Latest / Banter with the Boys / F1 2025 | Summer Break Recap & Dutch GP Preview - Fast Laps with the Boys

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F1 2025 | Summer Break Recap & Dutch GP Preview - Fast Laps with the Boys · Banter with the Boys

0:00
It's laced up! Let's go! It's time for Banter
0:04
with the Boys! Welcome back to Banter with the
0:16
Boys. This is indeed Fast Laps. Thank goodness.
0:21
Joe's back, Mike's back, Kev's back. We're back
0:24
from summer break on Fast Laps. Yes! Oh, thank
0:28
God. It felt like a long one. You're right. It
0:32
really did. And then all of a sudden this week
0:34
was here. And I was like, whoa, here we go. Did
0:38
you guys play any F1 video game on the break?
0:42
You played a ton. I played a ton. I played a
0:43
little bit. I've still been out. From people
0:46
who saw the last episode, I had surgery, I had
0:48
my appendix removed, so I've still been out recovering.
0:50
From Carlos signing himself, yeah. Yeah, so I've
0:53
still been out on medical leave, and so I've
0:55
had a lot of free time. Free time means playing
0:56
Formula One. You said Carlos signs, and I was
1:00
like, Carlos signs was in the car the next week,
1:02
and that's all I'm saying. Dang, ouch. After
1:05
having my appendix removed, I'm like, man, that
1:07
guy is a unit. Yeah, truly. Like, truly for a
1:10
week, I couldn't get out of bed. They also are
1:11
like F1 drivers. They probably have like a ton
1:13
of care being put into them to make sure that...
1:15
There's a lot of money involved there. Mike's
1:18
just like, I'm home. I'm home. I wouldn't be
1:21
surprised if they had some miracle cure or just
1:23
a surgery that let them out for a few days and
1:27
then they were back up and running again. That's
1:30
kind of creepy. I could be wrong, but he was
1:33
back very quickly. I do have a video game question.
1:36
A, I know you hate it, which is crazy because
1:38
I'm pretty sure... I've got to look back because
1:41
I'll clip it because you said you actually liked
1:44
it when it first came out. What has changed that
1:46
you no longer like to get? I'd love to hate it,
1:48
I would say, first of all. I'm always going to
1:50
find some kind of issue. It's the same thing
1:54
it's always been. EA is just not a very good
1:56
company. They release trash year in, year out.
1:58
Sorry, EA. I didn't mean for this to be a hate
1:59
fest. They already know. We're talking about
2:02
the game. Every single EA game is trash. I'm
2:04
just going to say that. It doesn't matter. It's
2:06
fine. Clip it and ship it. No, yeah, I mean,
2:13
like, so, like, most recently, there was a bug
2:15
that literally, like, we could not play the game.
2:18
It just would not let us. Oh. Like, just simply
2:21
put, we tried going into our save, and typically,
2:24
it'll try to, like... bring in uh driver ratings
2:28
like updates and stuff sure and we tried updating
2:30
it and then it would not let us get past that
2:32
screen so we just couldn't play our story so
2:34
we had to do other things yeah so that was it
2:36
got fixed pretty quickly but like what season
2:38
are you guys in like are you in like where you
2:40
can play multiple seasons yeah we're still in
2:42
our first season i thought i heard i don't know
2:44
if it was last year's game or whatever like once
2:45
you get past like the first season it's almost
2:47
the exact same thing just repetitive and then
2:49
it breaks after yeah we so yeah i'm i'm we will
2:52
eventually finish season one and i'm imagining
2:54
it'll start breaking past season two immediately
2:56
it always does yeah last year was really last
2:59
year's game was really really bad so i'm hoping
3:01
maybe have you played any iRacing ever no it's
3:05
it's subscription based it's you know i'm i know
3:07
i'm not good enough to play it so why would i
3:09
but if they ever i mean they have some formula
3:12
one stuff on there don't they do but like you
3:14
have to be like it's like i mean f1 is like a
3:17
baby game compared to iRacing no for sure for
3:19
sure Just not in the cards right now. Yeah, I
3:22
would, like, if I had, like, an actual sim, like,
3:24
good pedals, good wheel, I might test it. Sure.
3:28
Okay. Fair enough. Fair enough. I was just curious.
3:30
Anyway, that was a long intro. Kev behind getting
3:34
everything done for us, like always. Yeah, let's
3:38
just head right into our summer break recap.
3:42
Recap. Ah, yes. We are back. Ah, yes. Summer
3:55
break has ended, which means probably the biggest
3:59
news. The Cadillac drivers are officially signed.
4:03
Hot off the press, too. We got it. For once,
4:06
we got it today. Pretty nice. Official, official.
4:10
Botas and Checo set to return to the grid. You
4:14
remember what I said as we were leaving for summer
4:16
break? The one thing I wanted to come out? you
4:19
know them to release the drivers and we were
4:22
kept we kept hearing that they maybe were only
4:25
going to release one driver so it's nice that
4:28
both are out now um see i guess What's up? I
4:33
heard like a week ago. I was super prepared to
4:35
come in here. I heard like a week ago that Valtteri
4:41
had already been signed. And normally I've heard
4:44
this about Checo. I've heard this about Valtteri.
4:47
I've heard this about Mick. So many people that
4:48
I was like, whatever. And then when I was looking
4:50
into it, I saw that it was confirmed by the same
4:53
people who had leaked to the fact that Toyota
4:56
was going to be partnering with Haas a week before
4:58
that happened. And I was like, okay, so this
5:01
is actually a decent source. And I was like,
5:03
I'm actually buying into this. And then more
5:04
news kept coming out and more people were talking
5:06
about it. And so I was like, oh, you know what?
5:09
Okay, I'm going to buy this. And then the announcement
5:10
came out today. And I was not at all surprised
5:14
about Valtteri. I was surprised about Checo.
5:15
I didn't think they'd give us both at once. Who
5:18
were you hoping for getting in that second seat?
5:21
I think my ideal would have been somebody like
5:24
Felipe Dragovic or like a newbie of some sort
5:27
of newbie. Djokovic or Alex Dunn from F2 or somebody
5:35
along those lines. Mick Schumacher. Of course,
5:40
Mick. He'll always be in the equation. As long
5:43
as I'm around. As long as Joe's on the show,
5:46
Mick's an option. Alpine? Anyway, no. Darn it,
5:52
where was I going? Shoot. if you have a thought
5:54
joe go ahead oh yeah i was uh i remember when
5:57
we were kind of like thinking like early talks
6:00
like obviously we knew cadillac was coming we've
6:01
known for a while but like earlier in the season
6:03
we would try we tried thinking about like who
6:05
might it be we all had like our guesses i i mean
6:08
danny rick was thrown into the equation a lot
6:10
of the time uh checo was thrown in a ton as well
6:13
i liked danny rick I do. I was also one of the
6:16
first people who said Danny wouldn't be coming
6:17
back, though. Yeah, and Danny said that he would
6:20
not be coming back. Yeah, Danny said it himself
6:21
as well. Many times, yeah. But I definitely...
