The Late Braking F1 Podcast - 2022 Singapore GP Review

Episode Date: October 2, 2022

The LB Boys review an incident-packed Singapore GP, where Sergio Perez took the win ahead of Charles Leclerc. Sam, Ben and Harry discuss the race, review their bold predictions and name their Driver of the Day and Moment of the Race... JOIN our Discord: https://discord.gg/dQJdu2SbAm SUPPORT our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/latebraking TWEET us @LBraking BUY our merch: https://late-braking-f1-podcast.creator-spring.com/ SUBSCRIBE to our podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network. Thank you for listening to the Late Breaking F1 podcast. Make sure to tune in for new episodes every Wednesday and Grand Prix Sunday. Hello and a very warm welcome to the late breaking F1 podcast presented by Harry Ead, Sam Sage, and me, Ben Hocking. A tough race today for Max Verstappen means this thrilling championship fight goes on one more race. Another twist in the tail you could call it as Sergio Perez took victory at the Singapore Grand Prix joined on the podium by the two Ferraris,

LeCler in second, Carlos sides in third, a tough one for Max Verstapp and finishing P7 and just two points for Mercedes as well. We'll be getting into all of that, of course, throughout the next 75 minutes or so. Of course, we're going to be looking at our driver of the day and worst driver of the day too, Sergio Perez and how he was able to claim victory

over Charles Leclair, but we'll start with Sam. How's your roof? Oh, mate, there's a hole in my roof. And it was also even caused by me or Formula One. So, folks, if you got part of the Discord, right? We were just, I was just cleaning up the flat a little bit, making a cup of tea. You know how it is getting ready to sit down for the race. And my nearest Adiris goes, there's some damp in the ceiling that wasn't there before.

And I think, oh, right. I live in a converted church. So you think, all right, old building, these things happen. Turns out, either the weather, bloody weather, or a burst pipe has caused my whole ceiling to become very wet. And the fire brigade had to come around and they put a hole in the roof. I miss most of the race. So if you hear a weird take from me, it's probably exactly the same as normal.

So I was really worried about it. Other than that, let's crack on. Yeah. I think I said to sound that he should just make it up. Yeah. He saw from the second's full safety car restart onward, so the first, I don't know how many laps I was, pretty half the race, wasn't it?

No idea. Yeah, I saw like 35 minutes on the timer. There was a timer when I came back. Yeah. Oh, that's even more. So an hour and a half you missed. So, yeah, just what first two thirds of the race just make up what happened? I can't wait to talk about how Luca Badoa jumped into that Toyota and said that map.

It was incredible. You know, he just jumped in. Anyway, clearly a thrilling race. No one saw that come in. But regardless, you've got three of us on the podcast. If at any point you hear some noise in the background, for once it might not be Harry's boiler. And it instead will be Sam being decapitated by his own ceiling. Obviously, massive, massive condolences when that happens.

But we are going to run a raffle. after this to see who will be the new host if that happens. So get involved in that. Let's crack on with Sergio Perez. We should do a raffle. Just generally. Yeah. All right. Big up raffles.

Underrated. Underrated raffles. You start with Sergio Perez managing to take his second win of the season. His third race win all time. He basically led from, well, he led from the first lap onwards, to be honest.

after he took the lead from Charles LeClaire at the start of the Grand Prix, had some pressure from Charles LeCler late on with the dry tyres, but he was able to hold him off and eventually claim a win by just over seven seconds, we think. We say we think because we're recording before any announcement has been made on the investigation that is being undertaken because of safety car infringement. So, who knows?

He might not have won. That would be funny, wasn't it? Sam, what did you think about Sergio Perez's win? Do you think he... He's had a tough run recently. Do you think he needed this one? Oh, 100%. I think any driver that essentially isn't Max Verstappen right now,

if they were to stand on the top spot, you need it, right? A bit of a confidence boost, bit of a get you going. But the difference between Sergio Perez and the rest of the grid is his teammate is Max Verstappen, the most dominant force in Formula One at the moment. It must be so difficult every race to keep your spirits up.

Funny enough, I was watching the football highlights last night, and Yergen Klop. the manager of Liverpool football team did a great analogy. He says confidence is like a flower. You grow it and then someone stamps on it in front of you. I imagine that's what it's like being Max Verstapp as teammate where you think this is doing all right.

I've got a pole position. I've got a win. I've picked up podiums and then Max Verstappen goes on to win what, seven in a row and you just get tatters. You're just miserable. So yeah, well done, Sergei Perez. Again, I've got no real gauge for what happened after the first corner. of the race to what happened to him fending off Charlercler.

I imagine that he maybe fought the Spanish Inquisition. I imagine they did a hot dog eating contest. And I imagine that Sergio Prey is probably white the floor with all of them. You know, got back in that car, finished the race supremely. He took a brilliant job. And yeah, I think this really rivals Secere when he won that first race. Well, at one point at the start of the Grand Prix. Remember in a racing point, not a Red Bull, not a race swinging car.

He was at the back of the grid and managed to then come through and win the race, right? That was spectacular as well. He seems to only win when there is chaos. And that's not a bad thing that you can turn a chaotic race into a race victory. So, yeah, well done, Sergio. You do lead it. Now carry the momentum forward. Don't just go, yeah, that was a one-off.

Japan, hit it hard. Show this level of speed. I do think, though, that Verstappen's misfortunes on Saturday, i.e. not finishing that first flying lap in Q3 and then being told to box scooter fuel running out, allowed him to look a little better and have it a little easier than maybe he would have done, have the Stappenth finished that lap.

Because I think Rastap was maybe eight or nine tenths up on that final lap and definitely would have grabbed pole. But nonetheless, Sergio Perez manages to make the most of it and he needed to. Great job. for the record when it comes to our Japan preview and we do our question of the week, which driver would win a hot dog eating contest and why is definitely going to be it.

It's definitely going to be it. Past and present are allowed. Past and present are allowed. Can't wait for the submissions on that one. Harry, what did you make of Perez's performance? Obviously, tough run of races recently, but he's back in winner circle. Yeah, it was impressive from Paris.

