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F1 2026 - Chinese GP Recap & Japanese GP Preview | Banter with the Boys | Fast Laps · Banter with the Boys

0:00
laced up let's go it's time for better with the
0:05
boys what is going on welcome back to banter
0:15
with the boys fast laps Yes, that's what we're
0:20
doing. We're here for the... It's not an intro.
0:23
And guess what? I don't do outros either, so
0:27
welcome to the pod. We are here for the China
0:31
recap in the Japan preview, more so predictions.
0:36
You already know what it is. We are accompanied...
0:39
I'm Smelty, by the way. I always forget to say
0:42
who I am. I'm accompanied today by Joe. Hi. Content.
0:49
content yeah uh content himself and then to my
0:53
larry over here we have mike is also harry am
0:57
i larry Yeah, introducing him and using Larry's
1:01
left is very confusing. I'm already confused.
1:04
You're on a podcast for people listening to audio
1:07
only. Yeah, he's to my left. Okay, sorry. All
1:10
right. Anyway, Mike, what's up? Not a whole lot.
1:12
I'm chilling. You're here. Happy to be here.
1:13
Yeah, chilling like a villain. Kev behind the
1:17
computer and the microphone. Get ready for Kev
1:20
Corner later in the episode. Look out for it.
1:23
I just realized that you guys are wearing hats.
1:25
You're wearing a different hat this week than
1:27
you're usually wearing. What are you talking
1:28
about? I don't know what you're talking about.
1:30
I wear the hat of the winner. That's so perfect.
1:34
I did bring a hat. That's awesome. It's a weird
1:37
hat to wear. Right now. But I only wear hats
1:40
of losers. Oh, yeah. Actually, yeah. He said
1:44
the thing. I wear the what is you? Yeah. You
1:46
thought it was teams we like. No. And I just
1:49
wear Haas. Yeah. I put on a McLaren hat for those
1:52
of you that don't know. This will probably be
1:53
the only time I'll ever wear it on the pod, to
1:55
be honest. But they're just doing so poorly.
1:58
And you guys are so used to me seeing me in the
2:00
Alpine hat. And they're doing well. So I figured,
2:02
why would I possibly wear the Alpine hat right
2:05
now? Can't. Just throw Alpine out. I don't want
2:08
to play with you anymore. Right. Anyway. With
2:11
that, we're going to dive straight into our China
2:13
recap, if you will. Actually, okay, so the first
2:19
thing I wanted to bring up, there was something
2:20
with, was it FP1? Something with Albon, with
2:26
like some sort of, did you guys see that? He
2:29
had to go get a, wait, it's in the other notes
2:32
here. I'm on the wrong page. He ended up getting
2:34
a reprimand from the stewards because he like
2:36
something about him stopping on the grid and
2:39
he did a practice start. But apparently there
2:42
was a car in front of him that was also stopped
2:44
on the grid. Like not enough distance was between
2:47
him or something. So he almost ended up getting
2:49
in deep trouble for that. Were they at like the
2:52
starting line? I think so. I do know that. You're
2:55
allowed to do practice starts at the end of FP1.
2:59
Before you can do yours, you have to make sure
3:01
that the car ahead of you is very far away. Like,
3:04
I think almost, like, past T1. And his excuse
3:06
kind of was, like, something along the lines
3:09
of, like, oh, yeah, well, I just didn't know
3:10
what they were doing. Oh, like, well. Come on,
3:13
dude. And he, like, said that to them, to the
3:15
stewards. Like, I don't think that's, probably
3:17
keep that to yourself. Maybe. But anyway, that
3:20
was the only thing I saw as far as, like, the
3:22
biggest thing. Penalized. Yeah, that's what I
3:26
said. Right on. It's the right form of the word.
3:28
It is what you said. Look it up. Well, did you
3:30
boys watch the sprint? Yes. Do you want to talk?
3:33
I mean, McLaren actually participated in that.
3:35
They did. They did. Actually didn't do too poorly
3:38
either. And they didn't do that bad. No, not
3:39
at all. They did pretty good. They both got top
3:41
five. Did they end up five, six? They ended up.
3:45
Well, so Norse qualified third. Piastri qualified
3:48
fifth, and then Norris finished fourth, Piastri
3:52
sixth. So 4 -6. Okay, 4 -6. Right on, right on.
3:55
Okay. So solid, what, 10 points out of that,
3:58
right? Really solid, yeah. That's so wrong. Huh?
4:01
No, that was so wrong. The points. I was like
4:03
10 points. More than 10. No, less than 10. No,
4:05
less than 10 because it counts down. Because
4:06
it's 8 -7 -6 -5. Yeah. Yeah. It's eight points.
4:09
Yeah. Piastri only has three points. Piastri
4:13
only has three points. And it is. So then. He's
4:17
going to be fighting for the championship. So
4:18
then Lando has 12? Lando currently has 15 points.
4:27
Which is actually more than I feel like he should
4:30
have at this point. It just feels like he's been
4:32
horrible. But, I mean, the sprint helps. You
4:34
know, finishing people. These standings are crazy.
4:38
They're crazy. We can get into it in a second.
4:41
I mean, might as well now. You think so? Might
4:43
as well. Let's do it. All right. Well, let's
4:45
just let's just let's just, you know, let's just
4:47
address the bear in the room. Oliver Bearman,
4:49
the bear man in the room is he has 17 points
4:53
ahead of Norris behind Hamilton with 33. The
4:55
gap is already not. Obviously, we're still very
4:57
early gaps already. But there's one there, right?
4:59
There's one 51 to 17. First to fifth. Gasly's
5:06
right behind Norris, and then Verstappen's right
5:08
behind Gasly, matching Liam Lawson with eight
5:12
points. Crazy. Hadjar picked up his first points
5:16
this weekend for Verstappen. Sorry, I said for
5:21
Verstappen. You got a comment on that? It's the
5:23
same thing. Kev's got a comment on Hadji, did
5:27
you say? What's up? Kev Mike. Before you guys
5:30
go too far into it. They did a terrible decision
5:34
in doing a kind of tire check and had Hadjar
5:37
in the sprint on soft tires, and it just screwed
5:40
him over. That's why he finished in 15th. Because
5:41
Max was on the heart of the mediums the entire
5:43
race. Right on. So unfortunately, my boy Hadjar
5:45
got shafted on that one because of that. So that
5:48
was a big set. I had that in my notes. It made
5:49
me tear up a little bit because I just checked
5:51
the results. Max got eighth in the sprint. Yeah.
5:55
It's still like Red Bull is still very much so
5:57
at a point where they... are valuing max above
6:00
anyone else which i mean like kind of makes sense
6:03
because you know how do you beat one of the like
6:05
arguably the best driver on the grid like that
6:09
max got ninth max points for the sprint oh max
6:13
didn't get any points on the sprint then uh max
6:16
did not get any points this entire weekend uh
6:19
and it was a weekend with two races that's crazy
6:22
that's pretty crazy that was something that we've
6:24
almost never seen before i feel like yeah um
6:27
It's pretty insane. Williams picks up their first
6:31
points. Yep. This weekend. So I'm glad that we're
6:34
not going out with no points because it was,
6:37
we've been rough. Okay. Let's, let's cover the
6:39
elephant in the room too. Might as well. Antonelli.
6:41
I mean, obviously. Oh, I mean. First dub. Yeah.
6:44
First dub. Youngest, youngest pole sitter in
6:46
all of them. Ever. That's crazy. Also, first
6:49
Italian driver to win a Grand Prix in 20 years.
6:52
Yep. Since 2006, I believe. You put here, do
6:56
we see him fighting George to the end? Are we
6:58
talking now to the end of the season fully? Like,
7:01
do we see him? are we talking oscar lando going
7:04
back and forth like all last year type sure i
7:07
hope so is he i think just just to generalize
7:10
it is he uh is he a 2026 wdc contender i think
7:16
probably not i think we'd be dumb what does that
7:19
have Last time Max Verstappen did not earn a
7:23
point in a full Grand Prix race weekend was the
7:26
2016 Belgian Grand Prix. 10 years ago. Oh, my
7:29
God. Excluding the 2025 Miami sprint for some
7:32
reason. But, yeah, so 10 years since Max. Yeah,
7:34
yeah, yeah. Why? My bad. No. Oh, good. I mean,
7:39
I'll just kind of answer my own question first.
7:41
I think there's a good shot that he could, like,
7:43
I mean, he's only four points. away from Russell
7:46
right now. Obviously, spread over an entire season,
7:49
that can turn into 50. But he is, he's strong.
7:54
He feels comfortable. He looks comfortable in
7:56
the car. You felt his arms. He's strong. He's
7:58
strong, right? Yeah, I mean, look at him. He
8:01
seems very competent in the car, very comfortable
8:04
in the car, way more than I was expecting him
8:06
to be. Obviously, I think just visibly, Russell
8:09
is definitely the better driver. I think that's
8:12
like, but. Antonelli, I mean, as long as the
8:15
car stays strong, I think Antonelli has a really
8:17
good shot of fighting Russell. But you say no.
