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Silverstone Review · The Apex

• Meredith: Hello everybody, welcome back to another episode of the Apex Podcast. My name is Meredith and I am steering this ship today, as Paul likes to say, taking our every weekly selfie selfie that he will be posting. But I am joined by both of my co-hosts today. Paul, how are you on this early morning for you in Denver, Colorado? Josh Creed: Thanks. Paulie :D: ⁓ we are doing good. The sun is shining. Motorsports had a great weekend and ⁓ couldn't be more happy to talk to you guys. Meredith: Awesome. Yeah. And he's coming off a twelve hour shift. we made him wake up early for this one. So thanks for joining. How are you today, Josh? Josh Creed: I'm doing good, doing good. Just trying to beat the heat out here and to get in a pool. At some point today, that's my goal. So I'm going to get in the pool and I'm going to start reading about this week's WEC race because I kind of forgot that was happening. So I'm going to be pretty stoked. I got to hit the highlights on the news going on. ⁓ Meredith: Yeah. Absolutely. And show show everybody your special guest of the week. Josh Creed: He is in corner up here. Meredith: We have a very new, very new special member to the Apex Podcast family. This is Trig Josh and Courtney's new Dalmatian. So Paul just got a puppy about a month ago. Josh has a new puppy. Joe will murder me if I get a new puppy. But I feel like we need some Apex dog collars. I feel like that's gonna be in the design works for tonight. So I'll let you know what I'm Paulie :D: ⁓ my god. Josh Creed: That'd be really cool. We should definitely do that. Paulie :D: Can we do that? Is that a thing? Can you just do that? Meredith: Yeah. Yeah, I'll mock up some callers tonight and send them your way. I mean, I got four here that need callers too. So let's just do this. Apex Podcast, Pups and Podcasts. We're doing it, y'all. But we had awesome big racing this weekend. We had F1 at Silverstone. We had IndyCar at Ohio, we had NASCAR at Chicago land. Josh Creed: You can do anything. Paulie :D: ⁓ dude, done. Done. Yes, let's do it. Josh Creed: Pubs and podcasts. Meredith: But let's jump right in on F one Silverstone, one of my favorite races of the whole season. And I was very interested to see how the new cars did with the new regulations at Silverstone this year. So Josh, I will come to you first with your thoughts. Josh Creed: Yeah, I think it was a little better than expected, right? I think the biggest tell was some of the speeds in the high-speed corners. But you know what? None of the cars seemed to struggle too bad on the battery. It was a decent race up until the controversial ending, right? It's a little rough around the edges. But it was fun racing. Silverstone's always fun. The atmosphere is always good. I saw that that was the largest weekend attendance. for any Formula One race ever, so it beat the record. So that's really cool. That just shows you how much that sport has grown and, know, England and Silverstone being one of the cornerstones of the season. I'm not surprised that it was at Silverstone. What a cool track, cool circuit, cool history. Sucks for Kimmy. Again, kind of feels like he was robbed of another victory that might have put him out of reach for the championship but I see you got your Ferrari shirt on. mean... Meredith: See. Josh Creed: What a weekend for Ferrari, kind of walked away with the bag there. Great for Lewis to be on the podium back at home as well. And Charles LeClair, we were literally talking last week about Mr. Has-Been-Terrible since Monaco here. And he just figured it out. He just figured it out. It seemed like the third free practice, he just like turned it on and it seems like something clicked or he found an adjustment he liked and he has looked like a different man. So great for Ferrari. I'm glad to see. Meredith: ⁓ he needed that. Josh Creed: them back. Meredith: Me too. What about you, Paul? What were your initial thoughts? Paulie :D: I mean Silverstone is always one of those strikes that never disappoints, right? There's always something that comes up, whether it's rain, whatever it might be. And I think it was one of those weekends. It was a lot of fun to watch. We thought Kimmy was gonna run away with it, but issues or front wing issues, whatever it might be, and know, you know, it it is what it is there. And then ultimately that that stupid decision so slash software issue that I just can't seem to understand. How the pinnacle of racing can't seem to get it together. And it's like, don't know. We'll dive into it deeper, but congrats to Charles. ⁓ saw this morning that it was the first Ferrari double podium since 2024. So congrats to them for that. So that's pretty cool for that. And ⁓ yeah, overall it was a fun weekend. Silverstone never disappoints. You're going to get some fun action in Silverstone. Josh Creed: Okay. Okay. Meredith: Agreed. So I want to get y'all's take on this because I I mean, like I was thrilled with the Ferrari start. Kimmy with another bad start. Do we think that if Kimmy had launched with a great start and gotten out in the lead on that first lap, do we think that trajectory would have been different for him, maybe? Or do we ultimately think that the mechanical failure or whatever happened would have just doomed his race anyway? Josh Creed: you Paulie :D: What did happen? Was it just a fluke thing? Josh Creed: It was so he picked up damage on the rumble strips. So Silverstone, a couple of the corners have some pretty aggressive curbing the serrations on the curb cause a lot of vibrations and it knocked a piece of the wheel coping off and it kind of I believe blocked a brake duct and messed up the arrow, which is nuts to me that such a small ⁓ you know, like a small bit like that can cause like literally the car was undrivable. He was unable to keep it on track. Yeah, I think I don't know the race start. Meredith: Mm. That's insane. Josh Creed: is a whole separate conversation. think his race was ended by the damage he picked up. It looked like from what they were talking about with the data, he would have caught the leaders with like six laps to go. So there would have been a battle for the for the lead at the end of the race had it not picked up the damage. So ⁓ was right there in the mix. So I do think his race was killed by the unfortunate But it's crazy that that's that little bit of damage can cause that car to be a disaster. So that really sucks for Kimi. Meredith: Yeah. But my thought was that if he wouldn't have been fighting in that traffic, if he would have had a better start and wouldn't have been fighting back in that traffic, trying to battle George, battle Lou like the fact that him and George were battling in those first several laps, it was like, ooh, you know, if Kimmy would have had a better start, my thought, if he would have had a better start, been out in the front, had clean air, he wouldn't have had to be battling and had all those cars, like maybe he wouldn't have