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Fast Laps with the Boys - F1 Bahrain Preview · Banter with the Boys

• 0:00
  You're listening to
• 0:06
  Banter with the boys.
• 0:08
  From high octane to adrenaline.
• 0:12
  Starting lineups to starting grids.
• 0:15
  Right.
• 0:17
  Grid iron to Grand Prix.
• 0:19
  Get laced up.
• 0:21
  Let's go.
• 0:22
  It's time for Banner with the boys.
• 0:32
  Yo, yo, yo. Welcome back to Banner with the boys fast lapse.
• 0:37
  I'm Smeltzy. I know I'm excited to get this thing going, but we also have three other people here with me.
• 0:43
  That means four. I know we haven't been good at math on the show before, but we got four people here total.
• 0:50
  Let's start off with a guy that doesn't need any introduction.
• 0:53
  The voice arguably of Banter with the boys, our boy Tyler. What's going on?
• 0:58
  How we doing my main man? I am excited to be back talking some F1, brother. It's been too long.
• 1:04
  Been too long, been too long. And then right next to you, a guy that we know as well. He's been on the pod before. Cole, what's poppin'?
• 1:13
  I'm much excited for another F1 season. Hopefully, you know, we get some better competition at the top of the grid here and see what happens.
• 1:22
  Yeah, competition for P2 most likely, but we'll get into that in a minute.
• 1:27
  And then our new in-house, probably, I don't know, most knowledgeable person we have available to us for F1 potentially.
• 1:38
  He's brand new to the pod. Let's welcome Joe. Joe, what's going on?
• 1:43
  Thanks, Smeltie. I appreciate that. Most knowledgeable. We'll see about that. I hope to live up to the name, but I'm excited to be here.
• 1:49
  I've been counting down the days to F1. I'm ready for Max Verstappen to break my heart again. So let's do it.
• 1:55
  Fair enough, fair enough. Well, let's just go right back over to you, Tyler.
• 2:00
  So let's just let's just tell our listeners what what got you into F1 originally. So, you know, they know your F1 background.
• 2:09
  Well, I'm a newbie. This last season was the first full season that I've actually followed.
• 2:13
  I got into Drive to Survive probably about two, three months before the season started and was instantly hooked, finished or cranked through it in a matter of a week.
• 2:22
  And then got the video game. Actually, Cole and I, we played quite a bit of F1 22 and then 23. And I don't know.
• 2:30
  I mean, I've been hooked ever since, you know, got F1 TV last year, watched every race, pretty much watched all the qualifying.
• 2:36
  And on top of that, I wanted to learn a little bit of the history. So looked up, you know, I don't know, I've kind of immersed myself in it a little bit,
• 2:43
  especially now that football season is done again to where it's it's I'm excited to be a fan here going forward.
• 2:50
  Unfortunately, might be coming into it here in another dominant era by a driver here, might not have some competition,
• 2:56
  but it's kind of what F1 has been used to the last 10 or so years. And my favorite team would have to be McLaren if I would have to choose.
• 3:03
  You know, I am fairly new to the game, so I just looking at the history of it. Very historic team.
• 3:10
  Like growing up, I was never, you know, a Lamborghini or Ferrari guy. I always wanted a McLaren. If I had my dream car of choice, it was always a McLaren.
• 3:18
  So I really like Lando and Osterpia Street is impressive so far. So I'm going to have to choose the black and orange.
• 3:26
  The black and orange for Tyler. Heck, yeah. You know, I definitely play the game too. I'm not good at it, but I've definitely given it a go.
• 3:34
  Cole, what is your path to be wanting to be on Banner with the Boys fast laps to talk some F1?
• 3:41
  Yeah, last year, you know, it was a ton of fun. Obviously, I wasn't able to stick out for the whole season.
• 3:46
  We'll be doing that this year, though. Same thing with Tyler. We started around the same time watching the drive to survive, playing the video game.
• 3:55
  I was always kicking his ass in the video game. Had to show him how it's done, you know, no matter what color car.
• 4:00
  Oh, no matter what color car. But yeah, my favorite team. I don't have one really. I'm a big Charles. Do a driver. Charles Leclerc. Charles Leclerc is my boy.
• 4:10
  I love Charles. A few other guys I love to follow, too. But Charles Leclerc is the top one. OK, fair enough. Fair enough.
• 4:17
  Joe, I'm going to go ahead and take a shot in the dark judging by a phone case and a hat and just other things that maybe your favorite team would be McLaren.
• 4:25
  But why don't you tell us how you got into F1? Yeah, that guess would be correct. Big McLaren fan.
• 4:32
  My F1 kind of history started with drive to survive as well. It was my covid binge watch.
• 4:40
  Watched the first season, then binge the rest of them. Luckily, the season right after that was coming out a week later.
• 4:46
  So I really lucked out, followed the races here and there that year, but then went all in the year after and have been into it since then.
• 4:55
  Yeah, McLaren's my favorite team. Don't really have a particular favorite driver, but I love seeing I love seeing some good fighting out on the track.
• 5:03
  Sure. Heck yeah. Well, we're happy to have you on. Yeah, I guess for me, I guess we're all drive to survive children.
• 5:11
  That's what got me into it. Netflix does an incredible job with it.
• 5:16
  I mean, it's hard not to get sucked into it and want to binge it all in one one sitting.
• 5:21
  But yeah, I think I got into it literally right at season one. It came out and my buddy that now lives in Panama.
• 5:27
  Shout out him. Shout out Panama told me to watch it and that was it.
• 5:31
  Like I just started looking up everything, wanted to get into it, got the game, still sucked back then, still sucked now.
• 5:36
  Doesn't matter what color car. But yeah, no. So we just wanted to tell you guys kind of where we're coming from.
• 5:42
  We're all kind of newbies, right? We're all getting into it.
• 5:46
  You know, I'm sure you can tell from her accents. We're here in the U.S. trying to grow the sport here in the U.S.
• 5:51
  Doesn't seem very big. NASCAR is still very, very relevant and which is, you know, no hate on NASCAR.
• 5:59
  But we're just trying to grow the sport. So, yeah, we'll dive into our season predictions here.
• 6:09
  So starting right into it, I mean, we all took a team here that we're going to preview,
• 6:14
  but we're all going to kind of touch on Red Bull because it's kind of pointless anyway.
• 6:18
  But honestly, what are your guys' first reactions to Red Bull's new car?
• 6:23
  I know Max tried to come out and say like, oh yeah, I don't know about every single track.
• 6:27
  But I mean, honestly, we probably all know he's blowing smoke.
• 6:31
  Can Chako keep pace? I mean, all these things are relevant with Red Bull this year.
• 6:35
  No, no shot. No shot at what? Chako keeping pace.
• 6:39
  You don't think he's going to at least close that gap a little bit?
• 6:42
  I don't think he fights in the top five this year, especially if Ferrari and Mercedes can stay consistent throughout the season.
• 6:48
  I don't think in the players standing, he's in the top five. That's not at all.
• 6:52
  No, no, sorry. Like overall, that's what I mean. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
• 6:55
  Like overall end of the season, he's not top five driver in the final points.
• 7:00
  He's done. He's ready to retire. He's out. That's a high take. If I've ever heard one.
• 7:04
  I mean, Chako is definitely going to be in the top five.
• 7:06
  He's going to be fighting for that number two spot just because the car is that dominant.
• 7:09
  Is he going to close the gap between Max? No, I think Max is going to have the same gap between him because I think there will be more equality with the second that second position this year.
• 7:19
  But it's Max's season to lose. Let's just be honest. Yeah, I absolutely agree.
• 7:26
  I see Chako definitely fighting for second. I think he's going to be faster than last year just because of the car.
• 7:32
  But that being said, he's absolutely going to have to be fighting for second. He's got people around him that want that spot.
• 7:38
  Well, and that's just it. Right. Like contract year for him.
• 7:41
  Like he has to do well, otherwise they absolutely can and should probably move on.
• 7:47
  I think Chako could win the World Championship this year and still not get the Red Bull seat next year.
• 7:52
  You think they already have that picked out? They already know who they're going for.
• 7:56
  That's that's he's been that he's been talked about being filled for two years now.
• 8:01
  Chako just he's not the long term solution. Obviously, he's not going to outperform Max. Let's just be what it is.
• 8:08
  But it's he could get number two again and even have a wider gap between two and three.
• 8:13
  He's still not coming back next year. Does he go anywhere?
• 8:17
  You know, Chako's done, I think, after this year.
• 8:20
  And well, we know you think he's not even eclipsing top five in the number two car on the grid.