8:20
You don't think so? No, I just feel like Antonelli
8:26
will be the better driver, but I feel like eventually.
8:29
Like career -wise? But yeah, it's his second
8:32
year in the sport. He had a really good first
8:35
year, but I think we'll start to see some of
8:38
that rookie. Some of those rookie tendencies
8:41
come through throughout a couple of the races,
8:43
little mistakes here and there. We've seen him
8:45
have some warbles in qualifying. I think Smokes
8:47
is about to say the same thing I'm about to say.
8:49
I mean, after the win, probably not. I don't
8:51
know. I don't know. But after the win, he did
8:52
say, like, how nervous he was and stuff and that
8:54
his heart was pumping. He knew it was coming
8:57
down to it, but he still did it. And he did have
9:00
that mistake towards the end. Yes, that's what
9:02
I was going to say. His heart was pumping because
9:04
he had a rookie mistake near the end where he
9:06
almost lost it. Luckily, he got back on track
9:09
and he still. pulled it home but you're right
9:11
like um i think i think it could be very much
9:14
like it is a second season he's obviously had
9:17
a very good start but you know maybe he would
9:20
be if he did that and he did win wdc he would
9:25
be the second driver to win wdc on their second
9:29
season it's literally it would only be him and
9:32
lewis hamilton if i'm not mistaken oh to win
9:36
wdc to win wd in their second season Probably.
9:40
In their second season. Because Lewis Hamilton...
9:42
Because Lewis was winning when Max... Yeah, no.
9:46
Yeah. Shizzle. Are you fact -checking? Yeah,
9:49
I'm just going to fact -check. I'm curious. I
9:51
could be mistaken in that, but I'm fairly certain
9:53
that... Because I know for certain Lewis won
9:55
in McLaren his second year driving. And I don't
10:00
think anyone else has. Obviously, there's a driver
10:01
who won their first season of Formula One Grand
10:04
Prix because it was the first... Formula One
10:07
Grand Prix. So it's kind of, I mean, it's still
10:10
there, unfortunately. The statistic still exists,
10:13
but, you know. Always will. Yeah. Okay, for me,
10:17
I'm not, I do think they'll be fighting back
10:19
and forth. I do not see Kimi fighting for a WDC.
10:23
I mean, he's got to be in the top three, though.
10:25
I mean, I feel like you're dumb to not put him
10:27
in the top three just because of how clearly
10:29
better the car is than even Ferrari. Now, Ferrari's
10:32
starting to close that gap, but then behind the
10:35
Ferraris, it's another drop -off, it seems like,
10:38
probably until McLaren is able to finish races.
10:42
Then I feel like McLaren's gap to Ferrari will
10:45
be smaller than, say, what Ollie's was to Ferrari
10:48
this race. I mean, I don't know who else I'd
10:53
throw in there right now. Lewis is actually coming
10:55
out pretty strong, too. I don't think I don't
10:57
know about WDC, but I mean, that'd be crazy.
11:01
I mean, if you if the cars don't change, right,
11:04
if the cars don't change, I think Antonelli is
11:07
the only one that can contend with Russell George.
11:09
Well, yes. We do need to keep in mind, too, that
11:11
we know the cars are going to change. Yeah, that's
11:13
why I said if the cars don't change. Because
11:15
we know the cars will change, I think we're going
11:17
to have a shakeup midseason. I do, too. And that's
11:18
going to throw Ferrari into the mix a little
11:20
bit heavier, heavily. And I don't know if you
11:23
heard. I kind of got this second hand from a
11:27
different channel that I was watching. Fred Vassir
11:29
said something over the race weekend about how
11:33
right now Ferrari isn't even trying to. upgrade
11:40
their car in a chase for pace or something they're
11:43
looking more closely at the rule books and at
11:46
a rule that is changing so i guess they said
11:50
this rule that's changing he didn't elaborate
11:52
of course not so apparently there's something
11:55
that they see in the rule book i don't know that
11:57
they know is going to change yeah that they know
11:59
is going to change i can't assume that they're
12:01
talking about the fuel compression rates oh kev's
12:04
heard um But apparently he said that there's
12:07
some sort of a rule that's getting changed that
12:10
Ferrari knows is changing and that they are prepared
12:12
to exploit. So that could shake things up too.
12:16
Interesting. Do we know like timetable on a potential
12:19
rule change? Yeah, nothing. Just that it's –
12:21
yeah. What did you just have pulled up right
12:23
there, Kev? Was that about the Max Verstappen
12:25
car thing? That's another interesting thing.
12:28
We'll touch on that. Interesting. Okay. Well,
12:33
first off, before we keep moving on to – I mean,
12:36
we're already well into the Grand Prix at this
12:37
point, but we got to talk about who didn't start.
12:40
Yeah. What do you have? Oh, I'm just, I don't
12:43
know if this is the thing, but Ferrari is looking,
12:45
apparently they're looking at changing start
12:47
procedures in some way, and Ferrari is against
12:50
that because they're so good at them right now.
12:53
Yeah. But yeah, we should talk about, there were
12:56
a lot of DNFs. this weekend in totality and dns's
13:01
in the sprint lynn blad botas and hulkenberg
13:05
all told to stop the car during the race what
13:08
was hulkenberg's issue in the sprint do we know
13:11
engine related okay uh i couldn't find anything
13:14
on gabby's issue either in the gp yeah i don't
13:17
know it seems all very locked up and airtight
13:19
right now for audi yeah audi gabby unfortunately
13:22
did also dns and then ps3 north will pull off
13:25
the grid and back into the garage before the
13:26
start um both cars had separate uh electronic
13:30
slash pu issues which is not a mercedes part
13:34
by the not a mercedes part well the power unit
13:37
is a mercedes but it's the software and the unit
13:40
that's talking to the power unit is not mercedes
13:43
so that was my biggest thing because i was like
13:45
zach brown's about to lose his freaking mind
13:47
that mercedes is now still dominating and they
13:50
can't even get out on the freaking track yeah
13:52
it's pretty pretty rough pretty pretty i mentioned
13:56
this last pod as well if We started this last
14:01
season the way we started this season. I'd be
14:03
in absolute shambles. Like, I'd be wrecked. But,
14:06
like, I just, like, I saw them both DNF and not.
14:08
And, like, we were watching together. I had probably
14:11
a good three minutes of just, like, no, that
14:13
sucks. I can't believe it. And then I was over
14:16
it. And then I was, like, oh, my God, he's overtaking.
14:19
It's pretty crazy. Yeah, so those are just the
14:22
DNFs. Albon also pulls into the garage with a
14:25
hydraulic issue. And then during their. race
14:29
we see alonzo pit and retire stroll pits and
14:34
retires and then max retires as well he limps
14:38
to the pit did we have a crash I know that Ocon
14:42
and Colapinto did crash, but none of that resolved
14:45
in a DNF. There was a couple spin -outs, but
14:46
I don't think there was any. None of that resolved
14:47
in a DNF. There was a crash, I thought. There
14:50
were two people that delighted that. That resulted
14:51
in a DNF? No, it didn't result in a DNF. Yeah,
14:53
it was Ocon and Colapinto. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
14:56
But that didn't resolve in a DNF. So all the
15:00
cars that had to retire did so because their
15:03
car is bad, not not because they crashed. Right.
15:05
Right. So, yeah. Did you look into the Aston
15:08
stuff? I was just they just couldn't drive the
15:11
car anymore. So it was just like I think I think
15:13
Alonzo specifically, he was like, I think he
15:15
had said in the message he couldn't feel his
15:17
hands anymore. Yeah, I stroll. I'm not. 100 %
15:21
sure, but I'm guessing it's similar issues. I
15:24
think it's similar. From what I read, it was
15:25
definitely something along the lines of severe
15:27
vibrations to the point where it's not only damaging
15:30
the battery, but also hurting the drivers. Yeah,
15:33
I wonder if Strolls might have been more car
15:36
-focused because he stopped on track after T1.
15:40
He might have been told to stop the car because
15:41
the car was killing itself. That's just what
15:46
I could find for sure. That is pretty rough.
15:50
power unit just gave up? That Red Bull looked
15:52
awful all weekend long. I don't know what's going
15:55
on. Did you watch the clip of him pulling off?
