P1 with Matt and Tommy - Las Vegas GP Race Review

Episode Date: November 24, 2024

Another awesome race in Las Vegas crowned our Drivers' Champion, even as two relative outsiders took their places on the top steps. Plus, we had some of the spiciest teammate drama we've seen all season! Join us for our End of Season tour across the UK this December! There are still some tickets available for London, Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol right here!Sign up to our Patreon here! You'll get access to bonus episodes, our classic race podcast series, every P1 episode ad-free, early access to live tickets and merch, and access to our Discord server where you can chat with other F1 fans!Follow us on socials! You can find us on Twitter, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and TikTok. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello everybody and welcome back to the B1 podcast with Matt and Tommy. Las Vegas edition. This year we are at home, so we're bringing it to you from our studios to celebrate Max Verstapp and winning his fourth world title. Tommy is littered in Max Merch. He's got his cape on his chair. You're feeling good, aren't you, sir?

I am. Quite surprising, actually, that he won it here. I wasn't expecting it, even though I was obviously, of course, expecting the title victory after what happened in Brazil, but a cool place to do it for him to win here, so had to get the Cape, the Cape ready. Get the Cape out, he's got the Cape out. Now, before we dive into everything, Las Vegas and lots of topics to get through, a quick shout out to our UK P1 live show, end of season tour.

Tickets are on sale. It's going to be lots of fun, brand new segments, and I can't personally wait because this season has been utterly brilliant. And I cannot wait to recap all of the twists and the turns, as well as getting all of you involved as well in the show. It is a good one. Tommy, where are we going? Have you got the venues up?

We're going to Bristol. We're going to London. We're going to Edinburgh, which is sold out. Sorry about that. At Birmingham and Manchester. There you go. There'll be a link in the description. So get involved and get your tickets now.

Okay, Tommy, we're going to just dive straight into it. I wonder what's your most memorable moment? be from this particular race. Indeed. It's not Joe Guan Yu. It is Match for Stappen. That was usually banter, right? That's usually banter that you say that, but there is a genuine...

We will talk about him, don't you worry. Yeah, there is an... Yeah, come on. Like, Joe, he popped off. Anyway, Max, yeah, he won. Max for Stappen. Yeah, Mastafin won the World Championship, of course. Like I said at the start of the show, slightly surprised

because he had to... It was a kind of 50-50 chance, really. He had to beat Lando in the... the race didn't know how the Red Bull was going to go. They started on the back foot, of course, with the whole rear wing thing. But McLaren worked quite there this weekend. But I think this season, for him to win it in Vegas was a really cool thing. And it's just been a phenomenal season.

I think this season more than any, well, definitely more than any of Maxes, we've seen, even rival fans just be like, fair play. That was really, really good. because we all love seeing a bit more of a underdog story. Of course, he absolutely wiped the floor with everyone last year and had that dominant car. But this year, tough times looking like it was going to maybe not go the way and it was going to be much more of a challenge.

It very much felt game on through the middle of the season. But he just delivered an unbelievable season and he's going to be a very, very difficult driver to beat if he even has a sniff of a world championship because this year he's had the third best car at times and a lot of the season has to be said and he's still wrapped up with two races to go. Absolutely.

It's a brilliant championship from Vastappen kind of won in the first five, six races. Of course he did have that DNF in Australia which would have had, was it six on the trot? I think he would have had if it wasn't for that. First five races were. So he won four of the first five. And that's really where he stretched his legs,

getting that buffer at the beginning. We thought it was going to continue throughout the entire season. It didn't. But he just stuck in, right? He defended the championship, sometimes a little bit controversially, Mexico in particular, but also most of the time,

just delivering week in, week out. Perez didn't even have a sniff of Vastappan's pace for pretty much the entire year, if not the entire year. And that's the only real comparison we ever have with drivers is their teammate. So Max delivering another brilliant season and he just knows how to win a championship.

It's all well and good being a great qualifier or having great racecraft or whatever, but just everything about it. He's experienced as well. He's not even that much older than Norris. And yet the levels of experience when it comes to fighting for a world championship is so markedly different.

But yeah, it is a brilliant, brilliant season from Max and a question from Catherine 2001XO, where does 2024 rank amongst Max's championship wins? Is it his most impressive? It's hard to do rankings in Formula One, I think, in general, because it's never a level playing field amongst all drivers. But what I will say is that 2024 is unique in the way in which it panned out, right? It was a difficult season for Max to bring over the line purely because there are the four teams in it.

It's not as if it was a just Max versus. his teammate or Max versus one other team. There were four teams that could have easily made massive point swings each weekend. You could have had Lando winning one week and Max finishing eighth. But Max was always in there. He was always out delivering the car. So I would say it's up there with 2021 in terms of how he delivered performance-wise. Why is it so much different to actually compare the two?

