Latest / Pit Talk / Oscar Piastri claims epic victory on stressful Sunday: Azerbaijan GP Preview

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Oscar Piastri claims epic victory on stressful Sunday: Azerbaijan GP Preview · Pit Talk

0:00
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Pit Talk of Fox Sports and
0:02
Speaker 1: Speed Cafe Formula one podcast. On today's episode, Oscar piastre
0:07
Speaker 1: Windsy's second Grand Prix victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
0:10
Speaker 1: with a bold move on the breaks on Charle Leclaire
0:14
Speaker 1: and for the first time in more than a decade,
0:16
Speaker 1: McLaren is on top of the Constructors Championship. My name
0:20
Speaker 1: is Michael Lomonato, motorsport writer for Fox Sports Australia. It's
0:23
Speaker 1: great to have your company and the company of my
0:25
Speaker 1: co host from Speed Cafe. To him, It'll always be
0:29
Speaker 1: the European Grand Prix. It's Matt Kosh.
0:31
Speaker 2: Yeah, the European Grand Prix, just as the very first
0:35
Speaker 2: Grand Prix and World Championship history was. It wasn't the
0:38
Speaker 2: British Grand Prix. It was the European Grand Prix featuring
0:41
Speaker 2: the British Grand Prix.
0:42
Speaker 1: So it's so, what was you saying, is really what
0:44
Speaker 1: we've just had as a very historic race in back?
0:48
Speaker 2: Well, yes, that's right, it's it's it's an event that
0:51
Speaker 2: can trace its lineage back to the birth of the
0:53
Speaker 2: World Championship.
0:55
Speaker 3: Remarkable, isn't it.
0:56
Speaker 1: You all thought some new age silly race.
0:59
Speaker 2: No, it's not silly race with a camera at term
1:02
Speaker 2: one that you can't see anything.
1:04
Speaker 1: From certainly, rather the silly time I can say that much.
1:08
Speaker 1: And look, it's a shame when we're in a time
1:10
Speaker 1: zone slightly better for Australia, they still insist on running
1:12
Speaker 1: it so late. Just accept it, run and go back
1:15
Speaker 1: to two pm starts.
1:16
Speaker 3: Please.
1:17
Speaker 1: We're going to get the end of course, to the
1:18
Speaker 1: events of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and Oscar Piastre's victory
1:22
Speaker 1: the implications it has for the Constructors Championship and even
1:25
Speaker 1: the Drivers Championship.
1:26
Speaker 3: But first let's get.
1:27
Speaker 1: Through some of the news you may have missed from
1:30
Speaker 1: the last week. And we're going to start with a
1:31
Speaker 1: news topic relatively close to home, and that is the
1:34
Speaker 1: decision on Liam Lawson's future in the Red Bull program.
1:38
Speaker 1: Helmut Marco says that a decision will be announced following
1:41
Speaker 1: the Singapore Grand Prix to who's going to be feeling
1:43
Speaker 1: the seat currently occupied by Daniel Ricardo. It's the only
1:46
Speaker 1: uncontracted seat in the Red Bull stable and one of
1:48
Speaker 1: only two still available in Formula One next season.
1:51
Speaker 2: Yeap, big, big time news coming for Liam Lawson. One
1:55
Speaker 2: suspects that will probably be in that seat for twenty
1:58
Speaker 2: twenty five at RB, which raises some interesting and awkward
2:02
Speaker 2: questions for Daniel. But I mean, by my intel, the
2:06
Speaker 2: decision has been made, it just hasn't been communicated publicly
2:09
Speaker 2: at this point. So yeah, an interesting one to read
2:13
Speaker 2: body language in Singapore this weekend.
2:15
Speaker 1: Yes, and Daniel has been told that he'll be in
2:17
Speaker 1: the car for at least until the end of the year,
2:20
Speaker 1: so we shouldn't get too excited, unless, of course, it
2:22
Speaker 1: really blows it, but I don't think that's going to happen.
2:25
Speaker 1: Pre season testing has been announced surprise Matt. It's in
2:29
Speaker 1: Bahrain and at the end of February. But the good
2:31
Speaker 1: news is Melbourne is still round one.
2:33
Speaker 2: Yeah. There were sort of two schools of thought with
2:35
Speaker 2: pre season testing. As soon as the opening realm was
2:38
Speaker 2: going to Melbourne. The logical thing to do is to
2:40
Speaker 2: have it in Bahrain because you've got stable weather, but
2:41
Speaker 2: it's more expensive and it's hardly at parts and all
2:44
Speaker 2: that sort of stuff. The rational being hold it in
2:46
Speaker 2: Spain where it's cheaper and easy to get parts and
2:48
Speaker 2: everything else, but you've got a less stable weather system there,
2:52
Speaker 2: so the decision has been made. They needed unanimous teams
2:55
Speaker 2: approval to go there because of the way the concord
2:58
Speaker 2: or whatever is written. So yeah, bah Rain for three
3:02
Speaker 2: days at the end of feb which is pretty much
3:04
Speaker 2: part of the course now six times since two thousand
3:07
Speaker 2: and nine. I think that's been held out there.
3:08
Speaker 1: Should have just run it at Sandown in coming to Australia.
3:12
Speaker 1: All the residents would have complained.
3:13
Speaker 2: As Sandown isn't fit to hold supergus. It needs dispensation
3:16
Speaker 2: every time it holds an event, So hosting a Formula
3:19
Speaker 2: one race, I mean a Formula four goes into a
3:21
Speaker 2: fence around Sandown, it rips the fence out of the turf.
3:25
Speaker 2: So my rants about Sandown are very well documented and
3:29
Speaker 2: I'll not add to them here.
3:31
Speaker 1: But you didn't expect to be ripping to that something new.
3:35
Speaker 1: The calendar is always expanding in Formula one. Whether or
3:38
Speaker 1: not we get past twenty four races another question, but
3:40
Speaker 1: certainly new destinations are always on the cards. And Greg Mathay,
3:43
Speaker 1: head of Liberty Media, says South Africa, after there being
3:46
Speaker 1: strong rumors that it could be joining the calendar well
3:48
Speaker 1: as soon as this year last year is still trying
3:50
Speaker 1: to get onto the calendar. There are also stokes in
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Speaker 1: the fire with Thailand with Stefano Domenicali said to visit
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Speaker 1: Thailand after Singapore, and even Rwanda filling that hole in
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Speaker 1: the calendar for Africa.
4:01
Speaker 2: Even South Korea has been mentioned as well. MAFE was
4:04
Speaker 2: sort of using that as an example say that you know,
4:06
Speaker 2: we've got lots of interest still and that means we
4:08
Speaker 2: can drive up prices with existing promotions, which is basically
4:12
Speaker 2: Liberty now has tapped out the number of events that
4:14
Speaker 2: it can have, so the only way it can increase
4:16
Speaker 2: its income is to jack up the price of everything.
4:19
Speaker 2: So it's looking to to I guess, create some competition
4:22
Speaker 2: and exclusivity breeds breeds cash. So that's what they're trying
4:27
Speaker 2: to do on the promotion front and roll out some
4:30
Speaker 2: of these events. South Africa unrealistic, govenent, it's Ukraine links,
4:34
Speaker 2: Thailand possible, Rwanda, possible, South Korea. We'll still got a track.
4:38
Speaker 2: I guess.
