Latest / Pit Talk / Cadillac's driver call + who has the title momentum? Dutch GP Preview

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Cadillac's driver call + who has the title momentum? Dutch GP Preview · Pit Talk

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Pit Talk, brought to you by Shannon's.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: On today's episode, Cadillac confirms Valtrie Botas and Sergio Perez
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: will form it's inaugural driver lineup in twenty twenty six,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: and we look ahead to this weekend's Dutch Grand Prix
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: and the final ten rounds of the championship battle between
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Osco Piastri and Lando Norris. My name is Michael Lomonato.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: It's great to have your company and the company of
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: my co host KitKat. Cadillac give Pez a home. It's
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Matt Playton.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: That is one of your better intros, I must say,
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: and yeah, always talk about Kitkats. I didn't go out
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: and buy one today, actually not in tribute of Sergio
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: Perro's being back, but they were just cheap, so I
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: decided on cheap out and buy some good chocolate.
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: But there you go. He's back.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: And I guess if you'd said at the start of
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: this season the likelihood of Sergio Perez being in Formula
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: one in twenty twenty six and Christian Horder not being
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: in Formula one in twenty twenty six, you would have
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: got some pretty good odds. You probably would have got
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: no odds because no one would have seen that one.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah, remarkable twist of face, isn't it. Yeah, scholar should
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: be out, but Sergia Peis is back in. You can
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: chart it to in fact, that those lines to intersect.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: Though the more struggles that second red bull seed has had,
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: the harder it was for horned toling On, But the
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: better of the odds were of Sergio Peis convincing he
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: was worth a crack to come back.
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: Indeed, it was like two fingers of a kinkat just
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: break it up. Sergia can stay the other way, he
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: can give to somebody else. That's how this works.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: It's the perfect chocolate, really, isn't it. If you want
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: to sponsor us, kidcat, we are very available to chocolate sponsorship,
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: even if it's in kind. I'm perfectly happy with that.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: That was the news of the mid season break. Thankfully,
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: formed On enjoyed an actual mid season break before this
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: frenetic final ten races of the season came in the
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: week leading up to the Dutch Grand Prix just a
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: day or so ago, depending on when you're listening to this,
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: It is that Vultry Potas and Sergio peir Is the
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: true most heavily rumored drivers to be connected to Cadillac
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: are connected to Cadillac on contracts that'll see them race
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: for the new team next season. I think it makes
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: this team, immediately, despite being brand new, the most experienced
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: lineup on the grid and the oldest, which is also
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: pretty remarkable, but probably tell us a little bit about
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: how long Potacid pairs have been around. It's five hundred
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: and twenty seven Grand Prix starts between them, sixteen Grand
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: Prix victories, twenty three poles, one hundred and six podium trophies.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: I mean that sounds pretty good for a team that
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: barely exists, has no car, and is understaffed.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: I'd like to congratulate and Creunrichlake Cadillac for organizing a
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: fantastic driver line up for twenty nineteen. I think it's
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: a really, really solid pairing for the twenty nineteen season.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: All we've moved on from there, but I must admit,
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: look A, this shows you the power of you in
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: this podcast, because you were able to almost get through
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: the entire mid season break before you had to come
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: back and do an emergency pod. So I'm glad you
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: had the line into Cadillac for this week. But I
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: don't know about you, but when I saw the lineup,
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: it was of no great surprise, and I was a
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: little bit uninspired. And then I thought about it and thought,
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: but what else were they going to do? Because you
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: look at where Cadillac's starting from next year. It's hard
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: enough to bring a new team into Formula One as
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: it is, and then it's equal it's doubly hard, but
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: you've got a new rule set where you're not even
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: playing with an existing set of regulations that you can
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: try and bring this new team in with. So this
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: is going to be a season for them of variables
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: under every stone. And one way you remove one of
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: those variables is you take the driver variable out of
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: the equation. You've got two wise experience heads. You read
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: the CV, it's all very impressive. If things aren't going
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: great for Cadillac next year, and newsflash, they probably won't
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: for a long part of the season. It's not going
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: to be one of those things where you're going to wonder, well,
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: what if we had some more experienced drivers in there? So, yeah,
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: a little bit uninspiring, but part of me was like, well,
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: of course they're going to take one of the variables
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: off the table, and there wasn't really anyone else that
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: you could think was making a hugely compelling case to
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: be considered, at least in this short term. I'm a
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: little bit surprised, not so much to see Botasspack on
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: the grid because it felt like he wasn't quite done.
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: It felt like Sergio Perez was absolutely capital d done
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: at the end of last year, with the way that
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: that spiraled so badly, So you do wonder how much
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: of it is experience, how much of it is for
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: marketing reasons. It gives this team instant credibility before they've
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: turned a wheel, the fact that they've got the signatures
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: of these two guys with the CVS that you mentioned.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: But I don't know how you felt about the driver lineup.
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: Part of me was like, well, if it wasn't these two,
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: then who was going to be?
