P1 with Matt and Tommy - Reaction to the Mercedes car launch

Episode Date: February 15, 2023

Mercedes go back to black! Matt and Tommy share their thoughts on the new look and how we think the 'carbon arrows' will do in the upcoming season.Follow us on socials! You can find us on Twitter, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and TikTok.***Please take the time to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your pods. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello everybody and welcome back to the podcast with Matt and Tommy. We are here for car launch numbers, what are we on? Eight. Nine. Nine. There's only one left. One left. I'll be in tomorrow and that's it.

That's it. Flown by, of course. If you are listening in your ears, you've just heard the co-founder Tom Bellingham, who still hasn't introduced me as the co-founder yet. I've just had to kind of force it out of him. But either or the Mercedes 2023 F1 car launch is finally here. It's happened.

It's out. And oh my God, it is so good looking. It's actually my favorite livery of the year. And we're going to get into Y very shortly. Tom Bellingham, I feel like maybe you aren't as excited as me. Maybe just a smidgen off the top in terms of how excited you are,

but still enjoying it quite a bit. Yeah, it's a cool look. We'll go into the reasons for it and what we think about it. But one of the thing that's quite funny is it actually got leaked. All this stuff. I managed to not see it, thankfully. It was Petronus, actually, that managed to leak it. Of all things, they did a test stream and then were still live.

So they took the covers off. I just watched it now because I wanted to see what the actual leak was. Right. Should we talk about the livery first and foremost? I am in love with it. I am staring right now at the sidelon, like the flat to the ground side on approach. And it looks so good.

When I look at that, I don't think I would change anything. Now, of course, Mercedes have gone back to black, which is what all cars seem to be doing this year, but the way in which they've done it, with the Patrona stripe on the side, with the vibrant driver number as well, I wouldn't change anything.

Of course, some people are of the opinion that they wanted it silver and that's kind of more Mercedes-like. But I love the black car before. I love the black car now. It is, and I'm going to straight up say it at perfection. I wouldn't change anything. Yeah, looking at it, it's basically last year's car, but they've switched the silver and black.

So like the turquoise line, They've got a tiny little bit of a silver line as a nod to the silver arrows. But yeah, gone for the black. And by saying they've gone for the black, it's not black. It's obviously carbon for weight saving. So I guess bad side out the way. I'll get the negative stuff out the way. And this is what I imagine a lot of other people that don't like it feel,

is that I absolutely love this. I think it looks awesome. The only downside, I think, is the fact that we've had so many carbon. and cars this year that I think when we see it on the grid, it would be a shame that we've not got a kind of painted car. However, as a standalone livery, boy, does it look good. We were saying before this that I actually, dare I say, the black is almost more iconic to me as someone that obviously, even me as the old man that I am wasn't around in the 50s to see the, I know, shocking, right? I wasn't, no, I wasn't there.

I thought you were good friends with One Manuel Fangio. We were besties, yeah. But yeah, the silver arrows, that was like a different era. Now, like everything that Hamilton did, you know, with the black Mercedes and winning that seventh title and stuff, it almost feels more iconic. And I'm going to shout out my wife, Katie, that's not Katie Fairman for the 100th time, but my wife Katie that had some big brain thinking. And I think this is very clever, is that. The silver arrows, if you know the story of why Mercedes were the silver arrows, it's because they painted the car and they needed to scratch all the paint off.

So technically, this is like a nod to that, having carbon because they've scratched the paint off. And it kind of works with the whole Mercedes legacy of scratching paint off to save weight. So I think that's actually really clever. I mean, they've absolutely hit the jackpot with it, Tommy. I'm sure that is not the primary reasoning for. why they've gone for carbon. No, it's because it's not to our legacy. No, it's to gain time on track.

But either or... If they want to use that, though. Yeah, and I'm sure they will. They will, absolutely. It's... But hopefully, because of course, the last time they did a nod to that legacy, they ended up in the wall several times in Germany, 2019. Yeah, let's just hope Netflix isn't like...