• 8:27
  I think I used to love Chako when he was at a roadie at B.M.T. W.T. W.C.
• 8:33
  I used to love when he was at B.W.T. Now I just don't like Red Bull.
• 8:37
  Only way I'm back on Red Bull and liking Red Bull is if Ricardo takes that spot next year.
• 8:42
  I think it's between him and one other guy potentially.
• 8:45
  I'm sure we'll touch on all that later. But yeah, I mean, it is Max's championship to lose.
• 8:51
  We know that. And it's probably Chako's P2 spot in the standings at the end of the year.
• 8:56
  I am to lose as well. But Cole is our we'll keep him to that.
• 9:02
  We'll keep the receipts to that later. But so why don't Cole, why don't you just take it away?
• 9:08
  Dive right into Ferrari. What what are we kind of, I guess, expecting from Ferrari for twenty twenty four?
• 9:14
  Yeah, I think Ferrari, obviously, we're seeing they're a lot more durable this year.
• 9:18
  Hopefully they can keep that up. They're not having the blowouts.
• 9:20
  I think last year, obviously, Leclerc in Bahrain didn't finish DNF, right?
• 9:26
  Signs came together at the end of the season.
• 9:28
  I think we see more consistency out of both of them.
• 9:31
  I think we're going to see a great match between them and Mercedes at the top that fight for that number two in the constructors.
• 9:37
  I would 100 percent agree with you. I mean, and then you got the during testing.
• 9:42
  I mean, their long runs actually looked decent compared to what was going on last year in the races.
• 9:48
  Obviously, like you said, just the reliability of the car just wasn't there.
• 9:52
  So I am curious to see if they capitalize on on any of that at all.
• 9:56
  Does anybody else have anything going for Ferrari this year?
• 10:00
  It's a big year for our for Ferrari.
• 10:02
  You know, it's a big year for what's for Fred Fred.
• 10:06
  But yeah, so for the team principal, I mean, they didn't perform what they should have last year.
• 10:11
  Reliability issues, it's it's far as Achilles heel.
• 10:14
  Are they going to get it figured out?
• 10:16
  Yeah, absolutely. I think qualifying, we're probably going to see Ferrari a little bit slower than they were last year.
• 10:21
  Like you said, long runs being a little bit better.
• 10:23
  Hopefully that makes them more competitive during the race and we'll see them up there and two or three.
• 10:29
  But they also kind of have a spot to prove here.
• 10:31
  You know, obviously we'll talk about it later. Who's going to Ferrari?
• 10:34
  But with them going, you know, big name going to Ferrari, they kind of have something to prove here.
• 10:39
  They got to show this car has got something it's improving and, you know, keeping them happy.
• 10:43
  Yeah, you don't want somebody coming into a complete crap show right now.
• 10:47
  Yeah, you have you absolutely hit that on the head.
• 10:49
  They absolutely have to prove that to them in whatever they told him to get him to sign that big deal.
• 10:55
  They're showing them something that's going to work maybe in the future or something that they're 26.
• 10:59
  Exactly. Yeah, like they obviously show them something.
• 11:02
  Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, that's crazy.
• 11:05
  Crazy take. We'll see what Tyler's got going to talk a little bit about McLaren's outlook for 2024.
• 11:13
  Yeah, I'm really excited for McLaren this year.
• 11:15
  They obviously started off just pitiful last year.
• 11:18
  It was terrible. And then they hit that midseason break.
• 11:21
  They brought those upgrades and then they completely turned their season around.
• 11:25
  Ended up finishing fourth, beating out Aston Martin and the constructors.
• 11:28
  And they have two incredibly young drivers with Lando being the experienced one at what, 25 years old.
• 11:35
  And he just signed an extension. So he's proved he proven he wants to be there to stay their preseason testing.
• 11:41
  You know, the car look quick.
• 11:43
  They're obviously going to be fighting a lot closer this year than last.
• 11:46
  And it's preseason testing tells me anything other than Red Bull is just going to be off the chains better than everybody else.
• 11:55
  That from two to five or six this year is going to be extremely close because the cars look pretty well equal, well paced.
• 12:04
  If you look at, you know, the results as a whole, there's some that, you know, Lando was in second in the first and then he was in 14th and third.
• 12:11
  So there's so much like discrepancy and disparity there where it's going to be fun to watch.
• 12:15
  And I would love for Max to get a puncture or two in one of these races and Lando get his first dub.
• 12:21
  But I think they have so much outlook after even Piazzari getting a sprint race win last year.
• 12:27
  You know, this team is just on the up and up and they've proven that they're going to try to get back to that old form.
• 12:33
  Well, and I asked Joe off Mike and I'm curious of your answer too since you're a McLaren fan.
• 12:39
  Like, is it concerning at all that Lando hasn't yet been in that number one spot on the podium?
• 12:44
  I mean, is it concerning? I don't think so, because since he's been a driver, how many people have been in that number one spot?
• 12:50
  There's not a lot of disparity of who's even won a race. Right, count them on your hand.
• 12:54
  Exactly. So it's like, I mean, if he wasn't in the era of the Maxford Stappan era, I think it'd be a lot different conversation.
• 13:01
  But in the same regard, Piazzari got a sprint win in his rookie year. Right.
• 13:05
  And Lando's, he's been on the podium so many times. He's been so close. He just he can't beat that number one driver.
• 13:11
  He's proven he's got the skill. I think we see a lot of P3 finishes from Lando this year, if not challenge for a few P2s.
• 13:19
  Oh, for sure. I think he's definitely going to have his fair share of P2s. You know, even last year he had a couple.
• 13:25
  I mean, he had a run there where he had like two or three in a row towards the end of the year.
• 13:29
  But it's I'd love to see him get his first win. I really would. Sure. Sure. Joe, I got to know your McLaren out.
• 13:35
  What were you about to say? Yeah, I just want to say I think in the drive to survive, Joe, not to split it for you,
• 13:40
  but they made it way too dumb on the on the fact that he wasn't going to sign back McLaren.
• 13:47
  They made it like this whole scene. He bleeds orange. Lando is always going to be with McLaren.
• 13:52
  Well, and unfortunately, with drive to survive, you know, some of that stuff's going to be, you know,
• 13:56
  they got to make a little bit of a story out of it. I still think most of it is honestly just really good factual stuff.
• 14:03
  I mean, again, they do a really good job of producing the thing, but you obviously have that like reality show part of it, you know,
• 14:09
  that's kind of annoying and the drivers are annoyed by it. I think they've even said that. Oh, yeah.
• 14:14
  Max loves drive to survive. Yeah, I'm sure he does. Joe, what's McLaren look like for you? Man. Yeah.
• 14:21
  Since you're a fan. Everything I would say would just be an echo of you guys.
• 14:25
  I'm really excited to see what Oscar can bring to the plate this year after his first after his rookie season.
• 14:31
  I'm interested to see how close he'll be fighting with Lando because it was an outstanding rookie season.
• 14:38
  I think that he really brings something to the table for the team.
• 14:41
  And yeah, that McLaren just in general, long run, I think they're pretty pretty sad as long as they can deliver a really good car.
• 14:48
  They got two really good drivers to bring it home for him. Do you think Piazzari puts any pressure on Lando?
• 14:54
  I think he will. Seeing how he did last year, you know, being the rookie season, obviously there's some stuff to work out right at the beginning.
• 15:01
  But he's proven himself. He's gotten that sprint win, no spa.
• 15:05
  Unfortunately, it ended poorly for him at the end of the race, but he looked really strong. Just one of the call outs there.
• 15:12
  Lando's got to be thinking like, hey, when it comes to team orders, are there going to be those orders there or am I going to be allowed to race?
• 15:19
  You know, do you guys being McLaren fans, do you think that they have a shot this year to try to keep up with Red Bull and Mercedes for the number two spot?
• 15:27
  Ferrari and Mercedes. Yeah, sorry. Yeah.
• 15:31
  100 percent. I think they are in the running for second or third constructors championship.
• 15:37
  I 100 percent agree. I mean, I just don't see why they wouldn't be. If you look at the last, you just take the first half of last year out of the equation.
• 15:45
  They were you can make a very strong argument. The second best team in the second half of the year.
• 15:49
  Did did McLaren go with a new car concept this year? No, similar. Same deal. Similar for the most part.
• 15:55
  OK, OK. It wasn't a lot of changes. Red Bull surprisingly changed a lot. Yeah, Alpine did too. But yeah, we'll get to Mercedes is a whole new concept.
• 16:03
  Yeah. Unfortunately, McLaren had to probably spend all their time fixing their car last year.
• 16:07
  So they're just coming with what they got. True facts.
