P1 with Matt and Tommy - Reacting to your BOLD 2025 F1 predictions

Episode Date: January 20, 2025

The season's getting closer! And turns out we aren't the only people who can dream up some outlandish F1 predictions... That's right, you've laughed at ours so now we're turning our attention to YOUR crazy predictions for the 2025 F1 season... Sign up to our Patreon here! You'll get access to extended versions of every Race Review podcast, every P1 episode ad-free, early access to live tickets and merch, and access to our Discord server where you can chat with us and 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 and we are here. You know it's F1 season approaching kind of ish. We're nearly there. Hold on, everybody. Hold on tight because we are getting into predictions. But it's not ours, is it Tommy? It is. Everybody else's, the wonderful listeners, watchers, have submitted a lot of, a lot of bowl predictions.

And we've whittled them down to some brilliant, some far-fetched, and created the ultimate list. Oh yeah, it's very good. The fact that 2025 we go into this season, there's so much more unknown, which I think is what makes predictions so good this year, is what's going to make our predictions and just the future of predictions so much more exciting

because it's anyone's guess really what's going to happen, and that's the beauty of it. It really is. Now, before we dive into the podcast, I just want to share a five-star review. If you want yours to be read out, please give us a five-star review. Let's know why you love this podcast or just give us a little five-star if you're listening on Spotify or whatever. It really does help us.

This one comes in from mary dot in dot Milan. Every time I see the little blue dot on my Spotify homepage next to the P1 icon, it puts a smile on my face. You guys have kept me company so many times, whether it was on the road, at home while cleaning the flat during night shifts. You've kept me sane during the off-season and during exam periods. So a huge thank you and best of luck for all your future projects. Greetings from Italy. Thank you so much, Mary. That's a lovely review.

That's one of the best ones, one of the most wholesome ones. So we'll always be there, Mary. We'll always be making terrible content. So please tune in. Okay, let's get into your bold predictions and start with P1 Patreon member Quinty. Lewis Hamilton will be this season's biggest flop. Wow. Quinty, no.

No, no. No, no. I have opinions on this. I'm sorry. I know. I know that this is literally the first bowl predictions. but this is bold. This is like full bold and italic and everything else in between because Hamilton being this season's biggest lot, I can't see it. I cannot see it at all. I think that

he definitely has a challenge on his hands going to Ferrari. It's a completely different project than anything he's ever been involved in. And it's stacked against him in the sense of he's going into a team against Charles LeClaire, who's one of the best drivers on the grid, in a car that's not really changing from the last few seasons. Actually, I tell a lie. Ferrari did say they're going to change everything. So we'll see on that one. But I'm still going to argue that Charlotte Claire knows more about Ferrari than does coming into this season.

And we'll see just how much Ferrari genuinely changed. And I really hope they don't change everything for this year. And then they don't have anything ready for 2026 because that that scares me. But Hamilton will not be this season's biggest flop. We saw his race pace. His qualifying absolutely does need to change. He needs to get his form back in qualifying. He needs to be in the first.

the top five or six. That's all we ask. Come on. Just be at the front of the field and then we know exactly what he can do on a Sunday. But he has lacked in qualifying and I know he's said a few things, hasn't he? A few teasing words of, well, you know, George is always going to outqualify me or, you know, words to that effect. And we all sort of question, why would he say that? So I'm hoping for his sake that he can really get back towards the front and not be knocked out in Q2 and have these these crazy moments and get back to the Hamilton of old that we all know he can deliver. Yeah, I think this is an absolutely ridiculous prediction. Sobit, tell us how you really feel.

