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Was this Daniel Ricciardo's last race? Singapore GP Review · Pit Talk

0:00
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Pit Talk of Fox Sports and
0:02
Speaker 1: Speed Cafe Formula one podcast. On today's episode, has Daniel
0:07
Speaker 1: Ricardo raised his last Grand Prix and Orlando Norris dominates
0:11
Speaker 1: in Singapore, but it's not quite enough to keep his
0:14
Speaker 1: title dream in his own hands. My name is Michael Lomonado,
0:17
Speaker 1: motorsport writer for Fox Sports Australia. It's great to have
0:20
Speaker 1: your company and the company of my co host from
0:23
Speaker 1: Speed Cafe.
0:25
Speaker 2: It's that Matt Cosh. Wow, that is the best intro
0:35
Speaker 2: I have ever had. It's certainly the most accurate. Yeah.
0:40
Speaker 1: I tried myself on accuracy obviously.
0:42
Speaker 3: Oh that is that is proper ocera as well. Yeah. Yeah,
0:48
Speaker 3: and I'm glad you call me a because you know,
0:54
Speaker 3: for our international listeners, very different meanings. Yes, that's Matt
1:02
Speaker 3: is magnificent. What a start. I do just feel like
1:05
Speaker 3: we've got a way better than Lando Norris.
1:06
Speaker 1: Yes, I just feel like that's really sets us up
1:08
Speaker 1: for a big ending to the season, doesn't it. We're
1:11
Speaker 1: now six races away from the end of the season.
1:13
Speaker 1: Maybe that both championships are alive, one of them, one
1:16
Speaker 1: of them might want me. Maybe neither of them are alive,
1:17
Speaker 1: But we think both of them are. We'll get to
1:21
Speaker 1: obviously the Singapore Grand Prix in a moment, and in
1:24
Speaker 1: particular the situation engulfing Daniel Ricardo as we record this.
1:28
Speaker 1: But Matt, as usual, we're going to start with our
1:30
Speaker 1: five big news stories, and I think the first one
1:32
Speaker 1: might elaborate a little bit on exactly why I've given
1:35
Speaker 1: you such a tremendous introduction, and that is that ahead
1:38
Speaker 1: of the Singapore Grand Prix, FIA President Mohammed ben Sulaiam
1:40
Speaker 1: caused some controversy by likening swearing drivers to rappers, earning
1:45
Speaker 1: rebuke from Lewis Hamilton. And I think it's fair to say,
1:48
Speaker 1: at least it's a rather cackhanded intervention.
1:51
Speaker 3: Yeah, because no one else in the world swears other
1:53
Speaker 3: than rappers. There's no other demographic anywhere that swears. Can't
1:58
Speaker 3: think of one off the top my head. Not a clue. Yeah,
2:04
Speaker 3: it was. I see the point he was trying to make,
2:08
Speaker 3: But it wasn't the best way of making it, really,
2:11
Speaker 3: was it.
2:11
Speaker 1: No, and Max with Staffan certainly didn't think so as well,
2:14
Speaker 1: because it turns out it wasn't all for nothing. NBS's
2:16
Speaker 1: intervention Max with Staffen became after Thursday, just one day
2:20
Speaker 1: of the race meeting, and not even one with on
2:22
Speaker 1: track action, the first driver to be penalized for swearing
2:25
Speaker 1: in a press conference, something he's since said is the
2:28
Speaker 1: sort of thing that makes extending his stay in F
2:30
Speaker 1: one unattractive. But it did certainly make the rest of
2:33
Speaker 1: the weekend quite interesting.
2:34
Speaker 3: It was good fun. It was. I'm sure we'll discuss
2:36
Speaker 3: it a little bit later on, but it was. I've
2:39
Speaker 3: had very few press conferences while walking down a set
2:43
Speaker 3: of stairs, but that was when I did tick off
2:46
Speaker 3: in Singapore.
2:47
Speaker 1: Yes, So we'll get to that a little bit later
2:49
Speaker 1: on off track Staying off track, McLaren has been asked
2:53
Speaker 1: to modify its trick flexible rear wing after lobbying from
2:57
Speaker 1: Red Bull Racing. The low downforce wing has it's been
3:00
Speaker 1: declared legal so far this season is likely to make
3:03
Speaker 1: only one more appearance anyway, in Las Vegas.
3:06
Speaker 3: Yeah, it wasn't even that we may were using this
3:07
Speaker 3: weekend or last weekend. Yeah, basically, in the best interests
3:12
Speaker 3: of the sport, they're going to make the change. It
3:13
Speaker 3: made it sound. Can I put this statement out that
3:15
Speaker 3: made it sound like, you know, I we'll do this
3:17
Speaker 3: because you know, we're good sports. No, they were told
3:19
Speaker 3: to make the change. They can choose to ignore that,
3:23
Speaker 3: but then it's then open to interpretation, and the latest
3:26
Speaker 3: interpretation seems to be that that flexibility that it has
3:30
Speaker 3: isn't legal, where previously the interpretation is that it was,
3:34
Speaker 3: and as a result they run the risk of being excluded.
3:36
Speaker 3: When you're in the midst of a championship fight, you
3:39
Speaker 3: don't kind of want to scrub an event through exclusion
3:42
Speaker 3: through unnecessary risks. So it's just a pragmatic response from
3:45
Speaker 3: McLaren that tried to own a situation that it didn't own.
3:48
Speaker 1: Yes, it really did like to emphasize the voluntary aspect
3:51
Speaker 1: of that one, but it really is in the context
3:54
Speaker 1: is really quite important there. Looking for the driver market,
3:57
Speaker 1: we really are in the final throws of this. We'll
3:59
Speaker 1: talk about Daniel car a little bit later on, but
4:00
Speaker 1: there is one seat left on the open market. It's
4:03
Speaker 1: at Sauber the future Oudy team. Baltrie botas or Joe
4:06
Speaker 1: Buan you currently occupies it, but Baltrie botass very much
4:09
Speaker 1: emerging as the front runner to seal the deal and
4:11
Speaker 1: extend his stay at the Swiss team.
4:13
Speaker 3: Yeah, Franco Colopinto, or as I've dubbed him at and
4:16
Speaker 3: Colopinto because Geez looks like he looks so much like
4:19
Speaker 3: Aton Center. It's frightening kind of similar on pace too.
4:24
Speaker 3: The kid is rapid. I think he's going to miss out.
4:26
Speaker 3: It's just too late in the days, a little bit
4:28
Speaker 3: like Liam Lawson last year. He came in and shone,
4:32
Speaker 3: but it's just too late in the data to steal
4:34
Speaker 3: the deal for next year. But watch for Colopinto. I
4:38
Speaker 3: think he will certainly feature for twenty twenty six conversations.
4:41
Speaker 3: But my understanding is that Vouchreef he's not signed the
4:45
Speaker 3: contract as we're recording this, it's pretty much done and
4:48
Speaker 3: the announcement will be made before Cota.
4:51
Speaker 1: The timing is unfortunate, isn't it, because he's also been
4:53
Speaker 1: extracted from the rest of his Formula two season, But
4:56
Speaker 1: any f one seat time is good and he's certainly
4:58
Speaker 1: making the most of it. Finally, too, Red Bull Racing
5:00
Speaker 1: and Max for Staffans, I don't know if I want
5:02
Speaker 1: to call him long suffering race engineer. Something sounds like
5:04
Speaker 1: that over team radio sometimes. Jumpierro Lambiasce has received a
5:08
Speaker 1: promotion taking on the role of head of Racing, which
5:11
Speaker 1: includes some of the responsibilities of the departing sporting director
5:15
Speaker 1: Jonathan Weekly, with the rest of them dividing are divided
5:18
Speaker 1: up among other staff as Weekly heads to Audi's team
5:22
Speaker 1: principal in the coming.
5:22
Speaker 3: Year, Matre's new boss. It makes perfect sense, and I
5:27
Speaker 3: think the reason this was putt out because normally this
5:29
Speaker 3: sort of stuff you wouldn't hear too much about it.
5:32
Speaker 3: But I think the reason that this has come out
5:34
Speaker 3: is because Red Bull wants to show that it's still
5:36
Speaker 3: got strength in depth, that it's still got good staff.