• 16:11
  Well, why don't you just lead right into what Mercedes is looking like? Yeah.
• 16:15
  Kind of on a similar note to McLaren, Mercedes looking way better than they did in preseason testing last year, both of the drivers saying that the car just in general felt better.
• 16:26
  So that's a really good start. I still think they got a fight on their hands. Second is absolutely not guaranteed for them.
• 16:32
  I think it's going to be a hard fight as well. I'm interested to hear what you guys think.
• 16:36
  I'm just curious if this whole I mean, it's already out there. We'll get to it again. We'll touch on it.
• 16:41
  We won't go into detail here, but the whole Lewis deal is that a distraction for their season going going forward?
• 16:48
  Like into this season, I got one head shake. Yes. And two no head shakes.
• 16:53
  Now, me and Tyler were actually chatting about this today on the phone. Oh, I think that Lewis this year is out to prove something with somebody who's he's dominated with for so long.
• 17:03
  He's out to prove that, listen, I still love Mercedes. I want to see them at number two. And I think he wants that confidence going into, you know, Ferrari next year.
• 17:11
  Well, and you almost guarantee he has no love lost towards Mercedes. I mean, they've helped him become one of the best drivers to ever to ever do it.
• 17:22
  Yeah, it's hands down. I mean, and he's come out and even said more than that. He owes a lot to Mercedes and Toto in particular.
• 17:30
  And yeah, I don't think it's going to be a distraction because I don't think Mercedes will allow it to be a distraction.
• 17:35
  Lewis won't want it to be a distraction. I think we're going to see a revitalized Lewis this year and going to do whatever he can to put as much as he can into the track in the car this year to just prove that he's still himself.
• 17:44
  And this is a guy that was not a huge fan of the car last year. But once he got more comfortable, he was killing it.
• 17:51
  And if he's coming in preseason testing, like Joe's saying, and he's excited and happy to work with this car, Lewis liking his car is a dangerous Lewis.
• 17:59
  I would agree with that 100 percent. And I mean, it just goes to show you what was it? What was the what was the the sketchy ending to the season? Was that 2021?
• 18:09
  The whole Massey saying and yeah, between him and Max is 2021. Lewis needed tires bad and he drove the absolute crap out of that car like that.
• 18:19
  That proved to me like Lewis absolutely still has all the skill in the world. You just got to give him a good car. Yeah. So if Mercedes does that this year, I don't see why he doesn't.
• 18:30
  Doesn't not challenge Max. I mean, honestly, but like, hey, he could he could beat out Checo in the drivers. Not even that.
• 18:39
  I mean, Max won obviously majority of the races last year, but science came in and pulled out a win. I wouldn't be surprised to see Lewis get another first this year. I hope so.
• 18:47
  And when I first got into F1, it was Lewis, this Lewis, that it was annoying as heck. I hated him.
• 18:53
  It was kind of like, you know, when I grew up hating an NFL player named Brett Favre, like he was just so good that you wanted to hate him.
• 19:01
  And that's kind of how I felt with Lewis Hamilton, like he was just so freaking good. I just wanted to hate him.
• 19:05
  And then ever, you know, ever since Max took over, I'm like, I don't want to see Lewis get a get a dub. You know what I mean? Yeah.
• 19:12
  Everybody wants to see Lewis get his eighth. Yeah, everybody wants to see that, too.
• 19:17
  I mean, that's got to be in the back of his head more than more than anybody else's.
• 19:21
  But I mean, we talked about Lewis. What about his counterpart?
• 19:25
  Do you think Mercedes is like still excited about George Russell's future?
• 19:30
  100 percent. He's he's a future world champion. You think so? At Mercedes?
• 19:34
  Absolutely. Mercedes. I don't know. I mean, if they can get a car back that can compete with with Red Bull at this point, then he has all the skill.
• 19:41
  But he's a future world champion. Wow. And let's not forget, he's the reason that they took number two in the constructors last year in that final race.
• 19:48
  He's the one that was balling out, not Lewis. Sure. Sure.
• 19:50
  I mean, it's not like George had a bad season. He had a pretty good season.
• 19:54
  The car that he was given. Yeah, I don't know if you could make to say he had a very good season.
• 19:58
  I mean, he finished eighth in the WDC, which is not where you want to be.
• 20:03
  But along the lines of Joe, like with the car with the car that you were given.
• 20:07
  Yeah, I suppose. But I mean, even that he was he was still 70 points behind Lewis.
• 20:13
  Yeah, that's that's a little bit too far of a gap, especially when you're not getting firsts. Right. Right.
• 20:19
  And firsts. Right. Exactly. Right. Yeah.
• 20:21
  We only had two P2s last year. So where's George and then, you know, so do we do we.
• 20:27
  So that's what I mean. That's what I mean. That's why I wanted to bring it up.
• 20:29
  Like, are they still excited like like or how do you does anybody know how long he signed with Mercedes?
• 20:37
  I think they have him to 2026. OK.
• 20:40
  And that's when like all the new regs come in. Right. It's 2026. Yeah.
• 20:45
  So who knows what happens by then. But what do you say about Red Bull and the Red Bull downfall and the Red Bull downfall?
• 20:51
  I mean, that's that's kind of the general consensus.
• 20:54
  What everybody's talking about. What's up until the end of next year, 2025.
• 20:59
  So he's good for this year and 25. Yeah.
• 21:02
  He's going he's back on Mercedes. I mean, he's a future at this point. Yeah.
• 21:06
  They're not looking to go anywhere else. They're looking to build somebody, maybe another young driver to build Mercedes again.
• 21:12
  But he's he's solid there. Sure. Sure.
• 21:15
  I'm excited to talk about what possible people we have fill in that seat really quick.
• 21:21
  Just some other quick Mercedes notes in true Mercedes fashion.
• 21:24
  Yeah. A la Das system from a couple of years ago, we saw some crazy new wings, crazy new suspension that no one else was doing.
• 21:32
  I'm interested to see if they continue that going, if it doesn't work like the whole side pod fiasco did a few years ago as well.
• 21:39
  And if they get called out on it and someone complains in the paddock and gets them a penalty or some some stuff like that.
• 21:47
  Sure. Fair enough. Fair enough. I guess we'll I guess we'll find out.
• 21:51
  I'm sure there'll be some complaints from you know who.
• 21:54
  But unless he loses his job tomorrow, I guess we'll find out.
• 22:00
  So I guess that brings me right into my team that I covered here, which is Alpine.
• 22:07
  Kind of a disappointment, I would say, for 23 and also already the start of 24.
• 22:13
  I mean, the drivers have already pretty much said they're not very excited about the car, per se.
• 22:19
  I mean, Gastly literally came out and said, quote, I expect it'll take some time for us to unlock the performance we want from the car.
• 22:26
  You know, that was via Formula One.
• 22:28
  But at least both the issues that Pierre and Esteban are having are the same.
• 22:34
  So that's that's probably a plus, I would say, because now you definitely know what you have to fix.
• 22:39
  You know what I mean? Now, whatever that is, I don't know.
• 22:42
  I was calculating I was looking all over X, you know, but I couldn't find anything like verified that I trusted.
• 22:50
  Some saying aerodynamics, some saying, you know, the management of the tires.
• 22:55
  So, you know, I guess we'll see.
• 22:58
  But I mean, 62 points for Gastly last year, 58 for Ocon, good for 11th and 12th in the standings.
• 23:04
  It's just it's just not good enough for a team that has that history that has that should have a good power unit behind it.
• 23:13
  You know, French drivers driving for a French team.
• 23:16
  I mean, what's I don't I don't quite know what the deal is with Alpine right now.
• 23:20
  How long is their contracts? Because I mean, these are obviously good drivers, you know.
• 23:26
  I want to say they, you know, I don't know.
• 23:30
  This is I mean, we could talk about we're going to talk about contracts and everything here in a little bit.
• 23:34
  But these are two drivers, Gastly.
• 23:36
  I love Gastly. I love Gastly. He's my favorite driver. Yeah, we're all fans.
• 23:39
  We're talking about last year. If you listen to last year's drive to survive, we all love them.
• 23:43
  Not drive to survive. Sorry. Fast laps. Fast laps.
• 23:46
  But if you listen to that at all, we're all big on them.
• 23:50
  And it looks like Gastly is done at the end of the year here.
• 23:53
  And so is Ocon. So, I mean, these are people you can see going to these other bigger spots.
• 23:58
  I mean, one could hope. But I mean, a lot of the bigger spots and again, we'll get into it.
• 24:02
  We keep we're itching to talk about it because we're it could be crazy for the first time since I'm sure we've all got into F1.