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think, in fact, if you were to
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: scroll back to our interview with Mario Andretti, who's a
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: non executive director on the board or one of those
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: American style titles, yes, who sort of said it as
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: much as like, well, there aren't very many drivers available.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: When we tried to question about who his team was
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: going to hire, and he's right, there were a lot
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: of relatively inexperienced drivers, you know, drivers like Joe BrandNew
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: who was connected to the team, Mick Schumacher. After that,
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: you're then looking at straight up rookie drivers who would
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: need time to be broken into Formula One by a
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: team that at the moment, as I said, has no car,
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: including obviously an older car. They're going to buy or
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: rent perhaps a Ferrari later on in the year to
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: get some mileage and essentially do some practice Formula One
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: team activities, but that's still not really the same thing,
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: so that would just be giving yourself automatically a start
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: on the back foot and a massive backfoot. It was
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: a rookie, so actually quite fortunate I think that they've
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: turned up in a year when two massively experienced drivers
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: relatively recent drivers. It's not as if these guys have
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: been out of the sport for several years in the
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: way that you know, a couple of older heads rocked
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: up in the last big new intake of teams prior
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: to half obviously with the cater and Maurusia and HRT
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: et cetera teams where some drives have been out of
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: the sport for a while turned up in seats. They
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: are relatively recent editions. Like you said, at least in
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: Valtribotas's cases kept himself in the paddock because he's been
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: committed to returning to the sport and that experience, I
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: think for them is actually quite complementary. To talk more
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: about the fortune of having these two particular drivers. You've
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: got Potas, who's an excellent qualifier, so you know he's
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: going to probably get the most in terms of single
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: lap speed out of this car when he was up
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: against Lewis Hamilton. Is essentially two to one that Hamilton
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: beat him in qualifying, which sounds like a lot, but
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: Hamilton's the most poles of any driver in Formula one history,
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: so the record for pols is actually pretty good. And
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: then Sergio peir Is. Okay, there is this question mark
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: about Red Bull racing. May we talk about this in
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: a second, but if you look at his career overall,
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: a pretty effective midfield driver. Maybe Cadillac won't be in
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: the midfield even by the end of next year, that
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: it hopes to be there at some point during the
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: course of his contract. A guy who tends who has
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: tended any way to get the most out of his sundays.
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: There is that question mark over his last couple of
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: years at Red Bull Racing, which the team says it's
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: satisfied it has answered itself. But on paper, these two
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: drivers are the guys you would want to test and
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: thoroughly put the car through its paces, as well as,
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: as you said, being a sufficient known quantity that you
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: don't have to worry about. Oh, this young guy, is
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: he's not cutting it? Is he losing his confidence?
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: Whatever?
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: You know what you're getting.
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah, two veterans with complimentary skill sets, I think is
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: the key point there. You mentioned that Botas has had
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: the one lap pace. To my mind, you know, you
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: take away just how grim the last part of Perez's
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: Red Bull time was. His whole career has been one
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: of overachieving. You know, we know how good he has
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: been on tire management through some of his days at
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: Souboro and for Cindia, and he was always the guy
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: who did that little bit more than you expected him
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: to do. When he was in the midfield team. He
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: was I wouldn't say an overqualified midfield team driver, but
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: he was always a guy that you look at the
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: way he had his seasons. There were so many seasons
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: where you're like, wow, he's fourth the driver's standings like
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: you always were taken by surprise because he was so consistent.
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: And yes, the Red Bull stuff was a disaster by
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: the end. By the way, we should actually congratulate him
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: because he was signed by Red Bull last year, immediately
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: paid out, and then gets paid again by signing another
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: contract within the remaining twelve months. That's that's even better
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: than some of Dadiel Ricardo's boots before the end of
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: his career. That's absolutely Outstaddy worked by his management there.
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: But what's interesting to me is, yeah, it's a perfectly
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: solid lineup for year one. I'm more curious and I'll
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: put this one to you as well, Like this strikes
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: me as a sort of team. Given the name and
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: the resource and the way that they should trend upwards,
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: you almost want to be there in about year three,
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: year four? Is that sort of young more experienced, young
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: young veteran an inverted commerce driver. So which of these
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: two drivers that they've signed you think has the longer
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: shelf life given the way that this project's going to
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: move along in the next three to four years, who's
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: the more valuable asset of the two? And we have
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: to take into account there it's not just about driving,
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: it's about presence and marketability and everything else. That's who
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: has the longest staying power of these two?
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: Do you think? Yeah?
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: I think that's a really interesting question because they've also
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: both already been through the ringer during their careers, right
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: veltrii Botas talked really openly about the confidence hit of
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: being thrashed by Lewis Hamilton Jo pare Is. Obviously it's
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: very recent that he was belted by Max Withstappen and
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: in one of the greatest cars ever designed in Formula One.
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: They've both had that mental toughness developed in them to
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: go into a battle that I think, like you say,
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: probably not this year, it's not going to really matter,
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: but maybe next year, or rather next year, maybe the
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: year after the year after that, it will become a
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: question of, Okay, which of these guys are you going
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: to keep? That's a really good question. I think for
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: me at the moment, Valtrie Bodas is the guy who stays,
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: just because I think there are fewer question marks about
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: his consistency. I think at Mercedes, okay, you always dip
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: and dive a little bit relative to Lewis Hamilton, but
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: that was relative to Lewis Hamilton, right, and he was
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: He was never embarrassingly off the pace. He never had
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: those Perez spells where you're like, oh god, he's out
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: of a Q one again. Yep, and he might score
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: a point or he might not, and that's never happened
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: during his career. The last three years at Sober, they
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: look bad and packet his worst ever career in terms
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: of points last season, but that was obviously about the car,
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: whereas pairs does just have that little question mark or
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: big question marked when your perspective from red Bull. So
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: if we're talking about two years down the line or
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: three years down the line, three years that might be
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: really quite difficult. We don't know how they're going to go.
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: I think that it's botass who might just have the
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: resilience to stick around in that case, and then you
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: put him up against because the other question is and
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: you touched them it. It's not just about driving. There's
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: the marketing element.
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: I think.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: I don't want to say that Sergio Peters is just
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: their marketing because he isn't. He's extremely experienced, like we've
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: talked about, very valuable to this team, but he does
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: tick the well we couldn't get an American, but he's
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: from North America.
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: Bots. Yeah.
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: If the idea is you get an American rookie is
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: your next guy, hopefully by then they found someone, then
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: you also don't need that pairs angle to the marketing anymore.
