Latest / Pit Talk / Midseason review: The defining moments of the season so far

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Midseason review: The defining moments of the season so far · Pit Talk

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to Pit Talk of Fox Sports and
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Speed Cafe Formula one podcast. And it's the mid season
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: break in Formula One. No racing has happened last week,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: no racing will happen this week, but that doesn't mean
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: the podcast stops, at least for this week. Next week
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: we might be on a break. My name's Michael Lomonato,
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: motorsport rider for Fox Sports Australia. It's great to have
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: your company and the company of my co host from
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Speed Cafe. He was also offered one hundred million dollars
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: to join Aston Martin but didn't want to pump up
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: lant Stroll. His name's Matt Cosh.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: One hundred million dollars. I'll be willing to pump up
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: a lot of things. That's that's an extraordinary amount of money,
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: isn't it. Yeah, it's good to be here. I'm honestly
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: not on a beach sunning myself somewhere I feel I
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: should be because everyone else is. But yeah, it's that
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: weird break. Is that weird week or so in the
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: middle where all the teams are on that mandatory shutdown,
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: so there's just nothing, nothing really happening. There's no news
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: coming out, everything sort of extending on what we already know, really,
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: isn't it.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: Yes, And I'm very conscious about not calling it the
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: summer break because for the southern hemisphere, like us, there
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: is no summer to be had unless you're in far
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: North Queensland, I suppose, and it's always summer, but it's
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: important to remember the little guys down here to have
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: a Grand Prix. So it is the mid season break
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: in my books. Not much news has happened, Matt, but
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: there was a little bit because I don't know about you,
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: but I feel like every year that I've existed following
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: Formula one, I always sort of let I feel like
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: I relax a little bit after that last race before
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: the mid season break, and then forget that. All of
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: the news breaks that week because the teams want to
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: bury it or just want to get it out of
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: the way before the second half of the season. So
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: there was some stuff to go through. And let's give
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: you your five top stories from the last week in
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: five minutes, and Matt, we're going to start with Helmet Marco,
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: who's revealed the reason Red Bull Racing has kept Sergio
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: Perez is simply for Stability's sake, According to his column
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: in the Red Bull owned speed Week, He also denied
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: rumors that Liberty Media has pressured the team into keeping
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: Perez for his home Mexico City Grand Prix later in
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: the year.
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: And that tell is with what I heard through other
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: channels at Red Bull, there was no pressure from Liberty
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: and even if there have been, they wouldn't have listened
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: to it because it's not Liberty's bat and ball. And
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: also the whole Carlos them Domit stuff and him pressuring
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: Red Bull into maintaining the relationship with with Sojo Perez
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: that also didn't work. Just that the timeline of the decision,
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: you can prove that Carluslam didn't have any influence in
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: in the way that happened. So, yeah, I get it.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: You know it's Perez has done the job. He's not
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: at the moment. But can you guarantee that Daniel Ricardo
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: or Linham Laws would jump in and do a better job. No,
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: So it goes back to the catch cry of this podcast,
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: it's the least worst option.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: It's good to know Red Bull Racing is finally taking
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: our advice sticking with Red Bull Racing in a relatively
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: surprised stuff to the mid season break. In terms of news,
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: RBR sporting director Jonathan Wheatley will leave the team at
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: the end of this year to become audi's first F
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: one team principal from sometime next season ahead of the
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: team's full debut in twenty twenty six.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he's gonna be job showing a little bit with Mitia,
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: but not so there'll be a little bit of overlap
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: between those two. His departure. Jonathan Wheaky's departure from Red
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: Bull not a huge shock. If I'm honest, I've got
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: to be a little bit careful about what I say,
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: but it's not as not as it seems. What I
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: loved was Red Bull's announcement which they named his departure
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: point as well. Very unusual and clearly all ASO is
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: that that doesn't suggest that they've left on the best
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: of terms.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: Also, massive power move over AUDI. Really, I'm owned by
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: a VW company that ultimately fell out with Red Bull
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: Racing a few years ago via Porsche. ODI didn't get
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: its press release anounce me out till I think four
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: or five hours later. From the top of my head,
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: so welcome to Formula one. I suppose staying still with
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: Red Bull Racing, but via Silverston. The hunt Forrader in
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: Nui is over, at least according to Italy's Auto Sprint,
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: which reported this week that the former Red Bull Racing
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: Chief technical officer has signed to join Laurence Stroll's team
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: for an eye watering one hundred million dollars. I think
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: that'd be US dollars as well, over four years.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: You kind of need to do the Doctor Evil one
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: hundred million dollars with a little finger to the corner
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: of your mouth. Yeah, over four years, twenty five million
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: a year, plus a few other bits and pieces. It
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: makes some sense as a relationship there. You we designed
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: the Aston Martin Valkyrie, which they will be racers of
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: the Valkyria the Vulcan. I get those two confused. I
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: think it's the Valkyrie which we use in Ward Endurance
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: Championship next year. You know, he's got aspirations to continue
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: doing road cars and that sort of stuff, and it's
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: another opportunity to develop a midfield team into a world
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: championship winner. He's done it sort of with Williams, a
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: little bit with Mclaren'soil in the late nineties, certainly with
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: Red Bull. So yeah, it'd be interesting to see why
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: the Ferrari deal fell apart, because I heard from a
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: reliable source that he was house hunting a Marinello at
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: one point.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: Maybe just couldn't find a house.
