Latest / Pit Talk / Will the sequel be better than the original? Las Vegas GP Preview

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Will the sequel be better than the original? Las Vegas GP Preview · Pit Talk

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to pitt Talk of Fox Sports and
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Speed Cafe Formula one podcast. On today's episode, it's Las
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Vegas Grand Prix week, as if One prepares for the
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: final tripleheader to get us to the end of the season,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: and FIA race director Neil's Vitch says he was sacked
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: from the position suddenly ahead of one of the highest
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: pressure races of the season. My name's Michael Lamonato, motorsport
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: writer for Fox Sports Australia. It's great to have your
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: company and the company of my co host from Speed Cafe.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: He always gambles responsibly. Imagine what you could be buying instead,
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: It's Matt Cash.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: I problem is I spent far too much time imagining
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: what I could be buying instead. This is why I
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: can't have nice things. You can imagine them, Yeah, I
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: imagine very, very vividly. The problem is I'll indulge you
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: with a guilty pleasure of mine. At the moment. Hot
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: Wheels going to release this F one stream next year,
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: but I don't know of those out there thatrently into
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: hoot Was. I'm not a collected by any stretch, but
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: they currently sell lotus forty nines and I don't know, Michael,
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: she probably can't quite see on my camera, but just
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: over my shoulder here, I've got about forty of them.
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: For forty of them, I'm trying to get forty nine
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: lotus forty nine. That's where all my money goes. And okay,
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: they're not the most expensive thing in the world, but yeah,
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: I've got about I've got nearly fifty lotus forty nine
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: sitting over there. It's it's yeah, I can I can
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: imagine more vividly.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: That is extremely specific, extremely specific.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: It was. It was. It was voted the greatest racing
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: car of all time. You go, just pick up a
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: small handful.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: No, I guess looking at a whole packet. It is
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: very It's the most visual podcast I think I ever
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: been involved in. I'll paint the picture for you. Is
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: that's brilliant. Now here we go, Oh, we've got quite
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: We've got several packets of the five four A packet there.
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: One, two, three, and four. There's seven there, so there
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: must be there must be twenty odd just in that group.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I saw because of this. You know, Formulae has
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: a bit of a hot wheeled partnership, as you mentioned
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: a post on social media about how the hot Wheels
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: cars is way off topic, isn't it. I have become
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: decreasingly detailed as time has worn on because and I
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: remember this because you know, I was a kid. I
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: had some hot Wheels cars and if you slipped them
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: on upside down underneath it would have sort of like
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: the outline molded in of drive train one the various
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: parts of the underneath of the car. But increasingly now
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: if you buy a new one, it's just sort of
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: like a flat surface underneath. Yes, there you go. I
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: can't really see any detail on the one who.
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: Show detail mate, it's just a flat bit of I
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: think I think it might be plastic. Yeah, I was
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: always a matchbox car round the hotel. Maybe I like
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: I like the real cars rather than the fictitious ones exactly.
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: This has been a fun, fun Formula one podcast so far.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: Yes, yes, well, you know, people want people need to
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: be east back in. We've had two weekends off. People
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: want to feel like it's a slow and steady transition.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: But to help eas you back into the first week
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: of racing in only two weekends off, it hasn't been
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: that long. We'll catch you up with all the news
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: you might have missed in the last ten days or
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: so since the previous podcast. And let's start with the
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: Monaco Grand Prix, which has earned a six year contract
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: extension that'll take it to the end of twenty thirty one.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: But it's had to make a key concession on its
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: long running May date to get that deal over the line.
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I'm sort of in two minds about this.
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: I don't I don't mind the new day. I'm a traditionalist.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: I don't like change. You know, cars should have no
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: wings and you look a bit like a Lotus forty
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: nine just to pick a car at random. But at
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: the same time, I also don't think that Formula one
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: has a place in Monaco anymore because the sport has
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: just outgrown it and it doesn't provide the return on
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: investment that some of the other events. Do you know
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: you think Singapore, Yeah, Monico used to be this blue ribbon,
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: blue chip, high profile event for one now has many
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: of them, so it's not special in that regard anymore.
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: Remaining on the calendar, yeah, okay, it makes sense to
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: move it as well. You get some rationalization when it
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: comes to logistics and carbon offsets and all that jazz. Yeah,
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: I guess, I guess it makes sense and they're paying
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: more money, so it makes a lot of sense.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: That's going to say all your traditionalist views paired with
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: the ultimate non traditionalist, we don't need Monaco position anymore.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: It's quite the leap there, but good for Monaco. I
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: guess good from Monico to extend it does mean that
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: Canada is also going to move earlier into calendar from
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty six, so we don't jump back and forth
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: between Europe and North America for no reason. Let's move
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: on to staff personnel now, and Aston Martin and its
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: technical director or former technical director, Dan Fellows have parted
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: ways with immediate effect during the break was last week
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: after only around two years together, and this follows the
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: team slump down the pace rankings this year. In fact,
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: it was the slowest car hall in Brazil. Fellows, though
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: will remain within the Aston group, but specifically not in
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: the F one projects.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: This is interesting. I got wind of this over the
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: United States Grand Prix and unfortunately it was fhemently denied
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: by Dan Fellows at that point. The trick with these things, though,
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: you have to ask exactly the right question, and if
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: you don't ask exactly the right question, they'll take that
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: little avenue and they'll deny it or whatever. So it's
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: been floating around for a while and ultimately dan Fellow's
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: left Red Bull to get out from under the skirt
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: of Adrian Newey. Well, guess who's just been announced to
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: Aston Martin. It was always on the cards as soon
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: as Adrian Nue was announced it and asketon dan Fellow's
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: future was limited.
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: Yes, and I mean the top heaviness of the technical
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: structure there as well. I always felt like someone had
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: to go, and sure enough it's the technical director who's
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: presided over. Yes, a big jump at the start of
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: last year, but really perpetual decline since then. So dan
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: Fellow's making his own way in Formuda one again. Let's
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: move to one of the biggest open secrets now confirmed
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: certainly recent months in the Formula one padding, and that
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: is that Alpine will be taking Mercedes customer engines from
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty six in a deal that's also going to
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: include gearbox supply at least for the first season. On
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: that lad account, that sees Alpine returned to the status
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: that it enjoyed, suffered. However you want to describe it
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: a couple of years ago. As an independent constructor, I.