5:40
Speaker 3: It's not everyone jumping ship, you know, because we've had
5:43
Speaker 3: Weekly Lee, We've had Newly leave. Ultimately Weekly it hit
5:47
Speaker 3: the top of the ceiling. Where was he going to go?
5:48
Speaker 3: Christian Horne is going nowhere and sort of similarly with
5:52
Speaker 3: Adrian Nui. So I think this was a statement from
5:54
Speaker 3: Red Bull basically, we still have good staff. Staff still
5:58
Speaker 3: want to work here. We're still a good place to
6:00
Speaker 3: work and.
6:01
Speaker 1: Good news too considering it fended off some rumors that
6:03
Speaker 1: other teams are attempting to poach him and further weaken
6:06
Speaker 1: the Red Bull Racing structure. But for now he is
6:10
Speaker 1: locked in there the top five news stories from the
6:12
Speaker 1: last week. At least one's not going to expand on
6:15
Speaker 1: immediately because Matt, let's go to Daniel Ricardo and this
6:19
Speaker 1: has been it's been a hall of a week for
6:21
Speaker 1: the Australian really, from looking like he was safe for
6:24
Speaker 1: the rest of the year at least only a month
6:26
Speaker 1: or two ago, speculation is mounted and then eventually boiled
6:29
Speaker 1: over completely in the last seven days. That is now
6:32
Speaker 1: out of a drive with reserve driver Liam Lawson rumored
6:36
Speaker 1: to be set to take over for the final six
6:38
Speaker 1: races from the United States Grand Prix. Everything we know
6:40
Speaker 1: seems to be that this is happening. The rumor is
6:42
Speaker 1: really the rumor is really the interesting part of this
6:45
Speaker 1: for me, Matt, because it's not confirmed. Despite being all
6:49
Speaker 1: but confirmed, to use that journalistic phrase, you're in Singapore.
6:54
Speaker 1: You absorbed this unusual atmosphere and situation around Ricardo. I
6:58
Speaker 1: thought it was really interesting to follow along Ricardo's changing
7:02
Speaker 1: demeanor from Thursday to Sunday. Thursday when he was attempting
7:05
Speaker 1: to bat away the speculation and Sunday really certainly seemed
7:08
Speaker 1: to be accepting it quite emotionally. Talk us through how
7:11
Speaker 1: the story changed over those four days.
7:14
Speaker 3: It was very carefully stage managed. Every journalist in that
7:18
Speaker 3: media room was chasing pretty much one story all weekend,
7:22
Speaker 3: and it was all the same story. So people at
7:24
Speaker 3: you know, Red Bull, people at RB, Daniel's management, Leams management,
7:29
Speaker 3: They're all getting hassled for info, and every one of
7:33
Speaker 3: them throughout the weekend gave the same message. And it
7:37
Speaker 3: wasn't the same message in terms of, oh, we'll have
7:40
Speaker 3: to wait and see. It was the same language, the
7:42
Speaker 3: same words that they were using, which told me that
7:45
Speaker 3: there was a script and they were sticking to it,
7:46
Speaker 3: which told me that there was some sort of production
7:48
Speaker 3: happening behind the scenes that we weren't privy to. So
7:51
Speaker 3: it seemed very stage managed from that respect, and I
7:54
Speaker 3: think as the weekend went on, the realization just dawned
7:58
Speaker 3: on Daniel. You know, it was Onday, it was a
8:00
Speaker 3: future Daniel problem. On Friday, Daniel doesn't really speak to
8:03
Speaker 3: the media at all. On Saturday he acknowledged it was
8:06
Speaker 3: a thing and a possibility, that strongly acknowledged it, and
8:09
Speaker 3: then on Sunday he sort of said it without saying it,
8:12
Speaker 3: if that makes sense. Everything that I saw post race
8:16
Speaker 3: on Sunday pointed to the fact that Daniel will not
8:19
Speaker 3: race in Formula one again, from him sitting in the
8:21
Speaker 3: car at the end of the race and just savoring
8:23
Speaker 3: the moment, to breaking down in tears and media interviews
8:27
Speaker 3: after the end of the race, to walking back into
8:30
Speaker 3: the rb hospitality sween I was there and I had
8:33
Speaker 3: goosebumps for this walking back in with a standing ovation
8:37
Speaker 3: and a guard of honor. None of this points to
8:40
Speaker 3: a driver who's just going to come out in the
8:42
Speaker 3: United States go one print, mean nothing. It's somewhat sad
8:45
Speaker 3: in many respects that there was no formal send off,
8:49
Speaker 3: acknowledgment or whatever. I've got a theory on that. I
8:52
Speaker 3: believe that contractually, rebel probably can't acknowledge it, and that's
8:58
Speaker 3: why the rhetorics throughout the weekend was everything's you know,
9:02
Speaker 3: everything is available, everything's an option. As a result, you know,
9:05
Speaker 3: I think that was because of contracts. They can't say
9:07
Speaker 3: that Daniel's out of the drive, because then maybe there's
9:10
Speaker 3: a clause in Danious contract that you know, he could
9:13
Speaker 3: you know, he could get compensated for that or something.
9:16
Speaker 3: My theory is that there's a legal underpinning to all
9:19
Speaker 3: of that but we all know what's coming, we don't
9:22
Speaker 3: know exactly when, and I've seen suggestions and it's going
9:24
Speaker 3: to be Tuesday. And as Tuesday, as we're recording this,
9:27
Speaker 3: I can tell you that all of my intel is
9:29
Speaker 3: that it's not Tuesday. So hopefully as you hear that,
9:33
Speaker 3: hear this, what we're saying is still relevant. But it's
9:38
Speaker 3: and it's an extraordinary situation. Unfortunately, I didn't get to
9:41
Speaker 3: spend a lot of time with with Daniel over the weekend.
9:44
Speaker 3: It was a very busy, very busy weekend. But the
9:49
Speaker 3: dude just doesn't change, you know, he wears his heart
9:52
Speaker 3: in his sleeve, always has. And it created this this
9:57
Speaker 3: really emotionally charged paddock Sunday evening, and it was sort
10:02
Speaker 3: of starting to grow as the weekend came through. It
10:04
Speaker 3: was a little bit there on Thursday, but it was
10:07
Speaker 3: walking through that panic on Sunday night, you know, with goosebumps,
10:11
Speaker 3: because there was just something different. There were so many
10:13
Speaker 3: people from Red Bull going down to RB, so many
10:15
Speaker 3: people from RB going up to Red Bull. It was
10:19
Speaker 3: one of the most extraordinary paddocks that I've experienced. And
10:24
Speaker 3: then there was so much news that was happening as well,
10:27
Speaker 3: we'll speak about the Maxi staff and stuff. There was
10:30
Speaker 3: that happening as well. The World Championship scenario. There was
10:34
Speaker 3: so many different layers to it. And how good was
10:38
Speaker 3: it that Daniels sort of gave himself the send off
10:40
Speaker 3: with fastest slap and ruining Orlando Norris' championship chance as
10:45
Speaker 3: his old teammate in the benefit of his other old teammates.
10:48
Speaker 3: So I love the fact it was very Daniel that
10:51
Speaker 3: he'd sort of gone out in the service of the team,
10:54
Speaker 3: but with just a hint of individual glory about it
10:56
Speaker 3: as well.
10:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was at least at the end of a
10:59
Speaker 1: pretty miserable race, one high point for him before having
11:02
Speaker 1: really quite an emotional post race situation confront him. The
11:07
Speaker 1: contractual elements, I think interesting. It's maybe something we'll discover
11:10
Speaker 1: later on, but often we don't hear enough about these
11:12
Speaker 1: contract details. But there's certainly something Christian Horner hinted out
11:14
Speaker 1: over the course of the weekend that there are two
11:17
Speaker 1: key moments for decision making at Red Bull. One is
11:19
Speaker 1: the mid season break, and that's when we all were
11:22
Speaker 1: braced strangely enough two months ago for Ricardo to take
11:25
Speaker 1: pair as a seat before the team changed its mind,
11:27
Speaker 1: and the other is after Singapore, and Obo after Singapore
11:30
Speaker 1: is not before the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday, so
11:33
Speaker 1: there's certainly a hint of that there. It's still for
11:36
Speaker 1: me though for me it really came across as I
11:42
Speaker 1: guess heartless is the word that comes to me first. Now.
