Dianne is wearing every piece of Ferrari merch she owns, because Ferrari are finally back. After a 595-day drought, Lewis Hamilton took his first race win in red at the Barcelona Catalunya Grand Prix. It came almost to the day, 30 years after Michael Schumacher won his own first race for Ferrari at the very same track, and Hamilton now has seven wins in Barcelona, one more than Schumacher ever managed. If that does not give you goosebumps, Di is not sure what will.
Di and Ciara Gillan from Formula Live Pulse break down how it actually happened, because for the first half it did not look like a Hamilton win at all. A slow start gave way to a bold three-stop strategy, and once Lewis came out on fresh tyres he was on rails, increasing his lead every lap and finishing nearly 20 seconds clear. He even said afterwards that the virtual safety car robbed him of a proper battle, which tells you everything about the confidence in that garage right now.
They get into the Lewis effect at Ferrari, from the brake change to the way Charles Leclerc says having Hamilton in the team has shifted how the whole operation works. There is plenty to unpack elsewhere too, with Kimi Antonelli still leading the championship despite a heartbreaking DNF, another retirement for Leclerc, and a George Russell second place that Di reckons owed more to luck than pace.
This was a brutal race for reliability with eight DNFs, and the conversation turns to the FIA's decision to reverse Pierre Gasly's Monaco penalty while leaving everyone else's in place. Di and Ciara do not hold back on the precedent that sets. There is also the Fernando Alonso retirement chatter, the Flavio Briatore rumours, and a reminder to go and read up on Crashgate if you do not already know it.
Next week is a non-race week with a very special guest interview, and then the season rolls on to Austria. Play along with Predict the Podium at awaywegopodcast.com/play-along and see if you can beat Di on her own leaderboard.