But the thing is, this is a bold prediction, but it's also an incredibly popular one. You know, Quinty is not the only person that said this. It seems hugely popular opinion now that Hamilton's finished, is going to go to Ferrari and it's going to be absolutely awful. And what I'd say to that is I don't see it at all. you know, this could age incredibly badly, but Lewis Hamilton in the twilight of his career, you know, he had a bad season last year, but it was bad by his, his incredibly high standards. You go back to the previous year before, which again, you know, you can say, oh, he didn't get a

win that year in 2023 and it was a bad, bad season for him. And he was, you know, he finished third in the championship. He nearly got second in the championship and beat a red ball in the championship. absolutely annihilated George Russell and then even this year with Russell beating him they were the closest teammates on percentage of points

so standards are so high that of course last year you have to say that it's not one of his better years to put it mildly but he is by no means finish we saw that literally in the last race in Abu Dhabi of how brilliant he was

when he came back through the field if he sorts is qualifying out and I think he'll just have a new lease of life going into a new team kind of a bit like Sebastian Vettel did when he went to Ferrari after, you know, it has to be said

he had a very similar kind of situation where he was getting beaten by Ricardo at Red Bull and was very much kind of feeling like he was just ready to move on. I feel like it would be similar from that. I can't see Hamilton just being a flop personally. For sure, his motivation levels are going to be through the roof.

He is human, as much as we all think he's this invincible Lewis Hamilton that always delivers. He is human. And I think that the emotion of going to Ferrari and, as I say, the motivation that comes with that, it is going to raise his game. And I think he genuinely only needs to really raise his game mainly on Saturdays. So let's see. But he is up against one of the best qualifiers on the grid. And I will say that with my chest, because Charlotte Claire absolutely is.

Speaking of Charlotte Claire, next statement, next prediction is from Potthead, underscore R6 We will have a brand new world champion Well Well well well Well Lance stroll and Adrian Nui cooking The fact that you've even said that when

Fernando Alonzo is in that same team That is absolutely sacrilege from you It's Project Stroll day you know It is Project Stroll I wonder if there were some discussions After Project Stroll Driving into the gravel in Brazil Whether Project Stroll is worth

The billions of pounds being funneled into this But brand new world champion Oh, go on then. I think this is going to happen. Obviously, there are some fantastic candidates for this brand new world champion. And I'm not just talking about Charles LeClerler, Lando Norris, who I genuinely think

will be the favourite going into next year from everything that we've learned with McLaren being the fastest car over the course of, on average, was the fastest car last year. And of course, you have Oscar Piastri as well, who could definitely if he raises his game to that

period of time that we saw last year across more of the season, he could absolutely be world champion as well. So there's three there. Mercedes is going to create a car that can work in a bigger window than 0.2 degrees? I don't think so, personally.

But there is a handful of drivers that genuinely could be world champion next year. But, yeah, Lando Norris, Shao LaClaire are two big names that, yeah, could very well be. Indeed, yeah, you look at the end of last season and the two biggest scores alongside Vastappen were Norris and Charlotte Clare. So it's going to be, you know, a fascinating battle and the fact that the top teams now, it's such a young grid with so much young talent on there. And, you know, the top teams, the only champions in those top teams are Lewis Hamilton and Max de Stappen.

So there's a very good chance that we could see a brand new champion. and that being said, you know, they are going to have to up their game massively to beat the Stappen again, but it's certainly possible after what we saw at the end of last year. Absolutely. And that's what gets me excited.

And even you, Tommy, because you've had the luxury of Max Verstappen winning all the time. So, you know, there's a lot more fun watching it at the end of the year. I'll say it. That's the thing, right? The fact that you're having fun makes me feel slightly ill because you're sat there with your favourite driver

and you're like, oh, it's great when he loses. sometimes because it makes it more fun. That's disgraceful. I want you, you know, fist pumping, oh my God, Maxford's happened, just won a race. Not, uh, it's actually quite nice.