11:44
Speaker 1: No driver is entitled to a drive in Formula One.
11:47
Speaker 1: Daniel be the first one to say he hasn't delivered
11:48
Speaker 1: in the way he expected this year. I thought it
11:50
Speaker 1: was also interesting, this is something we'll expand on, I'm
11:52
Speaker 1: sure in other podcasts in the future that he suggested
11:55
Speaker 1: maybe he wasn't quite at the level anymore, whether that's
11:57
Speaker 1: because of his age or because the game has moved
11:59
Speaker 1: on beyond him over his thirteen or fourteen years in
12:02
Speaker 1: the sport. So I don't think replacing him in the
12:04
Speaker 1: middle of the year can't be justified, even though with
12:06
Speaker 1: only six races to go, with the car being as
12:09
Speaker 1: difficult as it is, it's debatable whether or not b
12:11
Speaker 1: will get something out of replacing him, at least for
12:14
Speaker 1: this season. What I think is just really almost disrespectful
12:19
Speaker 1: is the way he had to endure this week because
12:22
Speaker 1: It wasn't as if he was told on I don't
12:24
Speaker 1: know Monday last week that this is it. We can't
12:28
Speaker 1: say it, but you know, prepare for it whatever. It
12:30
Speaker 1: really appeared to be a case of it dawning on
12:32
Speaker 1: him through the weekend and being unclear even on Sunday
12:37
Speaker 1: whether it was one hundred percent going to be his
12:40
Speaker 1: last trace. Obviously he understood the situation, but there was
12:44
Speaker 1: no confirmation. I thought it was even interesting that Laurel
12:46
Speaker 1: Mechi is the team ritual in the press release said
12:49
Speaker 1: we're not sure, we don't know. He told I think
12:52
Speaker 1: serious exam in the US Chris Medland that he was
12:55
Speaker 1: hoping for clarity on this sooner rather than later, which
12:58
Speaker 1: I think speaks to the broader politics involved in deciding
13:01
Speaker 1: drivers in Red Bull. But I just think for a
13:04
Speaker 1: driver who's night time winner is given a lot to
13:06
Speaker 1: the Red Bull program obviously got a lot out of
13:07
Speaker 1: it as well, but has given a lot to it,
13:09
Speaker 1: really held it up during those fallow inter Championship years
13:13
Speaker 1: between the VEDL and the staff, and Eras came back
13:16
Speaker 1: to it as a third driver and a lot of
13:17
Speaker 1: sponship stuff early last year. Okay hasn't absolutely held up
13:21
Speaker 1: his end of the bargain this year in terms of
13:23
Speaker 1: on track results, but he's hardly been terrible. In fact,
13:26
Speaker 1: really since Canada, he's been roughly equal with Yuki Sonoda.
13:30
Speaker 1: To have him bow out as it seems like will
13:33
Speaker 1: happen on his Formuda Hunt career in this way, for me,
13:37
Speaker 1: it's just super disappointing because, like you say, we don't
13:39
Speaker 1: the sport doesn't get to say goodbye to him. Singapore's
13:41
Speaker 1: a race where a lot of Australians go to and
13:43
Speaker 1: a lot of them weren't privy to the fact that
13:45
Speaker 1: this probably will be his last Grand Prix. They'll be
13:48
Speaker 1: observing him in he wasn't able to. I guess fultimately
13:52
Speaker 1: savor that last race, and I gave himself a moment
13:54
Speaker 1: on Sunday when he probably pretty clear to him that
13:56
Speaker 1: it was. But I just think that's kind of disappointing.
13:59
Speaker 1: And I know a lot of people will say, well,
14:00
Speaker 1: lots of drivers are sacked in the middle of the
14:01
Speaker 1: year without notice, Logan sergeant just earlier this season, But
14:05
Speaker 1: with all due respect to Logan's sergeant, I think Daniel
14:07
Speaker 1: Ricardo's contributed a lot more to the sports had the
14:09
Speaker 1: opportunity to contribute a lot more to the sport and
14:11
Speaker 1: deserve more than this.
14:13
Speaker 3: I need to watch what I say a little bit.
14:17
Speaker 3: I take your point, and I absolutely see your point,
14:20
Speaker 3: absolutely massively see that. But then I'll ask, do you
14:24
Speaker 3: think that Daniel's exit is because of Daniel and Daniel's performance?
14:29
Speaker 1: Well, no, I don't think it is. I think, as
14:31
Speaker 1: I said, it's not pure performance. But I think that
14:34
Speaker 1: that and that's where the contractual element intersects with It's right,
14:38
Speaker 1: because the reason for zacking a driver it's not always
14:41
Speaker 1: I think some people like to look externally from formula
14:43
Speaker 1: one and think it's totally ruthless and drivers are sacked
14:46
Speaker 1: at all times whatever. There has to be reasons unless
14:48
Speaker 1: you're willing to simply pay them out, which read Bill's
14:50
Speaker 1: probably not willing to do in this case. But nonetheless,
14:54
Speaker 1: I mean, Daniel knows the game he's playing. This is
14:56
Speaker 1: the thing. He said this multiple times.
14:57
Speaker 3: He gets it.
14:57
Speaker 1: He said it on Thursday when he was still trying
14:59
Speaker 1: to away these rumors, even acknowledged well, but this is
15:03
Speaker 1: also Formula one. I get it. Things can change suddenly.
15:07
Speaker 1: I still think it's just sad. I admittedly that suggests too,
15:11
Speaker 1: that this decision probably was solidified over the course of
15:15
Speaker 1: the weekend, even if the team was prepared to make it.
15:17
Speaker 1: So maybe it's not as simple as simply saying, well,
15:19
Speaker 1: he should have been told earlier, because maybe the team
15:22
Speaker 1: wasn't in a position to tell him earlier. But nonetheless,
15:24
Speaker 1: whichever way you cut it, I just think that it's
15:26
Speaker 1: been handled badly. I think we'll reflect upon this at
15:29
Speaker 1: the end of the year. Saying that Riccardo's exit from
15:31
Speaker 1: Formula One was handled badly.
15:34
Speaker 3: Yeah, do not disagree with that statement whatsoever. I just
15:38
Speaker 3: think we need to look beyond Daniel and his exit
15:43
Speaker 3: and the way it's been handled, and perhaps look at
15:45
Speaker 3: motivations for why those things might have happened, and also
15:50
Speaker 3: realized that Red bulls in a transitional phase itself. You know,
15:54
Speaker 3: Max Forstappen is it's leading light and he's a senior
15:57
Speaker 3: figure in that structure these days. What does Red Bull
16:01
Speaker 3: look like in two, three, five years time, Because even
16:06
Speaker 3: casting aside everything that's happened to Daniel, let's say that
16:08
Speaker 3: none of that exists in two years time, Daniel be
16:11
Speaker 3: thirty seven, would you realistically expect him to still be
16:14
Speaker 3: in Formula one at thirty seven unlikely. Similarly, Serjo Perry's
16:19
Speaker 3: he's pretty much the same age. Is it reasonable to
16:22
Speaker 3: expect him to still be Informula one in two three
16:24
Speaker 3: four years? I'm highly unlikely. So Red Bull's in a
16:27
Speaker 3: position where it also needs to start looking to the future.
16:30
Speaker 3: And as soon as you start looking to the future,
16:32
Speaker 3: what's the value with them now? You either throw all
16:34
Speaker 3: your eggs in that basket or your focus on today.
16:38
Speaker 3: And given where Red Bull is, that's why I make it.
16:40
Speaker 3: Makes it a little bit more sense, doesn't make it
16:43
Speaker 3: any easier to digest or accept, but that's why it
16:45
Speaker 3: makes more sense. Because behind lim Liam Lawson, you've got
16:49
Speaker 3: Isaac Hadjar and Avid limb Blunden and a couple of
16:52
Speaker 3: other kids that are on the radar as well. So
16:56
Speaker 3: there is that production line that starts to come through
16:59
Speaker 3: once more. And then when you start to think a
17:02
Speaker 3: little bit beyond this year, Yuki Sonoda will go when
17:05
Speaker 3: a Honda dlen so there's another seat. You want lim
17:09
Speaker 3: well out of the way so you can begin to
17:10
Speaker 3: groom the next driver in to to replace Yuki. So
17:16
Speaker 3: it makes sense. But this isn't a decision that was
17:19
Speaker 3: made because of who Daniel is or what Daniel's done,
17:23
Speaker 3: at least not what Daniel's done in the short term.
