P1 with Matt and Tommy - Our reaction to the Aston Martin F1 car launch

Episode Date: February 12, 2024

Annoyingly, Aston's hasty car launch meant we weren't treated to any Lawrence Stroll memes - but we got a nice livery out of it! Let's check in with the Brits ahead of their Silverstone shakedown. Plus, we plan the dream launch for our 2032 P1 car!WE'RE GOING BACK ON TOUR! Tickets for our April live shows are available right here: https://www.tegeurope.com/events/p1-with-matt-tommy/You can sign up to our Patreon here! You'll get access to exclusive episodes you won't hear anywhere else, every P1 episode ad-free, full driver interview videos, early access to tickets and more!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 P1 podcast. Today we are reflecting on another car launch and today it is Aston Martin's turn who decided, you know what, the Super Bowl was on last night. We're going to stick a car launch on at 8am. We're going to reveal the car at a very early time. So a lot of people struggling out there. Fair play if you did tune in. apparently there's more to come.

So as time of recording, there's more content to come throughout the day. I think they have unveiled it due to the fact that they are shaking down the car at Silverstone today. Mercedes in the past have just been like, nah, car launch. Car launch is happening at this time, but we are going to shake down earlier so everyone knew what the car would look like before the car launch. Astor might have done it the right way around, Tom Bellingham. Yeah, that's clearly why they've done it because we saw that many times. like you say with Mercedes that 8 a.m.

They'd be out going around Silverstone in the new car. All the pictures would end up on your Sky Sports and everything like that. And we'd all have seen it. And then they're like, right, our launch is at 12. And then the drivers take off the cover. And it's the same car that we've just seen going around the track for two hours. So that's clear why they've done it. Yeah, it was short and sweet.

Short and sweet. Now, before we dive into any more, we need to let you know. that our P1 live show has returned or is returning, whatever the right tense is. Because yes, on April the 11th, 12th and 14th, we are going back on tour in the UK. Crazy to say out loud. We go to Bath, Cambridge and London. London is a massive, massive event for us especially because it is at the O2 Shepherdsbushaboard's empire. What I will say, tickets are selling incredibly fast.

I'm pretty sure Bath is pretty much sold out, if not sold out already, which is madness because the tickets went on sale only a few days ago. So if you do want to come to the P1 Live show where we basically will reflect on the season so far, we'll do some audience games with prizes. We'll have a lot of fun. It's not just a podcast. It's a show. And I think people have had a great time before, Tommy. And yes, it's a very exciting time and I can't believe we're going and doing a few more. Yeah, I can't believe we do these things.

They've been really fun and people seem to enjoy them. So get involved. Good marketing, good selling. That was great. Get your tickets now. Right, so let's start with our first thoughts on the Aston Martin. So of course, the car launch was launched very quickly indeed. What's their tagline?

No distractions or something. No distractions, which it did kind of tease. Yeah, it did tease that they were going to do something like this where it's just kind of like, here's the car. then. And that's what they did. They went, is the car then? No two-hour Lawrence Stroll pre-chat, which, you know, I was a little bit disappointed about, just purely because the memes that were created last time that he walked up onto the stage and the music that people put behind it. I loved that. So yes, first question, actually, let's get into that. Becky Hemphill, do you think

that Aston have been clever in their design by still keeping the signature green and having the carbon parts of the car as discreet as possible? So yes, delivery. it's definitely more carbon, but I think you make a very good point, Tommy, that you put on Twitter, which was that they are keeping the right parts of the car colourful. They're not just going for the carbon in all areas

that will look terrible on all TV camera angles. They know what they're doing with that, and they're getting away with as much as they possibly can. Yeah, it's very clever the way they've designed it, that we know now that teams want to use as much carbon fiber as possible, but Aston Martin want this brand identity of the green. So they've, it is slowly eating the car from the bottom up. You can see that normally teams have always run like carbon fiber or black along the bottom

because even in the era, the previous era of cars, they used to do that just, if anything, just to hide the parts and make it look like a bit more discreet. So teams couldn't know what they were doing. with all the aero parts and the floor and stuff. But yeah, they've done it in a clever way that it still has that brand identity. The main thing about Formula One car, and this is why the Alpine is so annoying for us fans

when they've got such a great brand recognition, is the nose cone. And it's something McLaren actually have done really well. That normally when you watch on TV, the car is coming towards us. So the front on shot is really important. And McLaren have obviously painted the whole nose. And there is a lot of carbon on the McLaren,