4:39
Speaker 1: I did hear a story that is diverting from the
4:41
Speaker 1: five quick news headlines that a couple of years after
4:45
Speaker 1: the South Africa the South Korean Grand Prix collapsed, there
4:48
Speaker 1: was a sports car event or something, and a colleague
4:51
Speaker 1: of mine went to the media center was covering this
4:53
Speaker 1: event and some of the sandwiches from the South. The
4:55
Speaker 1: original South Korean Grand Prix was still in frid So,
4:58
Speaker 1: you know, I don't know how much action this down
5:00
Speaker 1: there not a lot of yeah, probably still it was
5:03
Speaker 1: a packet standard. Sticking with the theme of cash. People
5:08
Speaker 1: might have been excited to say there were two cost
5:10
Speaker 1: cap breaches reported in the last financial year. There were
5:13
Speaker 1: only procedural breaches. Though Honda and Reno both engine concerns
5:17
Speaker 1: in this case, neither of them the team's outfits were
5:21
Speaker 1: found to have breached made procedural breaches against the cost caps.
5:24
Speaker 1: That's not an overspend, but still year after the rules
5:28
Speaker 1: of catching people out, it's.
5:30
Speaker 2: Just the complexity of the regulations as much as anything.
5:32
Speaker 2: I spoke to someone about this and they likinged it
5:36
Speaker 2: to me as you know, some nuts and bolts being
5:41
Speaker 2: included in a catering budget or you know, just a
5:45
Speaker 2: filing or accounting eraror made in good faith. Nothing nefarious
5:48
Speaker 2: about it. It's just the complexity is catching teams out.
5:52
Speaker 2: And keep in mind this is also the first time
5:53
Speaker 2: that power units have been included in the cost cap
5:55
Speaker 2: because this is sort of starting to forecast towards twenty
5:58
Speaker 2: twenty six when the new Rex come in.
6:00
Speaker 1: Good time to ask yourself the question have you lodged
6:02
Speaker 1: your tax return? And finally sticky with Greg Mafey, he's
6:06
Speaker 1: revealed a rumor that had been reported some time ago,
6:10
Speaker 1: but he's confirmed it that Lewis Hamilton was sniffing around
6:13
Speaker 1: the Modo GP paddict to potentially acquire a stake or
6:16
Speaker 1: an entire team. The room has been that would have
6:18
Speaker 1: been the Grazzini team, which is variously on the market
6:21
Speaker 1: depending on who is asking. But Greg says that's because
6:25
Speaker 1: Hamilton heard Liberty was getting involved and wants to get
6:28
Speaker 1: in on the ground floor.
6:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, he said, we had immediately people call up and
6:33
Speaker 2: say I want to buy a team, including people like
6:34
Speaker 2: Lewis Hamilton, the Russiale being obviously Liberty is going to
6:37
Speaker 2: acquire in the process of trying to acquire daughter and
6:40
Speaker 2: needs some regulatory approval still, and the growth in Formula
6:45
Speaker 2: one people are hoping that will be replicated in Murdo GP.
6:47
Speaker 2: So you get in on the ground floor, now buy
6:49
Speaker 2: a team for cheap, and you end up making a
6:51
Speaker 2: huge amount of money in the longer term, and Lewis
6:55
Speaker 2: has the interest outside of Formula One with Extreme me
6:57
Speaker 2: and NFL and all sorts of other interests sort of
7:00
Speaker 2: on brand for him as well.
7:01
Speaker 1: Yes, well, he's probably looking for something to replace Extremely
7:05
Speaker 1: through what's going on in that series.
7:07
Speaker 3: But that's for a different podcast.
7:08
Speaker 1: Fun all right, rap, Let's move on to the azer
7:12
Speaker 1: Vaijan Grand Prix, the first of a doubleheader of street
7:15
Speaker 1: races of quite extreme street tracks, and it was Oscar
7:18
Speaker 1: Piastri who brought the race home. Started second on the grid,
7:21
Speaker 1: couldn't get Charlotte off the line, couldn't get him in
7:23
Speaker 1: the pit stops, had to get creative, got him with
7:26
Speaker 1: a great move on Lab twenty fifty one into the
7:29
Speaker 1: first corner to claim his second career victory. That was
7:32
Speaker 1: only part of the work, though the defensive work after
7:35
Speaker 1: that was arguably more impressive. May not make the highlights
7:38
Speaker 1: real because you'd really have to look hard all at
7:39
Speaker 1: that moment when they were sliding out of turn sixteen,
7:41
Speaker 1: very exciting. It was really a classic shot. It was
7:44
Speaker 1: a really great all round performance for him to notch
7:48
Speaker 1: up his second career victory. We'll get in a little
7:50
Speaker 1: bit the implications for the constructors Championship obviously maybe in
7:54
Speaker 1: the driver's title a little bit later on, but Matt
7:57
Speaker 1: he described this. He described this as his best career victory,
7:59
Speaker 1: only had two, but it definitely was the better one.
8:02
Speaker 2: He's had a lot of wins in his career, just
8:04
Speaker 2: only two of them in Formula One in fact. But
8:08
Speaker 2: I love the fact that if you take the strace
8:12
Speaker 2: a snapshot of his development as a driver and his
8:15
Speaker 2: career over the last eighteen months or so, because he
8:19
Speaker 2: was quick over single lap in qualifying, hence he started
8:21
Speaker 2: on the front row so the raw pacers there. In
8:23
Speaker 2: the first stint, he was quick and he faded because
8:27
Speaker 2: his time management wasn't there, as it was the first
8:29
Speaker 2: part of his Formula One career and something that he
8:31
Speaker 2: said at the end of last season that he wanted
8:33
Speaker 2: to work on. Come the start of the second stint,
8:36
Speaker 2: he needed a little bit of help from Lando Norris,
8:38
Speaker 2: and I think Lando's contribution is understated in that because
8:43
Speaker 2: if it wasn't for Lando, Oscar wouldn't have been in
8:45
Speaker 2: position holding up so Jo Perez for about two and
8:47
Speaker 2: a half seconds to open up that gap. Pstre to
8:52
Speaker 2: drop back into was critical, but then once he was
8:55
Speaker 2: there he learnt from the first stint. He didn't abuse
8:59
Speaker 2: his tie too much, but was equally aggressive, and that
9:03
Speaker 2: he caught back to luc who for I need to
9:06
Speaker 2: be looking at exactly what happened there because he gave
9:08
Speaker 2: away six seconds did Theclaire in that little you know,
9:10
Speaker 2: two or three lap period around the pit stops. But
9:14
Speaker 2: then he was super aggressive, but not superrosive aggressive to
9:17
Speaker 2: the point of being reckless or dangerous. It was a
9:19
Speaker 2: controlled aggression. You know, he danced that thing in under
9:22
Speaker 2: breaks into turn one, made the Apex curb just about
9:26
Speaker 2: miss the wall on the outside it. You know, he
9:28
Speaker 2: said it himself was fifty fifty whether he makes a
9:30
Speaker 2: corner or not. And I love that. It was a
9:34
Speaker 2: little bit swashbuckling, but it was all controlled and calculated
9:38
Speaker 2: and very Oscar. It's yeah, it just goes to show
9:42
Speaker 2: his progression as a driver because he's always been he
9:44
Speaker 2: doesn't take reckless risks. You look at the way he
9:46
Speaker 2: builds up through all weekend and you look at the
9:48
Speaker 2: damage that he's done through his former one career. It's
9:50
Speaker 2: almost nil. I can think of one instance where he's
9:53
Speaker 2: put it in a fence, and that was Canada last
9:55
Speaker 2: year when he got onto a wet patch during piece three.
9:58
Speaker 2: Off the top of my head, it's the only time
10:01
Speaker 2: I can think of him damaging a car really. Yeah.
10:04
Speaker 2: So you look at everything that we saw in Baku,
10:07
Speaker 2: and it just spoke to the development of Oscar and
10:11
Speaker 2: highlighted the areas of improvement over the last eighteen months.
