't even make it as far as the stand that was packed with his orange army fans, which was a bit sad.

He seemed quite understanding of Kimi though. He seems to have taken the rookies under his wing this season. I'm not sure he would have been so calm about it if it had been Kimi's Mercedes teammate, George Russell. This was Red Bull's worst weekend in ages, and it was Max's first DNF since Australia 2024.

Just while I'm talking about Max, his message over the radio, although swearing at the idiots, was still far more controlled than normal. One line. That's it. No torrent of abuse. Not really the Max we're used to.

Has he resigned himself to the fact that he doesn't stand a chance of winning the championship this year, so he's just taking each race in his stride now.

Or are the rumors about him getting out of his contract and going to Mercedes true? And when he realized it was a Mercedes, he didn't want to rock the boat? It has been confirmed, I believe, that Toto has had talks. Maybe Max will soon be jumping Red Bull's ship before it goes down too far. What do you think?

Rookie drama and penalties.

Having just said about Kimi Antonelli, still just 18, sliding into Verstappen in turn three, earning a three place grid penalty for Silverstone next weekend and two points on his license. He admitted it straight away that it was his fault though, so well done him for owning it.

Then there was Yuki Tsunoda, himself not a rookie, although sometimes I bet it feels a bit like in that cursed second Red Bull car. He ends up clashing with Colapinto, who is a rookie, picking up a ten second penalty and more license points.

Definitely not Red Bull's weekend adding that to Max's DNF.

And remember Liam Lawson who started out in that car of Yuki's? Having been demoted, moved, swapped out, whatever words you want to use, to racing bulls, he managed to score his first career best with sixth place.

And to be fair, I have to also give a shout out to Bortoleto who got his first points of the season coming in eighth, closely followed by his teammate Hulkenberg. So double points for the Kick Salba team this weekend. Well done, guys.

Ferrari and Mercedes sneak in.

Charles Leclerc came in P3 to help Ferrari edge ahead of Mercedes in the construction standings. Although he was a bit of a hefty way behind the leader over 19 seconds, which seems a bit crazy. Lewis Hamilton had P4, so his points also helped, and George Russell grabbed P5.

Championship shake up.

Championship update time. Piastri still leads, but Norris is now only 15 points back. And Verstappen, a painful DNF, has meant that George Russell is just 9 points behind him, and the gap between him and Lando Norris is getting bigger and bigger.

Construction wise, McLaren are leaving Ferrari in their dust with being 207 points ahead, and Mercedes only 1 point behind Ferrari.

There is definitely a battle for second place going on now.

Special mentions.

Well, I have not mentioned him so far, so I need to pop him in here in special mentions. Fernando Alonso. Got into points a game. That's three races in a row now. Just epicness. He was seen giving Bortoleto a hug after the race. Alonso is his mentor slash manager. And they had had a little bit of a battle for seventh place. Alonso winning, of course, but he was obviously proud of Bortoleto for his hard work and resilience at getting eighth place.

And just one celebrity shout out, he was seen in the Racing Bulls garage was Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool football team's former manager. My mother in law's a fan, so she loved the fact that he was there.

Virtual safety team.

Right. Your quick virtual safety team moment,

1. One word vibe. Domination. Definitely domination this week.

2. top moment. Norris pulling off a flawless pole to win weekend. He just he just wiped the floor with everybody. Definitely that. Definitely that.

And 3.Now I want to hear from you. Were you cheering for Norris? Shocked by Verstappen's crash or curious about the rookie repercussions? Hit me up at @tracksideteawithrebecca on insta or @tracksidetea on youtube.

So that's a wrap from Austria.

McLaren at their best, Red BUll in ruins, rookie mistakes, and a tech free tour through the twists.

If you love the chaos, please subscribe, share, and drop us your wildcard take on this weekend's mayhem.

Next stop is Silverstone, and that's my home race. And I'm heading there this time. Never been before, so I'm really looking forward to it.

So watch this space or you won't be because it's a podcast. So listen for this space. And then also check out my instagram because I'm planning on putting lots of stuff on there. If you're heading there too, have a great time. See you trackside.