but they painted the whole nose. And Aston Martin have done something similar where essentially they can, from the front angle and the side angle, which is pretty much when you see it all the time, it's green. But if you actually look at the car a lot, they've kind of like, it's tucked away

and they've got rid of every bit that they can that you can't really see from camera angles. And that's a good way of doing. it, I think. Still would rather have this rule that we keep saying, but at least they've been a bit more clever with it rather than just going, here's a green stripe. And that rule being just for those that may have not tuned into our car launch stuff, that essentially to have a minimum paint allocation where they can just have fun with designs, because yes, we're not going to kick off, I don't think, with this one, just purely because the identity is there and that's the most important

thing. Everything in Aston Martin Livery should be anyway. Like we, that's what people want. So I'm not against them not changing a thing really. Yeah, exactly.

Don't change what ain't broken. Which is definitely the exact phrase that should be used. But you know, you used Alpine as an example and I think the problem is, you know, that nose is just so eaten up by carbon fiber and and it loses that brand identity with that kind of design. As much as they think it's fine and whatever.

because of course they've released two versions, which are both lacking identity. Anyway, this is about Aston Martin. Next question, M Lawrence. Not a question, but I miss when the drivers would pull the sheet away to reveal the car. What's with these one-minute car reveals? Well, look, I think we only have ourselves

to blame everybody because F1 teams, they do a massive old car launch, everyone's in the chat. We found the car, send the car, Showing the car. Shut up. I don't care. Get the car out.

I'm not here for anything else. And now they're like, oh, no one cares. Let's roll the car out. We'll just get some social clout. And everyone's like, where's the car launch? I want to hear from Lawrence Stroll. I want to hear from Lance Stroll and Fernando. So what I will say is that, yes, it is a shame.

Yeah, F1 teams can't win. I think there is a perfect happy medium here, which we will get onto. But yes, it is a bit of a shame because I like car launches to a degree when it's a decent length and you know, you build up to it. Oh, a little bit of boring.

Yeah, sprinkle a bit of boring in there. Lovely. Get a few messaging in there and then show us the car. I think as well, maybe part of that reason is because it's the same livery. We know there wasn't going to be anything new. That is probably maybe what, what triggers fans the most is when you do have those like 40 minute launches and then

something bit different. Whereas Steak is a great example. Aston had, Aston last year had a long old launch and it was the same library and we all complained about it. It was funny, yeah, because that TikTok we did went massive. We were like, it's the same. But Steak is a good example where like is the first year that they've got this new

identity, whether they're going to be called to stake, by the time the season starts, and that's for another day. But they've got new livery, new identity. So it is something new and exciting and you can have, you know, drivers coming on and chatting about it for a bit. And then you know when the covers come off, we're going to get a bit of a surprise. So you're not annoyed for like a bit of 20, 30 minute chat. So maybe Aston Martin are like, well, it's going to be the same. And let's just roll. it out. But it is a shame not to see the drivers like this person said because they have literally one of the most marketable and big characters in Formula One and a world champion. So you kind of

it does take away a little bit that you want to see it. The way you said that was one of the most marketable characters in Formula One and a world champion. So it's had like you just said Lodstrol was a... Oh right, no. I was talking all about Fernando Lomso and the boss's son. yeah it is strange yeah they've done a car launch and we've not even really seen Fernando or Lance I mean Lance doesn't tend to get involved in these kind of things anyway but from the sounds of it us and mine are doing a bit more throughout the day and by the time you're listening or watching this you might have seen Fernando Alonso flossing down the pit straight at Silverstone like we have no idea

Flossing. Flossing. I mean, that is the kind of thing he would do, right? Such boomers. It's crazy, isn't it? Yeah, it's boomer energy. It's boomer to boomer right now, because Fernando is also one.

Sam Dougie Douglas comes in with, are the online launches because of the cost cap? I think we just need to clarify this one for any confusion. No, the online launches are not directly because of the cost cap, because the money for marketing and things like that is not developing the car. That's what the cost cap is there to do, there to close the gap, supposedly, between teams. So yes, the online launches may well still be to try and save money.

