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2026 Miami GP Review · The Apex

• Paul: on Wisconsin. The Apex F1 Podcast: Hello everybody and welcome back to another episode of the Apex Podcast. My name is Meredith and I will be hosting today. Today it is just me and Paul hanging out talking all things Miami, Texas Motor Speedway and IndyCar. How are you today, Paul? Paul: I am great, F1 was back. It was a pretty eventful race. Overall, I can't wait to get into it. So I'm super pumped. Although my voice is a little weird. Hopefully I'm not coming down with a cold. this episode's brought to you. Yeah, this episode's brought to you by Cough Drops. The Apex F1 Podcast: Please don't. You've got too much travel coming up. Drugga brand not Recallah this week. Paul: Yeah, no. we're the bargain deal over here, okay? We don't do this name brand stuff. ⁓ The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah, we do grocery store private label. Thank you very much. Save me a buck where we can. Put it in the beer money fund for races. That's where $1 per savings adds up. Paul: Absolutely. Do you see the gas prices these days? beer? Dear money, it's fuel money. Have you seen the prices of fuel these days? The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah, I'm, yeah, did fill up my car the other day and I had some sticker shock. I was like, I'm sorry, how much was that to fill up my SUV? ⁓ just glad I don't have a diesel. Paul: Yeah, yeah, it hurts. It hurts the soul just... Yeah, yeah. The Apex F1 Podcast: Like, my mom was like, mom was texting me there on a trip and she was like, it's like $6.79 per gallon here. No thank you. Seriously, I'm about to get real into walking. Paul: At this point, I'm just gonna ride my bicycle to work. don't even know. Yeah, big, big walking. The Apex F1 Podcast: Fitness is my passion. Paul: Absolutely. Yeah, that and I'm too poor to get fuel. The Apex F1 Podcast: was on a work trip last week and I took a bazillion Ubers and I was doing my expense report and I was like... Paul: Yo, that, The Apex F1 Podcast: People who don't have cars that are just Ubering everywhere, that's even more expensive. How are they affording this? Insanity. Well, let's get right into the awesome racing because... Paul: was, yeah, good for them. I can't do it. The Apex F1 Podcast: I mean, like I was just over the moon to have F1 back. We had NASCAR this weekend too. So I think it was just a really awesome week. We had IMSA too, but we're going to save IMSA talk for when Josh gets back. Josh will be back next week. We are super excited to have him back on next week. So we'll save our IMSA talk and endurance racing talk for Josh next week, but let's get right into F1 weekend. This was our first chance to see the cars back on track with the new regulation changes. We had a little bit of an extended first practice session ahead of that sprint race and everything. So what were your just initial thoughts over the weekend before we get too much into race details, overall reactions to the regulation changes and seeing how the cars performed to it? What were your thoughts? Paul: Overall, I was just stoked in general because Miami is a great track. It really brings out the glitz and the glamour of it. Great liveries from the cars. Not all of them. mean, the big car was that yellow was awesome. I really enjoyed that. I wasn't a big fan of Mercedes's purple suits. The Apex F1 Podcast: loved it. a little unclear on the purple. You know what it was giving me? It was giving me the Ally NASCAR paint scheme that's on like, that Alex Bowman has run before. I was like, I'm not I'm missing something. Paul: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was purple suits, but the car was still the regular color. like that kind of threw me off. But, and then this is, this is one of the big tracks where they, get the first big package, the big upgrade packages. So it was good. was, curiosity see what team was going to do good. And man, I'm in my, on my Tik Tok, I talked about one of three things that I was looking forward to was the midfield teams, how they were going to do. Man, there were some midfield teams I can't wait to talk about that really brought some upgrades and are really showing that I was that. The Apex F1 Podcast: Who is your number one midfield upgrade? Yeah, who do you think was the best midfield upgrade that we saw throughout the weekend? Alpine by far. Literally wrote down specifically to talk about Alpine. that, wow. Paul: By far it's gotta be Alpine. By far. I mean it's- Both cars in Q3 and both really good. They both showed really well. So whatever ⁓ got cooking at the Alpine factory, keep it going son, keep it going. also, Williams, Williams also did great. They finished what, ninth and tenth. So ⁓ in grand scheme of things, not a lot of points for the team, but hey, any point is better than no point. hopefully, absolutely. ⁓ The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah, double points. Points are points and progress is progress. I was agreeing, I'd be super excited. Also, Aston Martin, both cars finished the race yesterday. First race of the season, both cars have finished. So hey, we're moving in the right direction here. Baby steps. But let's get right into some of the racing. So the sprint race, thought it was a really exciting race just in terms of performance from two teens that I've seen really struggle throughout the beginning of the season so far. Let's talk McLaren first and foremost. Paul: Yes, baby steps without pain. So yeah. The Apex F1 Podcast: podium for the sprint race was Lando, Oscar, and Charles. we actually all thought Charles