Latest / Banter with the Boys / F1 2025 | Belgian GP Preview - Fast Laps with the Boys

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F1 2025 | Belgian GP Preview - Fast Laps with the Boys · Banter with the Boys

0:01
Let's go! Welcome back to Banter with the Boys,
0:17
Belgian GP preview. Oh, Fast Laps, that's the
0:21
name of our show. I was going to go with Fast.
0:23
Banter with the Boys, and then you don't even
0:24
know what you're listening to or watching if
0:26
you're on YouTube, but this is Fast Laps. We're
0:29
back. We had not even technical difficulties
0:33
last week. We were going to try to give you something
0:35
special, and then Mike and I both had work difficulties.
0:39
Yeah, I'd be like that. You know, adult stuff.
0:44
That's why we get to do this every week. What
0:49
am I talking about? What are we doing? Mike,
0:52
I mean, yeah, Mike. Does he know where he is?
0:56
You got your new Nico hat on. I do, yeah, we
0:59
got the new hat. Obviously, he didn't get the
1:01
memo. We put out the memo. We said, make sure
1:04
you wear your new... Your new F1 hats. You wore
1:07
your new one. I wore my new one, and here's an
1:09
Alpine hat. I was going to wear my Bass Pro Shops
1:11
hat in, like, protest. Your new mid -tier field
1:14
team hat. Let's go! Let's go! Congratulations.
1:18
Let's go. Winners. But, yeah. Anyway, yeah. We
1:23
all made it. We all made it. Hey, I'm Joe. I'm
1:26
here, too. Joe's here, too. It's fun to be here.
1:28
And his Williams hat. New Williams hat. I've
1:30
got a Williams hat. It's their year. They're
1:33
going to win WTC. Yeah, for sure. For you NFL
1:36
fans. Sounds like a Viking fan out here saying
1:38
we're going to win the Super Bowl. It's our year,
1:39
man. It's our year. We're definitely not going
1:42
to choke right at the end there. That never happens.
1:46
Yeah. Kev, behind the camera. Kev. Getting it
1:51
done. We still don't have Kev, Mike, or Cam.
1:54
We'll get there. It's coming by the end of the
1:56
season. Yep. With that, let's – well, before
2:00
we even head into news. We'll just do this mild.
2:03
Usually we have quick thoughts after we do our.
2:07
I'm sorry. Are we boring? You are. Oh, my gosh.
2:10
I haven't said you are. I'm sorry. I'm running
2:14
out like five hours of sleep, caffeine, and the
2:16
drive to yap. And Joe and Mike, there was a lot
2:21
of stuff happening in the group chat about 15
2:25
minutes ago. I don't know what you're talking
2:28
about. Imagine that. Nothing going on up here.
2:33
He just moves his fingers. Yeah, for sure. Anyway,
2:36
the only quick thought I had was something we
2:39
might bring into... Lights here, especially after
2:43
we had just dropped the last episode. And then
2:45
biggest news of the season, probably Christian
2:48
Horner getting axed. And then we're going to
2:51
talk about today. So we're pretty late to the
2:53
ballgame. So we may start doing a little news
2:56
update if anything big happens, like if Max Verstappen
2:59
announces he's going to drive for Mercedes in
3:01
about two weeks for next season. Not even two
3:04
weeks. Apparently it's happening this week. Holy
3:06
cow. So look out for that. Look out for that.
3:10
That would be big news. That would actually be
3:13
huge news. Yeah, no, it would break that fun
3:15
world, probably. Who would take that? All right,
3:18
hold on. We'll talk about it when we get there.
3:20
No, it's quick thoughts. That's fine. Are we
3:23
even talking about Mac? Oh, yeah, I did put it
3:24
in there. All right, Kev, let's just head into
3:26
the news. We'll touch on it real quick. We've
3:28
got time. And to start our news off, obviously,
3:40
we just briefly mentioned Christian Horner getting
3:43
the boot at Red Bull after 20 years. Not on my
3:49
bingo card. Not on mine either, but I am not
3:52
upset. I'm definitely not upset either, but I'm...
3:57
I guess I'm surprised, but also not surprised.
4:00
It's like they weren't performing. It actually
4:01
makes sense that he'd get kicked, right? I mean,
4:04
they had the most dominant year of maybe even
4:07
any team in 2023, winning almost every single
4:10
race, and now they're here struggling to get
4:14
podiums with Max, and the second car is nowhere.
4:16
Right, right. 2023, but you don't think the guy
4:19
at least gets to finish the season? It is crazy
4:21
to term it like finally. I'm wondering, and I've
4:27
heard this thrown around on the internet a bit.
4:30
Typical on the internet. Part of my wonder is
4:34
if this wasn't a crack from Red Bull to plead
4:41
to Max Verstappen. We know that you and your
4:44
father have had problems with Christian Horner,
4:46
and he's not doing anything for us. We'll get
4:49
rid of him. Like, he's gone tomorrow. Say less.
4:52
Please stay with our team. We need you. But do
4:55
you think they'd do that with a deal under the
4:57
table in place with Max already? Or not? Or they'd
5:01
take the chance? If he stays, awesome. And if
5:05
not, then I guess we start over with no Christian
5:07
Warner after what he's brought us for 20 years,
5:10
which will touch on everything he's brought them.