15:58
He comes around a corner. I don't remember. He
16:01
comes around the corner and the screen just goes
16:03
dead. That happens, but also you hear him he
16:06
rams down and then he starts revving up and you
16:08
hear vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom,
16:11
vroom, vroom. You could hear where the engine
16:14
was just like, I'm tired, boss. typical ford
16:20
engine but uh it's yeah he had such such a bad
16:25
weekend and another god -awful start to the race
16:29
i think it was i mean last week wasn't bad in
16:33
australia if i remember i don't think it was
16:34
good but it wasn't horrible the sprint and the
16:37
race for max were really really bad yeah yeah
16:40
he had a horrible time in china um i mean Jeez,
16:48
like, do we see these issues continue? Like,
16:51
I mean, Red Bull, I feel like... There does not
16:53
seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel right
16:55
now. Red Bull looked... Red Bull, for the amount
16:57
of time that they were on track and running,
16:59
they looked fairly decent racing last week in
17:02
Australia. Had your obviously crap... No, Had
17:07
your engine blew up. Yep. Okay, so the Ford has
17:10
a couple reliability issues. It's a Ford, but...
17:15
man do we see it is it is the first year getting
17:18
into a ford after this we're gonna do we think
17:20
we're gonna see uh i mean i drive a ford i'm
17:22
never gonna get rid of it do we do we see do
17:25
we see continued teething issues with the ford
17:27
for the rest of this year and then maybe it gets
17:29
better next year or do we think it gets better
17:32
this year and we see a little bit more competition
17:34
because like i said the running that they did
17:36
have um last week Seemed pretty decent up until
17:41
like Verstappen was getting up to Lando. He was
17:45
about to fight. This weekend was bad. Kevin keeps
17:50
putting up a picture that I want to talk about
17:52
a little bit too. There's pictures of the weigh
17:56
station showing, I believe it had to be Hajar's
18:00
car, was very overweight in terms of just like
18:04
what we're looking at. 697 .5, and I think...
18:09
Oh, that's Lando? Oh, that's just Lando right
18:13
there. Okay. Yeah, 716 is the car weight, which
18:18
is quite, quite a bit heavier than those around.
18:21
I'm at least almost 20 kgs heavier than those
18:25
around, pretty consistently. Now, that is, I
18:32
believe, with fuel still. uh because it's on
18:36
it this is right directly after the race so i
18:40
i doubt that they had that much fuel in the car
18:42
though right like that would be insane yeah i
18:44
don't know you wouldn't think so they they're
18:47
now they're talking to now that this whole area
18:49
is gonna be all covered up now and this will
18:51
never happen again like nothing will ever get
18:53
out it shouldn't have happened because they have
18:55
like a little yeah they have a screen there for
18:57
a reason right right yeah so i mean i want to
19:01
get your guys's take like not just not just for
19:04
sappin and red bull but also the mclarens they
19:06
obviously have some issues going on too um the
19:08
aston martin's like do we see These issues, oh,
19:13
the overweight issues also are affecting the
19:15
Williams. Do we think that these are going to
19:16
get fixed? Do we think that this is already a
19:19
doomed season? We're still very early on? Very
19:21
early. What do you guys think? Very early. For
19:23
at least me, sorry to just jump right in right
19:25
away. No, you're good. But I think absolutely
19:27
some of these issues are going to be taken care
19:30
of, especially Red Bull. Like, yes, Fords. Because
19:33
they used to be in F1 a long time ago, right?
19:35
Yeah. They used to be. I don't know if they were
19:37
a team, but they were an engine. Yeah. So obviously
19:39
Ford coming back to F1, are they going to succeed
19:42
right off the bat? No. There's a reason why Cadillac's
19:45
not running a GM engine right now. You know what
19:47
I mean? But Ford's been developing it for a while
19:51
already with this plan in place. So I think Red
19:54
Bull will at least bounce back. McLaren, I don't
19:57
know what the heck's going on there. I think
19:59
I have to me. I feel like once they figure out
20:02
everything at McLaren, it'll be just fine. Like,
20:05
I don't think they'll be competing with Mercedes,
20:06
but I think for sure they can compete with Ferrari.
20:09
It doesn't. And this is not me trying not to
20:12
be a McLaren fan. It does seem that McLaren has
20:15
their stuff together a little bit more. They
20:17
should be set up in a better place. And the sprint
20:18
wasn't horrible. No, it wasn't. Maybe it's just
20:21
a bad weekend for their car. Right. And they
20:23
should hopefully be back up in Japan. A couple
20:26
of those for Oscar. yeah but but like that wasn't
20:29
his car that was him more or less and it was
20:32
his car in australia kind of but you know true
20:35
i mean just you know i did see it's not like
20:37
he didn't he got out of the pit lane you know
20:39
a sidebar i did see a joke that somebody had
20:41
made online saying the fact that the pit lane
20:43
had or the uh sorry the the safety car has driven
20:46
more laps than oscar has so far that's rough
20:49
right i mean yeah that's that's tough that's
20:52
pretty rough like aston i don't know Yeah. What
20:56
do you think? In answer to some of your questions
20:57
here, I do need to play devil's advocate on Red
20:59
Bull. While I think that they have a lot of resources
21:03
and they're very skilled, especially in their
21:05
development and whatnot, this is their first
21:07
year developing their own engine. This isn't
21:09
just Ford making an engine and giving it to them.
21:12
This is Ford working with Red Bull. Red Bull
21:14
is developing their own engine with the help
21:17
of Ford. So this is effectively their first time
21:21
being a works team. So they called the Honda
21:25
engine, the Red Bull engine. But I probably didn't
21:29
work as close as they are with Ford. That was
21:31
still Honda was was simply selling the engine
21:34
to Red Bull. It was a Honda engine. This is the
21:37
whole reason Red Bull abandoned Honda to begin
21:39
with, was because Red Bull wanted to have more
21:41
control in the creation of the engine to be more
21:43
like a works team. And so that's why they took
21:46
Ford. Basically, Ford just slapped. F sticker
21:50
on the engine and said, that's ours. So I think
21:54
that could hamper them. It's their first time
21:55
being a works team. So that could be some of
21:58
the problems that we see, some of the reliability
22:00
issues, and that could hamper how well they're
22:02
able to diagnose the problems and fix them. Yeah.
22:08
Yeah. And then you mentioned Aston Martin. I
22:12
mean. That for real doesn't seem like there's
22:16
a light at the end of the tunnel right now. and
22:19
if there is more so than alpine was last year
22:22
to me like at least alpine oh i mean yeah finishing
22:24
races and you know they were dead last at least
22:27
the car wasn't trying to kill the drivers in
22:29
right in the alpine yeah i think this isn't a
22:32
yeah 2026 almost assuredly at least for me Which
22:36
is crazy to say because they have Nui on their
22:39
side now. 2026 feels pretty out of the bag at
22:42
the moment. And I think they have to just start
22:45
looking forward to just, well, they need to start
22:47
making sure their car can handle the engine it
22:49
has and that their engine doesn't, you know,
22:51
kill literally everyone that looks at it. I think
22:54
at this point they're abandoning any chance of
22:56
a championship this year. Oh, yeah. They are.
22:59
probably not even super convinced that they could
23:01
make fifth at this point because they're still
23:04
not even close to fixing this this issue with
23:06
the engine um so i would presume that right now
23:11
it's just all hands on deck make the car drivable
23:14
once the car is drivable then we can start worrying
23:17
about do we want to focus on developing for this
23:20
year do we want to focus on next year do like
23:22
what do we want to work on where do we want to
23:24
allocate our resources so i think they need to
23:28
focus on problem one first the elephant in the
23:32
room and we'll see we'll see where they go after
23:35
that so fair enough uh let's touch on the best
23:40
of the rest real quick because they're a couple
23:42
of our favorite teams including oh no the hedges
23:45
up at the varsity squad now sorry um but i mean
23:50
ollie's racing outstanding to start the season
23:54
If by the best of the rest, you mean Red Bull
23:58
Racing. True, because Haas is technically in
24:00
fourth right now. Haas is technically in fourth
24:02
right now. Haas is currently a top four team.
24:04
Joe's eyes are dead. Joe's eyes are 300 or 180
24:09
degrees back at the end of the season. Listen,
24:12
hey, you know what, buddy? I'm a Haas fan. We
24:15
need to take these wins where we can get them.
24:16
I will fully say, hey, the Haas could be a better
24:18
car. They don't have Max Verstappen in the car.