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, So whoever comes in as the Cadillac's next driver
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: in three years time might determine which one of these
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: two actually stays the longer term. But the thing for
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: me is I think that with Botas, I don't think
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: there'll be any questions about ultimate performance. So if you
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: want to find out how far advanced this car is
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: and what the ceiling of this car is, I think
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: you're going to get more of a definitive answer from
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: him that you're going to get from Pereer.
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: The weird part.
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: About that is if they go together for two years,
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: I would almost put my house on the fact that
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: I think the bothouse will be faster and Perezo score
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: more points. Yeah, and you know you're going to have
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: this really strange conundrum with it too, But can I
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: go a little bit fourteen and a half degrees off
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: topic here because I reckon that this driver lineup doesn't
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: just speak to Cadillac. I think there's another team, and
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: I think there's another team that we need to ask
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: questions about here, because quite frankly, either of these two
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: guys could have been driving for Alpine and decided that
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: a Formula One team that hasn't done a race yet
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: was a better bet than perhaps stepping into the whirlpool
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: of chaos that is Alpine. Interesting decision, isn't it when
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: you look at it in the cold light a day
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: like that.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, one hundred percent a team. The last thing that
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: Cadillac had done when they signed was practice being on
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: the summer break. I think those are the words that
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: came as well.
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: Nice.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: Whereas you've got Alphine that's well pretending perhaps to be
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: a real Formula one team, if you want to put
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: it harshly, it says a lot about Alphine because both
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: of them drivers we know were approached. We don't know
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: how seriously they were approached, considering everything that happens at
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: Alpine is a little bit chaotic, but we know the
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: Tota Wolf said, yes, we have talked about releasing veldri
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: Botas or sending him to Alpine or whatever releasing him
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: from his contract earlier in the year. So we do
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: know at least that there were more than just some
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: inquisitive phone calls about that. This was after it he
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: started to become clear that Franco Colapinto wasn't the immediate
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: massive trade up on Jack Do and that he was
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: sort of sold to be and continues not to be. Yeah,
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: the fact that that team has been overlooked for a
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: team that barely exists, I think says a lot. But
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: you can sort of write it down pretty straightforward me
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: on paper, isn't it one team's going in white. Well,
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: Cadillac's obviously going in one direction, which is going from
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: not existing to existing, which is very positive. And Alpine
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: is going from a direction where it was the works team. Well,
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: it's given up on that. It's shuttered one of the
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: most historic engine divisions in Formula one history, one of
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: the most successful as well. It's going to take my
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: stages power. Okay, that might be an immediate little tick
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: for next year, but I don't know, friendnods can continue
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: continue to own the team. Well, Flavio Brety is the
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: de facto team principal, but he was appointed by the
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: former CEO who resigned unexpectedly this year. Is he going
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: to continue to run the team? What direction will that take?
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: What is Alpine anyway? And there's a lot of uncertainty there.
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: I'm just wondering if neither Valterie Bodas nor Serge Opera
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: is what did a five race contract to prove themselves?
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: So that seems to be what happens in that second seat,
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: even though Franco Colopinto seems to get a reset on
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: the fifth race every second weekend at the moment.
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: But there ego. But isn't that interesting?
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: How you know, you wouldn't have even countenanced that as
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: a discussion two or three years ago, saying these two
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: guys are choosing this team that hasn't turned a will
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: over Alpine? What are we actually doing here? But in
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: Formula one twenty twenty five it makes perfect sense, doesn't it.
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah, And there's also, you know, talk briefly about Alpine.
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: I just want to touch on before we move on,
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: the few seats that are available now at Cadillacs signed
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: both of It's up at once, which is a little
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: bit unexpected. I thought they'd say one till later in
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: the year in case someone like NK. Sinoda were to
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: come into the market.
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and also by before you go into your next point,
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: you had your or marketing presence by doing them both
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: on the same day, which.
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: I thought was really strange.
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: You could have gotten two bites at the news cycle
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: by doing these three weeks apart, and get a whole
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: bunch of press for a team that doesn't exist yet
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: and steal some of the oxygen of your rival. So
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: there's a rookie team mistake of ever obviously one.
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: Yes, Well, they're still practicing their communications, I guess, so
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: you know, it's a.
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: Half fark for them.
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: But there was the report that Alpine couldn't wasn't ready
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: to decide even though they're in this unusual position where
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: Franco Colopindo is not performing the way they expected. I
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: think it's become clear to them they kind of need
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: the Cadillac solution, which is there are a point where
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: they need some more experience in that team. Pierre Gas
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: is great, but you could certainly use someone and the
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: other car is also doing that job, rowing in the
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: same direction, so that just sort of speaks to the
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: ongoing uncertain and what's going on at Alpine. There are
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: only a few seats left now in Formula one. Let's
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: race through very briefly. Alpine is one of them, and
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: they're now in the situation Cadillac hoped not to be in,
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: which is well, who do you go for talks? Maybe
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: Franco Colopindo will be retained a minimum. It seems like
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: Colopindo is going to have the rest of the year now,
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: just because there's not really so many other obvious alternatives
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: to him to prove that he can get there. Maybe
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: some signs of improvement just before the mid season break,
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: but certainly it's been no massive step up on jack
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: Do and which makes that whole situation feel a little
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: bit silly. But the big one, of course, is the
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: red Bull situation. Will Yuki snow to be retained? Who
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: will replace him? Will it be Isaac Kadja? What does
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: that mean for Liam Lawson? Will Aarvid Lindblad, who's completing
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: his Formula two campaign on the other side of the break,
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: I think the next round is in Monza, not this weekend.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: Can he make a case for promotion at expense of
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: one of these drivers. That now becomes the most interesting
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: driver market question.