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: It didn't fancy, the commune.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: Didn't like it wasn't up for public transport connections. Not
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: great in Marinello. Let's go to McLaren now. Andrea Stella
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: has been rewarded for the team's upturning performance this year
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: with a fresh multi year contract, the best kind of
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: contract for the team's big improvements this season, locking him
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: in alongside Lando Norris and Oscar Piastu for the foreseeable
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: future in what's fast become a title contending at least team.
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: Confusingly, in my notes, I've got Stella resigned because I
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: forgot the signed. No, so he's hanging around. That's good
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: news because you look at the top end of that team.
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: You've got Zach Brown who's recently signed. I think it
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: was back in March or April that he signed a
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: new deal. Orlando and Oscar both have comparatively long deals.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: I mean nothing in Formula one is long term. We're
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: talking a multi year deal, so two or three years.
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: So having stability is great. Every successful team in Formula
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: one history has had stability. So look for good things
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: to McLaren in the years to come, because I think
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: they're setting themselves up for success.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: Well not even years to come, maybe this year, but
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: we'll get to that in the moment. And finally over
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: to Alpine, where the worst kept secret of the Last
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: Fortnight at least has been confirmed with high Tech co
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: founder that's the junior high Tech team in Formula two
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: and Formula three and other series. Oliver Oaks announced as
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: Alpine's new team principle, replacing the outgoing Bruno Famam after.
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: The break, Yeah, and curious to see what happens here.
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: From what I understand, that's a endorsement from Flavio Briatore
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: that Luca Demeyo accepted. He replaces Bruno Famine. Of course,
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: what will be important is how much autonomy and authority
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: Oaks has in doing what he needs to do or
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: what he thinks he needs to do to that team
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: to make it work without the influence of Reno, because
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: the biggest hang up that that team has is Reno's influence.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: So make it an independent team and let Oliver Oaks
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: run it as as a proper race team and there
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: might be success, but he needs time to do that.
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: This isn't going to be something that transforms the team overnight.
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: We're talking a little bit like what James Vows is
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: doing it Williams. We're talking a couple of years before
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: we see some serious, serious progress there. Hopefully Jack doing
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: lands on their doorstep at just the right time, then.
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: We're really I mean, the big test for him and
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: his authority will be which car park he gets relative
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: Lavio bout or isn't it like his move. Well, that's
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: going to tell you everything. So that's all the news
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: from the last week before the teams gloriously went on
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: their midseason shutdown, the mandatory two week break and which
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: nothing is allowed to happen. Thing has crossed anyway for
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: our sake. But Matt, let's look back at the first
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: part of the season, because I think it was fair
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: to say, far more dramatic than we expected, not only
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: after prezeason testing, but even after the first two months.
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: I think at the end of April, I can't of
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: imagine we'd be talking about the season being as close
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: as it is with as many winners as we've had
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: with the storylines that we've enjoyed. So I thought we'd
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: go through our top storylines of that first part of
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: the year, which might, in fact then shed a little
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: bit of light of what we're expecting for the second
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: part of the season. Let's kick off with you, Matt.
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: What stood out to you is the big talking points
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  Speaker 1: of the first half of twenty twenty four.
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: So I'm going to tell a little story if I may.
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: I'm going to go back to Bahrain testing, and it
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: was I've even been the first afternoon going into the
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: evening of Bahrain testing and having a conversation with someone
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: in the paddock, and they said to me, red Bull
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: could stop developing that car now, and I'll win next
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: year's World Championship. And you know what, the first part
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: of the year played out that if red Bull stopped
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: developing their car, they had won next year's World Championship.
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: Only everyone else didn't get that memo, and they kept
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: developing their cars. And it's created this interesting snow where
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: we've sort of got the pre Miami World Championship, which
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: was red Bull dominated, and then you've got the post
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: Miami World Championship where you've got a world championship and
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: then almost since I don't know if it's if the
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: British Grand Prix is a defining moment, but you've almost
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: now got a three way scrap as well because Mercedes
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: seems to be buying in a little bit. They're probably
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: a little bit too far back to do anything by
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: the end of the year, but there are a threat
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: and they can take points off of McLaren and Rebel
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: when they therefore have a meaningful impact on the way
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: the championship's going. But for me, it all comes down
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: to that Miami Grand Prix weekend. It was a sprint race.
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: McLaren was hugely confident in itself in that it brought
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: an update package, It had an hour of testing or
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: hour of practice to get on top of that, only
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: had one of them bolted one too, Tolando Norris's currently
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: went out and won the race. Now, there were some
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: circumstance in that that did internally at McLaren. It reinforced
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: that the development trajectory and direction is correct. It showed
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: Lando Norris that he is a Formula One race winner.
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: It gave everyone on the pitwall confidence that they can
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: go out and win races. It gave everyone else in
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: the Formula one paddock belief that Red Bull can be
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: beaten in a normal race. Okay, there was safety card there,
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: but even still in the first half of the race
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: with the oldest spec McLaren Oscar Piastre was chasing Max down,
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: he was as near as competitor with a new McLaren.
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: Once he was in clear our outfront, Landa was able
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: to hold the lead and win comparatively comfortably. So that
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: race for me is the defining moment, not just of
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: the first half of the season. I think we'll reflect
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: on it as being the defining moment of season twenty
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: twenty four because it's the point at which Red Bull
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: became vulnerable and we went from being a one horse
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: race where it's another steamroller like we saw last year
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: Australia growld prity side that was reliability and suddenly we
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: have a competitive world championship and the interest that that
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: has done, that that has generated, the good that it's
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: done for the sport is immeasurable because suddenly we're not
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: just talking about one team or who can beat Max.