24:21
You know what? To that I say, in regard to this
24:24
weekend, scoreboard. Yeah, okay. Max, maybe he
24:27
can't win in a tractor, but he can sure damn
24:29
well try. All right. fine fine yes has is doing
24:36
very good right now there was a really really
24:38
good some really good moments between has and
24:40
alpine you should be so happy i am extremely
24:43
happy i was going nuts i have to tell you because
24:46
it was really funny the entire race mike was
24:49
like damn you smell tea just because of how good
24:51
alpine was doing like he was dogging on alpine
24:54
so he hated the fact that they were competing
24:56
and it was he was dogging on them the entire
24:58
race Dang, he's really putting you out right
25:01
now. He was. I'm not going to deny it. I'm not
25:05
going to deny a word. He's totally right. The
25:06
thing was, it wasn't just Pierre. Like, Franco
25:09
was racing really well. Yes. I hate to admit
25:13
it. He was. He was. It was insane. It was a good
25:17
race from both the Alpine drivers. And then Ollie's
25:21
a legend. ollie is a legend i there was when
25:24
colopinto and and oh god life when they when
25:28
they crashed immediately mike was like why did
25:30
colopinto do that and then after review was like
25:32
all right yeah maybe that was on okinawa no i'm
25:34
still i'm still riding the horse i blame colopinto
25:37
ocon blamed himself himself How many points did
25:39
Ocon get this weekend? Ocon is humble. How many
25:44
points did Ocon get this weekend? If I'm Ocon,
25:47
I'm sweating. I'm looking at the fact that my
25:49
year two rookie is outdriving me. Actually, that
25:52
was on my bullet points. I was curious how you
25:54
feel about Ocon's seat right now throughout the
25:58
year. Obviously, new car, new regs. Are there
26:00
no hot seats right now because of that fact?
26:03
Or it doesn't matter. It's F1. It's the best
26:05
of the best. Get your shit together. I think
26:07
Max's seat is kind of a hot seat at the moment.
26:11
I like all the jokes that are going around that
26:13
the Red Bull second seat still exists. It's just
26:16
in Max's car now. No, yeah. I mean, yeah, you're
26:21
right. Ocon definitely. I mean, Colapinto is
26:23
one point so far. It's still second. He does
26:27
have a point. You're right. It's more than he
26:28
had all of last. year um they both finished in
26:31
the points in one race i mean that's you know
26:33
very good showing from alpine uh yeah p .r stays
26:36
extremely underrated might be carrying the team
26:39
a little bit what did okan finish and i don't
26:41
i was about to say he did have a he did have
26:43
a no no in this race oh in this race yeah he
26:45
did have a penalty he did have a penalty because
26:47
of that issue yeah well um And then in that same
26:51
pit stop, they also took extra time to cut off
26:55
his. Oh, my gosh. That was so funny. So good
26:57
that you watched some you watch some like mechanics
27:00
walk out to the pit lane where like they do the
27:02
like tires and whatnot. And they were holding
27:04
like. Like, bolt cutters. Yeah, bolt cutters.
27:07
And they cut off the barge board from the side
27:10
of his car and then sent him off. Yeah. Probably
27:12
one of the funniest moments I've ever seen in
27:15
F1 is a mechanic walking out with bolt cutters
27:18
to a car. It's like you see him working on the
27:22
car with a hammer. It's so funny. So, so good.
27:28
It was Alpine, not Haas. Oh, was it Haas? Haas
27:33
was what? With the bolt cutters. It was Haas.
27:35
It was Haas. It was Haas, yeah. So with the best
27:38
of the rest talk, as much as we give him hate
27:41
on the show, we have to mention Liam here. Yeah,
27:44
Lawson. I mean, he did race well. Yes, two McLarens
27:47
were not in the top ten. But Lawson was in there,
27:49
and he actually raced pretty well all day. Even
27:52
if two McLarens were in the top ten, Lawson would
27:53
still get points. And looking at... Right. It's
27:58
true. It's true. And we don't know whether McClain's
28:01
are due up. Even if they were in the same spots,
28:03
he still put up, he still went in 10th, 9th,
28:06
8th, 7th. So he'd still be there. And Arvin is
28:08
not doing that bad either. So looking at best
28:11
of, what is it? Arvin? He called him Arvin. Arvin?
28:14
That's his name now. Arvin. On Fast Lap. Arvin
28:17
Brown. Arvin blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah. I
28:21
can't remember. One of our buddies we were like
28:22
watching the race with, he's like, we kept on
28:24
doing like, Arvin, Arvin, Arvin. And he goes,
28:26
yeah, you guys can stop that now. And Joe's like,
28:28
no, it's still funny. Unfortunately, he can't
28:30
stop because I like it. Because I like it. But
28:34
I think we seriously have to also put Racing
28:36
Bulls, obviously. They're still above Alpine,
28:38
even though Alpine does feel like they've performed
28:41
a little, slightly better. Well, Pierre, at least.
28:45
You have to put racing bulls in that best of
28:46
the rest conversation as well. I mean, you know,
28:49
I mean, they are above not only the above, but
28:52
they're matching Red Bull racing. It's pretty,
28:55
pretty insane. Yeah, I was. I wanted to mention
28:57
that when you're talking about engines a little
28:59
bit. It's like racing bulls haven't had any of
29:01
these issues with their engine yet. So. Maybe
29:05
it could just be bad luck. Not during the GP.
29:07
They have had problems in practice. It's the
29:10
F1 gods. They're starting to strike down Max
29:14
Verstappen. But you're right. The best of the
29:16
rest, Racing Bulls is involved in that conversation
29:18
for sure. I think so. I think it's interesting.
29:22
I almost think Racing Bulls are like... they
29:25
are fighting best of the rest because of their
29:28
combined efforts versus the other teams may have
29:31
a star driver ollie and pierre that are kind
29:33
of carrying a little bit no that's a great point
29:35
it just i mean like that's it's mclaren versus
29:37
verstappen right it's just we're seeing it midfield
29:39
which is by the way amazing i love that we're
29:42
seeing this stuff happen midfield i think it's
29:44
the already yeah already this early yeah no i
29:46
love it um But with that, let's move on here
29:50
a little bit from the China recap, unless there's
29:52
something else you guys have to say. Just really
29:55
quick, we don't have to dive into too much. Second
29:58
race, new regs. We actually didn't get your take
30:02
because you weren't here. How do you feel about
30:04
the racing? Love it. Yeah? Well, it's just more
30:07
action. You know what I mean? Don't get me wrong.
30:09
What I love about F1 and what other people that
30:12
are into racing that I know, they're like NASCAR
30:14
fans and IndyCar fans and stuff, there's way
30:17
more strategy with F1 for sure, 100%. I'm not
30:20
saying there's not strategy in NASCAR and IndyCar.
30:22
100 % there is. But it's more like a chess match
30:26
with F1. So I think now with... there being more
30:33
fighting and more overtakes. I mean, now it just
30:36
kind of seems like speed chess, and that kind
30:39
of makes me happy. I don't know. I said the same
30:42
thing. I said the same thing. I really like it
30:45
for that exact same reason. Like, it's so much
30:47
more fun seeing all of the strategy and everything
30:49
and not just... Well, you're seeing more skill
30:51
of the drivers, in my opinion. Like, yes, it
30:54
takes skill to drive fast on a hot lap, right?
30:57
Obviously, for sure. Like, not everybody's Lewis
31:00
frickin' Hamilton, but I... But, I mean, this
31:05
year, the starts, like, it doesn't even matter
31:07
what you place in qualifying anymore because
31:09
if you get a bad start, I mean, if there's a
31:12
Ferrari behind you, you can damn well be sure
31:14
they're going to be in front of you or next to
31:16
you. Like, can we start the sprint? Horrible.
31:19
Horrible. You know, and that can be a massive
31:22
factor, but I don't know. I just, I like the
31:25
more fighting. For sure. Or more overtaking.
31:28
Monaco's going to be interesting. Oh, yeah. Do
31:31
we see passes at Monaco that we have not seen
31:34
ever? I'm, for once, I'm excited to see Monaco.
31:36
Oh, my God. Yeah, because that's a great point.
31:38
You know, I actually don't think we're... I still
31:40
think it's going to be very light on passes,
31:42
probably. Oh, but... But the start... I remembered
31:46
my point. The start's going to be interesting.
31:47
Yeah, what's your point? What I was saying, like,
31:49
it just... I feel like it shows more skill of
31:51
the drivers, though, being able to overtake in
31:53
different... You know what I mean? Yeah. I think
31:55
more overtakes just takes more skill, in my opinion.
31:59
I even with the turbo button, I was whatever
32:02
I got. Boy, you you you you guys rev me up so
32:05
fast on Monaco. I'm like, oh, yeah, Monaco could
32:08
be way more fun. Yeah. And then I was like, then
32:09
I thought back to Monaco last year, how I was
32:11
so excited about the two stops. And I was like,
32:13
oh, I think they're getting rid of that. It's
32:15
still Monaco. I hope they do. I think I think
32:18
literally the race is worse for having guaranteed
32:22
two stops because it was it was interesting seeing
32:27
strategy. That we could go on for a minute. We
32:30
could, yeah. It was interesting seeing the strategy,
32:32
but I just didn't like... I didn't like what
32:35
strategies it developed, so... Oh, no. I think
32:37
the Monaco... no no they did get rid of it okay
32:41
thank god yeah they scrapped the mandatory two
32:44
-stop rule for 2026 they were they were planning
32:47
on still keeping it but i think they scrapped
32:49
it it was earlier this year it was like february
32:51
yeah thank god like not not very long ago at
32:54
all i remember seeing it um pretty recently did
32:56
you have a calm call out oh i did have a calm
32:58
call out yeah um this was during the sprint uh
33:02
i think hold please while i go through several
33:07
pieces of paper this is why you bring newspapers
33:13
to the show yeah it was uh it was regarding signs
33:17
am i missing pieces of paper what happened here
33:20
carlos okay well i'll say mine while you look
33:23
please um i can't remember exactly what was said
33:25
we had it up on the screen earlier but it was
33:27
um charles leclerc pretty much just saying like
33:32
the, the fight with Lewis was good or whatever.