6:26
I was never against Botas. I always thought Botas
6:28
was a pretty good pick. Was very much not in
6:31
the mind of Checo ever coming back. And I also
6:35
wanted a rookie to maybe get into the spot. But
6:38
seeing their release video today, I was happy
6:41
to see Checo back. He seemed pretty happy. He
6:42
seemed pumped. And I think they're vibing very
6:46
well with each other, too. I think it's a good
6:47
driver lineup. For sure. Especially with new
6:50
regs coming in, I think it's actually an advantage
6:53
to put two pretty well -seasoned veterans. in
6:55
the car so you can get, you know, probably the
6:59
best data you can possibly get. I don't know.
7:02
I just like that they decided not to even do
7:04
one seat as a young driver. Maybe if you want
7:06
your reserve driver to be some young guy, for
7:08
sure, that makes sense. I don't know. I like
7:12
that it's two vets. Maybe it's the Hulkenberg
7:14
of it all. You lost your seat. Now you know what's
7:18
to lose. You're going to try better. Did he ever
7:21
have a gap before he joined Red Bull? These are
7:24
both Constructor Championship drives. That's
7:26
true. Multiple -time Constructor Champions. They
7:30
know what they're talking about if the car's
7:32
not right. I don't know. I'm kind of excited.
7:35
For this driver lineup. More excited. Even though
7:37
we were speculating already. There was rumors
7:40
of both these drivers right before summer breaks.
7:42
We were like, yeah, it probably will be. But
7:44
now it's official. I'm actually more excited
7:47
about it than I was before summer break. Even
7:51
though we probably knew that that's what it was
7:53
going to be. What's interesting is what you said
7:56
about a rookie driver not being a great option.
8:00
I firmly agree with. They don't want to take
8:04
this time and like teach somebody how to drive
8:07
in Formula One when they're trying to figure
8:09
out how to drive in Formula One. They'd rather
8:11
take two seasoned drivers. And these are like
8:13
the advantage with Valtteri and Checo is that
8:15
you take Checo, who is just. notoriously really
8:18
good at helping with development of cars. He
8:20
was the first one to point out there was something
8:22
wrong with the Red Bull a year before anyone
8:24
else knew there was something wrong with the
8:25
Red Bull. He was saying it out the gates and
8:27
nobody was listening to him. So I think he's
8:29
got a good technical mindset on him. And then
8:31
you've got Valtteri, who has experience with
8:34
Ferrari power because he drove for Alfa Romeo
8:37
for a couple of years. And so them being on the
8:40
Ferrari engine at the start here is going to
8:42
give them an advantage from these two drivers.
8:44
I'm just curious how they'll like being teammates.
8:46
kind of goofy they are it'll be interesting i'm
8:50
gonna miss i mean yeah valtteri's like very like
8:52
anti -goofy goofy it's interesting like he seems
8:55
pretty straight face but like it's like he does
8:57
it in a goofy way i am gonna miss the the devaltry
9:00
social media manager for mercedes art he's just
9:04
like on their social media all the time all the
9:06
time weird stuff that is gonna be sad to see
9:09
that going but i think i feel like i did see
9:12
a a meme today of like a reenactment of them
9:17
getting signed by cadillac and then the the person
9:20
was like all right which one of you want to be
9:21
the first driver and they were both like oh you
9:23
can have first no no no you should have first
9:25
like i mean yeah yeah that's why i think it'll
9:29
be good like i think there's not a clear number
9:32
you're not selfish right that's what i mean there's
9:34
not a clear number one driver i think it's going
9:35
to be good for cadillac again on the veteran
9:39
basis you know that just helped build it to help
9:41
develop the team as a whole yeah you just made
9:44
the point of uh they're learning like the team's
9:47
learning how to do f1 so like you're right having
9:50
veterans and them being able to bring the knowledge
9:52
in i just want to like echo that's a really good
9:54
point yeah they're going to be able to help the
9:57
team a crazy crazy lot so okay i've got a question
10:02
Who do you think gets the upgrades first? So
10:04
Kev just asked who gets the upgrades first. Neither.
10:07
Are they going to have money for upgrades in
10:09
year one? Yeah. Yeah, they definitely will. Like,
10:14
I don't think they're going to pick one over
10:16
the other. They're going to try, especially like
10:18
they're fresh out the box, brand new team. They
10:22
don't have a lead driver, at least not yet, right?
10:24
They probably won't have a lead driver at least
10:26
in year one. And they're just going to try and
10:29
focus on trying to get both the components out
10:33
to both the drivers so that they can get good
10:35
analytics on both cars from two sides of a coin.
10:39
Because putting it on just one car, they're not
10:41
going to get the best data out of it. And right
10:43
now, their focus for this first year is going
10:46
to be getting data and getting their feet on
10:48
the ground. So I don't think they're going to
10:51
pick one. One driver over another. Yeah. My mindset,
10:54
it could be wrong, but my mindset, and I think
10:56
it's always been this, is there shouldn't be
10:58
a seat one and a seat two. There shouldn't be
10:59
a first driver and a second driver. The upgrade
11:02
should go to whoever's going to use it best and
11:04
get the best testing from, from just a strategic
11:06
standpoint and not favoring one over the other.
11:09
It's like, yeah, this upgrade should, in theory,
11:11
give you more pace, but we're giving it to you
11:13
because we know that you're going to be able
11:14
to use it on this track because we've seen how
11:16
you've done before. And then we'll give it to
11:18
Checo or Botas, you know, if it works. But I
11:21
don't think they're going to be. He should get
11:24
it because he's obviously faster than all. It's
11:26
just because, you know, his strengths maybe do
11:28
it. Or maybe he's better at testing it. Who knows?
11:31
So what if both McLaren drivers could benefit
11:36
from an upgrade? Sure. At the current moment,
11:39
who would you give it to? As a McLaren fan. Sorry,
11:41
I know we're talking about Cadillac right now.
11:44
That's a good question. Honestly, I'd give it
11:48
to the one who's currently leading. If I knew
11:51
there's no testing this part. This part will
11:54
give you a boost and we don't have two of them
11:57
at the moment. I'm giving it to Oscar at the
11:59
moment. Just straight up. Having Lando have it
12:05
and extending his lead from third is also strategically
12:07
good. I think the best thing for the team. Doesn't
12:12
he have a solid lead on third, though? He does
12:14
have a solid lead on third, so maybe it would
12:15
just default to Oscar. I think the smart thing
12:19
to do is to not give it to either of them. Or
12:20
wait to give it to them. Because they don't need
12:24
it. They're already finishing so far ahead of
12:27
all the rest of the grid. They've got more than
12:29
double Ferrari's points at this point. They're
12:32
chilling. They don't need to push out one for
12:35
one driver or the other and then give one driver
12:37
the idea that they're picking favorites. That's
12:39
harder for them as a team because then you've
12:42
got a driver who feels like they're being slighted
12:44
and then you start running into a Mark Webber
12:46
situation from Red Bull back in 2013. Like, you
12:53
don't want to deal with that because then you
12:55
get driver hostility and it creates drama within
12:58
the company. All right, hold on, hold on. Let's
13:01
leave this for the end of the news. Okay, I do
13:03
have another point because I do have another
13:04
point. Because we're going to bring up Leclerc
13:06
and we got to touch on him. He's got the hat
13:09
on. Yeah, we got to touch on him, especially
13:11
as we're coming out of summer break. And it seems
13:13
like one of the two will win the WDC this year.
