Unleash the Lion

Hinchcliffe: (...) He did that Max thing that we've come to know him capable of doing. By getting in front of the Ferraris by keeping them behind him which was incredible when he lost out to Lewis in the pit cycle with the undercut to actually get that move done on track and then keep him behind again. That was a remarkable drive and you could tell it took a lot out of him. That was not an easy day.

Clarkson: What did you make of that move on Hamilton?

Hinchcliffe: (...) it was just so beautifully done. It was completely controlled. No lock up. I mean, it was incredible. And that's against Hamilton who had been dominant on the brakes, the big brake zones here this weekend in turn 1 and turn 12. That's where he was making up a majority of his lap time. So against the strongest guy on the brakes this weekend, he pulled off that move in a car that you can't argue was in the same league as the Ferrari.

Clarkson: Tell me more about the Max factor, right? Is it just consistency or is there more to it than that? Is it an ability to read the race better than the people around you on the racetrack?

Hinchcliffe: It's an ability to read the race. It's a situational awareness. It's an ability to adapt to the car. He came on the radio on lap 5 or something and said, "I think the damping's gone. Like I think the dampers are broken." And he just drives through it. Like whatever was wrong with the car, he finds a way to drive around it. It's a very difficult skill for a driver. You know, it's one that people talk about, oh yeah, this so and so driver is very good at, if it's got a bit of understeer, they can still drive it. A bit of oversteer, they can still drive it. You know, we know Max hates understeer, but when there's even just a more fundamental flaw with the car, he's still going to get everything and then some out of the package. And it's not something that you see. I think the consistency is in how he can do that, when the car is, especially when it's below average, how he's still able consistently to put it up further up the grid than it should be and finishing further in the races than it should.

Clarkson: And GP, his race engineer was glowing in his praise over the radio on the slowdown lap. And he's not like that after every podium, is he?

Hinchcliffe: It's like I said, I mean, when Max came to parc fermé, he was like legitimately happy to be there, which he never is unless he's winning. So, I think the whole team there, the– we've had a horrible weekend, right? both drivers spun in qualifying. Max has been complaining, like we said, upshifts, downshifts, areo balance, whatever. So, they were kind of just in a survival mode, it felt like, and then all of a sudden, they're in the fight for a podium spot.

Clarkson: 3 podiums in the last four races. So, when you look at on paper, you'd think, oh, Red Bull are making progress, but then you actually look at the gaps and you look at where they are relative to McLaren this weekend and then it doesn't tell the full story, does it?