17:26
Speaker 3: This has nothing to do with Daniel's performance, and this
17:30
Speaker 3: has I think a lot to do with politics and
17:33
Speaker 3: future thinking.
17:34
Speaker 1: Yes, and we should at least give some mention here
17:36
Speaker 1: to who's replacing him, Liam Lawson, or who we expect
17:40
Speaker 1: to replace him. We will talk a little bit more
17:41
Speaker 1: about Liam in future episodes as well, once all of
17:43
Speaker 1: this is formalized, but it is important to mention here
17:47
Speaker 1: that Liam and I hope this isn't you know, well,
17:49
Speaker 1: there'll be a lot of upset and disappointment among the
17:52
Speaker 1: Formula one Australian Formula one viewing public that Daniel might
17:55
Speaker 1: be out of a seat. Liam Lawson deserves his shot.
17:59
Speaker 1: He got that five year five race cameo last year
18:02
Speaker 1: and impressed, including scoring points on debut in Singapore. So
18:05
Speaker 1: it's a weirdly full circle that this should all happen,
18:07
Speaker 1: even in a messy way this weekend and Red Bull
18:11
Speaker 1: clearly it's something Christian Horner alluded to over the course
18:13
Speaker 1: of the weekend, wants to evaluate just how good he
18:16
Speaker 1: is getting his feet under the desk for one of
18:18
Speaker 1: a better phrase in a way that he knows is
18:21
Speaker 1: not a cameo appearance. You know, he spoke a lot
18:24
Speaker 1: last year around about this time last year about having
18:26
Speaker 1: to approach it one race at a time because he
18:28
Speaker 1: didn't know how long he'd been in the car. This way,
18:30
Speaker 1: he gets a clear six race go at this career,
18:33
Speaker 1: including a couple of sprints, which means he can maybe
18:36
Speaker 1: build up to something a bit more meaningful, because, like
18:39
Speaker 1: you say, this red bull pipeline that's been stagnant for
18:42
Speaker 1: quite a while now really is starting to move again.
18:45
Speaker 1: They feel like they've got that talent they can push
18:47
Speaker 1: into Formula one. They need to prepare for a future
18:48
Speaker 1: in which Backs were staff and is maybe no longer
18:50
Speaker 1: at the team, maybe sooner than they expect, maybe sooner
18:53
Speaker 1: than the end of his contact in twenty twenty eight.
18:55
Speaker 1: And clearly, in my opinion, it seems to me that
18:58
Speaker 1: the team's lost faith into Perrys. The fact he got
19:01
Speaker 1: close to sacking in the middle of the season suggests
19:02
Speaker 1: it they've given him his extra four races. Now, this
19:05
Speaker 1: is my interpretation, he hasn't really improved in terms of
19:08
Speaker 1: pure pace. Azerbaijan was a great Weekend for him, one
19:11
Speaker 1: that we wish he did more often. But if you
19:14
Speaker 1: look at these pure pace performance at all the other
19:16
Speaker 1: three races, he's just as far off the pace of
19:18
Speaker 1: Max Withstappan as he has been all year. So I
19:21
Speaker 1: think surely, if you're Red Bull Racing anticipating a closer
19:24
Speaker 1: championship battle next year, you can't feasibly have Sergio Perry's
19:28
Speaker 1: in that seat unless he really impresses you in the
19:29
Speaker 1: last six races. So having lie Lawson get these six
19:32
Speaker 1: races under his belt could mean that pipeline moves a
19:35
Speaker 1: lot faster than perhaps it looks like it will at
19:38
Speaker 1: this point in time. So certainly interesting things to come.
19:42
Speaker 3: I think you've hit a very good point there, And
19:45
Speaker 3: as I sort of mentioned, Red Bulls looking to the future,
19:48
Speaker 3: and yes that's sort of a little bit beyond, but
19:51
Speaker 3: it's also looking to the future of twenty twenty five.
19:53
Speaker 3: I think that's a really good point. And the other
19:56
Speaker 3: thing I just want to really encourage people that if
19:58
Speaker 3: Leam Lawson gets to drive, Liam Lawson is completely blameless
20:02
Speaker 3: in what's happened to Daniel. There's nothing to do with Liam.
20:05
Speaker 3: He's had no influence or impact on any of that.
20:08
Speaker 3: Give the kid a chance because he's good and he's
20:10
Speaker 3: a great young guy. I know Liam reasonably well, great character, easygoing,
20:19
Speaker 3: talented young driver. Don't throw rocks at him because of
20:22
Speaker 3: what's happened to Daniel Ricardo. If there's rocks to be thrown,
20:27
Speaker 3: they need to go elsewhere. But give Liam a shot,
20:29
Speaker 3: get behind him because he's not okay, he's a New Zealander,
20:32
Speaker 3: but that's just decent New South wayes.
20:35
Speaker 1: Successful enough, he'll become an Australian before too long, so
20:38
Speaker 1: I don't worry about.
20:39
Speaker 3: We adopt him all man, the good ones. We adopt him.
20:42
Speaker 3: So look, but my point is, give him a chance,
20:46
Speaker 3: give him the support, because it's so bloody hard to
20:48
Speaker 3: get there from Australia. Any one of any one of
20:51
Speaker 3: them is good. All of them are brilliant racing drivers,
20:55
Speaker 3: and that goes for any of the drivers are on
20:56
Speaker 3: the grid. But to get there, they've fought such insurmountable
20:59
Speaker 3: battle from this part of the world that let's just
21:01
Speaker 3: get behind him and celebrate the fact that we'll have
21:04
Speaker 3: three antipathy ins on the crid next year, because that
21:06
Speaker 3: is that is simply lovely.
21:10
Speaker 1: Matt Let's move on to the Singapore Grand Prix a
21:13
Speaker 1: little bit more broadly, because, like you said, an important
21:15
Speaker 1: weekend in the championship battle as well, that narrative continues
21:19
Speaker 1: to bubble away. Leno Norris I think answered a lot
21:22
Speaker 1: of critics and some doubts after the last month or
21:24
Speaker 1: so by dominating this race in the way he did
21:28
Speaker 1: in Zandword as well. Probably not a surprise too, really
21:30
Speaker 1: high downforce tracks, but he did so by answering a
21:33
Speaker 1: few questions about his ability to launch away from pole position,
21:37
Speaker 1: held the lead for the first time in his career
21:38
Speaker 1: by the end of the first lap, and then well
21:42
Speaker 1: it didn't seem again.
21:43
Speaker 3: Really did we.
21:43
Speaker 1: It was one point where he'd opened quite a sizeable
21:45
Speaker 1: gap on Max and said he was at about a
21:47
Speaker 1: six out of ten in terms of pace, and then
21:49
Speaker 1: up to that pace and near the end of the
21:51
Speaker 1: race had about a pit more than a pit stop
21:53
Speaker 1: gap over Max was stapping before it closed a little
21:55
Speaker 1: bit while they were lapping, well they were lapping cars
21:58
Speaker 1: traffic towards the end of the race. Really big performance
22:00
Speaker 1: from him, but crucially not quite enough to keep the
22:06
Speaker 1: championship battle entirely in his own hands. Thanks to Daniel
22:09
Speaker 1: Ricardo weirdly enough and then heading that bonus point away
22:11
Speaker 1: from him for the fastest lap. I'll talk about the
22:14
Speaker 1: controversy around that a little bit later on, but is
22:17
Speaker 1: this you know, points is one element, momentum is another, right,
22:21
Speaker 1: and this was a big result for Lando Norris. There's
22:23
Speaker 1: a change your opinion on the status of this title
22:27
Speaker 1: fight the way this race panned out.