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: We're talking about well Redbell need to lift their game
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: or they're going to lose to McLaren. We're talking can
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: Lando with the right support win the World Championship. These
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: are very different talking points to what we had that
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: opening day of testing in Bahrain when I was told
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: that next year's championship was already wrapped up. So yeah,
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: that is a critical critical point, not just for this
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: year either, I think for next year as well, because
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: it sets us up in a really good, really good
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: trajectory into twenty twenty five. In the last year of
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: these REGs.
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: It's there's a couple of points I want to pull
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: out from that because it is such a fasting twist
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: in this season, because it's not as if we had
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: one or two races in which are red will you know,
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: it was on favored tracks and they just nailed everything
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: and other teams are warming up. But we're talking about
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: five Grand Prix into the season, long enough and on
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: a variety sufficient of tracks to go well, this looks
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: like it's going in only one direction, and the performance
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: margin at those five tracks was enormous. You know, Australia,
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: maybe Ferrari would have actually been in contention there. It
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: is a little bit of an unusual track, but we'll
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: never find out at every other circuit. It was domination
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: like we'd enjoyed well, like we had bullet enjoyed anyway
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: last season, So that's really remarkable. The McClaren upgrade story
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: in Miami is really interesting because it exceeded even the
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: team's own expectations. I think it was after that race,
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: or perhaps it was the subsequent one in Imola, when
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: Andrea Stella said, Wow, we're doing way better in the
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: slow corners than we expected. We need to understand why,
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: because otherwise we won't be able to improve the car further.
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: And clearly the team has understood it. But this was
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: a problem the team didn't expect to solve even this year.
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: This was part of the long term skime of improving
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: this car to become a title contender that wasn't on
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: the cards this year. Really bold, as you said, to
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: bring that upgrade to Miami, and I wonder what you think,
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: because in retrospect it seems even bolder, because this year
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: we've seen way more teams than usual struggle to apply
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: upgrades to the car, Red Bull perhaps being one of them.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: There's never been a big step forward for Red Bull Racing.
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: I think back even to the Hungarian Grand Prix, which
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: Maxwist happened didn't win despite having an upgrade package that
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: seemed directly targeted to tracks and conditions like Futa Pest.
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: You know, we've seen our b step backwards with upgrades
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: in Aston Martin's slide perpetually backwards with upgrades, Ferrari struggling
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: with upgrades. That McLaren gambled on a one hour practice
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: session with this major season changing upgrade package and it
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: worked out, I think is really extremely bold.
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: It is. It's sort of what the rules sets us
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: up for these days, isn't it, Because they're very prescriptive.
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: We've got more prescriptive rules than we've ever had and
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: formed on. Remember in the nineteen seventies we had six
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: form of the cars, the two P thirty four. There
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: used to be this huge variety in freedom for engineers.
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: They don't have that. Now. We're talking about little tweaks
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: and minuscule, almost imperceptible differences and only the Anaraks really
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: notice it. And that includes more people that are more
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: of an anniact than I am, because to be honest,
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: the aerodynamics are so far beyond me that that, yeah,
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: we'll just leave it there. It's exactly I was only
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: off at ninety eight. Anything less than one hundred I'm
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: just not willing to take. But as a result, we
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: now have this situation where the more you develop your car,
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: and the more progress you find in the car, the
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: less progress you're going to find in your car. You
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: hit this point of marginal gains. And that's where red
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: Bull is. Finding big chunks is near on impossible. Finding
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: little chunks is increasingly difficult, and as a result, is
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: going to condense the field. The problem is, at some
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: point everyone's going to hit that ceiling, and we're pretty
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: much there with these regulations. It seems unless someone goes
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: out and find something you know, brown esque over the
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: over the European winter, which seems highly unlikely. Again because
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: of the rules, we're just going to end up with
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: this perpetual cycle of new rules are introduced, field expands,
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: as the rules mature, field condensers, we hit the glass ceiling,
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: rules change, and the cycle will repeats. So that's where
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: I think we are. And as a result, the boulder
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: and the braver, those who've got strong engineering processes and
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: structures and very refined correlation between the virtual systems and
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: the real world. And that's the key here, that the
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: correlation because you can't test. Basically, you're developing everything thinking
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: that that's the right thing, and then you're bolt on
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: the car and it might not be. If your systems
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: show that this is going to give you three points
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: and you get two point seven points of downforce, then beauty.
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: But if it says you get three points and you
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: get minus ten, you know, then you've got major issues.
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: And that's where refinement in systems is going to become
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: ever more important. And that's where I wonder if Red Bull,
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: because they had last year, that they were allowed to
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: be a little bit lax on that because I had
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: no challenges. You know, if an item was only giving
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: them sixty percent of the forecast gain, that was still
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: good enough. Now sixty percent isn't good enough. We're talking
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: about very very magor game. Is the one percent is
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: now know a pit stop, the efficiency of a team
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: in a pit stop and their consistency of being able
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: to deliver it that at speeds of sub three seconds,
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: that's now critical. So yeah, this is just the game
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: we're now in where we're talking about almost imperceivable differences
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: between the teams having defining impacts on not just a
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: race but a season as well, and teams willing to
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: take calculated risks backed up by the confidence that they
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: have in their systems and everything else. How much risk
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: can Red Bull realistically take. It can't afford almost to
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: take any at the moment, because if it gets it wrong,
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: it hands the championship lead to McLaren. But if it
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: takes none, then if Red Bull, then if McLaren rolls
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: the dice and lucks under something, then it could get
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: steamrolled anyway. But similarly, if Red Bull, sorry, if McLaren
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: takes too much risk and gambles too much and goes
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: the wrong way, then it loses a chance at the title.