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: Don't really know how I feel about this. The one
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: thing I will point out is that I'm absolutely baffled
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: as to why the likes of Ferrari or Audi or
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: any of the other power manufacturers weren't fighting tooth and
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: nail to get that supply deal with our pain. Because
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: you think about it, we go into twenty twenty six,
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: all new regulation cycle, data is going to be king.
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: Mercedes has more data points than any other manufacturer, particularly
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: the likes of Honda is going to have one team,
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: Audi is going to have one team, Ford is going
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: to have two teams, or Red Bull. Ferrari is not
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: going to have that many data points. Mercedes has just
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: given itself a massive competitive advantage, and it's having someone
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: pay for the privilege. That's just brilliant business in my book.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm surprised for Arian Hondre. At least I can understand,
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: how do you maybe not feeling prepared to do more
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: than one team in the first year and.
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: That's the best way to do it. Though similarly, I
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: think the first year that's the best time to do it,
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: because that's when you get all you're learning done. That's true,
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: no doubt, Just accelerate all that. Yeah, I'm absolutely staggered
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: as to why that wasn't more of a contest.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: Well, good news for Mercedes in that case. Let's talk
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: about about Sergio Perez, who's been talking to GQ magazine
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: saying that he turned down two offers from rival teams
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: to re sign with Red Bull Racing instead at the
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: start of the year. Says this, of course, as the
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: news titans around his career towards the end of this season,
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: following months now of underperformance.
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: I'd love to know the timing around when those offers
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: were made, because I think that's the most important thing.
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: They're unlikely to have been made in the last week,
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: for instance, they would have come somewhere towards the start
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: of the year. His first six races of the season
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: were actually pretty good. He scored what's one hundred and
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: three points or something off the top of my head,
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: and six races. That's not a bad return. So at
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: that point it makes sense that he's attractive to other teams. However,
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: since then, you know, did he sign with Red Bull?
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: Because that was the only offer he had left on
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: the table. It'd be interesting just to understand where those
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: offers came from, not even necessarily who they were, but
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: where they came in, sort of the timing of the season.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you can understand Sergio Perez and Red Bull Racing
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: resigning at the start of the year when he was
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: performing well looked like a no brainer sort of at
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: the time, although it was very early, but certainly the
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: circumstances have changed since then. Let's move to williams Now,
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: which in the last week has been forced to deny
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: what it says a spurious rumors that it won't be
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: at the Las Vegas Grand Prix after it's highly damaging
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: weekend in Brazil that featured three big crashes, to for
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: alex Albon and another for Franco Colapindo, which team boss
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: James Valves described afterwards as unsustainable amounts of damage.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: What's been unsustainable all season. It's why they got rid
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: of Ergan Sergeant, isn't it. But ultimately there was I
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: don't understand where this doubt about William's participation in Vegas
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: has come from, because they're contractually bound to compete, you know,
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: even if they have to pull you know, some components
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: off of Lapsi's car and paper mache them to make
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: to meet the new REGs. You know, you do what
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: you have to do to get a car on track.
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: It doesn't have to be competitive, it just has to
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: be there. Otherwise there's all sorts of penalties that are
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: that are every day you're under the Concord Agreement, So
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: it was always going to be there. It seems a
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: bit of a story about nothing and some rumors and
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: whatever being stirred up for for no real reason in
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: my opinion.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: Yes, and don't forget everything. You know, Triple Header is
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: linked together. You don't go to Vegas, You're not gonna
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: be on the flight to Kataut, So it would have
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: really made any sense for me to turn up in
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: the first place. What state they turned up in though,
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: of course, does remain to be seen. And finally, a
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: bonus sixth story this week, since it's been ten days
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: or so since the last EPISOD, that is Greg maffay,
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: CEO Formula one Commercial Rights hold to Liberty Media, will
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: step down from the role at the end of the
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: year after more than nineteen years at the helm, which
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: paves the way for board changes that will better reflect
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: the company's change direction as it becomes really quite more
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: significant a player in category level sport.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: Well you say category level sport, but realistically it's Formula one.
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: And the way they've divided the business up, they've spun
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: off Serious Exam and a couple of other businesses to
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: the point where Liberty Media is effectively Formula one group.
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: That's really all that's left in there. It's even split
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: off Quinn, which is a hospitality business. But MAFE specifically,
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: his exit is interesting. He was out of contract at
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: the end of the year. That's fine, but he's leaving.
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: There is no replacement. Chairman John Malone is going to
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: step in an interim basis, so there's no replacement, which
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: suggests this was not planned, because if it's planned, you
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: have someone waiting in the wings that's just able to
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: seelessly takeover. That's not the case, so this wasn't planned.
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: I have heard of growing tensions between MAFE and Malone
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: for quite some time. The word I've also been given
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: is that just the restructure of Liberty Media and the
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: reduction in the scope of the role has meant that
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: MAFE is just not interested. I've also heard some interesting
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: claims about Moto GP and its contribution to the audial
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: so it's it's interesting. There's definitely more to this than
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: Mafe saying I'm done, because if he was going to
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: say I'm done, then you have six or twelve or
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: eighteen months of planning and you have the successor in
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: the line. This one smells funny to me.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: Well, Greg's last roll, first race after his announcement that
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: this will be his last few races will be the
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: Las Vegas Grand Prix, which was the big project of
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: Liberty Media era Formula one. The headline event the Blue
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: Red Band Spectacle as we all saw last year, the
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: big all singing, all dancing Grand Prix in a music
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: festival just before it last year. I think they're doing
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: the opening ceremony again.
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: Went off with a bang too. If you're a manhole covery, yes.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: Well you're you're a Ferrari car. Yeah, yes, we all
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: remember that.
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: Carlos definitely enjoyed it. Yeah.
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: Hopefully no two am practice sessions this time around. We
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: are back in Las Vegas this weekend for the first
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: of the last triple header of the season. To get
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: us to the end of the year. This is Formula
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: one's most hyped Grand Prix by a long long way.