was really going to do well in Miami. We were prepared for Ferrari to bring big upgrades. We had heard that McLaren was bringing big upgrades. But overall, I was really, really, really pleased with what we saw from the Ferrari and McLaren upgrades. ⁓ Mercedes has stayed really consistent. I think they will continue to. ⁓ I thought the sprint race was, it's not like there was anything big. Paul: Absolutely. The Apex F1 Podcast: crazy that happened in the sprint race and they had really good weather for the sprint race too, which I think helped them out. And I think there was a lot of chatter about the weather for the Sunday race. So I think they were just excited to get out there and have good clean racing. But I was really, really, really pleasantly surprised with the McLaren upgrades and how Lando and Oscar drove. I also was just honestly excited to see Lando to get a victory. I know it's a sprint victory, but I think that when you had a really rough start to the season like McLaren has coming off of a constructor and a World Driver Championship in the previous season, there's a lot of pressure on your shoulders. So I was excited to see McLaren do well. I was excited to see the Ferraris look really good too. And again, just like the points delivery of some of those midfield teams that we weren't expecting just overall And I think that. That's what we've been looking for and what we're hoping for these slight regulation changes to see safer driving, but the drivers being competitive and enjoying it. It really seemed like they were having a lot of fun. Did ⁓ you any other thoughts or see anything else on the sprint race? Paul: No, no, mean, in general, I like that it's now a couple more teams are added. Now, you you got Red Bull, Max is doing really well or had a really good weekend. So that kind of that kind of make things spicy towards the top. And it's not it looks like it's not going to be a McLaren run or pardon me, a Mercedes runaway. You know, there's going to be some contenders that are going to give Kimmy and George a battle. The Apex F1 Podcast: Yep, he did. agreed. And I think, know, Mercedes dismay, you know, having two races canceled when they were on a heater, that's actually really good for the other teams that are on the grid because it gives them an opportunity to get back up there, ⁓ some solid points in those races, picking up any sprint victory points. Yeah, it's not the same as winning a complete race, but hey, one twoing in the sprint race gets you some points. And then, you know, they had some really solid points in there yesterday, too. So just go straight into race day. ⁓ I know that we were watching kind of at different times, couldn't really watch live. I was dropping people off at the airport. You were tackling stuff and had work to get ready for, but what were your thoughts on the race? Paul: Also, are you kind of annoyed that they tried to, moved it three hours earlier to avoid the rain? The Apex F1 Podcast: You know, was, selfishly I was because I was like, well, I can't watch it live like on my TV, you know? And ⁓ was actually gonna try to go to a watch party. Space City Racing is a new racing club here in Houston ⁓ ⁓ a bunch of different people got together and created and I haven't gotten to go to any of the races. ⁓ yesterday afternoon, my plan was that I was gonna drop the family off at the airport, come back, hang out for a little bit, get some laundry started. And then I was gonna try and go in town to the Space City Racing Club to go watch the race with them and meet some people. But with them moving it up, I just had to watch from my phone in the car as we dropped them off and sweet Joe was driving so that I could watch the race. So shout out Joe for that. But I was able to watch for the most part while it was live. was like, I think three laps behind where everyone else was. So I'm like texting friends being like, don't say anything. I am behind. Yeah. And it was like, I was adamant. I was not going to open social media and anything. But ⁓ I the reasoning. Paul: Don't ruin this. The Apex F1 Podcast: because if the rain was anything like it was predicted to be and the start time had been kept the same, I didn't even see what the weather happened after. I don't even know if it ended up raining or not, but I completely understand that decision. They already had two races canceled. Like let's do what we can to mitigate that and still have good racing and still have fans and sponsors be really pleased. So I completely understood from a business standpoint. Paul: See, I was bummed out. And granted, we don't know how much rain they got, because I didn't really care once the race ended. But we have wet tires for a reason, right? This is what they should just be able to drive in all elements. And I was kind of bummed out, because I really wanted to see them in the wet. The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah, I agree because I think about what great racing we get in Brazil, even with a lot of the rain there. the other part of me was the FIA is coming off of being in the hot seat about safety for drivers. And they just had to make some regulation changes because of the safety concerns. So definitely understand the pressure to keep the driver safe. And if we would have asked them to drive in the pouring rain, if that rain that they got yesterday was anything like the rain that we had here in Houston over the weekend, ⁓ mean, golf tournament got rained out one day. Paul: Absolutely. The Apex F1 Podcast: torrential downpoured for a solid six to eight hours down here. Paul: Yeah, we got some pretty nasty rain over here too, covered it