• 24:10
  It could actually be crazy with driver movement for once.
• 24:14
  And so I think I think it's just exciting to see. I could also see both of them return, you know, to be to be quite honest with you.
• 24:21
  I'd like something bigger for both of them than Alpine right now, especially with where that car is at right now.
• 24:28
  You know, so I know we're not touching on it, but I mean, Williams last year with their new president.
• 24:38
  What's his name? His name? James Vows.
• 24:42
  Vows. He is doing great things with Williams. I think we're going to see an uptick there.
• 24:47
  You know, I think we're going to see a crash of Alpine this year. But there's some other teams that were at the bottom of the constructors.
• 24:53
  We might see, you know, really have a surge and step up here and drivers like Gassi who have proven themselves, you know,
• 25:00
  maybe a top team is somebody they see a big future with growing to that top three fighting position like Williams.
• 25:06
  Maybe again. Sure. No, I totally see it.
• 25:10
  Like you like like we've already said, they have the drivers. It's really a car thing right now.
• 25:15
  And however, the drivers are so confident that they can still figure that car out this season yet.
• 25:21
  Even they're still fairly confident that they can turn it around and, you know, put not to say it, but it put some fast laps down.
• 25:30
  You know what I mean? Yeah. But who realistically like where is their room to grow for Alpine? Yeah.
• 25:37
  What do you mean? So like they finished sixth last year. So they finished behind, you know, the big four should be competing.
• 25:43
  They should be beating Aston. You think they should? Yes. And they should.
• 25:46
  They should be competing with the other three Ferrari, Merck, McLaren.
• 25:51
  Now they're they're they're they're what I consider a bubble team. I was trying to tear them out today. Right.
• 25:56
  Red Bull won Merck, Ferrari, McLaren all tier two. And then there's two bubble teams, Aston and an Alpine.
• 26:02
  I think they should be fighting for that chance to be in that tier two.
• 26:06
  I mean, the thing about that, just looking at the performance last year, that would be like an expectant of an Aston like growth from the prior year to last year,
• 26:14
  because from the disparity between five and six, it was one hundred and sixty point difference between Aston and Alpine last year.
• 26:20
  Well, and then you saw Alpine in twenty twenty two finished fourth in constructors.
• 26:24
  Now you had Alonso. Right. And that carried them. I I know that.
• 26:29
  But still, like Alonso had to battle that car, too.
• 26:32
  And I'm not Alonso's a better driver than Gasly Ripp. But you know, it's a fact.
• 26:38
  Yeah, I think really what we're going to see is a lot of these teams that are, you know, seven, eight, nine, ten start to step up.
• 26:45
  Well, not Haas. But yeah, yeah, I'm really not.
• 26:48
  I'm really not confident in Haas. I love both us.
• 26:52
  I think he's an excellent driver. I think he's the only reason why they get any fricking points.
• 26:57
  Excuse me. But I think Williams is actually a team to watch out for a climb into that bubble roll that I was just talking about.
• 27:04
  Somebody other than Sargento. No, no.
• 27:06
  Sort of fighting change. And you know, and he's and we'll talk about Albon too, because I don't think he'll be there.
• 27:11
  There was two teams that tried to get him out of his contract last year.
• 27:14
  I couldn't find what two teams unless you guys know.
• 27:16
  But I found that there were confirmed two teams trying to get him out of that contract with Williams.
• 27:22
  So he still sought after. And also the what do they call it now?
• 27:26
  The old AlphaTory. They use a cash app racing bulls.
• 27:30
  B-carb. Yeah. So, I mean, you got you got AlphaTory and now it's you know, we could see not taking them.
• 27:36
  They're using Red Bull's car from last year.
• 27:39
  Yeah, yeah, their car's the RB-19 this year. So it's going to be you should see expect a huge leap from AlphaTory, especially with Danny Rick behind the wheel.
• 27:48
  I mean, we all know what he did in the RB-19 last year to testing to get the AlphaTory spot.
• 27:52
  So, but even Yuki, Yuki balled out the whole beginning and arguably the whole season last year.
• 28:00
  You can see a huge uptick from them. And you were saying, Tyler, that now there's not going to be such a discrepancy, right?
• 28:06
  Going forward between the Red Bull and the.
• 28:08
  Well, it's not going to be as much of a discrepancy, but Red Bull is going to use a more of a junior team now and actually try to develop them and put them in cars that can compete to see truly where the driver level is.
• 28:17
  So there's going to be like they're going to give them more resources than time in the past.
• 28:22
  Like, for example, given them the RB-19, which is historically, you can't even really debate it a top three car of all time.
• 28:30
  So I got to ask this. Obviously, we have the rumors going around with Horner.
• 28:34
  But how does this affect Ricardo because he's the one that loves Ricardo in that car?
• 28:40
  Does it also affect, you know, we can talk about this later, obviously just popped in my head, but does that affect him taking that Red Bull spot?
• 28:47
  I didn't think about it in that sense. It's actually really interesting to bring up.
• 28:50
  I think. Yuki is a great driver, but I think if Danny Rick can blow Yuki out of the water, like seriously blow him out of the water, you have no you have no choice but to put him in a Red Bull, right?
• 29:02
  Whether Horner's there or not, but, dude, that's a really good point.
• 29:05
  I didn't even think about that. I think besides Horner, we got Helmut Marko there and he's very vocal about what he wants.
• 29:13
  He straight up said if Checkout can keep second place, there's a good chance he'll keep the second seat.
• 29:18
  We all agree that that's still a hard fight.
• 29:20
  But, yeah, if Danny does well in in in RB, I think he's got to fight with his with Yuki.
• 29:28
  He's got a lot of rust to break.
• 29:29
  He only got a few races in last season before before the end was nigh. But we'll see.
• 29:36
  Yeah, but let's be honest, guys, if Helmut's going to choose between a white guy and Ricardo or Mexican and Perez, he's taking that white guy all the time.
• 29:43
  Yeah, OK. And with with that, we'll just we'll head right into our news. Yeah.
• 29:50
  But yeah, no, let's let's let's let's hit into our Formula One news preseason.
• 29:58
  And right. Let's just jump right into some contracts.
• 30:01
  Obviously, we're just itching to go on it anyway.
• 30:04
  So let's just start with Ferrari right off the bat.
• 30:07
  Leclerc, I'm pretty sure is locked up right.
• 30:10
  Some sort of like massive, like decade long deal or something.
• 30:13
  I mean, nothing's confirmed because it's Ferrari.
• 30:16
  You never will have it confirmed as of right now.
• 30:18
  He's on the books until the end of next year. Sorry, until the end of twenty twenty six.
• 30:21
  Right. But allegedly, like, there's something there, too, for long term.
• 30:25
  But I mean, might as well talk about Lewis being the next driver at Ferrari.
• 30:30
  Move of the century. What is he seeing?
• 30:33
  Obviously, we touched on a little bit early in the episode.
• 30:35
  But what is he seeing at Ferrari that makes him so excited to go there?
• 30:39
  What is he seeing at Mercedes right now that makes him want to go to Ferrari as well?
• 30:45
  Gets me a little bit worried for the upcoming season.
• 30:48
  Mercedes, I know this, I know I said they're supposed to be second, third, fourth.
• 30:51
  But if he's still not happy with the car, if it's still a bad car, as he said last season, it's.
• 30:58
  Yeah. What if he just wants to change his scenery and like he's been at Mercedes now?
• 31:04
  Don't get me wrong. Like Mercedes, I need to change the scenery now.
• 31:07
  Let me go to Ferrari. But like, you know, like how long has he been at Mercedes?
• 31:11
  Eight, nine, been a minute.
• 31:14
  And then he was McLaren before that. But maybe it's just time for a change, man.
• 31:19
  I don't know. Yeah, it's I think, Joe, you hit it right on the head.
• 31:23
  It's like, what is he not seen in Mercedes that makes him want to make that jump?
• 31:27
  I think that he's looking at the future of how the car is being developed.
• 31:30
  And I mean, spoiler alert on the drive to survive.
• 31:33
  He even came and talked out of talk or talked about how like he saw something in the car.
• 31:37
  They told him F off and then came back a year later and told him, hey, that was right.
• 31:43
  You're the cars messed up. You were right.
• 31:45
  So I think that and it's every F1 driver's dream. You go to Ferrari.
• 31:50
  But I mean, especially to like, yeah, I think that's a great point.
• 31:55
  But even to add on that with Mercedes, like you're saying, he wasn't getting the same say.
• 32:01
  And I mean, he's getting paid to go to Ferrari.
