P1 with Matt and Tommy - Predicting the 2024 F1 Driver Line-Ups

Episode Date: August 16, 2023

We're halfway through the race season, so we're looking ahead to 2024. Is anyone in danger of losing their seat? Does anyone deserve to be in a better car? Let's find out! You can grab our new merch h...ere!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.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:05 Hello everybody and welcome back to the P1 podcast with Matt and Tommy, summer break edition. I mean, a lot of these have been summer break editions, but we are still in the summer break and therefore it's still a summer break edition. We are here today to talk to you about what we think the 24 F1 driver lineups are going to look like. Tommy, welcome back. The co-founder of P1 with Matt and Tommy. How are you? Are you well?
Starting point is 00:00:32 Are you looking forward to this one? I am. I'm hoping when we release this, we haven't had an Oscar Piastri-style silly season and it's all changed again where Verstappen's gone. You know what? I do actually want to play eye racing and it's all changed. Judging by his previous instance he's had on that platform,
Starting point is 00:00:48 I don't think he's going to be thinking that any time soon. No, but yeah, we've not had the... We certainly haven't had the spice that we had last year in this off-season, have we? But then again, that was, I guess, very insane, to say the least. Very insane indeed. So not only are we trying to fill in the slots of the drivers that haven't signed a contract
Starting point is 00:01:15 technically for next year, but also talking about could we see contracts be broken, are performance clauses going to be triggered and we see some drivers losing their seats? Or is it going to be much of the same? Now, let's kind of speak about the drivers that are locked in. currently for 2024. The Red Bull Boys are there, Bostap and Perez, locked in contractually. Same for Aston Martin, Stroll and Alonzo, same for Ferrari, LeClaran, LeCleran, Sines,
Starting point is 00:01:45 McLaren, Norris and Piastri, Alpine, Gassley, and Ocon. And then we've got a few slots. So we've got Mercedes, where technically Lewis Hamilton has not signed a contract yet for next year. Although emotionally, as Toto Wolf says, he has signed that. Both the HASS drivers do not have a, publicly known contract for next year.
Starting point is 00:02:08 Both Alfa Tauri drivers as well. Joe has not got a contract currently. And neither does Williams and Logan Sargent. You think there's a bit spice on the horizon, Tommy? I'm not sure about spice, maybe just a bit of seasoning. Ooh. Okay, a bit of paprika, mate. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:02:29 Okay, right. So let's begin, shall we, with Red Bull. Let's talk about Red Bull first and foremost. Max Verstappen, is he going to lose his seat? I mean, yeah, he's had a pretty poor start to the season, two second places, and then, yeah, the rest wins. So, yeah, it's going to, might come back to bite him those two losses. Yeah, I reckon in those debriefs after the year,
Starting point is 00:02:52 they'll be questioning where he really sort of started to lose those maximum points that he could have achieved. The funniest thing, you joke, the funny thing is that he probably is like that as a person. And I'm like, this is the worst race I've ever had. We need to. And I think he even said himself that back he was like, I need to know why I'm second. Fair.
Starting point is 00:03:13 And that's why he's a champion. So all being serious, Max Verstappen will be racing for Redpool next year. Will Sergio Perez, who is locked in with the contract, still be there, Tom Bellingham? I'm going to say yes. I think he has a contract. We know that can be broken. This would have been the contract right that he signed when he won before Monaco and then kind of spilled the beans.
Starting point is 00:03:43 So he signed too early. Yeah, exactly. He's probably quite happy he signed it now. But yeah, the Red Bull we've known to, they can break contracts. They have done before. There's a lot of rumours. I don't know if you've been seeing them around about certain number of points to Max and they might be able to get rid of him. you never know how true these things are.
Starting point is 00:04:05 125 points or whatever. Yeah, seems all very coincidental. But you never know. I'm like, who the hell has read that contract? Yeah. You have these like fan accounts going, well, we have learned that. Who are you talking to? Yeah, exactly.