Because one was against Hamilton and both of them were so far ahead of everyone else. This one, he just had to dig deep, keep his nose clean most of the time. and essentially just defend the lead that he'd managed to build so impressively at the start of the year. His championships have been so different. You go back to last year and it was very much like the Stappen had the dominant car. And even despite taking every record and doing something that people have never seen before of winning these multiple races in a row, you know, dominating. and at times even with that car last year

there was a case to be had of it it's not absolutely categorically miles ahead like we've maybe seen in like the 60s and 70s where they've got like a three second advantage on the entire field but Max delivered the championship and took all the records and was unbelievable but the biggest criticism

which always comes with these champions when they have a dominant car it's happened with Hamilton Michael Schumacher, I'm sure you know if social media had been around when Michael Schumacher's racing, it's like, oh, he's just got dominant car, all this kind of stuff. So for Max to then go into a championship

where he's not had the best car throughout the season is absolutely incredible. And that's what the fans seem to love more. We see it with the driver of the day votes when people come through the field. And we like that underdog story more. So it's incredibly impressive what he's, done, a lot of people mention, like you say, the start that he had with those five races,

but of course he's extended the lead that he had after those five races when the car's not been there. He built that buffer, of course, and that's what's probably made it less pressure on him. But the championship, he's somehow managed to extend the lead. And I think the most impressive thing about his season has been those races like your Singapore's Zandvoort where Lando is completely dominated with a

very, very quick car. Max is driving maybe third or sometimes fourth best car and he's managed to stick it in second and completely, you know, he's maximised the points almost every single race. And I think that's been the most impressive thing about this season.

And I think we're all very much expecting Red Bull to finish third in the constructors. and Max would be, I think, only the third driver in history to actually win a championship when your team is third or lower in the constructors. So incredibly impressive. It's a third time in history now. So you've got the facts there because I know before we were like,

oh, has this ever happened before? Third time in history, there has been a few times. Right, okay. Back in the 80s. Yeah, which is when all cars just exploded and didn't finish the race. So in the modern era, this is, I don't know if it's impressive or sad for Red Bull. I'm sure we'll get on to that one a little bit later.

But yes, well done to Max Verstappen, utterly brilliant, four-time champion of the world. And next year, I think, will be his toughest time yet to try and keep the sort of momentum and the winning street going. Because you just look at the pecking order and it is Red Ballant, the quickest car. You've got Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren. They could all make improvements over the winter. I am so excited to see where this goes for next year. but yes it will be very interesting to see one one little shout out before we move on actually is um respect to to liberty media as well and the fact that days gone by we've seen drivers win the

championship finishing fourth fifth sixth or whatever and they don't get anything so it was cool that they now acknowledge the fact that yeah get him in that that that celebration as well and have the where where he pulls up against a championship. and he gets to stand on top of his car and celebrate something. That's cool because it was always very, very bizarre and weird in that that kind of Bernie Eccleston era where Hamilton did it, a few others as well, like winning the championship and you're just kind of like hidden away in Park Fermay and you don't even get to see the champion. So it's a nice touch that they've done now.

It really is. And I almost think that it should be a bigger celebration on the podium than the actually. winner of the race. They need something. It should be up there, shouldn't be? Everybody is literally gunning to win the world championship. A race is one part of a 24 race calendar to win the world championship. And then when someone wins the world championship, it'd be like, oh, should we not be,

I don't know, parachuting out of a hot air balloon or something. Or I don't know, something that's like pretty big. But yes, I do agree that it's a step in the right direction to celebrate the driver's champion when they don't actually get on the podium. Now, my most memorable moment is slightly less. positive and it is the Ferrari teammate drama. Now I think we begin with what Charlotte Clare said at the end of the race, which was not broadcast, mainly probably because of the amount of swear words that was in this and also

probably the positive happy vibes of Max winning the world title didn't really want to throw this in there. But Charles said after the race, and I'm going to read out the whole thing here, yeah, I did my job, but being nice Fs me over all the effing time. All the effing time. It's not even being nice. It's just being respectful. I know I need to shut up, but at one point it's always the same. So, oh my effing God. Not the only team radio either, because there was a slightly sarcastic one as well where Carlos coming out of the pits, sorry, Charles coming out of the pits, had jumped signs because of that whole dilemma with the pit entry and things like that. Carlos was told not

to overtake Charles? What does Carlos do? He overtake Charles while Charles is trying to bed in his tires and get ready for the stint

where he did have fresher tires. And Charles said, after all of this, just a little bit of pause and then said, maybe try Spanish to Carlos

being told not to overtake. So it was bubbling at that point. And then of course sort of overspilled. And as well, there was another team radio, I think,

slightly after where Charles told to pick up rubber and then he just blew up at his engineer, but he didn't mean to. He didn't realize his team radio was on. I can imagine if he'd said even worse. Yeah, exactly.

So yes, it's, it's boiling over a little bit. I think, you know, it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of the dynamic between Signs and Leclair, because Signs is leaving. I personally believe this is Carlos saying, look, I'm driving for four, for a few more races. I don't really care. Like, you know, am I going to sit behind Charle when I'm a bit quicker coming up when he's coming up the pits? No.

is it the best for the team? Maybe not. I don't know how it's difficult to say if Char would have had a chance against Hamilton had he been able to just build up his tires, not have to deal with dirty air and all of that because he was matching Hamilton prior to that

and there was a good chance for Charles, maybe. But Hamilton did show some incredible pace at the end. So that is a question mark. But yeah, I think Carlos just decided, look, I'm driving for myself today a little bit, wanted that podium, wants to stand on the podium for Ferrari.