been, you know, like it's a series of unfortunate events my in my brain. Josh Creed: because he was having a strong race. Mm-hmm. Meredith: Because I love Kimmy. In my brain, if he would have had a better start and gotten out in the lead and had that clean air, maybe he wouldn't have been in that position where he was kind of like battling and back in there and and had that had had that little curve issue. But I don't know, it could just be one of those absolute freak act accidents. Like you said, for a a piece that small to be blocking the air duct, that's just insane. It just sucks. But George has had a couple of mechanical failures this season. Kimmy's now had a couple. So it's kind of like, all right. figure it out, Mercedes. Like we've paid our mechanical error dues. hate seeing drivers lose out on points and races due to mechanical issues. Like even though, like, you know, I love Kimmy. I'm not the n biggest George fan, but it does suck to see them drive great races and then their races be ended due to no error of their own. You know, that sucks. Josh Creed: you Yeah, absolutely does. know it's part of racing, but you hate to see, especially when it's like a championship battle, you know, am I really sad to see that like Sergio Perez or Lance Stroll or, you know, Fernando get a DNF like, no, not really. Like it's like, you know, it's unfortunate, but they weren't battling for a position. But then you got like championship leaders that I don't want to see a championship decided by, you know, mechanical error. I want to see a championship decided on track. You know, I think we all do. So. Meredith: Agreed. I thought my favorite part of the races was honestly ⁓ like I felt like like laps three to like thirty, I could have just taken a little nap, but then like laps thirty to like forty, that kind of like stretch in there where it was like George and Max just kind of like get George, Max, and Lewis. It was kind of like they just kept trading back places. And I thought that was such fun wheel to wheel racing to watch. For like eight laps, I'm like. And they just kept passing and going back and forth. That was probably my favorite racing of the whole the whole I mean, granted, like I didn't see much of like the midfield or the backfield racing or anything like that. But I thought the George Max Lewis battle for a couple laps was my favorite part of the racing. What about y'all? Paulie :D: ⁓ absolutely. And we w we were even talking about it because we were texting back and forth through the race. I said, this race is boring and you're like, just give it a bit, it'll spice up. Bless it. Meredith: Give it some time, Paul. I promise it's gonna spice up. Paulie :D: And and that's that's that that's exactly what happened. It spiced up for sure. And I think that's just the racing we've had. It's boring towards the middle, but right at you know, closer to the end it really does spice things up. And it was just nice to see those battles between Max and Lewis and and all those other drivers. I I really did enjoy that. Josh Creed: you Meredith: Can I I still don't understand how George got away with his pit lane dive? Like, how was that not a penalty? You're battling for five laps, three wide, all through the turns, then you're wide, and then you dive bomb across into the pit lane. Like that was dangerous. ⁓ don't how was that within the racing? Like, I don't like if the FIA penalties are based on keeping drivers safe, to me, I didn't understand how that was not a penalty. Kind of like last week in like Paulie :D: It's like you it's like you understand Meredith: I thought the Lando Pitlane thing was probably going to be a penalty. So I don't understand how George didn't get a penalty for that dive bomb move. Paulie :D: It makes no sense. Josh Creed: Well, because he didn't make He didn't make contact with anybody. That's kind of the big thing is as long as there's no contact. There's they're going to say no foul play, you know, reminiscent of I don't remember what year it was, but was Schumacher and Vettel were battling and kind of the same thing where they were on the like a do the opposite of what he does type situation and he dove in and it's a cool like drift move that or may not have been incidental. anyway, ⁓ it's just part just part of it. Paulie :D: But but what's the point? What's the point? Josh Creed: What's the point is to try to keep your tire offset with the guy that you're trying to battle, especially in a place like Silverstone where obviously the undercut was super strong. So you don't, ⁓ of the strategy. I mean, it's risky move. He pulled it off. You have to applaud the skill that it takes to be confident to do something like that. But I mean, you can't penalize the potential for an incident, right? Or we're just gonna have any wheel to wheel racing. Meredith: Yeah. Paulie :D: I just Meredith: Yeah. I don't know. I just feel like there have definitely been penalties for other drivers over the last six years where a collision was didn't happen, but there was that there have been penalties for like it like I'm gonna have to do my research on this one because I swear I've seen other drivers get penalties for dangerous maneuvers that sti that didn't cause a collision, but they were dangerous enough to break the rules. Paulie :D: And Josh brings up a good point because I know that you you heard it on the radio, his engineer was like, Whatever Max does, we're doing the opposite of him. Which makes perfect sense. But however, I didn't think I didn't feel like it was the need to be that aggressive to then just go into the pits. I thought it was too it was risk a lot to re the reward was very little to risk that much. Josh Creed: Thank you. Meredith: I mean the reward landed him on the podium though. Him choosing to pit when he did last second, going in, get the tires, you know, that was that was four laps before the virtual safety car for the Audi having to retire. You know, like I I think the timing of that is what put George on that podium, which like, how does he keep sneaking on the podium? Like the whole race, I was thinking it was going to be Charles and Kimmy and Lewis or Josh Creed: Yeah, does nothing all the memes is like the does nothing ends up on the podium Paulie :D: Do you what? Meredith: Charles and Kimmy and Lando at like, you know, at one point I thought Max was gonna go for it. And then obviously Max had that massive issue with the rear wing that sent him off into the gravel, which honestly was a bummer to see. Like that's I hate that. I thought Max was again driving an incredible race. He looked strong just like he looked strong in Austria. But yeah, I don't know. It was like all of a I'm like, George, what are you what are you doing here? Paulie :D: Do we think he would have he would have landed on the podium had f the issues not occurred towards the end? Meredith: I don't I my my determination of like him being on the podium would have been like had Kimmy not had the issues that Kimmy had. If Kimmy had not had the issues that he