22:30
Speaker 3: Not one iota. I'm still firmly believing that Max was
22:33
Speaker 3: Stappen or win the World Championship because he played such
22:38
Speaker 3: a good defensive game through the Singapore cron Prix. Max
22:42
Speaker 3: really outdrove that car. And it's the point that Sir
22:45
Speaker 3: Christna Horner acknowledged a little bit as well. Even Andreas
22:49
Speaker 3: Stella McLaren's team, I'll sort of hinted at that Max
22:52
Speaker 3: drove so well. He didn't have the performance to match
22:55
Speaker 3: the McLaren's, but he got probably more than what he
22:59
Speaker 3: should do. Of Ferraris arguably underperformed, so too the Mercedes
23:03
Speaker 3: to an extent. Also, you've got to say Oscar underperformed.
23:08
Speaker 3: You know, his inability to get the lap in qualifying
23:11
Speaker 3: really came back to bite him quite hard, because if
23:14
Speaker 3: he'd start even third, chances are to finish second because
23:17
Speaker 3: there was so much pace in that McLaren was just
23:19
Speaker 3: ridiculous as it was. It took him time to get
23:22
Speaker 3: through the Mercedes and meant he was too far back
23:24
Speaker 3: from Max to launch an attack. But by finishing third,
23:28
Speaker 3: he didn't take the points off Max if he'd finished second,
23:30
Speaker 3: and that's a key difference. Now they need they need
23:34
Speaker 3: both McLaren's ahead of Max and as brutal as it is, Oscar.
23:40
Speaker 3: Not being ahead of Max now is Oscar underperforming And
23:43
Speaker 3: we have to be really hard now because this is
23:46
Speaker 3: the business end, This is the World Championship that we're
23:48
Speaker 3: talking about. This is what they all play for, So
23:51
Speaker 3: we can't be making excuses when you're in a toe
23:53
Speaker 3: to toe battle like this, the Constructors Championship. McLaren's got
23:57
Speaker 3: that and that will be theirs. They've done well, but
24:01
Speaker 3: in a straight head to head McLaren have an upper
24:03
Speaker 3: hand against Max because I've got two and Oscar just
24:07
Speaker 3: didn't do enough. And that's me being extremely brutal on him.
24:12
Speaker 3: I acknowledge that because he did actually drive a good
24:14
Speaker 3: race in terms of his performance on Sunday that was excellent.
24:18
Speaker 3: He couldn't have got any more out of that car,
24:20
Speaker 3: but he should have got more out of that car
24:21
Speaker 3: by delivering more on the Saturday, so that there's elements
24:26
Speaker 3: there of positives and negatives. Lando was extraordinary. I can't
24:30
Speaker 3: think of well, I can think of two mistakes that
24:32
Speaker 3: he made over the weekend. Thankfully didn't pay for any
24:34
Speaker 3: of them or either of them. But it's not often
24:39
Speaker 3: you get a chance to hit a wall in Singapore
24:41
Speaker 3: and keep going. So that said, I know Max also
24:46
Speaker 3: hit a wall. I saw his tires being wheeled through
24:49
Speaker 3: the paddic and there were some definite witness marks on those,
24:52
Speaker 3: so he brushed the wall. I don't know which side
24:55
Speaker 3: they came off, but yeah, there were definite witness marks
24:59
Speaker 3: on his wheels. But yeah, we're our head to head
25:02
Speaker 3: and Max all he has to do is shadowed Orlando
25:05
Speaker 3: to the checkered flag at every event for the rerangers
25:08
Speaker 3: of the year and his world champion. That was the
25:09
Speaker 3: importance of the Daniel Ricardo Fastest lap. The championship is
25:13
Speaker 3: no longer in Lando set. I mean he had to
25:15
Speaker 3: win everything basically as it was, and it was always unrealistic.
25:18
Speaker 3: But now that we've hit that tipping point where he
25:22
Speaker 3: now relies on Max's results for his own championship hopes.
25:25
Speaker 1: Yeah, the average point score required is now eight point
25:28
Speaker 1: seven points per round up from eight point four earlier,
25:31
Speaker 1: and that is the difference. It is that one point. So,
25:35
Speaker 1: like you say, McLaren having two cars and the fight
25:36
Speaker 1: potentially changes this in many respects. Norris gott unlucky, not
25:40
Speaker 1: just because Piastre couldn't string together that lap in Q three,
25:43
Speaker 1: and it must be said he had the time in
25:44
Speaker 1: him had he repeated his Q two lap, he would
25:46
Speaker 1: have started alongside him on the front row, and this
25:48
Speaker 1: would have been a completely different championship outcome, maybe even
25:51
Speaker 1: a different race, because he would have been perhaps more
25:53
Speaker 1: competitive for the victory there's that album on it, but
25:55
Speaker 1: also for Ari's underperformance classic on a weekend that they
25:59
Speaker 1: were really hoping that they'd be to win make up
26:00
Speaker 1: for that lost victory in Azerbaijan. Neither driver set a
26:04
Speaker 1: time in Q three one for a crash one for
26:05
Speaker 1: the leaded lap, they almost certainly would have finished, as
26:08
Speaker 1: you said, ahead of Max. For staffit. Instead of talking
26:10
Speaker 1: about this seven point swing, we might have been talking
26:13
Speaker 1: about something closer to fifteen and that would have really
26:15
Speaker 1: changed the complexion of things. So a little bit of
26:17
Speaker 1: luck not with Norris at this point in time, but
26:20
Speaker 1: six races left really interesting to see how they unfold.
26:23
Speaker 1: I think if there is any hope in this, and
26:25
Speaker 1: I'm largely on your side, I think this is max
26:27
Speaker 1: Is to lose, if not just because of the points
26:30
Speaker 1: picture now it is this upgrade red Bull Ringing Red
26:33
Speaker 1: Bull Racing is bringing to Austin the next race at
26:36
Speaker 1: the end of October. This is the upgrade I think
26:37
Speaker 1: will solve some of the problems it's been facing this year.
26:41
Speaker 1: And if it works, it's really difficult to imagine Norris
26:44
Speaker 1: in any circumstances closing those points, even if he continues
26:47
Speaker 1: to be in the fastest car. You just don't think
26:50
Speaker 1: Red Bull's going to struggle relative to Ferrari and Mercedes
26:52
Speaker 1: for the rest of the year. If it doesn't work, though,
26:54
Speaker 1: and Ferrari and Mercedes are still close, or Ferrari itself,
26:57
Speaker 1: which hopes it's fixed its problem, is still close, that's
27:00
Speaker 1: really the only circumstance Norris can use to try and
27:04
Speaker 1: make up that points different. So I think a lot's
27:06
Speaker 1: really going to hinge on the next race, But as
27:07
Speaker 1: it stands, after Singapore, which should have been a big
27:10
Speaker 1: opportunity to score against Max, that's where the situation is,
27:13
Speaker 1: unfortunately for Lando Norris. I want to talk briefly about
27:18
Speaker 1: Sergio Perez here as well. This was the last of
27:21
Speaker 1: the four races we've been talking about a lot at
27:24
Speaker 1: which his career was meant to hinge at Red Bull Racing.
27:28
Speaker 1: It still seems, as we talked about briefly in the
27:30
Speaker 1: previous segment, I think that he would still be considered
27:33
Speaker 1: a risk for twenty twenty five. Who really can't turn
27:35
Speaker 1: it around from here. But considering he'd done so well
27:37
Speaker 1: in Azerbaijan and that sort of built up a little
27:40
Speaker 1: bit of hype for him approaching Singapore, another track at
27:42
Speaker 1: which is one and he's normally done quite well at.
27:45
Speaker 1: This was really a bit of a nothing performance when
27:47
Speaker 1: Max was back to his best.