5:13
I don't know. There's a lot of speculation on
5:15
that. It's a toughie. I mean, there's also all
5:18
the drama that came last year with him. Is there
5:23
a hangover or holdover with that drama, you think,
5:26
in this decision? There's still lawsuits going
5:28
on. We can talk about this because we're in the
5:30
U .S. and U .K. U .K. podcasts and news. People
5:34
can't talk about this because of their policies,
5:37
their laws. Mike's getting us flagged once in
5:39
a while. Here we go. Sorry to our UK friends.
5:42
This is the last episode. Apparently there's
5:45
still lawsuits and things going on with Christian
5:47
Horner about that whole scandal that went on
5:49
last year. Who's still suing him? The lady, I
5:53
guess. I don't have all the details because it's
5:55
not being talked about a whole lot because obviously
5:57
it's happening in the UK and the UK can't report
6:00
on it. I've been hearing a lot of little things
6:03
about it, but apparently there's still a lot
6:05
of backlash on that. And I think Red Bull is
6:08
just kind of like, look, you cost us Adrian Newey,
6:10
you're maybe going to cost us Max Verstappen.
6:13
Which is, I mean, that's, yeah. Goodbye. But
6:16
Newey was there the whole time Horner was there,
6:19
for the most part. Newey came in in, like, 08
6:21
or 09 or something. Might have even been earlier
6:23
than that. I just looked it up today, too. Can't
6:26
remember, but. I think he joined shortly after
6:29
they started Red Bull. I watched a lot. I remember
6:32
the morning. I was very busy online just looking
6:34
stuff up about Christian and just reading into
6:36
the announcers talking about him or commentators
6:39
talking about him. And I think he brought in
6:41
Newey, then he brought in Max. And so they almost...
6:45
And this is... probably just like, you know,
6:47
UK Sky Sports like shenanigans against Christian
6:49
because people don't care for him a lot. They
6:52
kind of framed him as being the guy that brought
6:54
everyone in, but not the guy to do things himself,
6:56
which is kind of crazy. I mean, he helped win
6:59
them so many. Is that not his position? Is that
7:03
not your position to bring in people to help
7:04
you win? Four titles with just Max. And then
7:08
three more with Vettel, right? I think he had
7:11
four with Vettel, four with Max, eight total,
7:14
and then six Constructors. In 20 years. From
7:17
a team that was not very... very good when they
7:20
got bought. To your point on appeasing Max, it
7:25
would be wild if there was some written contract.
7:28
There's no way it would be written already. It'd
7:31
be like an under the table. I feel more like
7:33
Max is already, especially Jost, he seems he
7:37
has a real big problem with Horner. I got a real
7:41
big problem with Jost. You appease Jost, you're
7:43
going to appease Max and then we'll just kind
7:46
of get them off their plate. We'll get Lorne
7:47
Mechies in there and he'll do his thing. Helmut
7:52
Marko also had problems with Christian Horner
7:55
and Max tends to agree more with Helmut Marko
7:58
because they're both Dutch. I suppose there's
8:04
that, too, that, you know, that's just one more
8:06
people in that camp that, you know, you're just
8:07
making more people happy by getting rid of the
8:09
guy. I think we should change the name from Red
8:11
Bull to Max Verstappen. Yep, I agree. Max Verstappen.
8:14
Verstappen Racing. Although I do, I mean, he
8:15
already has his racing team. I did get a chuckle
8:18
at the fact that, like, so season one of Drive
8:20
to Survive, you remember how the first episode
8:22
ended? Oh, yeah. It ended with Christian Horner
8:24
saying that if your team can't perform, the buck
8:26
stops with me. And, boy, that clip didn't age
8:30
very well. I mean, I could see them flashback
8:33
into that moment. Oh, my gosh. I hope they do
8:35
in the next season. I don't know. I haven't read
8:38
this agenda here. Can I just, like, kind of talk
8:42
about it? I just want to talk about Horner a
8:44
little bit already. Go into it. Whatever. This
8:48
is kind of a tinfoil hat moment a little bit.
8:50
Wait a minute. I've kind of been saying this.
8:54
I want to get you guys' takes as well. We're
8:56
going to be talking about Horner for probably
8:57
a little bit here. He was seen talking... with
9:01
alpine in italy for an extended period of time
9:05
and it was enough time to be noticed by the media
9:07
um he's now fired my tinfoil hat i already kind
9:11
of like suspect that he could be picked up by
9:13
alpine as a team principal because they're lacking
9:15
one right now so i already expect i don't think
9:17
he's leaving f1 i think he's going to stay in
9:19
f1 in some kind of capacity somewhere many many
9:22
principals who get fired do they come back um
9:25
i think he goes so what if they found out he
9:28
struck a deal with alpine They found out about
9:31
that, so they had to fire him immediately because
9:33
they're a competitor and they can't allow him
9:35
to continue working with them. My tinfoil is
9:39
that he's already at Alpine and he's just waiting
9:41
to get there. What if this is his garden leave?
9:44
This is his gardening leave. This is just...