I'm Rebecca and this is trackside tea. No telemetry, just tea. Cheers.

What do King Tutankhamun and Formula One have in common? More than you think.

In this unexpected and delightfully chaotic episode of Trackside Tea, we take you from the London immersive Tutankhamun exhibition straight into the sands of a fictional Afterlife Grand Prix. Golden chariots, mummified fans, and a pyramid-load of F1.

Whether you're a die-hard F1 fan, a history buff, or just here for the chaos.

Subscribe and listen now wherever you get your podcasts — and may your tyres be blessed by Ra himself.

TRANSCRIPT:

Hey. Hey. And welcome back to Trackside Tea. The F1 podcast where the takes are hot, the tea is flowing, and the logic, well, questionable at best.

So this week, I took a little break from the modern chaos of F1 and stepped back in time all the way back to ancient Egypt from Tutankhamun immersive experience in London. At the Excel. It was absolutely amazing. I think it's actually closed now but it probably might do the rounds again.

Now you'd think that this has nothing to do with F1 though wouldn't you? But oh no my brain doesn't switch off that easily. This episode is what happens when you mix ancient pharaohs with fast cars and I promise it kind of somehow works.

The pit lane of the Nile

Now let's set the scene. I was walking through this stunning recreation of King Tut's tomb using a VR headset which is one of the oddest feelings in the world, just putting it out there, when you know lots of other people are also wandering around looking at the same thing as you with other VR headsets on. It's quite a weird experience I have to say.

But all I could think about was if ancient Egypt had a grand prix what would it look like?

Imagine if this was the grid walk for the afterlife Grand Prix.

I mean, picture it. Golden chariots in the pit lane, papyrus flags waving, Horus on commentary, Anubis in a headset calling strategy, and Ra as race control. Because obviously the sun god would have total control over the red lights, no DRS zones, I mean, how would you even work that on a chariot? I'm not even sure I don't even know. They don't even have backs so there couldn't be a DRS.

Anyway, just sand traps and maybe the occasional locust swarm, just to throw in a little bit of a animal twist like the other week.

King Tut. Oh, he's not just a pharaoh. He's pole sitter, of course.

And the fans all mummified, but still booing anyone who dared overtake Tutankhamun on his home track. Sound familiar? I think every race where somebodies got a home track, that's exactly how it sounds.

F1 drivers as pharaohs and what they'd be buried with.

Naturally, this then leads me on to a new obsession. What would each current F1 driver be buried with if they were pharaohs?

Lewis Hamilton for example. He'd be entombed with his McLaren from 2008. He'd have seven world champion titles carved in hieroglyphics on his sarcophagus, vegan incense, only vegan incense, and of course Roscoe. He would be curled up beside him with a little gold collar on.

What about Max Verstappen? Max would be on his own surrounded by oracle dashboards, red ball cans, and a throne made of checkered flags.

How about, Fernando Alonso? Because you all know I have a bit of a soft spot for Fernando.

Three sarcophagi deep, labeled king of comebacks, master of midfield, and unfinished business. There you go. That's Alonso. Definitely Alonso.

Yuki Tsunoda. He'd be buried with a horn to yell at all the gods. And the scroll of grievances against traffic in Monaco. That's definitely gonna be a thing. Definitely.

Oh, I know. Daniel Ricciardo. His tomb is a full on nightclub. It's got to be with showy goblets, neon lights, and a chariot with the words honeybadger for life etched into the sides. That would be very good. That's very Danny Rick.

Oh and maybe instead of curses how they always used to say that Tutankhamun's tomb was cursed everybody died blah blah well a lot of them, a bit of superstition. But maybe instead of curses their tombs trigger silly season rumors when they get disturbed. That would be quite funny.

Maybe that's what's already happened. There's been quite a few silly rumors already isn't there?

So maybe that's what's already happened. The whole Christian Horner and Ferrari. It's like really? Really? Not so sure.

Silly rumors.

What if one can learn from ancient Egypt?

Now believe it or not there are actual parallels between ancient Egypt and formula one. Stick with me here. Don't go away. Stick with me.