33:34
And like, he was, he was enjoying it. Yeah. And
33:37
he said, you're just like, like, I'm glad. And
33:40
that was it. Like, like, don't get too chipper
33:44
here. Like, yeah, I'm. What we saw Ferrari doing
33:48
is probably would have given me a heart attack,
33:50
but what we didn't get last year with McLaren,
33:52
I just felt like they were, they were so scared
33:55
to get near each other last year compared to
33:57
Ferrari are, they are no holds barred against
34:01
each other every single turn. And it was like
34:03
great fighting, really good driving too. Like
34:06
they got really close at places, but like, I
34:10
think they bumped maybe once. I think they're
34:12
both comfortable. Oh yeah. There was no tensions
34:14
there at all. Like just knowing where each other's
34:16
going to. to be automatically? I don't know.
34:17
It's what we should have gotten last year with
34:20
Oscar and Lando, and we just didn't. Why do you
34:23
think that is? I think just because there was
34:25
so much tension between papaya rules and breaking
34:28
the car and knowing that was a mistake. Even
34:30
though it kept being put out there that everything
34:32
was fine. It almost helps. They're both good.
34:34
I think there's a difference in culture, the
34:37
fact that with McLaren, the drivers need to worry
34:40
about the higher -ups and Zach and... Andrea,
34:45
who come down and crack down on them and be like,
34:47
hey, you guys are costing us constructors points
34:50
and costing yourselves WDC points. Don't do that.
34:54
Meanwhile, for Ferrari, the engineers just sit
34:57
back and go, you mess up and you get to deal
34:59
with the Tifosi. True. Yeah, I would. Oh, I was.
35:03
I mean, you're right. That's like their biggest
35:05
concern at the moment. I would say I think they're
35:07
also in different positions where McLaren was
35:09
like very steadily in first for constructors.
35:11
True. And both fighting for WTCs versus Leclerc
35:15
and Hamilton know that they're not first here.
35:17
They're fighting. They're fighting for second,
35:20
essentially, so they can be a little bit more
35:22
be a little bit more out there with the moves
35:25
that they make against each other. Right. You
35:27
know, my guy. In the sprint race, after the safety
35:33
car was deployed, we saw that Sainz was in 11th,
35:37
and one of the commentators said, Sainz in 11th,
35:40
that's nosebleed stuff for Williams. I just thought
35:43
that was so rude. No. So rude. Hey, he got points
35:49
this weekend, all right? He did, yeah. Now who's
35:52
laughing? Now who's crying? I'm so glad. So you
35:56
guys will have, what, then, four points at the
35:58
end of the season? Yeah, okay. I mean, if we
36:02
keep getting races where seven people are not
36:04
starting. You know what? Truly? I mean, at this
36:08
rate, you're pretty much guaranteed to have at
36:10
least three out every single race. Two Astons
36:14
and a Cadillac, right? And a Cadillac. Whoa.
36:19
You didn't miss a candy this time. Oh, Botas
36:21
did get out, didn't he? Yep. What? For the sprint
36:24
at least. Maybe not. Oh, for the sprint. I was
36:26
like, GP, he finished. Oh, did they both finish?
36:29
I think they both finished in the GP. Oh, really?
36:31
And Checo finished. I stand corrected. I'm sorry.
36:35
I can be wrong once a year. Maybe they'll take
36:38
turns. It's a Williams one weekend and then a
36:41
Caddy the next weekend. A couple news items.
36:43
Yeah. Due to world events, there is no Bahrain
36:48
or Jetta race currently with no plans to replace
36:52
them. However, is there minor talks about adding
36:56
them to the schedule later in the year then?
36:58
I thought, like, just rumblings. Yeah, rumblings.
37:02
I mean, the issue right now is that with putting
37:05
races at the end, things that they have to work
37:08
around is timings around those tracks as well.
37:11
Obviously, these tracks are very... set times
37:14
on when they are racing when they aren't as well
37:16
as that intercedes with the the off -season time
37:20
that drivers are supposed to have right that
37:22
also makes things challenging for ticket sales
37:25
because that's a big thing for the formula one
37:27
like the FIA and whatnot they need to sell tickets
37:29
as well as uh contract agreements because Abu
37:35
Dhabi is the last race of the year So there's
37:38
a chance that maybe they aren't able to do this
37:41
because Abu Dhabi is contractually signed on
37:44
to be the last race of the year. And if Abu Dhabi
37:48
won't push their race back to allow those two
37:50
to squeeze between Qatar and Abu Dhabi, then
37:53
maybe those two races are just lost. Right, right,
37:56
right. So there's a bunch of factors. It's a
37:58
bunch of white tape, like a bunch of stuff going
38:03
around. I was telling Joe that I was talking
38:06
to my coworker, and my coworker said the most
38:09
base thing he could have said. He goes, you know
38:11
what? After we finish with Japan, let's just
38:14
turn around and go right back to Japan next week.
38:17
He's like, we're already there. And he's like,
38:19
what, we don't want to go to Suzuka again? Fine,
38:22
go to Fuji. And I was like, you're on to something.
38:28
I'm listening. You caught me. Do you not want
38:32
to mention the thing that you just erased? I
38:34
saw it too, though. Very, very quick. It was
38:36
just that there were teams in Rolex, the Rolex
38:39
24, which happens at Daytona in January. People
38:42
want Max Verstappen to race it, and some of the
38:44
teams are seeing if they can do it, but I'm sure
38:46
that there's contract stuff that he has to get
38:48
through. I'm sure it probably wasn't easy to
38:50
allow him to race Nürburgring for 24. And maybe
38:53
we see him retire early from F1 just to race
38:56
and all this other stuff and become Sonny from
38:58
F1. I think he absolutely... We know for a fact
39:03
he wants to get into sports car racing. He's
39:06
very eager to do that. He does not hide that.
39:08
I do not think, and I think you agree with me,
39:12
I think that if he leaves Red Bull, he's not
39:14
joining another team. He's just leaving F1 and
39:16
he's doing something else. I think he's ready
39:17
for it. I mean, you're a multi -time world champion.
39:19
What else do you need to do? That's exactly what
39:21
he said. And yeah, he said it so much himself.
39:23
He has nothing more to prove. He said that after
39:26
the first one he won, every other one has just
39:28
kind of been another one. Right, right. Nothing
39:31
more special. It'll always be a historic battle
39:34
between him and Lewis. I mean, that season was
39:35
just outstanding. That was one of my favorite
39:37
seasons for sure. But anyway, all right. I do
39:40
have more news as well. Yes, lay it on us. Very
39:42
good. So there has been a lot of talk that in
39:45
all the troubles with these engines and how upset
39:50
people are, drivers are, teams are with how the
39:53
engines are operating and everything. There's
39:54
been talk about changing the split of power.
39:59
From 50 -50 split between electric and kinetic,
40:05
they're thinking about switching it to a 60 -40,
40:08
so they'll only use 40 % battery. There was talk
40:13
about it happening as early as Suzuka, but the
40:18
FIA have decided that, especially because of
40:20
all of the world events going on and us missing
40:23
a couple of races, so we're going to have five
40:25
weeks off, that they've said... just go race
40:28
suzuka like normal um we are going to re -evaluate
40:32
over that time so during that five week period
40:35
we'll get some sort of news about what's going
40:37
to happen we might see some slight changes in
40:40
the engines and their power so i mean alonzo
40:45
came out and said that it's pretty much like
40:47
or what i think i put it in my notes yeah i did
40:50
f1 is now a battery world championship like I
40:56
kind of feel like that's partially true. I mean,
40:58
yeah, if you like screw up and waste your battery,
41:01
you're just you just give up a place. Yeah. So
41:03
interesting thoughts. I don't know. I'm I personally
41:07
like I see a lot of people complaining about
41:08
this and I feel like it's just a lot of people
41:11
grumbling because it's different. I'm like Formula
41:14
One. Two races into. Yeah. We got to give it
41:17
some time. Formula One is a sport that is designed
41:20
to evolve and continue to evolve. And yes, we
41:25
may not be as fast as we were last year, and
41:29
so it feels like a weird progression, but sometimes
41:31
that needs to happen. 100%. Nobody likes change.
41:34
We're using new engines, and this is an entirely
41:37
new development of new engines. If I remember
41:39
correctly, the same thing happened in 2014 when
41:41
we swapped to the twin -turbo hybrid era. Jeez.