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: You might have noticed it already on if on social
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: media and all sorts of things. Good for Australia though,
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: because the time zone is actually great because of the
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: slightly bizarre running time of the race at ten pm
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: local in Las Vegas. Shame if you're in New York
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: to watch one of your American Grand Prixs. For us,
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: it's great. It's five pm Eastern time. What's that two
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: pm if you're ever in Perth and you can calculate
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: that it's in the middle. But it's really interesting that
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: leading into this race to hear from the organizers in
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: Las Vegas, and now, of course they're not about to
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: talk down the race, will you talk up how effective
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: or how big a deal last year's race was? And
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: I think it's interesting to kind of recontextualize the setting
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: up of this Grand Prix. There are lots of street
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: circuits in Formula one, but this is probably the most
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: ambitious in the context. Right Like, for a long time,
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: Las Vegas and the casinos that pretty much run that
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: place were fairly opposed the idea of closing streets for
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: an event like this. Now they've gone to great pains
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: to make sure the streets are closed as limited a
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: time as possible, which is why we get these strange
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: running times. But actually, in review of that first year's race,
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: they're talking about this as being it was last year's November,
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: as the race was timed last year, I think the
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: second biggest weekend in the city's history, the exposure being
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: much greater than even expected, And I think what was
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: almost most interesting was them saying it could be half
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: or even I think a third as well exposed as
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: last year's race and it would still count as a success.
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: So I think it's a little bit of expectation management,
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: isn't it.
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: Or it's just a load of pr because if you'll
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: get how much money they've spent, I think looking at
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: the finances, it was about three ninety million dollars that
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: they spent. That was the cost of revenue difference in
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: Q four last year. It was huge, all attributed to
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: Las Vegas. So there will be some set up costs
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: in that obviously, and then that all sort of advertize
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: over the coming years. But Vegas is a little bit
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: different as a Saturday night race for a start, which
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: works out to be a lovely Sunday afternoon in front
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: of the TV for us. But it's also promoted by
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: Formula One. As you mentioned, it's not a it's not
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: a revenue stream. It's almost a lost leader in that
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: it goes out there, it promotes the best of Formula one,
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: and the intent is that it goes out and into
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: tracts partners that initially do a deal with the event
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: and then come into the business more broadly. And you
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: look at you know, dealers with like Amex and a
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: couple of others around the place. That's the value that
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: Vegas adds. Beyond that, it also goes to my point
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: of it diminishes what Monaco is because you've now got
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: this high profile, blue ribbon exciting event that they're pushing
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: really hard to turn into something extraordinary. And let's be honest,
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: it is something pretty extraordinary to be racing down the
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: strip in Vegas. That's that's I mean, can you imagine
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: this ten years ago, five years ago, absolutely extraordinary? Half
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: years well at two am this time last year. So
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: it just goes to show that Formula one is building
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: not just races now, it's building events and experiences. It's
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: been working hard to diversify its ticket offering this year
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: and that's resulted in a number of different options coming
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: on sale. Will really late in the piece, like the
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: last couple of weeks. That's something I think they need
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: to get their head around a little bit more. But
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: beyond that, I'm just looking at it and it's an
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: exciting race. You know, I've got three to go. We're
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: in the midst of a championship battle. The title could
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: be decided this week, and you know, it's just what
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: I don't like is that we're racing in the strip.
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: We're racing somewhere absolutely extraordinary, and you know, on TV
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: it looks like Singapore or Guitar or not Kaitar, because
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: that's not a street race or Saudi. It just like
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: looks like another street race at night in Formula one.
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: There's not a lot to differentiate it unless you see
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: the big wide shots going down the strip.
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: Yes, I'm glad you brought that up, because that was
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: something I think we talked about this last year, because
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: there was something that really stood out to me about
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: this race is that on television, it actually in the
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: it generally didn't look as impressive, as you would think
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: for this big they're racing down the sprint, the strip idea.
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: They generally use the landscape well over the course of
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: the whole week. Obviously they turned Las Vegas into the playground,
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: into the setting of the race. The race itself at
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: night I thought was a little bit underwhelming, and I
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: couldn't help but think, actually, it looked better in the daytime.
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: We're at dusk. You know, there were some shots I think,
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: actually weirdly, if you remember that golf tournament they had
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: on Netflix last year and a lead up to the race,
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: because that went from day to night, it was that
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: dusk period that looked great. I actually remember thinking this.
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: I watched Moto GP and KATA all last year, as
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: it was it was shortly after Vegas, and I thought
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: the same about that as well. A flood lit circuit,
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: they all look the same. You mentioned it. I know
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: you sort of went back in it, but I think
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: you're right. They all look various tones of gray and beige,
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: Whereas I think during dusk you actually get a sense
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: of the city sky and I think that's right. But
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: I think that also goes to during another one of
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: your points, the place of Monaco on the calendar is
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: that when you watch Monaco, you know it's there, you
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: know it looks visually spectacular, even with the racing is
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: always processional these days, and it's identifiable with Formula one
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: in a way that none of these night races really are,
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: even if the concept of Vegas or Singapore might be
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: more intrinsic to Formula one today because everyone knows it
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: and understands at Singapore has become a really popular event
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: to go to, particularly in our part of the world.
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: Vegas obviously has this big hype around it, this big expectation,
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: but people still know Monaco like Monaco is form of
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: the one in the minds of a lot of very
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: casual fans of the sport, or even people who aren't
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: necessarily Formula one fans but kind of have a general
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: concept of what it is, not even know what Formula
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: one is, but they know that some cars race around
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: Monaco and that happens to be Formula one. I doubt
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: they're thinking of the Formula EE pre so maybe they are.
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: Who knows, I should I shouldn't prejudge.
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: Very few are most of.
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: The people who are working with I think, but I
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: think to go back. It's become weird. A little bit
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: of a theme in this episode that the place of Monaco.
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: I think that that's still it still owns that visual
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: spectacle in a way. These night races don't really because
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: I just don't think night racist pop on television in
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: the way I think sport organizers think they will. It's
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: not like running football or whatever at night, where really
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: you can tell the difference obviously, but it doesn't really
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: make a big visual diference to what you're looking at.