in his last few races. And if you're going to put him in that situation, if you're going to put yourself in that situation, sorry, are you doing any different? Maybe not. No. And it's something that we've kind of applauded other drivers to be a bit more selfish and in the past,

like your match, just happens. I guess the argument there is, it's not like it's a world championship on the line. You know, he's just overtaking him. So is there a time and a place where you do need to maybe slot in and think about,

the team because Carlos, yeah, he is moving. Does he want to, I don't think this will by any stretch of the imagination, but I don't think Carlos should burn bridges with Ferrari or his teammate, Charlerc, because in my opinion, I think he's straight back in that car when Hamilton retires personally, but that's just my opinion. That he needs to maybe think about, yeah, as he's leaving the team. not to cause too much damage. But you can see why he went for the move

because in his head he's probably thinking, well, I have been very quick this weekend, had amazing pace. And then he's come out the pits. And he knows in that situation, he's not, it's not like he's put an absolute daring move on, it's just,

he's just breezed past him because his tyres are much, much better. It's hard to know. I'm sure later there can be more analysis into data and things to see if it would have made a difference, but I'm pretty sure Ferrari were just locked in a three, four anyway. So it's, it's more whether Carlos wants to sort of rock the boat with his team before he leaves. Yeah, I don't think it's, you know, this is rocking boat

territory, really. I think it's a case of, oh, you know, Carlos didn't just basically let Charles through and fair enough, like they're all competitive races. So I do understand in some ways why Carlos may have done that. But you also look at earlier on in the race and Charles sort of put himself in that position to be fighting Carlos because of that really poor ending to the first stint where he lost more time than I think I've ever seen in a tire drop-off,

especially in God knows how many years. I genuinely thought he had a mechanical issue and that it was over because he was losing chunks of seconds every sector, let alone anything else. So yeah, it's a bit of a what could have been, I think, for Charles' race, had he managed those tires a bit better, because of course he was trying to get past through on Russell

and then it all sort of unraveled from there. But it's definitely drama at Ferrari, but they didn't come together. They have never come together, which is quite something I still cannot believe is true. And Carlos took the podium. However, next question kind of ties in, should he even be on the podium, full stop?

P1, Patreon member Quinty asks, how did Carlos not get a penalty for leaving the pit entry at the last minute? I have no idea. That is, as soon as I saw it, that's a stonewall penalty, because you cross the pit entry line, which is not allowed for safety,

let alone anything else. How is he not, I'm saying with my chest right now, one of the teams appear and he loses that podium. That's what I think will happen. McLaren will, surely, because they... McLaren have a reason to. McLaren have a reason to with the Constructors' Championship.

We've seen in the past, so if we're going on the whole consistent, thing again. You cross the white line, you get a five second penalty, don't you, or something to that extent? I remember Yuki Sanoda doing it in Austria. I know it's a tricky pit lane, but you go slightly over, you get a penalty. And I think Yuki even got got penalty points, but that's another debate whether that should be the case. But to not even be investigated is absolutely insane to me. You know, it's all well and good whether you can debate, whether you can debate, whether it should have been a penalty or not for it,

but to not even be investigated, it's clearly... Because wasn't even noted. I never saw anything that came up. So that's on the race director, not the stewards here, because the stewards, from what I can see

and what the information we've been given, there was no noting from the race direction to pass on to the stewards. And this might change. So, of course, we have any race director this weekend? Yeah.

Is he a big Ferrari fan? I'm joking. Wow. Let's say that was a joke. For context, there was a joke. Yeah, actually, crucially, if you look at the gaps between them, you give Carlos Sainz a five-second penalty, and he'd finish just a few tenths behind for Stappen,

so it would make a difference. In terms of the result, they'd lose a couple of points, which could be the difference with McLaren because they're, of course, going for the Constructors title, but absolutely insane that it wasn't invested. Did was there anything investigated in that race of the Noske's jump start? Yeah, there was there was a there was definitely an incident. I can't remember off the top of my head that was a no further investigation.

So they were there which is good to know. Yeah, they did have students this weekend. They weren't in the casino. Okay, interesting. Wow, Tom Bellingham. Really popping off. For context, Johnny Herbert speaking to a gambling site after the last race. crazy stuff

okay so I have no idea how Carlos didn't get a penalty Tommy you're the same I think the entirety of the F1 fan base have no idea how Sions didn't get a penalty it's not the only reason

they would override that is through force majeure but there is nothing to suggest there was any it wasn't avoiding a pigeon or anything like that like it was literally avoiding a pigeon

imagine maybe maybe that's their excuse I saw a ladybird on the lion I moved to avoid it because the reason Carlos didn't go in was because Ferrari said they're not ready for him, right?

And it was a last minute call. That's my understanding. But you kind of have to like... That's even worse. It's not like he even made a mistake into the pit entry. We've seen it as Singapore so many times, right? Where a driver will overcook it into the pit entry, run over the curb, and then get a penalty. You can't do it.

It's literally the whole point of the line is that once you're in, you're in. It's a pure safety aspect. Yeah. And that one was so much sketchier than Singapore. My goodness me. Oh, yeah. Way more than, yeah, like your Austrians and a... other times where people have just like dipped a wheel on the white line.

You are darting back onto the track. It looked very dramatic from, you know, the camera angle that we first saw it because, you know, he's going off into the dust. I imagine if you'd lost control of the car there and slammed into the, I know it's all ifs and butts and butts, but those white lines exist for a reason. Once you're committed into the pits, like, you're Esteban Ockons, even if the team don't turn up, you have to drive through. Okay, next question.

and away from Ferrari now, P1 patron member AMG Piper. How underrated has George Russell been this season? Blown Lewis away in qualifying and shown he has the racecraft to beat him. I would say George has been underrated this season. I think he's done a phenomenal job, especially as AMG Piper says here in qualifying.

He's destroyed Hamilton in qualifying and over one lap and whatever the reason you believe that is for, the stats don't lie and that's exactly what George has done. And that's the kind of driver I think George is. he excels on a Saturday, maybe lets a little bit go in the race on the Sunday. We saw that with Hamilton's incredible charge in that last stint to close the gap.

