Latest / The Apex / F1 Spring Break & Motorsport Recap
Transcript
- Paul: Hey everyone, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of the Apex. I just found out as she hit, as Meredith did record, I didn't do my normal picture that I do to post on Instagram. The Apex F1 Podcast: your obligatory recording selfie. We can get one at the end. Paul: We haven't done this in so long that I completely lost my mojo. The Apex F1 Podcast: You've lost your mojo. You've lost that loving feeling. We'll get it back. We'll get back on track. She's been karaoke-ing on the boat, man. Paul: There is that singing voice I miss from Austin, Texas. I love it. Well, guys, everyone, it's been what? It's been what? Three weeks since we recorded. It feels like forever, but we are back. My name is Paul. I am steering the ship today. Meredith, how you doing today? The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah, two, three weeks. I'm fantastic, happy to be back. I'm we don't have Josh here with us. He's a little bit busy and so he could not join us this week, but that's okay. He got us two here today and ⁓ ready to talk motorsport, ready to catch up on some stuff that's been going on over last few weeks. Paul: Yep, he's got some personal things he's dealing with, so he might miss a couple episodes here and there. So send him your best. Everything is good, but he's got to deal with some stuff at home. And hey, home and wife and family is more important than blabbing about cars going in circles on the internet. So we can't wait for Josh to come back because let's face it, we needed that nerd talk, especially with Miami coming up next week. So I'm hoping we can get him back. So, hey, you got a little tan going on. The Apex F1 Podcast: Absolutely. No doubt. I do. Paul: Look at you, aren't you glowing? The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah, well, I made the mistake of wearing an orange pullover on Monday. I just kind of was like one tone, like where my light comes in at my desk, everybody in meetings is like, you're tan, you're really tan. And the orange definitely made me look more tan. And I'm like, yeah, yeah, French Polynesia was great, man. ⁓ Paul: Yeah. Absolutely. I know this podcast is motorsports related, but we have to talk about Carmen Sandiego a little bit here. How was Tahiti? The Apex F1 Podcast: Tahiti was great. If you're ever gonna go to French Polynesia, it's way easier to get to than you think it is. You fly to like LAX or San Fran and then they have flights from there to Tahiti. If are ever gonna go to that part of the world, do it on a cruise rather than packing up and moving from island to island and changing hotels couple of nights. The overwater bungalows is what everybody thinks of when they think of that part of the world and they are beautiful and incredible. ⁓ Maybe stay in one one night while you're in Tahiti, but then I tell you the cruise is the way to go. We did Windstar. It's just, it's a smaller boat, like 350 people on board. So much smaller than like a big cruise ship, but they plan every detail top to bottom. And then you get to see all the islands. So we did, I think five islands throughout the time that we were on the boat and it was absolutely amazing. They give you options of excursions every day. If you get. Paul: Absolutely. The Apex F1 Podcast: like, hey, I don't want to go pay for an excursion. I just want to be here. You can take like the Tinder Inn and go find a beach. can just like they open the back of the cruise ship and they blew up all this inflatable stuff and you could just like hang out in the ocean. So we did it all. We maximized the trip. It was awesome. met an awesome guy on the cruise ship. He was the wife of one of the customers on the trip. ⁓ he actually works in the motorsport world and It was really awesome to have people to talk motor sports with. So he is big into Indy car and doing some NASCAR stuff too. So it was really fun to find people to nerd out with about motor sport, no matter where you are. Master Sunday, we went on an excursion in Bora Bora. It was snorkeling with stingrays and sharks and then like a snorkeling excursion over a coral garden. ⁓ on the boat, you getting out and swimming and then you'd get back on the boat. And then there was this group of guys huddled around a phone on top of a bucket watching the masters. Paul: ⁓ absolutely. The Apex F1 Podcast: And I'm sitting, refreshing the leaderboard of the NASCAR race, you guys. I'm like in the most beautiful place on earth. And I'm texting you guys about NASCAR because I couldn't get it to stream anywhere on my phone. None of my apps were working, nothing on YouTube TV. So I was just refreshing the leaderboard on ⁓ browser every 30 seconds and texting you for the updates. So even in the middle of the ocean, people care about motorsports. Paul: That's all. That's awesome. Absolutely. And speaking of the Masters, Josh ended up going to, went to Augusta to go to the Masters. heard, I saw, we saw some of the pictures online. I can't wait to have him back on the podcast so he can tell us about his experience. listen. ⁓ The Apex F1 Podcast: Absolutely. He looked like Mr. Masters. Their outfits, I was like, you look like you were made to be there. Paul: ⁓ my God. Listen, if you guys don't know, Josh is Josh and Meredith and her husband are huge golfer. So for them going for him going to Masters was like, you know, his, I don't know, his heaven, I we could say that boy, that boy was was living life to the max. So good for him. ⁓ I'm hoping you had a great time. So but hey, let's talk motor sports. It's been long month of an break. We did not expect things a lot to The Apex F1 Podcast: he should. Paul: governments. They took away some awesome racing that we could have had, but ⁓ can't we all just get along? But hey, we saw there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Formula One comes back next week to Miami we still have IndyCar and NASCAR to talk about, but sticking on the Formula One news, there has been some spicy news lately. ⁓ The Apex F1 Podcast: Stupid governments and politics and war. Can we just stop? next FACI News, the theme is tax and max. Paul: So. Please tell us about these tax evasions or not wanting to pay their fair share of taxes. ⁓ The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah, so I kind of found out about all of this a text from my friend Aaron. And he is like, you know, this tax evasion scandal is cracking me up. And I'm like, sorry, like I just got back. What like, what do you mean? I've been in my a ⁓ yeah, I'm like, what do you mean the tax evasion? And I got on TikTok and I also stayed off of TikTok a lot while I was on vacation, which