Starting point is 00:04:18 Source, trust me, bro. But no, I think Peros will stay. I think he has to have an unbelievably bad, even worse season. I just think that the fact that Red Bull are so clear is saving him at the moment. and they won't want to rock the boat. And particularly if they, you know, going to a new season, do they really want to put in a really top driver that might challenge Max when they're going to go into a title
Starting point is 00:04:47 and might not have the same advantage? I'm also going to say that Perez will be at Red Bull next year and kind of echoing your thoughts. He is saved, I think, by the Red Bull performance right now. I don't think Red Bull need to change. their line up because they are winning the constructors and they are winning the drivers. And Perez is in second place. So that's all from a statistics point of view that they really need.
Starting point is 00:05:17 I think that Perez will 100% be vacating his seat in 2026, if not potentially 25. But I think for next year, he just doesn't need to be changed, if anything, that would open up more of a risk factor for Red Bull because it doesn't matter if they win the Constructors' Championship by 20 points or 200 points. It's still a win at the end of the day. So yeah, I think Paris is going to be there next year.
Starting point is 00:05:47 Yeah, same. Let's go to Mercedes now. George Russell has his contract locked in. I think we're both of the opinion that he will be there next year and Mercedes have no reason to break any contracts there. And of course, the mystery, or I don't think it's much of a mystery,
Starting point is 00:06:04 is Lewis Hamilton, who has not yet come out with anything around an extension of his contract. I firmly believe 100% of me that he'll be there next year with Mercedes. The fire still looks like it's there. I don't think there's any real reason to believe he's thinking of either moving teams or leaving Formula One just yet. He's after his eighth title, and I don't think he's going to stop just yet.
Starting point is 00:06:30 no me neither i mean this this you're looking at the like what seats are available it is very much Mercedes or or retire because i mean has would be a bold move i mean it's not going to happen is it although it would be hilarious for drive to survive to see how that would turn out but um no Hamilton i think is going to yeah lock in another contract with Mercedes he's happy there still wants to win uh win that title and i do think it's the best plays for him. You look at, you know, there's rumors at the start of the season. Would he take a risk and go to Ferrari? But I think they're locked in now. And he's got that team. And you kind of hope that Mercedes now they've kind of changed their philosophy and gone
Starting point is 00:07:19 down to a more, you know, not that zero side pods. And obviously they're not closed up. But I think they've shown with a good consistency that if they did actually get their car right, they could fight for a title and I'm still adamant that Hamilton would be the one that could take a title off Vestappen if he had the machinery to do it. I love how literally a couple of years ago it's the other way around that you're saying that. If Vastafin had the machinery he would be beating Hamilton. The curse of the best guy. And now it's if Hamilton would have to be. Yeah, it's crazy isn't it? So yeah, Hamilton and Russell both at Mercedes next year. Ashton Martin. Now this is an interesting chat because it would be it's purely down to one variable which is Lance Stroll's father
Starting point is 00:08:03 and what his role is with the particular team because I think we would have a different kind of conversation potentially around Lance Stroll and his performances this year if he didn't have the safety net of his dad owning the team he's not been absolutely horrific but he's been bad enough I think for Aston Martin who had such a great car at the start of the year to think of how many points they let go through Lance obviously having his incident at the start of the year and he needed some kind of rehab and recovery there but even since then he's not he's not shown the same performance as Fernando Alonzo really comparably at all no similar to peris in a weird way it's like circumstance saving him obviously Perez um his dad doesn't own Red Bull but you know it's the same
Starting point is 00:08:54 sort of thing in the fact that yes he's underperforming but there's no need to change there because Aston Martin aren't locked in a championship fight or anything like that at the moment although we've said that late if red ball went there stroll would be casting them the constructors title right now but at the moment yeah the the guy there that is underperforming is um the owner's son and the guy that is before me like, Alonzo's not going to retire now. He's finally made a good career move. And that might have a chance of getting that 30 third win, which we're all praying for. Yeah, well, you say that they, you know, Lance would be costing them the constructors title.