9:46
Yeah, it's possible. Maybe he's already signed
9:50
with Alpine and this is just his time to... We
9:52
need you to get away from the team for long enough
9:54
so that you don't carry over our... Our specific
9:58
information on our car for next year to Alpine
10:01
and give them an unfair advantage. I don't know
10:03
how obviously it works in the F1 world. Specifically,
10:08
I also don't know how it works outside of retail
10:09
world. If you're working for a competitor in
10:12
a company in the U .S., if you sign a contract
10:16
with a competitor saying, yeah, I'm going to
10:18
go work for you, you don't get a two -week notice.
10:20
You're gone. You've got to go, essentially. You're
10:23
terminated. You maybe get a day to pack your
10:25
things. I remember signing a thing that said
10:27
I couldn't go work at another bicycle shop after
10:30
working in the one that I was working in for
10:33
three years post or something. It was crazy.
10:36
Oh, that is crazy. That was a long time ago.
10:40
The company's actually no longer in business.
10:42
Well, hey, you won that. I mean, that's what
10:44
a gardening leave is. But he's still with the
10:46
company, though. If he's going to Alpine, I would
10:50
expect that... I mean, if he's already set to
10:53
go into Alpine, I'd expect that he'd be fired,
10:55
and he would not be employed by Red Bull anymore,
10:57
unless they have to fulfill his contract. He
10:59
is. He is. They said that he was still an employee
11:02
of Red Bull. Adrian knew he was still employed
11:04
with Red Bull. was on a gardening leave for a
11:07
while, even going into the start of this year
11:10
before he moved to Aston. That's true, but that
11:12
was incredibly planned out. He was finishing
11:15
his contract, and he was still dedicating his
11:18
whole time at Red Bull to focus on their hyper
11:20
car. You're right. Why does this feel more of
11:22
a surprise? Because they just fired him. It wasn't
11:26
his choice, at least in our voice. I feel like
11:29
if he knew, he wouldn't have been emotional.
11:31
That's why it's a tinfoil hat. probably wasn't
11:35
lined up but i think trajectories are you know
11:39
you're right lining up for him at alpine i wouldn't
11:41
be surprised but uh i mean i guess as our resident
11:45
alpine fan uh when they need help we need help
11:52
it's gonna make me like alpine even less That's
11:55
fine. I don't know. I kind of like the idea of
11:57
Christian Horner helping. I don't know why. They're
11:59
just the bad guys. They're the new permanent
12:00
bad guys. No, what? How could Pierre Gasly ever
12:03
be a bad guy? Yeah, it feels bad that Pierre
12:05
Gasly's getting lumped into that, but it's Flavio
12:08
Briatore and Christian Horner. Can you tell him
12:11
I'm no longer talking to him? Two people with
12:12
the most controversy in F1. Schmelze would like
12:15
me to tell you that he's no longer talking to
12:17
you, so you can direct conversation to me, and
12:19
then I'll direct it back to Schmelze. Then you
12:21
relay it back to me. The good news is... You
12:25
don't have to tell Smelty this. I'm so sorry.
12:27
I have nothing for you. There's not a lot of
12:28
details that happen to talk about for Alpine
12:31
anyways, so that's okay. He told me not to tell
12:35
you this, but it was a slight towards you. That's
12:37
crap. Hey, you take that back. You skipped a
12:43
step. I'm kind of like, I don't feel like I get
12:46
it. It's very easy to dislike Christian Horner.
12:50
I don't know. This is like a nice little... I
12:51
mean, he's not a good person, but it's like a
12:53
little clean slate. That we know of. He's not
12:56
a good person that we know of. Allegedly. Allegedly
12:58
touched somebody. Anyway. The touch gate. Oh,
13:02
also... Or no, text gate. It was text messages.
13:04
Sorry. I'm making it up. Also, we didn't mention
13:07
new... uh, team principal for Red Bull taking
13:10
place for him is Lauren McKee. I said that. Yeah.
13:13
Oh, did you? Oh, I didn't hear you say that.
13:14
Okay, good. I just want to make sure that was,
13:16
that was brought up because I know he was, uh,
13:19
he's been like passive for team principal. I
13:22
think a few times he's been, he's been an F1
13:24
for a long time. He was in the FIA and he was
13:27
in a couple of other teams. Yeah. He's, I mean,
13:29
I guess he was, he was principal and Alpine.
13:32
So I'm not Alpine. Sorry. V carb for the last
13:35
year or two, two years, year and a half, a year
13:37
and a half. Yeah. But now he's on the Red Bull
13:39
senior team. Now he's on the Red Bull seat. The
13:41
Red Bull varsity team. He has shoes to fill.
13:43
Your favorite team. I think he got his start
13:45
actually working in the technical side for Red
13:49
Bull. I thought he started in the FIA. Oh, did
13:52
he? I thought I heard he started with Red Bull
13:54
technical. He had a stint in the FIA. He did.
13:56
Yeah, I know he had a stint in the FIA as well.
13:58
Anyway. Anyway. Okay, we briefly mentioned Max
14:03
Verstappen. We might as well touch on it one
14:05
more time. Do we want to go through Horner's
14:08
stats? I suppose. I put him on there. I guess
14:13
we don't need to talk about him. We don't need
14:14
to glaze the man. As I was typing it out, I was
14:17
like, do I really need to put all this in here?