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: It becomes the most interesting driver market question with absolutely
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: no answers that I like. And that's and they're all
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: perfectly fine answers to a point, but that point is
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: very high or very load, depending on who you like
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: in there, because they're all imperfect solutions to a long
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: running problem. And I mean, look, you would have to
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: say on performance like hat ja to me? And we
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: discussed this with Alex Jakes and we had him on
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: just recently. He's been the biggest surprise of the rookies
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: this year, not because I thought he was going to
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: be bad, because we know he's fast. He's fast and
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: a bit of ratic of what we've seen in the past.
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: He's been genuinely excellent and probably based on well the
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: CV of the other guys who've had a crack at
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: that seat, he probably actually deserves.
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: To get a chance.
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: But then what are we actually doing here? And then
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: we're talking about Arvid Lynn Bladden, Alex Pelow's name comes up,
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: I mean, where else, I mean you and I must
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: be getting closer to sort of almost on the waitlist
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: of this thing, because they seem to have cast the
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: net very, very far and wide here. But none of
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: these answers. You can't even squint and go, yeah, okay,
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: I can see that might be a good thing to
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: do in twelve to eighteen months. The biggest question still
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: with that team is that, yes, we know we've got
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: the maxim staff and commitment for the time being, but
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: the keywords in that sentence so for the time being,
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: what if this rule set Red Bull really stumble out
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: of the gate and get things very wrong? Are Las
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: twenty fourteen when they stumbled out of the gate and
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: got things very very wrong. You do wonder whether they
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: might not just be looking for a second driver, They
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: might also be looking for a first one, and then
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: the first driver decision changes who the second driver might be.
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: So there's so much to play out here. They would
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: be better served for probably just holding the line and
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: staying with what they've got for the time being. But then,
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: is the Sonoda performance sustainable given that I think we've
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: talked about it before. I think the Stappen's called ninety
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: seven percent of that teams boids to the first half
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: of the year, and we've seen what happens when it's
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: not a race winning car anymore. So Yeah, it's the
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: most intriguing seat, but I just see a whole bunch
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: of imperfect solutions to a long running problem. And twas ever,
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: thus when it comes to red Bull.
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I'm inclined to agree with you. I
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: think if Sonoda can just show obviously the team wants
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: him to show something what he has shown, and I
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: think we're starting to get some glimpse of it just
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: before the break, now that he's closer to car parody
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: with the stafford. But if you can just show some improvement,
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: the team will be able to say, all right, look
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: next to you, a new car, clean slate. Let's just
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: sit where we are because, like you say, Vistappen could
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: become a live issue again after that. At least you
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: haven't played cards that you might need in twelve months time.
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: But it'll be interesting to see. He will need to
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: make that point for himself. And there's no reason lind
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: Blood can't stay in Formula two for another year if
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: that's the case. And of course not to discount the
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: Mercedes two seats, but it's pretty clear they're going to
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: be resigned. George Russell and Andre Kimi Antonelli. It's just a
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: matter of when. Probably he the Italian Grand Prix, one imagines.
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: Let's move on, though, Matt to Move of the Week,
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: brought to you by Shannon's Now. Whilst Formula One was
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: on a break for three weekends, Motor GP was not.
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: It was resuming with a double header and at the
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: weekend it was the Hungarian Grand Prix, but not the
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: Hungaro Ring at a new and unusual circuit.
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: Yes, Balloton Park, first time MotoGP's been in Hungary since
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: nineteen ninety two, which is a race won by a
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: certain guy called Mickdo and I wonder whatever happened to him.
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: But look, miya, I'm going to go moves plural of
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: the week because this was a very odd track where
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: apparently you couldn't overtake and a check by the name
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: of Juge Martin started sixteenth on the grid on Sunday
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: and finished fourth and made an absolute mockery of the
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: fact that you can't overtake. He made up seven places
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: on the first lap, so that was pretty handy. He
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: is looking quite ominous for a guy who's done four
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: Grand Prix this year on a bike that he doesn't
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: even know. He actually said after the race that he
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: was still playing around with the positioning of the handlebars
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: and settings and things as the race was about to begin,
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: and then propably just blasted everybody on the first lap there.
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: So we know that the aprilia is coming on really strong.
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: We know how good he is. We also know that
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: he's getting back to full fitness and now he's in
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: love with the team and it's all fantastic.
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: Everything's unky dory. It wasn't a.
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: Few weeks ago watch this space, but moves of the
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: week to finish twelve places higher than you started on
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: a track where you apparently can't pass the stat for
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: me his teammate Marco Betzek. He started second on the
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: grid and Jey Martin finished three seconds behind him after
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: twenty six laps and started fourteen places below. Yeah, he
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: might be on the way back, But I'm going Moves
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: of the week because quite frankly, there were so many
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: of them. I'm wondering, given the relative dearth of motorspoort
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: options for this week, where you are going with this,
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: Because I know you were watching Moto GP, but there
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: was no four wheel action for you, So what have
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: you got?
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I was very tempted to find something a little
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: bit left of center, but I enjoyed obviously. I enjoyed
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: watching Mojo of V this weekend because there was certainly
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: nothing else on the motorsport field to watch. And I'm
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: going to go with Marco Beitzeki though, Yeah, for his
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: I guess this count as a move of the week,
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: doesn't it?
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: Where he retook the lead.
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: The first and second turns early in the race, when
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: Mark Marquez was inevitably attempting to pass for Leed he
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: did eventually take. But it's become so inevitable, hasn't it.
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: We've often seen Mark Markez lose the lead, start of
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: the race whatever, and you just know it's a matter
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: of time until he gets there. And then he gets there,
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: and then you think, all right, well the race is
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: done now before there's twenty laps to go. But then
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: when Buttzeki fought this one back, it was so unusual
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: that it made me physically sit up straight and go,
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: oh is this going? Are we going to have a
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: race here? And I think we did for one will
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: lap and then Marquez was inevitable. But just for that
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: little bit of injection of hope, that all this race
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: might actually not go the way I expected. And because
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: it was a great move, well, judge, you know not
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: everyone can pull that off. Obviously, it's Mark Maker's way
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: win so much I'm giving it to bit.