Like you say, we are still awaiting final, final confirmation that he has actually won. But regardless of that, he was, he was in, in sort of very good form all after, like, as soon as the lights went out, there was not a moment, apart from the odd couple of lockups, didn't really put a foot wrong. So, yeah, and like you say, he's had a dodgy, dodgy few races recently, so I think this is an important one. And for Red Bull, again, we've spoken about this before, is, you know, is Perry's doing enough?

this is exactly what they need Perez to be there for effectively when the days happen when Max Verstappen isn't around to win a race they want Perez there to pick up the pieces and that's exactly what happened and it happened earlier this year in Monaco as well

because Verstappan was he was not as having as bad an afternoon as today but he wasn't in it there either so from that point of view I think that Red Bull will be very pleased but yeah I think it was a well-timed win for Checo

because it's been a it's been a rough few races for him just in terms of relative pace to Vastappan and I think Vestappan would have won it had he finished that qualifying

like yesterday and bit on pole because I think yeah we saw he had the pace all afternoon to match to match Perez and Lecler but you've got to be in it to win it and Vestappen wasn't so yeah Perez can look at that

as probably if not his best one of I think yeah maybe Saki at 2020 could beat it, but it's definitely up there as one of his best ever races. Me being annoyed with commentary is hardly a new thing, but I was really, I was really agitated by the end of this race about how they were falling over this race as being far better than Sekeir. Agreed. He was last in an inferior car.

That could go down as one of the greatest wins of all time, let alone Perez's greatest wins. So as good as this was, it didn't quite meet that. and I couldn't understand why they were saying it was. I've been quite critical of Sergio Perez, certainly the last couple of months, and I don't think his performances have been up to scratch. And it's probably come out of confusion more than anything, just based on there has been that growth

and there has been that improvement from the start of his Red Bull career last year. And it kind of stopped, you know, not far off his win at Monaco, really. And it's kind of fallen off since then, and it's a bit of confusion as to why. And here, this was a brilliant performance. And I give him a lot of credit for what he was able to do out there because he delivered the kind of performance that is needed at the Singapore Grand Prix. This Singapore Grand Prix, you might look at it and say there were a lot of safety cars,

there was a lot of carnage. There was, I won't deny that, but it's also not abnormal. It's still, it's perfectly normal for a Singapore Grand Prix what we saw out there today. And the kind of performance you need, the real steadiness, the real, composure. Those are the qualities you need in a race like that. He needed to preserve the intermediate tyres, not knowing how long they could go. He did all of that. He checked every box. And really, that last stint where he was able to pull away from Chal-Aclare, really impressive to the point where if he does get a five-second penalty now, at the moment we don't know that,

he'd be covered anyway. And he didn't, yeah, you say a few lockups here and there, but I mean, if that was the worst thing you did on a race like this, you're doing all right. He was so good out there, and I'm really pleased for him. And he did everything that he needed to do. We have said multiple times that his objective is to back up Max Verstappen, and when Max Verstappen, for whatever reason, isn't contending for a win, he needs to be in that fight. And not only was he in that fight, he led the fight. Great start off the line, absolutely nailed that. And yeah, I mean, even when Shao LeClaire got the DRS. You know, it was uncertain whether DRS was going to play a factor at all in this Grand Prix.

It didn't go in Paris' favour because, you know, he'd have been very happy if DRS was never enabled at all. But he still held off Shao LeClaire for a large part of this race. He earns a lot of respect. And I think this was better than his Monaco performance as well. He deserves a lot of respect for what he was able to do, out there. What about the Charles LeCler side of it? Because there were a few chances or a few half chances where he could. could have maybe thrown a nose up the inside but declined to do so. Sam, do you think that

Charlerclair missed out here? Was there any chance for him to take win? Yeah, I mean, I think the obvious answer is yes, he missed out. But I think we've been critical of Charlotte Claire for almost trying to stick that nose up the inside. Maybe when it isn't appropriate, it isn't safe to do so. And we've said, what makes a world champion? You need that outright pace. You need that outright skill you need that raw talent, but you also need to be able to deliver consistency and come up trumps in the points when results aren't going your way or, you know, it's just not, the cars aren't falling in the way that you want them to, or, you know, your other competitors are struggling, but hey, the opportunity to make with that for a win, but you're gathering as

much as possible, essentially being consistent and making the most of a bad situation. And we're at Singapore, there's chaos ensuing. It could have been incredibly easy for Charles Clair to have been overzealous, locked the brakes. As we saw Max Verstappen do right at the end, right, all four ties, straight off and Amelia Hitt again. He's got to carve his way back through the field. That could have happened at any point to Charlotte Clare trying to make a move on Sergei Perez, but he was patient.

He was trying to wait for a mistake from Sergio Perez. It didn't come. And that Sergio Perez had a brilliant performance again. It's okay that that didn't come. And Shao LeCler picks up 18 points. And you know what? If there's a penalty applied, and it's a bigger penalty than we think it might be, he can still walk away with this victory. It's not like we're going around Monser or Silverstone or

spa where there are overtaking opportunities every three or four corners. Singapore has maybe one clear overtaking spot. I think it's down the fifth or sixth corner, you know, into that heavy breaking zone. Other than that, you're lucky. You need someone to make a mistake. It's a bit like Monaco in that sense. And I think Charlotte Clare played it exactly how he needed to by being safe, being sensible, weighing up his options, and not making a silly dive bomb into a corner where his front wing goes, he locks up all his tires, he ends up in the war when he walks away with nothing.

To me, he's learned a lesson there. I think a season ago, Charlotte Clare maybe goes for the move, makes a mistake, and his race is over. He doesn't make that mistake. I think he made the right call. What do you think, Harry,

any opportunity for him to try and make a move, or would that have been too risky, given what was going on at the? Yeah, I'm with Sam on this one. I think we saw so many drivers, excellent drivers, you know, Verstapp and Hamilton and co, trying to make moves and not pulling them off or ending up in worse off because the conditions were too tricky to make those moves. And obviously it was slippery offline, even when they were on the,

overtaken was just generally trickly because it was slippery offline when they're on inters. And then when they want to dry it was still slightly wet offline as well. So making those overtakes was risky. I guess the main criticism for Leclerc is not naming that start because given how tricky it was to overtake, it could have been the other way around and Lecler could have been in the one leading Perez for the entire race.

So, yeah, it can't be too harsh on Leclair for not chucking one at the inside because it could well have come off worse and we'd be criticising him for that. So in that sense, no, I don't think we should be harsh on him. but yeah, maybe maybe the start is the thing that should be looked back on as his downfall this race because, yeah, I don't think it's much else you could have done this afternoon. Yeah, I think you're right in that it was the start that cost him the most here

because ultimately it's not a massive rundown to term one at Singapore, at least if you compare it to some other tracks, if you think Spain, and that's a brilliant term one, by the way. Oh, God. Mexico, you know, if you think of a few of those, like, it's, a much longer run down to turn one. And it takes quite a bad start to be overtaken so easily as LeClaire was. And the reaction time was fine. We saw on the graphic that it was dead level with Perez. It was the traction in the second part of that starting phase that really cost him here.