But George is putting himself in these situations because he's qualifying so well, because he's missed a Saturday. And I would liken him a little bit maybe to Oscar Piastri, where I would say Lando probably has better race pace most weekends in comparison, but Oscar puts himself in those situations to win races.

He can be in front of Lando or who, and cause problems and get a great result. And this is, I think, same with George, but this shouldn't be seen as a negative. This is just the way the driver is and they're utilising their strengths really well. And I think as George continues to grow

and becomes a team leader at Mercedes next year, that he's only going to get better, in my opinion. So it's a brilliant season from George. He's up against Hamilton. Like, I know Hamilton's not having the best season of his life, but it's Hamilton. So well done, George. I know if you'd have said

I know there's still a couple of races to go and it's very close between them but George Russell at the moment is on target to beat Lewis Hamilton the World Championship so that would be of their three years together George Russell will have beaten Hamilton twice in the championship standing with a disqualification this year

with a qualification this year and for you know you can argue and there's many reasons why things happen in Formula One and there's different, you know, things going on behind the scenes. But it's still a remarkable achievement to do something like that. And, yeah, George Russell's qualifying pace is exceptional. I think he's one of the best qualifiers in the sport, along with Charlotte Clare.

And I think because his qualifying is so good, there is obviously the joke that if George started first, Hamilton started last, they'd be together on track. that is the nature of Formula One a lot of the time though with just the you can only get what you can out of the car and I do think that Hamilton catching up in the race is more down to Hamilton's great race pace than it is George not being a good racing driver he's obviously less good at the races than is qualifying

that is his biggest strength but there's marginal right this is like a huge and over a season you know without that disqualification which was what a few a tiny amount that wasn't going to make any difference to his result. He could have had three wins this year, the same as Lando, and that Mercedes has definitely not been a very good car for most of the season. So look, it's another situation where the Mercedes has been rarely good,

had one good result for the first time in ages, and George has taken the win. So incredibly impressive what he's doing and doesn't get enough credit for what he's doing against Hamilton even if Hamilton is in the twilight of his career. He was hyped up when he was at Williams for a reason. Exactly.

And it was a flawless performance from George the whole weekend, sticking it on pole, and he just managed the race beautifully. Of course, Lewis was catching him in that last stint. I feel as though some of that is why would George push when he's 10 seconds clear anyway? And I think he demonstrated that. When Hamilton got within about five,

he then stretched his legs a little bit and used a bit more of that tire. So that's the perfect way to drive a race. It's not going flat out every single lap, especially with how the tires were sort of degrading and blistering and graining and everything else during this Grand Prix. We saw it with Charles. So, yeah, it was a very level-headed drive from George. And we didn't see him.

That's when you know it's a decent drive when you don't get shown him until the end of the race. Even though Hamilton wanted to make it clear in his interview afterwards, that Arawan would have been a breeze. It would have been a breeze. It would have been a breeze, had he qualified better. Well, let's get into Hamilton. At Mateo underscore AFC. Are there Lewis is washed, Waffle comments going to end now?

I mean, those kind of comments, I think, were, yeah, as Mateo says, waffle anyway. Of course, Formula One, I think a lot of sports fandoms is very knee jerk. It's, oh, someone's had a bad performance, they don't know how to drive anymore. I will say that Hamilton, of course, over the course this season, has. been pretty, for his standards, poor in qualifying. And that's what's cost him almost every single time is the fact that he's not starting near where George is. And George has been able to really get himself in the mix.

If Hamilton had had George's qualifying performances, I think he has numerous wins this year. And I think you said, Tommy, I think it was around Silverstone maybe, that if Hamilton can be anywhere near the front, he's probably going to win or at least have a great chance of winning. And he showed this today. Had he started on the front row, as ifs, and maybes.

But yes, Lewis would have had a fantastic chance of winning the race. And I think it would have been a great battle between him and George. My opinion, Lewis, yeah,

probably would have come out on top. But he didn't. He started 10th. He made two mistakes in Q3. And a P2 is still a phenomenal drive. He kept his head and picked his battles wisely. And it was a one-two for Mercedes in the end. So it's,

It's a weird sort of what could have been for Hamilton in the sense that you could tell he was frustrated on the podium and in the sort of post-cooled-down car that we saw. But still a fantastic result for him and the team. Yeah, it was a great, great performance to get back through the field. You know, maximised what that car could deliver to get to get the one too, but he has to sort his qualifying out. I mean, to say he's washed is a massive, like you say, knee jet reaction and over-exaggerating. but he does absolutely have to sort is qualifying out, particularly next year

when he's going against Charler LeClaire because we all know how good Charles is in qualifying. He's going to have to sort it out because he can't be playing catch-up in the race every single weekend. I'm sure we'll hear our Hamilton's finished again

when in Qatar probably qualify like 8th or 9th or something while George is up in 4th and then they'll finish together on track and after the race it's like, oh look, Hamilton's really good. It's just the nature of how the season's gone. And Hamilton himself has admitted that he just cannot get his head around qualifying this year. And that is what cost him so much.

Because if he qualified better, I think he's comfortably being George Russell in the title. Because, yeah, he's a much better racing driver. But it's qualifying to say, letting him down far, far too often. It certainly is. And going up against Charlotte Clare next year, who is known as one of the better qualifiers, that will be interesting to see

if there is that same discrepancy that we've seen this year against George. Still speaking about Mercedes, at Mr Bear 15. Do Mercedes have a dominant car again? No. No, they don't. They just worked in low-grip,

cool, cold conditions that suited their car. George, literally, you can roll it out every time that Mercedes are quick. In free practice, I'm pretty sure they were like, I don't know why we were quick. George, literally in his post-race interview, I'm not sure why we were quick, but it's great, and we've won.