had, the the the George isn't on that podium at all. Like no questions asked. That's that's what happens in my mind. I mean the fact that Josh Creed: Hmm. Meredith: Kimmy placed where he did and was able to finish that race even after multiple pit stops to try to fix that issue. Like, I mean, it was like they were saying it was like that that thing over the wheel was like preventing him and like it was causing issues. And he's like, no, let me finish. loved that he still wanted to finish. I think that was awesome. But had that not happened with Kimmy, George doesn't end on a podium for me. So even the rest of that stuff with, you know, the safety car and of that, I don't know. Josh Creed: Thank you. Thank you. Meredith: I don't think it was necessarily just the safety car with Max's wreck that landed George where he was. I I think it was a culmination of multiple a series of unfortunate events that led to George being on the podium. Was that did I read that that was George's first podium at Silverstone? I I think I saw I think I saw him post that it was his first podium at Silverstone, which I don't know why. Like I thought he had gotten podiums there before. Maybe that was just his best placement there. Josh Creed: Is it? Paulie :D: Seems about right. Right. Right. Meredith: I don't know. we also have to talk about Paul, how you made Hi, baby! What doing, Wrigley? ⁓ Paulie :D: Being an asshole. Meredith: Yo, Wrigley, don't be an asshole. Paulie :D: Yeah, just just throwing everything. Meredith: We have to talk about that Paul, you manifested a Cadillac double finish. Paulie :D: Catalek is back, baby. They're winning it all. I'm telling you, I am convinced. Meredith: Cadillac is so back. I did almost have a visceral reaction to Josh saying Sergio Perez earlier because I was like, who's Sergio Perez? Cause like just Checo feels innate. But it like it did take me a solid two seconds to register. You were talking about Checo. But I thought number one, I thought it was awesome that Checo showed up in his Mexico team kit for race day. That was amazing. ⁓ number two, super excited for Cadillac. That's great progress for them. So thank you for manifesting that, Paul. Paulie :D: There go. Josh Creed: You Paulie :D: Back Meredith: They're they're back or they're they're arriving. They're at They're at the back, but they've arrived to the phase of Formula One where they're finishing races, which I think is fantastic. Josh Creed: They are at the back. Yes, ⁓ yay, your brakes don't in the first three laps. Congratulations Cadillac. Paulie :D: calling it now. They're they're on they're on the podium at Spawn next weekend. Meredith: Hey ⁓ that'd be crazy. okay, any other specific teams y'all want to talk about before we talk about that virtual safety car and that ending? Josh Creed: What? Paulie :D: No, let's talk about that stupid virtual safety car crap. This is dumb. This is horseshit. Meredith: I guess I'm just like really because like the FIA came out and said that it was a technical error, that the safety car didn't receive the notification in time that it should have come in for the final lap of racing. But then they also released this like three paragraph statement that was essentially saying like it wouldn't have been safe for the safety car to un to unrelease and have that come in and have a one like I was very confused in the messaging there. Paulie :D: It's stupid. Okay, fine. Let's just let's go with the fact that it's a software issue. Is there not a goddamn human there that can override that and make the decision on the go? What the fuck are we relying on machines so goddamn much that the machine kills the machine the machine and there's not a fucking human to fix it? This is ⁓ Josh Creed: I'm. Meredith: Right. Like Josh Creed: I mean probably not within those seconds. mean because it is sorry. I gotta move the dog off of Something ⁓ he I feel like yeah, I mean I get it's computerized but they I don't think they really realized that there was an issue Until we were past the state the start finish line, right like the notification Paulie :D: No, it's all right. But this is Meredith: Yeah. And then they're like, ⁓ Lord, ⁓ because it's it said safety car ending. And then we're past the start finish. I'm like, what? What? Josh Creed: Yes. Like how we doing this? So personally hate this era of no Just personally having watched all the O2000s with the refueling, ⁓ it such a dynamic. And this is another reason why. Here we are, you have to have a set number of laps because of the fuel. Every time there's like a false start or we have to do another formation lap, these are laps we're losing off of our race on both Meredith: Mm. Josh Creed: It would feel like in years past where we're okay, there's a software issue. What's out of the lab? We're just going to add another lab. That was our fault. You know, I just feel like we're robbed of a lot of not only strategy and racing, but just, I don't know. Meredith: I saw someone online propose the idea that if it happens, if a full safety car happens within the last five laps, that they should immediately red flag the race. And I was like, love that concept. And it was funny because like Josh Creed: Yeah, then start from. Imagine a standing start five laps to go. Meredith: Yes, that would be amazing. Cause like Mihira the girl that I met at the Space City Racing Club last weekend, she and I watched the race again downtown on Sunday and she was showing me their group chat. There was a couple of girls that they all went to the Barcelona race together and she was showing me their group chat that was popping off and someone was like, Why can't they add time like they do in soccer? And I was like, ⁓ I would love that, you know, ⁓ hey, just Like red flag it and then do a standing start, or it's ⁓ hey, we're gonna add, you know, if it's we're under safety car for four laps, then you know, hey, we'll add two laps. Like Josh Creed: Yeah, and like if you did have refueling in the future, know, everybody comes down and takes on four laps of fuel mandatory red or red flag it and add that amount of fuel and then you just have a shootout finish, which would be cool. I don't think they'll ever go for that. It's very American sport-ish for us. Meredith: Never. Never. But even if they red flagged it, that wouldn't require a refuel. If they said red flag, everybody's coming back into the pits, like everybody come back. That's it. Red flag, stay in your car and and then we'll and then we'll do standing start. You know, like I I would love that. But think it was just crappy because I think we all expected to get the one lap shootout because all the signs that we were seeing said we were gonna get the one lap shootout. Paulie :D: Rumor has it. Rumor has it though. Josh Creed: Right. So. Meredith: I think if from the get-go they had said, this is not looking like it's going to clear, we will most likely be ending the race on a safety car. I think we would have been a lot less disappointed. We would have like, no, what a bomber, but