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: Racing at night just doesn't look that great.
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: You lose something, don't you. You just don't have the
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: same visceral is the wrong word, but this sensory perception
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: of speaking. Ultimately, we can't tell with the naked eye
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: for cars five seconds like quicker or slower. If you're
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: there in person, yes you can, but on TV you
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: just you don't have that reference to your point about
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: you know the backdrop. I'm a massive cycling fan, and
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: you know, the Tour de Front is a massive event,
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: not just for cycling nerds like me, but for my
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: in laws. Watch it, my parents watch it. They've got
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: no interest in cycling, but it's just such a pretty
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: couple of hours of television because I've got these big, wide,
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: expansive shots of the towns that they go through, of
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: the mountains, of everything else. You've got this backdrop that
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: paints a picture of the race, and a night race,
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: You're just you're stripping all that away, You're putting it
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: against a green screen effectively.
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: And I think that that is I think that's not
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: to be under stated. Run as a great example more
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: slow TV in Formula one. That's what I want. I
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: wanted to just be single camera, stuck on a single
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: car for the whole weekend, just to see how the
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: whole thing unraveling.
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: This big wide shots. I remember going back and showing
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: my age the early Australian Grand Prixs and Adelaide. They
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: used to have a helicopter follow the cars through the
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: S's and up through East Terrace and onto Joan Straight
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: and they'd sit with this camera shot for four or
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: five corners and you could see the cars, you know,
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: this cordion effect between cars and then lapping back markers,
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: and you wouldn't you get this real notion of speed
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: versus you know, the leaders versus the back markers, because
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: suddenly a back marker had flash into shot and it'd
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: be gone again because I just hold this one comparatively
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: wide shot and you get this real idea that the
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: walls are close, these things are moving, and they're sort of,
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: you know, closing up and pulling away from another. It's
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: just I think the working too hard to show the
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: cars and the fact that they move around or whatever.
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: We need to see more atmosphere. So this has turned
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: into a critique of television production Formula one, hasn't it?
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: Yes? So well? As a final note on that that
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: it will change this year and they will have learned
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: a lot. Last year is the first time they did it.
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: It's underestimated how much work goes into camera positioning and
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: that kind of stuff, and they had no history or
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: playbook to do it. So this year expected to probably
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: look quite different. And then we can come back and
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: do a special episode of the podcast just critiquing the
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: Talision podcast. Let's talk about that championship though, because the drivers, well,
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: both championships are still up for grabs, but the drivers
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: championship could be decided this weekend in Las Vegas, and
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: wouldn't Formula One just bloody love that Lando Norris is
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: sixty two per points points behind Max Wstappen. After Las Vegas,
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: there will be sixty points remaining, which means Norris must
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: outscore Max by three points or more to keep the
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: title alive. Now, Matt, we'll talk about this before the podcast.
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: We've got probably slightly different opinions on how this is
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: going to play out in my mind, and I think
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: it's likely actually that it's not decided this weekend, just
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: because looking at the track layout and looking at Red
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: Bull's recent form. Although form has been so hard to
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: read this season. It's been so up and down for
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: most teams, every team except McLaren really, but you should
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: say that Lando Nora should finish at least a couple
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: of places ahead of Max. Withstaff on pure pace, I
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: expected to be McLaren and Ferrari at the front, then
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: Red Bull racing in that third position. Say, he's very
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: good in cold conditions though, and this is going to
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: be very cold, so who knows. Maybe that could be
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: a bit of a wild card team this weekend. But
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: I think Norris can get those three points. I'm certainly
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: not saying he's going to win the championship. I think
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: it'll then be decided, probably in the sprinted Katar again,
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: but I think he'll walk away from Vegas in the lead.
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: But you've got some good counterpoints, I think.
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I looked to Asbojan and Okay. Oscar Piastre drove
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: really well to win that race for McLaren, but Sergio
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: Perez was right there towards the end as well. There
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: are strong similarities between Baku and Vegas long straits. Not
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: much in the way of sort of even meeting my
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: high speed stuff. It's largely ninety degrees stuff and comparatively
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: tight nine degree stuff. So I can see Red Bull
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: doing well. We know Max won this event last year.
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: Lando basically has to win. Lando has to finish top
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: eight or better, and then if he finishes a second
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: or third, depending where Max finishes, and if he gets
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: fast at SLAP, it's game over for Lando. I can
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: see the championship being over this weekend, and I'm saying
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: that purely because I called it weeks and weeks ago.
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: The championship will be decided in Vegas, and I stand
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: by that. I think Lando's I don't think he's given
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: up the fight, but he's more pragmatic about it now
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: that the Championship and the Constructors Championship is more important
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: if you're going to defend against Max, who's going to
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: show on and risk taking you both out because if
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: neither of them finish in Vegas, Max's champion. So you're
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: going to jump out of the way because you want
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: to protect the Constructors Championship advantage. You need the points
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: for that. Given where Ferrari is, and I expect Ferrari
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: will be strong this weekend, so I can see a
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: little bit of a little bit of elbows out action
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: from Max and just harrying that car. I think what
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: South Paolo did will come a massive shot in the arm.
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: That was an incredible drive. The more I think about it,
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: the more impressive that drave was. I sort of downplayed
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: it at the time, but I think I'm wrong in
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: that it was exemplary. Take that confidence forward that the
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: McClaren hasn't been the fastest thing in a straight line.
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: It's got changes to its rear wing that are comparatively
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: untested on this style of circuit because it's post the
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: bacou changes. It does have its mini drs and all
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: that sort of jazz, So it'll be interesting to see
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: what happens. Either way, Susafan has won the championship. Whether
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: it's this weekend or whether it's Qatar in a week's time.
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: I don't think it makes a whole lot of difference.
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: I just like the breaking rights of being able to
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: say I told you so.