41:47
Um, there it is. We had the same thing. New York.
41:49
Yeah. We had the same thing happen where engines
41:52
got, got worse temporarily and cars were driving
41:56
slower. And now we look at it last year where
41:59
basically every lap or every race we were setting
42:02
a new. Lap. Lap record. I just think people need
42:04
to chill the heck out. I agree. I mean, change
42:06
is uncomfortable. Like, when NASCAR kept changing,
42:09
they really hate it. They hate it worse than
42:11
F1 fans. I can almost promise you that. But it's
42:14
even more than just racing, just in life in general.
42:17
Nobody likes change. Because it's uncomfortable.
42:19
It's unknown. You don't know if you're going
42:20
to like the change or not. So, I think we just
42:23
got to give it some time. Let it marinate. You
42:26
know what I mean? And Aston's going to be the
42:28
one to pay the price at the end of the day. Oh,
42:31
yeah. Oh, darn. Lawrence Stroll's struggling?
42:35
Shoot. Dang. But it seems like Lance is going
42:38
to keep his job. All right. Kev, we got some
42:42
Kev Corner going on. What do you have for us
42:45
this week? Did you do your homework? Got your
42:47
questions ready? What's that? Got your questions
42:49
ready? I do. Yep. I've been nervously awaiting
42:52
you guys to bring this back. This is my first
42:53
Kev Corner. I'm so excited. Welcome in. Welcome
42:55
in. Like in person and live. I know. You got
42:57
a little teaser in the beginning when I made
42:58
a comment about how dry are the tires. So I made
43:01
a comment last week about with the new car designs
43:03
being smaller and whatnot, did you guys feel
43:05
that there was going to be new passing areas
43:07
where you wouldn't necessarily see that before?
43:09
You guys say yay or nay. However, in the sprint
43:12
race, Hamilton made a pass and the commentators
43:14
immediately mentioned that it was a pass in an
43:17
area we would not expect a pass to be made. And
43:20
they were very thoroughly impressed by that.
43:22
And so they say he took a great opportunity.
43:26
For sure. And that's why, like, he's touching
43:28
on Monaco earlier. That's for sure. I think it's
43:30
going to be freaking crazy to see Monaco in the
43:33
GP and just see if some. Yeah. If a pass happens
43:36
where you're just like, oh, you never freaking
43:38
risk it there before. that was i think that was
43:41
a big thing you guys mentioned the cars were
43:42
smaller so um the rest of my cap's corner kind
43:45
of goes mainly into the ferrari world so i apologize
43:47
in advance but um a post -race comment from hamilton
43:50
said that he had it was the most fun he's had
43:52
in a long time i haven't been a big fan of one
43:56
for a long time that's gotta be pretty cool to
43:57
hear it's probably probably i mean he hated the
44:01
last gen he was obviously very very adamant about
44:05
or like obviously he had good races in the mercedes
44:08
but not at this level or not you know not not
44:11
like this um and then obviously last year it
44:14
was so bad so i'm sure it was nice to just be
44:17
competitive and be able to race you know with
44:20
someone equal kind of you know instead of having
44:23
to like fight your way up or something like that
44:25
so um there's that and then yeah i think it's
44:28
just it does provide way more back and forth
44:31
which i think he is more used to so I would give
44:34
that as well. I saw something similar with George
44:39
Russell last week in the first race that I personally
44:45
have a little bit of beef with, and that's that...
44:50
We see that pretty much all of the drivers were
44:53
pretty unanimously saying that they weren't a
44:54
big fan of these new cars, these new regulations,
44:57
these new engines, etc. They don't like all of
44:59
the management and things like that. They're
45:01
like, oh, this is not fun to drive. This isn't
45:03
great to do. And now we're seeing that there
45:08
have been. What three drivers that have come
45:11
out and said, I'm having a great time. And those
45:13
three drivers are George Russell, Kimi Antonelli
45:15
and Lewis Hamilton. Charles Leclerc has said
45:18
that it's just kind of fine. He's kind of retracted
45:20
some of his comments about it being terrible.
45:22
And coincidentally, those are the four drivers
45:24
who are at the top. So I feel like the drivers
45:26
like these guys are are giving kind of preferential
45:30
treatment just because, you know, they're like,
45:32
ah, of course, I'm going to enjoy it. I'm winning.
45:35
So I'd like to ask Pierre again. In comparison
45:38
to last year, Pierre, how much fun are you having?
45:40
I don't know. I think that's going to be a different
45:42
answer this year. But of course, like the top
45:45
three, four are going to be like, oh, great time.
45:50
Well, it's like when it works, it works. You're
45:52
having a great time. When it's not and you're
45:54
struggling, you're having a problem. Right. Now,
45:57
we made kind of a comment about it before, but
45:59
you guys mentioned papaya rules last year. And
46:02
that there was a consistent battle all season
46:04
long for who gets preferential treatment. Again,
46:06
you guys kind of touched on it. So apologize
46:08
if we're going back a little bit, but will we
46:10
see Ferrari rules in some capacity? I don't want
46:12
everyone to call it. There's going to be some
46:14
goofy name. I'm sure chat GPT about it, but is
46:17
there going to be a time where they're going
46:18
to pick one of the two, especially if they're
46:20
not doing any real improvements to the cars and
46:22
they're just kind of letting them run. And like
46:24
you said, they got pretty greasy this past race.
46:26
It was fun to watch, but. Do you think it's going
46:28
to come to a point where they're going to have
46:30
to make a decision like that? How does that go?
46:35
I mean, go ahead. No, for me, I think it's just
46:38
like if one is taking, has a chance at WDC and
46:43
we're like at summer break right now and there's
46:45
one that has a clear chance at WDC and the other
46:47
one's struggling just a little bit, then yeah,
46:50
I do think you see preference given. But I mean,
46:52
if they're neck and neck, I don't think there's
46:54
any rules at all. I think they think they're
46:56
both. You know, professionals, obviously, Lewis
46:59
has been doing it a long time. Charles is still
47:01
young, but he's still been doing it a long time.
47:03
So I think they're just going to let him race
47:05
and see what happens. Like, unless something
47:08
drastic happens and they both DNF in a Max Verstappen,
47:13
Daniel Ricardo situation. And I just don't see
47:16
that happening at all for me. I don't know for
47:21
certain, but I think there's absolutely a chance
47:23
that it could happen. I think if one driver is
47:25
clearly, especially if they're like in like in
47:28
contention for WDC and the other isn't, then
47:30
they should. And I think both drivers are mature
47:33
enough and not ego heavy enough to be able to
47:36
make that move, especially if it's Hamilton.
47:38
I think he would do that for the team and for
47:41
Leclerc. So short answer is that it absolutely
47:46
can. If they're in a situation where it needs
47:48
to be, I don't think they'll have. to though
47:50
i think the drivers will work it out i am of
47:53
the standpoint that i ferrari is the single oldest
47:56
team on the grid they have the most conservative
48:00
mindset and the fact that they don't they they
48:02
do things in the most conventional ways um so
48:06
i think that they are Right now, we're early
48:09
in the season. We don't really have a clear -cut
48:11
leader between the two drivers. So they're just
48:13
kind of letting them duke it out. And if they're
48:16
going to crash, they're going to crash. They
48:17
don't want them to crash. They'll obviously try
48:19
and disincentivize it. But I don't think they're
48:20
going to do anything like papaya rules, Ferrari
48:23
rules, Tifosi rules, none of that. Because I
48:25
think we're just going to see the Ferrari is
48:28
just going to let them drive. And if the Ferrari
48:30
strategy, notoriously good as they are, comes
48:32
out and says, hey. we need Leclerc up front they
48:36
are going to call in to Lewis they're going to
48:38
say let him go and they're not going to be like
48:41
a this is oh we have these predetermined rules
48:43
they're just going to say nope right now it's
48:45
the best thing for Leclerc to move forward so
48:47
Lewis get out of the way and that's just kind
48:51
of how they are that's how they've always been
48:53
and I think that I think they'll probably stay
48:55
like that you know uh can I tell you what's more
48:59
likely to happen ferrari no messes a strategy
49:02
call up and ruins both of their races trying
49:05
to do something like papaya rules or like or
49:08
like maybe or maybe like this would really suck
49:11
maybe there's a moment when they should be doing
49:14
that and they don't and that ruins a race for
49:16
one or the other that's true you're right the
49:18
radio call isn't going to be louis please let
49:21
charles pass it's going to be Okay, Charles,
49:23
we're checking. Box, box. Stay out, stay out.