Legacy, which is definitely the top one. Tutankhamun was barely 19 when he died and he ruled for less than a decade. He still became one of the most famous names in history. F one is obsessed with legacy too.

Just look at the constant GOAT debates. Schumacher vs Hamilton vs Senna vs Max. Who's going to be the sports Tutankhamun in a thousand years? Who on the current F1 grid is building that kind of legacy?

So you got Max. Obviously, he's trying.

Lewis. He's already a legend.

Alonzo. Do you know what? Alonzo, I reckon he's gonna outlive the pyramids the way he's going.

Pageantry. Egyptians loved a spectacle and so does F1. Pre race ceremonies, fireworks, drama, basically modern pyramid building with sponsorship logos.

The drama and power, court intrigue, political maneuvering fused between dynasties.

Honestly, it's just like a pre race team meeting to be fair, don't you think?

And elaborate rituals. Egyptian burial ceremonies versus f one pre race routines and superstitions.

So maybe, just maybe, we're not that different. Maybe F1 is just ancient Egypt but with less eyeliner and stonework and more carbon fiber and health and safety these days?

You never know.

So I need to know, who's on your afterlife Grand Prix grid? What would Charles Leclerc be buried with? Would Carlos Sainz insist on a sarcophagus lined with red velvet? DM me, tag me, drop me a hieroglyph in the comments.

I'm @tracksideteawithrebecca on Instagram and also @tracksidetea on YouTube as well.

You know what? This might actually be my new favorite crossover. Maybe. Maybe.

So that's almost it for this episode of Trackside Tea. I am going to go and see the F1 movie this weekend. Not a premiere. I'm not a big enough podcaster to be invited to premieres yet, but yes, I'm going this weekend. So I will let you know how I enjoyed it or not as the case may be. I think there's been a few mixed feelings. Some people loved it. Some people thought it was boring. We're going as a family so that should be quite fun. I will let you guys know how we what we all think of it.

I'll get them all to do a little snippet maybe, a little sound bite of their view of the F1 movie.

And now that is it for this very sideways, but absolutely necessary, I'm sure you agree, episode of Trackside Tea.

Next week, we're actually back on track with a dive into the Austrian Grand Prix. I'm off to watch P1 right now. So I will speak to you guys later.

Until then, stay chaotic, stay caffeinated, and may your pit stops be swift and your tyre choice be un-cursed.

The 2025 Canadian Grand Prix delivered drama, redemption, heartbreak, and even a groundhog. In this episode of Trackside Tea, we dive into George Russell’s flawless win, the explosive McLaren teammate clash between Norris and Piastri, and Red Bull’s post-race protest. We’re also talking animals on track, surprise podiums, and what it all means for the championship. As always—no jargon, no gatekeeping, just pure F1 passion.

In This Episode:

Russell's perfect weekend & protest fallout

The Norris/Piastri collision – what really happened

Hamilton’s heartbreaking run-in

Kimi Antonelli’s debut podium

Updated championship standings

My Virtual Safety Tea roundup

TRANSCRIPT:

Hey. Hey. And welcome back to Trackside Tea, your relaxed pit stop for all things F1. No telemetry geekery, just vibes, tea, and race day emotion. I'm Rebecca.

And today, we're rolling through the unforgettable 2025 Canadian Grand Prix. A race packed with redemption, crashes, controversy, and, yes, even a groundhog cameo. Poor little thing.

Russell's redemption. Let's start with the big headline. George Russell took his first win of 2025, pretty much controlling the race from start to finish.

He was very cool, calm, and collected. He was basically very George. Mercedes overall pulled off an epic race among a race full of drama. He took pole to start with this year, as he did last year, but this definitely worked out better for him this time around. He was in the lead for the majority of the race and only dropped down when he needed to go and get his tyres done, and then he just sped back up into the first place again.

Now Max came second, but Red Bull wasn't ready to give up first so easily. They filed a protest claiming George Russell drove erratically under the safety car and was very unsportsmanship like. That's quite a long word, isn't it? Unsportsmanship.

George said he broke where he did for two reasons.