It's quite a very race. If Charlotte Clair's dominating every race, you wouldn't be waiving the Italian flag when you win Tomonta. Yeah, I'd be there. I'd be there. I'd be there. And it would just be like,

a hundred races in a row. Over the top. Crazy reactions, boring fans. I'll be screaming. Well, look, you'll see it in 2025 when he's won every race. You watch this space. Yeah, because Hamilton's going to be washed and Ferrari

going to build the best car ever yet. Not washed. finish P2, it's fine. Okay, next prediction and a bold one from P1 Patriotry member, Sabrian. No driver changes mid-season. I can't see it. I can't see it. Colapinto says hello. Yeah, Colapinto is absolutely, and look, I feel like we're being unfair on doing because he genuinely has only turned a wheel once. It's unfair, yeah. But I think that it has been set up in that way that he could be a few tents off Ghazly and I think it'd still be in trouble because Alpine, and I think you mentioned on our P1 patron podcast, didn't you, Tommy, that it seems as though Alpine missed that window of signing Colapinto, because Colapinto came in just a little bit later than when they signed doing, yeah.

Yeah, you don't sign Franco Colapinto. If they had, you know, it is harsh on doing and he deserves a shot, and I feel sorry for him because he's going to be under a huge amount of pressure, but this is Flavia Briatore now in charge of this team. And he is brutal like Red Bull. You know, he won't be afraid to mix drivers and drop drivers and things like that. And it just, I really do think that if you're getting Colapinto as a reserve, it already is, you know, you can, you can see the kind of how it's kind of panning out of they need that. They're already thinking about a backup, whether they will need it or not with doing, we don't know.

but it's a, you know, it's a, this is the thing with it. Like, I can't, I'd be amazed if we had no driver changes mid-season with all these rookies on the grid. And, you know, it's surely set up. Even though we've had loads of changes, you think that would make it more likely to have no driver changes. I think I'd be absolutely flabbergasted if we don't see a single driver change during the season. Okay, next prediction comes in from Rachel Rebecca 44. The downfall of Max Verstappen and Red Bull. Downfall is, that's an aggressive term.

That is, you know, Red Bull struggling to finish on the podium and this, that and the other. I do genuinely believe that Red Bull are now in a slight downward trajectory. I think this year and potentially even moving on now without having Adrian Newey, who I do genuinely believe has a huge amount of influence and impact on a team, as he's shown by winning so many championships. I don't think there'll be a downfall of Max Verstappen. I think Max Verstappen will always get the best out of the car. We've seen him have a car that's been nowhere near the fastest and win races.

So I have no doubt that Max will score huge amount of points, even if the car's an absolute wheelie bin. But I do think that Rebel are going to be slower. And that's just, yeah, that's just the respect that I have for Adrian Nui and his impact. And yeah, it's going to be fascinating to see because I think Max, as he has a slightly slower car potentially, how much further is he willing to go? And that is going to be something to watch, for sure, in 25 and beyond,

because he is going to have to fight. Like, I was going to say no other, but 2021 exists. He's going to have to fight very hard indeed to win a championship, I think, from here on. I think people's kind of, I've seen people right off the stepping completely, and people say he's not even going to win a race next year and all this kind of stuff. And I think it's very dangerous to write him off. You saw... He'll win a race.

You saw what happened at the end of last year. You know, even with the car that he had that was sometimes third, fourth best, he was still picking up points a lot, maximizing the result from every race. I think even some of his most impressive drives was when the McLaren was absolutely miles ahead at the hands of Lando Norris and Max was finishing second at places like Zandvo and Singapore and stuff when we all thought that was going to be the race

that Red Bull would be, you know, Singapore, for example, finished and they were going to be finishing 11th or something. And that is why he's going to be incredibly hard to be, I think, to say that the downfall of Red Bull, I think they're definitely on, yeah, downward trajectory, like you say, and I think it would be take an absolute miracle for them to win the constructors.

But I don't think you can write the step and out of the championship next year. I think that would be a very dangerous game. Like the guys won four in a row and won it this year, despite having, you know, not the best car since Miami and sometimes particularly poor car. So, yeah, I don't think it's going to be a lot closer, that's for sure, but I don't think you can write them off. No, no, I don't think you can write them off.