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: So it's this delicate balancing act. It's understanding risk management,
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: and that's fundamentally what formul one has been for a
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: long time. It's risk management. The difference now is that
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: the differences between teams are so imperceivably small that a
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: tiny difference has a massive difference.
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: Closer the field gets. Actually, I'm reminded of Red Bull
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: Racing's launched at the start of the year, when Adrian
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: Nue said in a way that I think most people
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: dismissed as just general downplaying of expectations the way every
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: team does. Past did a great job of downplaying expectations
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: start the year, saying that this was the limit of
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: the rule, that he'd felt that this car was close
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: to the limit of the rules. They'd changed some things
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: this year, but that he expected other teams to catch
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: up this year because he didn't see a massive development
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: pathway from this point. And it turned out he was right.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: Despite those first five races. It turned out actually he
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: was fot on the money, not for the first time
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: in his career. And it's not just the regulations maturing
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: all that's obviously a significant part of it, and what
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: a pity it is. I think we may reflect on
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: the fact that the rules are changing again in only
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: eighteen months time. Perhaps it's spreading out the field dramatically,
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: just as everything's building, this tremendous crescendo of four teams
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: potentially fighting for a title next year, maybe more, maybe less,
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: who knows. But there's also the equalization measures of the
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: sport at play here and feels like they're finally starting
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: to have an affair. These were brought in, thankfully, even
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: a year earlier than planned thanks to the pandemic for
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: the final year of the previous rules twenty twenty one,
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: that tremendous Title five. Depending on your perspective, I suppose
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: brought in essentially ahead of the twenty twenty two season
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: for these rules limited spending on development and also instituted
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: this development cap based on your championship position, whereby let's
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: just say Red Bull Racing, because it's been leading ever
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: since then pretty much has said the least amount of
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: time to develop, and the teams at the bottom had
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: the most. That also feels like it's having an effect,
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: because who knows what an extra five, ten, fifteen percent
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: wind tunnel time might have done to Red Bull Racing
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: this season with the upgrade packages that's brought that sort
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: of haven't really fired or delivered the gains expected or
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: hoped for. Maybe that would have been enough to make
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: the difference in Inversely, McLaren, which has had much more
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: time in the wind tunnel over the last few years,
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: considering from how from how far back it started, is
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: enjoying the fruits of that equalization process. So it is
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: all working together now. It feels like the rules are
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: set up really well and perhaps come back to my
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: point and contradict myself. Maybe we should be more optimistic
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: about twenty twenty six in that case, because if those
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: equalization meachs are having a role now, it's not the
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: only story, as he said, it is the rules maturing.
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: But perhaps we can hope that in twenty twenty six
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: it won't be a case of one team being way
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: further ahead of everybody else because the resources available to everybody,
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: it sort of evens out over time.
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and there's lots more to play out in this
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: as well. That the cost cap measures and everything else
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: that's still comparatively immature. They've been in place for a
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: couple of years now, but there's still teams like Williams
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: Lack Salba who have facilities and machinery and those sorts
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: of things that are still below the standard of say
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: a Red Bull or a Mercedes. So there's still a
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: delta between the top and the bottom teams. Closing that
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: is a massive, massive issue because there are capex rules
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: and all sorts of things that live team's ability to
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: invest deliberately. So, but they do have some knock ons
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: to some of these smaller teams, but yet fundamentally it's
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: all working, and I'm I'm a big one. For now
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: we've got this equalization built into the regulations. Let's throw
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: the rule book away. I mean, you've got a limited
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: amount of money. Use it however. You want, go out
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: there and create a car that is the fastest that
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: you can make. You know, six wheels. Who cares go
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: out and do it? And I want to see that because.
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: You just want to say six wheels packed? Don't you
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: mentioned twice already this episode?
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: Seriously that peece therety four on my desk. On on
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: the shelf behind my desk. Here I've got I've got
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: a couple of my favorite cars and Lotus forty nine's
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: Williams f W fourteen B from ninety two, a couple
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: of more current spec things. But you know, it's the diversity.
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: Looking at the cars. In the nineteen seventies, you had
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: this enormous diversity, and then through the nineteen eighties they
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: all sort of began to began to look the same.
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: And then through the nineties you've got a little bit more.
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: As you know, they're discovered high noses and things, and
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: now they all look the same again. We've got some
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: of the brightest minds in engineering in the sport's let
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: them loose, don't charge them with reading the rule book
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: and finding the gray areas right the rules, so that
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: you can actually exercise the brilliance of some of these people.
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: You know, maybe put some broad restrictions. You know, you
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: can't can be this wide and this long and use
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: this much fuel. Otherwise, do what you like you as
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: as a friend of mine once said, many many moons ago,
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: you've got a leader of monkey spit, go and do
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: your best with it. So and I like that. That's
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: what Formula one should be. It was always I don't
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: subscribe to this. Formula one is the technological peak of
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: Formula one of the world. It's not. Formula one has
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: actually developed very little. ABS was developed in the aerospace industry,
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: so was DRS for that matter, in World War Two.