13:18
Let's just talk about the few seats that are
13:20
left. I know. I'm sorry. Joe's just like, let's
13:23
just plow through this. We've got to talk about
13:25
McLaren more. Okay, so Red Bull and the Racing
13:28
Bulls. Obviously, Max is in a seat for 26. We
13:31
know this. We don't currently know what's going
13:34
to come of Yuki. I put in here, is he as good
13:38
as a quote -unquote free agent right now? Do
13:41
you see any other teams? Talking to him, is it
13:43
time for Liam to get another shot in 2026 in
13:47
Red Bull's second seat? Isaac has made it known
13:51
he's not necessarily wanting to go to the quote
13:54
-unquote senior club yet, but he's there. There's
13:58
Arvid. Arvid. Arvid. Sorry. Darn it. Linblad
14:04
as well. Not whatever I usually call him. Linbald.
14:08
Linbald. I don't think. I'll have you know we
14:11
call him that when we're talking on Discord and
14:13
stuff, just as the joke. So what is the best
14:18
course of action for Red Bull right now? I mean,
14:21
obviously, next year could be real shaky. And
14:28
does it change for Max? If next year doesn't
14:30
go well, does that change? Max's viewpoint at
14:33
that point, which will lead me into Mercedes
14:35
in a second. His contract's still 28? 28, correct.
14:38
But he can always leave if he wants to. I'm sure
14:40
he has that. But he's got to have this season
14:43
at least, I think. But I think after this season,
14:45
not 25, after 26 season, I think he can ex -nay
14:50
if he wants to. For sure tries 26. I think Yuki
14:52
is also going to be safe at least to start in
14:55
26. If he really can't do anything, they might
14:59
move him midseason. But I think he's going to
15:02
be around through 26, especially since we've
15:04
got the new team principal for Red Bull, who
15:09
is very technically driven, very technically
15:12
minded. His focus right now is going to be on
15:16
making sure that the Red Bull is safe and sound
15:19
on a technical side. And the best way to do that
15:22
is to have known variables. and adding a new
15:25
driver into a car at the beginning of new regulation
15:28
cycles is just too many unknown values. Like
15:31
just one thing at a time type deal. Let's get
15:33
used to the new car, and then we can figure the
15:36
rest out. If we need to make a driver switch,
15:39
we can. Yeah, if Red Bull's got a handle on the
15:41
car next year, and Max is doing good, if not
15:45
okay, and Yuki is still doing what he's doing
15:49
now, then at that point, it's... I mean, something's
15:52
going to have to change. But you're saying to
15:54
start 26, let's just keep it as is. Yuki and
15:56
Red Bull. Might as well just keep Liam and Isaac
15:59
in the racing bulls. Start. All right. Fair enough.
16:03
Fair enough. You have a rebuttal to that, Joe?
16:06
No, I agree. I think they try him out for 2026.
16:10
And then they do what Red Bull does. Although
16:13
I'm hoping now that Christian's gone, maybe they'll
16:16
be a little bit more like. a little bit more
16:19
cautious about just swapping drivers out because
16:22
it it hurts the team more than anything else
16:24
right if you just keep putting people into a
16:27
new car they're going to take it's going to take
16:29
time first of all for them to learn it like i
16:31
mean most drivers, I feel like, take an entire
16:35
season to really get comfortable in a car. For
16:37
sure. Right? For sure. Very few can get their
16:40
feet on the ground very fast. I'm just thinking,
16:42
obviously... Especially if you're brand new.
16:44
Yeah. Obviously, the McLaren was not good two
16:46
years ago, but Oscar was not anywhere near Lando.
16:49
Yep. for his first season on a new car. He was
16:51
also his rookie season, but he's still in a great
16:53
rookie season. But he was nowhere near Lando.
16:56
And then last season, he was still getting more
16:58
confident. Look at this season. Lewis Hamilton
17:01
is far off of Charles Leclerc. Carlos Sainz is
17:06
far off of Alex Albon. The only weird instance
17:10
that we see of a driver who's really taken to
17:13
a new car really fast is Nico Hulkenberg. Nico
17:15
took to that Sauber within five minutes. Five
17:19
or six races. Nico's taking it really well and
17:21
so has Hajar to a certain degree, I would say.
17:24
I don't really count him because he's a rookie,
17:26
right? But still, he's doing really good. I wasn't
17:29
taking into account any of the rookies. I think
17:31
actually most of the rookies have taken to their
17:32
new cars. They actually had pretty good seasons,
17:35
yeah. Other than the mess that is Alpine. Another
17:41
quick thing since we talked about the Red Bull,
17:43
it is worth noting since this has been in the
17:45
news over the last couple days about IndyCar's
17:48
Alex Palo, who there's been a lot of speculation
17:51
that since he's been doing so good in Indy, there's
17:54
been rumors that he's been in talks with Red
17:56
Bull about moving up to Formula One to join the
17:59
Red Bull team. I didn't see that, too. actually
18:01
just today alex paulo dismissed news that he
18:04
would be moving up to red bull and that it sounds
18:06
like him and i don't remember the team principal
18:08
of his team um that they are in works on a new
18:12
contract right now so to anybody who was wondering
18:14
that doesn't sound like it's happening i don't
18:17
i don't know everyone history very well so i
18:19
don't know if there have been like huge like
18:22
you're in one motorsport and you move to f1 just
18:26
like Obviously, K -Mag did it. He was about to
18:30
go race in a different motorsport, and then he
18:31
got pulled back into F1. That was an incredibly
18:34
different situation, though. Someone who's never
18:36
raced in F1, but currently racing in a different
18:38
motorsport, just going to F1, I just don't see
18:40
it. It probably has happened. I just don't see
18:45
it happening in this day and age. Especially
18:47
when we have so many prospects right now. It
18:50
just doesn't make sense. Right when you said
18:52
IndyCar, I was like, no, there's no way. I'll
18:55
give him he's doing really, really good in IndyCar.
18:59
Right now, he's considered to be the Max Verstappen
19:01
of IndyCar. Sure, that's fair. Fine. But you
19:04
said two things. First, you said IndyCar. That's
19:06
strike one. And then you said Red Bull. And I
19:08
was like, oh, that's strike three. They have
19:10
too many people already. Yeah, we're skipping
19:12
strike two and going straight to strike three.