• 32:04
  He probably got that same deal at Mercedes, but he might have a lot more say around the car.
• 32:08
  And because this might be, you know, like they always talk about Verstappen gets a car built around him.
• 32:13
  Are we going to see that at Ferrari just trying to get him that title?
• 32:18
  I mean, does he come in and be their number one driver immediately and take take over for Charles?
• 32:23
  I think that depends a lot on how number 16 does this year. Yeah.
• 32:27
  Facts, facts. I mean, what is also in the same regard to his Charles like Charles isn't isn't a macho.
• 32:33
  He's not going to be the one that I'm the number one.
• 32:35
  That's never how it's going to be. You probably take number two to Lewis.
• 32:38
  He's going to welcome it as an opportunity to learn from arguably the greatest of all time.
• 32:43
  And also with like him going Lewis going and racing with Charles.
• 32:47
  I mean, at the end of the day, the racing for Ferrari Ferrari has a legacy, has everything through F1.
• 32:53
  This is something that Ferrari wants that title for Lewis.
• 32:56
  They're praying that Lewis doesn't get it this year because they want that title for Lewis to keep that on the books.
• 33:01
  So in 20 more years, they're talking about where Lewis got his eighth and not where he got the last seven.
• 33:08
  Facts. Yeah, that's a good point. What's up, Joe?
• 33:11
  Do you think do you think Lewis is looking forward to where he wants to retire as well?
• 33:17
  You knocked out Mercedes, got all those World Driver Championships, and now he just wants a nice place to sit down, relax, obviously still fight.
• 33:25
  He wants a car that's going to do well. But do you think he's going to end his time in Ferrari?
• 33:29
  Yeah, I do. I think I mean, it's a storybook ending, right?
• 33:33
  You win a whole bunch of championships at Mercedes. You in a perfect world, win another one at Ferrari.
• 33:39
  You're getting paid rumors having an upwards of 100 million a year.
• 33:43
  So how much better could you end your career?
• 33:47
  Yeah, yeah, I think that's definitely like where he wants to end his career.
• 33:51
  But yeah, I think I don't know.
• 33:54
  Like if Ferrari does now put a car in two years, do you know how long the deal is he's signing?
• 33:59
  I don't know. It's as of right now. It's just until the end of 2026.
• 34:03
  So, I mean, maybe a storybook ending, but they don't win.
• 34:06
  I mean, he's very vocal that he wants and will get this eighth.
• 34:10
  So I can see it. I could see him bouncing around.
• 34:12
  I mean, he's going to go to get the title. That's why he's probably only signing a one year deal.
• 34:15
  Sorry, it's two years. It's until the end of 2026. So 25 and 26.
• 34:19
  I think I'd rather see him get his eighth at Ferrari than than this year at Mercedes.
• 34:24
  I think I think that'd be a better story.
• 34:27
  I agree. I don't know. Not that it should matter.
• 34:30
  But let's just well, OK, let's talk about the odd man out at Ferrari then.
• 34:34
  What's where does Carlos go?
• 34:36
  Does he have a seat that he can slide into somewhere?
• 34:40
  I think it's either between him or Ricardo at Red Bull.
• 34:44
  Really? OK, because I'm going to throw another name at you.
• 34:48
  I think one of those two teams trying to get Albon out of Williams last year could have been Red Bull.
• 34:54
  I don't know. Again, we don't know.
• 34:56
  But I think Albon will make a big play for that Red Bull seat to take over for Checo.
• 35:00
  I don't think it's Checos. I think we're all in agreeance there.
• 35:04
  But also, I mean, as far as Red Bull, they're looking to win championships.
• 35:08
  And who knows what's going to happen to them in 2026 looking towards the future?
• 35:12
  The better racer, the better driver in a car is science over Albon.
• 35:17
  I would agree with that. I like Carlos a lot.
• 35:21
  I think he he's shown a lot, though.
• 35:23
  I mean, towards the end of last year, he showed a lot in that Ferrari car that wasn't awesome.
• 35:28
  You know, I think it would be crazy for him to to pair with.
• 35:33
  With Max in a Red Bull.
• 35:36
  Yeah, I don't think it's science is seated at all at Red Bull.
• 35:39
  And to be honest, I think it's Albon seat to lose at Red Bull.
• 35:42
  So do you see science taking a jump kind of back like Bates?
• 35:46
  Um, not to that degree.
• 35:49
  I think it's going to be interesting to see what spot is open. Right.
• 35:52
  So science is up at the end of this year.
• 35:54
  Look at the available spots like McLaren.
• 35:56
  Arguably, they're in that two, three, four spot of how good they are. Right.
• 36:00
  So they're locked up until the 2026, 2027. The Ferrari seats are open.
• 36:04
  Sorry, are locked up. So Aston Martin, what's Fernando going to do?
• 36:08
  Is he going to come back to Aston? Is he going to retire?
• 36:11
  Or is he go to Merck for that second seat?
• 36:13
  I don't see Alonzo going to Merck, Loki.
• 36:16
  I think there's one person that's going to go to Merck, in my opinion.
• 36:19
  And it's really one person, but we'll get to that here in a little bit.
• 36:22
  But so that's interesting.
• 36:23
  I really think it's either Albon or Ricardo in the Red Bull seat next year.
• 36:26
  And it's going to be depending on how they respectively finish this year.
• 36:30
  Now, granted, there you can make a strong argument if the Alfa Tori or the racing bulls are in that RB 19.
• 36:37
  But those cars are pretty equal at this point, because Williams obviously had the better rig last year.
• 36:42
  He would almost assume that the racing bull might be better.
• 36:45
  But so I think it's going to come down to do those two those two drivers for that seat.
• 36:50
  I mean, Ricardo's got a lot to prove, though. And I love Daniel Ricardo.
• 36:54
  He's what kind of got me in that one for sure.
• 36:56
  With that first season of Drive to Survive, he's just such a great personality, blah, blah, blah, whatever.
• 37:01
  As are most Australians, actually, that I've ever met.
• 37:04
  But it's just he's got a lot to prove, though, to earn to earn that second seat.
• 37:10
  I think he has to blow Yuki out of the water if they're close.
• 37:14
  I don't know. Otherwise. But then at the same argument, why would you why would you put them on?
• 37:19
  The racing bulls then when that's going to be your your kind of your your I don't know experience seem to to groom to bring up to Red Bull, you know.
• 37:30
  Yeah, I completely agree. I think Danny really has to prove something this year.
• 37:35
  I would love to see Danny Rick and a Red Bull again. But I also wholeheartedly think that Albin needs to get out of that Williams.
• 37:44
  And I think he deserves to be out of that Williams and in a better, faster car just in general.
• 37:48
  And if Red Bull can give him that, why wouldn't he take it?
• 37:52
  I think I always think back to when he was last in that seat and how that ended.
• 37:57
  I don't think it was really fair.
• 37:59
  He probably was kicked out a little too early, if I'm being honest. But I think he's grown a lot since then.
• 38:06
  He's learned a lot. He's obviously proven with the car that he has that he can get points.
• 38:11
  And, yeah, I just want to see him out of that car and something that can start getting wins.
• 38:15
  I agree 100 percent. And to be honest, I think a lot of it determines what happens with Alonzo.
• 38:20
  But I think it's going to be if Albon doesn't get that Red Bull seat, the only other seat that makes sense for him to upgrade would be one of the two Albin seats.
• 38:28
  I don't think one of those is a huge upgrade for Williams. You're not a championship contender.
• 38:33
  So if Alonzo doesn't go to Aston, I think that Aston seat's either Alonzo or Sians.
• 38:38
  That'd be a good spot for Carlos. It's not bad. I mean, they've shown they're putting time and effort into that car.
• 38:45
  Yes, you have Alonzo driving the piss out of it last year, especially early in the season.
• 38:50
  Like, I was actually like, obviously we knew we were going to get the result at the end of the season that we did.
• 38:56
  But early in the season, I was like, yo, Alonzo's actually making moves here.
• 39:01
  He's he's really showing some some good races.
• 39:05
  But like also being a veteran driver, like Sians going to Aston Martin, as long as the sun is in the other seat, you know, you never really competing for high in the constructors.
• 39:18
  I don't think the drivers care about the constructors as much as the teams.
• 39:23
  Do you think he's just going for a high position on the plate on the driver's standings, not the constructors?
• 39:27
  Correct. Put him in the best position to actually succeed as a driver and give him the chance to actually win a race.
• 39:32
  Alonzo?
• 39:33
  Whoever. I mean, anybody interested in going in that scenario where it's like, but I mean, at the same time.
