Latest / The Apex / Belgian GP Review
Transcript
- Meredith: Hello everybody and welcome back to another episode of the Apex Podcast. We have the full trio here today, and we have a lot to talk about from World Cup to Spa to making our predictions for Hungary. It's gonna be a fun episode today. I'm joined by both my co-hosts today. Paul, how are you on this lovely Tuesday? Paulie :D: Doing wonderful. How are you guys today? Thriving and surviving. Meredith: Thriving. How about you, Josh? Josh: Doing good. Staying inside. I'm not gonna even look at the outside. It's too hot. Meredith: I right before we hopped on, Josh Josh, Josh, Joe was like, Yeah, I'm just gonna get changed and I'm gonna go play some golf tonight. He does like Tuesday Night Men's League, and I'm like, I'm indoor cranking the AC down to 68 and catching up on every show I didn't watch this weekend, because this weekend was all about sports. So let's get right into it. The 2026 FIFA World Cup has officially come to an end. And I want to know your thoughts on both of the games this weekend because for the first time ever, I watched both. Y'all have got me hooked, you've got me locked and loaded in. So, Josh, I will come to you first. What were your thoughts on the third place match and the World Cup finals? Josh: Wow, the third place match just had it all, didn't it? That was one of the more fun games that I've ever watched. It was back and forth, great goals, great scoring. Like, you know, you can say what you want about either of those teams. I think I honestly think that that should have been the final. it had it had it it felt like the final. It had all the makings of what could have been one of the best finals like ever. Just the complexion of that game was was so much fun. Meredith: It felt like it. Josh: whether that was because it was a third place game and there wasn't a whole lot of tension on the line, that you know, maybe. But either way, it was such a good match. I you know, the Spain Argentina match I felt was a little lackluster. It it didn't pick up until the extra extra time was added at the end. I was a little disappointed by Argentina's just the their formation, the way they played, the way they carried themselves. I was just a little I expected more out of that match. So You know, congratulations to Spain. They they deserve that g that win. Hands down, no questions asked. They deserve that win. but I just wish it would have been a little bit better of a match for, you know, the the kind of the be the end cap of what was an amazing tournament. Meredith: Agreed. Agreed. Paul, what are your thoughts? Paulie :D: Listen, I can't everything Josh said just ad me ad me to whatever he said. I mean, he cemented it perfectly. It was an amazing tournament. Probably one of the best I've watched in recent memory. that thirst that third place match, in my opinion, should have been the final. It was just this spectacular game. I took a nap during the first half and then I woke up and I was like Holy shit, what is happening right now? So I had to go back and re-watch it. That, you know, it's such a great game. The final, it left a little bit to be desired, honestly. Not the way you want to finish it, but nonetheless, congrats to Spain. They I thought that they were gonna win it from the jump. That was a team that was supposed to win it from the jump. Such a young team, such high aspirations. And Spain is gonna be a team to reckon with in the near future. I mean, are they already here? But for the next couple World Cups, they're gonna be that team. Meredith: Yeah. Paulie :D: that is just gonna continue to make a deep run. So I hate that it ended. I hate that we have to wait another four years for this to happen again, but I'm glad that it happened. I'm glad that we have the memories and now it's one of those things it's like what do I do with my hands for the next four years? Because my my TV was on soccer 24-7 and now it's like I gotta go back to being a real human. Meredith: like I was the perfect target audience for whatever marketing happened during the 2026 World Cup because I've never been a soccer fan. I think cumulatively I've maybe watched one full soccer game ever before, except for like going to Houston Dynamo games here. So I think I'm less like the perfect target population because now, well I I agree now I'm kind of like well what? I have to wait another four years for this. I'm like It I I I really enjoyed it, especially this weekend. And I think that that third place match, like at first I was like, okay, well, I'll watch the first half, and if it's not entertaining, I'll turn it off. And it was so incredibly good. Just the back and forth watching the sportsmanship, you know, I I just had a lot of fun watching that. And then the the match yesterday, I was like. I don't know, I guess I was expecting more because of how intense the third place match was. And I was like, if the third place match was that competitive and that much fun, then like I can only imagine how great the final's gonna be tomorrow. And then like you, I was kinda like, first half, I was like, I what? I was like, what it w no scores, nothing. And I was like, it didn't I don't know, it just it felt like Spain was very dominant and I don't know a thing about soccer. It felt like Spain was dominating without any points on the board. And then all of a sudden the goal. And then the second one that got pulled back, I was like, my gosh, like all of a sudden I'm like jumping up and screaming. But what a fun World Cup. I I feel like it does make me want to like learn a bit more about soccer. And you know, soccer's obviously growing in sport in the US and with us having a team here in Houston, I'm like, hey, Paulie :D: Yeah, not a feeling at all. That's that's what happened. Meredith: You know, maybe we should take advantage of that a lot more. So y'all gotta give me some tips. Paulie :D: Now you gotta save up money because the next World Cup is in 2030, which would be in Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. With a few with a few games in Uruguay and Argentina. Meredith: Here's the great part though. We've got We've got the connect in Spain, Paul. My father in law lives in Spain. We've got the place to stay. Paulie :D: You are now just mentioning this? I don't pay attention. I don't pay attention to when we talk. Josh: Perfect. Meredith: I've mentioned it before. My father in law lives outside of Malaga, so I don't know where the games are gonna be, but we could at least fly into Malaga. We've got a car we can use and we go on a road trip. So we could we've got reduced costs. We've it's not that we have no costs, we have reduced costs. Josh: Perfect. I'm in. Paulie :D: No, done. Done. Perfect. And for me, I I just want to add one last thing to this World Cup. it's kind of a bittersweet feeling because some of the people that some of the players that I grew up watching, Messi, Ronaldo, This is it. This is it. They're they've they're hanging up their boots. You we won't ever see them at this stage again. So for me it was definitely a tough feeling because, you know, I can't speak for Josh, but I grew up watching these guys. They s some of my best memories