One, to keep to the needed gap between himself and the safety car. It's safety after all. And secondly, to keep temperature of his brakes and tires, which is nothing new or unusual, and it's done by all the drivers when they're following the safety car and should always be expected by the car behind. And what he stated over the radio about Max overtaking him, saying, Max has just overtaken me, was nothing more than a fact. It was clear and concise and nothing else.

It's not like he was saying, oh my god. Max has overtaken me. He should get into trouble. He just stated, Max has overtaken.

But the stewards looked into it and called both drivers and teams up, but eventually dismissed the complaint.

Russell's cool by the book safety car pacing stood its ground. So basically, a clean, calm, cool performance from George Russell capped off with a win on track and the result doubly confirmed of it off track by the stewards. Thank you very much.

On another side, I've just realised I do it here too. When I'm talking about the drivers, I'll sometimes use their first name and sometimes their second. And then when it gets really confusing is if I'm talking about two drivers at the same time and I use things like oh, I say things like Max and Russell had a disagreement and that mixes them up, and then it's really confusing. So I'm sorry if I confuse anybody out there. I'll try and use both names maybe or just one. Either way, it can be very confusing, so I do apologise.

Anyway, how many times can I say anyway in a sentence there? Crikey.

McLaren Mayhem. Not far behind that calm and coolness of George came total chaos. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, teammates and the two championship front runners collided with just four laps left to go while they were battling for fourth place.

Not even battling for first and second, it was fourth place. This then caused a safety car, which I said in the previous bit about George and Max. This was the safety car that happened on. Now I said in the Spain episode that I predicted there'll be a safety car so far in every race, and it happened again. Admittedly, I did worry that it wasn't gonna happen.

That sounds terrible, worrying that the safety car isn't going to happen. You don't really want the safety car to happen, do you? That's the point.

But, anyway, I was a little bit worried I wasn't gonna get my points for that prediction, because they left it so close to the end of the race. But, unfortunately, this whole issue did hit the team rather hard because Piastri limped home to fourth while Norris was well and truly out.

He immediately owned up to his mistake though, saying over the team radio, I'm sorry. It's all my bad, all my fault, unlucky, sorry, stupid from me. So he did own up to it and put his hands up. Fair play. It was a bit of a silly thing.

He went into the back wheel of Oscar and then went into the wall and just trundled on down to the gap he could pull into. But, obviously, then that caused the red flag. No. It didn't. Then that caused the safety car.

It didn't cause a red flag at all. Piastri, however, extended his championship because of this to 21 points. So what does this all mean for McLaren? Well, McLaren's pace obviously was sensational. It normally is.

But that collision feels like their first season's real soap opera moment. It was only a matter of time before they started to battle it out properly. Every time they do an interview and they speak to Zac, who is the team principal, I think, off top of my head, of McLaren, he always says, they're just gonna battle it out. So they clearly are doing that exact thing now.

Thing is it's quite a contentious subject in our house because we have at least two massive Lando fans.

And those of you who know me and know Paul, it's Paul that is one of those massive Lando fans. But I'll be honest, I've already got my popcorn ready for the next round.

Groundhog surprise. Okay. Maybe this was the wildest moment.

Lewis Hamilton hit a groundhog on lap 13. Ripping a hole in the floor of his car, who would have thought a groundhog could rip a hole in the floor of your car? Not enough to kick him out the race, but it did start cutting about half a second off each of his laps, so that didn't help him at all.

But Hamilton was devastated, not about the car, not about the fact that he only got P6, but about the groundhog. He was absolutely distraught.

He stated, "so that's devastating. I love animals, and I'm so sad about it. That's horrible. That's never happened to me before. It's never nice to see that."

I just hope it didn't suffer. My only thought was I don't think it would have had time. The speed Lewis was going, there's no way that the animal suffered. No way. Like I said, even with that, he still battled back to P6, but it was hard work.

And in our house, we actually missed it. We actually wondered why they were saying Hamilton had damage as there had been no hit to a wall or anyone else. We were tad confused, but now the groundhog does explain it. And it just proves in F1, you can plan for rain, you can plan for crashed cars. But a groundhog? Who has got the playbook for that?