is rare for me. As one should, I was very phone unplugged as much as I could be. And I Paul: What do you mean? as you should as one should it's vacation. The Apex F1 Podcast: Then when I got back, opened TikTok and I started seeing all these videos about like how Miami is only gonna have like five drivers show up for the race because of everything with the tax evasion in Italy. And I'm like, I thought these are just girls being silly, like saying they're not gonna wanna come back from the break because the regulations or something. I thought that was just like, I thought it was just rumor mill. And then Aaron sends me the link and this is from GP blog. Italian authorities target F1 drivers and clamp down after Monza and Imola races. So the Italian financial police have launched a full investigation into the tax evasions by Formula One teams that are based outside of Italy. So this is exclusively an investigation that Italy is launching based on the races and things that have in Monza. And we know that a lot of the drivers live in Monaco because of the tax benefits for living there. ⁓ during the races that happen in Italy, ⁓ are considered these freelancers. So it the responsibility of the teams then to ensure that winnings and earnings, that a certain part of that are withheld as part of the driver's salary and then they are required to pay to the Italian tax authorities. apparently the responsibility does lie with the teams ⁓ for Ferrari and Racing Bulls because those two are based in Italy. Apparently there's this whole investigation that is happening and that they've got to investigate the teams and the drivers for this tax evasion to see if proper protocol has been followed. But you think that for how long they have been racing in Italy. I think of classic, iconic Formula One racing, I think of Italy. I think of Monza. I think of Imola. ⁓ for me, how do we not have this figured out? How is this not part of our preseason protocol where we ensure ahead of time that all of our appropriate tax withholdings are in place? So I don't know. everything will get sorted, but I do firmly believe a little bit in the media of where there's smoke, there's fire. So there has to be a reason that this has alerted the authorities and that they've launched a full investigation. But one thing that did catch my eye in the article from GP blog was, if teams are found guilty of tax evasion, there could be consequences with a hefty price tag. Article 10 of legislative decree number 74 out of 2000 states failure to pay taxes above 50,000 euros. may constitute a criminal offense in addition to administrative sanctions and recovery of the amounts due. So it's just like there are financial and criminal implications. So I think it'll be interesting to stay atop news of what's happening in the taxidation scheme of Formula One. But ⁓ would find it hard pressed to believe that this is not on someone's checklist. Like these are very well established races. I would imagine that they are on top of it and that Paul: Interesting. The Apex F1 Podcast: Maybe there's somewhere where someone was not compliant and they'll have to pay the restitution and pay what they owe if it was not followed. I don't see any criminal sanctions coming out of this and I do not see drivers not being able to race in Miami because they're under investigation. just, that's my personal opinion though. Paul: No, I mean, I find weird is it wasn't just like a team or a person or a driver. It was multitude of teams. So ⁓ sure this had to have just been a clerical error on somebody's, somebody made this mess. The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah, someone's head will roll. Someone's head will roll. Someone will get fired. I don't think it's going to have any impact on the drivers or the Miami Grand Prix. Paul: Nobody's going to do any real jail time. They'll probably get slapped on the wrist and pay a substantial fine and move on with their day. Who? The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah, I know whose fault this is. It's Christian Horner's fault. Has to be. Has to be. Throw the man in jail. Paul: Christian Horner called the Italian government and said, hey man, they're kind of screwing with your money. The Apex F1 Podcast: He said, look, Toto screwed me out of this Alpine deal. I'm gonna raise some hell. And he's like, I've got receipts and documents. Paul: Could you imagine that level of pettiness if that were to be true? Like, hey, they didn't let me buy Alpine like I wanted to, so now I'm gonna screw them over. The Apex F1 Podcast: Love it though, I love this theory. Paul: ⁓ that's awesome. Also, Max is his ⁓ race or race strategist. What is it? The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah, GP, yeah. And the statement was they always both said that neither one of them would leave unless they left together. So now GP is leaving, going to McLaren and McLaren, right? Yes, going to McLaren. But now the rumor mill is that is going to be leaving before GP. Paul: Yes. The Apex F1 Podcast: All this last week, sources are saying that Max will be leaving. Now this could be conjecture again, that like the theory is like, know, Max is not having a great season. He's been very vocal about his unsatisfaction with the regulations. It could be conjecture that like, hey, if things don't turn around in the season, maybe Max will leave at the end of the season. You know, I think conjecture. But again, you know, just love a little media gossip. I love a little motorsport chit chat to come back to from vacation. Paul: Well, I know it came out that GP had a private conversation with Max and Max gave him the blessing like, hey, go do this, The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah. Yeah. And what a great opportunity. I think the thing that I respected most about Max that I feel like maybe we lost about Max because of the narrative from Drive to Survive. He got the villain edit and I think we can all agree on that. But seeing how he has been the last few years just especially since having his own kid, how much family matters to him, how much he talks about family being everything in his interviews and you know, him talking about, don't need another world championship. I have my family there, the thing that matters most. The thing I loved about what he said about his conversation with GP was that if you have an opportunity that is going to better your life, your career, and positively impact what you're able to provide for your family, you'd be an idiot not to take it. You know, so I think his support was just founded in a lot of true love and respect between the two of them and really wanting GP to do what's best for his career. Paul: Yeah, and I don't think I think yes, drive to survive did kind of spin that narrative, but also he ran with it for the first couple of years. He was a dick the way he way he raised, especially against Lewis. He he was a dick. Let's call it what it was. And I think we've seen a shift within the last couple of years of more of a softer side of Max, more of a human side to him if we can say that. And it's just it's just nice to see that. I don't want to say, but he kind of did grow up right before our eyes on the cameras. He went from this stupid. Yeah, so now this, you know, a man who is a father to two kids, so good for him. The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah. ⁓ 100%. He was a baby. Yeah. On the cruise, another motorsport connection was that one of my coworkers brought his girlfriend. son is super into F1. And we were like geeking out. She was texting her son, listening to their podcast and stuff. Well, she's like, hey, do know who this is? He met this person. ⁓ And was Liam Lawson. And unfortunate for us as Liam Lawson haters, not like real haters, but just not liking his driving style, apparently he was amazing and wonderful and awesome. And so I'm Man, can't tell me those things, because at the end of the day, I am such a deep empath. ⁓ can't tell me he's the coolest, chillest dude, which honestly, he looks like he would be. And him and Isaac's content last year for Racing Bulls definitely made me feel like he was ultimately just this real chill, cool dude. But then get him on track, and he's just an absolute menace. So unfortunately, I do feel a little bit of a softer side for Liam now. Paul: You can't tell me he's a great human being. breaking news Meredith is soft now The Apex F1 Podcast: You know me, I'm glasses always half full. You're the pessimist and I'm the optimist and then Josh brings us back down to earth. Paul: Yeah, this side of the podcast, too. Absolutely. we need you. ⁓ but yes, also, the is it FIA or Formula One came out with a ruling on how they're going to change things around. And I going to pull it up and I was going to talk about it more in depth. However, if you're a you've already seen it. You've already seen all the content creators talking about it. ⁓ The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah. Yeah, the new. Plus if Josh is on next week, I would love for us to save that to see it, like to get his full thoughts on it. Cause his reaction in the group chat was quite. Paul: Be absolutely, absolutely. He's got he's he's very much a nerd when it comes to these things and he understands analytical side of it more than than Meredith and I do. But ⁓ are your initial thoughts behind it? Because I have some and I talked about it on my on TikTok that I was going to talk about it today. So ⁓ what you think? ⁓ The Apex F1 Podcast: quite... stern. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. You know, sadly, I don't think that this is going to be enough for the drivers to all feel like confident the new regulation. I think this is going to take time. think it's a step in the right direction. And sadly, I will say that the biggest thing that was top of mind for me, and this is something I think Leah and I talking about last night, that Ferrari is bringing big upgrades to Miami. So ⁓ my concern now is... Paul: Or so they say, yeah. The Apex F1 Podcast: Are the upgrades that Ferrari is bringing to Miami, like did they spend all this time making these upgrades and changes prior to these regulation shifts and are they gonna have to like scramble and is it like time wasted and then time tweaking? So I really just want Ferrari to have some solid upgrades. I really want them contending for a title this season. I really think that Charles and Lewis both have looked very comfortable in the car so far this season. They're really liking this driving style. So if these regulations could adjust to be like in favor of that, I'd be really ecstatic. And if this screws with the upgrades Ferrari was bringing to Miami, then I'm going to be really pissed. Paul: there anything else you had about that before I go on my rant? The Apex F1 Podcast: Nope, those are purely my selfish thoughts are related to Ferrari and the wellness. Paul: Here is my issue. In one sense, I am glad that they're admitting that there might be some tweaks that need to be done. And it's good that we're having this discussion instead of, because they could have easily done, we'll talk about this in the off season, we'll talk about this come 2027. I'm, yes. The Apex F1 Podcast: right. They could have even said, we're gonna wait till summer break. They could have kicked the can down the road. Paul: And I'm glad that they're deciding, hey, let's try to nip it in the butt. It's going to be a, it's just going to be a problem throughout the year. Let's figure out how to do it. My thing is as a casual fan, as somebody that really enjoys the sport, it makes it hard when I don't understand what's going on. I've listening to other content creators, and Tommy talked about it, other ⁓ creators about it. The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah, absolutely. Paul: I feel like I need a fucking engineering degree just to have an understanding of what's going on. The Apex F1 Podcast: I solely rely on the in-depth reactions of Josh to gauge how I feel. Paul: That's the thing and it's starting to and it's starting to become very artificial and I think Pat O'Warr hadn't had a quote about that not too long ago where it seems like Formula One is just so artificial it just doesn't seem real like I what the hell is a kilowatt or 300 from 250 to reducing recharging time it's like it's starting to become The Apex F1 Podcast: Yes, I'll. Paul: too artificial and too much for the average consumer to understand. The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah, this is where I feel like I need AI. I feel like I need AI to just give me a quick summary of what were the regulations at the start of 2026? What do these new ones mean? And what's the difference? Give me a quick highlight reel, dumb it down for me. And I'll be honest, I just haven't taken the time to do that, but that's something I fully plan to do. Because I'm with you. It's just like, it's so technical that I don't understand the imp... I can understand what they're saying. I can't understand the implications those changes. Does that make sense? Paul: It seems like... I... Yeah, yes, it a headache and I think we're... And I think this can be talked about as a whole throughout all the platforms of motorsports. We're losing the pureness of what the sport is. It should just be a chaffee, an engine, a transmission, wheels and a steering wheel and