For five straight races, the story of the 2026 season was Kimi Antonelli. In Barcelona, the story changed.

Kimi did not finish. Lewis Hamilton won his first Grand Prix in Ferrari red. And a result that had looked settled for weeks finally broke open.

In this Race Notes episode, Sabrina works through a Spanish Grand Prix decided by strategy and nerve as much as speed. Hamilton started on softs, committed early to a three-stop, and was closing on the lead when a late virtual safety car reshaped the race. Whether that safety car handed him the win or simply made an inevitable one easier is the first thing Sabrina takes apart.

Mercedes let George Russell and Kimi Antonelli race each other. Two title contenders, one constructors' prize, and a high-degradation track with Ferrari within striking distance. Sabrina works through whether that was the right call, and what the timing of the safety car and Kimi's late retirement may have spared the team.

Then there is George. After Monaco, Sabrina asked on this show whether his slump was a pattern or a blip. Barcelona gave an answer. She gets into what his weekend actually showed, and why she is not buying the narrative forming around him.

Kimi was extraordinary again until his car broke. Charles Leclerc ran up front before a power steering failure ended his day. And behind the win sits a quieter problem at Ferrari, the one Lando Norris pointed at afterward, that Sabrina is not ready to look past.

A few threads she is deliberately holding for the Race Review with Dick and Joe: the politics around the engine rules, a telling moment between the two Alpines, and the questions she still wants answered before she commits to a verdict.

Five wins, then a reversal. A first win in red. And a Mercedes team that may be dominant and vulnerable at the same time. This is where the 2026 season stops being a coronation and starts being a fight.

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2025 Sound Engineers: Paul Douglas and Elena Richey

Kimi Antonelli won his fifth consecutive Formula 1 grand prix in Monaco. Behind him, nearly everything fell apart. And the most consequential thing that happened all weekend had nothing to do with the race.

But the conversation was not really about the race. It became about something else. A one-page document that arrived in the paddock motorhomes on Sunday, circulating through teams while the celebration in the harbor was still going. The ADUO verdict named Red Bull's engine the benchmark -- and handed Mercedes the right to keep developing. A system written into the rules specifically to prevent another era of Mercedes dominance may have just done the opposite. Joe explains what it means. Dick explains why the measurement at the heart of it doesn't make sense. Sabrina asks the question nobody seemed to want to answer: is there any version of this that isn't political?

Oh yeah. There was also a race. Pierre Gasly finished third on the road and seventh in the results -- penalized by margins under 0.1 km/h that Joe called daft and Dick called the rules being the rules. George Russell served a penalty, then served it wrong, then fell 68 points behind his teammate in the championship. Charles Leclerc lost three of four brakes and hit the wall. Max Verstappen's power unit failed before he reached the grid.

Joe's verdict on what Monaco told us about the development race: nothing, because Monaco is an anomaly, and everything behind Kimi was chaos, not data. Dick's read on Barcelona -- the next real test. And whether the three of them can agree on what this season is actually becoming.

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Check out Dick's karting documentary, Power Drive Vegas.
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Thanks to all who have become members of the 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 via our “Buy me A Coffee” page. This community is growing because of you. To become a member, click here.

Like the 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 background music? It's "An Adventure Called Life" by Score Squad. It's available for purchase at Premium Beat. Use referral code SNSAEDUB at checkout to get 25% off your first purchase.

2025 Sound Engineers: Paul Douglas and Elena Richey

Kimi Antonelli won his fifth consecutive at Monaco -- the youngest winner in the race's history. He led every lap. He set pole and fastest lap. And when the restart came, the moment that had been his one visible vulnerability this season, he was flawless.

Everything behind him was chaos, heartbreak, and questions that don't have clean answers yet.

Pierre Gasly crossed the line third for Alpine. Two pit lane speeding penalties dropped him to seventh.

George Russell had a penalty compounded by a communication breakdown that meant it wasn't served correctly. He was running third at the time. Sabrina does not think his season is over.

Charles Leclerc had a weekend where the outcome may have been decided before the race began.

Max Verstappen qualified second, which was arguably the most impressive single lap of the weekend, and retired on the formation lap with a power unit failure Red Bull had already planned to replace after Monaco.

And then there is the story most fans missed entirely. On Sunday, the FIA delivered its first ADUO verdict -- a catch-up mechanism built into the 2026 engine regulations, designed to give struggling manufacturers additional development allowances to close the gap. Sabrina walks through what she understands, where her limitations are, and why the political movement in Barcelona may matter more than the race result.

There is also the grid walk. Martin Brundle. And a conversation about who Formula 1 is for --- and who keeps getting it wrong.