Starting point is 00:09:42 But right now, he's still costing them second place in the in the constructors because he's a hundred and two points behind his teammate. Philando. More win, time, master plan. he's not going to get much more for third place in the in the constructors but they're only five ahead of Ferrari and then there's a bigger gap to McLaren who are on 103 but Lawrence is going to be good when he doesn't get that constructors title many isn't he what will he do he probably won even yeah even if he won the constructors
Starting point is 00:10:12 he wouldn't even make a dent or it wouldn't even affect his bank account at all but I'm sure there is there's at least pride there for for billionaire Lawrence Stroll Okay, so that's Lance Stroll, obviously locked in. No contracts to be broken there. Fernando Alonzo, again, like what you don't really need to say much more on him. He's going to stay. We then go to Ferrari, where I fully believe, we will see LeClaire and signs in 2024.
Starting point is 00:10:40 They're both contractually signed for that. There's, of course, loads of rumours going around about LeCleur signing a two-plus-three-year contract with Ferrari into the future and so on and so forth, but obviously that has not been confirmed. And signs, again, there's rumors about him going to Alpine, but this is about 2024, where they're both contracted, and I believe they both will be there. Yeah, interesting you mentioned sites about Alpine. And I think that there's also the rumours of Al-Rameo and Audi as well,
Starting point is 00:11:10 that he's signed some kind of pre-agreement to go there, which I'm still 90% sure that he's going to go to Audi. and I could see it being a good career move for him as well. But at the moment, it makes sense for him to stay at Ferrari. He's improved a lot. And despite 2021, when I think the start of that season, we predicted that Lecleron Sites would be the rivalry that would have the most fireworks,
Starting point is 00:11:42 and they'd be colliding. They're going to have one collision, I think we said a lot of the time. Surely it's going to happen. They've not actually had that. You know, there's a few little sassy team radio things, but it's not that bad. So, yeah, I can see them both staying and they've got contracts and there's no need to mess about with that. No need to change anything at Ferrari. We now go to McLaren, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, both contracted.
Starting point is 00:12:11 Nothing to change. Piaastri is performing incredibly well. McLaren, I'm sure, are very happy with their lineup at the moment. And with the car moving forward, I think that there is. a strong possibility that those two could be a pairing to be reckoned with in the years to come because there'll be no reason for Lando to leave, even though I think he's admitted that maybe he's looked elsewhere slightly, maybe at the start of the year with the fact that that McLaren-McCarr was pretty poor, but now they've taken steps forward.
Starting point is 00:12:41 Why would either of them move? No. Again, another one that is very firmly locked in and maybe, maybe, this would have been a bit more, you know, if Piastri maybe wasn't performing or did like a Daniel Riccardo, because of course Daniel Ricardo had a contract and that was broken, as we mentioned earlier about contracts can be broken, but there'd be no need to for these two because they're performing really well and McLaren have, yeah, to say at the start of the year, we were thinking Lando needs to get out of that McLaren team. He's now looking like, you know, he's a team leader there equally with Piastri as well, was it really worth shunning Alpine to join McLaren and it's
Starting point is 00:13:25 been terrible and now he's looking like he's in a great team, he's performing really well and McLaren have shown that they absolutely made the right choice to fight for him as well. And Oscar's certainly not regretting, not staying at Alpine, that's for sure. Speaking about Alpine, Gansley and Ocon, I think we can very quickly just say that they will both be there next year. There's no reason to believe either of those would move. They're both contracted. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:13:54 Alpine, just Alpine. Everything's on fire, but the two consistent things are gasoline. Yeah, exactly. Now we go to Williams, which is an interesting one. I'm sure there are a lot of opinions here. Albon is, of course, contracted. And unless we get some crazy helmet Marcos storming down the paddock, asking Williams again, how much money is it for Albon?
Starting point is 00:14:17 to come to potentially Red Bull, because Perez isn't performing, then I think he stays at Williams. But I don't think for too much longer, there could definitely be, when we look to 25, 26, maybe if Sines goes to Audi, Albon could maybe well see himself
Starting point is 00:14:36 in some red overalls potentially. That would be exciting. I can see it. I can see it. It's in my mind's eye now. It's in my wild, 25th. 26th prediction. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:14:48 I did put Albin. Fair play. Yeah. I think I kept signs at Ferrari, but. I may have got one right. But no, JK aside, Albin. Yeah, at the moment, he's having a very good season. We will have put our driver ratings out.