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: Either way, it's probably going to be decided on a Saturday,
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: which is weird. But well, then again, it was last year,
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: so let's talk just to go back, well, not to
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: go back to Brazil per se, but I think the
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: effect of that race was interesting on the constructors Championship
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: because that's the championship that is very much alive and
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: is probably going to take us all the way to
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: Abu Dabil. The McLaren is close to having a full
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: race worth of points advantage over Ferrari because I was
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: comparatively underwhelming in Brazil in the wed at least compared
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: to its recent form. McClaren now leads Ferrari by thirty
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: six points in the Constructors Championship. It's also forty nine
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: points ahead of Red Bull Racing in third, and Mercedes
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: can't finish higher or lower than fourth. That season's done.
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: They may as well pack it up now and then
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: Aston Martin. That's a pretty comfortable lead for fifth. In
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: the battle between Alpine Harsen rbs all pretty close. There's
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: an outside chance someone could get Aston Martin if they
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: have another Brazil style thirty odd point score swing. That
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: remains to be seen through three races to go. But
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: that battle of the constructors Championships with a lot of money,
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: so with a lot of pride, particularly given that I
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: think in April no one thought anyone other than Red
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: Bull Racing would be winning this thing. Now the team
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: struggling even to race for second. This is a big
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: weekend for McLaren and Ferrari in particularly because we've already
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: sort of touched on this is a track that should
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: suit Ferrari in particular, although no Charlotte Clair has said,
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: oh like, the tire advantage might not be as big
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: this year because the cars much more gendle on its
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: ties and the cold weather might make that a little
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: bit different. McClaren is interesting because, like you say, the
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: rear wing that had worked so well in Azerbaijan won't
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: be the same rear wing they use this weekend. But
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: Red Bull full of confidence. I think, in particular the
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: fact that max for Staffen one with such ease on
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: Sunday in Brazil, and even in the sprint on Saturday
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: was competitive, got stuck behind Charlotte Clair. Had he not
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: been may well have been able to win that race
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: as well. Could we be seeing a late resurgence from
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: Red Bull Racing here? Is it too late to win
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: the constructors Championship? Is it really just second place they're
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: aiming for now?
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: Going to be the second place that best? Doesn't it?
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: It's that far down, you know, forty nine points. It's
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: not again mathematically it's it's possible, but you're relying on
• 27:10
  Speaker 2: four cars ahead of you, having three comparatively poor weekends.
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: Just having like a spreadsheet that I've got here and
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: I can't think of a weekend where McLaren has not
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: delivered strong points all weekend or just having a quick look.
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: I think the fewest points I've scored all weekend was
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: fourteen in China. That's the worst weekend I've had all season.
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: Red Bulls worst was eight points in round eight whatever whatever.
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: That was also eight points in round twenty. So what
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: was the one before Southlia Mexico?
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: My surgery didn't score, which is normally the common denomination.
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: Ouch, that's the truth. Yea, it is true. And look,
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: I ran a piece on Speak Cafe today that Sergio's
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: performance is going to cost Red Book thirty million dollars.
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: This is what we say about You know, the Constructors
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: Championship is worth money, in significant amounts of money. Exactly
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: how much depends. It's based on a calculation off of
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: Formula one's projected revenues. We can safely predict that that'll
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: be something like about one point seven billion dollars next year.
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: So if that's the case, the difference between finishing first
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: in the Championship, for which you get fourteen percent of
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: the prize spot versus third, which you get twelve point
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: two percent of the prize spot, works out to be
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: about thirty million dollars, which also turns out to be
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: about what Sergio Perez's commercial backers bring to the team,
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: So he's also now not really contributing either on the
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: financial standpoint.
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: It's a lot of kid cats, isn't it.
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: So that's a lot of kickouts, a lot of mobile
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: phonecations of that deals then, isn't it so it's a
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: lot of hot wheels. There's a lot of other spreading lines.
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: Let me just do quick maths. But and that's the
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: you know, looking at at this on my projections, McLaren
• 29:22
  Speaker 2: shouldn't win the championship this year. It's looking at more
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: than two hundred and twenty million dollars in prize money
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: next year by my rough maths. So obviously that depends on
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: Formula one's earnings. But yeah, two hundred and twenty six
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: ish million dollars in prize money. That's more than the
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: cost cap. The top seven team should actually have the
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: cost cap paid to them in prize money. But even still,
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: you want as much money as you can because there's
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: other things that you can use that on the hospitality marketing,
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: all those sorts of things.
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: Let's move on now, Matt, not entirely, because Las Vegas
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: is still very much on the horizon for all of us,
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: but stepping back a little bit to some drama in
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: the FIA that's been bubbling along really ever since President
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: Mohammed Bensalon was elected a couple of years ago. Now,
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: in the aftermath of the twenty twenty one ABB Grand Prix,
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: but ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix race, Director
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: neil's Vitch has left the race directorship. Now the FIA spun.
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: This is stepping down to pursue new opportunities. One of
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: the great lines in hr Hes since told German language
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: Motorsport magazine that he did not resign, that he was sacked.
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: No one's entirely sure why. It'd certainly come out of
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: the blue, that much is absolutely certain. Maybe maybe you
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: know some whispers of a little bit of tension at
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: the top there, but certainly no one expected this to
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: be moving with three races still to go, and certainly
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: not ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, surely one
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: of the highest pressure races in which to be in
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: race control, if not just because it's only the second
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: running of this race, and we all remember how difficult
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: it was to manage the race last year, not least
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: because of the exploding drain cover obliterated Carlos Sciences car
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: and of course, most importantly the swearing in the press
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: conference subsequent to that. This is gonna be the fourth
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: race director in as many years. Of course, Michael Massi
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: in twenty one, Nils Vitisch was in twenty twenty two,
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: along with Eduardo Fretas, who left at the end of
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: that year. And now in twenty twenty four we'll have
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: Roy Marquz, who's the Formula two and Formula three race
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: director promoted this weekend to Formula one. Not sure if
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: that means he's also actually gonna be doing F two
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: and F three and Katar and Abu Dhabi the last
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: two or only F two rather and Kato and Abu
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: Dhabi the last two rounds of that championship. But that's
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: a question for next week, I suppose. And things are
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: moving so quickly at the FIA, but it's not exactly
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: a great look culminating with Nils Vitich leaving the organization.
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: Considering just how many high profile people have left in
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: the last twelve months.