10:15
Speaker 2: And then to withstand that pressure that was just we know,
10:19
Speaker 2: he's he's cool as a cucumber, is Oscar, but that
10:23
Speaker 2: was just extraordinary, absolutely tru I mean, we looked back
10:28
Speaker 2: at races like the nineteen ninety two Monaco Grand Prix
10:30
Speaker 2: and the pressure that Mansell puts Center under in those
10:34
Speaker 2: closing stages, or Immuler in what was about two thousand
10:37
Speaker 2: and four with Fernando A. Lonzon and Michael Schumacher. We
10:41
Speaker 2: look at those drives on the defense of someone in
10:44
Speaker 2: an unexpected position holding back a car that by rights
10:49
Speaker 2: probably should have got through. I think Oscar's drive is
10:51
Speaker 2: probably better than those two because it was sustained for
10:55
Speaker 2: so much longer, and the way the rules are now,
10:58
Speaker 2: he couldn't get away, and that was that was another
11:00
Speaker 2: thing the FAA is thes a massive credit credit here
11:03
Speaker 2: for the drso because they've got that bang on, absolutely
11:06
Speaker 2: bang on, it created the opportunity without making it easy
11:09
Speaker 2: and offset you know the rest of the lap as well.
11:11
Speaker 2: It was fantastic and you know, let's take out Lebaijan
11:15
Speaker 2: and put that up on a pedestal because it was
11:17
Speaker 2: a brilliant race, well executed by all involved, including the FIA.
11:20
Speaker 2: And it's not often that the fa gets praised for
11:22
Speaker 2: that sort of stuff. So credit where it's due. But
11:25
Speaker 2: we walk away with an event that's going to be
11:28
Speaker 2: the race of the decade in many respects, doesn't it.
11:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think maybe this becomes a bit of a tangent,
11:33
Speaker 1: but the DRS is always okay, it's always going to
11:35
Speaker 1: be controversial. We noticed the fact that we've got it
11:37
Speaker 1: in Formula one. But there are some tracks and not
11:39
Speaker 1: even just some tracks, some events really because we might
11:41
Speaker 1: come back here next year and because the wind directions change, whatever,
11:44
Speaker 1: the cars are different, doesn't work in quite the same way.
11:47
Speaker 1: But where they get the length just right and the
11:49
Speaker 1: zones just right, that it becomes a really demonstrative part
11:55
Speaker 1: of the way the drivers are going about their craft.
11:57
Speaker 1: In these close battles. You know, the heightened extreme version
12:00
Speaker 1: is Saudi Arabia twenty twenty one, where Lewis Hamilton Maxis
12:04
Speaker 1: and we're playing games with the activation For that kind
12:05
Speaker 1: of thing. I really enjoyed seeing obviously turn sixteen being
12:09
Speaker 1: super important at this race because that dictated how effective
12:12
Speaker 1: the DRS was when you open that rearing because you
12:15
Speaker 1: were either too close or not close enough. That's part
12:18
Speaker 1: of it. But then seeing how Oscar was approaching the
12:20
Speaker 1: first two corners, that would then dictate where the turn
12:23
Speaker 1: three became a live overtaking option. You know, I think
12:26
Speaker 1: the way he played with Charlotte Claire giving him a
12:28
Speaker 1: little bit of a sniff into turn one, but then
12:29
Speaker 1: knowing he was going to never be able to seal
12:31
Speaker 1: the deal at turn three based on the way he
12:33
Speaker 1: was approaching his lines.
12:34
Speaker 3: That kind of thing.
12:35
Speaker 1: I really like that sometimes DRS gives us this really
12:38
Speaker 1: obvious example. It's really obvious insight into defensive driving because
12:43
Speaker 1: it is a lesser talked about element of Formula one
12:46
Speaker 1: maybe murder racing in general, because it's not as exciting, right,
12:49
Speaker 1: we'd love to talk about how they're going to probe
12:51
Speaker 1: the defenses and get the overtake, and obviously Oscar Piastri's
12:54
Speaker 1: pass here was a great example of that. But the
12:56
Speaker 1: defensive driving element is always really interesting to talk about
12:59
Speaker 1: because it's much more tactical. It's much more stressful, as
13:02
Speaker 1: Oscar spoke to after the race, although he wouldn't guess
13:04
Speaker 1: he was stressed looking at him, as he's always the
13:07
Speaker 1: case with Oscar, but he says it's best of stressful
13:09
Speaker 1: afternoon in his life.
13:10
Speaker 3: So there you go.
13:12
Speaker 1: I liked that element of this race, and I really
13:15
Speaker 1: like to go back to the past. He described it
13:16
Speaker 1: really well. For the second race in a row, and
13:19
Speaker 1: not only the second time in his F one career,
13:20
Speaker 1: but certainly the second race in a row, we got
13:23
Speaker 1: a look at this killer instinct, and this is something
13:25
Speaker 1: all the greats in Formula one have. A lot of
13:28
Speaker 1: other drivers also have the killer instinct, but they tend
13:30
Speaker 1: to misplace a little bit more often, watch moves whatever.
13:32
Speaker 1: That doesn't seem to happen with Oscar. Kay, it's always
13:35
Speaker 1: time for him to make mistakes, but so far he's
13:37
Speaker 1: made practically none, and I've just really like that. In
13:40
Speaker 1: the context of obviously discussion to get a little bit
13:44
Speaker 1: later on team orders, all that kind of stuff. We
13:45
Speaker 1: know he's not really the number two driver. Maybe just
13:47
Speaker 1: in the context of this season, he might have to
13:50
Speaker 1: play that role. But I really liked that he had
13:53
Speaker 1: no compunction putting that move on Lando Norris last week
13:56
Speaker 1: or in Hungary to win that race. Obviously Norris starting
13:59
Speaker 1: on pole there. The move in Leclair on Leaclaiir was
14:02
Speaker 1: exactly the same. He sees his chance. He only had
14:04
Speaker 1: one opportunity to win this race, really, and he took it,
14:07
Speaker 1: and he did not look back, and he did not
14:08
Speaker 1: make a mistake. I know he said he was fifty
14:10
Speaker 1: to fifty and maybe it really was fifty to fifty,
14:12
Speaker 1: but looking at it, at no point did it look
14:15
Speaker 1: like he was taking any risk. He looked like he
14:17
Speaker 1: knew exactly what he was going to do and he
14:18
Speaker 1: nailed it perfectly. I think that's for me almost the
14:22
Speaker 1: most exciting part of the combination of that seizing your
14:25
Speaker 1: opportunity and then yeah, the defensive drive I just thought
14:29
Speaker 1: was spectacular. It does move him up a little bit
14:32
Speaker 1: closer to the top of the championship table. Obviously he's
14:35
Speaker 1: not really in driver's title contention, but it'll be really
14:37
Speaker 1: interesting to see where he finishes relatives to charl Let Clair,
14:40
Speaker 1: who's having a bit of a second win this season.
14:42
Speaker 1: Will wait and see if that ferraramentum is maintained. But
14:45
Speaker 1: obviously then his teammate and I suppose Matt. Now we
14:49
Speaker 1: should talk a little bit about Lando Norris here because
14:52
Speaker 1: this was built as quite a big week for him.
14:54
Speaker 1: It was the week that McLaren admitted or said publicly
14:58
Speaker 1: that it would be biasing I think was word its
15:01
Speaker 1: operations toward Norris to try and boost his points tally
15:04
Speaker 1: in the pursuit of Max Withstappen. Couldn't have gone more
15:07
Speaker 1: in the opposite direction for him. Really knocked out in
15:09
Speaker 1: Q one great recovery drive. Another drive it's probably been
15:13
Speaker 1: a little bit understated and all to talk about Oscar.
15:14
Speaker 3: I thought it was really well executed.
15:17
Speaker 1: But really still not what he needed. Tell me what
15:20
Speaker 1: you thought about his drive, and I guess more importantly
15:22
Speaker 1: by the end of it he did make that statement
15:24
Speaker 1: pass on Max Verstappens and there's a little bit of
15:26
Speaker 1: a there's something in that, but ultimately scored only three
15:29
Speaker 1: points on him.