Starting point is 00:15:05 So I can spoil that he was obviously very high up in that as one of the better drivers, equally in the F1 power rankings. He's like fourth or something. So yeah, it's very highly rated this season. and he's proved himself to be very, very good, but he can't stay at Williams forever if he wants to kind of make his way back to the top. But, yeah, I think Albin is definitely staying.
Starting point is 00:15:30 And then it's who's alongside him, because at the moment, no contract for Logie Sarge. No contract for him. I'm going to go boring and say they'll sign him for another year. I don't think Williams will be that savage to get rid of him so quickly, especially to potentially just replace him with another rookie driver or whatever.
Starting point is 00:15:53 As I kind of said in our other podcast, which, would that have gone out, the bowl predictions? Yes, yeah, I think so. Sure, maybe. I mean, it's not that big of a spoiler. But I was just basically saying
Starting point is 00:16:05 that Logan Sargent hasn't been that bad, I think, to lose his seat going into next year. So I will say quite boringly that Logan Sargent will be there next year. Yeah, for this one, I think the only way I can see Sergeant maybe coming under a bit of pressure is if Frederick Vestey wins the F2 Championship
Starting point is 00:16:25 and therefore can't continue in the F2 Championship. And, you know, we've seen before that Toto Wolf has maybe used that Williams seat as a Mercedes-Juner equally. They're McSumacher-like is a driver that I think Toto is desperate to get back into Formula One. So I think if anyone would go there, it would maybe be like a Mercedes junior in McSumacher or Vestey.
Starting point is 00:16:54 But I don't think Sergeant, unless he's absolutely awful, I can't see Sergeant losing his seat because he's done a all right job. He's not been spectacular, but he is driving one of the worse cars and a rookie, which does save him a bit. So yeah, I think Sergeant will stay into next season. Yeah, it's an interesting thing you say about Mick Schumacher. Obviously, Williams with the Mercedes engine in the back of it and that partnership there.
Starting point is 00:17:28 Yeah, it's just such a shame Mick sort of bowed out of Formula One so quickly and also off the back of a lot of mistakes, a lot of crashes, costing a small team, a lot of money that you, then, you know, if you're James Vowls, you're trying to build the team. You know, how risky is it to change? You know, Logan Sargent hasn't been the quickest driver ever, but he's not binning at every race. He's not bidding at every session.
Starting point is 00:17:55 So, yeah, it's an interesting one, but you might be thinking if you're listening along, this is quite a safe predictions. Matt and Tommy haven't gone crazy. That's because I think 25 is when we all start to lose our minds slightly, I think with certain drivers and potential moves. I agree. I mean, there's, we've had a lot of people locked in, really, haven't we?
Starting point is 00:18:18 The next ones are a bit more up for grabs. But for me, the whole thing is that day when Hamilton and Alonzo, you know, they can't go on forever, even though you feel like they could go on forever, particularly like Alonzo, you feel like he could go to least 50 if he wanted to. But that day where they do decide. you know, enough's enough and I'm retiring, the domino effect will be absolutely insane because there's a seat at Mercedes,
Starting point is 00:18:49 there's a seat at Aston Martin, who moves over to them, then everything gets bunched around and we could have another crazy silly season. But for now, it's maybe a bit more of a normal season, I guess, and maybe it's a natural thing to happen after the absolute bonkers one that we had last season. We now go to probably the biggest discussion point, which is Hasse.