Like, this is literally the fundamentals of this Mercedes car is that they don't have a clue what makes their car quick and what doesn't. And that's why we see such a big difference in pace and performance between Formula One weekends. So no, they don't have a dominant car. But if they did race around Las Vegas every weekend, then maybe they would. But sadly, well, not sadly. It's the 2024 season.

We've had an amazing four-team scrap at the front. So no one has a dominant car. No, they don't. And I wouldn't be surprised. Get to Qatar. They're the fourth best quite comfortably. Oh, yeah. Without a doubt, it's going to be hot there.

Because it's completely different. It's hot conditions. They're going to struggle there. And you can't, there's been nothing changed other than, than the weather really. It's no surprise perhaps that, you know, the other, one of their other kind of winds

came at Silverstone when it was particularly cold in the summer and the car, I think Toto himself said the car comes alive in the cold condition. So have 10 degree track conditions for the whole season and Mercedes are probably winning the World Championship, but that's not how the season is. You have to have a car that works everywhere and that's very difficult for it to happen.

but I think the most embarrassing thing for Mercedes is like you said that they kind of, when they have a great car, it's almost embarrassing to hear the drivers go, I don't know why. That's not really a good thing and that's what is making it so difficult for them. It's not a car philosophy that's going to win you a world championship. It's going to win you races. You're going to have great weekends now and again, which we've seen from Mercedes this year. but they're also miles away in the Constructors' Championship, despite having a 1-2, they still can't challenge the top three. And that just showcases exactly the problems that Mercedes have. I mean, I'm sure they'll take it over-finishing 4th,

and it being a dull season for them. They've won 4 races, McLaren have won 5, and they're nearly 200 points behind them. It's crazy. It's ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. Okay, next question, and you mentioned McLaren, at Craig Tilly 95. Was McLaren's drop in performance today

a result of them not being able to use their mini-DRS rear wing? I think there are a lot of factors when it comes to McLaren's lack of performance. It is such a unique track and a unique condition at Las Vegas. I think it's more around these cold temperatures and McLaren just not being able to get into the window

with their tyres. Of course, not having the mini-DRS, I'm sure, had some small impact. I think Lando kind of suggested that in his post for his interview of being like, well, it's not that big of a deal kind of thing. Of course, McLaren used it in Baku for a reason, and I'm sure they would have had a use for it in Vegas. But it's not the be all and end all for McLaren this mini DRS, in my opinion.

I think it's more just the fact that, yeah, it just did not work in those particular conditions. But Mercedes did. That's just the way this season has gone. I think it is a complete reversal of everything we mentioned about Mercedes with McLaren that they don't work in the cold. They didn't last year. They struggled. We'll get to Qatar.

Wouldn't be surprised if they were quickest again. Hot conditions, that kind of track. They were quick last year in Qatar. They were very quick. Yeah, Oscar obviously winning the sprint there, despite Max dominating for much of the season. So, yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if we get back. and McLaren are fastest in Qatar is just the way this season has gone

where certain cars suit certain tracks McLaren have just brilliant it's brilliant yeah I was we were talking on stream actually it's the first time in history that seven different drivers have won multiple races which sums it up just absolutely incredible

and more of it really is just never just don't touch anything one thing that's quite funny actually is just what I mentioned I've just seen on Twitter that Zach Brown went to congratulate Max Astappen and Max went, hey, and just like you said, you know, I can only win in the fastest car, right?

Was he, I assume he was he a jazz, right? He was joking, yeah, yeah. They were like laughing and hugging about it, but just kind of threw his words back at him there, it's quite funny. Oh, we love it. We love the little jabs that happened up and down the F1 paddock. Okay, so yeah, McLaren probably will bounce back in Qatar, if we're being completely honest.

One thing before we move on for McLaren. Big, big kind of point swing in the constructors as well for Ferrari. I think I'd still see McLaren probably winning it. Just I do think they'll bounce back in Qatar and their car will suit it. But it would be an absolute disaster if they come away with neither title this year with the car that they've had. it would be absolutely shocking, to be honest. Yeah, I think Qatar is going to be the big one for McLaren there. We expect them to be fastest, I think just from just looking at last year and whatnot.

But if they don't, if they're challenging Ferrari, if they don't gain points on Ferrari and Qatar, then I think it's absolutely game on. I think Oscars had a little, gone a little bit off the boil these last few races. We've not seen that same excellent driver, especially in qualifying. I think that's where we've not seen Oscar really excel in these last few races. But let's see, Qatar, I'm sure he'll want to bounce back, especially as you say, after winning the sprint last year. Next question, DJ Ferrari F1.

What else can Yuki do to get the Red Bull seat? Ding, ding, ding, roll it out once again because Yuki Snowda had another brilliant performance, didn't he? Ninth for Yuki. Behind Holcombberg. Behind Holcombberg, indeed. Head of Perez. And the head of Perez.