14:20
But, I mean, it is wild to think about what they
14:23
did accomplish. And being the youngest, he was
14:26
the youngest team principal ever at 31 years
14:29
old. So in those 20 years. We mentioned they
14:34
did win six Constructors Championships, eight
14:37
WDCs. 31 times Red Bull finished 1 -2 under Horner's
14:44
command. 107 pole wins. Let's see, 124 race wins,
14:51
which ranks fourth all -time, which I think it
14:54
was Mercedes, McLaren, and Ferrari above them.
14:57
And then 287 podiums, which is 70 % of the races
15:01
they've participated in. That's pretty good.
15:03
I mean, that's a pretty good track record if
15:05
you're looking at just his stats and not 2024
15:08
Tex Touchgate. If you don't look at that, that's
15:13
wild. Yeah, I mean, 70 % of the races that you
15:17
were team principal and you got a podium, that's
15:19
insane. That's pretty nuts. Yeah, that's pretty
15:21
nuts. He's done with us glazing him. He's done
15:25
with it. Crazy. Also, for whatever it's worth,
15:28
for the first time ever in the life of Kimi Antonelli
15:32
and Oliver Bierman, Christian Horner is no longer
15:35
the team principal of Red Bull. He has been the
15:38
team principal for Red Bull longer than those
15:40
two have been alive. Dang. There are people driving
15:44
on the F1 grid who have never known a world without
15:46
Christian Horner as the team principal. Just
15:48
in general, you see him on the grid. Yeah, that's
15:50
crazy. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. That's insane. That means
15:54
we're old because we don't fit the bill. Whoopsies.
15:57
Whoops. Dropped that one. So Max Verstappen,
16:00
2020. Max Verstappen, 26. Verstappen, 26. Is
16:05
it in a Red Bull or a Mercedes? It's in a Red
16:07
Bull. I'm agreeing it's in a Red Bull. I think
16:10
it's all talk. It's fun drama. I don't think
16:13
it's anything more than that. It is weird, though.
16:16
Is it weird or is it not weird that George Russell
16:19
doesn't have a deal done yet? It is weird. That
16:21
it's been drawing on. In the last weekend, both
16:24
Toto and George publicly talked about it. um
16:28
where george was like yeah i don't have one and
16:30
it's a little weird and total was like yeah he
16:32
doesn't have one but we're looking it like we're
16:35
dealing with it right that's weird that's a weird
16:38
answer i don't know yeah because he didn't total
16:40
didn't say he specifically he was signing george
16:42
he just correct he just I guess, talked about
16:45
how George mentioned it, and that's it. He PR'd
16:49
it, right? He acknowledged it, yeah. It is weird.
16:52
I mean, if it's not Max Verstappen, it's George
16:55
Russell, right? For Mercedes, I would imagine.
16:58
If you can't somehow land this crazy fish that
17:03
frickin' Max Verstappen is, that you would stick
17:06
with George Russell out of... other options i
17:10
don't even know who you're not going to put botas
17:12
back in there over george russell right you know
17:13
i mean why would you get rid of george russell
17:15
at all yeah i don't know so yeah you're right
17:17
he's had a decent year yeah you know he's had
17:20
a really good year he's had his best year in
17:22
f1 i would argue yeah i agree yeah i don't i
17:27
don't like it i will say that i feel like toto
17:28
notoriously when uh most consistent year in f1
17:33
total for sure total will regularly um when he
17:37
signs his contracts does it over summer break
17:40
okay so that's so few weeks historically historically
17:45
that's when we see contracts get filled out for
17:48
mercedes during summer break i think there was
17:50
one contract ever that he signed before summer
17:53
break and it soured really badly i forget what
17:56
it was but like i remember hearing about it and
17:59
the The content that I was reading on where they
18:02
were talking about were saying, like, this is
18:03
probably why we don't see Toto signing is because
18:06
the one time he did sign before summer break,
18:08
it went poorly. So now he just never does it
18:09
again. So it's a superstition thing for him.
18:12
Yeah. And so Toto is just playing into it because
18:16
he's like, this is advertisement. There's news
18:20
about Mercedes. The more news there is about
18:22
Mercedes, the more sales there is about Mercedes.
18:24
But then he's going to sign George and people
18:26
are like, I can't believe he didn't get Verstappen.
18:28
Or maybe people will be like, yeah, no, he was
18:30
never going to get Verstappen. The only other
18:34
thing I had on here was this dude Crawford. What's
18:36
his first name? Jack. Wait. Who does he drive
18:41
for? Jack Crawford. Uno momento. FG driver? Allegedly,
18:46
yeah, yeah. Allegedly, if he came out saying
18:49
that he's kind of like officially, unofficially
18:52
eyeing up the Cadillac seat if he were to pull
18:54
off the F2 title, how likely would it be for
18:58
Cadillac to take a chance? I know, obviously,
19:01
I thought somebody here said they saw somewhere
19:03
that they would ideally like a vet and a young
19:05
driver, but how likely would they be? to take
19:08
a F2 driver right out of the gate, you know?