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: It's not a great look, particularly when you look at
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: the history of the race director role in that usually
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: has been pretty stable prior to Michael mass Let's not
• 31:59
  Speaker 2: forget Michael MASSI inherited that job when Charlie Whiting sadly
• 32:03
  Speaker 2: died over the days prior to the Australian Grand Primum.
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: Was that twenty.
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: Nineteen, I think, wow, that long ago.
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: There you go, But Charlie Whiting had been in that
• 32:14
  Speaker 2: role for twenty twenty five years or something. It was
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: some extraordinary period. And before him, Buncher Ryder was also
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: in that role for a long time, going back into
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: the eighties. So you know, for thirty years we had
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: sort of two race directors and now in four years
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: we've had four race directors. There's been no obvious mistakes.
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: It was a little bit wobbly from vitic when he
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: first took over, but there's been no obvious mistakes. You know,
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: he's not impacted the outcome of a race or completely
• 32:47
  Speaker 2: screwed something up or made, you know, controversial decisions. So
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: what's happened behind closed doors? Because this can't be performance related,
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: can it?
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: No, you wouldn't have thought so, particularly not in the
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: context of Okay, Michael Massi. It all came down to
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: Avid hab twenty twenty one. Had been tensioned with the
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: teams before that. I still think that while the FIA's
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: own report afterwards found that he wasn't sufficiently supported in
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: the role, but they used him as a scapegoat anyway.
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: Maybe because of the tensions with the team's just made
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: that easy. Arduado Freds left after the Japanese Grand Prix
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: of twenty twenty two, in which you might remember Pierre
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: Gazzi was released onto the track not in red flag conditions,
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: just before red flag conditions, while there was a tractor
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: on the track in monsoon rain, extremely dangerous situation. He
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: was forced to pay the price for that. Neils Wit
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: did she like you say, no obvious trigger for this.
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: I do want to go back to, Oh goodness me,
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: the Michael Massi situation, not abu dab twenty twenty one.
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: Don't panic, but that finding that he was not sufficiently
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: supported by the FIA, because for me, this is kind
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: of the core of the problem. Charlie Whiting's long tenure
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: was obviously earned, but the role evolved with him over
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: the twenty odd years he was in that position. He
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: kind of made the race directorship also safety delegate ship,
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: if we can call it that, a role he made
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: his own that is tied to being the race director
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: as well. His workload was quite significant, but he was
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: able to manage that because he kind of invented it
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: all for himself as the sport grew and evolved, So
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: he really was those roles to throw first of all.
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: Michael Massey in he was being trained up to take
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: that position, but he wasn't near the completion of that
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: apprenticeship because obviously Charlie Whitings, he said, tragically died so
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: suddenly and unexpectedly was thrown into that had to learn
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: as he went also during the pandemic. That can't have
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: been very easy. And despite the FIA finding after his
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: tenure that he needed more support, invented this remote race
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: control that we very rarely hear about, and at certain
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: times I've certainly thought we probably could afford to hear about,
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: because there have been times it feels like it could
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: have been needed to intervene more strongly. I've never got
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: the sense that actually race control has changed that much.
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: The pressure remains really quite great. Certainly we learned that
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: with Eduardo Fratis and the way the Japanese Grand Prix
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: was handled that year. Maybe some incidents this year, but
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: nothing really controvert nothing beyond the remit of what is
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: normal regulatory controversy in any sport. You can never make
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: everyone happy when you're running a sport. But it still
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: feels to me that we're going to get this churn.
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: Regardless of whatever is the reason that visage is left.
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: There's could have been some kind of tension. But we're
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: going to get churned for whatever the reason for as
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: long as this role remains so big and the preparation
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: for it is so sleeem I think it's ironic. Actually,
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: Muhammed Ben Slam told Alto Sport last year. I think
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: it was he recognized that you can't just buy race
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: directors from Amazon, I think was what he said. They're
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: rare and they're hard to groom, and getting rid of
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: one and promoting one suddenly it's a big step up
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: from the junior categories to Formula one. I think only
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: exacerbates the problem. And I think we're only going to
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: get to a position we're going to have more rotation,
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: which does not serve anyone in the.
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: Sport, particularly when if you look at the F one
• 35:49
  Speaker 2: steward side of things and they're talking about bringing in
• 35:55
  Speaker 2: some consistent stewards because the rotation is introducing consistency. I mean,
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: that's that's a debate that's been had many, many, many
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: times over over the years, and there's arguments for and
• 36:08
  Speaker 2: against it. I don't really care one way or the
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: other which way it goes, but the race director is
• 36:12
  Speaker 2: a significant member of the Formula one community. And the
• 36:17
  Speaker 2: Formula one paddock. When Charlie Whiting was doing it is
• 36:19
  Speaker 2: last season twenty eighteen, there were twenty one Girls Prix.
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: When he took over, there was sixteen, maybe seventeen, depending
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: which year it was. So over the years the job
• 36:32
  Speaker 2: grew just as a race director side of things. He
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: was also doing circuit inspections and a number of other
• 36:37
  Speaker 2: things that Michael Massey took on as well. So you'll
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: imagine you've been doing a job for ten years and
• 36:41
  Speaker 2: you get a little bit more responsibility. It's not difficult.
• 36:44
  Speaker 2: Then you get a little bit more it's not difficult,
• 36:46
  Speaker 2: and you just build up, and then you eventually move
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: on for one reason or another. The next guy comes
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: in and suddenly what wasn't especially difficult but a pretty
• 36:54
  Speaker 2: busy job for you is just absolutely untenable. I wonder
• 36:58
  Speaker 2: if there's a degree burnout involved. Let's also remember that
• 37:05
  Speaker 2: Protest and Vitage were NBS appointments, so something has also
• 37:11
  Speaker 2: changed in that relationship. I wonder if there was a
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: bit of pushback from Vitage saying that I'm a race director,
• 37:18
  Speaker 2: I manage things, or pushback in some of the other
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: elements of the FIA, and perhaps what the governing body
• 37:27
  Speaker 2: wanted of him, because doing twenty four races a year
• 37:30
  Speaker 2: is a huge, huge commitment. I'll do a good third
• 37:35
  Speaker 2: of that this year, and a toilet takes is significant.