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: There's all sorts of things over the time that Formula
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: one has been credited with, but Formula one hasn't actually developed.
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: So Formula one isn't the technic technological peak of design
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: that it proclaims itself to be. So let's accept that.
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: Let's not pretend to be it's something that it isn't,
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: and just open the rules up again, what's the harm
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: I've got one hundred and thirty million dollars a year.
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: Let's go.
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: It would be a fascinating experiment, wouldn't it, to see
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: how the field would develop. Perhaps one day we'll get
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: to that point once those financial rules and development restrictions
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: are sufficiently bettered in and we're confident no one is
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: finding any loopholes. Maybe that is the way of the future.
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: Let's move on now, Matt, to the second talking point.
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: My talking point for the first half of the season
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: ties into yours a little bit in the sense that
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: it certainly involves McLaren and I want to talk about
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: Oscar Piastre's first victory, long awaited first win that was
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: not in the sprint. Let's not talk about that in
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: Grand Prix conditions. Earlier this year at the Hungarian Grand Prix,
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: just snuck in before the mid season break. But more
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: important than just being Piastre's made in Grand Prix victory,
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: because we all knew that was coming. Really, it was
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: only a matter of time. Even the way he celebrated
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: afterwards sort of really suggested even he knew that that
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: he's aiming for bigger things. Wasn't a massive celebration. In fact,
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: said afterwards, all he did was go to mcdonald' while
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: he was waiting for a delayed flight. So sort of
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: the days of big celebrations are along god in Formula one,
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: I suppose. But we also got a glimpse of this
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: potential rivalry between him and Lando Norris. So I think
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: this is important for a couple of reasons. Less so
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: probably for the second half of this season, because while
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: Lando is theoretically a driver's title contender, that's a really
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: big long shot, and a way bigger long shot than
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: mcl claren playing for the Constructor's title, which is very
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: much alive. In fact, on current trajectory we've said in
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: the last couple of episodes, could be leading the title
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: by the time F one rocks up in the US
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: in October, after only the next four races let's say
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: around four races on the current trajectory. So that's really
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: the priority for the team. But it's the long term
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: implications of Oscar Piastre beginning to increasingly match Norris in
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: all conditions and on occasion surpasshim. In fact, we saw
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: at the Belgian Grand Prix he was just the better
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: McLaren performer full stop in difficult conditions on a difficult
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: weekend when victory was up for grabs, all that kind
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: of thing. McLaren is one of the few teams to
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: have a stable lineup, not just for next year but
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: for the foreseeable future. As we've sort of mentioned at
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: the top of the show, it's certainly the closest driver
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: lineup in terms of their results in qualifying on the
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: races to be stable next year.
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: You know.
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: The only other ones on paper the Red Bull teammates,
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: which may or may not continue to next year, and
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: the Aston Martin teammates, where there's obviously a relatively large
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: gap between them. Even if Lancetra's been able to close
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: that a little bit in the last few months on
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: Fernando Orlonso before the mid season break, all the others
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: are changing or all the others are way further apart.
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: So it's really interesting in that sense that McLaren has
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: ended up obviously choosing youth in Piastre, not that much
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: younger than Lando Norris but less experienced, but has ended
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: up with very quickly to essentially alpha drivers in its team.
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: And if things are going the way we expect, Matt
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: next year, which is that McLaren will just start as
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: a title contender, as if we didn't have the first
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: five rounds this year, the championship were to start in Miami.
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: That's going to really apply pressure to the team's processes
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: and practices in a way we've sort of seen this year.
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: Let's reflect on those team orders in Hungary where they
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: almost collapsed but just about survived, and the team needs
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: to be ready for that. And if we go back
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: to that premise that McLaren wasn't thinking it was going
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: to be a title contender in such a short term timeframe,
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: that is a big test for how this team's going.
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: It's a great opportunity as well, obviously, but this team
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: suddenly needs to be really ready for what could be
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: quite an explosive if not second half of this season
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: than twenty twenty five.
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: Massively, it's Oscar Pastre managers. I wrote this actually a
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: week or two back. The Oscar Pastric managers to fly
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: under the radar a little bit because he's understated. He
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: doesn't go in for hyperbole, is extremely self critical, and
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: as a result, he almost highlights his weaknesses more than
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: his strengths. He doesn't use the media the way some
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: drivers do to promote themselves, because he just doesn't feel
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: the need. Is that kind of guy. He's so confident
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: in himself that he doesn't feel the need to go
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: on boast about his accomplishments because he's comfortable in his
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: own skin, which is a character trait that Andrea Stella
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: has said will serve him extremely well, because he's just
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: so assured, just so calm, just so relaxed. And what
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: you see on what you see on camera is very
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: similar to what you see of Oscar. You know, just
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: day to day. He's a little bit more relaxed away
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: from cameras and formal interviews and things, but that's just Oscar.
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: He's a very relaxed, very chill guy. Clearly nothing flusters him.
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: I mean you just think of August a couple of
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: years ago. I mean, that was a monumental moment in
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: his career. Just okay, whatever, roll on. Similarly, his race
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: win in Hungary, as you say, he went out and
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: got some chicken nuggets. That was his celebration. But what
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: I find is interesting is the commentary that surrounds McLaren
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: is all very pro Orlando Norris and sort of plays
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: down the involvement of Oscar Piastrin. I don't think that's
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: necessarily a bad thing, and I think the reason that
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: is because of Oscar's personality. You know, he doesn't feel
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: the need to jump up and down and yell and shout.