15:30
Speaker 2: Firstly taking the drive in isolation, that was a phenomenal drive. Yes,
15:33
Speaker 2: he had a car advantage, but by rights that still
15:36
Speaker 2: should have only put him mates. And it's a point
15:38
Speaker 2: that Lando himself made that you know, they were expecting
15:42
Speaker 2: eighth at best because the top four was just expected
15:45
Speaker 2: to drive away and he was the last in that train. Realistically,
15:50
Speaker 2: Okay was classified six fourth, but realistically was six. Barring
15:54
Speaker 2: that the Perez Science crash. Still a great performance. He
16:00
Speaker 2: had pace in that carr and he used it well.
16:03
Speaker 2: But it all goes back to to a mistake in qualifying.
16:07
Speaker 2: And I don't know whether this was operational on the pitwall.
16:13
Speaker 2: Orlando just made a mistake. But there was no yellow flag. No,
16:16
Speaker 2: there was a yellow flag though there was, but it
16:18
Speaker 2: would have cleared before he got there. No, so he
16:20
Speaker 2: reacted to something that was.
16:22
Speaker 1: I do think I maybe maybe we are talking about
16:24
Speaker 1: sid of the different things here, but the yellow there
16:26
Speaker 1: were there were There were sort of two stories emerging
16:28
Speaker 1: because it was confusing in the aftermath. Obviously Q one
16:30
Speaker 1: means you move on to Q two very quickly, and
16:32
Speaker 1: then it doesn't get covered enough. There were two white
16:35
Speaker 1: flags before and after turn sixteen, and then a yellow
16:38
Speaker 1: flag in the chicane and the yellow flag is it's
16:41
Speaker 1: only an electronic flag. I don't see a physical flag
16:43
Speaker 1: being waved, but there is a yellow light in the distance,
16:47
Speaker 1: so I guess that's turned probably nineteen. I guess we
16:50
Speaker 1: would probably call it, and that's where he slows down
16:53
Speaker 1: for rest about Oconn. So there was a yellow flag
16:55
Speaker 1: and he did obey it, which is why I call this.
16:58
Speaker 1: You know, you asked the question whether it's a team
16:59
Speaker 1: or driver. For me, it's a team error because there's
17:02
Speaker 1: no reason McLaren should be going out at the very
17:04
Speaker 1: end of Q one. It has the pace to make
17:05
Speaker 1: it through to Q two, it doesn't need the track evolution.
17:08
Speaker 1: At a track like this, the risk of yellow flags enormous.
17:11
Speaker 1: You know, you only need a relatively small incident and
17:14
Speaker 1: your lap's gone, your chance is gone. So for me,
17:17
Speaker 1: I think McLaren made an error here.
17:19
Speaker 2: Okay, I'll see that. I haven't seen the turn nineteen yellow,
17:23
Speaker 2: so I'll take your word on that. So parking that
17:25
Speaker 2: one to side then, you know, a very strong recovery
17:28
Speaker 2: drive whatever the case, whatever, the reasons for him being
17:30
Speaker 2: down the grid were really strong recovery drive, but still
17:35
Speaker 2: not good enough, you know, fourth and scoring three points
17:38
Speaker 2: on maxims Stappin isn't enough. He needed heading into Azerbaijan
17:41
Speaker 2: and he needed to score seven points seventy five points
17:44
Speaker 2: more than Maxim Stappin every race weekend to the end
17:48
Speaker 2: of the year, and he's walked away scoring less than
17:50
Speaker 2: half of that. So he now goes into every remaining
17:53
Speaker 2: event needing over eight points, and that's a subtle difference,
17:57
Speaker 2: seven point seventy five to just over eight. It's a
17:59
Speaker 2: subtle different, but what it is is the difference between
18:02
Speaker 2: first and fastest lap and second. Max can basically now
18:06
Speaker 2: just follow Lando home and he wins the championship. Previously
18:09
Speaker 2: that wasn't the case. So the subtle difference now is
18:13
Speaker 2: that Lando's championship. Although before it was a monumental ask
18:18
Speaker 2: to have him win everything, at least it was in
18:20
Speaker 2: his own grasp. Now it needs a little bit of
18:23
Speaker 2: a situation to happen elsewhere for him to be able
18:26
Speaker 2: to capitalize that, and it almost certainly happened. But the
18:29
Speaker 2: degree of difficulty has increased enormously. So Max, Okay, he
18:34
Speaker 2: didn't have a great drive, but I'll still consider that
18:37
Speaker 2: a good drive in the context of the championship because
18:40
Speaker 2: he didn't see much to the man that he's ultimately racing.
18:43
Speaker 2: It doesn't matter where he finishes in the in the
18:47
Speaker 2: Grand Prix. It matters where he finishes in comparison to
18:50
Speaker 2: Lando Norris in the Grand Prix, and he lost one spot,
18:53
Speaker 2: so for me, he was effectively second in that race.
18:55
Speaker 1: I think that's fair. I mean, I it'll be we'll
18:57
Speaker 1: talk a little bit about Red Bull racing it in
18:59
Speaker 1: just a second. I think it's really interesting. There are a
19:02
Speaker 1: couple of different things that I find quite interesting about
19:04
Speaker 1: this drive. One was that I was pleased to see
19:08
Speaker 1: that Norris was so good on Sunday because he was
19:11
Speaker 1: a little bit it wasn't very happy after qualifying obviously,
19:14
Speaker 1: I mean, he wasn't happy about being knocked out so
19:16
Speaker 1: far down the order, But just the situation, I think
19:19
Speaker 1: there's always a question mark until we really get into
19:21
Speaker 1: the heat of a title battle about Howlando Norris is
19:23
Speaker 1: going to handle the pressure of those big moments, because
19:26
Speaker 1: I want to see more from him in those moments.
19:29
Speaker 1: He hasn't had very old opportunities to show it, so
19:31
Speaker 1: I'm not saying that he can't do it. But this
19:34
Speaker 1: felt like a meaningful weekend and I'm really pleased to
19:38
Speaker 1: have seen him bounce back really strong with such a
19:39
Speaker 1: good drive. I think there was a little bit. I
19:42
Speaker 1: think there must have been some real satisfaction being able
19:45
Speaker 1: to pass Max, because that's sort of a little emotional
19:48
Speaker 1: boost and Max having a bad day.
19:49
Speaker 3: He wasn't.
19:50
Speaker 1: Max only really gets stoppy when he has an unexpected
19:52
Speaker 1: bad day. I think he knew this was coming, so
19:54
Speaker 1: he wasn't in too bad a mood afterwards. But that's
19:56
Speaker 1: got to have a little bit of an effect about Yeah,
19:58
Speaker 1: this is really hitting home now because those are the
20:01
Speaker 1: kind of drivers used to expect from Max, right, like
20:02
Speaker 1: you take an engine penalty in and finish comfortably. Not
20:05
Speaker 1: that he'd get a podium, to be fair, but fish
20:06
Speaker 1: comfortably in the points. Now, Lando's pulling those performances on
20:10
Speaker 1: a day that Max really couldn't get anything additional out
20:13
Speaker 1: of the car based on his grid slot.
20:14
Speaker 3: I think there's.
20:15
Speaker 1: Something in that there. But you're right, this is a
20:18
Speaker 1: I think this was almost the reality check on how hard,
20:21
Speaker 1: how steep a climb it is for Norris to get
20:24
Speaker 1: this driver's title, because you're right, it's pretty much I
20:26
Speaker 1: think Max said, I don't know if he actually knew
20:28
Speaker 1: the mats, but he needs a perfect season. Now I
20:30
Speaker 1: think he can just he'll ping it on count back.