It's just in general. Money is not an unlimited resource. Although Lauren Strails bank account, I'm sure, is quite close to that. Not far off. But just to clarify, the cost cap is all about the car and how fast it goes. Yeah, exactly. They don't worry from that side of things. But, yeah, teams probably do weigh it up.

maybe it is a case of some years they're like we've got a new title sponsor or we've got something like I mentioned earlier with steak and then they really ham it up and then they're like well not much has changed this year let's do a bit more of a low key one uh you know no new drivers no new livery no new sponsors or anything like that so let's just do something a little bit different uh and maybe yeah not not go so over the top and clearly that's what Aston Martin have tried to do with this very short launch, but I don't personally mind it when there's not that much going on, and it looks like we're going to see some more stuff during the day of it on track,

which is quite cool, which we all want to see Formula One cars on track, don't we? We certainly do, although I'm not sure we'll actually get to see the car necessarily out on track, because Mercedes, whenever they shake down, don't really show much until a lot later on. But either or, we'll see what comes out today. This next question I think is actually a great one. It comes in from Jace VI. What does the perfect car launch look like? Because last year it was dragged out, scratch our own back speeches.

And this year, it is here is a two-minute clip. If P1 was planning a car launch, what would it look like? All right, hold up. Let me cook. All right. So, the P1 car launch starts off. with Justin Bieber coming out and singing a couple of songs. Get everyone in the mood.

You know, J.B. returns. You know, oh, my God, he's back performing. A bit of somebody to love with us, her, because, you know, that didn't happen in the Super Bowl, and I was expecting it might have done. So everyone's like, oh, what's going on here? All right, sweet, you know, okay, a bit groovy. Get the champagne down yet.

And then, you know, obviously me and Tom will both be joint team principles. so Natalie Pinkham will bring us out, both of us together holding hands. Okay. And she'll ask us, you know, what do you want to say to all the P1, Aramco, ATM, Visa Cash App, Kellogg's, Spec Sabers fans out there.

And we'll say, look, you know, we're not going to make any promises. We will probably be at the back, but we're here for vibes. And we'll be very, very honest. A bit like the Has team principle, really, in some ways we'll roll out in Bahrain and probably be knocked out in Q1

but what we will say is that our car is going to look so sexy, so beautiful there ain't going to be no carbon fibre yeah our glossy purple my goodness gracious me so I think that's a good start down the main straight with Fernando bro why are we flossing?

I don't know I just mentioned it earlier I mean you can yeah like you're so obsessed with flossing with Fernando Lozzo I will sit to the side of that one but I'll allow you two to absolutely dominate So Fernando Alonzo is driving for us, apparently. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He would drive for P1, of course.

Yeah. I'd just drop him on WhatsApp and he'll be like, sure. Change the T's. Absolutely. You have Fernando's number. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, yeah, in your dreams. And so after that, a little bit of, you know, not too long,

maybe five to ten minutes of just chatting away, about our ambitions for finishing last in the championship, even though they were known as P1. And then after that, we do a little tease, but we don't let out the whole car. We do a little, I just want to show you something. One minute video. Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam.

Few angles. People are like, oh. And then we go into another couple of songs from Justin Bieber. Maybe brings out a little bit of Beyonce, Jay-Z, you know, that kind of vibe. You know, let's get this into a little concert at this point. Forget the car. We're trying to distract everybody away from the car and just make it into something vibey. Then after that, we then show the car.

Interesting. What do you do? the same but not Justin Bieber I'd have like Metallica or something we'll alternate we'll have one Justin Bieber song one Metallica song

that'll yeah that'll do it split our personality just have it like really like jarring I would one thing I'd have loved Aston Martin to do but it's probably really difficult is you know how they

this is what I thought they were going to do actually and would have been really cool, but the problem is they have to like fire it up. And maybe they could make, maybe they could do it in a way that it's slightly disguised as live stream, but a bit of it's pre-recorded, is you know how they announced they're doing their shakedown today and they announced, they did the, the whole YouTube premiere in the garage. I thought that was a good idea because cash app R.B didn't premiere the video and that made it really confusing. So at least we all got to watch something together.

And, you know, the lights come on in the garage. You kind of see the car like it's a bit mysterious. And then it rolls out the pit garage, down the pit lane, and then it cuts to Silverstone, and you get a live stream of like the first shakedown. So it's like a seamless kind of like, yeah, we've seen a Formula One car on track. And that's why everyone loved about Ferrari that we got to see the car going round. I think that would be cool. I think probably one of the drawbacks of that is,

the fact that they are shaking down the car for the first time in the entire year. And so don't want to live stream potentially the car blowing up halfway around the track. That's probably why teams wouldn't do that. Ferrari were like Yolo, we're known for breaking down anyway, so let's go for it. Yeah. So if we go around once, it's a success. I will save it to break down in Bahrain instead. Thank you.

Which is exactly what happened. But anyway, you know, that was what you, Austin would do? But what about you, Tommy? What about P1 for you? Like, come on. What's your idea? It depends. Yeah, like first time doing it, it would be, you want a bit of time with the drivers. I generally think like Ferrari's last year was pretty much perfect. Perfect. Yeah. I don't think he can beat it.