27:49
Speaker 3: Yeah, and he is at risk for next year. My
27:53
Speaker 3: understanding is that he needed to be within the X
27:56
Speaker 3: number of points at the summer break and he wasn't
27:58
Speaker 3: within That makes us happened so his contract for next
28:01
Speaker 3: year is there is an option there to just simply
28:04
Speaker 3: not renew with so Jo Perez and that could bake
28:06
Speaker 3: Abydub his last race with no Swan Song. But at
28:11
Speaker 3: the moment he's safe because there's nobody else in that
28:14
Speaker 3: system to replace him with. You know, you're not gonna
28:18
Speaker 3: put Yuki Snoder in there for whatever reason. Actually, I
28:21
Speaker 3: think really good indication as to why Red Bulls not
28:23
Speaker 3: going to promote Snodo came during the team orders called
28:27
Speaker 3: midway through the race, when Snoda found himself behind Daniel
28:30
Speaker 3: Ricardo and got extremely angry over the radio. Daniel was asked,
28:35
Speaker 3: you know, Daniel said that he was asked around the
28:36
Speaker 3: start finished line to let him by by eleven three
28:39
Speaker 3: by turn seven, which is exactly what Daniel did. So
28:42
Speaker 3: within a third of a lap of being asked, the
28:44
Speaker 3: deed was done. But prior to that he was getting
28:48
Speaker 3: extremely angry. Is do you want a driver that's got
28:51
Speaker 3: that lack of emotional control in a car that's capable
28:55
Speaker 3: of winning races and he just makes too many of
28:58
Speaker 3: those sorts of mistakes Cause you look at all the
29:00
Speaker 3: really good guys and they are so cool. You know,
29:03
Speaker 3: your Max gets fiery when things aren't going right, but
29:06
Speaker 3: when he's in control, things are very under control. Same
29:10
Speaker 3: with Lewis same with Oscar. You just listen to Oscar
29:14
Speaker 3: of the radio, and you know, you could be sitting
29:16
Speaker 3: in a lounge chair somewhere. But yeah, Sergio is an
29:23
Speaker 3: important part of rebull just looping back at you know,
29:26
Speaker 3: the Constructors Championship. Obtumately, he's the reason they're im going
29:29
Speaker 3: to win it. That's that's an expensive miss because the
29:34
Speaker 3: Constructors Championship you get more prize money for it. That
29:37
Speaker 3: there is a financial reason to wanting to win. It's
29:40
Speaker 3: not just braking rights. The Driver's Championship is one hundred
29:43
Speaker 3: percent breaking right. So literally it's something that you can
29:45
Speaker 3: go on market. But I've said this before. Who remembers
29:49
Speaker 3: who won the twenty twenty one Drivers Championship, Who remembers
29:51
Speaker 3: who won the twenty twenty one Contructors Championship. They weren't
29:54
Speaker 3: the same. So yeah, the Constructors Championships one thing. It
29:59
Speaker 3: doesn't have the bragging rights, it doesn't have the same marketability,
30:02
Speaker 3: but it does have all the prize money. So Sergio
30:04
Speaker 3: is a liability.
30:05
Speaker 1: I thought it was interesting Christian Horner talking to Sky
30:07
Speaker 1: Sports I think on Saturday, talked about it's relatively open
30:10
Speaker 1: about this driver situation and admitted that Daniel Ricarta. I'm
30:13
Speaker 1: not sure if it's the first time he's really openly
30:15
Speaker 1: said it like this, but he certainly was pretty open.
30:17
Speaker 1: He said Daniel Accater was brought in in case Sergio
30:20
Speaker 1: Perez drops the ball, and he didn't say that Sergio
30:23
Speaker 1: Perez had cost his team the Constructors Championship in the
30:25
Speaker 1: same sentence. So I don't know what dropping the ball
30:27
Speaker 1: is in his mind if that's not it, But anyway,
30:29
Speaker 1: story for another day. Final note though, Matt here is
30:32
Speaker 1: maxw Wassapp and did have a great race of damage inmitation,
30:34
Speaker 1: as you said, drove a really good groand prix to
30:36
Speaker 1: finished second in a race probably that car should have
30:38
Speaker 1: finished closer to fifth or sixth perhaps, which keeps his
30:42
Speaker 1: championship very much in his hands or exclusively in his
30:44
Speaker 1: hands now. But if you were attending the official post
30:48
Speaker 1: session press conferences, you wouldn't have heard much about it
30:50
Speaker 1: at all. He said at one point he had problem
30:53
Speaker 1: with his throat. Of course that's not the case. It's
30:55
Speaker 1: this swearing drama that rocked the weekend. We talked a
30:59
Speaker 1: little bit about it the stuf of the show. This declaration,
31:01
Speaker 1: this is actually stemming back to a change in International
31:03
Speaker 1: Sporting Code earlier in the year that defines misconductors essentially
31:06
Speaker 1: using Fouti language to summarize quite a long paragraph in
31:10
Speaker 1: that book, and Max with Staffan became the first person
31:13
Speaker 1: penalized for this kind of misconduct. He has to do
31:16
Speaker 1: some community service agreed upon with the FIA, and in
31:20
Speaker 1: protests against this, essentially refused to answer any questions in
31:24
Speaker 1: press conferences and held his press conferences outdoors or downstairs.
31:27
Speaker 1: As you said earlier, this is interesting. I think it's
31:31
Speaker 1: interesting in his own right sort of you know, one
31:32
Speaker 1: of those things that tends to happen in Formula one.
31:34
Speaker 1: You had these weird, these funny little power struggles and dynamics.
31:37
Speaker 1: But I thought it was interesting the way he said
31:39
Speaker 1: after I think it was the end of the weekend,
31:41
Speaker 1: that these are the sort of things that makes him
31:43
Speaker 1: not want to continue racing in Formula one. There's always
31:45
Speaker 1: been this talk that he won't go past the end
31:47
Speaker 1: of his contract in twenty twenty eight. He'll retire young,
31:51
Speaker 1: go and do other stuff, whatever he wants to do.
31:52
Speaker 1: He's got a life outside Formula one. Admittedly, most of
31:55
Speaker 1: that seems to be him racing but none the less,
31:58
Speaker 1: I just found that quite interesting and see get in
32:00
Speaker 1: the context of an FI that's felt increasingly interventionists this year,
32:04
Speaker 1: that this is now having an effect on the drivers
32:06
Speaker 1: and not just disgruntled teams.
32:08
Speaker 3: So Max made a point of saying, this is nothing
32:11
Speaker 3: against the stewards. This is not their fault. They were
32:14
Speaker 3: constrained by the words in the International Sporting Code. Now
32:18
Speaker 3: that there's two ways of looking at this, I'll get
32:21
Speaker 3: onto the scenario surrounding Max because at a front row
32:25
Speaker 3: seat it was brilliant around that. But there's two ways
32:30
Speaker 3: to look at this. Firstly, the FI. I read a
32:33
Speaker 3: piece about this over the weekend on Speak Cafe. There's
32:37
Speaker 3: two elements to it. That the FIA press conferences, the
32:40
Speaker 3: official media sessions, are a broadcast, so what drivers say
32:44
Speaker 3: in there is beamed into homes where you know, levels
32:47
Speaker 3: of offense differ from individual to individual. What you may
32:50
Speaker 3: find offensive Michael I may not. And conversely, you know,
32:56
Speaker 3: people call me a red nut, doesn't bother me. I'm
32:59
Speaker 3: a tooth ginger. You're going to do well to offend me,
33:02
Speaker 3: but other people do easily get offended. So we've got
33:06
Speaker 3: to tell the conservative line and there are guidelines for
33:08
Speaker 3: that globally when it comes to television. It's why whenever
33:12
Speaker 3: you hear swearing on Sky, particularly if you watch in Australia,
33:16
Speaker 3: they will always immediately apologize for the language. And it's
33:19
Speaker 3: why and the press conference on Thursday that Tom Clarkson
33:22
Speaker 3: apologized for Max's language, which also caused offense for Max.
33:27
Speaker 3: Strangely enough, Max was offended not by the swearing but
33:29
Speaker 3: by the apology in an irony, ironic twist of fate.
33:33
Speaker 3: But there are penalties involved through the regulators in the UK,
33:37
Speaker 3: particularly when it comes to television, that if it's not
33:41
Speaker 3: apologized or they can be, they can be fined. So
33:45
Speaker 3: it's not necessarily the FIA trying to set the rules.
33:48
Speaker 3: It's basically the FA trying to protect them broadcasters in
33:51
Speaker 3: many respects and also just at the same time show
33:54
Speaker 3: a level of respect because swearing is still for a
33:58
Speaker 3: lot of people quite a brain and unacceptable on television.