20:33
Speaker 1: I think, if my match is right, if he wins
20:35
Speaker 1: literally every race, every sprint and gets every fastest lap.
20:38
Speaker 1: So that's inconceivable. I think it's going to say out
20:41
Speaker 1: of this world. I'd love to see it, but I
20:44
Speaker 1: think we're not going to say it. But then there's
20:46
Speaker 1: that question of how Max is going to go. So
20:48
Speaker 1: I think this is I think either way it was
20:50
Speaker 1: going to be really quite an important race, particularly in
20:52
Speaker 1: that context of McLaren saying a right, we really are
20:54
Speaker 1: going for this thing. The responses from that I think
20:58
Speaker 1: were quite positive, even if the points weren't. But I mean,
21:01
Speaker 1: this is it's got seven races to play. I think we've
21:03
Speaker 1: said it before it was always a long shot. Makes
21:05
Speaker 1: it more of a long shot. But I guess if
21:07
Speaker 1: it was already such long odds technical that doesn't change
21:10
Speaker 1: anything because i'ms are still so undelievably long. Let's talk now,
21:14
Speaker 1: Matt about Red Bull Racing, though, because this is the
21:16
Speaker 1: essential other half of the story it was set up.
21:18
Speaker 1: I guess there's a little bit of a test because
21:21
Speaker 1: on paper, I mean, his historically this is quite a
21:23
Speaker 1: good track for Red Bull Racing. But on paper, based
21:25
Speaker 1: on what we know of this car this year, this
21:27
Speaker 1: was going to be a challenge, and I guess a precursor,
21:30
Speaker 1: a curtain razor to what should be its biggest challenges
21:32
Speaker 1: this weekend Singapore Grand Prix. And I feel like if
21:36
Speaker 1: we come away from this round, maybe a little bit
21:38
Speaker 1: more confused than ever because we have On the one hand,
21:42
Speaker 1: Max really struggling this weekend. He did pin a lot
21:44
Speaker 1: of the struggles on a setup gambling made before qualifying,
21:47
Speaker 1: and maybe there was actually more in it for him
21:48
Speaker 1: to have achieved it even before that. Wow, maybe it
21:52
Speaker 1: wasn't really looking as good as it should have. But
21:54
Speaker 1: Matt on the other hand, Sergio Perez, who has been
21:58
Speaker 1: nowhere for months since April, was one of the fastest
22:02
Speaker 1: drivers this weekend. We know he loves this strike. He
22:04
Speaker 1: always goes well here. He went very well this weekend
22:07
Speaker 1: except for a crash. Obviously that's unfortunate. Maybe we'll talk
22:11
Speaker 1: about that a little bit later, but was in victory contention.
22:13
Speaker 1: Really had circumstances gone his way. Lando Norris not been
22:15
Speaker 1: in a position to saw him down the pit stops
22:17
Speaker 1: quite possibly could have won this race. So what have
22:20
Speaker 1: we learned about Red Bull racing situation after this weekend?
22:24
Speaker 2: We've learned that it's very confusing. It's difficult to really
22:30
Speaker 2: know what we've learned because we've got this snapshot of
22:34
Speaker 2: one event. We saw a reinvigorated surgey of Peris, which
22:37
Speaker 2: is fabulous to see for a multitude of reasons. But
22:41
Speaker 2: is that because he is a Baku specialist or is
22:44
Speaker 2: it because something has changed in Red Bull? And is
22:49
Speaker 2: that change an upgrade or have they rolled back because
22:51
Speaker 2: we know they're experimenting with the speck of that car
22:54
Speaker 2: to get it into a more balanced position. Is it
22:58
Speaker 2: just that they nailed the setup? Because the one thing
22:59
Speaker 2: that Max Withstappen said, and this is what you alluded to,
23:02
Speaker 2: is that the car is a very sensitive and if
23:03
Speaker 2: you get it just a little bit wrong, it's out
23:06
Speaker 2: of that very narrow setup window and it's performance suffers significantly,
23:10
Speaker 2: has Max display But then also was that Max suffering
23:14
Speaker 2: on setup or was Max having a bad weekend or
23:17
Speaker 2: is it just Max not performing around a circuit that
23:19
Speaker 2: he's typically not been brilliant. I mean to say he's
23:22
Speaker 2: not been brilliant. I know he's led the race and
23:24
Speaker 2: come close to winning it by retire failure a few
23:26
Speaker 2: years ago. But you know, by his own lofty standards,
23:29
Speaker 2: this this isn't a strong track for Max. Is it
23:32
Speaker 2: just that? So you've got to wrap all of these
23:36
Speaker 2: variables up and try and come out with some sort
23:39
Speaker 2: of answer, and it's it's nigh on impossible with just
23:42
Speaker 2: one data point from Azerbaijan. And I think when we
23:44
Speaker 2: get to Singapore that is a circuit that's very similar
23:48
Speaker 2: in many respects to Isuba Jah. There's some long straits,
23:50
Speaker 2: there's a lot of ninety degree left right hands, you know,
23:53
Speaker 2: sort of second third year stuff. There's a bit of
23:56
Speaker 2: curve riding involved. So it's it's very Baku esque in
24:00
Speaker 2: that respect. So what we see this coming weekend will
24:03
Speaker 2: tell us a lot more about where Red Bull is
24:05
Speaker 2: in the championship. But then we've got a three week
24:07
Speaker 2: gap and I would expect that between now and Coota Austin,
24:11
Speaker 2: and after that gap the US go on Prix, the
24:14
Speaker 2: Red Bull will have sorted itself out. May not be perfect,
24:18
Speaker 2: and it may not be as good as McLaren, because
24:19
Speaker 2: I still think McLaren is the best car, but I've
24:21
Speaker 2: got enough time to sort it out and sort of
24:23
Speaker 2: steady the ship a little bit. So I'm not going
24:27
Speaker 2: to write in and say that Sergio Perez has rediscovered
24:31
Speaker 2: as mojo by that token, Daniel Ricardo discovered as mojo
24:35
Speaker 2: in Miami. We saw what happened after that. It's so
24:38
Speaker 2: easy for form to come and go. So let's see
24:41
Speaker 2: what happens in Singapore. Let's then see what happens at
24:45
Speaker 2: the US go On Prix, and then let's make it.
24:48
Speaker 2: At that point we have six races to go in
24:50
Speaker 2: the championship. Five after the US go On Prix. Then
24:53
Speaker 2: we'll have a really good indication of is the Driver's
24:56
Speaker 2: Championship realistic? For Norris, I suspect it's not. If I'm
25:00
Speaker 2: brutally honest, I think Maxis Happens pretty much got it
25:02
Speaker 2: one already. But the constructors Championships still to play for. Okay,
25:06
Speaker 2: twenty points, they're fifty one points back is for Ferrari.
25:09
Speaker 2: You know, if red Bull properly screwed this up, they
25:12
Speaker 2: could finish third, So there's still lots to play for there,
25:16
Speaker 2: really is. It's not just the Driver's Championship. The constructors
25:18
Speaker 2: Championship is still there, plus all these little stories along
25:21
Speaker 2: the way, Maxis struggles, Sergio struggles, Lando swarm, team orders,
25:26
Speaker 2: McLaren so, Ferrari's rebuild Mercedes coming on towards the back
25:31
Speaker 2: end of the year as well. This is the great
25:34
Speaker 2: thing that Azerbaijans highlighted. We've got all these storylines and
25:38
Speaker 2: not a clue as to which one of them is
25:40
Speaker 2: going to be the dominant one.
25:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, there really was almost too much to pay attention
25:44
Speaker 1: to in Azerbaijan. There was so much going on throughout
25:47
Speaker 1: the grid and even in the paddock. That's gonna be
25:50
Speaker 1: really interesting.
25:50
Speaker 2: Well, my sleep cycles are a testament to my goodness.