Okay, cool. Fine. You know, some Ferrari compliments, I'll take it. Next question from Musto Man 1. Do you think this car can give Fernando his 33rd win at some point in the season? Well, if you've listened to the predictions for the 20-24 season, you will see that I absolutely do not believe this is going to happen because I said he was going to be the biggest flop due to Aston Martin, not producing him with a car that is going to be very good. That's what I still believe personally, but that's just purely running on vibes. And I'm sure Fernando Alonzo, as Fernando Alonzo does,

will extract every last ounce of performance out of the car. But it depends whether that car is trying to make it into Q2, or if that car is trying to get on the podium. But yeah, I know Tommy, you saw the YouTube live chat. There was a lot of spamming of 33. All of them were actually your bot-AI burner accounts. So I think that you might well be on the hype train to see this 33rd win.

I know that you want to see it. I know I want to see it really badly. But can I see it? It depends if a certain driver who used the number 33 until the number one allows anyone else to win this year. because not many people are getting victories. It's a long shot because victories are so hard. Like how many since the new regulation changes,

has it been five non-red Bull wins since the start of 2020, I think, something like that? And obviously only won last year. So it's tough to get a win. Asin Martin will need to be essentially as good as they were last year. at the start where they were like the second best car potentially or at least fighting up there with with Mercedes and Ferrari and then hope Max has a problem

that this is the thing with with Aston Martin is do we trust them I know there's a lot of they are like the opposite of McLaren where I think they're like completely underhyped because people saw what happened last year and they fell off that people are expecting like they're not going to be any good but they have you know they've gone for something a bit different with their car according to Dan Fallows and we'll see if they come out the blocks firing again and straight away like I think they need to be like really good from the start

there because that's their time to sort of like get that that win monaco is the one that really stands out last year that was like the chance I wonder if Astor Martin fans are a little bit cautious with the fact they're going for something different this year when the reason they were fast last time was because they basically were like, Red Bull, all right, so let me just, let me see those drawings. Okay, cool. We'll roll out with a similar philosophy and obviously they were really good. Now they've gone for something potentially different, whatever that might be.

I think that's a roll of the dice. You know, it could work out very well. Dan Fallows is a very talented man, but whether that will be the case, we'll have to wait and see. And yes, it's going to be. speculation up until testing, then it's going to be more speculation, because then we're going to wonder if the times are even real,

and we're going to see a round one in Bahrain, which is not far away now. Like, my God. It's crazy how close it is. Three weeks, isn't it, pretty much? Three weeks till the start of the season. That's flown by now, maybe, potentially. That's, I'm ready.

I'm so ready. I think that's a beautiful time to end the podcast here today for the Aston Martin Car Launch. Thank you, everybody, for watching and listening. Remember, P1 live show tickets are selling fast. So if you want to come and see me and Tommy, do our waffling on stage, do a nice live show performance. It's not just a podcast, as I say. Then there'll be a link everywhere on social media, and there'll be a link in the YouTube description as well.

And also, you might be noticed that I'm wearing a P1 beanie, which if you also want to potentially get one of these, let us know your thoughts and feedback in the comments and whether you want one. And we might well just release it. Hey, Tommy. Yeah, they do not. What are your final thoughts? They do not exist as of yet. Well, they do exist, but they're not on sale.

No, this is actually just green screen. Yeah. Yeah, green screen beanie. And we do, potentially do a little purple one as well. Potentially. Somebody has no idea. Well, I'm assuming we will. We will do.

If people want them, you need to let us know. But yeah, final thoughts, win 33, please, Fernando, because I need it in my life. and I don't know what I'd do on Twitch, but it will probably be really cringe. Peggy 18. Perfect. All right. So I hope that Fernando doesn't win his 33rd Grand Prix.

It's just I just can't get over the fact that, you know, oh, I'd really, really want to see him win his 33rd race. If my actual favourite driver stops winning, pour you, mate, pour you. My heart bleeds for you. Take care. Yeah, so boring, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, such a, God, you're so, what a tough life it is for you as a Formula One fan right now.

Right, thank you everybody. Lots of love. See you soon. Bye. Bye. Make sure you follow us on all of our socials. We're Matt P1 Tommy on Twitter, TikTok, Twitch and Instagram. You can also sign up to our Patreon at the link in the episode notes for ad-free episodes,

full video interviews and extra bonus episodes for as little as $5 a month. Finally, make sure you're following us on Spotify. See you soon. P1 is a Stack production and part of the ACAST's creator network.