Starting point is 00:19:15 Both drivers up for grabs in terms of no contract signed. This one's interesting because I think Holkenberg will be there again next year. I am very convinced of that. Magnuson has been washed. Now, I think his seat could be under threat, in my opinion. But I don't know by who. That's the problem here because, of course, Hass have a link with Ferrari. and you might think,
Starting point is 00:19:41 oh, Ferrari might stick one of their junior drivers in a way, but no one in Formula 2 is doing that well that has links with Ferrari, Oliver Berman up there. He's not doing well enough, I don't think, to be like, right,
Starting point is 00:19:54 he deserves an F1 seat, especially as well with Hasse being a small team, and they went for exactly what we'd predicted previously around having two solid, consistent midfield drivers because they are a smaller team that just need to utilize a potentially good car at the start
Starting point is 00:20:10 the year. But Magnuson hasn't been doing that. So then DeHas then start thinking, well, is this philosophy working? Or do we need a Holkenberg and a raw talent that could potentially yield us points in the years to come? But I just don't think there is anyone really in the, in the queue to nab it from the Ferrari side at least. Yeah. So my one kind of spoils a little bit the next bit, because I've gone, that I think it'll be Holkenberg. I think he's locked in, you know, he's performing very well. I do think Magnuson will be under threat if he carries on having the season that he has. And like I say, this kind of spoils the next one a bit, but you'll see why later that
Starting point is 00:20:58 Joe Guan Yu, I think, would go over to Hass, and this is, you know, the reasons why is, I think, that something will happen at Alfa Romeo, Joe Gwainu will be available. And I'm with you that they can't take a punt on a rookie because it was disastrous when they had, you know, two rookies in there and it worked really bad. But Joe is a very solid driver. He's very, he's actually very non-problematic,
Starting point is 00:21:32 which probably has to need quite a lot. He was that driver. he was that driver wasn't he that didn't get a single track limit warning in Austria and doesn't have I want to say doesn't have any penalty points either or things like that doesn't get into too many incidents I'll actually tell a lie I think he might have done for the bowling but before that but before that yeah he's not he's not been one of those drivers for a rookie which you do tend to see a lot of people having moments and crashes and actually he hasn't so I think he's like got a good level of experience but not too crazy.
Starting point is 00:22:07 And I think this more just says that I think Magnuson's time is up if he carries on performing the way he is because he shouldn't be getting beaten as comprehensively as he has been by Holkenberg really. Like Holkenberg, I do rate a lot. I think he's a very good driver and different scenarios and circumstances. And, you know, Holcomburg could be like a multiple world champion, but he's not, and he's not even got a podium.
Starting point is 00:22:33 Wow. Multiple world champion. He was on the list to go to Mercedes instead of Hamilton. Multiple world champion. I think he was good enough at the peak of his career. Hey, let's not, you know, just because you go in a team that's, you know, building a good car, doesn't mean it'll then stay that way, you know. You've got to have the feedback.
Starting point is 00:22:56 You've got to have everything else as well that I'm sure Lewis Hamilton has Team LH that are listening. Very good driver that I'm sure crafted that team into what it was. Okay, interesting. I'm actually going to say Magnuson is going to be in that second seat. So I'm literally not changing anything right now. Just purely because, look, you're tuning in. You're listening. You want the predictions.
Starting point is 00:23:15 I'm not happy with that. My mum's ringing as well. What is going on? Hi, Mum, I'm just on the podcast. I'll ring you back. All right, take care. Okay, bye. Good Lord.
Starting point is 00:23:30 Yes, as I was saying, Magnuson will get that second seat. So I think Hasse aren't that risky. I don't think they're that daredevily to go back to a younger driver. Joe's an interesting one that you say, but I don't see why... Well, let's go to Al-Rameo, shall we? Because maybe that's how you'll explain what's gone on here between Al-Framo and Hasse. So, Bottas, he's chilling.
Starting point is 00:23:54 Like, he's got his contract. I don't think they're going to break his contract, but I don't think Bottas has maybe got too many years left in Formula One, in my opinion. but I think for 24, he'll be there, no matter what. But who's going to be alongside him on Bellingham? Yes, I do agree that Bata's not going to break his contract. He's a solid driver.
Starting point is 00:24:13 He's not been particularly spectacular, but he's just like winding down his career, isn't he? And I don't think he's, I think this year, if anything for me, has proved that I don't think he's going to be part of their Audi plans. But alongside him, I think, Teopo Chir might cause a bit of a headache if he goes on to win the F2 Championship, which he is currently leading and is, you know, an Alfa Romeo Jr. So it depends whether they decide what Alpine did and say they've got this very exciting.