25:52
Speaker 1: I don't even know what time it is. We should
25:55
Speaker 1: mention before we move on to the alternative Championship though,
25:57
Speaker 1: that the outcome of this round was that McLaren is
25:59
Speaker 1: back on top of the Constructor's Championship standing, so the
26:01
Speaker 1: first time in more than ten years. Last time was
26:04
Speaker 1: the Australian Grand Prix in twenty fourteen, when Jens and
26:06
Speaker 1: Button and Kevin Magnuson reversed that order actually finished second
26:10
Speaker 1: and third. When Kevin Magnuson we all threw he was
26:12
Speaker 1: on the podium on day exciting and then not so great.
26:15
Speaker 1: I guess after that or for McLaren, really they've been
26:18
Speaker 1: in the door.
26:18
Speaker 2: That was. That was because Daniel Ricardo got excluded for
26:23
Speaker 2: a fist flourish she so Ricardo finished third. So Magnison
26:27
Speaker 2: his podium on deboo, even though he didn't get a
26:29
Speaker 2: podium one day.
26:29
Speaker 1: Boo was it Magnuson or Button who stood on the podium?
26:32
Speaker 1: Though I thought it was Magnuson. Maybe I got that
26:34
Speaker 1: wrong in my head. I don't remember.
26:36
Speaker 2: Let's go and find out. Let's go and find out.
26:37
Speaker 2: What was it twenty fourteen Australia. I'm not going to google.
26:40
Speaker 1: Well, while you check that, let's just mention about McLaren
26:43
Speaker 1: that it has been a long time coming. We've been
26:45
Speaker 1: talking about this trajectory for the last few months. They've
26:47
Speaker 1: achieved it earlier than I think even we expected. We
26:50
Speaker 1: thought the first possible chance was going to be Singapore.
26:52
Speaker 1: They've out done that expectation. And like you say, it
26:55
Speaker 1: fields like with Red Bull Racing, we don't know how
26:58
Speaker 1: they're going to go this weekend. That's true, but I
27:00
Speaker 1: think even Red Bull's race for at least a difficult weekend.
27:02
Speaker 1: It seems inconceivable that McLaren won't add a few more
27:05
Speaker 1: points to it. About adding short of a disaster, Austin's
27:08
Speaker 1: really going to set ourselves up for whether or not
27:10
Speaker 1: this is a fight, or whether or not McLaren just
27:12
Speaker 1: going to run away with it, because twenty points now
27:14
Speaker 1: is the margin after Sergio Periz crashed with Carlos Science
27:17
Speaker 1: so took himself out of what would have been a
27:19
Speaker 1: pretty hefty points going position. I think it he finished third,
27:21
Speaker 1: it would have been more like five points the gap
27:24
Speaker 1: in the Constructors Championship, so that would have been interesting.
27:27
Speaker 1: So I think Austin's going to set up what we're
27:29
Speaker 1: going to be in for with the Constructors Championship, and
27:31
Speaker 1: not just for Red Bull Racing, but also because Ferrari,
27:34
Speaker 1: we won't know until Austin being a completely different type
27:37
Speaker 1: of track whether Ferrari is actually in this or just
27:40
Speaker 1: making hay while we're at street circuits, because like you say,
27:43
Speaker 1: they're not that far behind it. Orthough would have been
27:44
Speaker 1: much closer had Color Science not being wiped out of
27:47
Speaker 1: this race too, So it's really fascinatingly set up, and
27:52
Speaker 1: for McLaren this would be such a meaningful championship, not
27:55
Speaker 1: just because it's been so long, but part of the
27:57
Speaker 1: reason they've been the Doldrums for so long is because
28:00
Speaker 1: they were so committed to having a works engine partner
28:02
Speaker 1: in Honda. Now Honda has come good, admittedly, but it
28:05
Speaker 1: turns out actually maybe custom engines not so bad.
28:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, the merk does seem a decent donk, doesn't it.
28:11
Speaker 2: It's the irony being that we get to twenty twenty
28:14
Speaker 2: six and Aston Martin will be the factory Honda team
28:17
Speaker 2: that just doesn't hit the ear right. You were absolutely right.
28:22
Speaker 2: That's it was Kevin Madison that was second in Jensen
28:24
Speaker 2: Button third in Melbourne twenty fourteen. An extraordinary raced, extraordinary aftermath.
28:29
Speaker 2: I do remember it well.
28:31
Speaker 3: A long aftermath I remember that.
28:33
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, being in the scrum huddled around Christian Horner
28:39
Speaker 2: trying to work out what the hell was going on
28:40
Speaker 2: at about nine o'clock at nine. It was a long
28:43
Speaker 2: old one. But yeah, we're sitting on a knife edge
28:46
Speaker 2: as we head into the final stands and you know,
28:49
Speaker 2: we do this Asian swing and then we're through the
28:50
Speaker 2: Americas and then back to the middle east of the finale,
28:53
Speaker 2: where you know it's the seasons wrapped up in not
28:57
Speaker 2: too many weeks. We've still got seven races to go.
29:00
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly after this race, it is a long break.
29:02
Speaker 1: But then two triple headed, so you almost think about
29:04
Speaker 1: that as just two events in a weird way, and
29:08
Speaker 1: then the season will be all done. We're hopefully heading
29:10
Speaker 1: towards the thrilling conclusion. We'll also find out an Abu
29:14
Speaker 1: dabi Matt, how the Alternative Championship ends, because that's certainly
29:17
Speaker 1: been hoiding up. Some big points were scored last week.
29:19
Speaker 1: I believe, yes, quite a few points from memory. It's
29:23
Speaker 1: going to take a lot. It's going to take a
29:25
Speaker 1: lot to upend the order, but every round does count,
29:28
Speaker 1: you know, that's the point of a championship. It all
29:29
Speaker 1: adds up in time. An interesting week in Formula one, Matt,
29:33
Speaker 1: why don't you kick us off?
29:34
Speaker 2: Yeah? The Alternative Championship, it's a bit like that Drew
29:37
Speaker 2: Carey show where the points don't matter. Whose lin Whose liners? Anyways,
29:43
Speaker 2: that's what it was. So I'm going to start this now.
29:46
Speaker 2: I'm cheating because normally we get three each, I've got
29:49
Speaker 2: four cheating, but you know, the points don't matter, so
29:53
Speaker 2: it doesn't go I'm going to start this off in
29:58
Speaker 2: a really positive way, going to give Oscar Piastre twenty
30:01
Speaker 2: five hard ended points because it was just a supreme drive.
30:06
Speaker 2: I was tempted to give him fifty nine million, you know,
30:08
Speaker 2: I thought that was a little excessive, so I'll just
30:13
Speaker 2: stick with the twenty five. And I think that's fair
30:16
Speaker 2: for a race win. He didn't get the part of
30:17
Speaker 2: the fastest lap, so I'm denying him that one. But yeah,
30:20
Speaker 2: I just think I was cracking drive and it deserves
30:22
Speaker 2: to be rewarded. And I know he wants the World championship,
30:25
Speaker 2: but this is better.
30:26
Speaker 1: Yeah, look, that's fair. I was going to I was
30:27
Speaker 1: also going to give some points to Oscar. But now,
30:31
Speaker 1: but oh you but you've had four so maybe I
30:33
Speaker 1: should be entitled to a different Maybe I don't have
30:35
Speaker 1: to change it.
30:36
Speaker 2: You can give him a second lot of points if
30:37
Speaker 2: you want.
30:38
Speaker 3: Yes, I can.
30:38
Speaker 1: I was going to give him just ten points for
30:41
Speaker 1: saying in the aftermath of the race, and I think,
30:43
Speaker 1: with full knowledge of what was going on, that he'd
30:45
Speaker 1: ignored team orders. Everyone thought, what what do you mean?