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Have episode feedback or ideas? Drop them a line at: sabrina@2guysagirlandf1.com

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Thanks to all who have become members of the 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 via our “Buy me A Coffee” page. This community is growing because of you. To become a member, click here.

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2025 Sound Engineers: Paul Douglas and Elena Richey

Listener Drew asks: would driving Monaco in the opposite direction make the racing better? It's a clever way of asking the real question — is F1's most prestigious race also its worst, and can anything actually fix it?

In this episode, Dick and Sabrina take that question to Joe Saward, who has been going to Monaco since the early 1980s and has a clear-eyed view of exactly what the circuit is and isn't. The short answer on reverse direction: you'd need to demolish several hotels. The longer answer is more interesting.

Joe walks through the history of how Monaco came to host a Grand Prix at all — and it turns out it had almost nothing to do with motorsport. Dick reflects on what his daughter told him after seeing the track in person for the first time, which is something TV will never convey. And the three of them work through the real tension Liberty Media faces every time Monaco's contract comes up: the racing may be processional, but Joe's position is that Formula 1 has exactly two non-negotiables. Monaco is one of them.

Check out Joe online:

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Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Have episode feedback or ideas? Drop them a line at: sabrina@2guysagirlandf1.com

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Check out Dick's karting documentary, Power Drive Vegas.
Interested in Dick's return to kart racing? Check out, Begin Again.

Thanks to all who have become members of the 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 via our “Buy me A Coffee” page. This community is growing because of you. To become a member, click here.

Like the 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 background music? It's "An Adventure Called Life" by Score Squad. It's available for purchase at Premium Beat. Use referral code SNSAEDUB at checkout to get 25% off your first purchase.

2025 Sound Engineers: Paul Douglas and Elena Richey

George Russell took sprint pole, won the sprint, took grand prix pole, and was leading the race when his engine failed on lap 30. Kimi Antonelli, free of pressure, set the two fastest laps of the race on the final two laps. Joe had a pointed read on what George's driving that weekend revealed -- and it wasn't about pace.

Charles Leclerc called Canada his worst weekend in Formula 1. Lewis Hamilton finished on the podium and looked like he hadn't enjoyed himself this much in years. They drive for the same team. Joe had something to say about what that gap -- not in points, but in disposition -- means for Ferrari right now, and it goes well beyond one race weekend.

Max Verstappen finished on the podium. Three cars that should have finished ahead of him didn't. Joe's verdict on what that result actually tells us about where Red Bull is is not what the standings suggest.

McLaren started both cars on intermediates on a track that was clearly drying. Dick, Joe, and Sabrina don't entirely agree on whether that was a calculated gamble or a misread -- but all three agree it decided the race before it began.

As you'll hear, Dick, Joe, and Sabrina couldn't agree on how much of what we saw was the circuit, how much was the upgrade packages, and how much was something that has nothing to do with either.

There is also the conversation none of them planned to have. Somewhere between the back of the pack and the closing questions, the three of them ended up in a debate that is getting its own episode.

Five races in. The development race is underway. And the most compelling battles in 2026 may not be the ones the championship table is tracking.

Check out Joe online:

• JSBM Newsletter
• Grand Prix+
• The Green Notebook

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Have episode feedback or ideas? Drop them a line at: sabrina@2guysagirlandf1.com

Follow 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 on Instagram.

Check out Dick's karting documentary, Power Drive Vegas.
Interested in Dick's return to kart racing? Check out, Begin Again.

Thanks to all who have become members of the 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 via our “Buy me A Coffee” page. This community is growing because of you. To become a member, click here.

Like the 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 background music? It's "An Adventure Called Life" by Score Squad. It's available for purchase at Premium Beat. Use referral code SNSAEDUB at checkout to get 25% off your first purchase.

2025 Sound Engineers: Paul Douglas and Elena Richey

Kimi Antonelli has now won four consecutive Formula 1 grands prix. His streak did not look like it was going to survive Montreal. George Russell took sprint pole, won the sprint, took grand prix pole, and was leading the race when his power unit failed on lap 30.

That is the context. And it matters, because what Canada revealed is bigger than who crossed the line first.

In this Race Notes episode, Sabrina brings a perspective on a weekend that produced some of the most striking intra-team contrasts of the 2026 season. On one side of the Ferrari garage: Lewis Hamilton delivered his best grand prix result for the Scuderia. On the other: Charles Leclerc, who described it as the worst weekend of his Formula 1 career.

She digs into what the George and Kimi battle inside Mercedes is actually becoming.