It is not Mercedes special this year, because otherwise they're not doing well. But you mentioned the numbers, actually. That is one thing that is a big... W because I am one of these people that will never get used to the T-cams. I'm sorry for all the people that know the T-CAM colors and all this kind of stuff. And now we can't see the driver helmets because of the halo. Bright, vibrant numbers, which they were meant to be having, by the way. There was this rule, maybe 2017 was that or something where they started putting the numbers bigger

and they've kind of gone back to being hidden again. But Mercedes on a black car, they've gone for Hamilton. with that kind of electric yellow kind of thing. And then George Russell bright green, which maybe would have gone blue, but it's still cool. You're going to be able to tell the difference between them, which is really nice.

Absolutely. Now, apparently Toto Wolf did say that story. We just clearly weren't listening on the car launch. Because we're live on Twitch right now, Matt P1, Tommy, if you haven't followed us already. And he did actually say that story. So maybe we switched off at that time when the car was launched. But either or.

It wasn't the most interesting. No, it was a hard act to follow after Ferrari because Ferrari was vibes. It had a grandstand. They took the car out live during the actual launch. It was amazing to watch, whereas like, look, Mercedes have their own thing. They have their own way of doing it.

I'm just not sure the combination of us Europeans in the morning. We've just got up to watch the car launch. and it is quite a chill environment, isn't it, to say the least. Very sort of Mercedes-esque. It always has a similar style to it, doesn't it? So yeah, quite difficult to get the real hype up. But when the car came out, I did certainly wake up quite drastically, and it was great to see this new car.

I would not change a thing. And, yeah, well done. 10 out of 10 for me. 10 out of 10, wow. Yeah, it is very, very. very nice. I'd probably oh, what would I change? Like looking at it, I'm like, oh, I'd change something. I'd maybe

put a bit more silver on there, but no, I think they've done it extremely well. The actual car itself still no side pods. So I think we had a we were uming and a Ring whether they would go with it. I mean, this is classic off season and reports where you get these things

where people go. Reports from Berkeley say they're going to have massive side pods and then two weeks later it's no, they're going to stick with their side pod philosophy. I suppose though when we get to car launch season and all of this, it doesn't necessarily mean they're going to run no side pods just because they may run it in shakedown for a few laps around Silverstone, right? So you're saying that actually the car's going to be 300 foot wide

and have the biggest side pods you've ever seen. Yes, they can't have taken. Yeah, hope they get pole at Monaco and they're sorted. win the race. Absolutely. But not all is to be sort of analyzed as what will be in round one. As we all know as Formula One fans, many things can change. But it does seem that way that they're going down the route again of no side pods.

And fair enough, they made a big step over the course of last year in terms of improvement of performance. So clearly they were figuring out how to work the car. And into this year, perhaps they think they can take another step up with this philosophy. So that will be interesting to watch. Let's now move on to the thoughts on the launch then. We've kind of tapped on it a little bit, quite chill, quite calm. Of course, you had Natalie Pinkham and Naomi Schiff hosting, which was the same presenting

line-up as last year, and didn't have any chat from younger drivers from Mercedes this year. They kind of cut that one and just had Lewis and George and Mick there in Mercedes overalls, which is strange to see. We were discussing a little bit, weren't we, on Twitch earlier before we started recording this, that we were wondering where would Mick actually go? will this be a stepping stone potentially into a Mercedes or a different team? It's going to be a difficult thing for me. Despite him being in the Mercedes outfit as a reserve driver,

it doesn't necessarily mean he's got the keys to open the door to a race seat anytime soon, does it? No, we mentioned Ocon and how Ocon sort of was an F1 driver and then he couldn't get a seat. so he took the Mercedes Reserve role. But sorry Mick fans, but the difference was there that Ocon was hyped. You know, he had a very good debut season at Force India. And there was a lot of hype around him and he performed really well.