So that's, I mean, that just tells you all you need to know. Three-tenths ahead of pairs in the end, so it was very close indeed. But, yeah, it's, I don't know. I can answer it. He could basically just have lots and lots and lots of sponsors and sell lots of merchandise, maybe. money um because yeah he's he's absolutely demolished lawson in that race is doing incredibly well there's a lot of pressure on him when lawson came in uh could he still deliver and so far he's answered that and for him to be finishing ahead of perors in the races um in the inferior junior team

there there is nothing more he can do like he's he's driving exceptionally well It's whether there's so many politics in Formula One and I think the reality is that maybe 10 years ago, he's definitely getting that seat because Red Bull were very much junior, impressed, you're in. But it's changed a bit since that with the bringing in of Perez. They brought back Daniel Ricardo. Their philosophy has changed quite a lot.

And they're almost, they seem like they're a bit confused about what they want these teams to be. And you do wonder if part of the philosophy, of that as well is the power struggle between your helmet Marcos and your Christian Horner's and who's actually in charge here and who wants what because it's obviously quite clear that Christian Horner will will back Perez forever even if you know he's finishing 19th every race next year or whatever he'll probably still be like get another contract in um so yeah yes indeed um and that's where perhaps if he doesn't get the opportunity he will absolutely look elsewhere uh because

because I'm sure he believes in himself that he can be more than just a second team driver, which is kind of what R.B will always be behind Red Bull. So, yeah, Yuki's done another fantastic job up in P9, doing a much, having a much better outing than Lawson who ended up finishing 16th in the end. So yet, well on to Sonoda. If he finishes strong, has a great Abu Dhabi test,

maybe just maybe. He'll gain 12 more sponsors and then be signed for Red Bull. Okay, next question. Will's Toy Clear? Is Vegas actually a good venue or just a good track? I'm trying to understand this exactly because I would say if we get good racing, then it's... Vegas stands for a lot of things that Angers Formula One fans.

The main thing being that it's just pricing people out, and I don't particularly agree with that. But when we look at it from a racing perspective, I think it's one of the best tracks on the calendar now. You know, we've seen it twice. Both times we've had awesome racing. This race, I think some people believe it was great. Some people don't.

I thought it was brilliant, especially the first stages of the race. So much overtaking. Yeah, it did settle down a little bit, but that's natural. It's Formula 1. We're not going to get absolute bangers. And I think had Russell not got that 10 second gap right at the front,

right at the start, we probably would have seen a fight for the lead all the way to potentially the last lap. See, I think, think it's a, it's a stunning thing to look at. You know, you know why Formula One are there. It looks awesome from an aerial perspective. You can even see the, the hotels and Vegas as the, the drivers are driving down there. And it's, it's, it's an accomplishment for Formula One to be there. You know, you think, how the hell are they doing that? And, and they are. So you have to commend them

in that sense. And yeah, it's delivering great, great racing as well. So I'm not against Vegas continuing to be on the calendar. It's going to be anyway. It doesn't matter if I like it or not. They're going to sign it for a thousand years. But yeah, it's good to watch. It shows how good the race actually is and provides the fact that I think every fan was very much, and even drivers, New Mexico Sappen was very outspoken about it, wanted to hate the race, think it's the worst thing that's ever happened to Formula One. And I understand the frustrations of everything else, like the ticket pricing and even the fact that we, what seemed like longer than the race watching them drive to a different part in some

Rolls Royces while we wait for the... It's different though, isn't it? That's kind of how I see it. It's like it produces different weather conditions, the different kind of celebratory introductions. I don't know. It just spices it up a little bit in a weird way. I actually think you'd make a great finale personally because you're always going to get an excited.

You've got the glitz side that Formula One want for a finale, but it always will. also produces great racing as well. I think there was one moment early in the race where there was the camera looking down the kind of main strip into that corner and it just stayed on the corner as you watched five different people overtake into that corner.

There's almost a debate for, and I know it is unique and we can like joke about it, but maybe it's not even just running in cold conditions. I know they've been so desperate to get rid of things like tire warmers and things to make the racing better. You do wonder, I know the drivers hate it because the last thing they want is less grip, but it's been something that's happened in Formula One forever that when the track conditions are

slippery and tricky and that's why wet races were so good back in the day, that you actually want them to have less grip because that's when there's more overtaking, there's more mistakes, people run wide at certain corners and then someone can catch them and there's more chance to make mistakes rather than just being on perfect optimum running temperatures and every single apex they're hitting and they can lap within a tenth of every single lap that they're doing. That's what I think makes Vegas so good

and why it produces such good racing is because that it is unpredictable for the drivers, even with the fall off that we saw today, it's unexpected. You can run all these simulations and things like that. And I thought that maybe this one might be worse because the teams have figured it out now.

You know, we won't see that same level. But no, we still had problems with tyres, tire wear again. Yeah, it was awesome. Yeah, as well, us as fans, we don't want to see metronomic demonstrations of Formula One cars. We want to see drivers fighting the car. Having oversteer moments, understeer moments, lockups, and really testing their ability to adapt to the conditions in front of them.

That's what makes wet to dry races so exciting and things like that. Obviously, we don't need that every time, but just having track conditions like that are brilliant to watch. Last year fans definitely weren't going, oh, look at that RB20. What a fantastic machine. I enjoy watching it just trancing the field. It's what an incredible feat of engineering, which of course it is, but deep down, and we want to see them going side by side and racing each other.

Exactly. That's what we watch it for. That's why we watch. Indeed. Okay, good stuff. Let's go to biggest winner, driver or team. Who gets biggest winner? Is it Max Verstappen for winning the world championship?