go. And who is faster? And I know Formula One and I can hear Josh in the back of my head going, well, F1 pushes the boundaries of technology and F1 pushes to the limit. And I understand it. I get it. And Formula One has done things. in the past that have impacted cars and what we see today, especially with this electric push. But as a normal consumer of the sport, as somebody that's as dumb as a box of rocks, don't understand what the hell is going on. ⁓ when you hear commentators talking about it, I want to hear about energy levels and kilowatts and kill a kill a this and and wanting this and this. I don't it. How can I consume a sport? The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah, same. Paul: How can I consume something when I don't understand what the hell's going How can they expect casual fans to do this? ⁓ just, I feel like we're getting too far from what the original game plan of motorsports is. And it's, I'm still gonna keep watching. I still love it. I still really enjoy it. But I feel like it's kind of losing its flavor to me a little bit. The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah. feel like maybe for you, could be a hybrid because I feel like every of regulation changes since I became a Formula One fan, I've maybe that way a little bit. And then I get further into the regulation and then I kind of lose that and I get back to just like being able to enjoy the racing. But I feel like maybe you're at the spot where because you've started watching a lot of IndyCar and NASCAR and there haven't been a... like with IndyCar, there hasn't been like a massive regulation change, you so like you've watched it about two years now. So I feel like your love of the other motorsports is growing and maybe that makes it little bit easier to make it comparative across the categories. ⁓ especially you have a podcast about it and talk about it and want to be seen as not necessarily an expert, but knowledgeable on it, ⁓ it it a lot harder to just let those things live in separate buckets. Paul: Sure. The Apex F1 Podcast: And I think the further you get into IndyCar and now NASCAR, which I'm obsessed that you love NASCAR now, I think the further you get into it, you'll get a little bit better at compartmentalizing. Like, is this really me critiquing the sport or is it just like new regulation changes I have to get used to? And it's just different because I'm really enjoying maybe some of these other motor sports right now. Paul: I think it's a little bit of both, honestly. I think it's just, the new flavor that I have to get used to. yeah. ⁓ The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah. Yeah. And we're all, we're all developing the palette for the new regulations. Paul: And don't get me wrong, ⁓ I'm critical of IndyCar. I think IndyCar's got their issues. We see it on these street courses and road courses. There's no passing. We're starting to see in IndyCar that the way you qualify is the way you finish. that's got its issues. The tires are too good. Their tanks are too big. Maybe we gotta shrink down the fuel tanks or make them... you know, there was a kind of creative talk about it. Maybe IndyCar needs stage racing like NASCAR has something to spice it up a little bit because we saw it going in a Long Beach weekend. They were talking about how the Redwall tires, those soft tires were the worst one. Hell, they went on for forever. It seemed like they didn't have an end to it. So the tires are the tires too good or the drivers too good. So IndyCar does have its issues, but seems with Formula One, it's just like, don't feel like I need an engineering, I shouldn't feel like I need an engineering degree to understand more of the logistics behind it. The Apex F1 Podcast: Right. I think for me, I'm just seeing this season as like the reset allowing myself to just enjoy the sport a little bit. Like ⁓ allowing myself to check out of or giving myself permission to not care about the technical side of it as much because the has been so much more competitive at the beginning of the season this year than it has in the last two years. So I think I'm just trying to reach a place for me where I'm like, okay, I'm just enjoying this for what it is. ⁓ And it's okay that I don't understand everything about these new regulations. It's okay that these are gonna adjust. mean, we're not even in Miami and we've already had adjustments to the regs. So I everybody to find their own personal happy medium with it about how do I be knowledgeable about it and still be a fan and enjoy it without it ruining it for them. Everybody has to find their happy little clouds Paul: Absolutely, you got a little medium. So anything else in the world of Formula One that we want to talk about? ⁓ The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah. No, I haven't really seen anything else. There's nothing really in the rumor mill. been fun to watch some of the other drivers during some of their off seasons or not off season, but they're during their spring break, not their summer break, but their spring break, know, in other series, Max in the Nürburgring, Lance stroll, not very successfully, but it's just to watch them get to do some other stuff. You know, I enjoy it. Paul: What was Lance like 30 minutes behind everyone else in his race? The Apex F1 Podcast: We don't need to talk about it. And then like, okay. then like Louis and Kim K confirmed Coachella in the water at the beach, having a day of it. They look like they're having a great time. So what I completely, fully wholeheartedly believed was a PR stunt and was like, they've probably been friends with benefits for a while. Like it's looking like it's really something. And you know what? They look like they're having a fricking blast and good for them. Paul: ⁓ listen, if any- If anybody has enjoyed this break, it is Lewis, that man. Whoo. Yeah, good. Good for him. I hope he's gotten a lot of frustrations released. Listen, we're going to see a rejuvenated coming back. He's lighter because he. ⁓ The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah, he'd be having a time of it. Get you a handful, Lewis, get you a handful. Yeah, everybody's like is everybody's like, are we going to see Kim K in the paddock in Miami? Highly possible. I mean, her sisters are in a racing and know, Kendall goes to a ton of the races and stuff. She's even had activations for her liquor company, so who knows? Paul: Yeah. Listen, we all have our personal opinions on our Kardashian family. Love them or hate them. I'm happy that Louis seems happy. It seems genuine for him. go to Coachella. Do what you got to do. Have fun. But also I saw that Danny Rick and, Boutry, they were at Coachella