F1Weekly Podcast # 1128

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!…
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MICHAEL SCHUMACHER…57
EVERYBODY GOING TO WANT TO KNOW WHAT MAX THINKS OF THE NEW CARS!…FOR SURE. LOGAN SARGENT BACK IN THE DRIVERS SEAT FOR THE 24 HOURS OF DAYTONA… FLAVIO BRIATORE EXPLAINS TO THE UNIVERSE WHY FERNANDO’S 2005 CHAMPIONSHIP WAS MORE THAN SPECIAL….HE BEAT SCHUMACHER TWO YEARS IN A ROW…IT WAS BIG!!

THIS WEEK’S NASIR HAMEED CORNER…MORE VINTAGE BANTER BETWEEN THE HOST AND NASIR…THIS WEEK WE HAVE GIANCARLO FISICHELLA! BONUS INTERVIEW...MARIO ANDRETTI AT LAGUNA SECA.

Flavio Briatore, the former boss of F1 legend Fernando Alonso, has explained the wider importance of the Spaniard's 2005 world championship win.

Alonso is a two-time world champion, having claimed back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006 with the Renault team, beating seven-time champion Michael Schumacher in both of those years.
He has since gone on to compete for another 20 years - barring two seasons off for 'retirement' - and has now raced in more grands prix than any other driver in F1 history.
Alonso is still going strong at the age of 44, and is hoping to once more challenge for podiums and race wins in the near future with Aston Martin.

But now, his former boss has taken us all back to 2005, when Alonso became the youngest champion in F1 history at a time after a seven-win season.
"He replaced a world champion and many criticised him for being young and inexperienced, but I believed in him," Briatore said in a new DAZN documentary titled Bravissimo.

"I was sure he was special. Over time you realise that he wasn't just special, he was something more than that.

"In 2005 we not only won a world championship, we also introduced Formula 1 to Spain. It was the moment when everyone truly got to know Fernando Alonso. Not just because he won the world championship, but because of how he won it; we did it with authority."
Can Alonso win another race?
Now 44 years old, Alonso's hopes of claiming a third world championship title may be fading away, but he could still claim a 33rd career grand prix victory.
Alonso has not won a race since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix, but does have a contract that runs until the end of next season, and may even go on beyond that.
The Spaniard has said that, if Aston Martin provide him with a car that's fighting for race wins in 2026, he'll be happy to retire, but if they're still struggling for top 10 finishes, he may well carry on beyond that.
Alonso's driving ability is still there compared to his rivals, out-qualifiying his much younger team-mate Lance Stroll ahead of a grand prix on all 24 occasions in 2025.

Sharp rocks cut deep into the convoy during frantic first stage of the 2026 Dakar Rally.

The 2026 Dakar Rally began to stretch it’s legs on Stage 1 with over 300km of racing over the rock fields surrounding Yanbu. Perilous terrain was waiting to take a big bite out of the convoy as they were plunged into the deep end at the world’s toughest rally. Let’s see who managed to keep their heads above water…

It was Guillaume de Mévius and Mathieu Baumel who put the hammer down hardest on Stage 1 of the Ultimate class battle. The duo dodged all obstacles in their path, bringing their MINI JCW Rally 3.0i back to the Yanbu Start Camp Bivouac in first place overall. It’s an incredible achievement considering their participation at this Dakar was thrown into serious doubt when Baumel was forced to have his right leg amputated last year.

'Winning a stage always feels good, but it wasn't really our strategy for the day. Tomorrow, Mathieu and I will be opening and I'm very happy about that. With Mathieu on my right, I'm not worried about opening a special.” – Guillaume de Mévius

Nasser Al-Attiyah got his Dacia within 40 seconds of De Mévius’s front-running vehicle. The Qatari gave us an insight into his tactics for tomorrow’s 400-kilometre special stage that will bring the convoy to Al-Ula.