boo, okay, fine. It was the fact that we thought we were gonna get the one lap shootout, which would have been impeccable. Josh Creed: I It's the anticipation of it. So let me ask you this. that we've all kind of watched other motorsport series, we see how different safety cars in these situations are handled series by series, right? Example, we've watched the Nurburgring 24. There is no safety car. It's a massive track, right? So they just have areas of the track that are slow speed while they manage whatever incident took place. Not saying Formula One needs to do that per se, but... WEC has more of a prevalent of like a virtual safety car system where they just go virtual safety car, the car is removed and we're right back to racing. Do we think that Formula One should adopt a more liberal regulation for a virtual safety car in instances like this where the car is off track, there's no damage to barriers, the car is just beached, right? There's no need to repair the barriers, there's no need to pick up debris off the track, there's no marshals that are on the actual racing surface itself. This seems like a perfect opportunity. Paulie :D: Yes. Josh Creed: for a virtual safety car and then allow the car to be removed and then we can go right back to racing without, because what we really lost under the safety car was we had to un-lap everybody, which takes time and that's how we ended up missing out on, so what do you think? Should we have a better virtual safety car system? Paulie :D: Yes. As long as as long as the stewards are safe and there's no debris on the track and everything's hunky door and all we're waiting for is a crane to pick up the car and move it. Yes. Be a little more liberal with it. Slow it down on that one section and then let let them race the the rest of the the rest of the race. Absolutely. Meredith: Agreed. I mean it's still like look, we do it every day on the highway. There's a car broken down on the side of the road. Okay, you either move over two lanes or you slow down by forty miles per hour. Th those are the laws in Texas. Like and I do it every single day. Not once has that ever come across my mind where I'm like, I'm in the lane next to ⁓ they're broken down. I'm gonna keep going seventy five, you know, like you just Josh Creed: You don't. Meredith: I I think that a virtual safety car system with better regulations about the speed within that zone, if there is not a driver at risk, if there is not damage to the barriers, damage to the track, debris present, ⁓ I think more of a virtual safety car li liberal system would be fantastic. I just again don't see it happening. Josh Creed: Right. Because they're forced to. Paulie :D: I just I just don't seem to understand how you're okay with finishing the race like that. I it in I don't know. It just it it it kinda Meredith: Yeah, I I unfortunately, like, I do get it though, because I mean, we've finished IndyCar and NASCAR races under safety car too. You know, like it it sucks, but sometimes it just happens. Like write that like down at the end, but it just sometimes it is what it is. This situation was not that to me because Max's car was well clear, you know? Like it was well clear, track was clear. Like Josh Creed: Mm-hmm. Paulie :D: But doesn't Nascar have like that like two lap shootout at the end if if this does happen? Meredith: I'm not gonna say yes or no. We'll we'll we'll copilot that one. I mean, like other races have ended under safety cars though, in other series. Paulie :D: I think they do. If I'm not I'm like I'm like Sure, sure. But I think NASCAR's got that. If if you get a safety car late, they'll extend out the race for a two lap If I'm like eighty percent sure. I don't know. You know what? I I'm a pretty confident guy this early in the morning. It's not really early, it's eight o'clock. Meredith: That's a pretty high percentage. Yeah, a NASCAR can end under a yellow flag or safety car. If an accident or caution happens after the leader takes the white flag of the final lap, the race will not be extended. We'll finish under caution at the start finish line. I was like, no, it's I was like, I've definitely seen it happen. So yes, it's if it happens within the final lap, if it's after the white flag has waved and it's in the final lap. So like the race that I'm thinking of, there was a restart for a one lap shootout and there was an immediate wreck up at the front, and they had to yellow flag it because it they they Paulie :D: See, that's why I was only eighty percent. Meredith: Couldn't even continue the lap without. So they had to immediately yellow flag it and finish under the safety car. But I do just think that, you know, it's one of those unfortunate events in F1, but it's so rare. Like I've never seen an F1 race in an under a safety car. So hopefully they'll just have a better discourse around it and how to proceed better in the future, or hopefully the technology will improve better in the future for that. Josh Creed: Okay. Paulie :D: And getting to your point, Josh, rumor has it, I saw it on Twitter, you know, you gotta take it with a grain of salt, that the FIA is considering refueling for the next generation of regulations or whatever. Meredith: That'd be dope. Josh Creed: Yeah, I mean, I like it lot. Every other ⁓ ⁓ Meredith: I like I like it a lot. Josh Creed: It's every other motorsport series seems to have a refueling aspect and it does a huge level of strategy because you can you can I they'll probably never do this again. But at one point in time, what you qualified with fuel wise was where you what you started with on the race start. So if you under fueled yourself to have a hot qualifying lap, you had to pit pretty early because you didn't have a lot of fuel in your car at the race start. Yeah, so. Meredith: Yeah. Very interesting. Josh Creed: Even in qualifying, changes the dynamic. I don't think they'll do that necessarily. I think that they would still allow low fuel for qualifying to keep it. Paulie :D: It would it would definitely spice things up for sure. Josh Creed: Yeah, so there's a lot of stuff you can do. I'm not going to sit here and harp on refueling any longer, but that it would be cool to see. Paulie :D: Josh is a big fuel guy. Meredith: Okay, any other closing thoughts on Silverstone before we do points recap? Okay, so just to recap what our predictions are, Josh had Kimmy, George, Lewis with all Brits getting a point. Paul had Kimmy Oscar George Cadillac double finish. I had George Kimmy Lewis Arvid landing in points. So Josh picked up two points for George and Lewis. Paul picked up a point for the Cadillac double finish. I picked up two points for Lewis and Arvid. But what's nice is that we didn't have any DNFs in our points this week. So that brings our new points total to Josh at 11. Paul is at zero. See he is out of the negative, Paul. You are out of the negative. and I am now at five. So a lot of season left, plenty of time, Paul. You're already back up out of the negative. We have done it. Paulie :D: Moving in the right