And a lot of people thought, you know, this guy really, really needs a seat. Whereas Mick obviously didn't have a particularly good year last year. I think he's putting it politely. And I almost feel like Mick needs to be. needs to get in a car, even if it's just kind of a midfield car, just to kind of show what he can do with a bit more experience, I think it would be a huge risk, even though you kind of alluded to it that Hamilton will leave eventually at some point. Do they make George the number one driver

and put someone like Mick in? But for me, that's a big risk. It's a big gamble for sure, because Mick has come off the back of Hass where he wasn't exactly the best. He made a lot of mistakes when the car was decent. And you then think if he gets plonked into Mercedes, which you'd hope would be decent if he does get the opportunity, would you be able to deliver the results? And it does seem like he needs a William seat, for example. That could easily be a route in with the Mercedes partnership there that they have with the engine.

So it's an interesting thing to see where Mick eventually ends up. But he's got to prove himself behind the scenes, I would say this year. He might get the opportunity on the odd occasion to drive the Mercedes, which would be great for data collection to see just how good he is. And then sort of move on from there. But of course, hearing from George and Lewis as well, George's birthday, which, you know, he seemed very happy to be working on his birthday. But not the worst day to go and drive a Formula One car on your birthday.

I'm sure you'd take that as well, Tommy. Yeah, true. It's my dad's birthday as well. Shout out to my dad. Ah, shout out to Tommy's dad. Nice. very always super supportive and has been following this P1 venture in the Twitch chat and stuff so much so he's called himself Tommy P1 dad in the chat is that correct

he has yeah amazing he said I don't know if he's got up barely enough he's not an early rise like me like same as me so probably not you love a lion we do love a lion but yeah george a nice nice birthday present for him to to get the new car and I'm sure yeah they'll be hoping hoping it's quick because they need to they need to come out the blocks quicker. They can't have six, seven races where they go, oh, this concept isn't working again. Certainly.

And of course, George beating Lewis in the championship last year. How will Lewis bounce back from that? We'll have to find out, will there be this whole testing new philosophies with the car again? And will Lewis be the one to do it, considering, you know, perhaps maybe underestimated how good George would be over the course of the season as well from Lewis's side. But it'd be interesting to see how those two work together.

I'm sure the rivalry will form. bubble up if they start winning a lot of races next year. Next year, this year, next season, this season. Whatever you want to call it, it feels really weird. We're 18 days away from the start of the Formula One season and your birthday as well, Tommy. I'm very excited for that first round of the season. Yeah, on my birthday. Do you think we will get a George versus Lewis moment?

Maybe not necessarily crashing, but some kind of disagreement. 100%. I agree. One million percent. We saw that even last year. Like Miami, for example, they were fighting incredibly hard, not that we saw it live on the television.

Thanks, Miami TV cameras. But they went wheel to wheel pretty hard there. And I think Brazil as well, if Lewis had caught up to him without that minor damage, I think we could have seen some pretty close, touchy racing. So they both fit,

I think they both feel like they have something to prove against each other. Of course, Lewis doesn't want to get beaten by a teammate. And George sees this as, you know, the start of potentially his, incredible Formula One career and what a way to start in the top team and and beat,

you know, statistically the greatest of all time. So yeah, there's a lot to, a lot to play for. And I think that both of them, yeah, it could get very spicy. Yeah, absolutely. Because if you think back to something like Hungary when Hamilton was really quick and they just let, George just let him go to chase after Vestappen because he was quicker. If they're in a title, fight, George is, whether he's battling Hamilton in the title fight or Vastappen

or whatever, and they're quite close in the title, that situation pans out very differently. I'm sure he'd put much more of a fight on the radio to say, no, because look at, look at Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, for example,

you know, they started off besties and then as soon as they were in a title fight together, Hamilton was, you know, famously saying, like, you know, I'm not slowing down for Nico and things like this. So yeah, it would be fascinating if it does happen because boy, the spice would be good. And you'd have to expect as well that George should take a step up this year. It was his first season in Mercedes last year. He's embedding himself in the team. Of course, he's been around them for a long, long time, but it's very different to actually step up into the driver's seat for a whole season.