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: To travel involved, the time away from home, the sacrifices
• 37:43
  Speaker 2: you make with family. It's huge to do this. And yes,
• 37:46
  Speaker 2: we're in the greatest sport in the world, but you
• 37:48
  Speaker 2: can't turn your nose off at the fact that this
• 37:50
  Speaker 2: is people's lives. I don't know what the cause is.
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: Remarkas is he's been put in there pretty quickly. I
• 38:01
  Speaker 2: have not heard bad things about him, But at the
• 38:02
  Speaker 2: same time, he's not done anything like Formula one before.
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: There is nothing like Formula one, even the Warden Durants Championship.
• 38:08
  Speaker 2: We saw that with Fratus. They're very different beasts because
• 38:13
  Speaker 2: you're going from a handful of professionals and a group
• 38:16
  Speaker 2: of amateurs to ten hyper competitive teams that know the
• 38:20
  Speaker 2: rules inside out better than you do and will exploit
• 38:24
  Speaker 2: every little chick in the armor of those regulations. So
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: it's a very very different beast. And again, like I
• 38:32
  Speaker 2: said with MAFE, this one just doesn't pass the sniff test.
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think thinking about how Roy's going to
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: be taking over this weekend. Two championships still live. Regardless
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: of what you think about the Drivers' Championship, it is
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: still up for grabs and the teams will fight till
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: the finish. You don't have to look back at when
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: the Constructive Championship plays a role in this as well.
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: But Red Bulls response to the use of red flags
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: in Brazil really dialed it up to ten between Christian
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: Horne and Max withstaff and this new race director will
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: be subjected to that pressure if anything like that happens
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: again in Las Vegas. And then you do consider the
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: Constructors Championship. Not only the three leading teams, but the
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: midfield teams arguably have even more reason to fight because
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: every million dollars is worth more to them consideringly incomes
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: a relatively less and that fight is going down to
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: the why because it's only three or four points between
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: most of them. It's a high pressure situation. There could
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: not be a worse way to jump into Formula One
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: with no formal handover, no transition, no apprenticeship, with three
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: back to back races, I mean, fire him might already
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: be looking forward to the end of the season. I
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: think regardless of how big a step it is, and
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: I'm sure it's pleased to be able to call himself
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: a Formula One race director, but also just in the
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: context of the way all this is unfolded, it can't
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: be a great way to take that position. And this
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: weekend let's not forget as well. The follow up is
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: going to be on the Grand Prix Drivers Association letter,
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: which we talked about in the last podcast. The team's
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: really clapping back at FI president in particularly with at
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: THEFI in general about the way that the sport is
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: administered when it comes to drivers and fines and punishments
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: and all those kinds of things. That's going to become
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: a major talking point this weekend. That's going to put
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: the new to race director on the spot as well.
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: He's going to have his first drivers briefing. It probably
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: it's going to be something like one am on Saturday
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: morning or Friday morning, whenever it is. It's just going
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: to be a difficult transition. So look, hopefully it all
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: goes smoothly, but then again, last years Las Vegas Grand
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: Prix was anything but smooth. That's amount of next week's podcast.
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: They will wrap up Las Vegas Grand Prix. Matt, let's
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: get to the alternative Championship, the most important part of
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: the podcast.
• 40:27
  Speaker 2: That's what you've all been hanging out for, isn't it.
• 40:29
  Speaker 2: Let's be honest, right, the alternative Championship where the points
• 40:34
  Speaker 2: are just made up and don't really matter. I'm going
• 40:37
  Speaker 2: to kick it off, and I think I've been quite
• 40:39
  Speaker 2: sensible with my picks this week, and probably a little
• 40:42
  Speaker 2: bit too sensible, but we'll go with it. I'm going
• 40:45
  Speaker 2: to give ten points to start with to Stefano dominic Canti. Okay,
• 40:50
  Speaker 2: that's nice because I think what he's done with the
• 40:52
  Speaker 2: calendar makes a lot of sense. I don't you know.
• 40:54
  Speaker 2: I've said my piece about Monaco, but it makes sense
• 40:57
  Speaker 2: to regionalize some of that stuff, get some more of
• 41:00
  Speaker 2: deficiency there. It just makes life easier on everyone. There's
• 41:07
  Speaker 2: a lot of work that's got into this. I know
• 41:08
  Speaker 2: Canada was particularly stubborn, so I think for Stefano to
• 41:12
  Speaker 2: get that across the line, I think that's that's worth
• 41:15
  Speaker 2: a couple of points.
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's a long project, isn't it. Managing race
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: calendar slots are not the work of the moment because
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: contracts are often so long and the Liberty Media is
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: locked in quite a few long term contracts now as well,
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: so the margins for changes are probably relatively narrow these days.
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: The only outline now is Singapore sitting on its own.
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: I do like in the press release announcing Canada is
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: going to move and they're going to have your double
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: header in America. Then all Europe they like, and then
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: of course we go to Azerbaijahan, which precedes Singapore the
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: logical back to back. But anyway, look we'll forgive them
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: that one because that's just how Singapore has always been.
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: But it is, it's a great move. I think I'm
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: a great fan of it. I'm going to start in
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: the traditional way by taking some points off. Fourteen points
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: off Sergio Perez for the interview he gave to GQ
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: magazine in which he said rumors about his future, we're
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: down to and I quote one two bad races. So
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: that's a point off for every bad race he's forgotten
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: about this year.
• 42:07
  Speaker 2: I think that's fair. Well, fairness, it has only been
• 42:11
  Speaker 2: one or two races. The problem is it's been seven
• 42:13
  Speaker 2: or eight times, so yeah, that makes it there's only
• 42:20
  Speaker 2: fourteen bad races. He's had. It feels like a lot
• 42:22
  Speaker 2: more than that.
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's been a long season. It should have been
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: more than that. I guess were only up to round
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: twenty one. He had five or six good runs at
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: the start of the year.
• 42:32
  Speaker 2: We'll let him off. We'll let him off. Actually, you
• 42:36
  Speaker 2: know what, No, we won't because i'ming to take some
• 42:37
  Speaker 2: more points off him.