• 21:16
  Speaker 3: I like it.
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: It's two races in a row that Berzeki's lost the
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: lead immediately fought back and put a pass on Marquees
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: and made Marquez go deeper into the book of well
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: where can I pass you? Because he's never he never
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: tries to make the same overtake twice in the same
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: part of the race track. He made him have a
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: reset and think again. He did it at the Red
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: Bull Ring, did it on the weekend. But yeah, was
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: saying before that probally is really coming along and forcing
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: Mark Marquees to actually have to sweat to win races.
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: At the moment.
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: If you've done that, then you're doing a pretty damn
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: good job because no one seems to be able to
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: beat him. So yeah, I do like that suggestion for you.
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: He nicely done sweat, but not too much the good
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: scheme of things. Let's move on now to this weekend's
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: Formula one Dutch Grand Prix. The resumption of the season.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: Ten rounds to go, I said earlier. It annoys me
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: the mid season break is not exactly the middle of
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: the year, but I do like coming back and saying
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: ten rounds to go. It's a very nice round. Number
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: Four of those rounds will be complete in the next
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: five weekends, which is alarming, but it does mean we
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: will be that much closer to finding out who will
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: win the championship. It's Oscar Piastri, only just ahead of
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: Lando Norris, nine points after the Hungarian Grand Prix, which
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: Landon Norris won ahead of Oscar Piastre. Many one two's
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: now going McLaren's way, which does make you think, actually,
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: for most of the remaining races, and we might get
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: into this in a little moment, we're probably looking at
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: a lot of straight fights between these two drivers, though
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: I think in my mental calendar anyway, there are a
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: couple of asterisks there about some other players. But let's
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: look ahead to this Dutch Grand Prix first, because last
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: year this was all about Lando Norris. Scott Pole not
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: for the first time, couldn't hold Pole off the line,
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: but made very easy work of Maxis stab And, who
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: had never been defeated at his Home Grand Prix Stampy's
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: authority on this race back when he thought maybe he
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: could win the Driver's champions if he did not. But
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: Oscar Piastric can barably have had a more difficult weekend,
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: and I wonder whether or not we can read anything
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: into that as a form guide twelve months on.
• 23:09
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't know about that.
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: I know, when you said we were going to talk
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: about the Dutch Grand Prix, I'd actually done a real
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: deep dive and in depth analysis on the lyrics to
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: the super Mac song.
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: For you, but clearly we're not going to go down
• 23:20
  Speaker 3: that part. So I've done all that research.
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: Or nothing, but you like, well, it'll be shut. But
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: it's interesting in that you know, you mentioned this is
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: going to be an ongoing storyline for the remainder of
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: the season, talking about, well, how has Oscar Piastre done
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: at these particular races previously, And I'm almost saying that
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: what he's done at these particular races previously is irrelevant
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: because he's not the same Oscar Piastre in twenty twenty five.
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: He's come along a very very long way in a
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: very very short time. Again referencing something that Alex Jakes
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: was saying on our last podcast, we know that the
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: name is the same and the still unruffled and all
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: of the character traits, but we've not seen a hell
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: of a lot of legacy play the year With Piastre,
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: he continues to raise the bar on what we think
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: he can achieve, So I'm not sure historical precedent's going
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: to make a massive play for the rest of the season.
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: As far as he goes, we'll read far more into it.
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: With Norris, you mentioned obviously he won here last year.
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: I think we're much more likely to say, well, this
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: is a Norris track. This one's not a Norris track
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: right now. They all could be Pastre tracks, because I
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: don't know if there's necessarily what we've seen on the
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: previous fourteen rounds. There's no places where we go, well,
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: he's not a great year, or he's a bit susceptible.
• 24:32
  Speaker 3: There.
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: He's changed the perception of what we think he can
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: achieve this year. I think in the short short term,
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: if we're talking about the Dutch Grand Prix, the thing
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: we have to remember here is that this will be
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: the fifth one since it's been back on the calendar
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: in twenty twenty one. This is a Saturday qualifying race.
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: All of these have been won on one from pole
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: position and the only two years that they weren't absolute
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: routes for the winner where when we had late safety
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: cars in twenty twenty two and twenty twenty three. All
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: four of these races have been won by the polesitter
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: and twenty one and twenty four by massive margins. It's
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: a fun driver's track which when you hear the drivers
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: say that is code for it.
• 25:08
  Speaker 3: You can't pass. It's very very narrow, it's very very
• 25:12
  Speaker 3: high speed.
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: It looks wonderful on TV, but you've got the combination
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: of corners, how wide these cars are, and it's a
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: very very attractive high speed procession, but a procession nonetheless.
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: So to my mind, I bringing this really ramps the
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: pressure up for qualifying. I think there's going to be
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: huge stakes in qualifying, by the way. I do like
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: the fact that qualifying is an hour earlier, by the
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: way for this race. I'm not sure why wonderful news
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: so Saturday night. I don't care why, just say thanks,
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: But I think you know you have these races like
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: Suzuka is a bit like that to watch now in
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: that you know that qualifying carries outside importance, and in
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: a championship fight where the margins are so fine between teammates,
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: Q two Q three becomes massive on Saturdays. I'm super
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: looking forward to that the race, unless you get a
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: bit of weather or a bit of chaos, that's a
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: little bit artificially injected. Maybe not so much, but I
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: do think that this strikes me as a race where
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: Norris has proved it. Here he's been particularly good, so
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: it's not so much a free swing for Piastre. But
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: I think if he's able to be ahead of or
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: on part with Norris for the majority of the weekend,
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: I think that's a super positive because I don't know
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: about you, but going into this this feels more like
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: a Norris weekend than a Piastre weekend, and obviously if
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: the reverse is true, that's psychologically a pretty big feather
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: for Piastre this time of year.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think so. I like the way you put it.