direction. Meredith: So let's get into some silly season because there have been a lot of rumors that have been swirling since the start of Media Day at Silverstone. ⁓ I have three that I would like to talk about. the first one is a continuation of something we talked about last which is the rumors that Max is potentially leading Red Bull, and like that there were conversations with potentially McLaren or whatever. And we know Zach Brown came out and was like, nope, I'm happy with my driver lineup. Josh Creed: Okay. Okay. . Meredith: This week brought further evidence after the race where Mekis was meeting with Joseph Verstappen and Max's manager, and there was a very, very heated discussion that was filmed. ⁓ then Max was filmed running back into the paddock, running upstairs to participate in a conversation. Very, very heated discussion. So I think, ⁓ know, this is further fueling the rumors that Max could potentially be leaving Red Bull to go where. I don't know, but he has until October. To trigger his performance clause that would allow him to leave or to be bought out. What are y'all's thoughts on Max? Paulie :D: Waven. Josh Creed: I don't know if he leaves. Meredith: On a midnight train to Georgia. think so. ⁓ Josh Creed: I don't know. I don't... Paulie :D: I think he's leaving. I think he's lost faith in the team. I think he is just kind of fed up with it. I don't think he believes in the vision that this new Bull two point ⁓ is going for. Josh Creed: Well, that could be possible. don't know. As far as a performance thing, seems like, mean, from I what it sounds like is that Ford engine is the best on the grid from whatever that using. The FIA is using to determine that. It's the strongest motor. Now, their chassis development may leave some. Something to be desired, but honestly, it seems like Max is more fed up about the regulations, less about the team. Now, what I do see him out the door is the loss of GP. Meredith: Yes, that was what I read was that it was the loss of staff. He w it was reported that the issue his manager brought up is that Max is losing faith because the staff that he has committed to and worked with and built trust with all gone. And he's faith that the that they have the talent and staff to be able to continue to deliver a performance enhancing car. Josh Creed: Right? Or that's a huge one. That... Yeah. All gone. that would be the reason I would see him leave if anything. I don't necessarily think it would be a performance. That may be what he triggers to get out of this contract. But I don't think he's... Meredith: Yeah. Yeah, that would be that would be his technicality to get out of it. But I'm with I don't think he's going to another team. I think if he's leaving, I think he may just take some time. Like, I don't know, unl unless the the next silly season rumor is is true. like I don't know, like ⁓ unless a top team seat with a strong engineering team and strong backing, unless a seat opens up in one of those. I think he would rather step out of the score for a time if his issue truly is the regulations and it truly is not feeling like there's adequate engineering and staffing. I could see him being like, you what, I'm gonna take a step back. I don't need this. And he said, I don't need another championship. I just wanna race and like have fun racing and be with my family. So I could see him just taking a step back. Paulie :D: Yeah. Josh Creed: Okay. Meredith: Okay, so that brings us to the next rumor. Reports are coming out as of last night into this morning that Oscar has notified McLaren and Zach Brown that his desire is to leave McLaren at the end of the season. Paulie :D: Oscar to Red Bull, Max to McLaren. Josh Creed: That's honestly where I'm at. I could see that's the strongest likelihood. I could see them a driver swapping, like keeping the same contracts and just, because neither team's gonna want to keep an unhappy driver, right? Max is looking out the door. I think Oscar's been looking for a way out since summer of last year, to be honest. ⁓ Meredith: I could see Yeah, I I could see it swallow. Agreed. Yeah, everybody said that Monza last year was the breaking point for Oscar. Josh Creed: Yeah. understandably. mean, what a that was. ⁓ Oscar seems like ⁓ seems kind of like a different man now. I don't know. Like just even his media relations stuff, his driving, he seems like a little checked out to me. This isn't this Oscar we saw last year. Meredith: Yeah. Yeah, okay, so we could see that. Yeah. Agreed. I saw a very sad clip from the Lego race where Oscar was just driving by himself. He's just driving by himself. And it's like Oscar driving by himself because his his really like his closest friend on the grid, Lando, is gone. And then they pan the camera over to Lando and Carlos is riding along with him. And I was like, because I really do like Oscar. I love Oscar. So I you know what? Good riddance. Max to McLaren. Oscar to Red Bull, let Oscar thrive. Mark Weber would love it. Let Oscar be the lead driver. I I think it could go well. Who knows? Paulie :D: I agree. Also, what is the dictator doing in a in a Lego card? Did did he have to call Lego and say, build me one so I can play? Meredith: Did I not send y'all the meme? Hold on, I gotta say- I don't I guess I didn't send you guys this meme because this one sent me over the edge. Let's see. Josh Creed: I don't know. Paulie :D: I don't I don't seem to understand why the dictator needed to put him put himself in that situation. It's not it's not it's a driver's parade. D-R-I-V-E-R. I can spell goddamn it driver I forgot the S. Meredith: It is. I'm like, I'm having to go back through all these messages that I sent. ⁓ here we go. I'm gonna send it to y'all on the group chat right now. It just sent me over the edge. Okay. the third rumor, while I'm waiting for that to come through, is related to kind of all of the above. Horner, Christian Horner, you know, former Red Bull employee. isn't that good? Christian Horner. Is rumored to be in negotiations with Lawrence Stroll for a potential position at Aston Martin. Christian Horner has always wanted ownership, not employment. Newey was given stake in the company when he came to Aston Martin. So we know Lawrence Stroll is open to it. ⁓ So the discussion now is: would Lawrence want to potentially allow Christian Horner in a stake ownership and a much lower salary? Because we know ⁓ never been about the salary for Christian Horner. He wants ownership and control. So what are y'all's thoughts? Do you think that we could potentially see Horner at Martin as team principal with Josh Creed: Thank Meredith: stake in the company you know, yeah, take a low salary, but you've got stake in the company and now you have all the resources that were formerly at Red Bull. Not all of them, but a lot of them. You know, you got newy. Do what do y'all what do y'all think? Josh Creed: Yes, I definitely think that is a possibility. think is to do anything in his power to to revive whatever disaster happening over across the street from