last week. So I'm sure it wasn't easy. The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah. So I'm like thinking about the safety of our drivers and I'm like anybody trying to race in, even if it was a fraction of what the rain was here, completely unsafe conditions. And it was rainy last year when I went to the Miami race, the difference was, was that the predictions were that it was going to rain heavy in the morning, maybe light rain at the start of the race and then taper off. ⁓ And exactly what it did. The rain forecast in Miami was actually the opposite. It was light rain in the morning predicted, maybe a break and then supposed to be really heavy. So I get why they did it. And I'm glad that we still got to see racing and I'm glad that the fans and people that were there got to go, you know, better than it not happening at all or them being like, just going to run two sprints instead, you know, so ⁓ glad they made the shift and I'm glad they made the shift early, ⁓ like a day of decision. So that it give people time to plan. Paul: Right, yeah. Yeah, yeah, overall I was happy with the product. I just, I like a wet race. I like to, you know, to see what they can do. So absolutely. The Apex F1 Podcast: Rain, the great equalizer. Who knows Canada's always really rainy. You could get your wish at Canada. Montreal tends to be rainy. I know that they've changed the time of year it is this year, but it tends to still be rainy. But let's talk results. Kenny on his third consecutive race victory on heater, followed by Lando and shockingly third place, Oscar, because of chaos of the last lap. Paul: ⁓ fingers crossed. But hang on, before we get to the last lap, Kimmy always keeps things spicy because he does not do very good that start line. The Apex F1 Podcast: What is the deal? What is the deal? His starts need to be studied. Paul: Yeah. Yeah, he did not have a great start and then Max had an amazing start and then The Apex F1 Podcast: Incredible. Charles arguably best started anybody though. Paul: Which is, wow, can't even talk. Yes, the Ferrari's had great starts this year, so that wasn't uncommon for me to see. But, Kenny, man, that boy gets poles and just cannot hang on to them. The Apex F1 Podcast: We've seen Ferrari do well with the starts though. I just, you know, but I think back to all the feedback about Lando a couple of years ago, right? Like two years ago, everybody was saying, ⁓ Lando is the worst starter on the grid. Lando is the worst starter on the grid. Look at all the pole positions he has. He can't convert them, blah, blah, blah. And now look at him a couple of years later. You know, he was the driver champion last year. And so think that it's such a learning moment. He's so young in his career. It's clearly not preventing him from getting victories. So God, imagine if he can get his starts dialed in. We might all be in trouble. Paul: ⁓ And not just that, but it's also new car, new regulations. You got to wind up the turbo in a different way than you were previous year. So it's, I'm sure they have to learn a whole new way of starting things. The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah, I don't know if you saw, kind of thinking back to the liveries. I don't know if you saw the memes that the cars kind of looked like the Teletubbies. And I saw a really funny meme yesterday right after the race finish. And it was the purple Teletubby. And it was like Tinky Winky just won his third consecutive race. And I was like, oh my God. Because I guess the purple one is like the littler one or like the younger one. I was like, I don't know. But it just made me laugh. But Kimmy just like, huge applause to Kimmy. Paul: ⁓ god. Yes. The Apex F1 Podcast: I mean, I really thought Lando should have had it. I don't know what happened in the car those last 10, 15 laps. right there, mean, 10 laps, he was within a second of him. And it was just back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. Being really is he going to overtake? No, he can't take him there. So for Kim and to be able to hold that lead and then just be able to ultimately drag it out to over two second lead by the end of the race, I thought that was just incredible driving. Lando, did you hear his radio right after the race? He said something along the lines of like great progress, so proud of the team, like we can be winning races if we're not our own barrier or something like that. So like essentially saying like huge progress. It's still us though. mean, like he said, there is no reason that he shouldn't have had the pace. He was on fresher tires than Kimi was. There's no reason his car should not have had the pace to go hunt Kimi down in those last couple of laughs. And so. ⁓ I thought that feedback was good for his team. Oscar, you know, he gets a podium when he shouldn't have. If whatever happened with Charles hadn't happened with Charles, Oscar would not have been on that podium. So always cracks me up to see Oscar up on the podium just like. Paul: Yo, yeah, he's just there. The Apex F1 Podcast: He's just there, but I did love his champagne celebration. He was just spraying Kenny and the Mercedes female employee that was up there. He was spraying her too. did really join in the celebration there, but he's always just so stoic after. ⁓ Paul: Well, did you see that did you see that Kimi had a different champagne bottle than the other two drivers? Correct. So he had like sparkling water and. Yeah, yeah, some you give to your kids, so it's just interesting to see because my brother brought that up. He's like, did Kimi drink the champagne because he can't because he's not 21. And I went back