of watching soccer was watching Messi with Barcelona or or Cristiano Ronaldo with Real Madrid and Manchester United. And it's like it's it's it's gone. And and there'll be another group of people to take over their shoes. But to me that was it's it's tough. It's such a bittersweet feeling that, you know. Meredith: Yeah. Paulie :D: Now you just gotta move on. And and that's the way the world works, right? We gotta move on. But it it's gonna be a big a big void in in our hearts going forward. Meredith: Yeah, that was one thing Joe said. Joe said, you know, it's always tough to watch something end and you want you want it to end on a good note for the greats, right? Like it I I'm not I don't know anything about Messi, but like knowing that this was his last match, like it would have been great to see him do well. I wanted Spain to win, but it would have been great to see him do well and leave, you know, the sport that way. So I get it. You know, you always want the greats to retire on a high. You know, it that's that's just part of being a fan of any sport, but I get that. It I think it's what a testament to a career. An absolutely insane longevity of the career. Soccer players' careers seem so much longer than the span of so many other sports. So I am excited to like learn now about maybe there were some bigger names from like this round, like I never knew who, you know, Erling Holland was. I never knew who Jude Bellingham was. Like there are other players that kind of became like Paulie :D: Absolutely. Meredith: more Instagram famous to us non soccer fans. So I can't wait to learn more about who that next like up and coming round of the sport is so that come twenty thirty, I know a little bit more, a little more educated. Paulie :D: You got four years to catch up. Josh: Mm-hmm. Meredith: I got four years. Y'all put me through Soccer University. Zip. Josh: We gotta get you Paulie :D: Absolutely. Josh: a club, get you a get you a club team, get you locked in on the on the US, you know, as they'll do their World Cup qualifying stuff, that'll be over the next couple of years. There's plenty of international soccer in the summers. Paulie :D: Listen, as long as you don't pick Arsenal to be your team, I don't care who you pick. On who? I'm done. I'm done. I can't. I I qu I quit this podcast. Meredith: I d I actually decided on them today. Arsenal. I'm just kidding. I just said that just because you said I don't even know who Arsenal is. That's what you Josh: Perfect. Look at this. Nice. Meredith: get for posting crap selfies of me. I'm gonna go all in on Arsenal. You'll just y'all will have to put me through soccer university the next four years, okay? Fair enough. Paulie :D: Their natural selfies. Good. Meredith: Okay, so World Cup ended, great, great World Cup finale. We had, you know, the exciting match on Saturday before the finale on Sunday. We had an absolutely lit race at Spa. So let's transition and jump into the world of Formula One. Let's talk about the Belgian Grand Prix. And Paul, I will come to you first this time. What were your thoughts on the Belgian Grand Prix? Paulie :D: It sucked. It was stupid. I hated it. Let's just get into it. That should not have been a penalty. I th I thought overall the race was fine. You know, whatever. It is what it is. Lando Norris looked amazing. That new power unit that they have. It seems like something is working there. Meredith: Worth the penalty for sure. Paulie :D: Definitely worth it. That dude was on a tear. I thought for a minute there he was gonna win it. I was like, dude, is this guy gonna run away with it? so good for him. I Isaac Hadjar. Isaac Hadjar also had a great weekend. I believe. Hang on, guys, slow down. Sorry, the dog just figured out the squeaker and their toys and now they're going crazy. Meredith: Wrigley's just having fun. Let him be a pup. Paulie :D: He's just living life. But I believe what Isaac Hadjar made up fifteen spots at one point. So, you know, congrats to him. Congrats to Kimmy. Another solid win. Nice battle there between him and Charles. I really thought the Frara was gonna take it. But I I the FIA is fucking dumb. They have it out for Lewis. And no, they don't. I mean, you can say that about anybody in the history of time. But that should not have been a penalty. Meredith: What are your thoughts, Josh? Josh: It was a race. you know, I've I've I have I definitely have worse opinions on the regulation cycle after this race and kinda listening to the drivers' comments about them. So I'm a little discouraged about where this regulation set's going. as far as the race itself, I I I'm glad to see that Ferrari has got a little bit more pace and it looks like they're closing the gap to Mercedes. it looks like McLaren's gonna be coming up as well at some point in the next few races, especially after the summer break. Paulie :D: Yeah. Josh: So I think that we got a little bit more of a constructors battle brewing, which is always good to see more teams getting into the mix. once again it seems like there's a huge gap between the top four and the rest of the field. And that this continues to look you know, like wider and wider. And I don't see that closing up anytime soon. So that's a little, you know, disheartening to see the you know, some of the steams that we had touted as being potential, you know Teams like w what we'll just say Williams, for example. Like we we it's been picking Williams for the last couple of years to have a huge glow up here and to be able to be like a top midfield if not like battling for podiums occasionally type team and to be them see them sucked so far down the order is really disheartening. you know, I'd qualifying itself, like we'll we'll we'll say, like, I don't know if if if if you should be allowed to have a toe like that. You know, I know it's part of part of the racing, but when you have sister teams that can help you out, it just seems a little out of the character of the sport, right? So I don't know. I was really Lando Lando Norris has been the most back and forth guy with this regulation set. And his comments like at the beginning were, you know, very netic negative and then very positive and then back to negative. And then this weekend he was pretty much saying that like this this is no longer a car that is Meredith: Yeah. Josh: This this the winning of Formula One right now is no longer determined by the driver, the pilot of the car. It's so much more dependent on how the software and the energy deployment works. And I I don't like that, if that makes sense. Like that seems to be the that seems to be the wrong direction. I you know, I like to see the drivers Yeah, I wanted to see more racecraft and to see like the driver's full skill on display with machinery that was, you know, a little bit more Meredith: Absolutely makes sense. Like the opposite of what we were trying to do, you know? Paulie :D: Yeah. Josh: racy, you know, as composed to the last regulation set where the drivers couldn't even follow each other due to the just the airflow issues. So to hear Lando pretty much say that this is just a computer that they're piloting and the computer's doing all the work. It makes me you know, curious