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: Here we go.
• 42:40
  Speaker 2: It's just Ja Barrier's pylon. In fairness, I've not been
• 42:45
  Speaker 2: quite as dracroning as yourself. I'm only going to take
• 42:47
  Speaker 2: two points off him, one for each contract he knocked back.
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: Are we convinced the contracts were there? Though? Maybe some
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: two ghost points?
• 43:01
  Speaker 2: He didn't say the contracts were in their one Did
• 43:03
  Speaker 2: you say they were?
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: It could have just been cleaning contracts, could be commercial contracts,
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: have been new sponsors they didn't want. They clashed with
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: KitKat Mars. No way get away from here.
• 43:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he wasn't prepared to take a.
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: Break, saying very good staying in the red Bull family.
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: I'm going to give some points. Going to give forty
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: seven points to Liam Lawson for suggesting that McLaren really
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: should be playing the New Zealand national anthem after weeks
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: founder Bruce McLaren. Yes, a big found this forty seven
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: point has been forty seven years since New Zealand adopted
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: is it? God defend New Zealand over the anthems call
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: these days? And I like this. I understand why it
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: doesn't happen obviously, because the anthem is just based on
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: wherever the team buys it takes out its racing license.
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: Red Bull chooses to take one out in Austria and
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: so it gets the Austrian national anthem and so on.
• 43:51
  Speaker 2: But I like it.
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: You know, I think the history of the McLaren teams
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: a little bit underrated. I think a lot of it
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: and I understand why because team because Ron Dennis started
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: the car current incarnation of McLaren and he's extremely Brittish.
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: But the history of the you know, he is a
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: New Zealand national icon and I think it's a shame
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: that the has been broken. Yes, but all the teams
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: are British, then we shouldn't.
• 44:12
  Speaker 2: Have It was founded and operated out of out of
• 44:16
  Speaker 2: the UK since inception was Red Bull, that was what
• 44:21
  Speaker 2: was that Stuart back in the day. But either way,
• 44:27
  Speaker 2: what you'll be doing putting in the New Zealand national
• 44:29
  Speaker 2: anthem on McLaren will be trying to rewrite whitewash history.
• 44:33
  Speaker 2: You're trying to make it something it's not. Okay, the
• 44:36
  Speaker 2: founder of it might have been a ki We, but
• 44:39
  Speaker 2: the nationality of the founder is irrelevant when it comes
• 44:41
  Speaker 2: to the nationality of the company. So there's a British team. Yeah,
• 44:44
  Speaker 2: I look, I disagree with that.
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: I understand the logic.
• 44:47
  Speaker 2: I don't mind laws, laws and being nationalistic. That's fantastic wholeheartedly,
• 44:53
  Speaker 2: you know, down for a bit of patriotism. It's not
• 44:54
  Speaker 2: like where immune to it here, not by on that
• 45:00
  Speaker 2: one not buying lego.
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: This might be the most controversial entry on the championship table.
• 45:06
  Speaker 2: You know what, I was going to take ten points.
• 45:09
  Speaker 2: I was going to take ten points off f one
• 45:11
  Speaker 2: for the lord concept it is. I'm going to take
• 45:13
  Speaker 2: forty seven points off you for tabling that suggests.
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: Okay, that's okay, they're going to take them off.
• 45:19
  Speaker 2: Lass No, no leaves in times he's wrong, he's in,
• 45:23
  Speaker 2: but he's wrong.
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: But I know it's Indefenbbly Top ten with minus it's defensible.
• 45:34
  Speaker 2: Absolutely that outrageous minus forty seven points of Michael Lemonart.
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: That's your third picks.
• 45:42
  Speaker 2: It was the last minute pivot. I was going to
• 45:44
  Speaker 2: take points off the F one launch, which you haven't
• 45:46
  Speaker 2: discussed at all, which is finely correct. Here we go.
• 45:53
  Speaker 2: How many points am I going to lose? Now?
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: No, no, no, I stick the course come up until
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: be in a future episodes. I'm taking ninety nine points
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: off Toto Wolf for saying in the book Inside Mercedes
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: has been recently released I think or will be released soon,
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: that Lewis Hamilton's sudden departure from the team was bad
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: because he possibly missed out on negotiating with other drivers
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: who had signed contracts a few weeks earlier, like Charlott
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: Clair and Lando Norris, despite Carlo Science obviously becoming instantly
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: available at that time, but then also simultaneously claiming that
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: Lewis hamilton leaving was actually a good thing because he
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: didn't have to sack him himself. So he hasn't chosen,
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: hasn't chosen a narrative clearly and concisely, so he gets
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: fifty five plus forty four points off. That's ninety nine points.
• 46:39
  Speaker 2: It's gonna be careful where he gets those splinters on
• 46:41
  Speaker 2: that fence. It's just typical politics. Really. You know, if
• 46:50
  Speaker 2: you say one thing, you've got to say the other
• 46:51
  Speaker 2: thing in that way, you can take it to me
• 46:53
  Speaker 2: whatever you want, and he's not actually said anything. Yeah,
• 46:56
  Speaker 2: that book will be interesting reading. I'm not sure how
• 47:00
  Speaker 2: much weight I'll put into it because it's I think
• 47:04
  Speaker 2: there will be a lot of pr in that book.
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: Well, I mean it is an insider's guide, isn't it.
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: So yeah, it might be interesting. I mean I've already
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: found this a little bit interesting. He's taking two different positions.
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: But anyway, that's something that'll be unraveled also over the
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: next three races, because that'll be when people will be
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: able to be asked about Lewis Hamilton's shelf life to
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: quote Toto Wolf. But maybe matter for a future podcast
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: because that's all the time we have a pit Talk today.
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: Will be back next week to wrap up all the
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: action from the Las Vegas Grand Prix. You can subscribe
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: to Pittalk wherever you get your favorite podcasts, and you
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: can leave us a rating and review as well, and
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: keep up to date with all the latest F one
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: news throughout the round at Fox sports dot com, dot
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: a U and Speedcafe dot Com. From att costioned me.
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: Michael Lomonato, thanks very much for your company. We'll catch
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: you next week.