30:48
Speaker 1: You ignored team orders? That his engineer had told him
30:51
Speaker 1: not to try to pass Charlotqui because he'd hurt his tires.
30:53
Speaker 1: I just liked that he brought it up in that way.
30:56
Speaker 1: I liked considering the context of this race was all
30:58
Speaker 1: about mclarentine orders and he'd have to play second fiddle
31:02
Speaker 1: that he found time in his post ract beef to
31:04
Speaker 1: say he'd ignored some but of course it had all
31:07
Speaker 1: been harmless in the end because the move was so great.
31:09
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was awesome. I as very much Oscar's sense
31:13
Speaker 2: of humor. You know, it comes across in interviews quite
31:17
Speaker 2: quite dry and almost boring at times, and that's not Oscar.
31:22
Speaker 2: I mean, you and I have known him for a
31:24
Speaker 2: long time, and when you speak to Oscar away from
31:28
Speaker 2: the cameras, and I guess from work in inverted commas,
31:31
Speaker 2: he's very funny. I actually attributed it a little bit
31:34
Speaker 2: like for cricket fans, a little bit like Ritchie Banno's commentary,
31:38
Speaker 2: and that if you listen to Richie Bno's commentary at
31:42
Speaker 2: the time, it made perfect sense. It was perfectly delivered,
31:46
Speaker 2: and it was very funny. You know, someone cops one
31:49
Speaker 2: in the boxes. That's kind of smart. It was very understated,
31:52
Speaker 2: very dry.
31:53
Speaker 1: Yes, I think if you go back and go back
31:56
Speaker 1: and watch for anyone who hasn't seen it, the green
31:58
Speaker 1: room after this race, when the driver's all watch the
32:00
Speaker 1: highlights of the rates. Thought that actually summed that up
32:02
Speaker 1: really well. Watching, Yeah, particularly when they're watching pairs and
32:05
Speaker 1: signs crash into each other. I thought his commentary there
32:07
Speaker 1: was exactly as you've described, Benoetz.
32:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, so while it perfectly fits the situation, it doesn't translate.
32:14
Speaker 2: If you write it down and read it, it doesn't work.
32:18
Speaker 2: And that's where it looks dry and boring and unspectacledly,
32:21
Speaker 2: where in reality it was delivered, you know, in a
32:24
Speaker 2: very witchy sort of way. So I think I think
32:26
Speaker 2: Oscar gets a bit of a hard, hard ride of
32:28
Speaker 2: things on that side. But my second lot of points
32:34
Speaker 2: I'm going to give Franco Cola Pinto. I'm going to
32:37
Speaker 2: give him four points because that kid, you know, he's good.
32:41
Speaker 2: He's not special, just according according to James Vows, but
32:45
Speaker 2: I yeah, he's one of these. And you occasionally get
32:48
Speaker 2: these drivers who lob into Formula one, who've had that,
32:51
Speaker 2: they've had solid careers. You know that they're not a
32:54
Speaker 2: mug by any stretch of the imagination. But I've not
32:55
Speaker 2: been a stand up, but they lob into Formula one
32:58
Speaker 2: and for whatever reason, it just clicks and Franco colo
33:01
Speaker 2: Pinto scored points in Baku. He was one point something
33:05
Speaker 2: seconds behind Alex Alboto, driver who's very highly rated and regarded,
33:09
Speaker 2: you know, as the future of Williams in many respects,
33:11
Speaker 2: and here's this kid, fresh out of Formula two doing
33:15
Speaker 2: the job. Magnificent stuff. I love to see it.
33:18
Speaker 3: That was very good.
33:19
Speaker 1: I really did enjoy the fact that he bounced back
33:21
Speaker 1: from a crash as well.
33:22
Speaker 3: I thought it was really important.
33:24
Speaker 1: And confermably, a crash around the street circuit effects a
33:27
Speaker 1: driver's confidence and that goes for Oliver Bierman as well.
33:29
Speaker 3: Well.
33:29
Speaker 1: He's driven here before. In fact, he dominated him FORMU
33:31
Speaker 1: TO two last year. I thought that was a really
33:33
Speaker 1: good weekend and considering I know, look, we had a
33:35
Speaker 1: little bit of a discussion about James Valds after the
33:38
Speaker 1: Italian Grand Prix, but I mean he took a punt
33:41
Speaker 1: on Colopinto scoring points and it's delivering so far.
33:45
Speaker 3: You know, we'll wait and.
33:46
Speaker 2: See ahead of our pine now exactly.
33:48
Speaker 1: It was a massive point scoring weekend. Helped a little
33:50
Speaker 1: bit by that crash, but nonetheless I'm going to give
33:53
Speaker 1: and keep it positive and keep it positive, I'm going
33:55
Speaker 1: to give. I'm going give twenty five points to Christian
33:59
Speaker 1: Mantle this Formula one Formula two debut this weekend. I beg,
34:02
Speaker 1: youve hardon and was really good, like had a very
34:04
Speaker 1: solid weekend. And I don't mean to say really good
34:07
Speaker 1: as if I'm surprised because you finished fifth in the
34:09
Speaker 1: Formula three Championship and it's been on such a clear
34:11
Speaker 1: upward trajectory. It's been really satisfying to see him constantly improving.
34:15
Speaker 1: But you know, Formula two in the middle of the
34:16
Speaker 1: year is a big step up, and at a track
34:19
Speaker 1: like Baku, very difficult circuit, big price for mistakes. Started
34:23
Speaker 1: on the reverse grid Poul which means he qualified in
34:25
Speaker 1: the top ten, which is really good, and he did
34:27
Speaker 1: fade he suspected he was going to fade in that
34:29
Speaker 1: sprint race, but nonetheless finishing the points in both the
34:32
Speaker 1: sprint and the feature race. It was just such a
34:34
Speaker 1: really solid composed performance for a first weekend. It's a
34:38
Speaker 1: tricky run actually to the I think it's really only
34:40
Speaker 1: going to be Abu Dhabi, the track that is familiar
34:42
Speaker 1: with the end of this one, so Katar is going
34:44
Speaker 1: to be tough, and that is a tough circuit, particularly
34:46
Speaker 1: if it's hot. We learned last year in Formula one.
34:49
Speaker 1: So he's got a big task ahead of him. But
34:51
Speaker 1: for a first weekend for and what is essentially a
34:55
Speaker 1: mission to sort of embellish his CV for a Formula
34:57
Speaker 1: two drive next year, just did such a good job.
35:00
Speaker 2: Yep, perfectly timed, great performance. And you know you've stolen
35:04
Speaker 2: some points off of my list because Christian Manser was
35:06
Speaker 2: my little wild card entry for exactly the same reasons.
35:11
Speaker 2: You know, he went in there, he drove well, you
35:14
Speaker 2: know he was. He was within touching distance of Richard
35:17
Speaker 2: for sure. You know who's in his fourth season of
35:19
Speaker 2: Formula two, off the top of my head, a guy
35:21
Speaker 2: who's you know, one races, stood on podiums, done everything
35:25
Speaker 2: in Formula two, very experienced and he should be doing that,
35:27
Speaker 2: but you know he is. And Christian Manser was there
35:32
Speaker 2: or thereabouts, which were first working weekend in an unfamiliar
35:35
Speaker 2: car and unfamiliar track. Yeah, and also his starting on
35:40
Speaker 2: pole the sprint race was brilliant for him because he
35:43
Speaker 2: got an opportuny to start from pole. He got an
35:44
Speaker 2: opportunity to lead, he had an opportunity to battle, we
35:46
Speaker 2: had a safety car restarts in there. There was a
35:49
Speaker 2: little bit of everything that is going to be so
35:51
Speaker 2: valuable for him when we get to this time next year,
35:54
Speaker 2: when he's you know, in the thick of formula. So
35:56
Speaker 2: so for that reason, you give him twenty five eighteen
36:01
Speaker 2: because I gave him eighteen. I don't actually have a
36:04
Speaker 2: rational for that, but yeah, for exactly the same reasons
36:09
Speaker 2: as you. Good job, Christian Mansel.
