F1Weekly Podcast # 1137

ON TODAYS PROGRAM… FIRST PROBLEM…THE F1 TV COVERAGE IS STINKO! LOOKS LIKE MERCEDES IS GOING TO GET AWAY WITH IT AGAIN! FERRARI LOOK FAST BUT THE BAD DECISIONS CONTINUE AND ASTON MARTIN LOOK TO BE IN TROUBLE FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON! THIS WEEK’S NASIR HAMEED CORNER... WE HAVE A CANADIAN BONANZA! TEDDY YIP JR., DANIEL MORRAD AND ROBERT WICKENS!

George Russell...
That wasn’t a straightforward afternoon, but this win feels very sweet! Congratulations to the whole team; they’ve done an incredible job and this victory is for them.

We had a difficult and chaotic start and from there, were yo-yoing with the overtakes between Charles and me. I could have perhaps used my energy more smartly to defend when I first overtook him and that cost me when he passed me back. It was quite stressful from in the car but hopefully meant we put on a good show for the fans.

We stopped quite early on when the Virtual Safety Car was deployed and knew we were going to have to manage our tyres from there. We were not clear on whether the one or the two-stop was going to be quickest or which one was the right decision to help us take victory. The strategy team made a great call though and I am really happy we could take the victory and the 1-2. It’s a perfect way to start the season and we will enjoy this moment, but it is still very early days in the championship, and we know our rivals will be trying to close the gap quickly. It wasn’t easy for us so let’s see how we perform in China next week.

Kimi Antonelli

What an afternoon and what a weekend! It has not been easy on my side of the garage here in Melbourne, but we’ve come away from here with a great result. I want to say a huge thank you to everyone at Lauda Drive and Morgan Drive; they’ve produced a really strong car and a platform for us to build on. This 1-2 is for them and due to all the hard work and effort they’ve put in over several years.

Coming to the grid, I had a lower battery level so the start was very stressful! We obviously made a slow launch but from there our recovery was good and our pace was strong. That enabled us to fight our way back to the Ferraris and ultimately, after we went through the pitstops, to take a 1-2 for the team.

There is a lot we’ve learned about our car and how to operate within these new regulations this weekend. Whilst we were the strongest team in Melbourne, we are going to have to work really hard to stay ahead. I’m now looking forward to China and seeing what we can do in Shanghai.

MAX...

“The first laps were pretty hectic and we just needed to stay out of trouble. I had some issues at the start with the battery so as soon as the clutch was dropped, I had no power so that is something we need to understand. We then got quite cleanly through the field, did some decent overtakes and learned a bit about what we could do. We settled into our own race but unfortunately had a little too much degradation; the tyre behaviour was surprising as we had a lot of graining on the Hard compound, which of course compromised our stints and meant that we couldn’t really fight for more. So, this is something that we need to go back and understand a bit more. We also tried everything at the end to overtake again and gain a position but when we got close my tyres opened up. Overall the Team still did a great job: it was a decent comeback from P20 and we will work as a Team to close the gap further.”

ISACK...

"Today was frustrating. I was confident that we could challenge for the podium so this result is a shame. I felt really strong off the line but unfortunately the issue we had came up straight away. The reliability we had throughout the weekend was good, but of course, the race is different and I could feel that there was a problem quite early on. The car was making a funny sound and I knew that we weren't going to make it to the end. It's frustrating, but these things can happen and we're so early on in our journey. We quickly go onto China with a short turnaround but I'm confident that we're going to learn from this.” 

 

Newgarden Hunts Down Victory,
Takes Series Lead at Phoenix
  AVONDALE, Ariz. (Saturday, March 7, 2026) – It took Josef Newgarden 17 races last year to earn his only victory of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season.

That winning box already is checked this year, two races in.

SEE: Race Results

Two-time series champion Newgarden earned his first victory of the season and 33rd of his illustrious career by closing down and passing leader Kyle Kirkwood with seven laps remaining to win the Good Ranchers 250 on Saturday at Phoenix Raceway. Newgarden, who started second, drove away to a 1.7937-second victory in the No. 2 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet over the No. 27 JM Bullion/Gold.com of Andretti Global driver Kirkwood.

“I’m very surprised,” Newgarden said. “In the middle of the race, I don’t know that I was fully believing that we had the capability to win. We just kept working through it, and I’m like, ‘Look, if we get another opportunity, we’re going to be aggressive, we’re going to be on the offense.'

“We took tires, and the thing was like a rocket ship when it needed to be, right at the end of the race. Hats off to the whole crew. I’m pumped.”

NTT P1 Award winner David Malukas finished third in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet as Roger Penske’s legendary team celebrated its 60th anniversary season with two podium positions.

Pato O’Ward finished fourth in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, with Marcus Armstrong rounding out the top five in the No. 66 ROOT Insurance Honda of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian.

INDYCAR’s first race in Phoenix since 2018 – Newgarden and Team Penske also won that event – featured plenty of action throughout the field, as there were 565 on-track passes, an INDYCAR record at the 1-mile desert oval. But a combination of tire strategy and deft maneuvering in traffic delivered the victory to Newgarden, who also won the season-ending race last August at Nashville Superspeedway to avoid a winless 2025.

Kirkwood made his last stop on Lap 192 and was running fourth behind teammate Will Power, Christian Rasmussen and O’Ward on Lap 207. Power and Rasmussen were engaged in a ferocious duel for the lead, with the left front wing end plate of Rasmussen’s No. 21 ECR Splenda Stevia Chevrolet making contact with the right rear tire of Power’s No. 26 TWG AI Honda exiting Turn 2.

That impact cut Power’s tire, triggering the final caution period of the race and ending his chances of an improbable victory after starting last in the 25-car field. Rasmussen’s car also was damaged.

During that final caution period, Newgarden and a handful of other drivers near the front entered pit lane for fresh Firestone Firehawk tires, as tire grip was a far bigger strategic factor in this race than fuel management. Rasmussen, Kirkwood, Malukas and Armstrong were among the drivers who decided to stay on track, opting for track position over traction.

Rasmussen led at the final restart of the 250-lap race on Lap 218, but his damaged car ended up being no match for Kirkwood, who drove past Rasmussen for the lead on Lap 242. Rasmussen faded in the last eight laps with car damage and worn tires, placing a bitterly disappointed 14th after thrilling the large crowd with many daring passes to get to the front five times for 69 laps.

“We were the class of the field today – best car out there,” Rasmussen said. “It’s so frustrating because we should have won the race today.”

Kirkwood led Newgarden by six-tenths of a second when he took the lead, but Newgarden’s tire advantage was obvious within less than a lap. Newgarden gnawed into Kirkwood’s lead and drove under Kirkwood in Turn 4 for the lead for good just two laps later, on Lap 244.

“We thought about it, but we were talking about it, and the pits opened,” Kirkwood said about the possibility of pitting during the late caution. “(Staying out) was the right thing to do at the time.”

As a bonus in this young season, Newgarden became the first driver other than four-time series champion Alex Palou to lead the standings since June 2024. Two-time Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Newgarden leads Kirkwood, 78-73, after two races as he tries to win the series crown for the first time since 2019.

“Do we really have the lead?” Newgarden said. “Two races in, so I wouldn’t read too much into it. But momentum is a big deal. It’s very difficult to understand how things work. Sometimes things go against us, sometimes they go for us. It was just great execution by the team.”

Palou placed 24th, completing just 21 laps in No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, after side-by-side contact with the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet of Rinus VeeKay led to a trip into the SAFER Barrier.

It was Palou’s worst finish since he placed 25th last June in Detroit after contact eliminated him from that street race.