too. ⁓ The Apex F1 Podcast: Meet him. And beltery! I'm not ready to talk about that. Seeing Danny Rick back on social media, did a post, seeing him be at Coachella with Valter, it ⁓ makes me super happy to see him live in his best life and just really enjoying where he's at. His did come out. If he was last week of the week before he released something just about being grateful that things happened the way they did. Like as awful as it was, he was grateful that they made the decision for him because he doesn't know if he would have been able to make that same decision himself and it could have just potentially gotten worse. know, it made me sad to read that, but it makes me so happy to see how happy he is. ⁓ am wondering when him and Heidi are going to get engaged. They've been together for years now. ⁓ Berger, you know, like, but I don't know, you know, because they're both off social media. like, well, I don't know. Are they together? Who ⁓ Paul: Who knows, but I'm glad everybody seemingly had a great, great break. So I'm, but I think I can speak for motor sports fans as a whole and F1 fans as a whole. We need these cars on track. need, we need Miami cannot come soon enough. The Apex F1 Podcast: And I'm having so much FOMO about not being there this year. I'm having so much. Paul: Gosh, listen, last year was a lot of fun. They brought the Lego car. The Apex F1 Podcast: ⁓ yeah, I saw them live. You know? Paul: Yeah. Oh, hey, also, Dorian, she got to have one. I don't know if they ever came out with how she did her time and ultimately doesn't really matter. But it's just awesome that now we're having females testing and doing these things in the back of the phone with one car. And I don't know if it'll ever come to a woman on the grid. But this steps in the right direction. The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah, she got to test the F1 car. That's so cool. Yeah, I love it. I firmly believe in the future, absolutely. I think with continuation and development of F1 Academy, the continual adding of sponsors into that, women racing being more and seeing it being such a lucrative sport and opportunity right now, I see that happening in the future. Yeah. Paul: So super happy for her. You could tell that some of the content that they were putting out, she was excited to be there and wouldn't? You give me enough ones to, I'm gonna be giddy too. So it's ⁓ awesome for her. So switching gears a little bit, Indycar was in the streets of Long Beach, California. The Apex F1 Podcast: I know. ⁓ Yee, long beach. Because not only did we have F1 spring break, we had a two week IndyCar break and I'm like, the timing could not be worse. Paul: You guys need to figure it out. Thankfully, I'm starting to get into NASCAR. So NASCAR built in those gaps, but I decided that Long Beach is one of the races I have to go to. It seemed like a lot of fun. looks... The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah! Yeah? Everybody who goes loves it. Like it's one of the most coveted races from a fan experience in IndyCar. I've heard nothing but incredible things. Paul: Absolutely. Yeah, it's just beautiful weather. California is beautiful. Listen, if money was not an option, would move to California yesterday. That's how I love that state so much. Yes. So yes, 100, yes, 100. I've said that ⁓ all my friends. San is paradise. ⁓ The Apex F1 Podcast: ⁓ same. I love California. I love California. I would go like San Diego area. That's more my vibe. Yeah, like if I could just find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Paul: If I have a rich uncle that's about to die out there and it's going to give me a lot of money, please send it. I want to move. The Apex F1 Podcast: I will say I was really excited to see Felix Rosenquist on pole. That is just so cool. And to see him and Pato celebrate together after as former teammates, I just, ⁓ loved seeing that little reunion. I loved seeing the celebration. And see him finish second in the race was really cool. I'm very excited. Paul: Well, not just, yes, they were teammates, but they finished one, they qualified one and two. It was just a fraction of a difference between that. So, so cool. Cause nobody thought Felix was, the car is not as good as a Chip Ganassi or a Penske or even an Ernie Rommert. So for Felix to put it on pole was incredible. Super stoked for it. Absolutely. ⁓ The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah. Like it was just, just so much respect. No. and to drive so solid. All right, just absolutely incredible. And it's so fun to see Scott Dixon back up in there, you know? Paul: Yes, sir, Scott Dixon. Yes, he did talk about he just got knighted recently. ⁓ we please we need to please ⁓ him by his full title. The Apex F1 Podcast: Sir, pardon me. I'm s- Pardon me. I am so sorry. Sir, Scott Dixon. So then should we also start saying Sir Lewis Hamilton? This is so disrespectful. Sir Lewis, we apologize. Sir Scott, I apologize. Paul: I feel like we already should have. have we? We have just respected the man. On behalf of the Apex F1 Podcast, we want to formally apologize to Roy P. Yes. Yeah, absolutely. But yeah, Scott Dixon is doing great. Kirkwood, they're all doing big... Bye bye Kevin. The Apex F1 Podcast: Formally. I curtsy. I feel like I could never have guessed the type of season Kyle Kirkwood is going to have. Hi, Kevin. Paul: He just got home. ⁓ big shocker to me was Pato. He very open about the fact that the car is awful at Long Beach. He's had some awful showings. He finished fifth. I'm getting kind of tired of seeing him finish fifth, but The Apex F1 Podcast: I was gonna say he has loved fifth, sixth this season. Paul: He, yeah, fit is where he has been, so cool. The Apex F1 Podcast: I get that his number is five. Pato, I need you to be number one. Paul: Edo, need you to be better, The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah, I mean, I really hate it, but it's like, you and then he's got Indy 500 monkey on his shoulders, you and it's just like sitting there. And when you've been coming into a season, like, I just wonder if it's like mentally draining or if it's like, nah, I got this, you know, I clearly am not a professional driver, but I... Paul: mean, we talked about it. We talked about the issue with Lando years ago. It's like, you ever going to get that monkey off your back? And Indy 500 has just been that. Paddle has been so close numerous times. The Apex F1 Podcast: But I feel like it's also where he turns his season around. Like last season he had a slow start to the season two and then he just turned around and then came in hot and then was fighting for a championship, you know? So who knows? Maybe this is the paddle