36:11
Speaker 1: So do you have another? Are we going for four ages?
36:13
Speaker 1: That what we're going for now? So do you have
36:15
Speaker 1: another one?
36:15
Speaker 3: Yeah?
36:16
Speaker 2: I guess I do have another one. That was that
36:18
Speaker 2: was sort of three three from me, But I've got
36:21
Speaker 2: one more up my sleeve, So let me.
36:22
Speaker 1: Have my third and then we'll go for four ages.
36:24
Speaker 1: Because I'm satisfied with this one.
36:25
Speaker 3: So I'm going on.
36:26
Speaker 1: I'm going to give fifteen points to Sergiopeians the points
36:31
Speaker 1: he should have got the third, not just because while
36:33
Speaker 1: he pulled this one out. And you deserve some recognition
36:35
Speaker 1: because like you, I do. I like that you mentioned
36:37
Speaker 1: the podcast earlier that we should be pleased to see
36:41
Speaker 1: him do well. Because he is a really solid racing drive.
36:43
Speaker 1: But we know that he's a race winner before he
36:45
Speaker 1: got to Red Bull racing as well. It's something I
36:47
Speaker 1: think sometimes people forget, and it was good to see
36:49
Speaker 1: him look confident and this is this is a repeat entry.
36:53
Speaker 1: I guess for me because I enjoyed that he said this.
36:55
Speaker 1: I think after the Italian Grand Prix as well, that
36:57
Speaker 1: he really went to pains in azerbaijand to say, no,
37:01
Speaker 1: I'm not happy Max is beating me. I wish he
37:03
Speaker 1: was ahead of me by a lot, because then it
37:05
Speaker 1: would be good for the championship. I'm sad to see
37:08
Speaker 1: him suffering so much when really, I mean, come on, Sergio,
37:11
Speaker 1: you must be taking some some some satisfaction from this.
37:14
Speaker 1: But he's really using this opportunity to say it's the car, guys,
37:18
Speaker 1: it's not. It's not your old pal, Sergio. Keep me
37:21
Speaker 1: in the seat. So I like the opportunity.
37:23
Speaker 2: Yeah, he did well. I was very tempted to give
37:27
Speaker 2: surgery points, but then I would have had to start
37:29
Speaker 2: giving too many points out to too many people.
37:32
Speaker 3: On these points are valuable, but I can't just be
37:34
Speaker 3: given that.
37:35
Speaker 2: Well, well, that's why we take so many away we
37:42
Speaker 2: do tend to. I mean, this has been an unusual
37:44
Speaker 2: episode and that we've given more points when we've taken away,
37:46
Speaker 2: so to remedy that, I'm going to take some away. Now.
37:51
Speaker 2: If we've awarded what's a fifteen sixty five, I'm going
37:56
Speaker 2: to call it seventy five points that we've awarded roughly.
37:59
Speaker 2: I'm going to take exactly that number away from Ted
38:02
Speaker 2: Kravitzky for his for his post qualifying interview with Lando Norris.
38:08
Speaker 2: It was an excruciating piece of television right up there
38:14
Speaker 2: with Natalie Pinkham and Christian Horner in where was it?
38:18
Speaker 2: Was it Manza?
38:20
Speaker 3: I might have been even the Netherlands.
38:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, but either way it was. It was not objective
38:27
Speaker 2: and reasonable reporting. It wasn't befitting, you know, the feed
38:32
Speaker 2: that goes out not just into the UK even, but
38:35
Speaker 2: but globally and highlighted an uncomfortable degree familiarity and also
38:43
Speaker 2: you know some of some fandom maybe even and bias
38:46
Speaker 2: as well. You know, Sky is being criticized at the
38:49
Speaker 2: moment four perceived bias towards the Brits, and that interview
38:54
Speaker 2: was excruciating to watch in that context. So I thought, yeah,
38:59
Speaker 2: I mean I'm trying to seriously justified taking seventy five
39:01
Speaker 2: and mentionary points away from Ted Kravitz, But I feel
39:06
Speaker 2: justified in doing it.
39:07
Speaker 1: I liked that. I don't know what was going on.
39:09
Speaker 1: I didn't see footage of the interview. I don't believe anyway.
39:11
Speaker 1: I was listening to it as qualifying was going on
39:13
Speaker 1: the first few questions, you couldn't lando, so it sounded
39:16
Speaker 1: like Ted was pretending to interview him. Oh you've been
39:19
Speaker 1: knocked out? What happened? Oh dear?
39:21
Speaker 3: So oh and it was the yellow flags? Oh no,
39:25
Speaker 3: I really I enjoyed.
39:26
Speaker 1: That element of it. So yeah, I think that's fair.
39:28
Speaker 1: And look, let me bring it home with also subtracting something.
39:31
Speaker 2: There we go the true spirit of.
39:32
Speaker 1: The alternative Championship. Now, I believe we've given between you
39:35
Speaker 1: and me. We've given Oscar Piastre thirty five points, twenty
39:38
Speaker 1: five from you and ten from me, and I think
39:41
Speaker 1: if you've got the numbers ahead of you, I believe
39:43
Speaker 1: that's right.
39:44
Speaker 2: Yes, that is correct. Yeah, we've given him three foot so.
39:46
Speaker 1: I'm going to take five times that. So that's one
39:49
Speaker 1: hundred and seventy five points off. Christian Horner afterwards, after
39:53
Speaker 1: the Grand Prix, he was ardent to cut in all
39:56
Speaker 1: question he was asked essentially alluded.
39:58
Speaker 3: He took it.
39:59
Speaker 1: He took a free show at McLaren, describing Lando Norris
40:02
Speaker 1: as obviously the number one driver because he's being five paid,
40:04
Speaker 1: five times as much as Oscar Piastri so obviously he
40:08
Speaker 1: has to be the number one and McLaren obviously has
40:10
Speaker 1: to be preferring him. It was a really wonderfully naked
40:13
Speaker 1: example of a team principle flailing around a little bit,
40:16
Speaker 1: trying to struggle land some punches on the day he's
40:19
Speaker 1: lost control of the Constructors' Championship against his chief rival,
40:22
Speaker 1: against Andrea Stella, probably the calmest man in the paddock
40:25
Speaker 1: after Oscar Piastre. I thought it was such an obvious attempt,
40:28
Speaker 1: such an obvious punch, that he deserves up many points
40:31
Speaker 1: off whatever Oscar scored this weekend.
40:34
Speaker 2: Wow, that's I like it. I like what you've done there.
40:37
Speaker 2: There's a degree of poetic justice to that. So yeah,
40:41
Speaker 2: there we go. I think Christian he has slumped in
40:44
Speaker 2: the order, hasn't He's not doing well. He was already
40:47
Speaker 2: twenty ninth in the championship. He's going to be He's
40:53
Speaker 2: going to be battling with RB towards the BA.
40:55
Speaker 1: There was something pitty about that as well, I suppose,
40:58
Speaker 1: or with that blockbuster edition of the Alternative Championship. That
41:02
Speaker 1: is all the time we have of pit Talk this week,
41:04
Speaker 1: but we'll be back next week to wrap up the
41:06
Speaker 1: Singapore Grand Prix. You can subscribe to Pittalk wherever you
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41:10
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41:12
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41:14
Speaker 1: round at foxsports dot com, dot a U and Speedcafe
41:17
Speaker 1: dot com. From Matt Castion me Michael Lomonado. Thanks so
41:20
Speaker 1: much for your company and we'll catch you next week