And I have no doubt that if Leclair led into turn one, he would have done the race that Perez did. So I think it would have been rolls for a first, but ultimately you need to nail that start. And he didn't. And I'm also with both of you on this, I don't think that it was worth a 50-50 dive bomb at the inside. I don't think ultimately the Ferrari was quick in the right places because it seemed as if every time Leclair got off the final corner, he had the pace going down into turn one. But the run, again, the run from that last corner down to turn one isn't great. And I think if you switch the, imagine if you switch the straights around. So you've got the other straight at the end of the first sector. the start-finish rate. If you switch them about, he probably would have got the move done,

but ultimately that sort of complex after that first corner was not where Lecler was strong, and he didn't have the opportunity then. I think going down into turn seven was one of the prime opportunities today. So, you know, you could have risked it into term one, but you then get a Danny Kaviat situation from a few years ago. If you remember, he had a pretty horrific dive bomb on Rikinen, maybe. I can't quite remember. Yeah, look that one up. That was an ambitious try from Danny. But yeah, I think ultimately Leclair did what he needed to do. He was a long way clear of Carlos Sines, which in itself is a bit worrying for signs. And, you know, this sort of performance, you're right, I think there is

a maturity about not trying anything stupid because others did and others did not prosper as a result of that. We're going to be looking at the delayed start right after. this. So obviously the race was set to go live at 1pm UK time, which I think makes that 8pm Singapore time. And that did not happen. We basically started the race an hour and five minutes later than expected due to rain. Sam, what did you make of the delayed start? It was all a bit of a kerfuffle. Fortunately, we got most of the laps in, although it's Singapore. It's or it's very rare we actually get all the lapsing, even when it's dry. What did you make of the way the FIA handled the start of this growery?

Oh, rain is like Superman's kryptonite Formula One, isn't it? It's amazing that an element where the sport is raced outside, everywhere around the world, can be so destructive to the ability to run this event. I am becoming increasingly frustrated with the prospect of a wet race, which is wrong because I feel like, and I don't know if you guys feel the same, but a decade ago, five years ago, if you had said to me, there's a chance of a wet race here, I would get excited. I'd be like, come on, let's have a little sprinkle of rain.

Let's have a bit of, you know, that throws a bit of excitement. And it, the strategy, the ability, you've got to step up your ability as a driver. I used to love the idea of a wet race. And now a wet race, we don't get a wet race. You get a drying, damp track race, and anything that is still raining, has to be called off. Something needs to change with these Formula One cars to allow us to go racing in actual wet conditions.

Wet races can produce some of the best races we've ever had. Just look at Canada, all them years ago, pretty much a decade ago now, right? That goes down from the best races of all time. That was a very wet, heavy race. And the cars made it work. Then they need to attach, I don't know, mug guards to the back tyres to stop spray

or they need to come up with a different tire formula or they need to ensure that tracks have better drainage. But racing in the wet is a key formula. It's a key part. It's an essential part of Formula One racing. You can't just delay and delay and delay. We're a sport. You've got to get on with it.

You can't just write off a whole afternoon of activities. You've got to get on with an action. And I'm getting more and more frustrated with the way that the FIA are handling this. It's kind of, we'll just delay it because people have got endless time. everyone's got endless time to kill for Formula One to get back on the track. And the other thing that is frustrating is they don't have a method for clearing the track, for bringing the track up to optimal conditions. You look at our American friends in NASCAR and IndyCar, and they have a brilliant machine.

It's almost like a lorry that rolls around with a big roller on the back that steams the track dry, essentially, like pressure washes the track dry with air. We have nothing of the sorting Formula One. You just get the safety car doing laps. there needs to be a method that is put into place to ensure that this track comes up to scratch much, much sooner, because people have got to get on with it. And there's no challenge if we don't race in the wet either.

What's the point of having wet tires or intermediate tires if they basically don't ever get used unless someone spilt a bottle of water on the start, fingers straight? It just feels a bit silly. So I'm very disappointed, very frustrated that we're still, we haven't learned from our lessons from what happened at spa essentially over a year ago. We're still at mercy to the wet weather.

Something needs to change about it. otherwise we'll never get to see a good wet race again. Harry, what did you make of the delayed start? Do you think that starting races over an hour later than their schedule is damaging for the sport? I don't quite understand what the decision making from the steward's race control lately, this year in particular, it's been so delayed and slow. It's like, it's like I'm trying to make a decision. I'm the one, I'm the race.

They're on the fence with you. Yeah, they just don't know what to do. Because even like safety cars this year or VSCs, it's taking them so long to call what is obviously a safety car. Like, the show one, took forever. Exactly. They took forever. Or when Yuki-Sinoda was like buried in the barrier and they were like, not sure, might be do a safety car. You know, I'm sorry, just a very quick point here, because they deploy the opposite theory for when it's practice.

right? If something happens in practice, red flag. Immediate. Flores, right away. Yeah, immediate.

Yeah, sorry, go on. Yeah, but anyway, so, but that's part of my point. For such a agile sport, you know, decisions have to be made,

split second decisions have to be made on strategy, whether you're a driver making a move. It is so slow to get a bloody motor race started.

Like, why is this procedure so long? Because we had it in Monaco last, year as well. Why do we, because we had, we had these updates, we having these updates every 50 minutes or whatever. Why then did we have to wait like another hour to get everything going? Because it's like a 40 minute, you know, they open the pits and 40 minutes later the race

starts, just open the pits. We've decided we're going to run the race, just open the pits and off we go. So it's just painful to watch that, that I think is having delayed, you know, delayed sporting events happen. It's the weather, whatever. And I think it was the right cool at the time to delay it initially. But sounds right, we, we should be able to, the designer of the wet tire is just doing nothing. What's not needed anymore? Because we never used them.

So, yeah, we, we have to find a better way to get these procedures underway because it's just overly complicated for literally no reason, which is so F1, but it, but it shouldn't be. And I think that, that is the most damaging part of it, because it's difficult. to understand why people who work in everyone couldn't decide whether the three-hour clock started on the hour that the race was supposed to start originally or when the race actually starts and people are arguing about that and it's just dull and no one cares. So that's the most damaging part.