Kinda reminds me about one of the things that happened last year. I think it was a kimono dragon or something like that that was running along the track, and there's all the stewards trying to chase it off the track. It was just a funny watch. You should so look that up if you haven't seen that. That was really funny.

Midfield highlights. Let's shift the focus to the midfield. Well, I say midfield, but that's definitely not where he ended up. Kimi Antonelli, at only 18, scored his first podium in P3.

Mercedes definitely has something special brewing there, that's for sure. Unfortunately, he's not the youngest to win a podium spot. He's the third youngest, after Max Verstappen in 2016 and Lance Stroll in 2017, who were both 18, but plus seven months rather than Kimi's plus nine months. So he just missed out of being the youngest. So close, Kimi.

And he's been doing so well as well, so well done him.

So behind him, we have Piastri's P4, Charles Leclerc's P5. Hulkenberg had a solid P8 for Salba. And, as you know, I quite like this. Alonso scored points again for the second race in a row with P7, which has just reminded me in the Brundle Trundle when he's going up the pits or going up the starting grid.

Martin spoke to Alonso when they were walking up to go and do the what's it called? The the thing where they sing, the national anthem. That's it. They were walking up to do the national anthem, and Martin actually had a quick chat with him. And as Alonzo was leaving and said goodbye, he had a cheeky squeeze of Martin's cheek. It was so cute, and it was so funny. We were more like, did he just do that? Just shows the cheekiness behind Alonso, I think, and the fact that Martin, everybody loves Martin Brundle.

Apart from that, even Carlos managed to squeeze out a point in tenth after he was knocked out of qualifying in Q1 and ended up seventeenth when he was impeded by Hajar during his fast lap. Hajar got a three place penalty for that.

Not that that was any use to Carlos, who stated after that he was just too upset to talk about it. He was on his fast lap. He was probably going to get into the next qualifying session, but he did not. He was very upset. Poor Carlos.

So this just goes to show the midfield may not grab headlines all the time, but strong performances like these help us fill the grid with extra surprises.

Now championship snapshot. So what does this reshuffle mean in the standings? Piastri still leads with a 198 points. I'm actually just gonna check that for two seconds. Bear with. Bear with. Bear with. Yes. He does have a 198 points.

So Piastri still leads with a 198 points. Norris is just 22 points behind him. And now Russell has taken over P4 from Charles and is about 19 points behind Max Verstappen, who is still clinging on to third place currently. He's about 20 points behind Lando, I think.

Now constructors wise, McLaren's pace is still topping the charts as most of you will know. Despite the chaos from today's race, they're still flipping fast. They hold on to the top spot, but Mercedes is breathing down their neck, thanks to Russell and Antonelli hitting the highs this weekend and both getting podium points.

The championship battle is definitely heating up for both individual driver and constructors. And in constructors, Red Bull are trailing in fourth at the moment, so they have got a lot of work to do to catch up.

Pit stop extras.

So far, I haven't done much of this, but there were a few things over the rest of the weekend that caught my eyes and ears.

Poor Charles LeClerc didn't have a great time of it from practice one when he crashed and missed out on practice two. What was worse, when that happened, he actually had the fastest current time. Bless him.

In practice three after Oscar and Hulkenberg, see, I did it again, mixing up first and second names.

Shall we say, nudged a wall creating a bit of a mess, which caused a red flag while marshalls cleared it up. During this, it was noted that Yuki and Bortolleto both infringed on the red flag rules. Bortolleto being cleared, but Yuki getting a 10 place grid penalty, which wasn't good as this was even before they got to do qualifying.

See, here's the thing. Honestly, what do you lot think?

Is this a second Red Bull car curse? It's been mentioned quite a few times, banded about, that there is a second car curse. I didn't believe it to start with, but as the weeks go on, there just seems to be more and more and more things that go wrong or happen. It's just looking more and more like a thing. What do you guys think?

There were so many people having issues during practice though, Skidding all over the place, missing turns, hitting walls. They showed a clip during it of a few interviews of past racers, and Sebastian Vettel's one was really funny as he described his time on that track as it was a bit "loosey goosey out there, wasn't it?" And I just thought that was just so funny. It really made me chuckle. So I'm just gonna use that if people are all over the place on the track, they are now going to be loosey goosey, thanks to Sebastian Vettel. I just think it's such a funny phrase.