19:14
They have too many people, and none of them can
19:15
drive this car, unfortunately. And it's not their
19:17
fault. I am before Red Bull opens up a third
19:20
team on the grid. Grab the hat. Oh, give it up.
19:26
All right, so like I was saying, relating to
19:32
Max and kind of going into Mercedes here a little
19:34
bit, obviously we think they're going to resign
19:37
George and Kimmy. They'd be dumb not to at this
19:39
point, I feel like. I'm surprised they haven't
19:41
already. However, however, right, however. If
19:46
George were to sign only a one -year deal or
19:50
something, I think that would be kind of weird.
19:52
That would be interesting. I think that would
19:53
be a little bit telling. Maybe there could be
19:57
an extra step and change at some point. I want
19:59
it to happen that we get the moment where...
20:04
Mercedes releases a tweet saying that they're
20:06
going to re -sign George Russell, and then George
20:09
Russell releases a tweet saying, I have not signed
20:12
any documents. I will not be signing with Mercedes
20:15
next year. That would be crazy. That would not
20:17
happen. A la Oscar Piastri. That would be hilarious.
20:22
It won't happen. You're totally right. Toto says
20:25
he's... I thought he came out and said this week
20:28
or this past weekend or something that they're
20:31
working on a Russell deal. I mean, it'd be, like,
20:34
crazy for him to give up Russell, right? Oh,
20:37
for real. And this is potentially the most consistent
20:40
we've seen him. Yeah. You know? It's his best
20:42
year, I think. So I don't see why you don't.
20:44
And Kimmy, again, you'd be stupid not to re -sign
20:47
Kimmy at least as well. I would, like, not re
20:50
-sign Kimmy over George. No, no, no, for sure.
20:53
Like, George is just the more consistent you
20:55
can, like. But I'm just saying, if they only
20:58
sign him to a one -year thing, if it comes out
21:00
and it's only one year. That seems weird to me.
21:03
And I would feel weird if I was George. I think
21:07
he will. We know how Checo felt after getting...
21:09
He had a 1 plus 1. I think he made it known that
21:13
he wasn't... Even a 1 plus 1 for George would
21:16
be weird right now. I think Checo got a 2 year
21:18
and he wasn't pleased about that. With that though,
21:24
can we bring up what is... What are the odds,
21:27
since the Mercedes is looking like it's probably
21:29
going to be the fastest car next year, what are
21:32
the odds that George Russell is going to win,
21:35
or at least they've got the best power? What
21:37
are the odds that... Like power unit? Yeah, the
21:41
best power unit. Oh, I mean, we don't know that.
21:43
What are the odds that George Russell is capable
21:45
of winning a WDC, even if he has the best car?
21:49
I think he's capable, but it just depends on
21:52
until you actually have that pressure. Like,
21:56
he's not considered a contender right now. You
21:58
know what I mean? But I feel like, you know,
21:59
if he was in the mix with another elite driver,
22:03
I don't know. I want to say yes. I want to say
22:07
that's what he's, his career continues to build
22:09
and build and build and build. And that's, his
22:12
trajectory is going the right direction for that.
22:14
He's one that a lot of people have said will
22:16
be a world champion one day. And I just don't
22:20
know if I see it. Especially not with the field
22:23
that we have of such incredible drivers. There's
22:26
a lot of crazy talent. A lot of crazy talent.
22:28
And George Russell is just good. Including, again,
22:31
six rookies on the grid this year that, who knows?
22:35
Are coming out swinging. At least over half of
22:38
them appear to potentially have long careers
22:41
ahead of them. Yeah. So, it's interesting. I
22:47
think he can be a WDC. I think he can be a champion.
22:50
When he first joined F1, like I clocked Lando,
22:54
as that's a WGC, I clocked George. That has unfortunately
22:57
passed for me. I don't know. I just don't know.
23:01
Fair enough. It really sucks that he joined Mercedes
23:03
and then the car got bad. I think if there's
23:05
any bubble driver, like a George Russell, like
23:08
a Carlos Sainz, if there's any bubble driver
23:11
that you're like, eh. You know what I mean? I
23:15
think next year would be the year for that, where
23:16
there's so many unknowns that somebody could
23:18
come out of the blue, win one, and then we never
23:21
hear from them again. See, meanwhile, while I
23:24
think Carlos Sainz is one of my favorite drivers,
23:26
I don't see him being a world champion contender.
23:31
I think he's somebody who could... Even if he
23:33
was in a good car, you're saying he wouldn't
23:35
be a... I don't think he could win a championship.
23:38
Just like I don't think George is the type to
23:40
win a championship. I think they're fabulous
23:42
drivers. They clearly have to be. They've been
23:44
around F1 for quite some time. They both are
23:47
race winners, but they're excellent second -seat
23:52
material. Would Fernando Alonso win a championship
23:58
before George Russell and Carlos Sainz? Yes.
24:04
Okay. I just needed to know the answer to that
24:06
question. Sean. Let's see. Okay, Alpine, real
24:13
quick. Alpine's the only other seat. Gasly is
24:17
quote -unquote staying long -term. They got some
24:19
deal and whatever. So who is actually going to
24:23
be in that second seat? Flavio seems to not know.
24:30
I don't know. Throwing darts. I don't know, man.
24:35
So I think... I put in here, is Alpine legitimately
24:40
in need of a Christian Horner at the moment to
24:46
try and write this shit? I don't know if Christian
24:50
Horner is the answer to everything, unfortunately
24:51
for them. They can sign him, and I still think
24:55
there's a chance they will. I don't think he's
24:57
going to like... Like, this is the person, especially
25:00
with his track record at Red Bull in his, like,
25:02
later years of just giving people seats because
25:06
they asked or because they looked okay. Like,
25:08
it's, you know, it's not going to solve anything.
25:11
I mean, that's kind of Alpine's approach this
25:12
year. Yeah. Colavento looked okay last year in
25:15
the, what was it, the Williams? So we'll go ahead
25:18
and give him a shot. Sure. I mean, yeah. So,
25:21
like, I think I said this before break. Your
25:24
strategy should not be swap drivers to see who
25:26
sticks. It should be pick one driver. Try to
25:29
develop them. Try to develop them. Understand
25:31
that you might make a bad choice, and you're
25:33
just going to have to live with that. And that's
25:35
how it is. Because if you swap them over and
25:36
over, they're never going to get better. No,
25:38
for sure. You can get them all the same time
25:40
in the world. It's not going to help them. Sure.
25:43
See, I got my binoculars on, my five -year plan
25:45
for Alpine. They're not around. I think it's
25:50
a real scenario that three to four years time,
25:54
Alpine gets dissolved into a different team.
25:57
Like somebody else acquires the Alpine team.
26:00
Somebody like Hitech, for example, who already
26:02
has a history with Alpine racing. And we see
26:06
just a different team show up and take over.