Is it George Russell for demonstrating a fantastic, flawless weekend? Definitely up there, I would say. Is it Paris for getting points on the board? is it Joe Guan Yu for showcasing a nice little P-13 and at one point we genuinely thought he might have scored points but then just disappeared. He pitted and then never made it back through like 15 laps to go.

I was watching Joe's race more than anyone else in the field because I was so intrigued to see whether he was going to score a point or not and I think he pitted with about 15 laps to go and he dropped to about 16th and it was just too much work to do. Yeah, he finished behind all the drivers that were on kind of unique and different strategies like Alonzo and Magnuson and stuff. I mean, Bottas finished 18th in a lap down. So that is, I mean, driver ratings.

Lock yourselves in everybody. I'm going to say George Russell was biggest winner. Maybe even Mercedes. Mercedes is a whole team, just to bag a one to when they had a rare moment for them to just have a great car and they delivered the maximum, which is kind of what, despite all the problems that Mercedes we've said in championships gone by, that They know how to get the match from a weekend when their car is good or even not good. Absolutely. Let's go to biggest loser. I think it's Alpine.

I think Alpine have had an absolute stinker. And I apologize for what is coming very shortly when we reflect on predictions. But Alpine's 17th and a DNF after a second and third in Brazil. Now I knew there would be a tail off. But that was especially when it, you know, Gassie started third, less than. forget. He had a great opportunity to score some massive points and they came away with nothing. And the fact that... And Knock-on came in the pits and didn't get serviced. Yeah. And Holcomburg scored points as well. So they've dropped back to seventh. So the fight for

sixth is on. Can't wait to see the graphic in Hibb-dabby. Has, 50 points. Alpine 49, R.B. 46. So very close between them all. It's a banger. It's an absolute banger. Okay, let's now reflect on our predictions that we made on Wednesday to see how we did. It is 50 all. Biggest good surprise. I said Lando Norris and it is surprising that he didn't win the championship. I'm kidding. No, it's sadly not. It was a very anonymous weekend for both McLaren drivers, really. They were nowhere near the hunt. So sadly, no points for me. Big a good surprise I went for Charlotte Clare, which again, no, although at one point, which feels forever ago now.

I thought, wow, Charles could witness when he got into second place. And then he was fighting George Russell as well. Nearly put the move in, but didn't quite do it. And then suddenly his tyres just went, no, done for the day. Quite literally done for the day. I was genuinely, you were about to cook with some points here if Charlotte won that. But sadly did not. Biggest flop.

We're back. We're so bad. Alpine was my prediction and I'm sorry for Alpine I'm not happy about the fact that you've had a terrible weekend but I'm happy that scored a point and the flops happened again

we're going to have to tally up exactly what sort of flop score we've got this year because I think it's going to rival last year if not surpassed it to be honest with you Tommy yeah you did this one as almost like a bit of a joke

that they finished second and third and you could kind of argue it even if they finish lower but if they'd finish like a lot and 12th, I wouldn't have taken it or even my 11 to 13th. But it was horrendous. It was so bad for them.

And I will say as well, actually, I know someone listening out there is probably totted up all of my biggest flock points. But if you can just send it over to us, if you have, I would be very interested to find out just how many points I've scored this year so far. Yeah, it's going to be similar to last year where we're very even on points, but like 90% of your points has come from biggest flock. I bet it is as well. So 50, 50, but 40 of those are.

biggest flop. Yeah, so my biggest flub, I went for Oscar Piastri, which came in big time. I nearly went for McLaren. Did it, though? Yes, it did.

He finished eight seconds off Lando. Where McLaren is not that great? Exactly, and I said McLaren. No, take it back. Lando did pit for a set. He said McLaren went that great. He jumped the start as well. Yeah, he had a shock over weekend.

And McLaren, I did say when I went for Oscar that I thought McLaren were going to struggle and yeah it did. They did. They did. Yeah. You were like, they're going to struggle and then you saw practice and went, oh God, maybe not. I'm washed.

This is completely finished. McLaren are back and then they delivered a very poor performance sadly. So yeah, okay, well done. You cooked on that one. Pole position. I went for Lando Norris. Okay. So I will stop backing Lando in the predictions because it never comes true.

And when I don't back in, it comes true. When they're really quick in practice. Oh, no. I've got a serious deliberation in my head. now of whether I back Lando and McLaren, because in theory, they should be quick. Oh, no. So let's see if I'd try and make it happen next week. Pop's the show I went for Charlotte-Alaire.

And no, did not happen. Nope, not even close. I was really confident about that one, but no. Yeah, he wasn't even, I mean, he got outqualified by his teammate by like three and a half tennis as well. So good times. Our top three, in third place, I went for Carlos Sines, which is correct, as of right now. As of, yeah, TBC, correct. As of right now.

There's no investigation. There's nothing from what I've seen. But I imagine an appeal is coming. I also went for Carlos Sites, P3. Okay, well done. So to be fair, it doesn't actually change. It won't make a difference. Yeah. Second place I went for Charlotte Claire, which looked, I mean, possible. And I thought it was either second or first that would be on the cards. Not fourth. So good. I went for Max Verstappen, which also looked like it might come in at one point. One point, we thought it might have won. We were like, okay. Crazy. I think a lot of people maybe because the start of that race was so good and then got less good. It's almost like the opposite way around to what you normally want for a banger. But I think it was a fantastic race from that. And you kind of look back. I think if you watch the start now, you'd be surprised at the kind of order because, yeah, I thought, oh, wow, Max is really in it there. And then it looked like he had nothing in the second stint to drop back. So, but no points. did not come true and in first place