I think the delay itself is fine. It had to be delayed, but we could have started it earlier in the slightly wetter conditions. So sort it out. It's rubbish. I do somewhat enjoy the stat now that Perez has more race wins when the start is delayed than when the start is on time. So maybe that's one of the keys to him being at his best. I know, right? Two out of three.

But yeah, F1 really does enjoy being great and then shooting itself in the foot, doesn't it? I mean, we love this sport, but it really doesn't know how to get out of its own way sometimes. There are so many situations similar to the start procedure, but you could also throw the safety car infringement investigation in the same mix, really. There are so many things where any other sport would look at it and would never consider going about it in the same way. It would be ludicrous to see that in any other sport. Could you imagine a sport where, okay, I understand with weather, obviously,

but specifically looking at the delay in investigating the safety car. Could you imagine the World Cup final thinking, is that going to be a goal? We'll check it after the game's over. That's all right. You'd never have it. It's really annoying. Specifically looking at the start,

I'm not quite sure whether this is contractual, and that's where the issue comes in here, because it might well be, obviously, you get with the race, you get the whole pre-race shenanigans with celebrities, you get the grid walk, you get the whole procedure, which is essentially an hour long. And they kept to that despite starting the race over an hour after it was supposed to. I'm not quite sure whether there's something contractual based, maybe for the fans in attendance,

for making sure celebrities get the spot that they're supposed to get. I'm not quite sure. Maybe that's the issue here. If that is the case, then they need to somehow find a way to get a truncated version of a race start into these contracts. So if the race does not start on the hour of when it's supposed to start, what is the process for doing a slightly reduced start? So you still get some of that in there, but not all of it.

Because you're right, Sam. We have the time to spare because we love this sport and it is what we love doing and we have this podcast. But you can't expect someone who's just getting into the sport or someone who's a casual fan to stick around for an hour. We can't deny it. We're going up against other sports, and attention span is not infinite. That's the competition.

And if you're making decisions like this, this is going to happen. I was disappointed. You're right. They might as well ditch the wet tire at this point, if not we're going to bother with wet race starts. It wasn't ready to go on the hour, fine. But it was ready by definitely half-past, if not slightly before that. And they're the best drivers in the world. It's the pinnacle of motorsport.

It's their opportunity to prove that when conditions are like this. And there wasn't really, apart from Lewis Hamilton, that was actually dispelled as well. There was no real debate as to whether they were going to start on the full wet, right? It was always going to be inters. And I couldn't understand it. I think this was poor. And yeah, you're right. At its core, it's an agile sport run by a non-agile company and it's not a great book.

Should we have a look at some bold predictions that we made in our preview episode? I'll kick off because it's not a great start. I was able to put myself out of my misery very early on because I said that both Ferraris would be out by the end of lap one. And they were just about the only team that did finish in the end. So many retirements and both Ferraris made it to the end without any hiccups. So who could have seen that coming wrong? Harry, was yours right?

yes yes it was come on well done just remind the remind the folks what your what your ball prediction was

I said and I can't remember if I said it at least or there would be exactly but don't matter I said there would be five safety cars

slash VSCs and it was bang on five drivers didn't let you down there at all thank you F1 drivers well done

and Alpine engines Right. Yeah, true. Yeah, Alpine engines sponsored by Harry Ead at lay breaking. And Sam, your bold prediction. My bold prediction was that there will be three red flags, four, no, yes, four safety cars, five D&Fs across the whole weekend. Now, we're apparently having some internal debate as to why I'm not correct on this,

which I think is very rude. Because the definition of a red flag is that all cars must go back to the pit lane. is closed and the session cannot be ran. And that is for a number of different safety reasons whether that be a crash, the weather, the pit lane has to be closed with the red light, which it was on multiple occasions this weekend. Apparently, the boys think I'm not correct,

but I think I am correct. Sam's claiming that... Is your argument that the third... Because you had two red flags during practice this weekend. And you're claiming the third one is because the race didn't... start on time. Well, I'm also going to claim, because we're happening with qualifying as well,

didn't it? We didn't start qualified on time either. Quality started on time, didn't it? Oh, was it practice three. Practice three didn't start on time. Oh, yeah, it was open, but the pit lane was closed. Ah, I see, I see. So is that one you are in. Has a red light at the end of the pit laying, it drives a red flag. It's the same thing, though. It's exactly the same thing.

I think we've got to throw this to the people. Ben said, and I quote, have a day off when Sam's which I think he's out of line I can't have a day off my house has a hole in the roof leave me alone don't care I'm good I'm going to do a vote now

in the poll I'll do it in the poll section if you're listening to this you'll have seen the poll we'll come back unlike the FIA will come back by the end of the podcast and give you an answer and anyone who votes C that means Sam's wrong no it doesn't mean I'm right

C is correct counts towards wrong. Cups towards Red Flag. Given that we gave you a point for getting your top three right, I feel like you should let this one go, son. No, I'll keep all the points. Go to the playground, climb to the top of the steps, and let it slide.

Don't worry about it. How long if you have that in your locker? Only about five seconds, surprisingly. Zinger. Anyway, bold predictions then going very swimmingly well. Everyone agrees about whether we got them right, wrong. I'm exhausted. Driver of the day. Who have you got, Harry? I'm going to go for Checo, despite whether he gets a penalty or not for safety car shenanigans.

Like we've already said, he was faultless by this couple of lockups. Yeah, you can't fault him. So I'll go for him. Another shout out as well to Norris. I think he was pretty, pretty stellar all we can, to be and shouldn't have been that close to sign. So, yeah, Norris is another good shout, but I'm going to go for Checo. Yeah, from my side, shout out to the Aston Martin duo. I think they did well, but ultimately only two contenders on this,

and they're the two that you've mentioned. It's either Perez or Norris. I'll go with Lando Norris. I think he drove a faultless race, and to be fair, so did Perez, so it could go either way, but I'll give it to Lando Norris on this occasion. Sam, who have you got?

What, for my drive of the day? I'm too busy doing this poll, sorry. Yeah, driver of the day. I'm going to go, Sergio Perez, he ate all those hot dogs, he fought off a Spanish conquistador, and he managed to win the race

at the same time, which is phenomenal behaviour. So, yeah, big up Sergio. I mean, I miss half the Grand Prix. My opinion really is not very good here. I'm sorry, no one takes this podcast seriously. because Sam's just put the vote in for A, B and then C and then people have time voted for D, E.