26:08
Or BWT takes over as the actual team owner. high
26:12
tech is like a racing team though right correct
26:14
yeah alpine is an actual manufacturer correct
26:17
they probably have more money than high tech
26:18
i could see like a partnership like a big partnership
26:22
like alpine high tech or something like that
26:24
but i don't know this is why i'm saying like
26:26
alpine i i see alpine struggling further in the
26:29
future and just like they keep doing poorly they've
26:32
reno has already pulled reno has already pulled
26:36
their manufacturer or their Their engine. Yeah,
26:39
their engine out, right? And to me, I'm like,
26:41
it's only a matter of time until you see Alpine
26:45
pull out as well. And we see a different team
26:47
take over for them. I think Renault has been
26:50
a dying kind of... We could bring Lotus back
26:53
again. We'll just keep the cycle going. That's
26:56
an awful idea. We'll just keep the cycle going.
26:57
That's such a bad idea. Lotus will take over
26:59
for Alpine. Lotus will race for four to five
27:02
years, and then they'll go away, and Renault
27:03
will come back again. Such a bad idea. And the
27:07
cycle will continue. We're nuts. I am curious
27:10
to see what they look like with the Mercedes
27:12
engine. So we'll just have to see. We'll just
27:14
have to see how they come out the gate, and Pierre
27:16
Gasly will finally be a WDC. There's an extremely
27:21
outside bubble driver to win the 26 WDC. There
27:25
it is. Put all the money on it. Here we go. Doesn't
27:30
even matter who's in the second seat. Yeah, I'm
27:34
just going to have a Mercedes head sitting on
27:35
the table for me next time. Why don't you take
27:37
that Alpine head off, buddy? It's time. To finish
27:40
this off, if you had to pick one person to stay
27:43
in the seat for the rest of the year and into
27:45
next year, even say. For Alpine? Yes. Who are
27:48
you picking? Esteban Ocon. He's just wearing
27:55
a Haas hat. If Mick Schumacher wanted to come
27:59
back, I would actually legitimately love to see
28:01
that. I don't see that as a realistic thing.
28:04
I think that is unfortunate. I would love to
28:05
see, too. I think that's unfortunately one of
28:07
the worst choices you could make right now. For
28:08
sure. And I low -key want to see Dewan one more
28:12
time. Yeah. But I'm not sure if that just looks
28:16
bad. for F1, you know what I mean? For the team,
28:20
if they decide to go back to the driver they
28:22
pulled out, is that just unwritten rules? Maybe
28:25
the tinfoil hat. Give me the hat. Do you guys
28:30
remember... Oh, it is broken. It's in shambles.
28:35
That's how many crappy takes we've had with the
28:37
tinfoil hat. It's falling apart. Do you guys
28:40
remember when... I think there was an incident
28:43
between Colapinto and maybe Yuki and... there
28:46
was, like, a whole fan base that got, like, really
28:48
angry. Do you think maybe they're trying to keep
28:51
them at bay by keeping Colapinto? Like, there's
28:53
any way that they're, like, if we swap him out,
28:56
there's going to be a large bay. I mean, now
28:58
that I'm saying it out loud, it doesn't seem
28:59
possible. But, like, there are some people that,
29:02
those are very angry people whenever that, like,
29:05
incident happened. But I don't think they're,
29:07
like, providing money or anything. Like, if it
29:10
was Checo and Mexico, that's one thing, right?
29:13
But, yeah. I don't know. Him and Dewan have had
29:17
very similar seasons. That's kind of what I'm
29:19
saying. And I haven't seen a ton of improvement
29:22
from Colapinto, and we didn't from Dewan either
29:25
before he was pulled. But to be fair, Gasly hasn't
29:29
shown us a ton either, and it's because the card
29:31
is just crap. I think he's done well, though.
29:35
He's done. He's had a couple decent runs. He
29:37
has points. Okay, so I'm notably a hater of the
29:43
French. I give a lot of crap to the French company
29:48
and the French drivers, except Isaac. He's my
29:50
boo. But Pierre Gasly is so freaking talented.
29:56
I hold so much respect to him. The dude drives
30:00
the crap out of that car for no reason. He should
30:03
not be allowed to do that well in that car. He's
30:06
another one that I wish I could see him in a
30:09
top -end team to see what he's capable of in
30:12
a top -end car. Now that he's experienced, though.
30:15
If he had this level of experience... The Jack
30:20
Doohan amount of races. If he had this level
30:23
of experience but still driving in the Red Bull
30:25
car, man, I bet you he's up there fighting with
30:29
some of the best drivers we see. The dude is
30:32
a beast. So, shame he's in an Alpine. Well, it's
30:36
good that Gasly's getting some love. All right.
30:39
Did we get an answer? Second driver? From who,
30:42
me? Who, me? Yeah. No. Boy, we're on some tangents.
30:47
Oh, man. I don't know. I think for the sake of
30:52
the team, you've got to leave Colapinto. Again,
30:54
me, I'd like to see doing at least a couple more
30:57
races. Like, if Colapinto starts, which we think
31:00
he is, out of summer break. Give them three races.
31:04
If it's still nothing, you got to. You know what?
31:07
Just put doing in to end the season for the last,
31:09
what, six or whatever. And if, you know, nothing
31:12
doing, I don't know. I don't know what 26 brings.
31:15
Nothing doing. Nothing doing. Dang it. I say
31:19
heck it. I want to be different. I'm saying Mick
31:23
Schumacher. You're wrong. So the right answer.
31:26
You already told me that was the dumbest answer
31:27
I could have said. It was unfortunate. I want
31:29
that to happen too, but unfortunately it's probably
31:31
the worst. It is probably the worst. I doubt
31:33
it. I also would like to see Do -In -In, but
31:36
like... I have a feeling that they never intended
31:39
to give him the seat back in the first place.
31:41
Probably not. I think it probably will be Colapinto.
31:46
Colapinto didn't do much better and they kept
31:47
him in. I think they're going to keep him in.
31:49
At least until the end of the season. Then they
31:52
kept him past his five race. They said they were
31:54
going to do five race trials. The next one should
32:00
have been Paul Aaron, their other reserve driver.
32:04
Where is he? He hasn't been put in the car. And
32:06
there's been zero rumor of him now. Not even
32:08
peep. Yeah, so. Yeah, no. So they're going to
32:11
stick with Colapinto. This was Flavio's plan
32:13
from the beginning. Yep, Flavio signed, due in,
32:17
and felt buyer's remorse. Yeah. Because Colapinto
32:20
went on the free market literally days after
32:22
he. signed yep and honestly yep stick with one
32:26
driver let them learn yep yep next year's a new
32:30
season all right let's move on before we get
32:33
into the dutch preview and really get back into
32:35
fast laps mclaren mclaren obviously we're thinking
32:40
one of these two drivers is going to be the wdc
32:42
champion mike who's it going to be oh i've already
32:46
said it it's oscar I think there's a good chance
32:48
that Lando gets it, but I like Oscar. No, no.
32:51
Who's it going to be? Oscar. No, it's Oscar.
