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British Grand Prix 2025: Piastri’s Penalty, Rookies Fumble, Hulk Smashes the Podium (Undercutters Ep28 transcript)

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Hello, everyone. In the 28th episode of the Undercutters podcast we’re looking back at the British Grand Prix. Did it live up to the fantastic 2024 race? Was it a great day for the various British drivers? Well, let’s look back at the weekend. British Grand Prix Qualifying 00m28s Qualifying at Silverstone was another exciting session, with one of the key moments being Colapinto’s crash when he spun out. While he was able to get going again he was advised to stop and this brought out red flags. This is not going to do his bid to stay in his seat much good and the rumours about Bottas replacing him might get a little louder. Stroll failed to escape Q1 but Alonso made it to Q3. Antonelli had a 3 place grid penalty for his crash into Verstappen in Austria, with Bearman getting a 10 place penalty for a red flag infringement during practice. That’s a shame, as the Haas rookie did very well to make it to the end of qualifying and paid the price for a silly practice mistake. At the sharp end...
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British Grand Prix 2025: pre-race

Well, I’m glad I didn’t bet because, if I had, it probably would’ve been on Hamilton (or maybe Leclerc). There were spots of rain in parts of qualifying but nothing that affected times much. Qualifying as been fantastically competitive this year and this time was no exception. Colapinto dealt his prospects of keeping his Alpine seat a bit more damage when he went off, crashed into a barrier, was able to get going, but had to stop the car and brought out a red flag. Also out in Q1 were Lawson (bit of a surprise), Bortoleto, Stroll, and Hulkenberg. Q2 said goodbye to Sainz, Tsunoda, Hadjar, Albon, and Ocon. While it’s not ideal for Williams this does mark an improvement, assuming the cars finish the race. Tsunoda was also better than he has been, but it was a bit weak from Ocon to be slowest when Bearman made Q3 (but the Briton has a 10 place grid penalty for a practice red flag infringement, alas). In Q3 it was looking like McLaren versus Ferrari, with an outside chance of Verstappe...
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British Grand Prix 2025: pre-qualifying

Rain is possible this weekend. Shocking, I know. FP1 had Hamilton fastest, two-hundredths up on Norris. Piastri was a tenth further back, with Leclerc another half-tenth off. Russell wasn’t far behind in 5th, then came Hadjar, Albon, Lawson, Antonelli, and Verstappen. The Red Bull was not exactly brimming with grip. In second practice Norris was quickest, two-tenths up on Leclerc. Hamilton was within a tenth of his team mate, while Piastri didn’t get the most from his McLaren and was nearly half a second behind Norris. Verstappen was close behind the Australian. Antonelli, Stroll, and Russell followed, with Hadjar and Lawson rounding out the top 10. So far it’s looking like a two-team weekend with Ferrari challenging McLaren (although I think the latter has the edge in the wet). Verstappen’s seem out of it without a big setup improvement for FP3/qualifying and/or rain. Racing Bulls are looking good. I think it could be a good fight in qualifying, but expect Norris to end up on pole...
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F1 2025 Austrian GP Review and British GP Predictions and Preview (Undercutters Ep27 transcript)

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The double-header of Austria and the UK were fantastic last year, but would they live up to that in 2025? In this, the 27th edition of Undercutters, I take a look at how the Austrian Grand Prix went, and ahead to Silverstone. As always, if you want to say hello online I’m MorrisF1 at both Blue Sky and Twitter, and morrisf1.blogspot.com is where you can find the transcript and many wonderful graphs. There are plenty of upgrades still coming in, but will Ferrari finally work out how to get the most from a car that differs drastically from their excellent 2025 effort? Will Sauber continue to be surprisingly good? And will Norris finally nail Q3? Austrian Grand Prix Qualifying 00m55s Qualifying in Austria had some weird results. Hulkenberg was slowest of all, perhaps the most surprising man to go out in Q1. He was joined by Stroll, Ocon, Tsunoda, and Sainz. The Spaniard seemed to have some serious car problems, which explains his lack of pace. Alonso and Albon were the fastest men elimi...
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Austrian Grand Prix 2025: pre-race

Norris had looked fast all through practice but would he finally convert that to pole? The first five out in Q1 were Stroll, Ocon, Tsunoda, Sainz, and Hulkenberg. Sainz was complaining of his car being undriveable possibly due to damage. Hulkenberg got comprehensively outqualified by his team mate, but he went out in Q1 in Spain too, and the extra soft tyre late on proved very handy. Tsunoda wasn’t that much slower than Verstappen but the margins were ultra-tight. In Q2 Alonso and Albon were the fastest man eliminated, followed by Hadjar, Colapinto, and Bearman. Hadjar’s been great through the season so it’s unusual to see him behind Lawson in qualifying, but credit to the Kiwi who advanced to Q3. Norris had looked the fastest through all of qualifying. But would he choke again? No. He was faster than everybody else by a mile in both his runs, and was utterly dominant. But behind him was Leclerc, who split the McLarens with a fantastic performance in Q3. Piastri might’ve overtaken...
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Austrian Grand Prix 2025: pre-qualifying

In the first practice of Austria Russell was top dog, less than a tenth ahead of Verstappen. Piastri was a tenth further back with Dunne (standing in for Norris at McLaren) close behind. Gasly and Bortoleto were a surprising 5th and 6th, with Albon and Sainz following and Hamilton and Hadjar rounding out the top 10. Second practice saw Norris return and go fastest, a tenth and a half ahead of Piastri. Verstappen was a similar margin further back. Then we enter the twilight zone with Lance Stroll in 4th. Leclerc and Russell were two-tenths off the Canadian, and then came Tsunoda, Bortoleto, Alonso, and Hamilton. At this stage McLaren are looking good, and Bortoleto seems to really like the circuit. Verstappen’s also at the sharp end, perhaps Russell too. I was wondering about backing Bortoleto for points but he was only 3.5 after second practice which seems nuts given there are only a few places, tight competition, and the fact he’s never scored. Norris also topped FP3, a tenth ahea...
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F1 2025 Austrian Grand Prix Predictions and Preview (Undercutters Ep26 transcript)

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Hello, everyone. In the 26th edition of the Undercutters podcast we’re looking ahead to the Austrian Grand Prix. Austria and the UK were a double-header that provided a lot of entertainment last season, and they’re a double-header again this time. Will we see another Piastri and Norris battle on-track? Will the McLarens be on the back foot in qualifying? And will Hulkenberg make it three points finishes in a row? Quick Look at the Red Bull Ring 00m34s The Austrian Grand Prix takes place at the Red Bull Ring, which replaced the earlier Osterreichring which itself replaced the Zeltweg airfield circuit. Unlike its previous incarnation, the Red Bull Ring is a short circuit of just 4.3km, which means we get 71 laps in the race. It’s got three DRS zones covering the grid straight, and from turns 1 to 3, which puts the whole first sector except turn 1 within DRS. Between turns 3 and 4 there’s another DRS zone, meaning we get all three in a row. But they all have independent detection points...
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