But if they are a minute off in Australia, then you might have to go back to it and have a chat. Right, next one comes in from Break GTI5. Antonelli wins a race. Yeah, Tommy's nodding. Tommy's nodding. Believes in it.

Is it bold then? You know, if Tommy, Tommy, I don't know, be fair. I think a lot of people do genuinely think that Kimmy Antonet is going to struggle at Mercedes. Is he going to win a race? race, it's going to be telling, right? If he has that raw speed that Toto Wolf claims he has, we've not really seen too much of it because of his free practice outings. But if he does, then yes, I think that Antonelli could win a crazy race. Mercedes have shown that they have got

a Carter that can win races. We saw it with both Russell and Hamilton last year, winning multiple. It's just, yeah, I think Anthony will be a very exciting character. He's got a lot of potential. winning a race is going to be difficult. I think I'm just putting myself in the headspace of last season where it's just so competitive. So he's going to have to produce a worldly drive in order for that to happen. But I think it's possible.

I'm not going to say absolutely categorically yes, like you are. But it's possible. I'm not saying categorically. I can see it happening because I think you'll have moments where I think you'll be incredibly impressive, but it'll be very inconsistent. And I think you'll have very high highs and also low lows.

As long as he has the high highs, that's Max Verstappen in the start of his career. Well, exactly, that's all that really needs to happen. And I think he will do that. I think he'll push the card incredibly hard, and sometimes it will pay off. And he's just one of those drivers that I could see this happening. But all depends on Mercedes and whether they are going to kind of,

whether they're there or thereabouts like they were in that kind of weird moment of the season where they won three in a row. and we were kind of going, oh, Mercedes looking really good, and then just fell off again, and then only won Vegas because it was really cold. Yeah, their Mercedes, in my opinion, are going to be more pushing towards 2026, but I think it will be so competitive

that there will be opportunities for quite a lot of the top runners. Okay, next prediction, P1 patron member Dennis. McLaren is outside of the top three at season's end now. No chance. Zero percent. Zero. Zero. No.

Come back to this, clip this right now. They're the favorites. I don't know. Why have I said that? I regret everything. But they are the favorites. I cannot second maybe. But even that I think, yeah, I mean, look, I already sort of backed Ferrari in a lot of ways to score a lot of points as well.

But I can't, I cannot see McLaren falling off. There's no reason for them to fall off. It's not like we've got an entirely different season coming. If you said this for 2026, I don't. I'd be like, okay, it's a bold prediction, but I could see it happening. Yeah. Because there's other candidates that could do it. But when it's not a regulation change,

and McLaren had such a good car and, like, did you watch Shababee, like last race of the season and how, you know, they put it one, one, two, and, you know, where would Oscar would have finished? Yeah. So, yeah, no chance, in my opinion. No chance. No. Okay.

next prediction Cal 915-1-21-jack Aston Martin will be eighth in the constructors Brutal I mean look I don't think they'll be asking for a refund from Adrian Newe if that does happen because I don't think anyone's expecting Adrian to do the big shake-up for next year I can't see them being eighth

just Adrian just sitting down with Lance Trowl and going look the gravel trap is not the fastest way around the track it's the black stuff okay so just stick to that, it'll tell a few people to do the right things. I can't. I don't think Estim might not be eighth. But Fernando Alonzo exists, and I feel like the motivation, like we speak about motivation and how Hamilton at Ferrari, new motivation, Fernando's going to walk into the office, see

Adrian Newey with his flipping, you know, like big old A4, A3, A2 piece of paper, drawing next year's car. He's going to be ready to roll. Alonzo will carry that team to seven guys. his own, I think. Yeah. At least. Oh, yeah.