He's now put in was eight podiums, a victory. He beat Lewis in the championship. That is such a confidence boost going into this season. And if Mercedes aren't horrendous like they were at the start of last year, my brain is like they are going to be back and potentially Lewis will win the world title. But as I say,

my heart is fully with Ferrari and will be overpowered at every single point this season. So that is kind of leading on to... Did I like Max Verstappen? Yeah, exactly. You're just pretending he doesn't exist. No, no, no, he does. He does exist.

But look, Mercedes were inevitable for so long. It's not like I'm disrespecting Max Verstappen. is the fact that Mercedes aren't usually off the pace for long when you actually look at the last eight years. So that's my reasoning. I don't think Max is a terrible driver. He was incredible last year and probably is the best driver on the grid. But will Red Bull be able to deliver with the things going on in the background as well

and them having to fight off reduction in aerode testing and catering as well, food, you know, that sort of stuff. So fascinating stuff. But I guess I've sort of touched upon. where I think they'll be this season. Tommy, what does your brain say? My brain says they are quicker. I think, I've said it in our predictions.

I still think Max wins the title. I think Mercedes will be close, my predictions, Mercedes will be closer to Red Bull, probably push them for the constructors title potentially. But I don't see them winning the driver's title because I think it will get spicy between George and Lewis, and I think they'll just naturally take points off each other throughout the season.

So you think, right, okay, let's put that scenario. Let's open this scenario up a little bit. Let's dive in. Okay, so let's say Lewis is alongside a Sergio Perez kind of number two in the sense of you don't necessarily think they're going to take as many points off each other. If Lewis is alongside Mick Schumacher, for example, who wins the title then this year? Vastappen just. So you still think Vestappen would just win?

I think he'd be closer. I do worry that Mercedes going forward, when they had two competitive drivers in Niko Rosberg and Hamilton, obviously, those two, it was fine because they were so clear. Like their car, Rosberg could have an absolute stink and he'd be second. I remember Russia when he locked up and was last by term one, still finished second easily. when I think it really helped Mercedes to have a botass

when we got to 2017 and Ferrari had caught up a bit more, all this kind of stuff. And I think that that really helped them. And I do worry that, you know, that could be their downfall in terms of going for the driver's championship. Fascinating stuff. All of this chat. And it's going to end up being Pierre Gasley World Champion

because we know from us, season predictions we've written them off and he's actually going to be incredible at Alpine. Great stuff. Okay. Well, that has pretty much wrapped up our Mercedes car launch chat. We've got one to go. Alpine tomorrow. Very exciting.

We will, of course, be live on Twitch once again. If you want to come and join us, Matt P1, Tommy will of course be in your ears as well via the podcast and on YouTube with our lovely energetic edits. So thanks so much for watching. We'll see you very soon. And yeah, 18 days to the start of car launches. and Tommy you thought I'd forgotten final thoughts? Oh.

Damn it. Yeah, one car launch to go. Please, please paint it. Okay, there you go. Please put some paint on it, especially pink, because we need something interesting. That's not to, you know, I do love the Mac. I do love the Mac, but I think when we see the whole grid,

particularly on a sunny day in Barcelona when it's quite low, light in testing, pray for Croftie is all I'll say. Yeah, it's going to be, and as well, the Alpine thing is going to be blue and black. We just know it, isn't it? It's just going to be. Apparently I might have said 18 days till the launches. I meant 18 days till the start of the season, round one. Not to the start of the launches.

We've just finished those. Good stuff. All right. We'll see you very soon. Goodbye. Bye. Bye. B1 is a Stack production and part of the ACAST creator network.