and found a video. They gave him a completely different bottle. It was like sparkling water, some crap. So it was just interesting. The Apex F1 Podcast: Well, because he can't drink here. I was gonna say, what is it, like, Martinelli's sparkling cider. wonder if there is a sponsorship for like the not like I'm we don't have a sponsorship because you know all the sponsors are zero alcohol right I'm surprised there's not a zero alcohol sponsor for the American races in case the podium winner is underage and can't drink here I'm surprised nobody's tapped into that Paul: Yeah, no, it's weird. And the bottle just said, it just said like Miami Grand Prix or something. It wasn't even a, it wasn't even a company or anything. The Apex F1 Podcast: Okay, well that's kind of cool. Interesting. Huge sponsorship opportunity for the non-alc brands here in the US. Paul: Let's keep that between us so we can cash in on the money. Yeah, We're going to edit this last minute out of the podcast. The Apex F1 Podcast: We're gonna start we're gonna start pitching it to brands so let's talk about the start of the race because there was a moment that I think completely changed the dynamic of the weekend and was the contact with Lawson and Gasly because like we just mentioned Alpine brought incredible upgrades. They were driving great, know Franco with his best-ever finish after the 22nd pencil penalty given to Charles it promoted him up for his best-ever finish. Gasly was eighth in the sprint race. So he picked up some points there. ⁓ overall just an incredibly consistent weekend for Alpine. So I was absolutely devastated with what happened with Liam. after reading on the F1 app, seemed like at first I was like, here we go again, Liam Lawson, Dennis the Menace, just causing some problems. But ⁓ was reading that he said that there was an issue with his gearbox or something and that he couldn't avoid. ⁓ Paul: Liam being reckless. Mm-hmm. Yeah. didn't have breaks to avoid that. The Apex F1 Podcast: Agreed. And I think it was clear that Pierre Gasly understood that that was not an intentional thing based on his reaction of saying, I'm just, you know, he, cause Pierre's a little bit of a hot head too, and he could have easily popped off about Lawson and he has no problem popping off when, when he needs to. But I think it was clear that Pierre understood what happened because he said, I'm just really disappointed that we couldn't do more for the points for the weekend because we had an incredible weekend, which shows that he's really optimistic. Paul: ⁓ yeah. And they did. Yeah, overall. And it was a nasty crash. It could have been really bad. saw the, when I watched the race, man, the car flipped. That was. The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah. I was like, all of a sudden I'm like, wait, who's airborne? Who's airborne and why are they airborne? And then they went and they replayed it and I saw it I was like, okay, that could have been so much worse, especially cause it happened in the middle of a lot of traffic. So good on the other drivers that were around the behind them to be able to avoid collision there because that could have been a multi-car pile up, easy peasy, eliminating some people from the race. But of course, to my dismay, Paul: Yes. Absolutely. The Apex F1 Podcast: My shocker prediction was V carb double points. So Liam being out right at the beginning just really ruined that for me. So what I get. Learned my lesson. ⁓ thought maybe with the ⁓ of a special livery, they would really feel the vibes, but you know, so be it. That just happens for me. Paul: ⁓ motorsports. ⁓ The Apex F1 Podcast: Thus is motor sports. But I also had the Williams double points on my list of things that I was really excited about from the race. think Carlos was pretty pissed off the other day about his car. And in sprint, can't remember whether it was in practice or in sprint or in qualifying. In one of the other sessions, Carlos was pissed. And ⁓ he came on radio and was like, this is unacceptable. I am not happy. ⁓ So for them come back on Sunday on race day and have double points, was very happy for them. ⁓ Paul: And hopefully they can keep the ball rolling and continue to do really well because those two drivers really need something. The Apex F1 Podcast: They need some momentum, especially after having such a great season last season. And, you know, I we've talked about it a million times, but them saying, we're only focused on 26 and here we are. I think they needed this double points really pick up some momentum and really maybe get some things dialed in before Canada. My other thought on Ferrari Lewis. Let's talk about Paul: I really was hoping from him. And there was moments when he was doing really well. Like I was watching the qualifying. There was times where he was putting on good laps. ⁓ know they talked about his rear tires, overheating too quick, but I don't know what's going on. Yeah, there was, he had some issues with his rear tires. They kept overheating and I don't know what's going on there. The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah. ⁓ I didn't hear that. I don't either. Paul: don't want to jump to the conclusion and say he's washed and a shell of who he used to be. But when you see Charles doing really well and the last year was it's Charles team. He's been there for a while. He knows a Ferrari. This is new. We started at an even kill this year. It was they both started at square one and I don't know what Lewis is. I don't know. I don't know. ⁓ The Apex F1 Podcast: Well, and what you just said maybe connect to something the commentators said. One of the commentators