He'll carry the team, definitely, and score a huge amount of points, the majority of the points of the, of them. But yeah, it's just, I do think they're going to struggle personally. I think eighth maybe is a bit much, but I do think Aston or all struggle because they are going to just be looking

towards 26. And that is such a key point of this year that so many teams, I think once we kind of find out the pecking order, there will be a few teams that definitely might just be like, goodbye, like, and they just completely might just tumble down the order because it's all about, they might as well just put all their eggs in the next year's basket. Absolutely. Next, Oberkeng shorn underscore.

No one wins more than five races. Now, I had to look at this. 2012 was the last time this happened, I believe. Okay. For winning the championship. There's a lot of races, I guess, is why this is quite bold one. It's very bold, actually. Because then you're essentially having five drivers winning five.

Five winning four-ish, four and a bit. Yeah, that's a lot. I mean, that's exciting. I mean, Ober King, I would absolutely love for this to be true. I don't think it will be. I think we'll have a driver that wins six, seven, eight, just purely by the way, Formula One has worked for many years and always works. And let's not get too excited, okay?

I feel like we're getting well too out of our sort of remit here. We need to understand that Formula One does like to just slap us in the face occasionally when we get excited for things. So I'm going to say that this is not correct. Yeah, because you've also got to think that, like I said, about the eggs going in 2026's basket that, say, McLaren or Charlotte, Claire or even Max, or who are, whoever's doing it, or Hamilton or whoever's like winning the championship at the early stages. Okay, okay.

So say Charlotte Claire has won 10 of the first 10 races. Oh my God. Everyone else is just going to give up because they will probably just think about 2026. I would love that to happen actually, Tomi. I'd love that. Like 10 races in, you know what? Touls down. Charlotte Claire, congratulations.

You've won the World Championship. Thank you. Because I know in theory that next year, I'm. maybe this is my way of taking us all down a peg with some negativity in the hope. Hold on. Tommy's taking us to negative corner. Lock yourselves in everybody. Okay, it's about, it's going to hurt.

But if we go to 2013, in theory, that was before a massive regulation change, it should have been the best thing about a 1-9-0 at the end of the season because everyone else was like, well, we just need to look to next year now. So there's always that opportunity, isn't there? So I will say that when we get to round 15, please continue to watch the one and listen to the P1 podcast. Thank you. Okay, next prediction. Matus Papso 91. Oliver Berman will take Hass's first F1 podium. Can you imagine? Wow.

Holcombberg leaves. Has to get even a little bit better than what they've done. That would be crazy race. Bearman gets P3. I can't see it. I think this is a one percenter if that. It has to be a, a, a, Brazil like we saw last year or something ridiculous. But even then, we have four teams that are kind of clear. And then we have a little bit back to the rest of the field. So it would require not just one or two teams. It required a lot of drivers to have disasters in order for that to happen.

But Ollie Bairman's, I think, a brilliant driver. And I genuinely do think he's going to shine this upcoming season, but taking a podium. No, I don't think that's a huge stretch for Hass. I think Has could have a very good year based on what they did last year, but a podium is just too much. Too far. It had to be, like you say, it had to be in Brazil. Oh, it's Holkenberg.

Next prediction, P1, Patreon member, Savage Monkey 3.0. Oscar beats Lando in the Drivers' Championship. No, I don't think so. I think Lando will beat Oscar in this year's drive. I do think Oscar will potentially be closer across more of the season. But Lando does have the upper hand and I can't go against him just because we've had these moments that, yeah, we've questioned, of course, but he's also learning. And I think that I think Lando will be better coming into this season.