Starting point is 00:24:53 I do think that Teopo Chere is one of the most exciting young drivers to come through the ranks, still very young. and it depends if they want to do an alpine and wait a year and then someone else nicks him or they say look we need to to get him in now so I think it will be this very much is F2 reliant I think there's room for one a vesty or a you know maybe a poor chair if they win the title but yeah very little seats available and then it just depends how these kind of lower teams shift about. Yeah, I think maybe if Festy does win, then Sergeant might lose his seat.
Starting point is 00:25:38 Under a bit of pressure, yeah. I don't see Joe going away from Alfa Romeo, in my opinion. I think Alfa Romeo would rather do the year wait. And poor chair sits in the wings. He sits as what reserve driver, whatever, goes to a few races, learns the tricks of the trade and all that sort of stuff over 24. And then for 25, he then comes in. That's how I'd maybe see that happening.
Starting point is 00:26:00 But if Vesti wins F2 title, I think, yeah, that's an interesting one. Maybe Sargent could be under threat. It depends how much Williams have seen potentially a benefit of having an American driver. You know, as much as we wrote it off and, oh, we don't see much, blah, blah, blah. We don't know. We don't know exactly how much that brings from a financial sort of advantage and whatnot. Would I post on TikTok if he wasn't there either? I'd have no content, so.
Starting point is 00:26:29 Yeah, so we said about, is he going to score a point before he becomes world champion on your TikTok. Is he going to have a seat by the time he becomes world champion on your TikTok? Imagine. Imagine that actually happens. That would be amazing. Okay, so I am going to say that Joe stays with Bottas at Alpha Romeo and there's no change there either because I am being safe as houses. But I think it's genuinely going to be a very boring 2024 driver line up in my opinion. Alpha Towery, two seats open.
Starting point is 00:26:57 Daniel Ricardo's not locked in for next year neither is Yuki Sanoda I see no reason for Yuki Sanoda to not have an Alpha Tauri drive next year I don't think he's going to get the call up to Red Bull at any time unless Perez decides to crash in the next 10 races consecutively
Starting point is 00:27:14 and then Daniel Ocardo again this is all performance dependent right but Danny Rick we don't know if that one sprint race at Spa was actually a flash in the pan and he is still reasonably washed from his McLarendase,
Starting point is 00:27:31 or if he, on the flip side of that, is actually got a lot more potential. I mean, to be fair, Hungary was a great drive from him as well. So I think it's more safe to say that he is able to score points and able to perform for this team. So I would say, and I'm going to lock in
Starting point is 00:27:47 no changes for the entire 24 driver lineup. So this is where I've gone absolutely crazy. And I've really, your tone. I know your tone. I can see straight through you. No, no. So I've got some exciting news that obviously Alfa Tauri are going to get rebranded. And Tom Bellingham is joining. Yes, it's going to be called P1 racing and the lineup will be Tom Bellingham and Frank. Oh, yeah. Thanks for the call-up. Yeah, Matt, your reserve driver. If Frank has a dog over me. Yeah, has a bit of a bad season. Frank would probably beat you if I've seen you're carting, I mean.
Starting point is 00:28:26 No, but, yeah, Alfa Tauri, Ricardo and Sonoda, gone for the same. Because I think that there's all these rumours isn't there about Hugo Boss Bulls racing. What an awful name that is, by the way. That will be the worst Formula One team name ever. Yeah, it's up there, isn't it, with H.R.T and Virgin and stuff. But, yeah, I do think that... they'll stay because I think what's going to happen with Alpha Tauri, and particularly when it gets this takeover,
Starting point is 00:29:02 and this is something that maybe Helmut Marcos hinted, that it's not necessarily that junior team anymore. They want it to be their own team, well, have a lot of Red Bull shared parts and maybe even use a lot of Red Bull stuff to try and get through the, make them like better. But I don't necessarily think it's going to be that just throw a junior in and then work his way up.
Starting point is 00:29:30 And if they have a Cugo Boss racing or whatever, there's no better driver to be in the, you know, the swag than, well, both of them actually, to be fair, they're both very swaggy individuals. Yuki Sonoda and Danny Rick. Swaggy individuals. But yeah, and I could see that happening, that Daniel Ricardo would lead that team as a more experienced driver.