34:03
Speaker 3: We might all swear in our private lives and in
34:06
Speaker 3: private conversations, but on television it's sort of it's still
34:09
Speaker 3: a little bit taboo. So there's that element of the
34:11
Speaker 3: broadcast that I think the FIA that's what I think
34:15
Speaker 3: Mauma ben Salam is trying to tidy up. He didn't
34:19
Speaker 3: explain it well in his comments and that's unfortunate, and
34:22
Speaker 3: that's that is what's really underpinned all of this. The
34:26
Speaker 3: second element is the radio, and this is where it
34:30
Speaker 3: all got a bit blurred because all the drivers, all
34:33
Speaker 3: of them but the vast majority. You're in the maxim
34:35
Speaker 3: stuff in camp and Lewis Hamilton is the only one
34:37
Speaker 3: who sort of said, well, no, I kind again, I understand,
34:40
Speaker 3: but even Lewis has said I wouldn't do the community
34:42
Speaker 3: service that Max has been loved with, So that's curious.
34:48
Speaker 3: But in the car, is it appropriate for us to
34:50
Speaker 3: complain about language and being offended when we're eves dropping
34:54
Speaker 3: on private conversations. The FAA didn't like it, so they
34:57
Speaker 3: took the microphones off of race control. So how can
35:00
Speaker 3: the FAA sit there on its big white horse and
35:03
Speaker 3: be all righteous and pious about this when they took
35:06
Speaker 3: it out of their own staff. So you can't complain
35:10
Speaker 3: about swearing on the radio, and if they don't like it,
35:12
Speaker 3: they either have to live with it or take the
35:13
Speaker 3: microphones away. It's that simple, because it's not appropriate for
35:17
Speaker 3: drivers to moderate their language or their behavior. When they're
35:21
Speaker 3: in the car doing their jobs. They're not there for
35:23
Speaker 3: us at that point. They're doing their jobs when they're
35:26
Speaker 3: in the media sessions, different story. But the FAA just
35:29
Speaker 3: needs to get its nose out of the radio and
35:31
Speaker 3: leave that to the teams. I don't think team brought
35:33
Speaker 3: team radio should be broadcast at all press conferences if
35:36
Speaker 3: they swear fair call. I think Max was harshly dealt with,
35:39
Speaker 3: but a penalty of some sort is warranted. But in
35:43
Speaker 3: the car, this is.
35:44
Speaker 1: Where we differ slightly. I think broadcasts should be on
35:46
Speaker 1: the television. Radio transmission should be on the television because
35:49
Speaker 1: it does make it does add to the spectacle. I
35:51
Speaker 1: think it adds really well to the spectacle, and it
35:53
Speaker 1: gives an insight into the pressure they're under. Because you
35:56
Speaker 1: can identify differences in drivers when they're radioing their team
36:00
Speaker 1: impaired you when they're out of the car. I think
36:02
Speaker 1: that difference illuminates a little bit the pressure drivers are under.
36:05
Speaker 1: I also don't have a pressure with them simply being censored.
36:08
Speaker 1: I don't understand where this issue MBS the president has
36:13
Speaker 1: with just censoring the bad language as it always has been.
36:16
Speaker 1: I know you can't access it if you have an
36:17
Speaker 1: f one TV account or some places that you can
36:19
Speaker 1: find it online the uncensored audio, but you have to
36:22
Speaker 1: go and seek that out. It's not a case we're
36:25
Speaker 1: being broadcast via the mass media a sensor and have
36:27
Speaker 1: a problem with the press conference. I understand, don't get
36:30
Speaker 1: me wrong. I just think coming in immediately with a penalty,
36:34
Speaker 1: having Max with staff and go before the stewards and
36:36
Speaker 1: now have to do this community service so that already
36:38
Speaker 1: does it. Maybe he's another question, go before the stewards
36:40
Speaker 1: the day after. Yes, well yeah, it just seems so
36:43
Speaker 1: unnecessarily heavy handed, when surely you would have also got
36:46
Speaker 1: a better response from him by asking, by just telling him, look,
36:50
Speaker 1: we can't if this is being broadcast. It's not like
36:53
Speaker 1: the broadcasters can't they can't do that, like they can't
36:55
Speaker 1: handle that. I don't know if the press conference goes
36:58
Speaker 1: out live too many broadcasters, maybe that's something that is
37:01
Speaker 1: part of it. And I also I'm not sure i'd
37:03
Speaker 1: have to go back and look. But I think he's
37:05
Speaker 1: swearing happened to be I don't think he did this deliberately.
37:07
Speaker 1: In the written only part of the press conference, which
37:10
Speaker 1: isn't broadcast, or isn't supposed to be broadcast, sometimes does
37:14
Speaker 1: make it to television after the fact. That's sort of
37:16
Speaker 1: a little bit of a different story. So I just
37:18
Speaker 1: think that the handling of it again is the problem here.
37:22
Speaker 1: It would be so easy for the FIA to have
37:24
Speaker 1: just said, look, Max, we can't this being broadcast, please
37:27
Speaker 1: mind your language, and I'm sure he would have because
37:29
Speaker 1: he doesn't often swear in press conference. I can't think
37:31
Speaker 1: of the last time he saw in a press conference.
37:33
Speaker 1: But when you start to fire up the drivers like this,
37:37
Speaker 1: that's when you start to get pushback. And as a result,
37:39
Speaker 1: this has become inflamed and a difficult situation. And who
37:42
Speaker 1: knows how long Max is going to go on with
37:43
Speaker 1: this no answers in press conference thing. You'll probably stop
37:46
Speaker 1: at the next race, But who knows, because we don't
37:48
Speaker 1: know what the FIA is going to do subsequent to this.
37:51
Speaker 1: Are they going to try and enforce that team that
37:53
Speaker 1: community order, We don't know. So I think the whole
37:55
Speaker 1: thing is just an unnecessary mess from something that started
37:58
Speaker 1: with an understand Like you sort of say, it's something
37:59
Speaker 1: that's started from an understandable place, you know, I don't
38:02
Speaker 1: begrudge Muhammed ben so I am asked wanting drivers to
38:05
Speaker 1: not swear in press conferences. That's fine, but the way
38:09
Speaker 1: that it's been gone about being achieved, I think is
38:12
Speaker 1: just pretty silly. But we'll see how that goes in
38:16
Speaker 1: a future race. Matt, it's time for the championship, alternative Championship,
38:21
Speaker 1: not the actual one. That's still has six races to
38:22
Speaker 1: go on that many episodes of the Alternative Championship still
38:25
Speaker 1: to go, which is very exciting. I'm not sure if
38:29
Speaker 1: we're going to take a little bit of a break
38:30
Speaker 1: from the Alternative Championship during this weird other mid second
38:34
Speaker 1: mid season break, but nonetheless it's could be a big one.
38:37
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I it depends what happens, depends on anyone
38:40
Speaker 3: says something silly that we can take some points away for,
38:42
Speaker 3: because that typically is what we do with the alternative Championships.
38:45
Speaker 3: It's very rare that we give points. So, yeah, the
38:49
Speaker 3: championship where the points don't matter. The alternative it was.
38:55
Speaker 1: Don't they They're just silly points though.
38:57
Speaker 3: Because we have there is a winner, it's the one
39:01
Speaker 3: they all want to win. An eighteen ywi He's going
39:02
Speaker 3: to take some beating fifty nine million points points. Yeah,
39:07
Speaker 3: so it was a good weekend for the Alternative Championship
39:10
Speaker 3: because there was so much happening you could really I
39:14
Speaker 3: struggled to bring this down to three. I had that
39:16
Speaker 3: thirty seven people on the list at various points when
39:20
Speaker 3: I brought it down to three. And it's appol that
39:23
Speaker 3: we're talking about Max of Staffan just now and swearing
39:25
Speaker 3: because my first candidate is maxis Staffan, and I'm going
39:29
Speaker 3: to take six hundred and sixty points from him. And
39:32
Speaker 3: the reason I'm taking six hundred and sixty points is
39:35
Speaker 3: because I had a bit of a look and I
39:39
Speaker 3: couldn't find any particular offense for swearing on television. But
39:43
Speaker 3: the closest I came was the New South Wales Summary
39:45
Speaker 3: of Offenses Act nineteen eighty eight, Section four A. The
39:52
Speaker 3: is an offense to use offensive language in or near
39:55
Speaker 3: or within hearing from a public place or a school. Now,
39:59
Speaker 3: I don't know how many school there are. A Marina baby,
40:01
Speaker 3: he was in a public place, so I'm calling that
40:02
Speaker 3: fair enough. The language can result to a find him
40:06
Speaker 3: up to six hundred and sixty dollars or imprisonment, So
40:08
Speaker 3: I've gone easy on him. He could have just been
40:13
Speaker 3: thrown in jail. That's the power the Alternative Championship has. Instead,
40:17
Speaker 3: I've just decided to take the six to sixty off him.