Oh, dear. Oh, and, of course, almost forgot. So lucky I've got notes here so I can read through. In qualifying, Alex Albon's engine cover just flew off.

Literally, one second it was there, and the next it was flying off behind him. Luckily, there wasn't a car right behind him. Obviously, that was a red flag for them to clear it up. A bit scary and not something that should happen really, and, well, I don't think I've ever seen it happen. They're supposed to be that solidly on. So, obviously, air got under there somehow and just ripped it off. It was quite a bizarre thing to see because it looked like he must have crashed, and then he wasn't, he was still in the middle of the track, and, oh, it's just so weird.

Finally, I have a quick shout out to George's spaceman coat that made an appearance again. When he went to go and stand for the national anthem, it was just really funny. I haven't seen it for a little while.

And, of course, the many fans in the crowd with giant faces of the drivers. But I always think the best bit is there's always someone with a car on their head, like on their hat or as a hat. It is a car. It looks like a like a remote control car sat on their head.

It's just crazy. Crazy crazy, but kinda cool.

Virtual safety tee wrap up. Okay. Time for the virtual safety tee.

So I've been asked to each time I do a race is to do a one word vibe of the race. So my one word vibe of the Canadian Grand Prix. Let's see. What could I...unpredictable. It's definitely unpredictable.

There were so many things in that race that I would not have had a clue apart from the fact that I did actually predict the, safety car. Just putting it out there. Just putting it out there. I got that prediction right. But other than that, unpredictable.

Now I do have a favorite moment. Well, there's kind of two favorite moments, but from the same team. The cool, calm, and collected drive of George Russell, as he well and truly owned the weekend. But also in turn, the other best thing I saw was posted on Instagram by team Toto Wolff, which is the team principal of Mercedes. Toto was celebrating when George got pole in Q3.

He had an epic jump and a fist pump followed by a very cool collected stance as if he did it by accident, he shouldn't have done it. Like, he was gonna be told off by a teacher for, like, causing ruckus in the class. It was so funny. Bless him. You have to check it out if you've got Instagram.

Go and have a look at that. It's really funny. Actually, his whole Instagram is pretty good, to be fair. So, yeah, definitely go and have a look at that, people.

Oh, and, actually, there was one other one other of my favorite moments.

There was an interview at one point with Simon Lazenby, the F1 reporter, who's been with the F1 channel since its inception, Nico Rosberg, a former F1 championship winner, and Danica Patrick, who did do epic things in IndyCar and NASCAR racing. The look Nico was giving Danica as she was mansplaining, quite frankly, lecturing them as if she knew best was an absolute picture. It was just so funny. So well done, Nico. Love having you back on the scene.

He's definitely going down the same route of the way Jenson Button, also a former championship winner, seems to feel about her as well. So, yeah, keep an eye on that, folks. That's a funny one to watch.

So your turn. Were you team Russell?

Were you shook by the Groundhog drama or even more by McLaren's crash?

Hit me up on social media. I'm @tracksideteawithrebecca.

So that's it from Montreal. Russell's redemption, McLaren's mayhem, and a Groundhog that reminded us.

This sport could surprise us at any moment.

If you love this rundown, please subscribe, share with friends, and drop your wildcard take on the race to me.

Next stop, Austria, where the track's twisty and the stakes are wild, although it was fairly wild with the Groundhog this time around. We'll see. We'll see.

I'm Rebecca, and this is Trackside Tea. Less telemetry, more tea. Keep it sassy and speedy.

Oscar Piastri dominated, Max imploded, and McLaren looked fast. Spain was hot — in more ways than one.

Barcelona brought the heat (literally and figuratively). This episode covers McLaren’s flawless one-two finish, Verstappen’s strategy gone sideways, celebrity sightings in the paddock, and how the championship battle just got spicier. We’re talking penalties, purple sectors, and a little bit of pit-lane gossip.