said right after Kimmy finished and won the race, one of the commentators said, you know, a lot of people talk about teams and drivers and, and, know, when we think about Red Bull and Max, like it was not just the car, even in equal setups, Max was still dominating. They said the same argument has to be asked here about the George and Kimmy dynamic. this just Kimmy being that good of a driver? And that just made me think about, well, does that same scenario apply to the Charles and Lewis situation? ⁓ If an equal machinery, What is the difference for Charles being able to place a little bit higher, qualify a little bit better? mean, let's like the net race result, know, Lewis still finished in seventh in the sprint and yesterday after all the penalties and stuff, he finished in sixth. So, I mean, he's picking up great points. It just seems like the performance. Paul: And let's give the caveat. And let's give the caveat. He did have that contact with Colapento and there was a part that came out of his car. So how much did that impact the overall performance of the vehicle or the aerodynamics? So let's make sure we say that, but overall. The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah, true. Right. But even in like qualifying performance, you know, like I feel like we don't see as much from Lewis in qualifying. And then I feel like he's always pulling, you know, things out of his magic hat during a race and he's able to pick up great points. And I really love that. just, I just was thinking that maybe since Ferrari was bringing upgrades and since we saw so much performance out of Charles, you know, sprint podium, strong qualifying positions. I think I was just maybe expecting to also see an elevation out of Lewis Hamilton. So a proportional elevation of both drivers, but. Paul: I think as a whole, thought he was going to do better. He seemed happier coming out of the preseason testing. He seemed hopeful and optimistic on how everything was going to go. There's just on track, it just like it's a big dud. And like said, I don't want to think that he's washed in the shell of who he used to be, but... The Apex F1 Podcast: Mm-hmm. I don't know. I don't know. I just hope there's a lot of racing left in the season. So I'm trying to, you know, I'm also just trying to remember they gave them off a five week break. They're headed into another three week break. So it's like, so much could change before Canada and hopefully for the better, you know, like I was really pleased with both Ferrari and McLaren cars this weekend overall as a whole. And it's just like, how can they take that and fine tune, study the data before Canada and really, you know, get some strong momentum going into Canada, going into Monaco before we have our little our little summer break, you know? Paul: Yes, so I'm still hopeful that he can turn it around and I'm still hopeful that he can deliver. I don't need him to win a world champion, but I would like to at least have him compete towards the top and not because lately for the last couple of years, it's six, seventh or eighth for it or fifth, sixth and seventh. And it's just like. The Apex F1 Podcast: I would love that. Mm-hmm. And he's not a fifth, sixth, seventh driver. He's not. No. So hopefully they can get it dialed in. will though, I still think Ollie is the next Ferrari driver. Like, in my mind, it makes a smooth transition. ⁓ Paul: No, he's never been that. So, ⁓ The Apex F1 Podcast: my mind, I still think Olly Bearman is the next Ferrari driver and watching him perform this weekend. He did pretty great. He ended up just outside the points yesterday in 11th. I don't know where he placed in the sprint race. Let me check the sprint race. Olly Behrman, 12th in the sprint race. you know, I think watching him continue, I feel like I would like to put more intentionality on my focus in some of those midfield people and some those younger drivers that, you know, as we think about. where Alonzo is in his career, Nico Hokenberg is in his career, Checo and Botas, like they're not gonna be driving forever. So I kinda wanna put some more emphasis of my watching energy in some of these ⁓ teams ⁓ some of these rookier drivers. Yeah. ⁓ Paul: Yeah, yeah, younger drivers. Well, and it's never too early to start with silly season predictions, but I don't know if you know this, but over half the grid doesn't have contracts for the following year. So it's gonna be very interesting to see what happens as Lewis is gonna wanna re-up with Ferrari for another couple of years. know, what's happening with George. Ooh. The Apex F1 Podcast: It's gonna be wild. what's happening to George. Paul: So it's gonna be interesting, but getting back to the original point, I think it's a no-brainer that Ali's gonna go into to take over that second. The Apex F1 Podcast: Who knows, he may have opportunities elsewhere. I just feel like, you know, he, I feel like very similar to Charles. I feel like there's a progression in a career trajectory that Charles followed. And I feel like Ollie's kind of on that same trajectory, but who knows, Ollie could get offers from anywhere. Like said, silly season brings changes. So who freaking knows? ⁓ Paul: Yeah, it's never too early to start those predictions. So The Apex F1 Podcast: Never too early. mean, I was having a little bit of the Monday glums of like, well, we don't have a race this weekend. I'm like, we literally don't have a race again until Canada. was like, man, just when we get it back, just when we get it back. Paul: ⁓ Yeah. Just when things are going good. The Apex F1 Podcast: It's okay. my hope is that with it being Miami and then into