“We were pushing, but then we saw Seb with two flat tyres so tried to take it easy. Then Guillaume passed us and we stayed behind him all the way. Tomorrow I will start three minutes behind Guillaume and we can push.” – Nasser Al-Attiyah

Also finding themselves in a strong position to attack on the mountainous tracks that await tomorrow are the four Ford Raptor T1+ crews. Mattias Ekström, Carlos Sainz, Nani Roma and Mitch Guthrie Jr. all find themselves in the Top 10 and will be out to turn the screw on Stage 2.

“There’s 25 really fast drivers and 14 days of racing so you have to take care of your own business while keeping an eye on everybody else.” – Mattias Ekström

Rally organisers placed a pitstop midway through the stage for four-wheel competitors due to the sheer amount of sharp rocks on the route. Top drivers including Sébastien Loeb, Toby Price, Cristina Gutiérrez, Laia Sanz, Henk Lategan and Seth Quintero all got their tyres sliced on Stage 1 as the Dakar showed its teeth during the first long stage of 2026.

“It’s like driving on razor blades out there!” – Seth Quintero

Leading the charge for the debutant Defender team in the Stock class on Stage 1 was Rokas Baciuška. The Lithuanian set the Stock category’s fastest time to create a piece of Dakar history. Baciuška is now the only World Rally-Raid Championship driver to win stages in Ultimate, Challenger, SSV and now Stock divisions.

“There’s a lot of dust out there because the Stock category starts each day at the back. I’m used to driving in the dust from my days driving SSV so that might help me out this year. Tomorrow will be another tough day so we’ll see how we deal with it.” – Rokas Baciuška

First to leave the Start Camp Bivouac this morning were the bikers with the leading contenders hitting the stage at 8am. Prologue victor Edgar Canet of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing maintained his impressive pace to make it back-to-back stage wins. 20-year-old Canet is making his debut in the Dakar’s RallyGP category for elite bikers and it’s so far, so good for the Catalan.

“I did a good job with the navigation, I just got lost for a little bit. You need to take care in the rocks not to destroy yourself or destroy your bike.” – Edgar Canet

Also taking a spot on the Stage 1 podium was Canet’s KTM team-mate Daniel Sanders. The 2025 Dakar champion kept his head despite being attacked by sandstorms while racing for over three hours.

“It was really windy and my helmet was catching a lot of wind so it was hard to focus.” – Daniel Sanders

Harith Noah and Mohammed Balooshi both endured tough days on the bike. Indian rider Noah was airlifted to hospital in Riyadh due to back injuries following a crash. We wish Harith a speedy recovery from his injuries. Meanwhile, Balooshi also suffered an accident during the stage, although he was able to bring his Honda CRF 450 to the finish line.

“At the refuelling a doctor tried to fix my finger and knuckle. I rode this 300km stage unable to grip since kilometre 20. I just tried to survive. This is Dakar!” – Mohammed Balooshi

There was plenty of rock and rolling in the Challenger class with Dania Akeel arriving to the finish of Stage 1 with the driver’s side door ripped off her Taurus T3 Max. Despite some superficial damage to the machine, both Akeel and her BBR team-mate Kevin Benavides stayed within 10 minutes of early category leader David Zille.

“I’m not sure what happened with the door because we didn’t hit anything. Maybe there was something loose. We had one puncture so we lost some time changing the tyre. It was also very dusty with so many Ultimate cars around us. But that’s part of the game. Thanks to my co-driver Sébastien for a great stage.” – Dania Akeel

After today’s 305-kilometre loop around Yanbu it’s still very tight at the top of the SSV class. Francisco ‘Chaleco’ López won the SSV race at the Dakar in both 2019 and 2021. After Stage 1 in 2026 the Chilean is just four minutes off leader Xavier De Soultrait, with Gonçalo Guerreiro a further 30 seconds behind.