• 39:39
  So if you're one of those drivers like where are you going to go that's going to give you a better spot in the constructors?
• 39:44
  Alpine, they're not a better shot at Aston at this point.
• 39:47
  Absolutely.
• 39:48
  Aaron Ferrari, that Red Bull seat is where the that that Red Bull seat is going to kind of be where everything falls in place after that seat's filled.
• 39:56
  I think. Yes.
• 39:57
  Like I said, I think the Mercedes seats already filled, but then let's roll into that.
• 40:01
  Then who's who's filling that Mercedes seat because you're pretty confident it's one person.
• 40:05
  Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Oh, yeah.
• 40:08
  OK. Yeah. Young Stud.
• 40:09
  So he's been with the Mercedes like junior team since 2019.
• 40:15
  He's make he's making a very rare jump from F4 last year and F2 this year, skipping F3 as a whole.
• 40:21
  So I think depending on where he how he does enough to this year, he's the future.
• 40:26
  You know, he's already been touted as the next future world champion.
• 40:30
  And I mean, the kid 17 years old.
• 40:32
  Wow. OK. I haven't heard of that guy yet, but I'm also a Merck guy.
• 40:37
  But that's also like one of my biggest, I think, downfalls as far as F1 is like people that go in there and they just continue to kill it.
• 40:47
  There's so little spots for these young stars to come in.
• 40:50
  And even last year, we saw it in the the AlphaTauri car where what's his name?
• 40:56
  Liam Lawson. Liam Lawson came in.
• 40:58
  Like, why shouldn't he be open for one of these spots and one of these lower teams like Williams or something?
• 41:02
  I mean, he's rumored for the Red Bull seat, but it's I think you got way better options for that seat, to be honest, right now.
• 41:09
  Under the V-car seat, if Danny takes Red Bull, I think.
• 41:12
  Yeah, probably. Yes, probably.
• 41:14
  That'd be an easy move. Well, so I mean, I think he takes that V-car spot regardless, because Danny, I don't see Danny back at AlphaLightning or at V-car next year if he's not in that Red Bull seat.
• 41:22
  Why would you? Why would you? What's the point?
• 41:25
  Red Bull's not going to put somebody in there for a one year spot in that car in that year. So you're going to sign somebody that you're going to expect to be there for two to four years race with Max.
• 41:33
  Like, you're not going to sign an Alonzo for one year to go win the world.
• 41:36
  Like, it just doesn't work like that for Red Bull.
• 41:38
  So do you think that if Danny doesn't get that Red Bull seat, he's done?
• 41:42
  Because I don't really see him going to another non-contender.
• 41:45
  That's a really good argument that he would be done.
• 41:47
  I think it depends on how much fire is lit in him this year and how he does, because I could see him going to an Alpine.
• 41:52
  I could see him going to an Aston. I could see him going to a Williams.
• 41:55
  The thing about the smaller teams, can they afford a Danny Rick?
• 41:59
  We saw that with Haas. Haas was like, we would love to have Danny Ricardo. We just can't afford the guy.
• 42:03
  Yeah, well Haas, yeah.
• 42:05
  They can't afford much of nothing anymore, but yeah.
• 42:08
  Yeah.
• 42:09
  But yeah, so I really think, I mean, he's the future of the sport.
• 42:13
  This cat, so I mean, it's going to be dependent on how he does this year, obviously, because the one from F4 to F2 is huge.
• 42:18
  It's a big jump. Then you got Russell, who's going to be, he'd be what, 26, 27, maybe 28?
• 42:23
  Coming into his prime.
• 42:24
  At the start of next year. And then a young kid and an 18-year-old.
• 42:27
  You have like an a la Lewis and Russell when he was starting.
• 42:30
  Right.
• 42:31
  Now granted, much more of an age disparity there.
• 42:34
  Yeah, Lewis was much older. Yeah, yeah.
• 42:35
  But it was still, you know, you have that young upcoming stud with the veteran who's proven he can do it.
• 42:41
  I think also, now that we've talked about Liam Lawson and stuff, I kind of am going to go back a little bit on my point.
• 42:47
  Obviously, a lot of the big stars are going to keep bowling out for their teams and keep having spots.
• 42:52
  But a lot of these teams like Haas and stuff with the older lineup, I might see some rookies in there, too.
• 42:57
  They need it. They have to. They need it. They need a breath of fresh air at Haas.
• 43:02
  And I love K-Mage, again, a good personality, but it's time, done.
• 43:06
  Nico, he actually had a couple of good qualities last year, but like, done.
• 43:11
  They had one lap space. They had one lap pace. Yeah.
• 43:14
  They had some good quality pace.
• 43:15
  Yeah, they really did. But that's it. And they had it again at testing this year, I guess.
• 43:19
  Haas looked decent in the one lap, but long term, it's just not a good look.
• 43:23
  So you might as well get some rookies in there.
• 43:25
  They'll start at six and end up finishing 15th.
• 43:29
  No, for sure.
• 43:30
  That's the thing with that team. Like, Nico and K-Mage aren't coming cheap, right?
• 43:34
  They're not expensive. They're not the veterans that are coming expensive.
• 43:37
  But you're paying a prime.
• 43:39
  F1 drivers aren't cheap, turns out.
• 43:41
  But you can get a rookie in there that's going to get you maybe two or three points finishes in a year.
• 43:46
  The same production is getting out of these guys and paying them a fraction less in the subjective lead.
• 43:51
  And then you turn around and put that money into development or somewhere else.
• 43:54
  Exactly. Like, they can't afford to keep paying these experienced drivers who aren't going to give them results.
• 43:58
  And that might be the end for both of those drivers.
• 44:01
  Almost worked out for Haas, though. Almost worked out. Almost took test seven.
• 44:05
  The end of the season fell off, but they almost pulled it off with getting experienced drivers over a lot of these other teams last year.
• 44:10
  True. True. I'll give you that.
• 44:12
  You think about the experienced drivers with Haas.
• 44:15
  Immediately what I think about to the counterpoint of wanting to get new people in there, we saw new people in there.
• 44:20
  And it didn't end well. One of them, it didn't end well because of other things.
• 44:24
  Mazda Spin?
• 44:26
  Yeah, Mazda Spin. I don't think he was built to probably last as long anyway.
• 44:31
  But Schumacher got his, you know, he got a shot at glory and unfortunately fell a little short.
• 44:37
  He looks good because he's a reserve driver for Mercedes.
• 44:42
  Mercedes. So maybe we'll see him in a couple test races here and there.
• 44:47
  I don't think he's going to be stacked up to, was it Andrea?
• 44:52
  I don't think he's going to be stacked up to him when it comes to who's going to get that seat if it's between those two.
• 44:57
  But yeah, I don't know. I don't know if Haas wants to see two new young bucks in their seats,
• 45:04
  continuously crashing their cars because they can't afford it because they're new to the sport.
• 45:09
  Or if they want to keep a little bit more age refinement in those seats to just get to the finish line, get a few points.
• 45:17
  Back on the point of, you know, there being a lot of older drivers taking those spots.
• 45:20
  We also have a lot of reserve drivers that have proven their spot when they're able to step up.
• 45:25
  And I think this is where we're going to see a lot of that jumping in.
• 45:28
  I think, you know, it's not going to be a crazy bet like it was with Mazepin and Shoemaker.
• 45:35
  It's not going to be a crazy bet anymore because we have so many reserve drivers that have already kind of proven themselves.
• 45:40
  Yeah. And obviously to that point, again, it's going to be a crazy time.
• 45:44
  I mean, like we've already stated, I mean, it's going to be the craziest driver movement we've ever seen in our young F1 lives.
• 45:52
  And I don't know, it'll be something interesting to keep an eye on throughout the season, see what rumors come out past that.
• 45:59
  But yeah, we'll just go ahead and move on from the contracts.
• 46:02
  But again, I mean, it's going to be something to keep an eye on all year long heading into next season.
• 46:08
  Just a couple other things we wanted to make note of.
• 46:11
  Obviously, you know, this news has been out for a while, but it's new to the fast lapse season.
• 46:18
  So we'll just go ahead and mention it.
• 46:19
  And Reddy and Cadillac bid was rejected.
• 46:22
  The doors now open for them to reapply for twenty twenty eight, which originally was supposed to be twenty twenty six.
• 46:28
  They they already had a car built and everything ready for twenty twenty five.
• 46:33
  FIA was full support. Good to go.
• 46:36
  And then the FOM Formula One management is actually what what denied them.
• 46:41
  So like FIA and FOM are kind of having like this ego battle right now is the simplest way to put it.
• 46:47
  And unfortunately, I don't think we'll see a new F1 team until at least twenty eight at the moment.