32:53
I stand by it. I think it's going to be Oscar.
32:56
I think there's a good chance that Lando gets
32:57
it. They're both fabulous. I want to see Oscar
33:00
get it more, and I think Oscar has a better chance
33:03
of getting it more, so I'm picking Oscar. I have
33:07
an inkling you're also going Oscar. Start of
33:10
the year, I wanted Lando. Start of summer break,
33:13
I wanted Oscar. Right now, I'd think I'd be equally
33:17
as happy seeing any of them. You're just happy
33:19
that McLaren's winning WBC. That being said,
33:22
I do think it'll be Oscar. Okay. So we got, what,
33:25
nine races left? Is that right? Well, a few more
33:28
than that. It should be 10 or 12, right? Yeah,
33:32
that's a good question. I can't believe all the
33:34
things that I prep, and this is one of the only
33:35
things that I don't prep. Stand by. How many
33:38
remaining races do we have left? Hold on. I got
33:42
it right here. One, two, three. Hold on. Four
33:47
races. Five races. Six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
33:55
Ten. I'm an idiot. I was only one off. I thought
34:00
there was more. I thought there was like 12.
34:02
In ten races, is there at least one race where
34:06
both McLarens do not finish due to... aggressiveness
34:11
at the end of the race for, you know, fighting
34:13
for the win. No. No? Yeah. I mean, 10 races,
34:17
that's... I have 10 digits. They have been fighting
34:21
more frequently, but... I think they've at least
34:25
learned a little bit how to not. I mean, they've
34:27
had their moment. Lando's definitely had his
34:29
moment. I don't think they're going to let it
34:31
get to that until it's the very final race, and
34:33
they're literally racing for the win. Dude, if
34:35
it's neck and neck for the final race, I hope
34:38
that's what it is. That would be crazy. I'm pulling
34:40
the binoculars back out. I still think they're
34:42
going to fight each other, obviously, but every
34:44
single race, they're on the radio. You can fight,
34:48
but don't crash. That's like, you know. I think.
34:53
You know what? If it came down to the last race,
34:55
it would be after winning. I think they'd be
34:58
way more aggressive on the last race. I think
35:00
it's going to come down to Abu Dhabi. We're going
35:02
to be in Abu Dhabi. It's going to be like five
35:05
points between the two of them. So whoever finishes
35:08
first is going to catch up that much. They're
35:10
already pretty darn close. It'll be Max Verstappen
35:14
and Hamilton fighting. Oh my god, you're... Oh
35:18
wait, sorry. They're pretty close, I thought.
35:20
Aren't they nine points? What's the difference
35:23
between them? I'm stupid, I'm stupid, I'm sorry.
35:24
Oh my gosh, can this guy... He needs to figure
35:27
it out. What is going on right now? They're nine
35:31
points away from each other. See, nice, nailed
35:33
it. That's actually really good. Okay, so I think
35:35
they're going to be like five points away from
35:36
each other in Abu Dhabi. And I think it's going
35:38
to be... Oscar is going to have the advantage.
35:41
He's going to be on pole. Lando's going to be
35:43
in second. They're going to be fighting the heck
35:45
out of each other. And Lando's going to go for
35:47
something super risky late in the race. Because
35:50
he needs to go for this now. And he's going to
35:55
overshoot it. He's going to hit Oscar too hard.
35:58
They're both going to hit the wall because Abu
36:00
Dhabi has plenty of walls. And they're both going
36:02
to run out. They're both going to DNF. And Oscar
36:04
is going to win. And Max Verstappen. Oscar's
36:07
going to win WDC. having not finished the race.
36:11
That would suck. That'd be anticlimactic to a
36:14
crazy season for McLaren. I see it. That's my
36:19
binoculars around. Now, let me tell you how it's
36:21
actually going to happen. They're going to be
36:23
in the last race five points away from each other,
36:26
right? And it's going to come down to whoever
36:29
gets the undercut in the pit, and that's it.
36:32
That also sounds really anticlimactic. It might
36:34
look really good on track. It might look really
36:37
good on track. They're still getting really close,
36:39
but they never actually fight because someone
36:40
got the undercut. I'd rather they crash. That
36:43
would blow, but I'm telling you that's probably
36:44
what's going to happen. I'd rather they crash.
36:46
Shut your mouth. That'd be more interesting to
36:49
me. Cool. You didn't say, who did you think was
36:55
going to win? Oscar Orlando. Don't you ask us
36:58
questions. He said it was going to be Max Verstappen
37:01
versus Lewis Hamilton. Did you not hear me? Jesus
37:04
Christ. What year are you living in, man? Why
37:08
aren't you listening? How many years behind are
37:10
you? Did you not hear me? What season of Drive
37:13
to Survive are you on? Okay, if it comes down
37:19
to the last race like that, I think it will be
37:22
Oscar. I think it's just too much pressure for
37:24
Lando. If Lando can build some sort of lead,
37:27
I think he'd be able to handle that pressure,
37:30
having the lead going into the final race. Whether
37:32
he gets pole or not, if he's behind in points
37:35
going into the final race, I think that just
37:37
weighs too much on him. Even if it's as simple
37:39
as if he gets one and Oscar gets two, I think
37:42
that's just too much. I don't know. Lando has
37:45
momentum right now. I hope for Lando's sake and
37:47
what he's done at McLaren that he gets it. I
37:49
do. I was about to say Lando might deserve it
37:53
more, but I don't even know if that's true. I
37:54
mean, Oscar's had a great season. Oscar's crazy
37:57
good. He feels more polished. I think I've said
37:59
that once before this season, but he feels more
38:01
polished, which feels like it shouldn't feel
38:03
that way. And that's why, you know, I don't know.
38:06
We'll see. I think Lando's got a lot of momentum
38:09
going for him right now. He's won the last three
38:12
in a row, right? No, he hasn't. Yeah, he has.
38:18
No, he hasn't. Oscar won Spa. Did he? He's won
38:22
three out of the last four is what I'm thinking
38:25
of. He's won three of the last four. That's what
38:26
I'm thinking of. But yeah, he still has a lot
38:28
of momentum. He's won three of the last four.
38:29
He's closed the gap to Oscar a lot in the last
38:33
handful of races. So he's got a lot of momentum
38:35
going for him. If he keeps that momentum, I think
38:37
he can win WDC. If he loses that momentum, I
38:42
think he's going to crumble. Will it be enough?
38:43
I mean, in the amount of races they have at will,
38:46
like Oscars, I mean, he was second every single
38:49
time. Yep. Guys, we are dangerously close from
38:53
this episode getting away from us. No, we're
38:55
good. That was supposed to be a short one. We're
38:57
good. So what we're going to do. Why'd you say
38:59
that? We always say that. I know it's Tyler's
39:02
fault. We always say that. Yeah, so. All right.
39:06
Let's move into the Dutch preview for Up to Speed.