Ridiculous. Democracy is dead. It's actually drawing right now. Interesting. We'll keep live poll updates as we go. Worst driver of the day, who have you got, Harry? I'm going to have to go for George Russell. I know he had to start from the pit lane, but he had a poor quality for various reasons.

to do with torque issues and they changed his engine for it. But just a very messy day for George. I think another shoutout is, could arguably be his teammate. I think he had a pretty messy day as well, not as bad as George's, but Hamilton was in the barrier. And then he made a couple of moves which didn't come off properly. But yeah, I'll go for Russell on this one.

Can't wait for that top five graphic to come up on socials, A. Merck. Maybe not. Worst driver of the day from you, Sam? It's George Russell, but Masege's as a whole were absolutely shocking. I mean, we have praised them all season, right, about how they are the team that haven't had DNFs, you know, they haven't struggled with strategy. They've taken advantage of the likes of Ferrari, just being Ferrari.

That's how they picked up so many points. And then a race like this comes, chaos filled, weather is all over the place. drivers are D&Fing and they're the team that are out of those top three are falling out. This is so un-Messigues, like it's so uncharacterisic. And George Russell, I think, was really the face of it. But yes, from what I've heard, Lewis Hamilton did not have a race to talk about today. It was a pretty bit of a shocker from a lot of them. But for me, yeah, Russell just takes it.

Do you remember when we did the preview podcast and we were like, yeah, definitely three teams in it for the win this weekend? In fairness to us on that, their pace was all right. The face was good. We never saw it. Yeah, pretty much. Yeah, when Hamilton was fastest in FP1, we must have been like, yeah, but that, you know what I mean? Like, where he's standing proud. I can't remember what movie is it from, but that's how we felt.

My worst driver of the day, a general shout out here to nearly all of the F1 grid or the F3 grid, as I might call them for the time being. there was some bad driving out there today. Generally speaking, first of all, the fact that Nicholas Latifi just drove in to show Guan Yu as if he wasn't there, and he has yet to get a mention for Worst Driver in the Day. She'll tell you everything you need to know about this race. I didn't see that, by the way. To be fair, yes.

It wasn't very good to give you an overview of that. So he is a contender, but I won't give it to him. I will also give it to George. Joe Pantano, as his name will be until he improves. You can have George Russell back when you have a good race, but until then... God LeClaire and Giorgio Pantano. Georgeo Pantano. First, I mean, the Bottas attempted overtake was bad.

That wasn't very good. And then the incident with Schumacher, you can't just pretend he's not there. And then we had the, do you remember when Alex Albin, the German Grand Prix or the, whatever they called it, at the Nuremberg Ring a couple of years ago, was moaning about drivers fighting him hard? And then we had a kind of equivalent radio message to that about Schumacher, like, as if he's driving for his life. And he's like, well, first of all, he's driving in F1 and it's four position. He could do whatever he likes. Secondly, he kind of is driving for his future because he isn't secure in that seat. no go stop saying that just get on with it uh he was bad so george russell for me moment of the race harry um a couple of contenders one was and this is very sky uh centric so apologies if you don't get sky

but um but martin brundle saying that trying to dive on fernando alonzo would be like trying to take a pot of honey from a grisly bear which is a sensation analogy, but I'm not going to go for that one. The one I'm going to go for, and we just talked about him, but it's a couple of moments, is the excessive Britishness in George Russell's radio messages, including that one you mentioned, which he finished off with crikey. He asked his favourite word. Oh, I love a crikey.

Cool, blimey governor. And he put, when he put the slicks on, and he was like, is it spitting? And spitting is such a British way to describe rain. like you're impersonating me, genuinely sounds like you've just done my voice. Is it spitting?

Is he spitting? Yeah, it's just very, very British from George's afternoon. I don't know what was going out. Maybe it wasn't even him in the car, but yeah, I just enjoyed them.

I thought it was very, for a podcast and makes lots of niche British references. I thought it was very appropriate. So I'm going to go for that. Fair. My moment of the race is also sky-centric.

And this is actually a positive one because it's very rare that we're aligned myself in the commentary team. But there was a bit of shade in Crofty's comment about the investigation. He really didn't like that it was going to be investigating after the race, which I respect. And then he said a line which was, oh, so yeah, we'll all go away after this race and we'll find out it was won before noon. He's like, oh, I appreciate it. The croft burn. The croft burn. Yeah, I was all over that.

Moment of the race from you, Sam, or at least moment of your race, I guess. The hot dog eating competitions is out there. Right. How often do you see all the drivers put into the pit lane after we eat 10 hot dogs and get on with it again? Oh, I mean, impressive. I didn't see a lot of the race, folks.

So from what I did see, it's really hard to pick something that's really good. Just the battle between LeCle and Perez up front was really fun. Also, the all four-wheel giant lock-up from Vastappen to not take out multiple drivers was, you know, as lockups go. It's pretty impressive. Yeah, I haven't really got too much of them out of a phrase because I wasn't there. Sorry. I am, another one as well was obviously, George, you mentioned that movie did a bot ass, which didn't come off. And he was, uh, what are you two smiling at? What's this bloody pole? I'm wrong essentially folks I'm wrong beef just called you a donkey

I'm actually does it every day I'm used to it I get insult from this bloody discord on a daily basis donkey bee that polls are looking good for yourself I'm wrong I just accept it we've moved on folks unlike the FIA we've made a decision I'm wrong we'll move on

anyway my point was George had that massive dive on a Botas, it didn't come off. And Yuki Sonoda was like, I don't want to lose my place in the Hall of Fame, late breaking Hall of Fame. So I'm just going to break even later and bearer myself inside the barrier. Well on, Yuki.

Excellent work. Big up, Yuki Sonoda. Late Breaking Hall of Fame, I represent. You look well sad. I'm sorry. When I turned on the telly, it cut to him and he just looked like he was crying. And I'm like, what's happened? I want to like, rescue him.

It's all right, Yuki. Back to the Hall of Fame. you go, mate. What happened? He put on slicks and then forgot he had slicks on, which is what happened there. Easy, easy enough to do. Easy mistake to make. Should we going to pause the podcast where you too, you're so engrossed in the poll. No, I'm done. I've accepted to think. The poll is now me saying I'm wrong to everyone. Speaking of Discord, who Sam might be a bit harsher on now after the results of that poll, we're going to be doing some Driver of the Day submissions from the Discord right after this.

Let's listen to some driver of the day and worst driver of the day submissions from our Discord. If you'd like to get involved, guess what you have to do? Join the Discord. Don't join the Discord. They suck. All that. Let's start with Joy today. Good morning, late breaking crew.

It is 7 o'clock when I woke up for this damn race and all I got was a massacre. I got Checo winning. Obviously, he's going for the driver of the day. That's amazing. I'm so proud of him. But I got to give crap to George. I mean, where were you in this race?