to see if there's gonna be any kind of fix to that in the future or or if maybe that's why the rumor is they're just gonna abandon this altogether. So I don't know. Meredith: Yeah, I think that that statement kind of mimics what Oscar said during qualifying. He said, you know, when qualifying is set by computers rather than driver performance, like that's not fun racing for anybody. So I think we're starting to see you know, instead of it being a yo-yo on their thoughts on the regulation based on how they performed that weekend, I think we're starting to hear some more consistent things come out about it being about the technology piece of it. I think that you know, I I think it is more helpful to be further into the season like we are right now. I mean, it's it's I know we've got hungry and then a little bit of a break for summer silly season, but I mean, just overall, I think the more consistent note coming from drivers saying that like the a lot of this is about technology, not about being about driver skill. That that is a bummer to hear. At the end of the day though, my net result was still that this was the most fun I've had watching a race at Spa than it's been in years. Like it was Josh: Yeah, it's been yeah. Meredith: Yes, I hate that and I hate that the drivers feel that way. As a fan and a consumer, like I had a blast watching Spa this year. Like, yeah, there were some dull moments in there, but I I think overall there were some really, really fun battles that I I enjoyed more than I've enjoyed at Spa in years past. Josh: Well hell I I hate that we missed what seemingly was the best battle of the entire weekend. You know, yeah the the tenth place battle, the four way tenth place battle, ninth place batt Meredith: my gosh, the yes the alpenes, Paulie :D: Yeah. Meredith: the V carbs, like I wanted to see it double overtake what? Josh: A double overtake by Franco Calpento and my tiny little scre yeah. So I wish that was like fully broadcast 'cause it was way better than just watching the nothingness of the battle between first and second. You know, it it was great to see Kimmy pulling away, but Charles really wasn't gonna match his pace. And I wish they would have cut away from that at some point to show us these guys that are just going off, you know. Meredith: Yeah. Right. Paulie :D: Now is Meredith: Yeah, I feel like the only go ahead, sorry. Paulie :D: it o is it is it always the same TV director in every race or does it fluctuate between races? Because there's some where you watch the entire midfield battles and there's some like this one where you just never see them and they are solely focused on the top three. Josh: I don't know. Meredith: I don't know about like broadcasting directors, I'm not sure. But like at the beginning, I don't know, it was like we were And I was like, la it was like I think like maybe like last twelve to fifteen, there were battles in there where I was like, Okay, this is they were showing some midfield. And I remember watching it and being like, This is awesome. Like it was like Isaac and Gabby and they were showing it on like the main screen, not just like on the little screen. And I was like, this was so much fun because it like first of all, Gabby drove incredible. So like for them to be then showing the battle with Isaac and Gabby was really fun because Isaac had that great recovery from twenty-one to six. Like that's I don't know, that was the juicy stuff. And then, like you said, when it we are at the front where it's Kimmy and Charles, and then a seven second gap back to Max. Why are we showing that for the last 15 laps? Why are we not going and showing those midfield battles with the V carbs and the Alpen? Like that was juicy. We want to see that. Like I think that was I think it was really fun though. I don't know though. That's a great question about broadcasting directors, Paul. Josh: Yeah, I was sitting there watching the timing screen. Meredith: What do y'all think about the issue of Lewis got a penalty and the commentators even said, like, hey, it was lap one, so they're gonna be more lenient, and then they give Lewis the five second penalty. And then we have the same incident almost, you know, let's see, lap seventeen is when they noted no no further action between Charles and Oscar. Like, what Josh: Almost identical. Meredith: Like I know that Lewis, what happened with Lewis ended George's race, even George said that was just a racing incident. Like, that shouldn't have been a penalty, that was a racing incident. But we saw the same type of situation happen with Charles and Oscar. Oscar's card had damage, not race ending damage, but he had damage. He came on the radio and they alerted him. So I guess I'm confused about if Lewis gets a five second penalty and that's lenient because it's lap one, why does Charles not get a penalty? And if the theory is that it's gonna be more harsh because it's not lap one. I was expecting Charles to get like a 10 second penalty in my mind. I don't know. Can somebody riddle me that? Josh: Yeah, I think t I I'm not gonna have anything I don't have any way to explain this to you because it's complete trash. I so here make what makes it even worse to me is in the cooldown room when they're rewatching it, Charles even kind of laughs and he's like, you know, cal what he said, he was something along the lines of like calculated risk. Like he that was intentional. That was intentional. Meredith: Calculated. And him and Max are finishing each finishing each other's sentences. Josh: Yeah. Which cute couple by the way, but it just it just w so that means number one, it's calculated. He meant to do that. He meant to put his car in that position. So you compare that then with the move Correct. Yeah, and held it and then create basically created the contact by holding the line. But then you look at the lap one incident with between Lewis and it was an unintentional snap of oversteer that's not losing c I think what they gave him the penalty for was losing the control of the car. But it was Meredith: Precious. Love that for real. Yeah, you directly went into that line on purpose. Josh: The bar it was George's barge board that was pushing air into Lewis, causing the little snap of oversteer. Complete racing incident should not have been given a penalty. I have not seen one given a penalty like that in a while. that harsh on like a lap one. Like we've had several where we were like, ooh, they're getting a penalty for sure. I I couldn't believe that. And then to see it basically the same thing happen again in a couple, you know, seventeen laps later. Shocked that that Charles didn't pick up a penalty for that. Completely shocked. Meredith: I was like I Paulie :D: And not just that, but and not just and not just that, but you you heard George say it on the radio, like or you even post race interviews. It was a racing incident. And we know George complains about fucking everything. And he even admitted it was just a racing incident. Meredith: And I'm a Charles say then. Yeah. A hundred percent. But if Charles would have been given a five-second time penalty that he would have had to serve at a pit stop, even given the fact that the virtual