40:20
Speaker 1: I like that a lot he's been given. Look, prison
40:23
Speaker 1: remains an option if he's a repeat offender. I'm sure
40:26
Speaker 1: that we can imprison in the Alternative Championship, but we'll
40:30
Speaker 1: have to wait and see if he reoffends. Sticking to
40:32
Speaker 1: that theme, I'm taking one hundred points off Muhammed ben
40:36
Speaker 1: Salaam for attempting to moralize but in an immoral way
40:40
Speaker 1: by using his rappers comment. I think everyone immediately agreed
40:43
Speaker 1: was probably on the nose. I feel sorry for people
40:46
Speaker 1: sometimes working in the FIA Communications department who have to
40:49
Speaker 1: deal with them fall out from this. But I just
40:51
Speaker 1: thought that, like I've already sort of said something that
40:53
Speaker 1: started with something most people probably would have agreed with,
40:57
Speaker 1: that we don't need swearing in press conferences. Just really
41:01
Speaker 1: let himself down after that. So it's one hundred points off.
41:03
Speaker 1: No prison time.
41:04
Speaker 3: Crucially, well it's only it's imprisonment for up to three months,
41:09
Speaker 3: so it'd be up pretty quickly. You'd see the season end.
41:11
Speaker 3: Just about all be up for Christmas. I'm going to
41:17
Speaker 3: stay along the same theme and my humband tallam in
41:23
Speaker 3: So I had to do some digging, but I did
41:25
Speaker 3: found that the New South Wales some of the offenses
41:26
Speaker 3: at nineteen eighty eight outlied that the law around offensive
41:30
Speaker 3: language under section four A. I'm taking six hundred and
41:33
Speaker 3: sixty points off of him as well, for exactly the
41:35
Speaker 3: same reason as I did. Max. I don't again, I'm
41:43
Speaker 3: absolutely with you. I don't think swearing should be in
41:46
Speaker 3: the press conferences. I mean, it doesn't offend me, but
41:49
Speaker 3: I understand the rationale behind it, and I accept that
41:52
Speaker 3: that's the world we live in. If we've sworn on
41:56
Speaker 3: this podcast, and I don't remember if we have or not,
42:00
Speaker 3: I'm sure it will be appropriately be appropriately beeped out.
42:04
Speaker 3: It's just the world we're living. It is what it is.
42:08
Speaker 3: And if we want to make the sport accessible, then
42:09
Speaker 3: we can't have that. But if you're going to make
42:12
Speaker 3: the point, make it in a considered way, don't make
42:15
Speaker 3: it in a ham fisted way that is perceivably derogatory
42:20
Speaker 3: to some people. And that's the point that Lewis Hamilton
42:24
Speaker 3: made about MBS as well, which I think was a
42:28
Speaker 3: very fair and valid point.
42:29
Speaker 1: Yes, absolutely right. I'm going to give four points now
42:33
Speaker 1: or five points now, bigy pardon oh. I wasn't sure
42:35
Speaker 1: if I wanted to give or take them away, but
42:37
Speaker 1: I'm going to give them, partly because I think I
42:40
Speaker 1: like him Laurel Mechis for confessing that even he doesn't
42:43
Speaker 1: know what's going on with his driver lineup, he probably
42:46
Speaker 1: knows more than he's letting on, of course, but I
42:48
Speaker 1: did appreciate that by the end of the weekend he
42:50
Speaker 1: was pretty honest by saying, gee, I hope we get
42:53
Speaker 1: clarity soon on the standy Raccono's situation. So five points
42:57
Speaker 1: for him at least giving us a little bit of
42:59
Speaker 1: little tiny bit of transparency on what's been quite a
43:01
Speaker 1: messy week for our being.
43:03
Speaker 3: I mean to know what sticky to bring to the
43:04
Speaker 3: next track.
43:05
Speaker 1: I guess exactly what flag, or you could just cross
43:07
Speaker 1: out some of the Australian flag. I guess it ends
43:09
Speaker 1: up colored in red.
43:11
Speaker 3: Get a bit of blue out for some bits, get
43:13
Speaker 3: a bit of red out for others. Yeah, I like it.
43:17
Speaker 3: I like it. Yeah, yeah, okay, yeah, that's good. That's good.
43:21
Speaker 3: I want you to do your third because I want
43:23
Speaker 3: to end this with a with a big bang. Okay,
43:25
Speaker 3: all right, my third is an absolute cracker. I want
43:28
Speaker 3: you to go with your third because I want I
43:30
Speaker 3: want the Champagne moment at the end here.
43:32
Speaker 1: Okay, very good, all right, I'm happy to do that.
43:34
Speaker 1: It's only one point. I'm going to give Daniel Ricardo
43:37
Speaker 1: one point for the fastest lap. He wasn't awarded the
43:40
Speaker 1: one point, of course, because you've finished outside the to
43:42
Speaker 1: well outside the top ten, but for during a weekend
43:45
Speaker 1: he didn't deserve. As I've already spoken, I think he
43:47
Speaker 1: deserves at least the point for fastest lap, along with
43:50
Speaker 1: the driver of the day thing, which I'm sure was
43:53
Speaker 1: definitely voted on by the fans in this instance, one
43:57
Speaker 1: point to go out on.
43:58
Speaker 3: I like that. I like that. In fact, I like
44:00
Speaker 3: it so much that i've I've taken that for my reason,
44:04
Speaker 3: but I haven't given him one point. I think Daniel's
44:07
Speaker 3: bigger than one point. Yes, I think the fact that
44:10
Speaker 3: the world spoke the whole world, not just not just
44:13
Speaker 3: Formula one. The world spoke not just Daniels fans. The
44:17
Speaker 3: whole world spoke in support of Daniel and acknowledgment of Daniel,
44:24
Speaker 3: and I think that in its self deserveed for recognition.
44:26
Speaker 3: So I'm giving Daniel one point for every personal life
44:29
Speaker 3: eight point two billion points.
44:37
Speaker 1: Alway's gonna it's gonna be tough to beat him from here.
44:41
Speaker 3: He's going to have to drop the ball somewhere in
44:43
Speaker 3: a big way. Is and he So the problem is
44:45
Speaker 3: now gonna have to get the calculator out and work
44:47
Speaker 3: out how that one point that you've given him affects
44:49
Speaker 3: the score.
44:50
Speaker 1: Yes, I think that's now a one point two billion
44:53
Speaker 1: point per ra turn around the client.
44:56
Speaker 3: That's big. It's even ass cut out. You're not looking
45:01
Speaker 3: quite so impressive anymore.
45:03
Speaker 1: We thought he was locked into this victory, but a
45:05
Speaker 1: lace contender emerges in the shape of Daniel Riccardo. Very exciting.
45:10
Speaker 3: And you know, there's a good analogy here because early
45:13
Speaker 3: in this championship Yuki Snoda was leading it for a
45:15
Speaker 3: long time. He had Daniel covered.
45:20
Speaker 1: He's blow He's blowing out of the water. Remarkable scenes
45:24
Speaker 1: in the alternative Championship. How will it unfold for the
45:27
Speaker 1: rest of the year. You'll have to wait and see,
45:29
Speaker 1: because that's all the time we have for pit Talk today.
45:31
Speaker 1: You can subscribe to pit Talk wherever you get your
45:33
Speaker 1: favorite podcasts, and you can leave us a rating and
45:35
Speaker 1: a review as well, and keep up to date with
45:36
Speaker 1: all the latest one news throughout the next couple of
45:39
Speaker 1: weeks before the next trace in fact, at both Fox
45:41
Speaker 1: Sports dot com dot Au and Speedcafe dot Com. From
45:44
Speaker 1: Matt Costion me Michael Lomonado, thanks very much for your
45:46
Speaker 1: company and will catch you in the weeks ahead of
45:48
Speaker 1: the United States Grand Prix.