I mean, I get it. You got a pit lane start. But, I mean, that was absolutely trash. And same goes for Max. I mean, we all saw what happened. I don't have to explain it anymore. And I mean, everything else is just a nightmare. And there's so many honorable mentions I could do for worst driver of the day

because it seemed like nearly half the grid was out. But, yeah. I mean, we all saw what happened. I don't need to explain. playing anymore. Basically, joy things you all suck. Be better. Say it to the Discord.

Sam, please stop making war with our discord. Sorry. We like our Discord. Let's go on to Charlie for the next one. Hey, it's Charlie coming at you from the desert here in Arizona. And I'm going to give Driver the day to Sergio Perez because I think he drove the fastest within the two hours. so I think that's a good reason to give him driver the day. For worst driver of the day, I'm going to give it to Chuckles La Cuckles

because he drove the second fastest race, but also he had every opportunity to drive the fastest race, and he did not. Fair. Love the reasoning there. Yep. I can't argue with it. Can't argue with that whatsoever. Let's go on to Jim Jam L next, and of course, Real Dad.

Hello, this is Jim Jam L. with real dad, not fake dad. And this is our worst and best driver of today. My best driver of today is Ferrari because they didn't mess anything up in the race. And my worst driver's day is Latifi because, well, you take Ojo. You can't just do that. It's not good.

So, what's your worst and best driver today? Best for the day, Perez, drove at home, messed up with the safety car, but even was able to get through in spite of that. So fantastic. Well done, Perry's. Second best, probably for Stappen. I'll give it to Peres' worst driver, Latifi, No More Said.

Thank you guys. Keep up the podcast. Love your work. Bye-bye. Love you, Real Dad. Love Real Dad. Folks who have listened to us for a while, we'll have listened to the Monaco Review a while back. Obviously Perez hasn't had too many wins this year, just two to this point.

But it's time to bring back MLG's review, which is probably one similar to what you've already heard before. There it is. Very similar to the one he did in Monaco, I've got to say. He might have that. The remix. Yes, thanks, MLG, for Checo the Remix. Who should we go on to next? Let's

go on to Chuck the Clock. I can't believe it. Live from Singapore, he's coming with a submission. He's here! He's here! Afternoon, guys. First time submission come from Chuck the Clock. It sounds a lot more English. worst driver of the day definitely has to be Georgie Ross

and Mr. Consistent being consistently bad over the weekend There's only one option and yes Out of nowhere I don't know where I don't even know what to do about that

I love an Areba need more Eribes in my life oh man let's go to another first time submission next which is Chrissy T. Hey, boys, Chrisy T here with his best and worst drive for the day.

Best drive of the day, Lando Norris. Great result yesterday to get into Q3 when Ricardo was out in Q1, solid P4 today. Kept it clean, kept himself right in the mix, right until the end. Good result for Lando. Worst drive for the day, Eduardo Freitas. How many times do we have to see race directors take so long to decide whether it's a VSE safety car or a red flag, whatever it might be? We're sat at home watching it on our screens,

Crofty tells us, oh, that would be a VSC. And then it takes two minutes for them to get around to it. They have to sort it out because it's so dangerous. And also go Teefey, crashing again. Man, oh, man. Man, oh, man. He is right, though. Totally right about the estuary.

Totally right. Great job, Chrissy Teakum. Yep, cheers, Chrissy Teat. Let's go on to, let's go to beef. Hello. I don't think any of them throw. really well today, lads. I'm going to give it to Checo though, because

you know, just having like five safety cars to deal with and he just did the move like when he needed to. I'm waffling. Driver of the day, Checo, worst driver of the day. Latifi because all you have, oh, maybe Yuki.

I don't know. I have so many feelings about race race race. Okay, bye. Beef beef waffle. I absolutely love it. Woffly beef. Woffly beef. Oh, that's a good geek name. Yeah, there you go. Every time.

Let's go on to Jimmy next. Jimmy here. Driver of the day. Well, clearly Daniel Ricardo, P-17 to P-5. Might have been a little bit of luck involved, but that's still a bloody good drive. Worst driver of the day? Well, that might be a tie between Latifi, Sonoda, and Albon.

I might chuck Vastappan in there too. It was a bit clumsy from him today. Bit of clumsy driving all around, really. Again, not wrong. Just basically throw four drivers in there. Normally, I would hate it, but you know what? It's hard to argue with those names. I bet Skylar's got something to say, isn't you?

Lando. Oh, Lando. The point it is. Oh, get it twice. Come on, get it white's hot. Lando. Oh, two for a penny, three for a pound. Four for your mortgage. Landau.

Oh, five. Isn't it even me control of the sailboard? Ben's a menace. Ben's all mad. Lando. Stop it! So I think, if you caught that, that was Lando.

Thank you, Ricardo. Oh, right, no, sorry. Good shout. And lastly, whilst we're on the topic of Sam not liking the Discord, I'm not sure this submission is going to help with that in any way, shape, or form. Cali has submitted, well, this.

It's been a while, and I know it's been a long time. My worst driver's day is Go TV. So live after TV. If you have anything you need to talk about, we are here for you in the Discord. But a better note, it's been a while, but I get to do it again. Sam, I don't care what you have to say. I haven't said it in so many days.

And now I get to say it again That Danny Rick is my driver the day After making up 11 places tonight I get to say with so much pride That Danny Rick is still the best And Sammy Sage can suck my Love you guys, have a good one Oh, good

My feelings collapsed I'm very tired. I've barely eaten to gay and now I've got to suck someone's bottom. Good. It's a good day for me. Well, that should give you folks an idea of what was behind the bleep.

Good, good. Thanks, Cali. Also, I'm going to go back to Sam's side here, giving driver of the day to someone who lost by a pit stop to their teammate after the safety car came out half, over halfway through the race?

Yeah. I don't know about that. Just on the safety cars we had, did anyone think that they weren't very bunched up? No. Correct. Especially the first one. Like,

they just, like, no one was really that bothered about being, you know, like, guys, you could be near the front if you, if you bunched up a bit.

They were like, nah, whatever, off we go. Yeah. I have heard, though, that Sergio Perez was at least 20 car links away from the safety car. So,

I don't know, what was going on. apparently with that controversy. I've heard it's a rumor. I was too busy saving the entire building. The thing is, he had to leave that amount in a space for his stomach because of the amount of hot dogs he ate.