19:10
I mean, what other rookie are you looking at?
19:13
If you're looking at a rookie at all. Somebody
19:15
else that's young that's had a chance, maybe.
19:18
I'm not saying Jack Doohan, but, you know, just
19:21
somebody else that may have, like Mick Schumacher,
19:23
but just somebody else that has had a chance
19:27
that maybe just needs another chance. What about
19:29
Joe? You know, he's youngish, right, compared
19:32
to, like, Yvette. You know what I mean? So, like,
19:34
a Botas and a Joe or something, you know, or
19:37
Sergio and a Joe. Cadillac is also going to be
19:39
under Ferrari power at first. Could you imagine
19:42
that? Sergio and Joe. That would be actually
19:44
kind of interesting. It would be interesting.
19:46
Just for the dollars. I don't say that going
19:49
anywhere. I was hearing, I think yesterday, in
19:53
a different video that I was watching, that somebody
19:57
from the Cadillac camp had said that... had said
20:03
that Cadillac has finalized a contract and that
20:06
they're going to be announcing it over the summer
20:07
break. Whoa! Sweet! They did not say for who.
20:11
They did not give a name, but they said a contract
20:14
has been finalized and they will be announcing
20:17
it over summer break. I saw something similar.
20:20
From sources that I never trust and never will
20:23
trust and don't trust, I heard that it was Sergio
20:26
Perez. I heard that too. I've been hearing so
20:29
many things recently about Sergio. Sources that
20:33
I don't trust. I keep leaning back to that comment
20:37
that we heard from Sergio's dad. a month ago,
20:40
where Sergio's dad was like, he's not driving
20:42
an F1 again. He's done. And so I'm like, what
20:46
more of a reliable source do you need other than
20:50
the guy's actual father? What if you get money
20:53
thrown at your face? You're just still done?
20:56
Yeah, I don't know. yeah i don't know probably
20:58
not sergio's dad does seem to be like one for
21:00
drama though you know he might does he i mean
21:03
he i mean like if you see if you see him you
21:06
see he's always in like mexico when when sergio's
21:09
driving and he's like front and center at like
21:11
the finish line yeah you know he's yeah he's
21:13
very out there um jack crawford is an american
21:18
racing driver in f2 He's racing for DAMS, D -A
21:23
-M -S, and he is a part of the Aston Martin F1
21:26
driver development program. Aston, that's what
21:28
it was. Interesting. He's not driving Aston colors,
21:31
I will say, but he's part of their development
21:33
program. Where is he in the standings for an
21:34
F2? That is a good question. He's an American
21:37
driver. Dang, I feel like an idiot. He's in second,
21:39
I thought, because I thought Alex Dunn was in
21:40
first, right? You're going to give me the details
21:44
right now. I'm going to give you the details
21:45
right now. I sure hope so. In that crispy Williams
21:48
hat. Whoa, whoa. Verstappen is first. There's
21:55
a driver with the initials V -E -R. Crawford
22:02
is second. C -R -A. Who is V -E -R? We should
22:08
be talking about him. I have no clues. Franz
22:12
Herman in F2? To be fair, F2 titles do tend to
22:18
bounce around a lot. on standings and where drivers
22:21
are so that's not too unusual we could still
22:24
see jack cropper take it oh for sure well and
22:27
being an american driver they probably again
22:30
a pr move thing right you want to boost as many
22:33
fans probably in your home country as you know
22:36
what i mean as possible true as the sport continues
22:39
to grow true true uh there's allegedly an f1
22:43
style track being built in atlantic city now
22:48
whether or not it would actually be regulation
22:49
i doubt it just f1 style track it's probably
22:52
not going to be you know good enough f1 style
22:55
go -kart but again the popularity of f1 is continuing
23:01
to increase in the u .s it feels like and then
23:04
when cadillac hits the grid who knows yep but
23:06
um Yeah, I think we're ready for some up to speed
23:10
here. I do have two or a couple other quick things
23:12
to news. Here we go again. These are pretty quick.
23:16
Good news for you. I did get confirmation that
23:19
Williams is bringing a small upgrade package
23:21
to Spa this weekend. Nice. So hopefully that
23:24
helps them a little bit. Oh, yeah. Speaking of
23:27
upgrades, go ahead. Aston Martin has confirmed
23:29
that they are done with upgrades for the rest
23:31
of the year. That last upgrade that they took
23:34
that has given them all this performance, that's
23:36
the last one. Dewey 2026. They are done. They're
23:39
phoning it in for the year. They are putting
23:41
all their focus on 2026. And Pirelli has announced
23:46
that they're going to be doing some weird stuff
23:48
with their tires this weekend. They did say that.
23:50
Bringing, I think it's C1, C3, and C4. They're
23:56
going to be doing experimental tire tests. However,
23:59
it could be raining this weekend, which will
24:01
not be good for those tests. So they might push
24:03
it back. It's like a 20 % chance. Speaking of
24:06
upgrades, Ferrari's coming with a new revised
24:09
rear suspension this weekend as well. I did actually
24:12
hear about that. I forgot to write that down.