39:22
got this short one i am here to bring you oh
39:26
we're back short one yes i am here to bring you
39:29
up to speed shut up for the upcoming dutch preview
39:34
at zandvoort uh the formula one heineken dutch
39:41
grand prix 2025 uh early forecast is showing
39:44
storms throughout the weekend um what about race
39:47
day A race day? It said, yeah. It might not hit
39:50
during the race, but there were going to be some
39:52
storms throughout the weekend. That means George
39:54
Russell's going to win. Yep. I'll pitch back
39:56
to you in a second if there's anything specific
39:58
you want to call out. But sad fact, I'll probably
40:02
say this again next year. Next year will be the
40:04
last year of the Dutch Grand Prix. When it was
40:05
last extended, it was announced that 2026 would
40:08
be the last year. Dumb. Second to last Zandvoort
40:11
rate for us, which is sad. It's a great track.
40:13
We all like it. That's when Max Verstappen's
40:15
going to retire. Anything. Anything extra for
40:17
the weather? Yeah, I just showed him the weather.
40:20
Let me unlock my phone. No, Joe doesn't need
40:22
it. He's in last place. I just asked. Yeah, so
40:26
right now the weather for Sunday is showing 66
40:29
degrees Fahrenheit. So that's like 18 degrees
40:33
Celsius. And it looks like it's supposed to rain
40:37
in the morning up until 8 a .m. and then cloudy
40:41
up until 9 p .m. Okay. So, yeah, so no current
40:46
storms, but cold. It's supposed to be on the
40:51
chillier side. Okay. i out for mercedes i out
40:55
for mercedes right our starting grid last year
40:58
was lando to max to oscar to george the dutch
41:01
gp goes underway at zandvoort off the line lando
41:03
gets a bad start and concedes p1 to the dutch
41:06
champion oscar behind but alongside george through
41:08
t1 george is on the inside and gets third position
41:11
from the second mclaren switching up the order
41:14
the first two rows immediately lap two and the
41:17
timing tower is lit up with all the position
41:18
changes on the field like a christmas tree every
41:21
single person except one having either moved
41:23
up or down the order from the starting grid.
41:25
Can y 'all guess who the one driver is that did
41:29
not swap positions with anyone? You can. Think
41:33
about it. You can. Is it Logan Sargent? It's
41:36
Logan Sargent. Firmly planted in 18th place.
41:42
Through the first 11 laps of the race, we see
41:44
some fights to name a couple. Hamilton starting
41:47
mid to backfield against Sonoda in the V -Carb
41:49
and Sainz overtaking both Alonso and Gasly for
41:53
7th. Pair is up next. Lap 17, Verstappen starts
41:56
to complain about tire wear. The McLaren of Lando
41:59
on his back bumper, overtaking his first position
42:01
back by the end of the starting straight on lap
42:03
18. We soon go through a round of pit stops.
42:06
Charles among the earliest who gets the benefit
42:08
of an undercut on some of our front runners namely
42:10
george and piastri we cut 23 laps ahead lap 40
42:17
Piastri starts to right that wrong as he goes
42:21
alongside the outside of turn one to overtake
42:23
Russell for fourth position. Leclerc four seconds
42:25
ahead. Meanwhile, his teammate Lando is 10 seconds
42:28
ahead of Verstappen. Later in the same lap, an
42:31
awesome sight as five cars charge through the
42:33
starting straight alongside each other. Albon
42:35
getting an overtake on Magnussen with Gasly following
42:38
right behind, overtaking the Williams of Albon
42:41
on the outside of T1 at the end of that straight.
42:43
The two Astons following the brawl take their
42:45
moment and see. it on Magnussen pushing him another
42:48
two places down by the end of T1 lap 47 and Piastri
42:52
catching up to Leclerc in the position where
42:54
he started on his bumper through turn one Leclerc
42:57
is able to keep it stick however Piastri eventually
42:59
falling slightly out of DRS 15 laps later Landa
43:03
was first to cross the checkered flag with the
43:05
fastest lap of the race 22 .9 seconds ahead of
43:09
Verstappen our final is Norris Verstappen Leclerc
43:13
Piastri signs Perez Russell, Ham, Gasly, and
43:17
Alonzo is 22 .89. 22 .896. Yes, so I said 22
43:22
.9 because I'm riding up to the 10th. Fake news.
43:24
That's how math works. I know you don't know
43:26
that because you're wearing a hot hat, but that's
43:29
how it works, buddy. Oh, jeez. See, he said he
43:32
rounded up with us because it was a McLaren driver,
43:35
and he wanted him to sound so fast. You know
43:37
what's crazy? When I was writing this up, I actually
43:40
was considering. I was like, I'll do it 23. No,
43:43
no, no, I'll do it 22 .9. i should do 22 .89
43:46
nah no one's gonna matter it's 22 .9 and now
43:48
you're and it mattered it mattered if that were
43:51
a rental he would have put down the exact he's
43:54
not roasting me for 10 he's roasting me for a
43:56
thousandth that's crazy he would have got it
43:58
for you spotify listeners he is pointing Right
44:01
at Mike's face. This guy over here. He is talking
44:04
with his hands. For you audio listeners, he's
44:06
wearing a Haas hat and a Haas jersey, and he
44:09
looks like he wants to lose. Whoa, geez. Hi,
44:13
my name is Kevin Magnuson. Sorry, I got a little
44:14
worked up there. When you were going through
44:18
Up to Speed, I forgot about another driver for
44:22
Alpine, Logan Sargent. He could be seat two.
44:25
Yeah, he's not doing anything right now. He's
44:28
available. Speaking of which, because he's our
44:30
American driver, Joey pointed out the fact that
44:32
he started in 18th. He did finish in 16th in
44:35
this race, so he made two positions. Oh, Logan.
44:37
America. Question, were there any DNFs? No. Doesn't
44:41
matter. No, actually. No, but the two Saubers
44:43
did get lapped twice. Doesn't matter. No. 16,
44:48
P16. All right. Wow. So. Before we get into predictions,
44:53
I just want to kind of also call out, I did a
44:55
little bit of research. uh here we go some teams
44:59
have stopped doing upgrades completely um ferrari
45:02
mercedes and mclaren do have mclaren has a few
45:05
small upgrades ferrari and mercedes still riding
45:08
high in their latest ones and i think they have
45:10
a couple more coming and the red bull is just
45:13
hard focusing on their car right now in preparation
45:16
of 2026 as well though like just trying to figure
45:18
out what's wrong with the car and then also getting
45:20
ready for 2026 so i say that Not to throw you
45:24
guys off, but to say that Ferrari and Mercedes,
45:27
I think they're going to be in the fight a little
45:28
bit more going forward. Interesting. Did you
45:32
get anything for the midfield teams? It's going
45:35
to be very, very fun in the midfield. I think
45:37
we're going to be in for quite a sight this last.