I went for Lando Norris I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I backed him I believed in him I thought he was gonna hush the haters and all that good stuff I genuinely thought he was gonna put in a great performance and sadly McLarencar was nowhere

and I'm for Charlotte Clare thanks mate stop stop doing that now you're doing don't you need to stop putting Charlotte I'll stop saying Charlie you stop saying Lando and then we might get some points deal maybe we'll see

I need to beat you in the predictions so I'll do what's best for me I one crazy prediction Joe Guan Yu doesn't qualify last and my God did he take that literally he was like okay now I'll go 13th then I mean goodness I should have I could have biggest good surprised him

and it would have come in yeah you would have got it but I didn't I didn't I didn't I said I kind of made it up on the spot if anything so Mike what was it so actually you made me change the one thing that didn't come true that's so good

yeah yeah I said Max doesn't win the time title this week. You went, no, you can't have that. I was like, Sergio Perez out in Q1. No,

you can't have that. That's even worse. And then I went for show Guanyu doesn't qualify last. Boom. Incredible. I mean, look,

fair play, Joe. And I think you even messaged me after Bottas had a penalty and you went, look, it's locked in.

Yeah, I was like, you're expecting to, loopholes, McGee, here we go. Joe didn't need a loophole. That's how good he was

this weekend. Speaking of loopholes. my one crazy prediction was Gasly has damage during the weekend So was it like word for word What was because I know you've written that into the sheet Okay What did you say word for word in the predictions

Was it? I said Gasly will get damage Or something Shall I actually just watch it back and see what word for word Of what you said Live reaction for what I said Because there were some people in the Twitch chat They were like no

To be fair more people voted for you To get a point for this Although it was 65% But it was close. 63, but anyway. I'm kidding. Rounding it up. Yeah.

What I will say, absolute shout out for the camera operator who I thought, you know, is it going to happen? Zoom's in on his car broken. 100%. If you thought that, I think people would thought I was in control of that camera because it properly just went, there's a hole in that car. Zoomed in. Yeah. They watch predictions. That guy's going to message you, be like, you're welcome.

Right. What did I say? Crazy prediction. That was so annoying as well because in the race, we were looking at the replay from the back of Gasley's car going, if there's any damage, then I'll take it. And I was like, nope, can't see anything, nope. And then it went into the garage. So why, when do they ever zoom in on an engine failure and look at the damage of the car?

They just don't. We would have got away with it if it wasn't for that pesky cameraman. Right. Okay, here we go. Okay, what's yours? Mine is that Gazley gets damage to his car during the weekend. Oh yeah, because it's been hyped up that he's not had any damage the whole year. Every time a stat like that gets hyped up on Twitter, it goes straight away. Oh, you're such a little loophole jumping through.

That's perfect. That is perfection worded. Thank you. Well, if you disagree with that in the YouTube comments, please feel free. Actually, no, you can also comment on Spotify these days, which I've seen, which is very exciting. So just let us know if you think Tommy's washed, because I would be there leading the, leading the front with that one. I'll find that screenshot

that was brilliantly prepared by the camera operator that zoomed in to make sure I got the point. Thank you camera operator. So, so annoying. Okay, three crazy predictions from you lot. Citrus F1 has score more points than Mercedes.

Oh, wow. Mercedes 1-2, that's crazy. Speedy pastry, every car that starts also finishes the race. Nope. And B&E, Joguan you win the points. My God, that man was cooking at one point. That would have been unbelievable.

That would have been the best prediction by a country mile of anything that's ever happened. Yeah, definitely. Oh, so close. What went wrong? What went wrong? He pit and then all the pace went, sadly. But hey, great result and great performance from show all the same. And that is it. We are done. The podcast is finished for Las Vegas. We have two races remaining Qatar next weekend. Very excited for that. We'll be live as always. Remember as well, P1 Live Show, UK, end of season, special. If you want to treat yourself for Christmas, come along. It's middle of December.

Five venues in the UK. We'd love to see you there. Tommy, what are your finale thought? Final thoughts? I've never been more hyped for drive ratings after watching our boy, Joe, deliver the goods. Can't wait. Yeah, oh my goodness me.

You're going to see some numbers for that one. His average is going to go through the roof. He's going to win the prediction. I'm going to leave my 100 out of 10. Well done. again to show. I feel like we've complimented him a lot in this podcast. And yeah, that's it. We'll see you very soon. Funniest tweets and of course drive ratings. And then we're back into another weekend of Formula One. Thank you everybody. As always, we'll see you very soon.

Lots of love. Take care. Bye! Bye. Well, Vegas is done. That was an early morning, wasn't it? That was an early morning. You think you're not going to do your chores? Well, think again as I Google household chores. Don't forget to change your alarm so it doesn't weigh your up early for Vegas tomorrow if you don't have to get up for work. True. Is that a chore or is that just a sort of like life convenience that you've shared with everyone there, Tommy?

I think you need to just do, you need to wipe your countertop. Those countertops are looking very dirty. You cooked dinner last night, didn't you? And you haven't put the plates away. Go and do them. Shout out to Simon that messaged me on Instagram and said, tumble dry was ready when you said it in the podcast. Yes. Oh, I love it. That is absolutely brilliant. I don't even know how this became a thing. I don't. When did it start? I hope the meal prep's

going well for the week, by the way. Looks pretty healthy, actually. So, so well done for that. And yeah, Max Verstapp and Champion of the World. Congratulations, Tommy. Don't care. Whatever. Bye. P1 is a Stack production and part of the ACAST's creator network.