49:26
We're checking, we're checking. So, like, yeah,
49:28
I think we're both in agreement that before a
49:30
team order is made, they're going to mess up
49:32
strategy, and it won't matter. And then the mess
49:35
up strategy. Wait, okay, this is tinfoil. What
49:38
if they're disguising a team order as a mess
49:43
up strategy call? They tell one to pit, and then,
49:47
like, as they're, like. three garages in the
49:49
pit, like, no, wait, stay out. And it's like,
49:51
yeah, now the driver wanted friends in front.
49:54
Yeah. You know? Oh, my God. Hey, listen. Speaking
49:57
of the papaya rules, though, because you jogged
50:01
my memory, I love all the jokes that have been
50:03
coming out, too, about how strong the papaya
50:05
rules were this weekend. One car goes out, both
50:07
cars need to go out. Papaya rules. It's only
50:09
fair. Can we move on? This race is over. There
50:15
have been so many great memes this weekend. It's
50:17
been amazing. Avoided all of them. I stayed off
50:20
the internet. Can I get a tissue? What else you
50:23
got, Kev? That was pretty much it. The last little
50:26
bit, and we kind of talked a little bit about
50:28
it. I'll make it really fast. For Hamilton and
50:31
Ferrari, was last year's car really just that
50:33
bad? Yes. Or was this year's car just really
50:36
this good? Last year's car really did not match
50:38
with Lewis Hamilton that bad. Lewis came in.
50:42
I mean, I already kind of said this, but Lewis
50:43
came into a generation of car that he already
50:46
didn't like and wasn't great at into a completely
50:49
new car within that generation and just sucked.
50:52
Obviously, Leclerc did a little bit better. The
50:54
Ferrari was not good last season. It's very obvious.
50:57
I think they finished fifth. Fourth? Did they
50:59
finish fourth? Okay. They finished fourth, which
51:02
is bottom of the best. So, yeah, I think this
51:05
car is definitely both. I'll say both. Last year's
51:09
car was bad. This year's car is objectively it's
51:13
good, right? Yeah. Right on. Well, that was Kev's
51:18
Corner. Thanks, Kev. Heck yeah, I love that guy.
51:22
He's our resident HedgeR fan. Just a little fun
51:29
fact about Kev. For you audio -only listeners
51:35
on Spotify and ApplePod, he was holding up a
51:38
Hadjar card in there. Currently, some of our
51:42
favorite drivers are pretty evenly split. We've
51:45
got two French drivers, a British driver. And
51:49
right now, my two favorite drivers are kind of
51:50
tied between a British driver and a German driver.
51:53
Who do you think my favorite driver is? Lando
51:54
Norris. Oh, interesting. We can move on. What's
51:58
next, Melty? You know, can we can we pull back
52:01
the pods and go back to last year where I'm pretty
52:03
sure Joe said on record that Lando Norris was
52:06
his favorite driver? I don't remember that. I'm
52:09
kind of curious who else it would be. My favorite
52:12
driver would never not start a race. So I don't
52:13
know what you're talking about. Ever. No, no.
52:17
All right, well, we should probably head into
52:18
our China GP preview. Are we still calling it
52:22
the thing? Up to speed? Of course. Oh, well,
52:25
let's go up to speed then. Let's get up to speed.
52:27
Shall we? Hooray! All right, it's time to get
52:39
up to speed for the Formula One Aramco Japanese
52:42
Grand Prix 2026. Fun fact! Japan has hosted more
52:47
title deciding races than any other track at
52:51
13. Crazy. Goated. Crazy. Crazy, right? Crazy.
52:57
Mike, what's the weather look like this weekend?
52:59
Oh, yes. I'm so glad. Oh, my gosh, guys. Oh,
53:02
no. So, okay, worth noting, we are recording
53:05
this a week out from the race. Oh, yeah, two
53:09
weeks out. Stupid. I looked at this weekend's
53:13
weather for two minutes. Stupid. Thank God you're
53:16
here, though. No kidding. Stupid. Oh, I just
53:20
poked myself in the eye. All right, move on.
53:23
It's chaotic. Oh, where'd it go? There it is.
53:25
Yeah, so, oh, boy. So, our predictions. Could
53:31
change between now and not this upcoming Saturday,
53:34
but the following Saturday or Sunday. We don't
53:38
know. Whatever day it is. But it's looking like
53:41
temperatures are expected to remain below 20
53:45
degrees Celsius, 68 degrees Fahrenheit, with
53:50
varying degrees of wet across the weekend. Oh,
53:53
Mercedes land. It is expected to rain in Suzuka.
54:00
Are any of those times during the race itself?
54:04
Well, this is for the Grand Prix. This is for
54:06
the Grand Prix. What's the chance of rain? It's
54:09
not telling me that. I mean, you say you say
54:11
Mercedes Land, but I mean, of the people who
54:14
I know are good. Do I hear boss music? Do I hear
54:19
boss music? OK, quick look at last year. Our
54:23
starting grid starting three was Max to Lando
54:25
to Oscar. It was a very clean start. Only one
54:27
really losing out was Gabby, who fell down the
54:29
grid from a starting spot after a poor start.
54:31
We saw a fun pit stop exit for Max and Lando,
54:34
both putting on the same lap, coming out side
54:36
by side. Lando ending up in the grass. behind
54:38
max signs are defending a low field position
54:41
with his life against had your environment but
54:43
unfortunately didn't have a great day and finished
54:45
lower max led the last 10 laps the mclarens just
54:49
behind him papaya rules rules in each other arguing
54:52
who should be first to catch max oscar saying
54:55
that he had the pace uh the engineers kind of
54:58
talking through that was the first either the
55:00
message the message either not getting to to
55:02
lando or falling on deaf ears but He ignored
55:06
it. They ended up not swapping the papayas. Max
55:09
stayed in first. I think even if they did swap
55:11
them, it was unlikely Oscar was going to catch
55:13
him. He was kind of gone. Final was Verstappen,
55:17
Norris, Piastri, Leclerc, Russell, Antonelli,
55:20
Hamilton, Hadger, Albon, and Behrman. That's
55:23
my boy. Japan's a good track. How does Behrman
55:29
do in the wet? I feel like he finishes. I feel
55:33
like he's not horrible. I feel like archetypically
55:34
he finishes. He finished in that really... Yeah,
55:39
I feel like he's finished in all of his wet races
55:41
he's done so far. Maybe not done incredibly,
55:44
but I think he's okay. Fair enough. Well, I mean,
55:48
if he was still on the grade, Grosjean would
55:50
be my three, but... Okay. Are you pulling up
55:56
our? Yeah. How did last week go? Last week was
56:00
pretty much a wash. All of us got four points.
56:05
So standings are the same. Nothing matters. I'm
56:09
still in last. It's awesome. At least I'm on
56:12
the board. That's all I can say. What is the
56:13
standings right now then? Standings. No, you
56:17
were up by one. Then it's Mike. So it's six,
56:20
Mike with five, and I am in last. I do not want
56:22
to be leading. Once again, by four. No, you're
56:24
in a good spot. I don't want to be leading. I
56:26
led a long time last year, and I didn't win.
56:31
There's always this here. Right. So you need
56:33
to take the lead on this one. So I'm going to
56:36
pick a ridiculous. It's all part of the plan.
56:39
Got it. Got it. Hadjar. Gasly. And then he's
56:44
going to see that happens. Like, no, no, no,
56:46
no. That'd be crazy. I'm going to see Gasly in
56:49
the top three. And I'm going to be like, Smelty.
56:52
I'd be losing my mind. I'd probably turn off
56:56
my phone. I wouldn't want to hear from anybody.
56:57
So good. So good. All right. Well, I mean, we
57:00
should get into it. Smelty, you are first. because
57:02
you are in the lead. I feel like as we... I mean,
57:07
our podiums are all going to be the same. Maybe.
57:10
Pretty close. Dude, is that a ladybug? Dude,
57:16
it snowed a foot... Dude, there's another one.
57:18
What the heck? Is somebody importing ladybugs
57:21
in here? Are we about to die by ladybug? Stop
57:23
dodging it. What are you going to do for your
57:25
prediction? Okay, first off, there was actually
57:27
ladybugs. He got distracted too. No. Oh, whoa,
57:31
was there one on my screen? Oh, my gosh. All
57:33
right, we're good. No, son, that's a virus. So
57:36
Ladybug in first. No, no, no, no. George Russell
57:40
in first. I really feel like I'm stupid to not
57:44
put Kimmy in second, so I'm going to go ahead
57:46
and do that. Just because of the car. I do like
57:49
him. He's a skilled driver. I really wanted to
57:52
go both Ferraris on the podium because I don't
57:54
think you guys are going to do that. But I'm
57:55
not doing that. So, yeah, give me a second. That's
57:58
fine. And then we're going to do Charles Leclerc
58:02
for three. Leclerc. God, that's so boring. Yeah,
58:07
it's pretty boring. That's okay, though. It'll
58:09
tune up at some point this year. Mike, my mind
58:12
is... We gotta come up with a bonus point thing.