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: It's more about which tracks and Norris tracks, and not
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: Norris tracks. You kin't of expect Piastri to be there
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: all the time. I mean, he's worst qualifying result this
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: year is fourth, and likewise his worst finishing result I
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: includ Australia obviously, which is an outlier in terms of
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: how he got there, but in terms of pure pace
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: he was Canada a fourth place, just off the podium,
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: so you know he's always going to be a threat,
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: whereas Norris has been much more up and down. And
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: this to me looks a lot like the Austrian Grand Prix.
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: Obviously the history is a little bit less solid in
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: Norris's favor, but he was just very good last year
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: to qualify Max fistappen the margin Oscar Piastre was half
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: a second in qualifying Piastre. Yes, he had to fight back,
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: and this is such a difficult overtaking track that it
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: meant he was never going to get back in touch
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: with the leader. Similar to Hungary, should have gone for
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: Norris except for the strategy twist that ended up happening.
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: Maybe the same will happen in reverse year. But if
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: Piastre can really solidly challenge Norris this weekend, then suddenly
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: I do feel like we might start to talk about
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: not necessarily momentum, but that being a bit of a
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: sign that this next part of the year, which was
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: mostly difficult for Piastre last season. Once we left Europe anyway,
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: might actually be a little bit more in his favor
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: and you might start to feel more confident with that
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: kind of margin. To my mind, there maybe only two
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: or three other, not let's say Norris circuits that I'd
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: be looking at in terms of his performance. I think
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: the following one from the Dutch Grand Prix. It is
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: in Italy despite him having got poll there last year.
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: He was very solid in Singapore. Yes, Singapore is a
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: little bit of an unusual circuit last year, but he
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: was really solid from start to finish in a weekend
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: that maybe could have got him back into title contention
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: again that obviously never quite happened. It was a similar
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: result for Piastre, who qualified poorly and that set up
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: his rais. But the one after that, for me, I
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: think it's going to be and I think its position
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: in the run could be really important. Is the United
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: States Grand Prix is the track Piastre he has never
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: really clicked with, Yes in the sport for two years
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: prior this, but in those two years never really clicked
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: with it. Norris comparatively has, so the measure of Piastre
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: in the last two years there. I think if that
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: could be one if the points remained as close as
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: they are up to the United States Grand Prix, which
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: is fifth in this block of ten races to close
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: the championship, that could tell us which direction the wind
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: is blowing well.
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: And the other factor to take into account here is
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: that we've talked about this all year and it's going
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: to be something we talk about more as we get
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: to the end of the season. The other teams are
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: not massively incentivized now to be pushing for major performance
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: because you've got this twenty twenty six rule set coming
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: in and effectively you're just spending money on things that
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: are going in the bin at the end of these
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: ten races. So I do wonder that even on whichever
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: one of the McLaren drivers is having an inverted Commas
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: bad day, I still wonder if a bad day is
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: still second place, and this might become one of those
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: championships where I'm not ruling out one or two maxivstap
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: and wins before the end of this season, because I
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: think of places like Mexico and I think of Brazil,
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: particularly when it rains. Let's be honest, not if it
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: rains it will at some point over the course of
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: the season he will be one of those guys who
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: will stick his nose in and have one of those
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: weird interloping results where he might finish, he might split
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: the McLaren somewhere. You could see that happening. But I
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: think as this boils down to an intra team championship fight,
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: there's two things to watch. For me, what are the
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: other nine teams doing? And if they're going for race
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: wins and putting a lot of resource in twenty twenty five,
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: then I'd ask what on earth are they do in
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: because this season's gone as far as they're concerned. And
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: then how McLaren plays this strategically. Because we know that
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: the constructors Championship is done, they're going to win the
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: Driver's Championship. We just don't know which drivers going to
• 30:13
  Speaker 2: win it. So you do wonder they've been so you know,
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: they haven't split strategies necessarily. Norris has thrown a couple
• 30:19
  Speaker 2: of hail Mary's with tire strategies, one of which has
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: worked and one of which hasn't. In recent races, you
• 30:25
  Speaker 2: do wonder if they allow strategic intra team fighting to
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: happen when the result at the end of the races
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: that McLaren's going to win, and that will be really
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: interesting to see if that because they held the line
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: on that they haven't done that, but allowing the drivers
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: to perhaps try to use different means to achieve the
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: same end given that you're going to win both championships anyway.
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: I think that's a storyline to watch as we head
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: deeper into this last ten races.
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: It's difficult to hypothesize a great example of it, but
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: I think it would be very difficult for McLaren to
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: walk away from a where they haven't allowed one of
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: its drivers to attack the other driver because they wanted
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: to secure let's say a one two for the team
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: or whatever maximize the team result when there's really nothing
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: on the line in the Constructors Championship anymore. I think
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: that'd be a very difficult position for McLaren to take
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: in a year they've worked really hard to be fair
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: between its drivers. I think the definition of fair has
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: changed now that they're so far ahead. Earlier in the year.
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: We can compare it to the very first round in
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: Australia where they called off the fighting somewhat controversially before
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: managed to make a move, but it was for the
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: team greater good. They wanted to make sure they didn't
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: lose a victory in the very first race of the
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: year to maxim stuff and like they had so many
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: times the previous year, rain on the radar, backpackers, all
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: that kind of stuff. I kind of get that. Then,
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: when there are no points and everyone doesn't know where
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: the field lies, there's no reason to make a call
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: like that again now because there is nothing on the
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: line for the team but everything on the line for
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: the drivers.