Silverstone. It's wild that that team has had such a and bust like every couple of years it seems like, ⁓ they're hot, then they're cold, they're hot, they're cold. They've got to do something, right? And it did not work getting Adrian Newey in that team leadership role that was very short-lived. And I don't think that was either one of their... Yeah, was just ⁓ something I don't know if that was ever really meant to be long-term. But Christian has a history of... Well, lots of things, but one of them is that he took Red Bull from a very struggling mid to backfield team and turned it into a dynasty, right? That's that's a hell of a resume and he may be the best money can buy right now. He's very in that he's very interested in taking something like that. And I don't think very many people are going to be willing to go over there to begin with. So if you've got somebody knocking on knocking on the door, he's got a great resume. There's a lot of potential that he takes it. Right. Meredith: He did. And you don't have to pay a bunch of money up front with a fat salary. Josh Creed: Not that money is ever the problem over there. They've got more money than they know what to do with. Meredith: But also their salary doesn't count towards the c the cost cap. Did y'all know that? I didn't know that. Josh Creed: Well, right. Yes, it's nothing I see. Yeah. So like you said, it's not about the money, but the team that has the most, it seems, of disposable money I think ownership would be the ask. Paulie :D: Yes. Meredith: I agree, but do like Lawrence giving stake to Nui is one thing to me. Lawrence stake to Horner is another. Like they're two power players that I don't know that that's the only thing that I struggle to see. Josh Creed: Yeah, but they're power players that power play together. They play well together. You know what I mean? Meredith: I can't, I can't. We don't need two rich, powerful men to together for evil. Although it would be cool to see Aston Martin just absolutely thrive. Josh Creed: Hey. Yeah, I mean, I don't know, we can always just hate Flavio still. Meredith: Yeah, I I still hate Flavio. I mean, but the Alpine thing didn't work out because of that. Josh Creed: I mean, yeah. Okay, let's do this one. Here's a little side game. Who's worse? Flavio, who is kind of more just admittedly a piece of shit, but he's kind of just cool with it, or Christian Horner, who is just a piece of shit, but he doesn't want to admit it. Meredith: I am among among others. Paulie :D: Kissing Horner. Christian Horner's worst. Meredith: ⁓ I'm ⁓ Horner. I mean Flavio's a piece of shit because he cheated and he there is no reason he should be back in the F1 world. He blatantly cheated. But like I cheated on a Spanish cess in college, you know? Like, that make me a total piece of shit person? No. But you know, should I be allowed back into a Spanish class? No, you know, like, but Horner's an actual human piece of shit. Like Josh Creed: And like, like. ⁓ Paulie :D: He got somebody fired because he couldn't keep it in his pants. Meredith: Yeah, like go to therapy, Christian. Go to therapy. as that. Go bang your hot wife. Like, get it together. What what more could you need? So I don't know. I I s I'm a piece of shit. Paulie :D: Yeah. Yeah, Flavio Flavio admits he did something wrong and he just rubs it in your face and he just laughs about it. Yeah, he's a bad guy he shouldn't be back in F one, but here we are. Money talks, but Horner is worse. But ⁓ but apparently you cry you cry enough and you're on your knees enough, somebody's bound to give you a job and has shown that he can't just move on with his life. He's gotta kiss his kiss ass his way through to back to the F one grid. Josh Creed: Okay. Okay. Meredith: Yeah, it does just suck though because Horner has a track record of wonderful team performance. To me, it's easier for a sport to justify Christian Horner coming back in because of the performance he delivered, set the personal stuff aside because was ever concluded, you know? Like, so it's easier. I can understand why, from a business perspective, it's easier to allow Horner back in. Like, ⁓ it bad? Josh Creed: Okay. Meredith: ER, yeah, but if you know you put in all the psychological safety training, we're gonna do all the sexual harassment training, da-da-da. If you say you do all those things and you actually do them and you bring in somebody who has a track record of turning a team around and delivering multiple world titles, like I can see it from their perspective. Do I like it? No. Can I see it from their perspective? Yes. It is harder for me to understand why Flavio should be allowed back in than it is to understand why Horner would be allowed back in. ⁓ Paulie :D: I just think this is this r this has the smell of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. I don't think I don't think Horner can recreate w with Aston Martin what he did with Red Bull. I just I just don't think so. I don't think he'll ever have Bark Weber. I don't think he'll ever have Sebastian Veto. I don't think he'll ever have Max Verstappen sort ⁓ with Aston Martin he had with Red Bull. It just it just Meredith: I firmly disagree. I think if you build a car with top talent and top engineers, you will be able to recruit the best drivers. I don't think it's gonna happen overnight just like it didn't happen overnight at Red Bull. Josh Creed: Yeah, I don't think that at all. Paulie :D: Okay. Josh Creed: Absolutely. Paulie :D: I don't see it happening. Josh Creed: Yeah, and. Paulie :D: I just I just don't see him being that successful with Aston Martin because all of the pieces Josh Creed: He's got all, how? He's got brand new, the facilities are brand new. Brand spakin' new. They've got all the money in the world. They've got two drivers who are more than likely both on their way out, which opens you up to getting whoever you want. The deep, like Mayor said, the deepest pockets, they have everything, all the pieces in there. They just need someone to put them together. And Christian is really good at that. So. Meredith: Deepest pocket. Paulie :D: Do I think there'll be some level of success with SN Martin? Yes, right? Because the team the team is is hot garbage and truly you can't get worse than what they're doing now. But to say he's going to recreate what he did with Red Bull or give him that level of success, I don't see that happening. there be some success? Sure. But to the point where everybody thinks like, ⁓ Aston Martin's gonna win it all now. I d I just don't see that happening. ⁓ Meredith: I mean, we thought a year ago, we thought Aston Martin was going to have it all. Until the start of this season, we all fully expected Aston Martin to come out and bedazzle us and wow us and look at us now. Paulie :D: They all but broken Nui. Has anybody heard from the man? Is he still alive? Meredith: I hope he's also in therapy. I hope I hope the formula one therapy is like a huge career. Josh Creed: He's not a front-facing kind of guy anyway. Paulie :D: But what if he he's