You’ll hear:

• Who nailed the start
• Who lost the plot
• Who aced the race

Chapters in todays episode are:

• Race Recap
• Sector Three Showdown
• Fan Flags
• Celebrity Spotlight
• Virtual Safetea

And finally, I want to hear some predictions from you...for the Canada Grand Prix 2025...

1) Who will be pole position in qualifying?

2) Which trio will be the podium winners for the race?

3) Will there be a safety car deployed?

Buckle up, hydrate, and let’s spill the non-telemetry tea.

TRANSCRIPT:

Welcome back to Trackside Tea, your go to for all the F1 drama, fashion, and flair.

Hi, |I'm Rebecca. And today, we're unpacking the sizzling action from the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix at Circuit De Barcelona, Catalunya. Did I just say that right? I think I just said that right.

Sorry if I didn't, but I think I did.

This was a good race to watch. So much going on and so much to talk about. Drama, celebrities, Fernando Alonso, and, yeah, Max Verstappen. Awkward!

So let's start with a small bit of race recap and McLaren's dominance.

So spoiler alert, if you haven't seen any of this year's races, if you haven't, where have you been?

Oscar Piastri nabbed his 5th win of the season, which gave McLaren a one two finish alongside his teammate Lando Norris. Quite frankly to me, it looked like Oscar had a pretty flawless drive. He started on pole position, and he managed to carry on and win the race.

And it was quite a fair margin between him and Lando too, so, you know, good on Oscar. I am not a strategy person. I would make that clear. But this did seem to showcase McLaren's superior strategy with their tyre management in the crazy heat.

While we're on the track of heat, someone who well and truly lost their cool is Max Verstappen.

So a spot a sector three showdown here, which was truly chaotic for Max and a massive game changer.

I mean, he's known for his strong personality and willpower, but it seems one thing after another for Max in Spain. Stopping for one of his pit stops around lap 48, which already seemed a lot of pit stops for him. He came back onto the track from the pit lane with his teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, right in front of him. Now he was a lap behind so needed to move aside so Max could get past, but didn't seem to move quite as quick as he probably should have done.

And Max was then caught up behind him and lost a bit of time. Number one strike for Max.

The next bit of bad luck was when Lando and Max were caught behind a little battle between Liam Lawson and Ollie Bearman as they were jostling for places in their own little race, costing Max more time and to shout out on the radio, "IDIOTS!"

It doesn't end there, folks. Poor Kimi Antonelli's trundled into the gravel with a mechanical failure, which caused the ever anticipated safety car. So a lot of people dropped into the pits with this opportunity as did Max, and he ended up on hard tyres apparently because it's the only ones he had left, and he was the only driver to use them, a little bit on the crazy side.

Max even said on the radio, "Why the have we **** have we? What is this tyre?" I would have thought it'd be better to stay on the ones he hadn't long been on and could have finished the race on. I mean, there was no other mandatory stop. He didn't have to do it, but, hey, that's what they decided to do.

Do you know I might do an episode or a pod splainer on tiles, tiles? Tyres! That might be a good idea. Yeah. Maybe. I will think about that one.

Anyway, lap 60 of 66, and the safety car ended. Oscar broke hard just before he went off, and we actually all cringed in our house thinking that Max, Oscar, and Lando literally were gonna go into each other and take each other out. It literally looked like that at one point. It was quite a scary moment.

But Oscar did his thing and off he went closely followed by Lando. And I hate to say it, but that was also not the last of it for Max. He then suffered a dramatic wobble. They call it a snap, but I like the word wobble, where he lost his back end, which gave Charles Leclerc his chance. He went to sneak past Max, and, unfortunately, the pair of cars touched slightly, and Max was once again annoyed.

Not to be left out, George Russell, who has a bit of a reputation of hanging on behind and being in the right place at the right time to just sneak into a podium place, wanted his chance to take over the Max. They also made a small amount of contact, and Max disappeared off the track to the escape road and gained the advantage. Well, that's what it looked like to start with. And to be fair, Max was then asked to let George pass by his team radio. That did not go down well as you can imagine.