• 46:58
  Audi is going to join the grid in twenty twenty six, taking over for Sauber or Stake.
• 47:04
  As we now know, they're called for this season and next.
• 47:09
  And then obviously the biggest news other than Lewis, I mean, Christian Horner,
• 47:16
  I guess in our little notes here that we have in front of us, I couldn't think of what else to put.
• 47:21
  So I put Horner being touchy feely potentially.
• 47:25
  There's a lot of weird stuff here. And honestly, if it's if it's true and there is some sort of what are they really calling it sexual misconduct or whatever in the in the workplace?
• 47:35
  If that's true and it's taking this long to figure that out, does that put a bad light on F1 and how they view all of that?
• 47:44
  It's race and boys. I'm just kidding.
• 47:48
  I was like, oh, crap. I'm just kidding.
• 47:52
  But no, I mean, I think in a certain way it does.
• 47:54
  You have one of the, you know, biggest faces of the sport, you know, one of the most recognizable people.
• 48:00
  He's one of the most successful people the sport has ever seen for him to just even be in this discussion and for it to not for it to take as long as it is.
• 48:08
  Like, obviously, there's something behind it. It didn't just go away real quick.
• 48:11
  So there wasn't like the money wasn't enough. Right. So, I mean, yeah, it's it's it definitely puts F1 in a bad spotlight and like drive to survive loves painting this guy is like a family man.
• 48:22
  He's always with his kids. But it's true. He does. Yeah, it does. At the ranch doing everything.
• 48:28
  So I think this I mean, if it's true, hopefully he's out. Hopefully, you know, the downfall Red Bull starts earlier. Sure.
• 48:35
  Fair enough. I yeah, I hope they come to a resolution soon, allegedly. So we're recording this on Tuesday.
• 48:41
  They're apparently coming out with one tomorrow night, Wednesday night. I guess we'll find out.
• 48:46
  But yeah, hopefully it's not true. But if it is, he's got to go. He's got to go.
• 48:52
  Gunther. We agreed to call this a mutual fire from Haas replaced by Chief Race Engineer.
• 49:00
  I don't know how to say the first name. Komatsu is the last name. Ayo Ayo. I really I'm probably wrong.
• 49:06
  So, yeah, what I heard on this and I know we talked about this a little bit before we started recording here.
• 49:12
  But what I heard is that he helped get a 20 million dollar sponsorship for Haas and that he wanted part stake in the company as a whole or else he was not returning.
• 49:22
  And the owner shut that down. And then he basically was like, OK, I'm gone.
• 49:27
  And you even saw in the drive to survive, he's already looking for a way out anyway. Right.
• 49:31
  Do you think he do you think he's earned that 20 percent? No.
• 49:36
  But I mean, just like honestly, if you're thinking about Haas, they're obviously competing for the bottom of the grid.
• 49:41
  And if you're thinking about somebody who shows them spotlight, he's their Lewis Hamilton. Sure, sure.
• 49:47
  Sure. Do we do we see him return as a team principal? Team principal.
• 49:53
  That's that's hard to say. I don't think so. But he's at Mercedes now. Correct.
• 49:57
  I believe he's doing commentating for races for a certain country.
• 50:03
  OK, I thought it would be awesome to watch. I wish I was Sky Sports. What are we doing?
• 50:08
  That's guys. Yeah, I man on the grid, you know, on the track.
• 50:13
  I don't know if he excelled. I don't know if the I don't know if the decision to if if it was, you know, Gene Haas coming and firing him because, you know, didn't think he deserved that on the track.
• 50:25
  Obviously, a lot of questions are raised. Haas has been in a bad spot for a long time off the track, though.
• 50:31
  He's the face of that company. He's a face of drive to survive.
• 50:34
  There's obviously a lot of publicity around him. It seems harsh to lose him like that.
• 50:40
  No, it is. But I mean, obviously, they haven't performed things. You got to make a change.
• 50:44
  So they did. Haas did. And they have moved on. So Gunther fired slash quit mutually.
• 50:52
  OK, yeah. So we're just going to head right in to the to the preview of the Grand Prix this weekend.
• 51:03
  I'm just rolling right into the start of the season here. First race in Bahrain this weekend.
• 51:10
  But our our guy Joe here, he's got a little bit of a rundown of last year's Bahrain Grand Prix.
• 51:17
  Yeah, just a couple of highlights, some things to remember as we kind of think about this upcoming weekend.
• 51:23
  It was the start of Max's perfect season. He went into first place and he pretty much didn't leave it, you know, despite some pit stops.
• 51:31
  We saw Aston Martin showing huge unexpected strength compared to the year prior, fighting Merck through the pretty much the entire race.
• 51:39
  Alonso getting up in third place by the end. We saw Ferrari in there, Leclerc fighting Perez.
• 51:46
  Big, again, big fights between Lewis and Alonso. Unfortunately, Leclerc saw that late DNF that you were talking about earlier.
• 51:55
  Yeah, and McLaren. Oh, what a bad race for McLaren. Oscar DNFing and Lando having to go back into the pits pretty much like every 10 to 15 laps to.
• 52:04
  Was there like five pits total? Yeah, it was a lot of pits. Yeah, because he was losing. That's when he was losing some sort of hydraulic pressure or something.
• 52:12
  Yeah, he had to go in. They had to put in a put in like a hose filler up and then he had to go back. Oh, yeah, that's right.
• 52:19
  Bad race for McLaren, but we saw the podium for Stappen, Perez and Alonso. What is the likelihood of that happening again?
• 52:27
  I mean, this weekend, zero for Alonso, zero for Alonso, zero for Alonso. I would wholeheartedly agree with that. I don't got Alonso in the top six or seven, to be honest with you.
• 52:36
  Is Aston that far behind or is everybody else gained that much at this point?
• 52:41
  I think based off of like going last year and kind of what we're seeing in preseason testing like Aston Martin started off great rapidly or not rapidly, slowly declined throughout the year until they were far below everybody else.
• 52:52
  And to make that jump like they did last year, which was already unprecedented to do that again, to get back up with these teams that did progress throughout the year.
• 53:00
  And you would have to only assume we're going to press throughout the offseason to get back to that level there.
• 53:04
  I mean, I got both MacLaurie's both MacLaurie, both Ferraris, both McLaren's, both Red Bulls, both Mercedes finishing before Alonso.
• 53:13
  I mean, that right there is eighth, ninth for Alonso. Yeah, sure.
• 53:17
  So I mean, I'll give him maybe one or two of those drivers he'll beat. So like I said, top six, that's going to be a fight for Aston this year.
• 53:24
  I'll wholeheartedly agree there. I don't think I mean, as long as those top teams that finish great at the end of the year are still able to do that beginning of this year, they're not touching the top five.
• 53:35
  Wow. OK. All right. All right. Fair enough. I mean, so how about how about this? How about this? Let me throw this at you.
• 53:42
  Who who gets points this weekend that probably won't next weekend? You know what I mean? Like who's going to come out the gate and get some points this weekend?
• 53:52
  I'm talking like eight, nine, ten, you know, that's not going to get points next weekend. Probably.
• 53:59
  I think we might see Albon. OK. Yeah, the Williams climb up there. We see Ricardo probably start off the season hot. OK.
• 54:06
  But these are two guys that it's tough to say they won't get points next weekend to write. I think we still.
• 54:12
  But I guess obviously the one I would say that maybe we see get points this weekend don't see next weekend for sure is Lance Stroll.
• 54:19
  OK, I can see that Stroll Stroll grabbing some points this weekend. I'm not a big Stroll guy, but, you know, at the same time, I'm not trying to hate on.
• 54:30
  Yeah, I'm not a show guy at all, but I don't know. That's a tough question, because it's like the progress from week one to week two or degression between week one and two.
• 54:37
  You don't really see that. Right. Right. Not like if you ask me like now to like midseason, I guess it'd be a little bit different because that's when you see those upgrades start coming through that actually make a difference.
• 54:47
  Would you sneak? Who do you see sneaking in then? Eight, nine, ten. So I mean, I could see the Astin's, the racing bulls, the racing bulls sneak in and push for that.
• 54:56
  That push. So just because of how good if it is that RB 19 and then whatever upgrades they brought to it, it was so damn good last year that I could see it trickling off as the other teams get better.
• 55:08
  Sure. Sure. Can the Alpines get any points this weekend at all? Do they have any shot to be tough? Very tough.
• 55:14
  No, I think we see like the Williams jumping up there before the Alpines do. Obviously, we already talked about the racing bulls. I think you can see Yuki and Ricardo in the top 10 this week.