not revolutionizing anything? Josh Creed: Well, their problem is their power unit. Purely. I mean, I'm sure there was problems with the chassis, I can't, yeah, cheers with the power unit. But it's admittedly a problem from Japan. They left the car over in Suzuka for two weeks and they fixed some of the vibration issues, which was great. But it's, I don't know, I doubt it's Adrian Nui's design that's just completely a disaster. Paulie :D: I don't have anything to drink, damn it. Okay. Josh Creed: I'm sure it plays a part, Meredith: Well, we'll keep our eye on that one, because like we always say, where there's smoke, there's fire. So we'll just keep our eye on that. Any other F1 silly season rumors that you guys have heard about? Me either. I mean, but hey, look, this all popped up over a week. So who knows? You know, we've got a little break and then Belgium. Josh Creed: Well, mean, we've got the we've got the Lawson's probably on the way out. ⁓ Sonota could come. Sonota be coming back to Haas. I mean, there's a few that are running around, but not nothing new. Meredith: Yeah. Yeah. I think, you know, it's it it is a bummer though, because like I was listening to the commentators talk about it again this weekend. were just talking about what an impressive drive Liam has done lately and how consistent he's been delivering points. I mean, them ending up in sixth and seventh with V Carb. Like I said to Joe yesterday when when Will Buxton tweeted that, I said, How funny would it be if they announced that Max Verstappen was going to V Carb? Like the announcement from Will Buxton, like What if it was that Max was actually asking Laurent, put me in a V carb and let me see if I can deliver better? they to be finishing races more consistently than I am. I was like jokingly, but yeah, there are some of those more midfield ones. I ⁓ Yuki is always back in there. Yuki's also in talks for potential indie car seat though, too, because of the Japanese manufacturing relationship. So ⁓ I heard a lot of that, but I'd love to see Yuki back on the grid. But it is hard because I think Liam is actually doing a pretty decent job right now. Josh Creed: Yeah. Meredith: So I know we talked about that last week, but I think you I think Yuki would be great to have back on the grid. I think Liam is doing solid. I think Arvid is doing solid. So tough decisions for them. But you know, Nikola Solov again won his third race in a row in F two. He is one win away from breaking the F two season record, and we're only half of the way through the season. So pretty cool. So we'll see. Okay, any other F one thoughts before we do a quick update on IndyCar? Okay, so we will switch over. Indy Carr was at mid Ohio this weekend. And as you can see, Paul is repping his number five hoodie for Arrow McLaren. Pato Award wins his first of the season. but what was really exciting was that it was a first ever Indy Carr Arrow McLaren 1 2. So Pato Award finishing first, Christian Lundard finishing second. in the post race interview, Christian Lundard, you know, they asked, like, Paulie :D: Who got third? Meredith: Do you think if XYZ would have been different that you could have been winning this race? And Christian Lungard said, like, actually, no, like, I think Pato had the better car today. I think the better guy won the race. and it was actually really hard to see Christian Lungard's post-race interview. He was pretty sour and down. and the breaking news as of yesterday made a lot more sense. ⁓ There whisperings of it last week that Felix Rose and Quist and Scott Dixon may be in the Errol McLaren lineup. And we talked a couple of weeks ago. ⁓ About Felix Rosenquist getting dropped by his team. And Paul and I were like, How do you drop the Indy 500 winner? Like, how do you not re-sign the Indy 500 winner? And I thought he has been made an offer he cannot refuse with the top team. Now we know that the lineup for next year at Arrow McLaren is Pato Award, Felix Rosenquist, Indy 500 winner, and the very accomplished Scott Dixon. So that means Christian Lungard, who has won more races this year than Pato has. Who is arguably driving the best behind Alex Pillow? Like, to me, what like the championship contenders this year are Alex Pillow, Kyle Kirkwood, and Christian Lungard. And you drop Lungard. So now his post race interview makes a lot more sense to me. So, Paul, what are your thoughts on the Pada win, the McLaren one too, the Lungard drop, the new lineup for Aaron McLaren? What are you thinking? Paulie :D: Well don't forget don't forget though, F four drivers. Don't forget Don't forget, Aaron McLaren is also gonna have Ryan Hunter Ray as their fourth car for the Eighty five hundred exercise. Meredith: Yeah, fourth car for Indy five hundred, but like full time season is just scott. But I I'm super excited for Pato and Felix. Let me state that. Like they're former teammates, very good friends. I love their dynamics. So they're like the Lando and Carlos to me of IndyCar. Paulie :D: ⁓ I'm super excited. You know, Scott Dixon, great driver, lot of great history, have done amazing things for the sport. He can only be an asset to that Aaron McLaren team. Felix you know, another great guy. You just love him. He's very vocal about the fact that he him and Paddo are best friends. So it's great to reunite them back to the team. It's very clear that Aaron McLaren cares about one thing and one thing only, and that's the ND five hundred. Josh Creed: So, thank Paulie :D: They don't care about anything else. They just want that Indy five hundred win. So think this is the best recipe to do it. Hopefully the Chevy engine can do it. Hopefully that team can figure it out because they've been right there on the cusp of it with paddo in the last couple years. Hopefully this is what they need to get to get over the hurdle. I see I don't know how I feel about them just putting all their eggs into the Indy five hundred basket because it seems like they're just throwing away a whole season on focus on one. I don't know. It just it I kinda leaves a weird taste in my mouth. so you know, also what's Paddo gonna do? This is twenty twenty-seven is his last year contractually with Errol McLaren. So are they trying to do Meredith: Yeah. If Pato doesn't start delivering more, like I mean, we are this far into the season and this is Pato's first win. And it's not like he's had a stellar season. So I think if Pato doesn't start delivering, I think he could be looking at a non renewal position. Paulie :D: But my question. My but my question is, what isn't delivering? Is it the driver that's not doing well is it the car that's just not quite there? Meredith: It's clearly the driver because Lungard's delivering wins consistently and podiums behind those wins. Yeah, but look at his podiums. He's he's podiumed third in the standings, second in the standings. Let's see. Josh Creed: So So. Paulie :D: Who wins though? Sure, I'll give you the podiums. then that so then the so then is it the driver that's unhappy with the team and not performing, or