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: But at the same time, for the most part, the
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: English speaking world picks up its Formula one news and
• 29:08
  Speaker 2: commentary other than from Fox Sports and Speak Cafe, from
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: the UK Press and the UK Press like we're going
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: to be inherently probably biased towards Oscar Piastrian, Daniel Ricardo
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: and Liam Lawson and Jack Doing. They're going to be
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: inherently biased towards Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, Orlando Norris
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: and Alex Albon. It's just natural, you know, there's some
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: patriotism there. So as a result, they're going to be
• 29:34
  Speaker 2: pushing landon Norris. And if you look at the championship standings,
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: it makes sense because Lando is a head but if
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: you actually break it down, he's yes, he's ahead. I
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: think it's thirty two points off my head now as
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: they sit now. It was a little bit more than that,
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: but that was because of one or two races. Every
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: other instance where they've gone head to head, Oscar has
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: been either right there or ahead. So it's been very
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: very as you're saying, qualifying terms, in race terms, has
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: been very very little between them. And Oscar's still getting better.
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: Lando is too, but his trajectory has shallowed a little
• 30:13
  Speaker 2: bit because he's just more experienced. It's that marginal games
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: like we're talking about before with the teams. Oscar's still
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: getting better, and you saw that in Hungary and Belgium
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: with his high management. Twelve months ago. In Hungary he
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: faded because he just chewed the tires up, didn't have
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: any grip left and the race got away from him.
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: Not that he was really in contentent for the race win,
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: but the race just moved away from ahead. This year,
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: he didn't have the same problems. In Belgium. He was
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: the fastest car on track really in the final stint
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: and but for a couple more laps, probably would have
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: won that race. So there's proof there that Oscar is
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: making very clear, substantial progress. And he's thirty five, thirty
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: six races into his Formula One career. There's a hell
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: of a lot more to come from him. And this
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: takes me back to the mid to late nineties at
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: McLaren and you had Mika Hackenan who was a very
• 31:05
  Speaker 2: highly rated driver but never really done much, and David Coulthard,
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: who had shown genuinely strong potential at Williams. And I
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: sort of equate it as though Lando Norris is cool, tard,
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: very fast, always seems to be there or thereabouts. But
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: I wonder if in the end he's just going to
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: get beaten by Oscar. He's a little bit cooler, a
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: little bit calmer, and just seems to have a greater
• 31:34
  Speaker 2: maximum if that makes sense, Because if they're very close
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: as they are, and Oscar's still growing at the rate
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: that he is, where is Oscar's endpoint? So yeah, I
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: think it's a good call. Oscar's win in Hungary is
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: going to create a fascinating second half of the year
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: and a fascinating twenty twenty five as they roll on
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: with that relationship as well, and probably create a headache
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: Andrea Stella and Zach Brown will have to manage very
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: very carefully, otherwise it could easily, I imagine, descend into a
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: Mercedes Hamilton Rosberg era sort of sort of in fight.
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you can really break down his season and see
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: exactly where those points come from. They come almost all
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: in that first part of the campaign, when the car
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: wasn't quite upgraded Bahrain, China and Japan. He was four
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: places behind Norris. But on none of those occasions was
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: Norris on the podium. They all contributed massively. But so
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: true did in Miami, where as you said earlier, he
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: was actually maxist Happen's closest challenger up until the safety car.
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: He should have been in the position to win the
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: race had the timing of the safety car been different. Instead,
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: after a crash with Carlos Science, you finished outside the points.
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: There's a twenty four points string Tolando Norris, And yes,
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: Norris will argue that then in Austria, essentially the reverse
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: happened to him, and that's true. But you can already
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: just see where the points are and they're no longer
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: being shipped Norris's way. In the last few months, it's
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: simply changed. Like the Constructors Championship has changed since May,
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: so too has that dynamic between the drivers at McLaren.
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: It is now much more even, and really thirty two
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: points is not all that much, Okay, it's a little
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: bit more than a race win might be able to
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: close it over the course of the season, but it's
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: close enough that you're not looking at it going, oh,
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: someone's pulling their weight to someone really isn't as some
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: people I thought a little bit misguidedly suggested in the
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: opening few months when Piastre wasn't on the podium, But
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: then McLaren wasn't really in that podium contention early on,
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: and we can't forget as well he suffered so much
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: poor luck, particularly during May, when I also think, as
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: we said on this podcast, he was the better performer
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: at McLaren already as early as that in Imola, Monaco,
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: obviously Miami, but didn't get the results and the rewards
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: to show for it. I think that's going to be
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: a really interesting storyline next season, particularly when you consider
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: then that this lineup will be up against Charlete Clair
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: and Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari, George Russell, probably Kimi Antonelli
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: at Mercedes. It's a bit of a wild card line
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: up still in my mind. And then certainly Max was
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: staffing at Red Bull Racing and either Surgeo Pairs or
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: anyone else. Really, it could be anyone who knows how
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: that's going to go. The stability works.
• 34:07
  Speaker 2: My current and Michael Lemonato at red Bull.
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: Could be I'm more than one hundred million dollars personally.
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: But little bit tall. You might go for Williams instead.