24:13
You are right. I did hear about that too. Yeah.
24:14
And hopefully that helps them a little bit. Yeah,
24:17
it's to increase resistance of the car to change
24:20
its pitch in the brake to accelerate it, and
24:21
then it's a paywall, so I don't see what happens
24:23
after that. It's a paywall. The other big thing
24:26
that I think they're also hoping for is if they
24:29
change their suspension, it'll change how much
24:30
they're bottoming out, and it'll help them with
24:32
their skid plate so that they don't need to raise
24:35
their car as high because they've been having
24:37
to raise their car higher to work around their
24:40
skid plate because obviously they had that one
24:41
weekend where they double DNF'd. That was unfortunate.
24:45
It's unfortunate. Is that all of your notes?
24:48
That was my notes. You guys touched up on everything
24:51
else that I had. Is Joe's notes completed? All
24:54
my notes are for up to speed. I'm good. Good.
24:58
Good. Don't call your mom yet. We're not done.
25:01
All right, Kev. Let's head right into our Belgian
25:05
preview. I'm here to bring you up to speed for
25:19
this weekend's Grand Prix at Belgium. We're here
25:22
for the Formula One. Moet and, sorry, Moet and
25:26
Chandon Belgian Grand Prix. It's their new champagne.
25:30
Yeah, that's what I said before. Moet and Chandon.
25:33
I practice so much. Is it Moet? Moet? No, it's
25:37
Moet. No, it is Moet. Moet and Chandon. Yes,
25:39
I actually have. you ever yeah uh brelton grand
25:44
prix 2025 uh a fun fact per usual longest circuit
25:47
on the up on calendar it's a nice and quick one
25:49
our starting grid was leclerc paris hamilton
25:53
the mclarens and then max starting in 11th after
25:57
taking a new engine Lights out, and Leclerc leads
26:01
the pack through the first corner. Hamilton immediately
26:03
fighting with Perez for second, while Lando in
26:05
fourth goes a bit wide and hits the gravel, falling
26:07
down three places after only the first corner.
26:10
Meanwhile, Piastri keeps it fourth behind the
26:12
fighting Red Bull and Merc. Hamilton just gets
26:15
ahead as they get to Eau Rouge and climb the
26:17
hill toward the first ERS straight. Perez starts
26:20
fighting for his position back through the straight,
26:22
but Hamilton holds it as Russell looks to steal
26:24
Piastri's spot. By the end of lap one, Max has
26:26
made three positions and has only one car. between
26:29
himself and lando the commentators noted his
26:31
wing having a ton of downforce and you can see
26:34
clearly that both red bulls have a huge downforce
26:36
setup compared to everyone else to help in those
26:39
corners yet they both still have crazy pace in
26:42
the straights by lap three hamilton has lost
26:44
paris in his dust and starts aiming for first
26:46
he takes a position from his future teammate
26:48
on lap three by the end of the first dr straight
26:50
lap 11 and 12 russell pitts ahead of piastri
26:53
and gets an undercut for position on him claiming
26:55
net fourth piastri however keeps it right behind
26:58
the Merc up the hill through the straight, taking
27:00
his position back at the end. He sets his sights
27:02
on Perez next and takes net third from the Red
27:04
Bull. Ten laps later, at half race distance,
27:07
Russell is next on the list to overtake Perez,
27:09
with Verstappen very close behind, having made
27:11
up six positions already. Another ten laps later,
27:14
and Perez gets overtaken once more by the McLaren
27:16
of Norse, trying to claw his way back to where
27:19
he started the race, still weighs off in sixth.
27:21
Lap 36, and Piastri begins his run on Leclerc
27:24
for the final podium position. DRS open, he makes...
27:27
Takes an outside dive at the end of the DRS straight,
27:29
runs alongside him through the corner, and sticks
27:31
to position before the short downhill run. Separate
27:37
strategies from each other. Russell running a
27:39
longer stint and Hamilton on fresher tires. Two
27:41
laps left, we find the pair of Mercedes battling
27:43
out for first place. Hamilton only six tenths
27:46
behind Russell with Piastri not too far behind.
27:48
Positions stay the same as we enter the final
27:50
lap of the race. Hamilton half a second down
27:52
from Russell, following closely up the hill and
27:54
through the DRS straight, but is unable to cover
27:56
the distance and sticks behind the Mercedes through
27:58
the remainder of the lap. Piastri seven tenths
28:00
behind him. The top three separated by less than
28:02
two seconds. George crosses the line in first
28:05
in one of the... greatest drives to date, Hamilton
28:07
in second for Merc, a Merc 1 -2, and Piastri
28:10
following closely behind to take the final podium
28:12
position. But unfortunately, Russell's third
28:16
win was short -lived. The race he fought so hard
28:19
for was taken away after a disqualification due
28:22
to being 1 .5 kilograms underweight. Our final
28:25
race standings being Hamilton, Piastri, Leclerc,
28:28
Verstappen, Norris, Sainz, Perez, I put F -E
28:33
-R, Ferrari, Ocon, Ricciardo, and Stroll. I don't
28:37
know who F -E -R. Maybe that's Sainz. No, that's
28:38
not Sainz. I don't know who F -E -R is. Maybe
28:41
it's Fernando. It's Fernando. I did F -E -R instead
28:45
of A -L -L -O. So there you go. Hamilton with
28:49
the technical win. But George with a huge tire
28:54
-respirant winning on track. I love Spa, guys.