Right? Great job, Checo. Loves it. It was a tough afternoon for Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton will be looking at both of their races right after this. So in wet condition, we usually point towards two drivers as excelling under that sort of situation,

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. Not the case today, though. Max Verstappen ultimately starting P8 and only making up one position on that in P7, although as was alluded on commentary, just a one-place improvement doesn't really tell you the full truth about what happened in Vastappen's race. And Lewis Hamilton, ultimately finishing P-9 after having a crash into the barriers. So let's start with, let's start with Louis. Lewis Hamilton, look at his race, first of all.

Sam, obviously, we very rarely see this sort of error from Lewis Hamilton. Were you surprised that he went straight on into the barrier and wasn't able to make up a bit, make up the points gap on Russell where he didn't score? You know, you say that, Ben, you say, you know, we're very rare we see these mistakes from Lewis Hamilton. Yes, okay, across the length and breadth of his career, it is very rare that we see those mistakes. but over the last 24 months, over the last two seasons, I feel like we're talking about these mistakes more than we're not talking about these mistakes. I think Lewis Hamilton has come off his peak, right?

He's still statistically the greatest of all time. He'll always be in that conversation, whether you're a Lewis fan, a Lewis hater, whatever it might be. He will sit inside that top five probably that everyone has. But the last season, it has been what's feeling like more mistakes than not. You know what? I'm going to talk about the barrier one because I haven't seen it, but that is bad, right?

That's not good enough. I have not seen him going to the barrier. I've just heard about it. I can't really comment about it. Crashing is bad. There you go. Get out of a T-shirt. What I will talk about is the move that he tried to pull on Sebastian Vettel,

right at the end of the Grand Prix, where he came off the racing line onto the very slightly slippery track, career, straight on nearly took out better in the process and gave up a place to Max the Staplin. This is what could have happened, Charlerclair, right, if he tried to get past Sergio Perez. And it's often the other way round where we go, someone like Lewis Hamilton or Max Mustafa would have seen the difficulty in what's going on, understood the conditions,

and consolidated the points after a chaotic race. But Lewis Hamilton is trying to chuck up and move down the inside of Sebastian Vetter with a couple of laps to go on to the wet track. And he just throws away another opportunity. When I saw it happen, I went, oh, Lewis, of course you've done that. It's becoming a norm for Lewis Hamilton to make silly errors in these bizarre situations. And yes, this is a huge opportunity missed where George Russell has had his worst race of the season by a long shot as well. And you've made up two points on him.

That's not, that's not very Lewis Hamilton. That's not very good at the F-1, is it? This isn't, you know, the Hamilton that we have known and seen. and I don't blame him, you know, drivers come off their peak. Drivers go downhill, it happens. But I think we are starting to stretch away from the Hamilton that we saw last season or in the 2018 season or the 2020 season, all brilliant years from Hamilton. He is more mistake prone than he's ever been.

And I think this race demonstrating it. I rolled my eyes when Lewis Hamilton once again found himself in a mistake. It has, it owes of when we were at Imala last season. And you remember he got saved by the safety car where he went straight on, I think it was at turn 5, into the gravel, or a silly move on the track that was damp,

and he got saved at that point. Wasn't saved this time. They're becoming too common. They're becoming too common in the latter stages of his F-1 career. And he wants to pick up another World Championship. He's got to line them out. Because if the saying is giving him a race-filling car,

I fear that maybe George Russell could be the one to go on and take advantage of it now. I expect more from me. Lewis Hamilton at this point. It's a bit of an odd one this weekend because he has a pretty good record at Singapore. Him and Vettel both have a lot of wins between them at the circuit. And it felt like from the off that Hamilton was on it. I mentioned this on the Saturday.

He just seemed very locked in all weekend. Very quick in practice. Obviously, he was fastest in FP1. There was a bit of lack of representative running in practice because of the weather. qualifying he seemed on it. And positions-wise, obviously, he started P3, but he was very close to claiming P-Pol. So it was his best start of the season anyway,

but it could have been even better than that. And all throughout practice, I know George Russell suffered with an issue, but he was comfortably ahead of Russell all session long, which is a bit of a rarity this season with Ivor Mirk being substantially ahead of the other. And I don't know what it was. Maybe it was the lack of,

maybe it was the frustration at not getting pole, maybe it was the frustration at being stuck behind signs, but his temperament just didn't seem right all of Sunday. I know it was frustrating being stuck behind signs because that was where he was for a large chunk of the race. And signs, for whatever reason, didn't have the pace. And Hamilton almost certainly had enough that he would have gone far ahead of where signs was if he was able to get by. But whereas we saw Lecler have the composure to stay stuck behind Perez. And Hamilton seemed to be in that spot for a long time, but I don't know. There was a lot of radio messages.

And I will caveat that with we do get more radio messages from Hamilton than we do for pretty much any other driver. But his temperament, his overall, I don't know, demeanor, it didn't seem right all day. And I think he got very easily frustrated where others didn't. And you're right, I don't disagree with you at all about the move that he tried to make on Vettel that was pretty amateurish, if I'm being honest there. Going on, whatever turn he did like that, again, wasn't great. I think he just broke far too late into the corner. He wasn't the only one, of course, but overall, this was a real opportunity to get back into that fight in P2,

P3, P4, and he didn't take advantage of it. And this is the sort of race we would expect him to take advantage of it. It was, it was poor. And ultimately, it's the only, it's only really, Latifie and his teammate that have kept him away from any worse driver of the day conversations at least from us three. What did you make of Hamilton's race?

Harry, we know you obviously hate his guts. I didn't down to win. True, yeah. Very much joking for any first time listeners. I feel like people are just going to get me down as a Hamilton hater, which I'm not for most of the time. I'm joking.

Yeah, it wasn't great from from from from from not ideal it was not ideal uh yeah like say it was the the word amateur was was exactly the same thing that i thought of that move on on better like we've seen a lot of drivers have issues trying to overtake this race um and you wouldn't expect that sort of move from from uh lewis hamilton so yeah it was i think you're right about his demean and and the attitude during during the race, even from the off when he was questioning

the tires or something to do with the ties. I don't know if that was about starting a wets or the pressures or whatever, but, you know, it was from the off, he just wasn't a happy bunny. And it just seemed to carry on throughout the afternoon. So, yeah, it's one of those races where you think, I was pretty confident of my, of my, at least of my winner's prediction,

when, you know, he'd qualified third. he had so much pace on Saturday and given the conditions that we were having I was pretty confident we were about to see Hamilton's first one of the year and it just I know he got to stop behind signs but it just didn't happen and then I didn't really have the pace

I don't think but also the errors were were not good either and yeah the move on Vetter was a bit amateurish and to be honest so was so was his accident he was very lucky not to be out there to be honest so you know we saw the likes of Sonoda and co end up out with similar accidents

so yeah, odd one. I expect him more. You mentioned that stat about him of Ethel. This is the first ever Singapore GP where neither of them been on the podium. So there you go. Wow.