turning point. Maybe he likes a slow burn. Paul: in the eye. So hopefully... Hopefully and and I think for Patto as a whole it's not a matter of of if he's gonna win in the 5-hundred I think it's when he he for sure is gonna win one much like I think David Maloukas is going to win in any 500 The Apex F1 Podcast: but with. Maluchis has just, development has just been insane and it's been so fun to watch him this season. Paul: Cheers. just guy rocketing, but Alex Paloe is on another level that he can anybody stop him? The Apex F1 Podcast: on fire. I don't have a bad thing to say about it. That's just impressive and talented and how awesome. Paul: I want to so deeply hate him, but just being so nice that I just, you're right. That's the frustrating thing is I want to hate him. want to talk. The Apex F1 Podcast: I know you do, but you can't find anything to hate him for. so nice. He's so nice, he's so handsome, he's so talented. Leave some for the rest of us, my guy. Paul: You can't have it all, man. Leave some for the mortals. The Apex F1 Podcast: You can't. Seriously. Paul: Hey listen, we can't move on from IndyCar without talking about Nolan Siegel. Finished 12th? I think he qualified like last and went from last to 12th? Yeah, so. The Apex F1 Podcast: The mover of the day award was well deserved. Well deserved. Didn't he like wreck throughout the weekend at some point in one of like the qualifying or something? I thought I saw it. Paul: I don't think he wrecked. I know ⁓ Schumacher wrecked and I think wrecked. but you know. The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah, I don't know why I thought something on the TV said Nolan Segal read too, but a mover of the day well deserved. Paul: And it could have, I didn't watch all of it, but I'm super happy to see Nolan doing well. even Mick finished ⁓ I think. I don't want to call it a throwaway year for him because we knew he wasn't going to be. It was, yes, sorry. Let's get technical development year. He seems very happy. He seems like he's really coming to himself. And, is the part of Indy car that I love because. The Apex F1 Podcast: the development year, development here. Paul: we are ramping up for the Indy 500. And cannot ⁓ We got two weeks to wait to race at, what do they call that? It's the racing at the Indy 500, or the Indy just a different layout. I don't know what. The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah, it's their road course. Paul: do you gotta say like I'm dumb? But yes, we The Apex F1 Podcast: This lady that was on one of our excursions, she used to have tickets to the Indy 500. She had tickets to the whole season of all the races that happened right there. And she was just talking about all the Indy 500 experiences. And she was like, I'm telling you right now, when you do go, do not get start finish tickets. She was like, don't get that. You can't see anything else. She said, get tickets at turn three. Or she said, ride at the top, higher up on turn three. She said, That's the sweet spot. So I was like, oh, you're a gift from the angels. Thank you. Because if I do throw down and go eventually, like I want, when, when I go to the Indy 500. Yeah. I was like, oh, thank you. Paul: No, no, no, it's not if, it's when we throw down, we go. Yes, my brother and I, we didn't go, but when we went to Nashville last year, it's an oval race too. And I thought I was cool buying tickets like at the start finish. Like maybe we were what? A row or two behind the start finish. And I thought that was so cool. But when you think about it, you want to say more higher up, more towards a turn. The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah, you want to sit higher up. We learned that lesson in Austria for the F1 race too. Paul: so you can see everything. So we talked about it. It's like when we go back to an oval, we're gonna move it a little bit. We wanna see the whole thing. So yeah, it's not a matter of if it's when we go to the Indy 500. It to be, we have to go. We can't have a Motorsports podcast and not go to the Indy 500. The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah. Yes. Yes. That's right. Facts. Agreed. Let's just start saving our pennies up. Paul: am putting a dime into that ⁓ now. ⁓ The Apex F1 Podcast: I'm like, we can't save our pennies. They don't make the pennies anymore. So we'll just save our other coins. They'll be worth more anyway. Yeah, there we go. Paul: We'll move up to a dime. All right, switching gears. NASCAR was in Kansas on Sunday. what lens do you want to view this one in? Because if are on the Denny Hamlin camp, it's awful. The Apex F1 Podcast: That after after celebration where Michael Jordan went out to him and is like so pumped and Denny's like Paul: Yeah, well, it's awesome too, because you know, Denny's got a podcast and he talked about it. And he's like, spent... He talked about the celebration and he said, I don't fault Michael Jordan for what he did, because I spent all week talking shit to him that I was going to do really well. And you should have seen all the shit I spoke to Michael Jordan that I was going to win. And hey, it is what it is. But I don't know what it is with Denny. The Apex F1 Podcast: I haven't listened to this week's yet. Yeah. Yeah. Paul: Every time we think he's going to come away with it and win because he's had such a dominant day. Those last handful of laps, man. don't know if he needs to cleanse himself with sage. Yes, we. The Apex F1 Podcast: It just doesn't. What is it? Someone has a voodoo doll. Someone has, someone or someone ordered an Etsy witch someone has a voodoo doll for Denny Hamlin's finishing of important races. Paul: We need to get the guy some holy water, some sage. We need to cleanse the man and get rid of it because he was slotted to win. He was slotted to take it away. And then he did it. The Apex F1 Podcast: And then he did it. If he's not gonna win it, don't you think he'd rather it be one of his drivers winning it? Like what a consolation prize. You didn't win, but one of the drivers of the team you're a partial owner in won. Paul: Absolutely. ⁓ talk about your bittersweet moment. The team that you co-own wins you were this close to winning. ⁓ listen. The Apex F1 Podcast: was dying when you were like, take that, Carl Larson! Paul: Fuck you, Larsen. The Apex F1 Podcast: I feel like America collectively yelled that in that last... Paul: listen, also... ⁓ The Apex F1 Podcast: And it's not anything against Kyle Larson. At this point, I'm just Tyler Raddick's number one cheerleader for this season. I just want him to win it all. Paul: No. don't really dislike Kyle Larson. I know he came out a few years ago and said he was better than