Starting point is 00:29:54 and it's not necessarily a junior team anymore, which is F's in the chat for Liam Lawson because he must think, when am I ever going to get to drive a Red Bull? That is an interesting thing. Let's talk about that. Liam Lawson. I see probably factoring again in, maybe in 25.
Starting point is 00:30:20 Yeah, it just... It's that classic. It's one of those ways. There's no seats. Until Perez moves and people get bumped up or Sonoda goes to Aston Martin for the Honda thing, there's no seats. And Red Bull Junior program is unless you are, no offense, Liam Lawson is a very, very good driver. But unless you are Max Osteppen level of good, it is a case of you have to be the right place at the right time. They don't just change everything around like they did for Max for anyone.
Starting point is 00:30:53 Yeah, I mean, it's all about risk assessing, isn't it, for a team? Bringing in Liam Lawson, as much as he's winning things and everybody's making a lot of noise, do you risk putting Lawson in that Perez seat, for example, you know, crazy move like that, like they did with Albonne, like they did with Gazette, not crazy, but it was a big move for Albon-Gasley. Both of them completely crumbled in some regards, compared to what Max Verstappen was able to do in that car. So why would they make that risk again?
Starting point is 00:31:20 Clearly, the learnings are they need to be nurtured before they get that big, that big hot seat. And it's also like, it's not a part of Formula One that a lot of people enjoy, but particularly a company like Red Bull, they're there for marketing. And, you know, why would they replace one of the most popular drivers on the grid and also Yuki-Snode with a big fan base with someone entirely new? There is that element to it. However much, you know, you can argue that Lawson is a very good driver.
Starting point is 00:31:57 The sad reality is it's not always the best 20 drivers that make it into Formula One and that is F1. Exactly. There's a lot more, a lot more to be assessed than just pure raw speed. And that is that. That is our 24 F1 driver line-up predictions. Basically, just print off the same as last year. And there we go. I promise 2025 when we do that maybe next year will be, I think a lot more exciting once we get just that one move.
Starting point is 00:32:29 If we just get that one move, everything changes. But we just don't envisage that happening, do we this year? No. And I think that is because we had that crazy season of Alonzo. Well, actually, I guess it was Vettel first. But then that's what I envision happening again when Alonzo or Hamilton or a Bologna or a Bologna or a Perez decide to either retire or move or whatever, we'll have that moment again because, you know, Beto retired, you get a seat at the top team, everyone shuffles up and then you get
Starting point is 00:33:01 seats down the bottom as well. Whereas at the moment, because that was so crazy last year and no one is doing terrible other than, well, Nick DeVraise and he's lost his seat already, that would have been the one that maybe we would have gone into the summer break going, will he, but they've already made that decision. So it does seem like a lot of people are locked in and will rely on, yeah. For me, it relies on F2 and who's champion and how much pressure they will put on
Starting point is 00:33:30 if they maybe have, if a poor chair or a vesti has a really good end of the season. We've seen it before where if you peak at the end, start winning races when it puts pressure on. So, you know, if a poor chair or a, earlier, don't you? Because contracts get signed. So, yeah, I wonder.
Starting point is 00:33:52 It would be very interesting to see if, yeah, if we get like a double victory from like a poor chair, vesty, someone like that, like what happens there. Fascinating stuff. Well, I look forward to, you know, being wrong and actually should have gone for some bold predictions and not gone safe. But that's how we're looking at it. Let us know your thoughts as well on these,
Starting point is 00:34:15 especially the contracts that are currently yet to be signed where you think they're going to be going either in the YouTube comments or on social media, we'd love to hear from you. And that is that. Tommy, what are your final thoughts? My final thoughts are, you know, keep working at your driving skills
Starting point is 00:34:32 and I'll think about putting you in the seat instead of Frank for P1 racing. I love how you become team principal now. What the hell is this? I'm driver team principal. Remember, your co-founder, mate, all right? Get in your lane. Sorry, I forgot that.
Starting point is 00:34:44 And that's my final thought. Screw you, Tommy. And we'll see you very soon for another piece of content. Bye. Bye. P1 is a stack production and part of the ACAST creator network.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.