is it the car that's just or is it just Pyro's car that's not there? I don't know. There's so many questions, not a lot of answers. We'll only have to see what what happens next. ⁓ Meredith: Yeah. I mean, Alex Plow's in the lead. Kyle Kirkwood's fifty-six points behind him. Christian Lungard is sixty-five points behind Plow. So only a nine point differential between second and third right now. And Christian Lungard's trajectory has been up. Kyle Kirkwood started strong and faded off. So we'll see. Lotta lot of there's not a lot of season left. Like and there's still a lot of silly season to happen in IndyCar too. So I mean, I think we've got A lot of the grid that's still gonna shake around and move for indie car before next year. Plus, not to mention, we have incredible indie next talent too. It's like the Formula Two world right now where we've got some solid talent in there. There is some incredible indie next talent too. wouldn't be surprised if we said goodbye to a couple of our indie NTT series drivers ⁓ said hello to some indie next drivers. Like I could see one or two of them being pulled up in in an attempt to just get some fresh blood in there and change the game for some teens that have not been seeing results. So who knows? Paulie :D: I just Well, it yeah. It looks like Christian Lumar's gonna end up going to take Scott Dixon's car with with a chip, so it would be that that's kinda Meredith: Be cool. I think Lungard at Chipgenassi racing. I mean, think about how long Scott Dixon was at Chipganasi. Was it like 20 years or something? Like, yeah, like it's insane. So, you know, I see Lungard. ⁓ kind of like the same thing I feel about Christian Rasmussen. You like I have seen if Rasmussen would have had a really incredible season, I could have seen him potentially being a candidate for Arrow McLaren. But like I was talking with Podium Pop and they were they were talking about how much they actually love. Paulie :D: Twenty twenty eight years. Meredith: Christian Rasmussen staying with Ed Carpenter racing and like building a career. I could see Lungaard doing that with Chip Ganasi racing the same way Scott Dixon did. Like get a home, find a home, stay there, build that relationship and develop that. So I can see that. That'd be cool. But we got a couple races. Paulie :D: Yeah. I I hear I hear I hear Connor Daly's coming back too next year, so that'll be good for him. You know, I I I don't see only Christian is just not good at ovals. And but we have more road courses than we are in street courses than we have ovals. So that's this is why I d I don't understand Errol McLaren's long term plan when it comes to this. Meredith: Yeah, I was gonna say your ratio of that is different. Paulie :D: because granted Nolan Siegel's young and and he he was gonna go anyway. No Nolan Siegel just really wasn't there. He he's he's got a better future in in endurance or or other races in Asia. But Christian Lugard is doing amazing in Meredith: Sweet, sweet no one. He was going. Yeah. Paulie :D: Treden Road courses. Why are you gonna throw that just because he's not good at ovals? We only have a handful of ovals throughout the year. So I I don't get it. don't know what's happening at Errol McLaren. Ultimately I'm happy that's three really big names in the sport. So hopefully things go well. But I just I don't see I don't see the long-term goal. And if you ask me right now, my money is that Paddo's leaving at the end of 27. Josh Creed: Okay. you Meredith: I don't either. I would see that too. But only five races left this season. A bigger break. So kind of the same break that we have, like in Formula One, how we have a bit of a longer summer break after Hungary. ⁓ we kind of have a bit of a bigger break too with IndyCar. So we had Mid-Ohio, we have a weekend off, and then we have Nashville, which they've flipped. Remember, they flipped Nashville and Laguna Seca. So ⁓ to they finished the season in Nashville, and a lot of drivers had thoughts about that. So now they're finishing at Laguna Seca with the infamous corkscrew. but Josh Creed: Okay. you Meredith: After Nashville, we have a two week break before Portland. so that is, I think, when we're gonna see a lot more silly season news, just like we always see the silly season summer F one news when there's that bit of a longer break. So ⁓ think we can expect more to come during that. But with only five races left in the indie car season, still a lot of opportunity and a very tight championship. Will Alex Pillow win it all? Who could say? Maybe Kyle Kirkwood and Longard are gonna make a run at it, but we'll see. So with that, we will wrap up with just kind of like some racing that's happening this weekend. We do not have an F1 race this weekend. We do not have an IndyCar race this weekend, but we do have amazing racing. is back at Sao Paulo, one of my favorite endurance races ⁓ the season. I freaking love Sao Paulo. And to have WEC at Sao Paulo is exciting. I know Josh, you're gonna be pumped about that one because you love Brazil too, right? Yeah, it's just incredible. I Josh Creed: I do. love that track. It's so much fun. Paulie :D: Is it is it is it the same one or close to the one they use in F1 or no? The same layout? No shit, that's awesome. How long is this race? Meredith: Sud good raising. Mm-hmm. Same one. Yeah. Josh Creed: No, it's the same. Meredith: Yeah. That'll be interesting. It's it's like WEC at Spa, it's the same track. Yeah. Six hours. Yeah, some of the WEC are six, some of the WEC are eight, and then there's the twenty four hours. Josh Creed: same track. Paulie :D: ⁓ how long is this race? that's pretty cool. ⁓ Josh Creed: Or their distances. Qatar is like the 84 something something kilometers. ⁓ don't know. That's why don't know what it is. I don't know. They just go in circles until they stop. Meredith: Yeah. What the fuck is a kilometer? ⁓ also in the endurance world, we have Imza in Canada. and we do have NASCAR in Atlanta. So that'll be ⁓ God, that's gonna be a hot one. Hot. Caliente. But yeah, still some great racing on this weekend. So ⁓ We've got good endurance with WEC and Imsa. And then we've got NASCAR, which to me also feels like endurance racing. If ⁓ hours in that car in Atlanta. No thank you. Yeah. Wild. Paulie :D: Caliente. Josh Creed: Mm-hmm. that's longer than some of the MSA races, honestly. Meredith: Yeah, so good racing on this weekend and then and then we just have one week off for F1 and then we've got Spa. So we'll be back next week with all of our thoughts on spa, catch up on any racing, more silly season rumors for F1 and any car and any of the other good racing news. Anything else y'all want to close out with? Okay, I will work on those dog collars tonight. We'll be back next week for pups and podcasting and talk about racing. I hope everybody has an awesome week. As always, engage with us, engage with us on socials. Send us your thoughts, send us your feedback, send us your questions, and we'll see you guys next week. Have a good one. Bye. Josh Creed: cost. See you.