On McLaren: starting both cars on intermediates at a track that was clearly drying was the call that unraveled the weekend before it began. Sabrina looks at what it tells you about where McLaren actually is.

Max Verstappen took his first podium of 2026 in Montreal, aided by Russell's retirement and McLaren's collapse. But the more interesting story is the set-up tension and what it says about how Red Bull is being run now versus how it was run before.

There is also the 2027 regulatory picture. Sabrina walks through what is actually blocking the change.

And beyond the results: a note on what the 2026 season is beginning to reveal about where the real competition lives. The most compelling battles in 2026 may not be between teams. They may be inside them.

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Have episode feedback or ideas? Drop them a line at: sabrina@2guysagirlandf1.com

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Check out Dick's karting documentary, Power Drive Vegas.
Interested in Dick's return to kart racing? Check out, Begin Again.

Thanks to all who have become members of the 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 via our “Buy me A Coffee” page. This community is growing because of you. To become a member, click here.

Like the 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 background music? It's "An Adventure Called Life" by Score Squad. It's available for purchase at Premium Beat. Use referral code SNSAEDUB at checkout to get 25% off your first purchase.

2025 Sound Engineers: Paul Douglas and Elena Richey

Listener Heath asks: how do you define different F1 eras, and what are the markers that separate one from another? It's a question that sounds straightforward until you realize there's no official answer — and that the FIA has never even defined what counts as a Formula 1 driver.

In this episode, Dick and Sabrina explore F1 history and how we make sense of it with Joe Saward, a trained historian who has covered the sport since 1988 and has met drivers from nearly every era it has produced. Joe's argument: eras are journalistic constructs, not official designations, and the blurry edges between them reveal as much about the sport as the eras themselves.

The conversation covers what actually marks a true transition — and why the turbo era, the Schumacher era, and the Bernie era are all legitimate frameworks that describe different dimensions of the same history simultaneously. Dick shares 8mm footage he shot at the 1980 US Grand Prix at Long Beach at 22 years old. Joe recalls an encounter in 1980s Czechoslovakia with a legendary figure from the sport's earliest years — one he didn't recognize until long after the moment had passed. And the three of them wrestle with a question that matters more than it might seem: does any of this history actually matter to fans who came to F1 through Drive to Survive — and should it?

Check out Joe online:

• JSBM Newsletter
• Grand Prix+
• The Green Notebook

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Have episode feedback or ideas? Drop them a line at: sabrina@2guysagirlandf1.com

Follow 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 on Instagram.

Check out Dick's karting documentary, Power Drive Vegas.
Interested in Dick's return to kart racing? Check out, Begin Again.

Thanks to all who have become members of the 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 via our “Buy me A Coffee” page. This community is growing because of you. To become a member, click here.

Like the 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 background music? It's "An Adventure Called Life" by Score Squad. It's available for purchase at Premium Beat. Use referral code SNSAEDUB at checkout to get 25% off your first purchase.

2025 Sound Engineers: Paul Douglas and Elena Richey

Listener Drew asks: if Nico Rosberg hadn't won the 2016 championship, would he still have retired? It's a question about one decision — but it opens up something much bigger about what it costs a driver to compete at the highest level.

In this episode, Dick and Sabrina dig into this with Joe Saward, who was there in 2016 and has watched the psychology of elite competition up close across decades of coverage. Joe's read on Nico is straightforward: he knew he'd likely never beat Lewis Hamilton again, so winning gave him the only exit he could take with his legacy intact.

But the conversation quickly moves beyond Rosberg into how the sport itself has shifted. Today's drivers grew up together — racing against each other as kids, sharing equipment, building genuine friendships before they ever became rivals. Joe makes the case this has made F1 racing cleaner and more respectful. Dick and Sabrina push back on whether something gets lost when the competitive edge softens. And if you've ever wondered why some fans turn dangerously tribal about their drivers, Joe has a pointed answer for that too.

Check out Joe online:

• JSBM Newsletter
• Grand Prix+
• The Green Notebook

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Have episode feedback or ideas? Drop them a line at: sabrina@2guysagirlandf1.com

Follow 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 on Instagram.

Check out Dick's karting documentary, Power Drive Vegas.
Interested in Dick's return to kart racing? Check out, Begin Again.

Thanks to all who have become members of the 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 via our “Buy me A Coffee” page. This community is growing because of you. To become a member, click here.

Like the 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 background music? It's "An Adventure Called Life" by Score Squad. It's available for purchase at Premium Beat. Use referral code SNSAEDUB at checkout to get 25% off your first purchase.

2025 Sound Engineers: Paul Douglas and Elena Richey