Canada, they'll take these couple of weeks to look at the data, study the data based on the new regulations, any changes they made and see what shifts they want to make. And I think it'll be really interesting to see what they do. Any other thoughts on F1 before we close out with points recap and shift to NASCAR? Paul: Absolutely. No, overall it was a solid weekend. I think we're getting a much more wheel to wheel racing, which is a lot more fun, a lot more overtakes. Overall, yes, you always be on certain things, but overall I was really happy with the weekend and how it all played out. The Apex F1 Podcast: Me too. only thing I will say that I wish I would have changed, somehow I need to be able to clone myself and be in two places at once. My Miami FOMO was so real. I was so glad we had family here. ⁓ little brother and his girlfriend came in for our member guest golf tournament for him and Joe to play in. So fun to hang out with them. But my Miami FOMO was at like an all time high ⁓ the experience last year was just so and so incredible that I really wanted to be back this year. Paul: Yeah, what was the The Apex F1 Podcast: So I'm like, okay, putting it on my roadmap for 2027. Paul: Did they have a driver's parade and was it anything cool? The Apex F1 Podcast: I don't know, I joined like right when we got in the car from lunch, I literally joined right as the formation lap was starting. So ⁓ don't even know if they had a whatever But how would you ever beat a Lego parade? How do ⁓ you up on that, you know? Paul: can't. Yeah, so a quick Google search. Louis, Liam, Esteban, Oliverman, Lance, George, and Fernando do not have contracts after 2026. So that's a lot of people and a lot of high profile drivers. So what is going to happen? The Apex F1 Podcast: That's a lot of people. ⁓ god, maybe we could do some silly season predictions when we get up to it because you and I need help with points on the board. Paul: Yes, can we add that to the overall score? The Apex F1 Podcast: Like, we might have to because we need help. And I'm about to tell you why. Paul: Yes. The Apex F1 Podcast: So our podium predictions from last week. Josh predicted Kimmy winning, Georgian second, Charles in third, in the top five for his shocker. You predicted Oscar Lewis Kimmy and that Vcarb, Williams ⁓ Alpine would all score points. And I predicted George, Oscar and Charles for my podium and Vcarb double points. Paul: No, I know. I know. The Apex F1 Podcast: So per rules we created together, Josh picks up two points, ⁓ one Kimmy winning and one for his chakra prediction. So good on Josh. Previously at four points brings his total to six, okay? ⁓ Paul: That bastard isn't even part of the podcast right now. He's not joining us and still winning points. I don't get it. We need to team up to destroy him. The Apex F1 Podcast: Hey, he's smoking our asses in fact, because unfortunately for both you and I, we had DNFs in our shocker prediction, which per the rules, we ideated and thought were such a freaking good idea when they DNF, it's a deduction. So we both lose a point where we were previously at two points. So we are now back down to one point. So now Josh is like, Kimmying us right now. Josh has six points. You and I both have one point. Paul: We are the George Russell of predictions. boy. Well, 6-1-1. my God. We to team up. ⁓ For Canada, need to team up to beat Josh. The Apex F1 Podcast: We get it, we get it, we get it. We gotta team up against Josh. Like we have to conspire. We've gotta do something. Something must be done about this. Paul: Josh, if you're listening, we love you, but we're going to be. The Apex F1 Podcast: We love you sincerely and you know what? Your predictions have been stellar. Good on you. And he's beating us six points to one in one, even having missed a week of doing predictions. who knows? He could have had a podium full of DNFs ⁓ that one week he missed. It's the land of opportunity. ⁓ a quick thought before we shift to Isaac Hajar, crashing. Paul: Yeah. The Apex F1 Podcast: Did you see how hard he was punching the steering wheel? Like dude, have we checked his hands? Is he okay? Like... Paul: Yes. Yeah, he very hard on himself and granted it was it was self-inflicted he he wrecked it himself but he's he's and I think it's got it's it's it's being young right. The Apex F1 Podcast: It was. I hate it. It's being young, it's having the pressure of second Red Bull seat. He's doing great like this. Paul: And he's doing really well compared to compared to Liam and Yuki and whatever we had previous years I lose track because they change know they change drivers more than I change you my undergarments. Yeah so he's overall he's doing well but he's so hard on himself. The Apex F1 Podcast: They bing bong around a ton. He's just so hard, like time something happens, I'm like, give this young boy a hug. Give this young boy a hug. Paul: Can we just get Louis' dad to follow him and just give him a hug? The Apex F1 Podcast: literally be so sweet. But that was my last F1 thought. It was just like a last minute thing seeing the results. And I was like, Isaac down there with the DNF. was like, ⁓ it does. So happier thoughts. NASCAR Texas Motor Speedway for the Worth 400. My brother-in-law was there and I was 16 shades of jealous. He was there for work and I was like, must be tough. Paul: Yes. It just breaks your heart. The Apex F1 Podcast: Must be a tough Sunday having to go to a NASCAR race and watch it from a suite. But overall, let's talk about the weekend because some exciting stuff happened throughout the weekend. we had Carson Hosevar, on a tear truck series win pole for Cup Series race, drove