"I was ahead. He ran me off the road", he shouted. Max made it look like he was letting him by. And when George did, Max sped up. And in the words of George, "He just crashed into me!".

So in a heated moment, Max did something silly and was now under investigation for it. And what's worse is the incident that he was told to let George pass for was deemed no further action by the stewards. So silly, Max. Now I get the team thought it best to give the place back to George. Better to do that than overtake again than being caught by the stewards and then them giving them a penalty or something similar, but I really don't think they imagined Max to react the way he did.

He was handed a ten second penalty for that. And I fully admit, we're all shouting at the TV because we could not believe that's all he got. He did it on purpose! He crashed into George on purpose! And all he got was a ten second penalty! Admittedly, that knocked him down to 10th place, which meant that he only got one point, but still, it just didn't seem enough. He did it on purpose! Oh, so frustrating.

We'll come back to that in a minute.

Now for fan flags moment, it's shout out time. During all this drama playing out in the top five, there were some epic notable performances. Nico Hulkenberg got 5th place, having started in 16th! And he was so happy that he was like, "Yeah baby", on the radio. Absolutely brilliant.

Isaac Hajjar, who I have to admit, I think is doing really well at the moment and only went to prove it again by getting 7th place, and that's more points for him. Just one less spot than his previous race, which was really good. But I have to say, in amongst all the drama that was going on, my absolute epically favourite moment was the fact that Fernando Alonso got points at his home race. He did not have points at all until this race.

It was so exciting. I was so excited. I was, like, really chuffed for him. I was driving the family nuts because I was like, oh my god. I'm so excited about it.

So he got his two points. It would have been one point, but thanks to Max, it was two because, obviously, Max went down to which meant, Fernando went up to 9th.

Celebrity spotlight. There was no Brundle Trundle this week, but they were still wandering the starting grid. But it did seem the whole of the England football team were there.

Now I'm not up on my football, so, I was didn't realize this was the England football team. Although, I did recognize Harry Kane who they did interview, and apparently, it was his race time viewing of a race ever. It's got to be an epic to be there physically at the event rather than just watching it on TV, so I hope you had a good time.

Now, Jude Bellingham, who apparently is now Real Madrid, I want to say. Sorry if that's wrong. He was in the Mercedes garage, and they panned onto him after Kimi Antonelli's crash, and he seemed to be smiling. Not sure what that was about. I mean, if you're in the team's garage, you don't want to be caught smiling at a team downfall. It just seemed a really odd moment. I'm hoping it was out of context, and he was smiling at something else. Maybe somebody told him a joke or something similar, and it wasn't at that particular issue that he was smiling at. So, let's just hope.

And then one last celebrity, doing post race interviews with the podium folk, Terry Crews. Who here watches and who has watched Brooklyn Nine Nine? Gotta love it. Absolutely gotta love it and love him. So there you go. That's my celebrity call outs.

So finally, I guess I should do a little bit of a roundup. Currently, Oscar Piastri now leads the driver's championship with a 186 points, followed by Lando with a 176 points, and Verstappen is now trailing with a 137.

And that wasn't even the last for Max. More issues.

Afterwards, he got points on his license, which means he now has 11 out of 12. So he's just one point away from a race ban. Oh my goodness me, Max. What's going on there? He's gonna have to keep his nose clean for the next couple of races because if he gets even one more point, that's it. Race ban. He's got till the June, I think it is before two of them disappear off, because it's a rolling twelve months. So, good luck, Max.

Now one last thing today. This one has got me up to date. So next week's race is Canada.

I've got some questions for you guys. Predict this. One, who will be pole position in qualifying?

Two, which trio will be the podium winners for the race?

And three, will there be a safety car deployed? Will there? Now I fully admit my prediction on safety cars, I've said yes every single time, and I think it has happened. I'm sure it's happened every single race so far.

But who do you think will be pole position in qualifying?

And which trio will be your podium winners?

Let me know. I think it'll be Oscar in pole position. And my podium winners, Oscar, Lando and let's go George this time around. Let's throw George in there.

That's all for this episode of Trackside Tea. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a review if you like. Join us next time, and we delve into the drama of the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix. Until then, keep it sassy and speedy.