• 31:52
  Speaker 3: Yeah, well, let's fast forward here.
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: Let's just say we're in Abu Dhabi and one of
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: them's on pole and one of them second. So the
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: one that's on pole is going to Shoo's strategy the
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: preferable strategy. Are they going to allow the second driver
• 32:05
  Speaker 2: to perhaps take a different strategic approach to the race
• 32:08
  Speaker 2: in an attempt to win the World championship. If we
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: have a live championship fight where the only outcome is
• 32:13
  Speaker 2: that McLaren's going to win the World Championship, are they
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: going to allow that to happen, because that would be
• 32:19
  Speaker 2: different to what they have done throughout the season. Now,
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: obviously for the spectacle. We would love to see that
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: because you don't just want the championship to be decided.
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: If we have a live championship in the final round,
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: you don't want it to come down to who qualifies
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: fastest out of the two of them, and then they
• 32:32
  Speaker 2: both just mimic each other's strategy and on a track
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: where you can't overtake, it'll come down to the first
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: quarter and that'll be that. We actually hope that you'll
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: get some sort of strategic fight between the two of
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: them where they're coming at it from different approaches. I
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: hope that is permitted. It won't that be a storyline?
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: A Is it going to be permitted? And B will
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: that depend on who's leading the championship coming into these
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: last the final rounds of the season, which whether it's
• 32:57
  Speaker 2: the British driver or Thestructing driver that's leading the world
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: champion and how that's going to play out because we
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: know how it's going to be done in the commentary
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: that we hear here in Australia. We also know a
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: lot of the English language content that all Formula One
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: fans consume in Australia. We know where that comes from,
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: so they'll be super interesting to see how that plays out.
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: Given the backdrop of how we're going to consume that
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: championship fight.
• 33:21
  Speaker 3: I'm for what. I'm all for it.
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: I'm hoping it does come down to this last couple
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: of races where we do have to see McLaren perhaps
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: take the hands off the will a little bit and
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: just let them sort it out. Because at the end
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: of the day we'll look back at twenty twenty five
• 33:34
  Speaker 2: and say a McLaren driver won the World Championship and
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: the McLaren won the Constructors Championship. Horay, what a fantastic year.
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: How we get there's the important bit.
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah, particularly for us in the last ten rounds. Just briefly,
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: I want to talk about some of those possibilities for
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: other drivers to and you mentioned Maxwistap and sow Paolo.
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: That just sounds about right. Mexico City as well, was
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: pretty quick there last year, except had a bit of
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: a brain explosion racing Lando Norris. Don't know who he
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: might have finished in a regular situation. I'm keeping an
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: eye though on the Italian Grand Prix for two reasons.
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: One is Ferrari just almost always seems to do well there.
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: Chickuly in a year where they don't have much going on,
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: they tend to them think, oh, how can we do
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: well at the home race. But not only that, but
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: the layout on paper should also suit Mercedes at least
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: if it's not too hot, long, straight, slow Chicanes very
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: similar on paper at least to Canada. And by that
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: same token, of course, Las Vegas almost the biggest outlier
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: on this part of the calendar. It is Las Vegas
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: taking place a little bit earlier in the evening this year,
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: so it won't be quite as chilly as it has
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: been in previously. I think it's five pm local maybe
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: or seven pm local, whatever it is. It's good here,
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: that's all you need to know. But it is still
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: cold there. It is still a night race that the
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: layout is very fast, straight, slow corners. Mercedes dominated this
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: race last year with a one too and lowse Hamilton's
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: hated a tenth from memory and still finished a competitive second.
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: I think there are opportunities for and Las Vegas is
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: an interesting one considering it's so lo late in the year.
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: What is that third last round I think of the
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: season where suddenly you have a really close title fight,
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: the seven points between them, whatever, and one McLaren driver
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: finishes second the other one fifth because McLaren's been pushed
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: around a bit as they were last year, that could
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: really space things up.
• 35:14
  Speaker 2: Well, wouldn't it be funny if you know, we've talked
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: about wins and podiums and all these one twos and
• 35:18
  Speaker 2: everything else, and it might be decided by Norris finishing
• 35:22
  Speaker 2: sixth and Pastri finishing eighth because the car doesn't work
• 35:25
  Speaker 2: and it's freezing cold, and there's all these other guys
• 35:27
  Speaker 2: that would have no business being in front of them
• 35:29
  Speaker 2: being in front of them. If that becomes the decisive
• 35:32
  Speaker 2: factor in a season where they're going to win eighty
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: percent of the races between them, wouldn't that be just
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: very Las Vegas Forbula one.
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: I think if it's not going to go to Abu Dhabi,
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: and I suspect it will, then it'll surely just be
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: decided in the sprint and Katar the pronouncement round.
• 35:47
  Speaker 3: We've done that before, let's not do that again.
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: Deeply underwhelming, but it we'll be fascinating to see how
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: this one unfolds because there is so little in it.
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: The only thing I think we've really learned in that
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: last month before the mid season break. Is that if
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: Lando Norris really has got over his qualifying problems and
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: he hasn't had a qualifying mistake since Canada so quite
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: a while ago, then there really is almost nothing to
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: pick between these two drivers as a fight we thought
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: we were going to get at the start of the year.
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: It seems like it's back on and now it's ten
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: races to settle who will win McLaren's first drivers' championship
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: since Lewis Hamilton.
• 36:19
  Speaker 3: Wow loud, Yeah, incredible. Interesting.
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: Let's wrap this one up with a visit to the
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: crystal Ball by complete home filtration, deliberately just forgetting the
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: things I've predicted in previous races in previous weekends, because
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: they're almost always wrong. Please don't let that turn you off.
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: But I'll start with you, Matt, what are you predicting?