safety car happened after and he benefited from that pit, if Charles would have received a five-second penalty and the gap between Charles and Max was eight seconds at most for most of the race, like we could have been talking about a completely different podium where it could have been, you know, Max on the second step and Charles in third, potentially, or You know, Charles and Lewis could have been battling it out. Who knows? So I think that the call on that penalty changed a lot in terms of what could have been a different podium potential. But I mean, I guess I just was confused by it not being applied consistently. Paulie :D: And this is a frustration. We've talked about this. We've talked about this at nauseum. How many times have we talked about it? If I had a dollar for every time we talked about this, I could retire yesterday. You never know going into the weekend what the rules are. Well, I shut up. This is a metaphor. It's like we should. It's like you don't know going into what in each weekend what is a penalty and what isn't, because it always fluctuates and it's frustrating. Meredith: Where are your dollars then, Paul? We've talked about it a lot. We should be rich. I was just glad that they didn't hit him with a post-race time penalty for Lewis for that P4 for the unsafe release. I was like, the man was in the way. He tripped. Like as a driver, you if you have the green light and you go, how are you supposed to help it if one of your pit crew trips and falls into the car? Like what? Josh: Yeah. Paulie :D: He almost killed his mechanic. Josh: The light turned. He ha he had the green light. Like I don't know that's a team issue. No, we all know you can't see you cannot see anything out of the cockpit w you know, laterally. Meredith: That your visor window's this big. Josh: Yeah, you can only see straight in front of you. You can't see anything else. So you're totally reliant in that moment on the team to release you. Meredith: Yeah, but then his radio after where he found out and he's like, is he okay? Like, of course he's concerned about it. I was like, wouldn't the fine like 30,000 euros or something insane? I would get hit by. I would absolutely get hit by a car for 30k. Like, bump me. Let's go. Take a toe. I don't care. Yeah. Let it happen on the job. Workers come. Josh: Yeah. Which isn't that insane when their salaries are Paulie :D: Yeah. Absolutely. Run run over my foot. It's all right. I'm good. Josh: Yep. Paulie :D: O J I Josh: Him outjay. Meredith: Yeah, our company has this crazy loophole where if I die on a work trip, my insurance payout is like multiplied like X number of times of what the normal payout would be. So I always say, if I gotta go young, let it be on a work trip for Joe's sake. I'm just thinking about Joe. Paulie :D: Yeah, Joe will be set for life. Meredith: Yeah. okay, so let's talk about do y'all we didn't get our favorite George radio of the day. But do y'all have a favorite radio message of the day that you heard? Because I have one that was standout. Josh: You go first. Meredith: Lap 36, the commentator, called it the rotisserie wing. So all I could think about was the back of the Ferrari car just all of a sudden having a spit on it, just rotating rotissary chickens all on it. The the rotisserie wing instead of the rear wing. I loved it. I noted it. It was fantastic. but also. There was another one that I really liked that was like like right before the finish where someone said like he'd they were talking about Lando and like what he was charging at the end. I think it was Lando and they said he doesn't know chill, does he? Like he doesn't know what it means to chill. And I was like, those are fun radios. But I was bummed we didn't get to do our little George quote competition. Although he did have a fun, spicy radio message that you sent, Paul. I thought that was warranted. Josh: Yeah, they didn't Paulie :D: Yeah. Josh: they didn't broadcast the one that he the good one. He just went off and started ranting. Paulie :D: Yeah. That's that's the one that's the one I was I I was focused on is how spicy that was. And it it goes back to what we were talking about earlier. It all goes back to a computer. And you can make the argument that that's where motor or or automobiles and motorsports is going as a whole, but it takes away from the driver, it takes away from the skill that everyone brings to the table. And I don't know. I'm not a fan of it, but Meredith: No. I loved that. Paulie :D: Thus the world is changing and everything is computerized. Meredith: No. Yep. Well, we have two drivers this weekend who both on their radios complained about their front wing. We had Carlos Sainz, who was very, very audibly frustrated. He said, Did someone change the front wing? And they were like, Yeah. And he's like, Why did nobody talk to me? The wing wasn't the issue. The floor is the issue. And then later in the race, Lewis came on and then was also con like was also complaining about his front wing. So what were y'all's thoughts on? Paulie :D: Well the thing with Lou is Josh: Yeah, Lou Lewis was supposed to have changes. That's what that guy was so supposed to be doing and he didn't. Meredith: Yeah, and they did it and they and they didn't communicate with him. So front front wing gate, wa th we I know Williams is just a shitbox right now. Hi biscuit. I know Williams is a shitbox right now, but I mean Paulie :D: Correct. Yeah. Josh: Pretty much. Paulie :D: yeah. Josh: Which I'm assuming that I mean, I I guess Carlos can feel certain ways, you know, how the car's driving, but I'm sure that Williams had s plenty of sensors that were saying that they were losing X amount of, you know, arrow from points of downforce or whatever it may have been on that wing and that's why they decided to change it. I doubt they just decided on on a whim. Meredith: No, that that wasn't on a win. That was that was pre-planning. Josh: Or or it's just Williams and they just don't know what they're doing, which is likely. Meredith: It's just Williams. Williams is just trying their best out here. Twenty twenty-six, their year, baby. Paulie :D: Listen. Listen. Josh: Yeah. Paulie :D: I he's he's all but done with that team. Unless something changes drastically in the next and and y you know, money talks. Carlos brings a lot of money. I'm sure. You know, we we've talked about this. There's a lot of hop there's a lot of vacancies going into next year. Josh: Where where is he gonna go though? Meredith: Yeah, we talked this last week. Paulie :D: I I see him leaving. I d I don't for I don't for a second think he's gonna stay with Williams. Meredith: I don't see Carlos leaving unless there's a top tier team opening up. Like the I I would only see Carlos leaving if he was going to like a McLaren, a Merck, a Red Bull. Like I don't I don't see him leaving to go to another midfield team where he's rebuilding from the ground up. It's dog day today, y'all. Paulie :D: Absolutely. Meredith: That's Gravy's chair. So, you know, I can't, I can't be mad at him. And when I record from that chair, he's like, Mom, what are you doing my chair? Yeah, I don't know. I just, I don't see Carlos leaving to do like, he took this leap of