Max, yada, yada, yada. We all move on from that. But I don't mind him. I think he's a great guy. But come on, Tyler Reddick almost running out of fuel towards the end until we got that safety car. Oh, man. I've really enjoyed this whole NASCAR stuff. The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah, that pissed me off. But personally, I like the guy. I do. ⁓ I love it. I love it. Paul: I saw that. saw that. Also, ⁓ jealous. The Apex F1 Podcast: So beautiful. It's so beautiful. I love it so much. Paul: I want to tell you that if it ever goes missing, I exit my apartment because I stole it from you. The Apex F1 Podcast: Oh, I just, opened Facebook Marketplace literally as we were driving home from the airport. And I'm like, oh, we're back, baby. And I saw it and I messaged the lady and she was like, chat listed for $30. I messaged her like, 20, $20. Cause I had looked on eBay and I'm like, they go for way more on eBay. So I was like, 20, $20. And she was like, only 25. She was like, 25. I'm like, done, sold, I'll pick it up tomorrow. Paul: Can't connect. You always gotta haggle a little bit. Yeah, so hey, I like that blanket. It is a pretty nice blanket. So The Apex F1 Podcast: It's dope. is this weekend and I freaking love Talladega. So I am pumped and I don't have anything to do on Sunday. I'm leaving on Monday morning for a work trip to Philadelphia. And so I'm like, I have to pack a little bit and, that like, it'll be fine. But I am so pumped to watch Talladega. ⁓ Paul: You ⁓ I'm off on Sunday, so I will be on the couch watching Talladega. It's like it's one of those I feel like we need to go to. We need to rent an RV and we need to go to Talladega. The Apex F1 Podcast: yeah, for sure. ⁓ God, feel like an RD would be such a fun way to do it. Paul: Yes, yeah, I feel like there's no other way. And I just, just wear a GoPro and just walk around the campgrounds and just see all the debauchery that happens. I am going to be doing keg stands and be a part of it. Yes, okay, Indie 500, we are going to Talladega. If anybody wants to sponsor this podcast and send us on these trips, we are. The Apex F1 Podcast: unfold. I would be in the debauchery. I wouldn't be filming and be in it. I am the debauchery, Paul. Paul, I am the debauchery. Absolutely. Always willing to do content for you. Literally. We are here for it or just give us access. Paul: always willing to listen. We'll put whatever sponsor you want right here as long as you pay for us to go to Trips. I am ready to say the words. This podcast is brought to you by... So if you're listening, send them in. We like... The Apex F1 Podcast: me too. Me too. Like, look how excited I just got about a NASCAR blanket I got on Facebook Marketplace. Like, who knows what's taking place with this blanket? That's why I watched it the second I got it. Paul: Could you imagine the content we would put out if we went to Talladega? Our livers would not enjoy it, however, we would tell. ⁓ stories we would tell. We were a little unhinged in Austin, Texas. Imagine Talladega. The Apex F1 Podcast: it'd be exceptional. We would. We would enjoy it. I feel like that was a super send though, because it was our first time all being together. So it was a super send. Paul: As it should be, it should be. Whatever race week the three of us can make it to from here on out, it has to be a super send. We can't, yeah, we can't hold back. No, no, life is YOLO. Absolutely. But listen, also had IMSA, it's not wet. The Apex F1 Podcast: And it's like a once a year event, you know? No, we can't hold back. We're not quitters. Yellow. Wek, well maybe we did have Mza, I don't know, it was Wek season opener, season opener was supposed to be in Qatar, but since that one got canceled, Imola was the season opener. Paul: I thought Meyerschenk Racing won? Did they win? Who won? I don't really, I don't really listen. I don't really watch that. Josh, we need Josh. This podcast is getting off the hinge of because we need him to. The Apex F1 Podcast: No. No, Toyota Gizzi Racing. The Toyota Gizzi Racing number 8. No, Toyota Toyota won. So Ferrari had the pole. They stayed up in the fight, though. They came in second. Toyota Racing, the number eight car, came in first. The number seven car came in third. was excited to watch some of it because it was Logan Sargent's debut for WEC. ⁓ is ⁓ to commit to a full WEC season. think ⁓ I remember correctly, I think he is in the contention for the Ford 2027 hypercar seat, which would be great. Ford's an American company. Logan Sargent, American driver. Him in the Ford hypercar could be a really good match. So it'll be interesting to see how this Paul: Okay. The Apex F1 Podcast: was in the LMGT3 category at LMP3. I can't remember. There's so many freaking letters and numbers in WEC. He's in that main class. He's in right below hyperclar. ⁓ But did really good in his stint. There were really close battles on track. was going for He was being aggressive, but safe. There were a couple of chances for him to overtake that he missed because it was just tight where he was. I think what's interesting ⁓ the race at Imola WEC is that fuel is the strategy in Imola for WEC. Paul: And that's what I find it so confusing. The Apex F1 Podcast: There were like a couple of different times where cars like didn't, and then they like ran out of gas and stuff. was just an interesting different watch than like some of the other tracks that I'm used to. And I enjoyed I will be fully you know me, I ain't watching the whole race. ⁓ But it was the recap. I the extended recap and it was awesome. Paul: But. ⁓ There was... Yeah. The Apex F1 Podcast: Couple crashes, couple safety cars, couple retires. Paul: Myer Shank Racing won at Long Beach this weekend for IMSA. The Apex F1 Podcast: ⁓ Imza, cool, so there was Imza. Paul: Yeah, because it was before the at the IndyCar race. I knew I wasn't crazy. The Apex F1 Podcast: Very cool. I didn't know that was a double header weekend. That's cool with EMSA and IndyCar on the same track. I didn't know they were doing that. That's awesome. I was just, I was just psyched about WEC being back. You know, I was just geeking. K-Mag did good. K-Mag did good at WEC. So, you know, our former F1ers are representing strong in WEC. We're proud of them. Paul: See ya! Absolutely. I really do love that drivers have really come to their own in other series. Their might have not worked out as well as it would have in F1, but they're really making a name for themselves ⁓ elsewhere, is awesome. You always got be a little more well-rounded in your stuff. ⁓ The Apex F1 Podcast: ⁓ yeah. Agreed. Agreed. Yep. But I mean, we've got Talladega this weekend, no IndyCar this weekend, no F1 this