• 36:37
  Speaker 2: Look, I feel bad saying this. I'm going to preface
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: this by saying, don't take my passport away.
• 36:41
  Speaker 3: I need it. It's very, very important.
• 36:44
  Speaker 2: My crystal ball is telling me that Oscar Piastri is
• 36:47
  Speaker 2: going to relinquish the leader of the World Championship for
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: the first time since Saudi Arabia in round five this
• 36:52
  Speaker 2: weekend when he finishes third behind Pulses, Orlando Norris and
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: Max for Stafford. Now I say that my passport I
• 37:00
  Speaker 2: think will be fine because when I make predictions on
• 37:03
  Speaker 2: the Crystal Ball, ninety nine percent of them are complete rubbish.
• 37:06
  Speaker 2: So what I just said in the last fifteen seconds
• 37:08
  Speaker 2: will not happen. But that's kind of where I'm going
• 37:11
  Speaker 2: because I feel this is a strong Norris track, perhaps
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: not a great Piastre track, and I can see Max
• 37:17
  Speaker 2: just doing one of the super Max things and perhaps
• 37:20
  Speaker 2: doing this Suzuka special of just parking himself in front
• 37:23
  Speaker 2: of a faster car and not making a mistake for
• 37:24
  Speaker 2: seventy two laps. But I'd like to be wrong. But yeah,
• 37:27
  Speaker 2: I'm going to hold onto my passport just in case.
• 37:30
  Speaker 2: What have you got for me?
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: I like that? Well I don't like that, but I
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: like where you're going with it. Anyway, It's still be
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: nine or I we'd be back next week saying still
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: nine rounds to go.
• 37:38
  Speaker 3: Don't worry, that's right.
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: I'm going with in this. You know, in this era
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: of blockbuster concert tours sellouts, everyone's talking about the tours.
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: I'm predicting the biggest tour yet the Sergio pair. As
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: I told you, so, tour commences now he's going to
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: be at first this. I don't know if he's going
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: to be the Dutch ground free this weekend. I know
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: he's pretty much commenced work with Cadillac immediately, but he's
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: already started at the press conference announcing his signature for
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: Cadillac next year. And I quote, I feel like there's
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: nothing to prove, not just because of the current Red
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: Bull Racing drivers or the next drivers that are in
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: my seat, but even the drivers before that. Everyone forgets it.
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: But it's a very tricky place to be. They've scored
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: like five points for the entire season. Don't forget how
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: many points he scored one hundred order fantastic. Yeah, I
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: think this is going to be NonStop. He says he's
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: got nothing to prove, he's certainly acting like a man
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: who's got something to prove. Yes, we've only got six
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: more months of this.
• 38:32
  Speaker 2: In media speak, I think we call that Sergio will
• 38:35
  Speaker 2: be available for interview, I believe is the term that
• 38:39
  Speaker 2: we might hear over the course of the weekend. But no,
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: I do like that very much because I love a
• 38:43
  Speaker 2: good rewriting of history from a position of advantage. It's
• 38:46
  Speaker 2: going to be wonderful. The fact that Christian Horde is
• 38:47
  Speaker 2: not in the paddict to run up to sky and
• 38:51
  Speaker 2: refute every single thing that he says is going to
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: be fantastic. Can I extingd you with a bonus miniature
• 38:56
  Speaker 2: crystal ball question, like a very small golf ball size,
• 38:59
  Speaker 2: not the Las Vegas to be a size crystal ball?
• 39:02
  Speaker 2: How many times is the Championship League going to change
• 39:04
  Speaker 2: between now and the end of the season.
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: Oh, that's a great question. It's annoying because it's just
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: over seven. But if we assume there's going to be
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: a first and a third in there could change regularly.
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: I reckon, I reckon, we're going to get I better
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: say it's a number. Obviously, go get three three lead.
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: I do know it needs to be even number, doesn't it.
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: We have four lead changes. I beg your pardon. Okay,
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: well that's a lot. That's almost every second round.
• 39:28
  Speaker 2: Okay, this is why this is why I've just set
• 39:31
  Speaker 2: you up, because as you were going through that, I reckon,
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: it's going to be two.
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it'll be two. I think could be
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: this weekend. Why not let's go with your crystal ball.
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: It's it gonna be right, And then why don't we
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: say it interesting sprints just for a bit of excitement.
• 39:42
  Speaker 2: Oscar Pastric sweet Spot, the Caitask Briunt. But isn't it interesting?
• 39:45
  Speaker 2: With ten rounds to go and you're looking at it? Oh,
• 39:47
  Speaker 2: it's so finally pause you think how many times is
• 39:50
  Speaker 2: this championship lead actually going to change hands? And when
• 39:53
  Speaker 2: you start thinking about force, like, oh, that is quite
• 39:55
  Speaker 2: a lot, isn't it, considering it hasn't changed hands since
• 39:57
  Speaker 2: round five? Yeah, super super interesting, but just a miniature
• 40:01
  Speaker 2: crystal ball just to completely hijack your running order for
• 40:04
  Speaker 2: the end of the podcast.
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: No, that's good. I like that's a great question. Can
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: be pondering that one and the lead up to the
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: Dutch Grand Prix, particularly if it happens this weekend. But
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: that's all the time we have for pit Talk today.
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: You can subscribe to Pittalk wherever you get your favorite podcasts,
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: and you can leave us a rating and review as well.
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: This weekend it is the Formula one Dutch Grand Prix
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: with lights out at eleven pm on Sunday. The first
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: to four races in five weekends. You can keep up
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: to date with all the LATESTEP one, supercars and MOTORGPN
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: news at foxsports dot com. Today you from Matt Clayton
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: and me Michael Lomonado. Thanks very much for your company
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: and we'll catch you next week.