faith, leaving Ferrari to go to Williams to like rebuild Williams. And now with this experience, I don't see him leaving and going to another team unless it's one of those top-tier teams. Paulie :D: No, yeah. That's my chair. Josh: Yeah, but he's burnt his bridges at half the teams we've mentioned. He's driven at most of the top tier teams. Paulie :D: Yeah. Meredith: Yeah. It's Paulie :D: That's right. He he he was a McLaren driver for a while. Josh: He was a McLaren driver, he's been at Ferrari, he's been at Red Bull. Meredith: But he's got he's still got a great relationship with McLaren. So I mean, trust me, I would love to see Carlando content all over my feed again. But I think it all goes back to whether or not Oscar wants to stay. I mean, he has a contract through twenty twenty eight. It's about his decision of if he wants to stay, so Josh: Well, but my god, that Yes, exactly. Paulie :D: Listen, time heals all wounds and and money definitely heals all wounds. Meredith: I I actually think Max is the linchpin in everything for silly season and and driver swaps. You know, like everything that is to come I think is gonna be set and determined by what Max decides to do, if he decides to keep racing or or what. So I don't know. Paulie :D: we yeah, we've heard this yeah. Josh: of course. Paulie :D: Yeah, if if that domino falls, it's gonna all hell break breaks loose and fall to the one. Meredith: Yeah, agreed. what are y'all's thoughts on Max's performance this weekend? Cause I know last week we talked and I was like, I had a whole alternate podium where I saw Max doing great here. And I said, if they can get the technical stuff figured out, I could see him on the podium. And my alternate podium had Max in second. I know the qualifying obviously he had like a toe from Isaac, but in race performance, I thought he looked incredible. Even though he was saying on the radio, the tires are gone, the tires are shit, the tires are shot, tires are awful, yet he's on the podium. I thought he had a great drive. What were y'all's thoughts on his performance? Paulie :D: I don't believe half the crap that comes out of Max's mouth during the race. Because how how many times have we heard him complain, the steering is crap, this is crap, that's crap, and the fucking dude still podium. So I don't believe half the crap he says. So, you know, Max is Max. Josh: I think it's just it comes to just him adapting. Like he just doesn't like it, but he just figures out a way to make it work anyway. I think that's what it comes down to. Paulie :D: Yeah. Meredith: Agreed. I don't know. I it made me happy to see Max up there again. Like, I don't know. I said it this week in kind of debriefing with some people after the race. I I think when Max is doing well in the sport, it's good for sport. Just like we talked about when Williams is doing good, it's good for Formula One. Everybody loves seeing Williams do good. Everybody may not love Max doing good. But F one overall is better when Max is performing well and when we have more people in the mix for title fights. And it's not just, hey, is it gonna be Kimmy or George this weekend? Like I think it's fun seeing Max get back up in the mix. If both McLearans can finish races, if both Mercedes can finish races, if both Ferraris can finish races, and we've got Max up in the mix, I think we're gonna be in a in a good place for a fun second half of the season. Paulie :D: And in shocking news, Cadillac broke down again. Meredith: We're all shocked. Josh: Yeah, yeah. Paulie :D: Just like just like an American built car always breaking down. Meredith: God, what was it? Checko three pit stops before lap. Like what? God, when did he officially have to retire? I was trying to see if I know it. Yeah, it was like I looked down and all of a sudden it was like, Checko, three pit stops. And it was like three pit stops. And I was like, surely they're gonna retire the car soon. And then they Yeah. Hate that for them. You should have put him in your prediction again. When you put him in your prediction, they both finish the race. So manifest it for us, Paul. Paulie :D: Broken suspension. Josh: Yeah. I don't Paulie :D: That's true. That's true. But this but this solidifies if you want a car that works, you buy a Mercedes or an Import. Don't buy American. Josh: Yes, the Mercedes that George was yelling about on the radio about being slow and having no power. Meredith: Yeah, I was like, reliability issues. Paulie :D: One one one one fin one didn't. It's fifty percent. I'll take those chances. I guess you could say the same Cadillac, right? Valtery ended up finishing the race. Meredith: Yeah. Okay, well any other thoughts on Spa? Any other things you didn't share? Hot takes? Anything you got? Paulie :D: No. Meredith: Okay, well let's do a little Josh: Call Pent Call Pinto might have had the overtake of the year that wouldn't wasn't even that wasn't even broadcast. Meredith: I th I that double overtake was insane. Yeah. Yeah. Like Paulie :D: The world missed a great great pass. Meredith: Is is there do they do an award, a motorsport award for Overtake of the Year? Yeah, that should get it. I mean, who knows? Maybe there'll be something crazy later this season, but I think that was amazing. Josh: Mm-hmm. That was up there. Meredith: Okay, so let's recap points from the predictions. So Josh predicted George, Kimmy, Lewis, and all Mercedes and customer teams score points. Paul had Kimmy, Lewis, George, two DNFs or DNSs, one Alpine, one racing bull, and one Haas in the points. I had Kimmy, Charles, George, and then both Ferraris top five. So, Josh, you pick up no points this week because Williams screwed you on your shocker prediction. And you get a negative one because of George DNF. Paul, you picked up a point for Kimmy winning, but you lose a point for George DNFing, and your shocker did not come to fruition. I pick up a point for Kimmy. I pick up a point for Charles. I deduct a point for George, but I pick up a point for both Ferrari's top five. So that brings our new points total to Josh 10. Paul is flat at zero, and I am at seven. Paulie :D: Look at you go, girl. Meredith: I'm trying to catch back up. Josh: Coming right back up. Paulie :D: Who says girls don't know about motorsports? Stupid idiots. Meredith: That's right. That's right. What you think about that, mad dog? Mad mad Dog was the dude in my socials, okay? That's literally his Instagram name, Mad Dog. This one's for you, mad dog. okay, well, let's shift gears. Let's talk hungry this weekend. I so many people forgot it was a doubleheader weekend. And we're like, And then, you know, we go into we go into Budapest this weekend. Hungry's a track that I feel like I I feel bad saying this. Like, I feel like it's kind of forgettable for me. Paulie :D: Yeah, fuck that guy. Yeah. Josh: Mm-hmm. Meredith: like there's nothing nothing distinguishing about it for me, but it's one that I want to go to because I would love to go to Spa and Hungary back to back. Like that'd be a great trip to go do. So I would I would love to go to Budapest. But what are y'all's thoughts on Hungary? Tru do you have any track talk, nerd talk for us, Josh? Paulie :D: Well, absolutely. We