• 55:25
  Yeah, 100 percent, especially in that what was the RB 19. I mean, we already know the what's going on with that car. What's up?
• 55:32
  Yeah, I completely agree. I would love to see Vcar up there in those those lower point spots. But I'm telling you, time and again, Haas has come and surprised me. First race of the year, I could see them also getting a few points.
• 55:46
  I don't know if we'll both see them up there, but I think it was Magnuson that had a hell of a drive last year.
• 55:51
  I just think I don't think we see Haas and the reason is just because how consistent these other top teams are that make the bottom like you think at the beginning half of last season.
• 56:02
  I mean, arguably by what was it race four or five? We had every racer but two, but Logan Sargent and someone else not have points by like race five.
• 56:11
  That means a lot of people are getting points. There's not that same discrepancy at the top three as far as Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari. I think it makes those those spots like the end of the season.
• 56:22
  You didn't see a lot of those bottom teams getting those. You know, it's a fight for tenths to fight for nine for those bottom teams.
• 56:27
  And because of how consistent these teams are, I think there's just not much room for those guys to step up and take those 10 nine seeds.
• 56:33
  That's why it's probably a valid question every race. Who's going to sneak into 910? You know what I mean? Because that could change. But you're right. Probably those top eight top six for sure.
• 56:43
  But I mean, probably those top eight don't change very much. They might change order, but not who they are as a whole.
• 56:49
  I think there's going to be a lot of disparity from position seven to 10 this year because there's so many teams that are so close that are in that midfield or late pack there that, you know, could go in and steal that one race at a time.
• 57:01
  So I think there is going to be quite a lot of disparity between those, you know, like seven through 10 positions this year.
• 57:06
  Yeah. And I love that, actually. Looking like you're looking at it because it just makes it so much more interesting for the bottom tier.
• 57:12
  Last year, it was kind of like, OK, we have, you know, Haas looked good, but then they fell off and it was pretty obvious he saw was going to move up to that seventh spot.
• 57:20
  But this year, as far as like the Racing Bowl and all these teams, that's going to be close.
• 57:26
  I think like we've seen in the past in 2022 and 2021, and I think it was 2021 when Pierre Gasly won a race in the AlphaTory.
• 57:34
  I think we're going to see a lot of cars were out that race.
• 57:36
  Needed a lot to happen. But hey, Gasly got a dub.
• 57:39
  I think we see that same thing this year where like in the past, we're going to see one of those lower teams all of a sudden pop off for a big top three.
• 57:46
  And that's who's going to really set the precedent. Not this race, obviously, but looking forward to the future here.
• 57:51
  We're going to see one of these teams as far as fighting for the bottom tier, who's going to sneak away with that top three to take over the points and just run the seventh seat?
• 57:58
  Sure. I mean, OK, so so with that, let's just let's just hop into it right away here.
• 58:03
  So basically what we're going to do with our preview of every race, we're just going to go ahead and guess the podium, not in any particular order, because all of you listening already probably know at least who's won two potentially.
• 58:15
  But we're just going to kind of predict the podium every week and you get a point for each correct driver on the podium.
• 58:22
  I'm just going to keep a tally. So, Joe, screw it. You're brand new to the to the banter crew here. So why don't you start us off?
• 58:30
  Throwing into the Coles. Well, they have an incredibly fast car, you know, preseason testing.
• 58:36
  It's going to be Max and Checo absolutely in that podium. The third part, third one's hard for me.
• 58:42
  We have a lot of teams that show a lot of promise in that preseason testing, but I'm going to have to go with LeClaire.
• 58:47
  LeClaire, OK. All right. Cole, what you got for a podium this weekend?
• 58:52
  Like I'm going to stick to my Checo, not get in top five. I'm going to stick to it. I think it starts week one.
• 58:58
  I don't think he's consistent. I think he messes up something in the qualifiers. I think he's going to start P9, P10 this week.
• 59:05
  Maybe he has he has enough to get back up to fourth or fifth. But I'm going to see Verstappen, Lewis and LeClaire at the top three.
• 59:12
  OK. Star studded podium right there.
• 59:16
  Tyler, what you what you think in this weekend? Obviously Verstappen is going to be in the podium, whether he wins or not is probably going to win.
• 59:22
  I think Lewis is going to have a good race this week as well, just because of all the talk.
• 59:26
  I think he's going to really come out and show show what he's really worth and what he's going to bring to the table for the year.
• 59:32
  And Lando, I got my McLaren in the top three. I like the progress they made last year.
• 59:36
  I like what I saw in preseason testing, and I think Lando wants to start off this year with a bang.
• 59:41
  Yeah, no, I totally agree with you there. I think Lando sneaks in at three and then it's Max and LeClaire for me most likely.
• 59:50
  But I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if Lewis comes out the gate hot for sure.
• 59:53
  But I do like the idea of Checo may not may not be on the podium this weekend. Week one.
• 59:59
  Interesting. We have one person picking Checo on the podium.
• 1:00:02
  I just think the car is so fast, it doesn't matter.
• 1:00:05
  And are all the are us other three the others?
• 1:00:09
  Are we just like blinded by the light that we want Red Bull off the podium so bad or like like to me, I really feel like this is the year of Lando.
• 1:00:19
  Like obviously, Max, we all think he's going to win the championship. But like this is your Lando.
• 1:00:23
  I think Lando makes waves. I think he could get his first P1 even this season.
• 1:00:27
  But what you got?
• 1:00:30
  I am wholeheartedly rooting for whenever Red Bull's downfall is.
• 1:00:34
  Yeah, we know it's going to come.
• 1:00:36
  But it's going to come at the not at the expense of Verstappen.
• 1:00:39
  Why do you hate Red Bull so much?
• 1:00:41
  It's just I don't like Verstappen. That's it.
• 1:00:43
  I actually like Checo, but to be honest, he's he's a stroll to Alonso's, you know, there he's he's that same comparison to where the definition of second fiddle.
• 1:00:55
  Yeah, yeah. He can't he can't hold the he can't hold the stake.
• 1:00:58
  So I just there's too much issues that happen with Checo that like, you know, OK, all of a sudden you're DNF in or you reckon on the qualifying.
• 1:01:07
  All these things pop up for Checo and I just he's not consistent enough.
• 1:01:11
  I don't think he starts off to get hot.
• 1:01:13
  I'm going to throw some match. I think Checo wins the race this year.
• 1:01:17
  Sure, I'll give you a win.
• 1:01:18
  Yeah, I don't I could see your your whole like not finishing in top five.
• 1:01:22
  That's really interesting.
• 1:01:23
  I mean, that'd be it's an automatic lost seat for sure.
• 1:01:26
  But I think that's really interesting take.
• 1:01:29
  Well, that's also I mean, like Checo has to know that he's I think that seat I'm almost positive Checos retiring at the end of this year.
• 1:01:36
  And I think he's accepted that.
• 1:01:37
  So, like, yeah, one last bang. Go out, do what you can do.
• 1:01:40
  But I also think that, you know, he knows that that seat is he's done.
• 1:01:45
  So what does he really have to raise for this year?
• 1:01:47
  Sure, sure. Any any parting thoughts, Joe?
• 1:01:51
  I I just I'm just trying to get, you know, stick in reality.
• 1:01:57
  That car is so incredibly fast. It looked so incredibly flat fast in preseason testing.
• 1:02:02
  I don't think Checo is going to start P2 at that sort of the race.
• 1:02:06
  I think he's probably just going to find his way up because of the pace of that car.
• 1:02:11
  My heart wants me to say Lando so bad.
• 1:02:14
  But I think for this first this first weekend, I'm going to just try to go a little bit more logic.
• 1:02:20
  And the reason I love I know a lot of us pick LeClaire.
• 1:02:23
  The reason I love the Claire, if it wasn't for the car failures, he was up there last year.
• 1:02:27
  100 percent. He had a lot of car failures.
• 1:02:29
  Yeah. And it does seem like they've at least early on in the test, they fixed some of that.
• 1:02:33
  But we won't really know until they're getting into it.
• 1:02:36
  But I mean, you got any parting thoughts heading into Bahrain, Tyler?
• 1:02:41
  I'm just super excited, man. F1's back, baby. Yeah.
• 1:02:44
  No, with that, F1 is back. Banner with the boys fast laps is back and we are here to stay all season.
• 1:02:52
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• 1:02:54
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• 1:02:56
  We're also on Spotify, Apple podcasts, like, follow and subscribe for all your banter updates.
• 1:03:01
  And just don't forget to stay laced up. Don't forget to follow, like and subscribe. Tune in next time for more banter with the boys.