28:59
I don't know if you guys like Spa. I love Spa.
29:01
It's a fun track. I love the atmosphere of Spa.
29:04
Sure. I don't like racing it. I like the atmosphere
29:06
on most tracks, I think. Hmm. Seems pretty decent.
29:09
I feel like we typically get some okay racing
29:11
there, I think. It is a very long lap. It's really
29:15
long. Really long lap. Yeah. It's, like, noticeably
29:18
long. Like, I feel like we're watching and we're
29:20
like, oh, my God, we've only done two laps. Yeah,
29:22
right. And it's been, like, 21 minutes. Do you
29:25
remember how many laps they do there? 44. 44,
29:28
okay, yeah. Compared to, like, compared to, I
29:30
think, what? Yeah, like, I think, what was our
29:33
last track that we were at? Silverstone. Silverstone?
29:35
That was, like, a, like, yeah. a 60 lap race
29:38
or something like that yeah it's crazy so to
29:41
refresh your memories uh at silverstone smelty
29:45
got four points uh joe got two mike got one so
29:49
our grand total points uh smelty that's me uh
29:52
33 points joe at 29 points and mike is taking
29:57
a leonard zinner uh no he's at 28 points um so
30:01
that would mean oh wait no i go first right yes
30:04
sir It's like, crap! I think it's going to be...
30:10
I don't know. I don't know what McLaren's going
30:16
to do coming out of this. I'm thinking it's going
30:18
to be Lando Oscar, and then it'd be a clown if
30:25
I don't take George. Clown, he says. Yep, yep,
30:30
yep. Charles... It was floating through my mind,
30:34
though. We do not have guaranteed rain. Instead
30:36
of both McLarens. Yeah. We do not have guaranteed
30:39
rain on Sunday. But it's 50 % throughout most
30:43
of the day. It's supposed to be pretty cool,
30:46
too. Pretty cool. So a Mercedes would actually
30:49
be a decent choice. Max, last year, not good.
30:53
But the previous three years before that, he
30:55
won here. So I know who my top two are. And the
30:59
previous two races for Max, not good. Not good.
31:02
That's true. So it's hard to say. He could also
31:06
just take another component. I mean, a lot of
31:09
people take components at Spa. I think it's,
31:11
like, historic that typically it's a good track
31:13
to take components if they need them. He hasn't
31:16
had a lot of breaks, though. Okay. I'm going
31:18
to – I hate being so close to you. I'll do Oscar
31:22
in first. No. Lando in second. And we'll do George.
31:31
Kimi. So you guys both did... Same exact podium.
31:37
So Nico Hulkenberg is winning. Putting that down.
31:43
Blocked it. Oscar Piastri is going to win. Oscar's
31:48
sick. Oscar because he's sick. He's sick. Lando
31:58
Norris. And Max Verstappen. Yeah, that's good.
32:05
I feel like that's a pretty good choice. Yeah,
32:07
I don't know. It's my second choice. Oh, man.
32:09
I was, like, really tossing. I was actually thinking
32:11
about putting Russell on my podium, too. And,
32:12
like, Charles Leclerc has been rumbling around
32:14
my gut all day, too. I was thinking about it.
32:17
But, like, we don't know what this new upgrade
32:19
that Ferrari's bringing is going to do. And,
32:22
like. You would hope it would only help. We know
32:24
that Mercedes is good in the cold, but we know
32:29
how good Max is in the wet. So it's kind of like
32:32
a toss -up. One of the two. I mean, the McLarens
32:35
should run away with it again. My other thing,
32:38
too, is I'm very curious to see how Red Bull
32:39
is going to be their first run with Lauren Mechie
32:42
as their TP. Ooh, might be a little. I don't
32:47
think that bothers Max. I think Max is, yeah.
32:49
Max is an elite. I'm actually really interested
32:52
because one of the things Max has been saying,
32:53
he's been struggling with the car a lot, and
32:55
Lauren Mechies has stated the fact that one of
32:57
his big things that he's going to do on race
32:58
weekends is spend more time trying to dial in
33:01
on the car. Or the car setup for the weekend
33:06
first. That is going to be his first thing every
33:09
single weekend is making sure that both his drivers
33:10
are comfortable instead of trying to run data,
33:13
analytics, all the other crap. His pure focus
33:16
is going to be, I want to make sure my drivers
33:18
are comfortable in that car. And then once I
33:19
do, then we'll start doing all the excess stuff
33:21
after. Well, he's not going to get that done
33:23
for Yuki by the end of the year. No. I feel like...