gotta get the nerd talk. Josh: well I think the big one for this weekend it's gonna be hot. Like we know Europe's been in this heat wave, right? It's gonna be hot. So I I'm looking here, it's got like a thirty one degree Celsius heat, which is nuts. And then you can add, you know, ten, twelve degrees to a tarmac surface. So I think tire dag is gonna be higher. So I mean, maybe you're looking at a two or three st hopefully a three stop. But you know, I'm I'm hoping for a three stop, but the the dang hard tire just looks so resilient. It's Paulie :D: Caliente. Meredith: that'd be sick. Josh: 'Cause it seems like it grains and then it just comes right back like a stupid amount, like way more than th there should be on up, you know. Yeah, I didn't yeah, anyway, we can talk about that too. Like this there was several strategy decisions I thought kind of messed up people's races throughout that. Meredith: Yeah, how many locks did Lando go on that hard tire? Yeah, they they ruined his race by not pitting him earlier. Forgot about that. Sorry. Yeah. Sorry. I I totally forgot about the the Lando Pitt thing. But I mean, that you're right, like that that hard tire lasted incredibly long. Josh: Lasted forever. Yeah, so if that's any indication on how these cars are on the hard tire, it could very well be a two stop and it just ends up another race almost identical to the one we saw. But I think that's the tale of the weekend is gonna be how hot it is and a tire day. I don't see any rain on the radar. I think it's just gonna be hot. So Meredith: Yeah. It'll be interesting. I think Josh: I I mean, yeah, it's like like you said, it's not like the craziest l track in the world. It doesn't have like a lot of notable characteristics. that pit straight will be good for like multiple overtakes, you know, it'll it'll depend 'cause the end of sector three is a good place to recharge a battery. So do you shouldn't there shouldn't be a lot of places for you to drain your battery down before you get to the pit straight. So there shouldn't be a lot of yo yoing on the pitch straight. Hopefully, you know. Meredith: Okay. Josh: It depends on I guess how the software, whatever, but throughout the middle of the lap there's a lot of places to recharge the battery. So it could be a better race tailored more so for this regulation set. So we'll see. Meredith: You never know. Interesting. And you know, it was like it was hot in Austria again. So I would imagine that the heat i in Hungary is probably pretty similar to like the heat of the Austrian mountains. Like I would imagine that it's a yeah, I would imagine that it's very similar climate, which is like not that hot to us, you know, that live down here in the armpit of the United States. But for them, like yeah, it's hot and then even, you hotter on track. So I think it'll be interesting to watch. let's talk about the Aston Martin car. You know, this is supposed to be their Josh: I would yeah, I would think so. Meredith: massive upgrade of the season. It's supposed to be essentially an entirely different car and a different setup. What are your hopes, thoughts, dreams, aspirations, reality checks on the Aston Martin upgrade? Paul, I'll come to you first on that. Paulie :D: I don't know, my expectations are low about that car. It's just been a dud of a year. So I'm just going to just keep expectations low and hopefully they surprise me. Meredith: What about you, Josh? Josh: I'd love to see rival the rest of the midfield like right out of the gate. I think that that would give quite a spark to that team and I think that would r rejuvenate Fernando's, you know, mentality, I guess, going into the rest of the year. You know, for them to maybe maybe battle Williams or to have a a decent qualifying, I think that would be great for that team's motivation going forward. Meredith: Yeah, agreed. I like for Alonzo, I would just absolutely love it if this car was great and if the updates are phenomenal. But, you know, I feel a little bit jaded because similar to the Williams experience where, you know, they said they put all everything in the 2026 basket and then it has not delivered for Williams. I feel like I'm a little jaded in the sense of like hearing, well, Aston Martin's put everything into these upgrades and it's supposed to be like an entirely new car. I feel a little jaded on trusting word of mouth. So For Alonzo, I would love to see it. The fact that Stroll is outqualified Alonso multiple races this season, like that is a bummer to see. So I I would love it for for Aston Martin if they bring a great upgrade. It'd be fun to see. And, you know, like you said, having another team in the midfield battles, like for what we've already gotten this year with, you know, with V Carb and Alpine, like hell yeah, that's amazing. Let's get let's get Aston Martin up in that mix. I'd be all for it. Josh: Yeah, Audi's looking stronger than they had in the last few races. They were battling for a points position, so that's a that's another one. Meredith: Yeah, Gabby did what Gabby placed Gabby placed an eighth or something. Let's see. Yeah. Gabby was an eighth. Nico was just outside and thirteen, you know. And it's like, if you're Nico Holkenberg and you're right behind that V carb alpine battle, what you know, what are your odds? Like Gabby was lucky that he battled early on and got up to where he did and and stayed there and was right ahead of that fight. Because if you're if you're Nico Holkenberg, how do you get past that V carb and Alpine fight? That's Josh: Mm-hmm. Meredith: Insurmountable in my opinion. one team that I am interested to see how they do this weekend because they've done pretty well earlier in the season, or at you know, Ollie has, Haas. I was I was a little disappointed in the performance of Haas this weekend. So I'm excited to see if they can learn a little bit and rebound, come come hungry. If they come hungry to hungry per points. Josh: Hungry, hungry to hungry. Yeah, I know. I mean, I would love to see They they seem like they were a lot hotter at the beginning of the year. I don't know what happened. Paulie :D: I see what you did there. Meredith: Yeah, I would love I would love to see do good. Yeah, yeah, I really I I don't know what happened either. You know, it seemed like they came out of the gate a little hotter, so I I'd love to see him get back up in the mix and do well. Hi, buddy. You're so sweet. Any other thoughts on hungry? Paulie :D: Sorry, I'm focused on my predictions. I've been doing a little research. We're doing a little research here on the old interweb. Meredith: It's okay. That's what we have next. my God, don't you dare chat GPT your predictions, Paul. Josh: Chat GPT, who's gonna win? Paulie :D: Dude, I've never thought about doing that. Meredith: Don't. That's not that's not how we play this game. Let's coming right to you then, Paul. If there are no other thoughts If there are no other thoughts on hungry, let's just get right into predictions. Paul, we'll come to you first. Because you know what, Paul? There's nowhere to go but up. Paulie :D: You can't tell me you you can't tell me what to do. Shut your face. You're right, you're a hundred percent. Meredith: All right, who t who do you got for your podium and what do you have for your shocker? Paulie :D: Hang on, I'm still writing. I went to public school. I'm a slow writer. Meredith: What does public school have to do with slow riding? So what does public public school have to do with slow riding? Josh: This isn't turned in in a written form. Paulie :D: What's that? I don't know. I just I'm dumb. Give me a minute. Well let's let's go with Josh. Let's go with the reigning champion. Meredith: Okay, Josh, we'll come to you. Our resident leader, our champion, Josh. What you got? Josh: I have the great Kimmy Antonelli winning. I think that's probably everyone's gonna have that as well. I'm gonna take Lewis and then Lando. Meredith: Right. Okay. Paulie :D: Dang, son. Meredith: Okay. And what's your shocker? Josh: Let's see. Should you know what's shocker prediction? I think that we'll stick on the Aston Martins. I think the Aston Martins will compete for eleventh to fifteenth position around in there. One. Some one of well one the the only one that's piloted by a driver that's legitimate. Meredith: Both or one? Okay. One of Okay. Okay, Paul, are you ready? Paulie :D: Alright, I got Kimmy winning, Lewis and Charles second and third. And you know what? We're just gonna go keep we're gonna keep it safe because I feel like I need some points right now, okay? I'm just gonna keep it safe. Both Aston Martins finish the race. Meredith: Okay, I like it. I have Kimmy, Charles, Lando. And then for my shocker, I I'm gonna try a little bit of a, I'm I'm doing a little bit of a Paul here. I'm doing both V-carbs are finishing in the point plus an Alpine. So I'm doing a little combo there. So both V-carbs and an Alpine in the points. But we have we all have very similar podiums. We all have Kimmy winning. Joshua and I both have Lando in third. Josh: Nice. Meredith: y'all both have Lewis in second and then I have Charles in second and Paul has Charles in third. So we've got similar we've got the same players in different places, which is kind of fun for us. And I like our shockers. Those are good. Paulie :D: Perfect, easy. Meredith: Well, any other things we let's speaking of Spain winning the World Cup, our other notorious Spaniard motorsport driver, Alex Pillot, won the Music City GP for IndyCar this weekend after after weather delays. Paulie :D: Can we can Yeah, can we talk can we talk about the mess that Fox and IndyCar made for themselves? Meredith: Yeah, that was an absolute mess, you know, and I I I think I think it is really interesting because I get what they were trying to do from a broadcasting perspective. The World Cup is ending. The coverage is going to continue. They are going to eventually just blend it right into the the right into the Nash Nashville. Why did I want to say Nash Car again? Nashville Music City Indy Car Race. And they wanted to blend it right in to be able to introduce that into the next sport, you know, maybe catch some people that have fans, highest viewership ever. I get it from a strategy perspective, but then the World Cup ran overtime. Josh: Nice. Paulie :D: Nice card. Meredith: Andy car people were just waiting for it to start and then weather delay. Boom, FIFA World Cup ends, and then all of a sudden, weather delay, multiple hours of weather delays, ultimately to the point where it rained so hard they had to cancel the race on Sunday, move it to Monday, and then Monday, an hour and a half before the race is scheduled to start, they then announce that the race is going to be 75 laps shorter than the normal race is. So a lot of blunders here. Paulie :D: Well not not just that though, not just that though. They offered ten dollar tickets on Monday anywhere you wanted to sit. So as a fan, if you paid full price for the ticket on Sunday, you're sitting next to somebody that cashed in on a ten dollar ticket. I thought that was crap. Meredith: Yeah, that would be a bit of a bummer. You would think that there would need to be a voucher or refund system in place for some of the other stuff. Like Paulie :D: Yeah, and I I thought I mean I get the concept of cashing in on on all the fans finishing up the World Cup. But did they never for a second the last World Cup went into extra time? Did they not for a second think that this was gonna happen? It seemed like it was a mess and nobody seemed to know what was happening, because I was watching the World Cup final and I was like, All right, are we gonna cut? Are we gonna cut? Are we gonna cut to the race? And they kept going on with commentators and commentators. And I was like, I get it right. You don't wanna cut the World Cup. Meredith: Yeah, what are we rolling into it? Paulie :D: You know, write the broadcast at the end. But it's like, you promised me that after the final whistle would happen, 20 minutes was that was gonna be their cue. Once the final whistle blew for the World Cup, they had a 20-minute cue or wait until the indie car race started. It seemed like it went on forever. And it was like, what? Meredith: Yeah. But I think at that point they were also already in a weather delay. So it was kind of one of those things where it was like they continued the coverage because there was all there was nothing for them to shift to. So would you rather continue World Cup coverage or would you rather shift over to IndyCar coverage? Which which one are you gonna get more viewership on? You're gonna get more viewership on the people world cup. I get that one hundred percent. So I mean I didn't like it though. Josh: Yeah, so they just let them go. Paulie :D: Sure. Yeah. But I mean no, and this is and this is why they moved Nashville further up to give people an exciting race to then get more fans to watch IndyCar race. I don't know. I thought it was a complete swing and swing and miss by IndyCar. I think they completely messed it up. And you cheated fans out of 75 laps that they signed up for. This was a big selling point, is like we're gonna make it longer because it's an exciting race. Overall, I thought it was a huge swing and miss by Fox and IndyCar. Meredith: Right. Yeah. Paulie :D: And what are you gonna do? I mean you can't control the weather, right? So I get Meredith: Yeah. No, you can't. I mean, I think that's the hard part is that like have the FIFA broadcast just run long, right? Like had the match just had overtime and the broadcast run long, and then they just had to delay the start of the the the Nashville Indy Car race, I I would have understood that. Because they could have said, Hey, we're actually gonna we're in honor of the World Cup and because Fox is doing the broadcast coverage. We're gonna actually delay the start by 30 minutes, whatever. But they already had the weather systems that were moving in, like, and and that's a crappy situation. But one of the guys that I met on that work trip I went, Patrick, like he was messaging me, like they were on the grid. They they had to stay down on the grid the entire time because they didn't know how long that weather front was gonna be moving through. So they were just kind of delaying it and hoping. And then once that system moved in, it was kind of like that. I don't know if y'all saw pictures of