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: Well that's okay. I'm happy to race anywhere on the crew,
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: just happy to be there really. So it's going to
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: be fascinating set up to the second half of this
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: year to see how that develops to place as a
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: lot of the second half of the year is going
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: to be for next season. But Matt, let's conclude this
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: week's episode in the now traditional way looking at the
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: Alternative Championship we've been accumulating. Now it is the mid
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: season break, which means no points are going to be
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: awarded today, but I thought it was important to take
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: stock on where this championship is, considering it has developed
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: a great deal in the only month or so that
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: it's been running. To keep people up to speed and
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: where we're at ahead of the next round of not
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: just Formula One action but Alternative Championship action in the
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: Netherlands at the end of the month.
• 34:58
  Speaker 2: Let's face it, it's the one everyone wants to win. Yeah,
• 35:01
  Speaker 2: they don't know it, but they really I figure the
• 35:05
  Speaker 2: easiest way for us to go through this arbitrary awarding
• 35:08
  Speaker 2: of points or subtraction of points, as the case may be.
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: We've got seventeen entrants on the on the leader board.
• 35:15
  Speaker 2: Now let's just run through them from seventeenth to first.
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: I pause a couple of times to you here and
• 35:21
  Speaker 2: then have a laugh at a couple I imagine. Starting
• 35:25
  Speaker 2: with the British Grand Prix organizers who still looking for
• 35:27
  Speaker 2: that big half of the year minus one hundred and
• 35:30
  Speaker 2: sixty eight thousand. Yeah.
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: Great, they're only going to lose more if we consider
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: how they performed at the Motor GP round over the
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: course of the weekend, where almost no one turned up.
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: They could have used some points I think to make
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: up for it.
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: In sixteenth places Alpine at minus twenty twelve points. That
• 35:48
  Speaker 2: was to do with the Goodwood Festival of Speed and
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: the lotus that they tried to dress up as an Alpine.
• 35:56
  Speaker 2: Lando Norris is in fifteenth place one for I think
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: that was a Hungarian Grand Prix and the team orders
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: Shimozzle that was there. Red RB rather in fourteenth place
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: minus three hundred two. I think I've been a little
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: bit harsh on them. That was that was for the
• 36:17
  Speaker 2: I can't even remember what race it was, but but
• 36:19
  Speaker 2: Daniel Ricardo said that that was the worst strategy he's
• 36:21
  Speaker 2: had in his career, So yeah, that must have been hungry.
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: There must have been another subtraction in there as well,
• 36:28
  Speaker 2: because that was two hundred and fifty odd points that
• 36:31
  Speaker 2: they lost in a heartbeat there. But yeah, their they're
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: minus three hundred two. And the reason I think they've
• 36:36
  Speaker 2: been hard done by is that thirteenth place is McLaren's
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: strategist who've arguably lost more, and yet there are minus
• 36:42
  Speaker 2: forty four points.
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: Well that's still I think it still counts. It's not
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: beyond the realm of closing. How many points behind was
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: RB did say three three hundred and two they should
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: be behind Lando Norris It was eighty one points of
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: oh oh yeah, see this is going to say the
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: gap were closing, but then then then they didn't.
• 37:02
  Speaker 2: This is why I write and not count.
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: So they are going to need a big second half
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: of the season, are they If they want to win
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: the championship.
• 37:11
  Speaker 2: Maybe they could signed the Bridge Grand pre organizers and yeah, yeah, yeah,
• 37:19
  Speaker 2: so McLaren not But Sonny Hayes minus.
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: Twenty five probably deserved more. Oft The more I think
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: about that dialogue line that he needs a calf a
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: combat just shows such a lack of understanding of Formula one.
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: It's surprising he's even a Formula one driver.
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: How is he going to do that?
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah?
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: That was We've got two lines of how am I
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: going to do that? Safely? Who cares about safety? Really? Really? Mate?
• 37:44
  Speaker 2: All right?
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: I think I was thinking of Mario Kart. I think
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: that's what he was thinking about.
• 37:48
  Speaker 2: The Blue Shehell yeah, sorry, Sonny Hayes's twefth place. Eleventh
• 37:54
  Speaker 2: place is McLaren at minus fifteen.
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: To stick from the strategists, which is important.
• 38:00
  Speaker 2: Correct. I don't remember why we've not fifteen points off,
• 38:04
  Speaker 2: but claren would have to go back through the pods,
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: please do.
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah.
• 38:09
  Speaker 2: In tenth place, the Ifon graphics department for the Great Brighton.
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: The Great Britty and Grand Prix. Yes, yes, of course
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: of one of the Blue riband events are Formula one
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: was totally misspelled. It was the proceeding race Austria. I
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: think this season of Spain Austria, I think, wasn't it
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: just get the spell checker involved guys. You can you
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: can download an extension in most apps.
• 38:30
  Speaker 2: You see you throw in some mud here, but as
• 38:33
  Speaker 2: journalists we know full well help.
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: I think that's why I reduced the points deficit the
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: minus points for them, because I reckon I probably had
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: a typo in the rundown on that episode.
• 38:42
  Speaker 2: Anyway, they're only one point off the back of David
• 38:46
  Speaker 2: Croft nine points minus known points.
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: Yes for the corner with no name turn nine, despite
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: having at least one other name possibly too, maybe more.
• 38:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Then Max was staffing at minus one.
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: Just for not being cool, I think because he prefers
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: to do twenty four hours races during pree weekends.
• 39:08
  Speaker 2: That's right. Yeah, Christian Hornet at zero in seventh place.