weekend. So, know, Talladega is it for us. That's it. That's all we've got to look forward to this weekend. if there's ⁓ one weekend NASCAR is the only thing on, I feel like Talladega is the perfect weekend in the calendar to be the only racing on for the weekend. I don't know. I don't even know when the next MotoGP race is. That's what I'm trying to get more into this season. Paul: Uh-huh. Yeah, I'm not there. The Apex F1 Podcast: I was trying to go look at our favorites photo to see if there's anything else on this weekend. Paul: No, I don't know. The Apex F1 Podcast: April, I'm like, I don't even know what day it is anymore. Paul: we're going to have to edit. The Apex F1 Podcast: NHRA drag, MotoGP in Spain. So we do have MotoGP in Spain. Yay. My mom is like diehard NHRA drag racing. She loves drag racing. And so she sent me that she either wants to go to the drag races in Pomona, Penoa. I don't know how you say it, Pomona, California or in Vegas. And I was like, that's fine. Just tell me which ones you want to go to. We'll be there. She's like, with as much as you love the other motorsports, like how are you not into drag racing? I'm like, it's not that I'm not into drag racing. It's that I only have much mind space and like, Paul: Mm-hmm. Absolutely. The Apex F1 Podcast: You know, I try to like pick my series each year to like learn more about. like this year I was like, I wanted to commit to watching more MZ Moto GP. so I'm like, it's not that I'm opposed to NHRA drag. It's just that I don't watch it or anything. And I was like, maybe if you take me to a drag race, I'll get more excited about it and want to follow it more. Paul: feel like that's one of those, it's a lot more fun in person than it would be on TV. The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah. And like she grew up going to it, like her and her dad were super into that together. But I mean, we watched some on the TV while they were here and it was really exciting because it's just like how fast they go for such a short distance. I'm like, one of the ones we were watching his he finished the race. He won the race. His hood blew up like it went. then the cars like the parachute went out behind it because his hood blew up. He couldn't see. And then he was like swerving. And I was like, don't please don't let that. little triangle of a car tip over at that speed, please. Paul: Yeah, absolutely. yeah, anything I think we pretty much covered it all. ⁓ The Apex F1 Podcast: ⁓ I think I'm super excited to see, know, like Miami is usually where some teams bring some new liveries. They bring some upgrades. So I'm excited for the content teams are going to be putting out next week. I'm excited to do our predictions. It's going to feel so weird getting back in the habit of doing predictions. And so I guess I can just kind of recap for us where we are in our scoreboard right now. So after Japan. Josh is in the lead with four points. You and I are tied at two. So I'm super excited to get back into it with our predictions and stuff for next week just get back to the F1 swing of things. I going to be fully honest and say that I may do a last minute look. I may do a last minute look at Miami. And if the price right, Paul, I may have to Like, I just might. I don't have to do the whole weekend, but if I get in there and find me a cheap little flight, because sometimes the flights from Houston to Miami are dirt cheap, you can get one for like 140 bucks round trip, ⁓ if I can find me a cheap little ticket, I just might. Paul: Cadillac had dropped their Miami merch. The Apex F1 Podcast: yeah, it's good. ⁓ Alessandro Gio did, she ⁓ part of their merch launch and I always love her. She's great. Paul: Yeah, you know, I've been a real hater. I've been I've been a real hater on Cadillac stuff, but I really like this pink Miami stuff. I don't like the price tag, but man. Yeah, let's let's. The Apex F1 Podcast: I love that they did the pink merch for Miami. I think it's awesome. Don't look at that. Yeah, just don't look at that. Paul: just avoid that part but yeah super excited to get back into the swing of motorsports super excited that we are back recording after some time off it was some withdrawals ⁓ The Apex F1 Podcast: Me too, it's just been too long. I will tell you, I did have a moment where we were on the trip and we were on an excursion learning about one of the islands. And I was like, that man, he was the most knowledgeable man I've ever about French Polynesia. And his name was Paul, in fact, a white guy from California. he studied like archeology and all this stuff. And he's a retired archeologist, moved there. As did this... tour with him that was like a three and a half hour tour and he told us everything there was to know about this island. was getting a little fatigued on history and facts and I did have a little moment of self-awareness going, Jesus, this must be it feels like to be my friend and listening to me talk about motorsport. Paul: you got. The Apex F1 Podcast: Joe was like Paul: You got information overloaded. That's awesome though. The Apex F1 Podcast: Mm-hmm. He's like, how are we on a work trip in the middle of French Polynesia and every night at the bar, somehow you and these four people find each other and sit and talk for an hour about racing? He's like, look at where we are. And I'm like, what a better place to talk about racing. Paul: wouldn't want to do this? That's awesome. The Apex F1 Podcast: paradise and pole positions, man. That's what it's all about. Paul: It's yolo, it's all what's, only thing life is about. But hey, we're back together. The Apex F1 Podcast: That's all right. We are and we'll be back next week. We'll do our predictions for Miami. We'll talk to Aladega, any other breaking motorsport news that comes out in the coming days and then we'll get on track. Paul: Absolutely. Everybody like always like share review and let us know what you like. Please engage with us. I started posting content on my own TikTok page. So we are doing that. It's been a weird growing pains, growing pains, but listen, I'm excited. really got to really get out there and push myself to do it. I've been wanting to do it and it's just been tough to just pull that trigger. But Monday I decided we to do it. So. The Apex F1 Podcast: you Gotta do it. Proud of you. Paul: We're doing it, so follow me, follow my content. And it's gonna be a lot of fun. I'm ⁓ excited. And with that, everybody, hope you have a great rest of your week. We'll be back next week to talk everything Miami, getting you excited for that, talking everything Talladega, and other tidbits of information that we can come all up along the way. take care, The Apex F1 Podcast: Bye everybody.