45:40
Come on, Gasly. It's probably mostly because
45:44
a lot of them may not be bringing a ton of upgrades,
45:46
and they may just be at their hat, and they have
45:48
already been doing well. My crazy gut is telling
45:52
me for this upcoming race is that we're going
45:54
to see one of the midfield team drivers in the
45:57
top five. Probably fifth. Probably fifth. And
46:01
it very well just could be Alonzo as he is kind
46:03
of a beast on this track. That would be neat.
46:05
Yeah. All right. That would be neat. Pretty cool.
46:09
Pretty neat. So predictions, I am losing. So
46:15
we should start with Joe. Why would you start
46:18
with me? Of course not. Just, you know, a banter
46:22
with the boys. Fast last point update. Smeltzy
46:24
sitting at 39. Mike is sitting at 36 and I'm
46:27
sitting at 35. You get some close race, though.
46:30
Close race. Yeah. You are just very lucky with
46:33
your guesses. How did you get so many points?
46:35
I'm just going to start. Just gamble on George
46:37
Russell again. Say his name. Don't tempt me with
46:41
a good time, buddy. I mean, you did say it was
46:43
cold. You sure did. Okay. Smeltzy, you're up first.
46:48
Let's start in third. Okay. I like it. Start
46:50
in third. George Russell. Lando Norris. Okay.
46:56
That is a very interesting pick. It's the end
47:00
of summer break. We got to do something. For
47:01
listeners, I feel like it's worth noting, Joe...
47:04
actually grimaced i think he looked like he was
47:06
in actual pain i think the listeners may have
47:08
picked up the audible gasp second place don't
47:13
say his name don't say it off your ps oh my god
47:19
do it say first George Russell. With your whole
47:23
chest. George Russell. Wait, really? George Russell.
47:25
Wait, really? George Russell. George Russell
47:27
is going to win. Wow. You have that locked in,
47:30
right? Verstappen will not be on the podium.
47:32
You have that locked in, right? Yeah. You're
47:33
crazy. What are you thinking? So anyways, in
47:36
first place, Oscar Piastri is going to win. Okay.
47:40
Yeah. In second place, Lando Norris. If they
47:44
both wreck and George, none of you guys can take
47:48
George for third. That's okay. I was going to
47:50
pick Max Verstappen at his home race. Oscar,
47:55
Lando, Max. There's going to be carnage. Not
47:58
picking Max Verstappen in a potentially mixed
48:01
conditions race at his home race. I'm going to
48:05
pick the top two, which I had locked in immediately.
48:10
There was no doubt in my mind. Lando, Oscar.
48:14
Lando is... good at this track. I knew you were
48:17
going to say it and I'm so ready to talk to you
48:18
about it. Third, Charles Leclerc. Charles Leclerc.
48:22
George Russell. How dare you? Darn it. I was
48:26
kind of hoping McLaren would wreck and George
48:29
would just be on the podium. I think Max would
48:32
be. I think Max is obviously, it is his home
48:33
track, but he kind of, he was kind of. He's been
48:37
struggling. He's been struggling. I think we
48:39
see it come back. I think we see it come back.
48:41
Also, again, he's just a beast on this track.
48:43
He's had a couple. And home track. Like, last
48:46
race wasn't very good. Spa wasn't his fault.
48:49
They put a bad win on. So Spa is not a good show.
48:52
I actually don't want to pick George. Can I change
48:53
my answer for George? Have you locked in already?
48:56
I have typed it in. I'm leaving it up to him.
49:00
Yes. Yeah? Because you don't want me to pick
49:01
George? Yeah. Yeah, see? Show LeClaire. LeClaire.
49:07
Yep. I'm going to be so devastated if it's George.
49:13
sorry you were saying about Lando I think yeah
49:16
okay um yeah or I was talking about Max but yeah
49:20
I got all my points out about him yeah so Lando
49:22
a lot of people are picking Lando to win this
49:24
race and I think that's a safe pick because we've
49:27
seen him do so well and how dominant he was last
49:30
season at this track but so Oscar is not a safe
49:34
pick oscar did really well given what happened
49:38
he came in fourth i can understand how that looks
49:40
but look at all the positions that he made up
49:42
and how much pace on a track that is typically
49:44
not super easy to overtake on yeah but he had
49:47
to take pressure tires by the end and he could
49:49
he never did catch up to leclerc i mean he didn't
49:52
catch up to drs but he did not get past him correct
49:54
um i think oscar with the form that we've seen
49:58
out of him this year I think we see him beat
50:02
Lando by a margin. I think that's fair. By a
50:04
margin? By a margin. What's the margin? If he
50:07
had to spitball it? Three or more seconds. I
50:10
think no matter. I like the idea. Not the idea.
50:13
I do like, despite who's in second or first,
50:17
I do think there will be a slight margin, two
50:18
seconds, just because of dirty air. Yes, and
50:21
this is a very windy track, so dirty air can
50:23
affect the car. The McLaren does tend to struggle
50:25
a little bit more in dirty air. So, I think...
50:29
I personally think what's going to happen, this
50:30
turn one is a little crazy. I think Lando is
50:34
going to have the faster qualifying time because
50:35
Lando does tend to qualify better than Oscar
50:37
does. And I think Oscar is going to get a better
50:38
start than Lando. Okay. This seems logical. Got
50:47
it. My brain works in crazy ways. Also, Fernando
50:50
Alonso in fifth. Or Alex Albon. Those are my
50:54
two for fifth. Okay. It doesn't matter. There's
50:58
no reason for that. My brain is crazy. That's
51:10
it. That's it. We want to make sure, obviously,
51:19
you don't forget Kev. behind the cameras here
51:22
getting everything done for us uh mike thanks
51:24
for being here yes sir thank you mike you know
51:27
can't work but you're gonna be a pod darn right
51:29
don't even worry about it darn right uh joe dope
51:33
hi hey joe thank you for being here past the
51:37
time that you wanted to leave joe wants to be
51:40
out of here by nine and it is 9 45 i'm i'm tired
51:44
he's he's about to pass out so mike's got to
51:47
drive him home yep And then, of course, Smeltzy.
51:51
Yes, I've been here as well. Smeltzy, thank you
51:53
so much for being here. Of course. And Smeltzy.
51:55
Yeah, we obviously want to make sure you don't
51:57
forget to like, comment, subscribe wherever you
51:59
listen to the banter, whether that's YouTube,
52:01
Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or iHeartRadio. And
52:05
I should know if we have a show next week. We
52:09
do. We do. Yeah, we are going to Monza next week.
52:11
Ah, yes. Monza. We'll be here, though. Oh, yeah.
52:15
We won't be in Monza. Yeah. F1 will be in Minnesota.
52:18
Logan Sargent in studio next week. I've just
52:23
been informed that Logan Sargent cannot make
52:25
it. Darn it. He was confirmed for about one second.
52:30
Anyway, see you next week, right? Now that's
52:36
an outro. That's an outro. Goodbye. Don't forget
52:43
to follow, like and subscribe. Tune in next time
52:48
for more banter with the boys.