• 39:13
  Speaker 2: He's had points come and go a few times.
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: Yes, Yeah, he's at mill Pla deservedly. Yes, that's okay,
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: but that's look. He can build from there half of
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: the championship by being on zero points, isn't it.
• 39:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he's in the points playing positions right now. Ay
• 39:29
  Speaker 2: Lewis Hamilton in sixth with nine. That was for his
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: ninth winning the Bridge Grown Prayer. I feel like I've
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: cheapened him a little bit there. Probably deserved a bit
• 39:37
  Speaker 2: more for that, but yeah, nine points for for Lewis,
• 39:39
  Speaker 2: he's doing a right.
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: Maybe one hundred and four, one hundred and five, whatever
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: victory number that.
• 39:43
  Speaker 2: Was for him to get another one we can there.
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah that's true. He gets one hundred and ten. That's
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: a nice round Numberah yeah, there we go. That's the bar.
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: That's you don't get one hundred and ten wins, you
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: haven't impressed us.
• 39:54
  Speaker 2: No, actually I want him to get one hundred and
• 39:55
  Speaker 2: eleven to he ends up one hundred and twenty points.
• 39:57
  Speaker 2: I like round NUMBERSOD.
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: Yes, it's just.
• 40:01
  Speaker 2: Jehan top On ten points in fifth place.
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: Yes, this was recent, but it's because of the Institute
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: in Equalization measures in the budget cap during the pandemic
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: that I think has resulted in quite a close championship
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: this year. As we explained earlier.
• 40:17
  Speaker 2: I like that you've ordered it to him and not
• 40:18
  Speaker 2: the Formula one commission that came up to it. But yes,
• 40:21
  Speaker 2: that's right. Someone's going to someone's going to take the blame,
• 40:23
  Speaker 2: and it may as well be Jean top then Niko Holgerberg.
• 40:29
  Speaker 2: This is a genuine p for Nico Holgberg sixteen points.
• 40:32
  Speaker 2: I feel like oh did you have that joke? Pre candle, No,
• 40:41
  Speaker 2: I didn't.
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: Disorder is a total surprise to me. I enjoying going
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: through it as any listener would be.
• 40:48
  Speaker 2: I think that's fair. I think he's had a really
• 40:50
  Speaker 2: good first half of the year. So yeah. And then
• 40:54
  Speaker 2: Oscar Piastre P. Three with twenty five points also feels legit.
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: Yes, that's good. I'm happy with Jesus. The points at
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: the top of the order of less than the points
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: at the bottom. Oh wait, wait, let's significant.
• 41:05
  Speaker 2: You wait, you wait. P two ralph S, you macket
• 41:08
  Speaker 2: three hundred and twenty nine.
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: Okay, that's quite a lot of points.
• 41:11
  Speaker 2: That's all. That's he's gonna what's that three hundred and
• 41:14
  Speaker 2: four point advantage? O Rosco Piastre so.
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: His career points tally we landed nine.
• 41:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, yep, because the points tally points in Formula
• 41:24
  Speaker 2: one don't matter anymore, because I've just been watered down
• 41:27
  Speaker 2: to the point where you get one for participating carry.
• 41:32
  Speaker 2: I don't don't get that one, but okay someone will.
• 41:40
  Speaker 2: And then leading the Alternative championship mm hmm. I feel
• 41:46
  Speaker 2: like we needed drum rolls and we're not going to
• 41:47
  Speaker 2: get it. Drum roll or something Yuki Sonoda one nine
• 41:52
  Speaker 2: hundred and sixty eight points. We told you these points
• 41:56
  Speaker 2: were arbitrary, So how on how many Why did he
• 42:01
  Speaker 2: have so many points? Well because that was the year
• 42:03
  Speaker 2: that open faced helmets were phased out.
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: A reason to be leading the championship.
• 42:14
  Speaker 2: Nothing to do with the actual racing or the championship.
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: Very good, Well, I'm very pleased with that. Look, at
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: least he's going to get something out of his I
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: suppose he's not going to get promoted the Red Bull Race.
• 42:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he can win the CHAMPIONSHP because he ain't getting
• 42:27
  Speaker 2: a Red Bull contract Rebel Racing. Well, he's got a
• 42:29
  Speaker 2: Red Bull Racing contract, doesn't he?
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: Yes, just doesn't apply. It doesn't get him a swipe
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: card into Milton Keynes. Unfortunately, I only could have applied
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: for that. That's the state of the Alternative Championship at
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: the halfway point of the season, or just after the
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: halfway point of the season. Ten more rounds to go,
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: ten more well be onre th ten weeks. Actually, I
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: think we do this every week, don't we. So we
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: many more weeks of confusing entries in which we'll need
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: to keep better track of before the end of the
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: season to add some kind of explanatory note to how
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: it's being decided, but Yuki Sonoda is certainly sitting pretty
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: at the top of the standings at this point. That's
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: all the time we have for Pittalk this week, but
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: we'll be back in a couple of weeks ahead of
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: the return to action at the Dutch Grand Prix. You
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: can subscribe to Pittalk wherever you get your favorite podcasts,
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: and you can leave us a rating and review as well,
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: and you can keep up to date with all the
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: later steff On news through the week at Foxsports dot
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: com dot AU and Speedcafe dot Com. From Matt Cosh
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: and me Michael Amonado, thanks very much for your company
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: and we'll catch you later this month.