[Retro Lounge plays]

Olivia: Hey everyone. Welcome to Back on Track, a podcast discussing the wonderful and fast-paced world of Formula One. I am your host, Olivia Teeter, and I am a second-year here at Northwestern. I am also an avid F1 fan, as many of my friends can attest to. Today, I am here to discuss the triple header of Austin, Mexico and Brazil, which saw lots of exciting and important moments for the Drivers’ and Constructors’ championships. So, without further ado, strap in and let’s get back on track.

[F1 cars driving in the distance]

Olivia: For fast facts today, I will be discussing the FIA, or— bear with me now, this in French— the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. On a basic level, they act as the “referees” for all motorsports, including Formula One. They ensure drivers and teams follow regulations and guidelines and hand out penalties if those rules are violated. There’s lots of reasons a driver can get a penalty, but it mainly has to do with unsafe or unfair driving. Or maybe a part in the car had to be replaced, which isn’t necessarily the driver’s fault, but they still sometimes have to incur a penalty because of it.

Now, the FIA historically has been very controversial, just because they are very arbitrary with the rules they do enforce. They’ve been accused of favoring certain teams, favoring certain drivers. So there’s been a lot of controversy surrounding the FIA in the past, and including in this season, especially because they have a major hand in deciding Drivers’ and Constructors’ championships, which is a valid reason to be critical of them.

Now, these penalties that the FIA gives out are usually timed based. What that means is that a driver who is given a 10-second time penalty can either serve it in the pit lane when they go in for a pit stop where they sit stationary for 10 seconds before changing the tires, doing whatever they need to do, or an extra ten seconds is added onto their finishing time.

So, now you’re caught up. Let’s get to the races.

[F1 announcer introduces the US Grand Prix]

Olivia: Formula One traveled back to America to make a stop in Austin, which was overall a very entertaining and exciting race, especially if you are a Ferrari fan like me. Ferrari saw their second one-two of the season, with Charles Leclerc taking home his third win of the season after starting from fourth. It was a very dominant drive from Charles after he overtook both Lando Norris and Max Verstappen on the first lap.

Lando Norris and Max Verstappen were fighting with each other. Charles saw his opportunity to overtake them both, and he never looked back! From there, the battle between the two contenders— Max and Lando— in the Drivers’ Championship continued for essentially the whole race. However, this resulted in Lando Norris receiving a five second time penalty for overtaking Verstappen outside the track limits. Essentially, that means Lando drove off the track to pass Max, and while this could have been done unintentionally or to avoid a crash between the cars, he didn’t give the place back to Max as the regulations stipulate.

So although Norris technically finished third, it was Verstappen who ended up claiming the final spot on the podium because five seconds were added to Lando’s finishing time and put him behind Max. With Max and Lando so close in the drivers' standings, these position switches have a real impact on who may come out on top at the end of the season. And to catch up to Max, Lando has to outrace him and outscore him at every turn and unfortunately, this time penalty made it that much more difficult to keep up with Verstappen.

[Charles post-win interview in Austin]

Olivia: Continuing their tour of the Americas, Formula One next stopped in Mexico, which was also a very exciting race for Ferrari fans. This race saw another win from Ferrari, this time from Carlos Sainz, and another double podium with Charles coming in third, and Lando Norris coming in between. Now, Verstappen had originally overtaken Sainz, who started from pole position at the beginning of the race, but Sainz gained the place back nine laps later. Once again, this put Verstappen and Norris in a fight for second place — and a chance to either close or widen the gap to their championship contender.

This battle was scrappy, with their cars moving on and off the track, almost crashing multiple times. As a result, this time Verstappen got hit with not one, but two 10 second time penalties, meaning overall he had to serve 20 second time penalties. This most likely solidified that Norris would be finishing above him in the race. However, after serving his penalties in the pitlane, Verstappen still managed to finish sixth place, salvaging some points for Red Bull and himself in the Drivers’ Championship. But Red Bull unfortunately dropped to third in the Constructors’ Championship behind Ferrari.

Now as I’ve mentioned before, Red Bull have been struggling, but I should have been more specific to say that Sergio Perez has really been struggling. Verstappen is still able to get the most out of the car and consistently end up within about the top five every race, but Sergio Perez— I’m sorry if this is harsh— is lucky if he even scores points. Mind you, they're driving the same car. Mexico was especially bad, as he finished dead last. Although, I will say, his car did have a hole in it due to a collision with Liam Lawson, so not totally his fault.

But his past poor performances have severely impacted Red Bull’s place in the Constructors’ championship, because Max is the only one bringing home significant points for the team. Red Bull are known for being harsh on their drivers— especially their second drivers— when they are not performing, so there are many rumors that he may be fired in the coming weeks or his contract extension terminated. As for who would replace him, that would be an even bigger mystery.

[Sergio Perez post-race interview]

Olivia: Lastly, to round out this doozy of a triple header, we have the craziest race of them all: Brazil. A weekend full of rain meant that this was going to be an unpredictable race, and boy, it was. Firstly, qualifying was a mess. Mostly because it was rescheduled for just hours before the race because it got rained out the day before. So many cars crashed that neither Williams driver finished the race due to the damages sustained.

Verstappen started 17th, Yuki Tsunoda in an RB started third, Carlos Sainz all the way back in 14th and Esteban Ocon started fourth, and somehow, somehow Nico Hulkenberg was disqualified, which hasn’t happened in years. Basically, the whole grid was just one big pile of chaos. But then the race somehow was even more of a mess. It had red flags, multiple safety cars, yellow flags because so many people kept crashing, sliding, spinning, losing control of their cars due to the extremely rainy conditions. In the end, guess who won?

Max Verstappen saw himself back at the top after a dominant and smooth drive throughout all the chaos. He was one of the only ones that didn’t really have problems the entire race. This proves to everyone why he is still a championship contender. And the most surprising part out of this entire weekend is that, out of all teams, Alpine saw a double podium with Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly rounding out the top three. That was definitely not something anyone saw coming as Alpine has been, well, not great for the entirety of the season. But as they say, rain is the great equalizer, so anything can happen with a rainy race.

[Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly joint interview after double podium]

Lando, on the other hand, while starting from first, dropped to sixth. Now this has been a pattern throughout the entirety of the season: Lando gets pole position and he somehow loses it within the first lap, meaning he has to work extra hard to keep up and make that place back up, which leaves many to wonder if he really is cut out to be the championship contender.

After seeing how Max drove in Brazil, people are really quick to make judgments about who is and who isn’t championship material. But I will say, Max did prove why he has won multiple consecutive driver’s championships this weekend. Lando seems to have the support from McLaren to be the number one driver as they are now actively prioritizing him over Oscar Piastri, but Norris can’t seem to hold onto the lead he’s been given. He can’t seem to take advantage of, and get the most out of that number one driver position. So, the question is, will he get in his own way of winning the championship title? Well, he has three more races to prove that.

[F1 car driving in the distance]

Olivia: From penalty drama to chaos in the rain, oh man, did this triple header deliver. With three races left and no title yet decided in either competition, there is sure to be a lot more in store as F1 keeps surprising us all. That’s all for today, and I will see you for the next race in Las Vegas.

[Retro Lounge plays]