58:14
That's what it is. Oh, we were thinking about
58:16
doing... For this week. For this week? It's too
58:20
late for bonus points. Unless you're gone. No,
58:22
no, no, no, no, no, no. We can do a wild one
58:25
next time. We were talking. We had a whole conversation
58:27
about having a ton of bonus points, and then
58:30
we just did none of them. I know. We didn't even
58:32
bring it up. But that would make boring podiums
58:34
more interesting. It would. Who's going to finish
58:36
P9? Who's in P10 for you, Smelty? Tell me. For
58:38
just one extra point. Who's in P10? Who's in
58:40
P10? For this one? Yep. All right, here it is.
58:43
There's no points, just for fun. No! Yeah, I
58:46
say for money you want to put a point on it.
58:49
This is a democracy I'm voting that we put a
58:51
point on it. Do we bring half points into the
58:53
game? Oh? Are you sure we should we wait no we
59:08
can do one This sucks. I love it. This is awesome.
59:15
And for a whole point, this is great. This is
59:18
good. You know what? I am going... God, I can't
59:26
believe I'm going to bank on this dude right
59:27
now. I'm going Liam Lawson. I knew you were going
59:30
to say it. Disgusting. Liam, I need you to give
59:33
me a point, dog. You get a point, I get a point.
59:36
Take a shower. I am going to have to shower now
59:41
for that one. I think we're okay. I've tapped
59:44
into my mind's eye. You messed it up. No, I think
59:47
we're okay. I've tapped into my mind's eye. It's
59:49
going to be raining in Japan. Kimmy's going to
59:53
spin out. Hey, it could happen. So George Russell's
59:56
going to win. Because he's in the fastest car
59:59
in Georgia, typically good in the wet. And in
1:00:02
second place is going to be Lewis Hamilton. Okay.
1:00:04
And then in third place is going to be Charles
1:00:05
Leclerc. Okay. And then for my number 10, scoring
1:00:11
one point this weekend. Can I guess? Yes. Hulkenberg.
1:00:15
No. Gabby? Gabby. Okay. Yeah. Gabby's doing pretty
1:00:20
good. Gabby's doing pretty good. And I think
1:00:23
he is okay in the wet. I think he's okay in the
1:00:26
wet. I think. He's had some mistakes. I'm just
1:00:29
flashbacking to Brazil. That's all I'm doing
1:00:32
right now. One of the worst crashes of last year.
1:00:35
He's okay in the wind. Horrible. Horrible crash.
1:00:39
See, look how much more fun this made our boring
1:00:42
podiums. Yours is interesting because Kimi absolutely
1:00:46
could spin out. I don't hate the thought of that.
1:00:49
I do hate the thought of it because I'm a mild
1:00:51
Mercedes fan. But then we'll get to the race
1:00:52
and there'll be no rain whatsoever. And then
1:00:54
Kimi will be on the podium. win there goes all
1:00:57
my points okay okay okay wait you said you wanted
1:01:03
me to be winning i want to do i want to gamble
1:01:06
so bad do it do something so crazy do it winning
1:01:09
is for losers i want to do something so crazy
1:01:12
you won't you got your bonus point to back i
1:01:14
won't put lando on that podium see here's the
1:01:17
problem is i want to put a mclaren on the podium
1:01:19
he has to get through four cars No, he only has
1:01:24
to get through one. You're right. He has to get
1:01:26
through one car. That's even better. And if Antonelli's
1:01:29
spitting out. See? Lando Norris. Or is it Oscar?
1:01:33
Okay. Okay. You won't. How many points are you
1:01:39
down? I'm going to do Russell to be safe. Russell
1:01:41
to be first. Okay. All three of us are wrestling
1:01:43
first. How many points are you behind Mike? LeClaire
1:01:46
in second. One point. Oh, yeah. Take a rest,
1:01:49
dude. It's round three. And I'm putting Piastri
1:01:51
in third. Yes. Wait, who'd you put in second?
1:01:55
Leclerc. Leclerc? I think it was either between
1:01:57
Hamilton or Leclerc. I mean, Anthony absolutely
1:02:00
could be, and if he is, well, then I guess I'm
1:02:02
losing again. God, you really think Oscar's going
1:02:04
to split the Ferrari, son? Don't do that. I've
1:02:08
already said it, man. You know what's crazy?
1:02:11
It's already lost. You know what's crazy? No,
1:02:12
I don't. I put it in. I hope so. All right. P10.
1:02:16
That was the most genuine don't say that. Don't
1:02:19
say that. You know what? Franco Colpinto. Ghastly.
1:02:27
Honestly, not unbelievable. If the McLarens are
1:02:31
in, there's a good chance. If the top eight cars
1:02:33
all stay in and stay in the top eight, then I
1:02:36
think that's a safe bet. Do we think both Red
1:02:41
Bulls are in the top eight, though? Or who's
1:02:42
the other? Yeah. If the Red Bulls do not have
1:02:44
a horrible, horrible qualifying and are not breaking,
1:02:48
then yes, they should be in the top ten. I mean,
1:02:49
just look at Hajar's performances. Hajar's been
1:02:53
doing pretty darn good. They have a week. It's
1:02:55
not bad. They have a week to figure out what's
1:02:57
going on. I think that that should hopefully
1:02:59
be enough time to at least get them on track,
1:03:01
right? And maybe they'll figure it all out. Their
1:03:04
weight will get down. Their engine will be better.
1:03:06
Hajar's second just ruins our podium. podiums
1:03:09
completely oh my god max if max verstappen i'm
1:03:13
gonna lose it if max verstappen if max verstappen
1:03:16
is on the podium now after i put him on twice
1:03:19
already i'm gonna lose it i'm gonna absolutely
1:03:23
lose it i'm gonna go for like rooting for verstappen
1:03:26
out of character for me to not rooting for verstappen
1:03:29
it's gonna throw me out all right We have our
1:03:31
predictions in. My Excel file looks like a mess,
1:03:34
but that's okay. We'll figure it out. I just
1:03:35
added another column. It's really not that bad.
1:03:37
Or another row. It's really not that bad. I have
1:03:40
to figure out how to do the point thing, but
1:03:42
we'll figure it out. Got two weeks. Smelty, it's
1:03:48
been fun. Holy cow. Where are we at, Kev? It's
1:03:52
been an hour. It's been an hour. You cut us off
1:03:58
in 30 minutes at the recap. I didn't. I cut us
1:04:03
off at 30 minutes on the recap and then we blurbed
1:04:05
for literally 10 minutes about what the F ever.
1:04:09
It was all F1 related, but there was a 10 minute
1:04:11
period in there when you listen back and you're
1:04:13
like... We didn't move on from anything. And
1:04:16
hey, look at us now. Still yapping. Now I'm explaining
1:04:19
the blurb. With another blurb. This is getting
1:04:23
too meta. We might be getting a little too behind
1:04:27
the scenes. Are you guys here for another hour?
1:04:29
Yeah, okay. Let's talk about F2. We could talk
1:04:37
about F2. What's his name? American Driver in
1:04:40
F2. Really? Hurta, yeah. Oh, Hurta, he is. I
1:04:44
haven't checked F2. Nobody from America listens
1:04:47
to our show. I will review F2 and what's been
1:04:49
going on and have that prepared for next time.
1:04:50
Actually, they're probably the only ones that
1:04:51
listen to our show. So that we can keep up with
1:04:54
our American driver. Check in next week. Mike
1:04:56
will be doing a solo show just talking about
1:04:58
F2. I'm sweating. Oh, wait. Kev's seeing if I'm
1:05:03
lying. I said nobody in America listens to, or
1:05:06
nobody over the seas listens to our F1. Hey,
1:05:09
we got two. Australia. And UK. Yeah. Brisbane,
1:05:14
Australia. Manchester, UK. Springfield, US. Somewhere
1:05:17
in the Sussex. Right on. Hey, appreciate you.
1:05:20
So good. Sorry if it was quiet for a second there.
1:05:22
I don't know if you had your mic on or not, Kev.
1:05:23
He was just laying out where we're being viewed.
1:05:25
We should wrap this up, guys. We love you guys.
1:05:28
Mike, thanks for being here. Thank you. Apparently
1:05:31
made it, but you made it. Hey, we made it. You
1:05:34
made it. That's all that matters. Joe. Kev. Let's
1:05:41
go. I'm Smelty, of course. Don't forget to like,
1:05:44
comment, subscribe wherever you listen to the
1:05:46
banter or Fast Labs. Whether that's YouTube,
1:05:49
Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or iHeartRadio. And
1:05:52
we will not see you next week, but we will see
1:05:55
you after the Japan GP to recap that with you,
1:06:00
of course. Yep, I'm stalling this. Bye. Bye.
1:06:04
Sorry. Now that's an outro. Don't forget to follow,
1:06:09
like, and subscribe. Tune in next time for more
1:06:14
banter with the boys.