33:27
Well, I mean, it's just getting Yuki in the most
33:29
comfortable setup of the car that he can for
33:30
the weekend. Just how high it wants to be, where
33:32
the winds are placed, etc. I feel like that's
33:35
kind of what they do already, though. What's
33:37
different? So they do, but... You say that instead
33:40
they run Dan and Analytics, but that's all to
33:42
getting them to get the fastest car they can,
33:45
right? Apparently they weren't putting enough
33:46
emphasis into their car setups on the weekends,
33:49
and that was something that Max and Yuki were
33:51
both saying, that they're driving cars that they
33:54
just weren't feeling good on. They're like, the
33:55
car setup wasn't good this weekend. And so Lauren,
33:59
as opposed to maybe like, this is the best line,
34:02
this is like... Correct, yeah, none of that stuff.
34:04
It's going to be just he's focusing on car setup.
34:06
We're going to make sure that the car setup is
34:08
good. And once that car setup is good, then I
34:10
expect that both my drivers are going to be able
34:11
to put together their laps. And so I'm feeling
34:16
good about that. I think it's going to be more
34:17
interesting to see if Yuki has any changes than
34:21
Max. Max is going to do Max things. I don't think
34:24
we're going to see anything right away. Probably
34:25
not. But by the end of the season, now until
34:27
the end of the season, because I would imagine
34:29
they're not going to take Yuki out, just let
34:30
him buck the rest of the season. I'd be curious
34:34
to see if there is any changes. I think that
34:35
would be the more drastic change than Max. Also,
34:38
we didn't bring this up, but really quickly,
34:39
I'm now more confident that Yuki keeps his seat
34:42
for 26. Because Horner is gone. Because Horner
34:45
is gone. And Lauren Mechies has been championing
34:48
Yuki Tsunoda for years, saying that Yuki Tsunoda
34:53
deserves this seat. And knowing that this car
34:56
is built for Max. Correct. And so I think that
34:58
he is going to be... yuki's biggest defender
35:00
at least throughout into 26 interesting so that's
35:05
a good point i didn't think about that because
35:08
we were talking about that like does yuki keep
35:09
a seat next year we don't know i think it's i
35:11
think it's more likely now i think you have to
35:13
ask i do i do agree i think lauren mickey's is
35:15
really good it's really good to have on your
35:17
side if you're yuki um because you're right uh
35:21
I wonder if Christian was the end -all, be -all
35:24
of the we -are -cutting -this -person, or if
35:27
it's helmet plus shareholders or some stupid
35:30
stuff like that. So I wonder if he'll be enough.
35:34
I think I've thought that Yuki's probably going
35:38
to stay around. I don't think that he's getting
35:39
booted. But you say he's going to start 2026.
35:41
I'm not sure about that. I think he should start
35:44
2026, but anything could happen, you know? I
35:47
think that Lorne McKee is going to keep him around
35:49
for 2026 so that he can have a default, something
35:52
to work with that's familiar for a new regulation
35:54
cycle. And then if Yuki still isn't putting it
35:58
together, then Lorne is going to be like, look,
35:59
man, that's, you know. It is what it is. It is
36:01
what it is. We gave you your shot. Yeah, 100%.
36:04
Yeah. Well, Mike. It was great. Thanks for busting
36:10
cheeks here. I'm happy. Got here. No, don't even
36:13
acknowledge it. Just leave it. I got here in
36:16
great time. Yeah. The two of us got here early,
36:19
in fact. Both of us got here. And you guys just
36:22
let me stay at home, not knowing either of you
36:25
were here. And here it comes. You didn't even
36:26
give me a I'm here. We walked in the house. And
36:29
he said, he goes, I hope Joe's OK. I'm like,
36:32
no, he's sitting at home right now. Why didn't
36:34
you message me then? Seriously, because I was
36:36
like, Joe's usually here almost first. I'm actually
36:40
slightly concerned. I wonder if he's OK. It's
36:42
crazy that you said, no, he's just at home. you
36:44
didn't just message me and say, hey, we're both
36:46
here. How long were you guys waiting for me?
36:49
I'm unclear. Oh, man. I'm also unclear. It's
36:54
never going to happen again. I'm going to make
36:56
you guys tell me exactly when you're kidding
36:58
me so I can game the system. Well, thanks for
37:01
being here, Joel. I'm happy to be here. I'm really
37:03
happy I made it. The debut of the Williams hat
37:05
looked good. The Williams hat looks good. It
37:06
looks good on camera, too. Probably the only
37:08
time that I'll wear it, unfortunately. What?
37:10
Why? Because they just aren't doing good right
37:12
now. So? You're going to wear that stupid McLaren
37:15
hat? What did you just say? Wearing an Alpine
37:19
hat, you say that to me? Hey, this is fair. This
37:22
is fair. They finished B6 last race, but this
37:24
is fair. Nico's the goat right now. Nico's the
37:26
goat. Okay, for one more week, Nico. One more
37:30
week, yeah. After that, I'm roasting you. Back
37:33
into the incinerator you go. And, of course,
37:36
thanks to Kev getting it all done, and he's going
37:38
to get this thing out for you guys with that.
37:41
Oh, I don't have my thing up, but don't forget
37:42
to like, comment, subscribe, wherever you listen
37:44
to the banter, whether that's YouTube, Spotify,
37:47
Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio. Nice. And we will
37:50
indeed see you here next week for another rendition
37:54
of Fast Laps. Bye. Don't forget to follow like
38:00
and subscribe. Tune in next time for more banter
38:05
with the boys.