And Oscar's going to have to raise his game as well to be close. So, no, I think Lando will be. And I'll say that categorically. I think Lando will beat Oscar in the driver's championship. I think if you'd have asked me this halfway through last season, I'd have been very inclined to be like Oscar will beat Lando because of the mistakes in his trajectory, but Lando did have a really good end to the year,

and Oscar did kind of drop off a bit with his pace. And I think Lando is a lot. Ando is a lot more mistake prone, but he's also in a way more consistent in terms of pace consistency in terms of just like how he delivers from each weekend. You know, like Lando's kind of mistakes and stuff have been so big because he's been in very good positions when they've happened. And that's what, and obviously in a championship battle, which is why it's got so much kind of screen time and, it's made such a thing of it. So I am less confident than you that it's an absolute given that Lando is going to be Oscar, but if I had to predict, you'll have to wait for the next video because we're going to do

teammate comparisons and way it's going to be higher. Oh no, sorry, yeah, I've given away mine, whereas you've not done yours, Tommy, although I'm pretty sure I can guess by the way that you answered that, how you will go as well. But let's see. Let's go to the Final Bowl prediction. It's from It's Lackie, or Lachie, NZ. It's quite funny that it's a New Zealander that's submitted this. Liam Lawson wins at least one race in 2025.

No disrespect to Liam Lawson, but from what I've just said about Red Bull, I think it's less likely, mainly because one Max Verstappen exists. But two, I just don't think Red Bull are going to be as quick. So with Lawson going in, having to learn a lot, is this Red Bull as pointy and as difficult to drive as everyone has been saying? So for me, I don't think Lawson wins a race next year.

I do think he'll have an all right season. He's got time. Hopefully he's got time to learn. We'll see. But I don't think he will win a race. That's my opinion. A win is a big ask because Max Lestappen is the teammate killer, if you like, and just completely like trapped as his teammates.

And I think it would be much of the same. I do think Lawson will do better than Perez was. You know, it can't really be much worse than the kind of performance that Perez was doing at the end, whereas confidence was just completely shot and it was time to get someone. And I think Lawson will have a, you know, the guy's not short of confidence. You can tell, by the way, he carries himself and stuff. And I think that will actually be a really good thing for him going into that team. a stronger kind of personality that kind of backs themselves

might actually be a really good driver to be Vastappen's teammate because it's going to be extremely bloody hard. So yeah, I think Lawson to win a race is a lot. I think you'll get podiums and things, but a win is quite a big ask. A win is a win. That's the only thing that is in my head that flippin me. A win is a win.

Anyway, that's it for our predictions. Thank you so much to everybody for listening and watching. We will be doing our creative predictions very soon. Well, not very soon. In a bit, which will be within our F1 season predictions podcast that we do, which is always before testing, because we always love to see how that ages. After testing, I don't know why anyone thinks they're like the Oracle

when they've watched testing and gone, I think Max was going to be first. 20, 23, I saw people did after testing. They're like, because, good surprise us to Martin. Yeah, because we've seen dominate testing. Wow.

Exactly. You've got to do it before. It's a bit of vibes, isn't it? So look forward to that. Lots of predictions and fun content coming your way. Tommy, what are your final thoughts? Final thoughts are just again, hurry up season.

We just, I just, this time last year, actually, we had the Hamilton news, so maybe at some point we're going to get a big bombshell. What do you reckon? Can only one top it? Adrian Nui to replace Lance Stroll as a driver. That, yeah, no, that would be amazing, actually.

And he'd probably score the same amount of points. So I'm here for it. Anyway, thank you everybody for watching listening. We'll see you soon. Take care. Lots of love there. Bye, bye, bye. If your Christmas tree isn't down yet, I swear to God,

what are you doing? Okay. You need to do your dusting, all right? it's looking pretty dusty. And I know you think that those places, right, that no one's going to see, someone might. They might sit down to see a slightly different angle of your television and the dust that's collecting behind it.

So go and dust it. Okay, Tommy. Get the feather dust are out. Everywhere. Yeah, the, um, what? Jens he didn't even hear what you said. But when you do a certain pace, I know it's just so inappropriate. I just, so inappropriate.

I just don't even need. to hear it. You could have been on mute, and I don't know it was an innuendo. More of this on our Patreon, I promise you. P1 after dark. Anyway, Tommy, thank you so much. I don't know why I'm thanking you again. I've already thanked you already. But yeah, go do your chores with the feather duster. Bye.

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