the wall of storms that came in, but it was a lot. Paulie :D: And then the other mess was some markets around the country didn't even show the race on Monday. And then some markets, I believe I saw that Cincinnati cut it halfway through the race to go to local news. So it was it was a complete fumble, and I don't know. Meredith: Yeah. I mean, but imagine from a broadcasting perspective you Change your prime, you have to change your prime time television because it's like a race is delayed. There's there are so many moving factors that make me so glad to not be in broadcasting. But I I think they made the right call to stay on the World Cup coverage on Sunday. What they should have done is made an announcement. I I didn't hear a clear announcement of the IndyCar race has been delayed due to weather, which is the cause for us extending the FIFA World Cup coverage. As soon as we have an update for IndyCar, we'll transition the coverage over. You know, I feel like the communication could have been better. But one thing I guarantee. Is that they will hopefully learn from this and do better and and be able to plan better. I also think it is interesting to hear the reaction of like people. People were actually really mad that Nashville is no longer the last race of the IndyCar C season and that they moved it to Laguna Seca. Like this was supposed to be the selling point. This was why they flipped it, was to be able to cover Nashville after the World Cup and have and bring in a bunch of viewership and then finish the season at Laguna Seca at the corkscrew. So I I think the reaction will be interesting to see when it comes to the final of the season and then be like, well, what if Nashville had been whatever, you know? And then I think we'll see an interesting I think it'll be interesting to see if it sticks on the calendar or if they switch back to Nashville being the end of the season next year. Who knows? Paulie :D: Yeah, I mean I enjoyed it the being the last race of the year. It was a very exciting. I will say the I I was watching videos. The fan zone this year in Nashville seemed to be a lot more exciting than it was last year. They had they had they had the World Cup showing, they created a small pitch in the fan zone where pet people can play soccer, and so they had bands playing, so it looked a lot more fun. Granted, you saw a lot of people complaining about how hot it was, but it's Tennessee in the summer. Like you're gonna get heat, you're gonna get high heat. Meredith: Yeah, I didn't see I didn't see anything of it. that's awesome. It's Tennessee in the summer. Yeah. Paulie :D: Humidity and Meredith: Yeah. IndyCar fans, if you thought Tennessee in the summer was hot, come to Coda in October. Paulie :D: Yeah, I mean i i it's just that that's what happens when you have a race in the south. It's gonna be hot, it's gonna be muggy, you just prepare for that. So y there's nothing you can do about that. So overall it was a swing of the mess. To me though. Meredith: Yep. Agreed. Net result though still Alex Pillow winning. What a cool thing for him. Like, number one, what a cool thing to be able to finish watching your team win the World Cup because y'all are on a delay. You know, it's like you know you have this potential weather delay coming in. You get to finish watching the World Cup. Your team wins the World Cup. You're mentally gearing up, weather delay, you're on Cloud Nine, you get to celebrate Spain winning, and then you go on to win the race the next day. What a cool thing for Alex Pillow. Like, that's just gotta be an awesome feeling. I know he was so excited. So I just think that that's I think. That's a cool story. And then it was Joseph Newgarden and David Malucas second and third, which David Malucas incredible recovery after that accident. Wow. Paulie :D: To me. And that was that was good. That was what I was gonna say. The two things that stuck out to me the most about Monday's race was David Malucas went from crashing, going to the hospital, couldn't really qualify and do much of anything, and then to get a podium. Listen, sky's the limit for that guy. That guy, that guy's on a fucking tear. And also, let's not forget his first top ten finish of the year, Mick Schumacher, finishes in eighth. So at at an oval race, something that he's not notoriously ever, I mean, not notoriously, he's never. Meredith: On the podium. Guy's the limit. Yeah. Paulie :D: really done other than this year. He didn't have a great showing in Phoenix. You know, St. Louis was iffy, but he's starting to get the hang of it. I really hope that he gets a seat into next year. He seems confident in his post race interviews that he'll be there for next year. But huge congrats to to Mick for getting a top 10 finish at Nashville. In that heat you saw you know you saw Pato coming out of the car and dumping cold water himself because it's it's just tough. It's a tough race. So good for him I'm happy Meredith: Yeah. Congrats, Nate. Paulie :D: For them. Meredith: Me too. Okay, well, on that note, we have Hungry this weekend. We don't have any IndyCar. They're on a little bit of a break. Paulie :D: that thought NAS car they were at North Wilkesboro. Joey Logano won. Great for him. That car was on a tear. But to me, the headline of that weekend was SVG when he went to lead the rakes. It was one of those, I'm leading the rakes. What the fuck do I do? Meredith: Yeah, Joey Lecano on good for him. It's radio. I'm in the race! What do I do? What do I do? I'm leaving the race! What do I do? Guys, what do I do? Paulie :D: I feel like that would be my reaction if I got into that car and I ended up leading the race. I was like, guys, I'm in first. What the fuck do I do right now? Just I can keep going. So and he got a top ten finish. So SVG, which is not known for doing great on Ovals, he road courses and street courses are his thing. So kudos to him. Great job for him. But he got best I'll go as far as to say best radio of the of motorsports weekend as a whole. Meredith: I don't know what to do with my head. Best radio of the NASCAR season in my opinion. That's just excellent. It was so Ricky Bobby coded. I I loved it. Paulie :D: I was like, what do I do? Just keep doing what you're doing, but Meredith: Okay, let's see. Is there NASCAR this weekend? IMS, yeah. Yeah, they're the IMS road course in Indianapolis. So that'll be a fun one. So next week we'll be back at you with hungry recap and we'll we'll debrief IMS road course for for NASCAR, basically talking about SVG winning again, another road course, which is excellent. So is it the oval? Paulie :D: I believe they are in Indianapolis. God could you No, no, I think this is the oval. I believe it's the oval, not the Meredith: Well I'm not watching then. If it's not S V G with another sick radio, I don't want it. Paulie :D: I don't wanna hear this. Meredith: Okay. Regardless, next week we'll be back with Hungry Indianapolis recap from Paul on NASCAR. Everybody have a great rest of your week. Engage with us, like, follow, share, comment, engage with us. If you wanna hop on and chat with us, let us know. And on that, we'll see you guys next week. Bye everybody. Paulie :D: Later guys. Josh: See ya.