was in second place for stage one. I think he ended up, what did he finish up seventh or eighth? Just behind. ⁓ Paul: Carson Hosobar is on a tear. ⁓ He finished, he finished seventh. Yep. Cause Daniel Suarez got six. The Apex F1 Podcast: He finished up like seventh or eighth just behind Daniel Suarez. Yeah. Daniel Suarez was six. Yeah. mean, I think he's just driving incredibly. I think he's gaining a lot of media traction, obviously, after his first win at Dega. So I think that's awesome. I another another first, Eric Jones, first stage win, first career stage win. Like, so ⁓ I think so fun to watch NASCAR every weekend because it changes every single weekend. And, you know, It was like we had Tyler Reddick on a heater, just like Kimmy's on a heater. I mean, he still delivered strong. He was in fourth this weekend. There was a moment in stage three where I was like, Reddick could win this. ⁓ was like, he could. But I I think, you know, stage one, Eric Jones, stage two, Chase Elliott, Chase Elliott. mean, he drove pretty flawlessly yesterday. Lights out like Chase Elliott. Good on you. And did you see his burnout? Makes me want to go to a parking lot and do donuts. Paul: Yep. Yeah, he was lights out. Absolutely. No. The Apex F1 Podcast: He did a burnout in donuts, was on the track, spun out onto the grass, just burnout. It was so fun to watch. for a second there, I was like, I don't remember how many laps it was to the end. There was a caution. It was like less than 10 laps. Caution, restart happened only a couple of laps. I know I was texting you like, God, I hope it doesn't finish under a caution. And then we restart Chase Elliott. It was one of the most perfect restarts I've ever seen. Paul: ⁓ that's incredible. He did great. The Apex F1 Podcast: was just gone and no, no, no knock in Denny Hamlin. Denny Hamlin had an incredible race coming in P2. Alex Bowman coming in third, like a way, what a way to make a comeback after you've missed a couple of races, right? Like ⁓ drove great, but Chase Elliott's restart right there at the final couple of laps was just pure Paul: Yeah, absolutely. And that whole 2311 team, man, that team is on the table. Bubba Wallace started last and finished in the top 10. Yeah, he finished ninth. You got to give kudos. Even the other, younger drivers, Riley Herbs finished. He started 18th, finished 11th. And who's, he finished towards... The Apex F1 Podcast: Yep, ninth. Yeah. Where did Corey Hyme end up? When he wrecked, I was so bummed for him because he was leading for a little bit and he was doing so good. And I was like, yeah, good on you. Paul: He's, yeah, he finished 31st, but he was racing towards the top. Yeah. The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah, he did it like when he wrecked it was just that was it. mean he was leading for a couple of laps. What a cool feeling like I can't even imagine, but I just thought it was. I thought it was an awesome weekend overall. Texas Motor Speedway being from Texas and never having gone feel sacrilegious to me, every. ⁓ like Joe's been. Paul: ⁓ it's a great track. was surprisingly how well it was. The Apex F1 Podcast: Joe's been, I'm like, you're not even from Texas and you've been, I haven't been. So I definitely wanna get up to Texas Motor Speedway and do a race for sure. the fact that it conflicted with Miami, I would have gone to Miami over Texas Motor Speedway and then having that tournament be this weekend and having family in town. was like, yeah, I'm not missing any of that to go to a race, so. Paul: Yeah, no, but overall it was a great NASCAR weekend. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The Apex F1 Podcast: Yesterday, you know, like usually we talk about NASCAR being like four hours and like the NASCAR nap. I felt like NASCAR yesterday flew by and like, it's not like it was significantly shorter. It's a big oval, but it just felt like it flew by to me yesterday. And I was like, wait, like I was like, wait, we're already at the end of stage two. So I was already kind of bummed about that, especially cause it was like, you know. Paul: Yeah, and they had their fair share of cautions too, but everything seemed to move pretty relatively quick. The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah, way less cautions. It's like the highest caution track on the season and way less cautions than they normally have. was trying to look up what's next. Watkins Glen is next. Which is a tongue twister for me. don't know why I wanna say Glen Watkins and then Watkins comes out weird and I'm like Watkins, Wadkids. Paul: What can't Glenn, they are road chorus. Watkins Glen, it's a road course so they gotta turn left and right. So you never know, I'm sure SVG is gonna run away with this one like he does in every road course. The Apex F1 Podcast: Fun! I love that. ⁓ I would love that. I would love that. just our road course king. ⁓ be stopped. Can't stop won't stop. Paul: No, no, he's doing really well. also, Spire Motors, know, Osevar, Suarez, really doing a good job. The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah, super strong weekend for them too. So, chilies, if you're watching this, pick up the Huckleberry Hosavar monthly special. We would love to see it on the menu. I'll do a video showing you how to make it. Huckleberry Hosavar, chilies, do it. Paul: We gotta go have dinner at Chili's now. The Apex F1 Podcast: I already have dinner in the oven. Okay, so speaking of road courses, Walk-In Glen is a road course for NASCAR next week, but we also have IndyCar back next weekend. We had a break this last weekend. Ton of the IndyCar drivers were at F1 in Miami, which