“We need to keep working hard to reach the finish of this rally. It was very tough on the rocks today so I’m happy with the time we posted.” – Francisco ‘Chaleco’ López

Showing grit and determination worthy of the Dakar was eight-time World Rallycross champion Johan Kristoffersson. The Swede did not get his Dakar debut started as he wanted when his Polaris RZR Pro R ended up on its roof during the Prologue. However, Kristoffersson dusted himself down and took his place on the start line of Stage 1. Despite eating a lot of dust, the rookie recorded the day’s 13th best time in the SSV class.

For tomorrow's Stage 2 the convoy depart Yanbu and the shores of the Red Sea, heading inland towards the treasures of Al-Ula. Competitors hoping to establish an early race rhythm will be frustrated by the constantly evolving terrain under their wheels. Every brief section of flat out speed is quickly followed by a technical section over the rocks. As with Stage 1, a midway pitstop has been added for four-wheel competitors to attend to any punctures suffered on the rocks.

ULTIMATE – Top 3 plus selected

1. G. De Mévius (BEL) / M. Baumel (FRA) – MINI 03:07:49

2. N. Al-Attiyah (QAT) / F. Lurquin (BEL) – Dacia +00:40

3. M. Prokop (CZE) / V. Chytka (CZE) – Ford +01:27

4. M. Ekström (SWE) / E. Bergvist (SWE) – Ford +01:38

6. C. Sainz (ESP) / L. Cruz (ESP) – Ford +01:54

8. N. Roma (ESP) / A. Haro (ESP) – Ford +02:37

9. M. Guthrie Jr. (USA) / K. Walch (USA) – Ford +02:50

10. S. Loeb (FRA) / É. Boulanger (FRA) – Dacia +03:01

11. L. Moraes (BRA) / D. Zenz (GER) – Dacia +03:34

15. C. Gutiérrez (ESP) / P. Moreno (ESP) – Dacia +05:00

16. T. Price (AUS) / A. Monleón (ESP) – Toyota +05:17

17. H. Lategan (ZAF) / B. Cummings (ZAF) – Toyota +06:57

18. S. Quintero (USA) / A. Short (USA) – Toyota +07:18

26. L. Sanz (ESP) / M. Gerini (ITA) – Ebro +16:26

STOCK – Top 3 plus selected

1. R. Baciuška (LTU) / O. Vidal (ESP) – Defender 4:04:59
2. R. Basso (FRA) / J. Menard (FRA) – Toyota +06:49

3. A. Miura (JPN) / J. Polato (FRA) – Toyota +08:18

4. S. Peterhansel (FRA) / M. Metge (FRA) – Defender +48:49

BIKE RallyGP – Top 3 plus selected

1. E. Canet (ESP) – KTM 03:27:42

2. D. Sanders (AUS) – KTM +01:05
3. R. Brabec (USA) – Honda +01:37

5. L. Benavides (ARG) – KTM +05:08

44. M. Balooshi (UAE) – Honda +58:48
102. H. Noah (IND) – Sherco +24:45:40

CHALLENGER – Top 3 plus selected

1. D. Zille (ARG) / S. Cesana (ARG) – Taurus 03:32:50

2. P. Spierings (NED) / J. Van Der Stelt (NED) – Taurus +00:42
3. N. Cavigliasso (ARG) / V. Pertegarini (ARG) – Taurus +02:03

7. K. Benavides (ARG) / L. Sisterna (ARG) – Taurus +09:08

9. D. Akeel (KSA) / S. Delaunay (FRA) – Taurus +09:56

SSV – Top 3 plus selected

1. X. De Soultrait (FRA) / M. Bonnet (FRA) – Polaris 03:38:45

2. A. Pinto (POR) / B. Oliveira (POR) – Polaris +03:34

3. B. Heger (USA) / M.Eddy (USA) – Polaris +03:48

4. F. López (CHI) / A. León (CHI) – Can-Am +04:02

5. G. Guerreiro (POR) / M. Justo (BRA) – Polaris +04:33
13. J. Krisstoffersson (SWE) / O. Floene (NOR) – Polaris +19:16