is probably so fun for them to get to go be part of another motorsport weekend. have the IMS road course this weekend for the Soysen. don't even know how to say this. It's like the Soysen GP. ⁓ Paul: Soiso Grand Prix, so it's at... Yeah. The Apex F1 Podcast: S-S-Sancio! The Sancio Grand Prix, what is Sancio? Yeah, Sancio Grand Prix. don't know, you know, almost two and a half, two and a half mile track, 85 laps road course last preparations as they're there for for the Indy 500. And so I'm sure that's going to be a blast. I know the girls from Podium Pop are going to be there. So Gracie and Celine are going to be there. So y'all follow Podium Pop for their IMS road course content. I don't know if they're staying for the Indy 500, though. I bet they are. Yeah, but. Paul: sure. But this is a great time for IndyCar. The month of May is amazing. Ramping up to May 24th, which is the Indy 500 man. And then they had testing. And those I didn't I didn't fully see it. But I know that our beloved driver, Carson Daly did cars. That's that's name. his name, right? Connor Daly, Carson Hosavar. The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah. Yeah. Do you have any updates for us from testing? didn't, I didn't watch any of the testing. Conor Daily? Are we like back in TRL days? Paul: I am losing it. Connor Daly, which he doesn't have a full time seat this year, but he is driving in the Indy 500. He did really well. He finished top 10. He was towards the top. He, he put on better lap times than Paddo did. So yeah. The Apex F1 Podcast: very cool. Yikes. That's not looking good for us for the Pato hopefuls for the Indy 500. Paul: Yeah, Yikes is right. It is not however it is testing so let's just The Apex F1 Podcast: It is testing. Yeah, it's testing. It's to get feedback. I have to remind myself testing is to get feedback. Testing is to get feedback. Testing is to get data. Stay positive. Positive for Pato. That's going to be my campaign for the month of May. Positive for Pato. Paul: Yes, so I think I'm just trying. I'm hoping Palo rolls his ankle and can't drive really well. no, I don't mean a bad injury. I just need him to roll his ankle so he can't work the throttle very well. Yeah, something. don't need to tear an ACL and be out for the year. The Apex F1 Podcast: No, we don't wish injury upon people, you know, like gets a blister. I just need Joseph Newgarden to not win it. Paul: Can we just get, I am putting it out there, Paddow's gonna win it this year. Yes. speaking of injuries, Mick Schumacher's got an injury. He's got a broken wrist. So ⁓ got a broken left wrist that he's gonna try to fight through for the whole year and then get surgery on it in the off season. So he's putting all the strain on his right. The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah, he's going to. I I know the wrist injury. Son of a bitch. Come on. That sounds painful. Paul: He's putting making his right wrist work harder than his left just to counter counteract that that pain. Yeah, so. The Apex F1 Podcast: counterbalance it. ⁓ I don't like that. I don't like that at all. Paul: But still hanging in there. The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah, he is. so let's look at our motorsport calendar to see if there are any other racing events that are coming up this weekend. Spa, Spa, duh. ⁓ I I am so excited. We've got Spa, WEC Spa, and then we have MotoGP in France. So two other really good races to watch this weekend. No, is that am I looking on the same road? Yes. Yeah. Paul: No. ⁓ that's your department. Perfect. No, you are. The Apex F1 Podcast: So those are two other really good racing series to watch this weekend. I'm super excited for that. Spa is my races. Like, it's six hours. ⁓ And if had to pick whether to go to F1 Spa or Wek Spa, I would rather do Wek. Yes. Like, it's just, it's so, have you seen the fireworks they do at Spa at night? Paul: How long is it? Okay. Really? The Apex F1 Podcast: I'm gonna text you the photo. It's like, it's something I dream of. Like, it's just, sun is going down, you get this sherbert color sky, and there's just these fireworks that go off at Eau Rouge. God. I'm just thinking about it. It makes me wanna go. But the budget, one day. But that's all we have on the racing updates for this week. Paul: No, please do. One day, one day. The Apex F1 Podcast: We're ready for Josh to be back. We've missed him. Someone's got to keep us in check. And without Paul, saw what happened when Alex was on with us and we just had too much fun and there was nobody for a checks and balances system. ⁓ got to keep us in check. we're, we do. It's us. I'm okay with that. Paul: Yes, Josh, come back. need. We need a We definitely need an adult in the group. No, and we need his predictions to not be that good. The Apex F1 Podcast: Yeah, we need him to come back a little cooled off. We need him to come back a little out of shape, if I'm being honest. Paul: Yeah. Yes. I'm hoping, I'm hoping he, hopefully for Canada, he found was it big time. Yes. Yes. Yes. The Apex F1 Podcast: Fumble the bag for Canada. A Montreal letdown. The Josh Creed story. Well, everybody, we hope you have an awesome week. Tune in for some awesome racing this weekend. We got a lot of it. So don't forget NASCAR, Watkins Glen, we got IMS for IndyCar, we got France for MotoGP, we got Spa for WEK. So tune into some good racing this weekend. We will be back next week. Josh will be back to join us and we'll talk all updates. He'll catch us up on all the endurance racing, IMSA, WEK and all the good stuff. But I hope everybody has an awesome week. We'll talk soon. Bye everybody. Paul: Take care, everybody.