That is mini stab man. Mini stab man. That is great. Great start. Thanks. Funny enough, Harry, the point you made there about, you know, you made your winner's prediction

to be Hamilton. When we had the qualifying and Hamilton put it in third, and then we heard that it was going to be quite a rainy Grand Prix, I think I remember saying to myself, God, I don't trust Perez and LeCleurne in these conditions, in this start, right? Off the start and, as you will know, I've said it enough bloody times this podcast. I saw the first two corners, essentially,

and I thought Lewis Hamilton's going to waste them. He starts to be mega this year. This is it. He's going to get off that line in these tricky conditions and he's going to run away with this. And it felt like even from that glimpse that I saw, he was just not right now. He got muscled out by Sites almost immediately

and it just wasn't there. And I feel like Lewis is either going through something. He clearly doesn't not get along with the car, obviously, but it's just not sitting right with him. And this is being a bit of a tough year for Lewis. I think this race has really encapsulated that. And the other driver mentioned in the intro to this segment, Max Verstappen.

So Max Verstappen started P8 after a lack of fuel issue. in terms of not being able to finish his qualifying run on Saturday. So a P8 start, lost quite a few at the start of the race, dropped down to maybe P-13 or so, made some progress through the field, but ultimately was undone by an attempted overtake on Lando Norris that went wrong, needed to box, and whilst he was able to salvage at some points,

it was far fewer than he was probably hoping for. Sam, what did you make of Vestappen's race, or again, at least the parts that you see. The bits that I saw. He went too hard on the art dog contest, didn't he? Well, that's the thing. I don't know how many got. I only caught the end of it.

The thing is, with the Stappen, I think, funny enough, the Lewis Hamilton-Max Verstappen personas when it comes to being clumsy or accident-prone have been rolls reversed, right? If this had happened 18 months ago, this exact race, copying past it 18 months ago, we just said,

this is very rare from Lewis Hamilton you'll scratch this one off is just a bad day, it won't come around again this will be the one race this season where they get their mistakes out of their system and they go on again with their championship and you know Lewis in 18 months ago will have gone on to company won the title

Max Verstappen will go on to company with the title and I'm going to apply that feedback that I would have applied to Lewis Hamilton 18 months ago and I'm almost applying the feedback that I gave me to Max Verstappen 1824 months ago that I did to Lewis this is a one off for Max Verstappen This was just a bad day at the office.

I think he was, and his feathers ruffled a bit with the fuel issue. You know, he then in tricky conditions was swamped by the midfield. And of course, he didn't want to take himself out of the race. I don't blame him. It was just a bad day at the office.

Max Mustafa used to be very error prone. And he is really, iron that out of his race. He's really removed that from his system. And I admire him for it. It was just a bad day for him. And I imagine that he's going to come back stronger in Japan.

He's a kind of driver that will go away and go, that was bad. I'm not going to let it mentally affect me. I'll get back in the car and I know that I'm going to be the best on that grid next race. And he's going to get on with it.

It wasn't good. He wasn't, you know, a shining moment for him. And I imagine when he looks back at this championship wing, which will inevitably happen, he'll go. Yeah. Yeah, well, we're sorry.

It's on a knife edge, Sam. It's on a knife edge. Get the hot dog sitting. obviously you never know yeah he might look back at this and go that's the hot dog I don't want to eat I think he's going to be fine with this it wasn't his prowess moment

I don't think he cares I think you'll get on with it and move on well done to Max for Stafford for having such a few errors across the season now that we can look at this and go oh you still scored pretty good points oh well the rest of the season make up for it you'll be fine

well done him I'm not going to be too arsh on him because it was a one off I think Yeah, I think all weekend he had the pace. He should have been on pole. He probably had two good laps that would have put him there. Ultimately, he didn't get to finish either of them. And starting P8, he was a bit more, we've seen him start lower than that, both Monser and Spar.

And he was more upbeat about his chances at those Grand Prix because of the overtaking opportunities. Starting P8 at Singapore, perhaps more difficult based on the lack of overtaking opportunities. even so, I think he made good progress throughout the field after that bad start. Max Verstappen has not gone backwards on the first lap of a Grand Prix all year up until this race. Given where he usually starts, that's a pretty incredible statistic. It's not like he's starting P19 and P20 where he can't really go backwards. He most of the time can't really go forwards.

So it's a really incredible start and you can give him one bad start this year. fine. From that point on, once he did a good job of coming back through the field, but the attempted overtake on Landon Norris again was just, it was poor judgment, and it probably proves two things. Firstly, he's not invincible. He still does make occasional errors. It is very much occasional, but he can occasionally make these errors. And secondly, it probably proves that he thinks the championship's over. It'd be right to think that. I'm just kidding, it's on a knife edge. You know, it's so close.

It's so close. He can afford this kind of error because it doesn't matter, does it? It really doesn't matter at this point of the season. Given Russell's struggles to warm up those tires earlier on in the Grand Prix, given they had just gone round at really slow speed, it was a really silly idea to try and make that work. I know we can just base it on the result, and it seems a bit reverect. visionist history and all that, but come on. I mean, that was always a possibility and all that

hard work that he had done earlier on the Grand Prix was just completely undone. And we saw his pace on the softs afterwards. It was clearly very quick. Yeah, same as you, Sam. I'm not going to bag on him too much, just based on these weekends don't happen very often. But it wasn't, it wasn't one he'll fondly remember when his career is over, that's for sure. Harry, any thoughts from you on Vastappen's weekend? Yeah, I'm in agreement with you to. It's for the consistency we've seen from Vostappen, it was a messy Sunday for him and not one we're used to.

And I think probably the most frustrating thing, as you mentioned, the most frustrating thing for him will be, I think he was the quickest one there all weekend. I mean, when, and it really occurred to me when he, made the move on, or tried to make the move on Norris, locked up, went off, and as he rejoined, he came back on just behind or just in front of Hamilton. Then he made his pit stop and still calling back up again. I don't know Hamilton was stuck behind the Aston Martins,

but the pace he had was ridiculous at the end. So I think that will frustrate him, but, you know, I think, as you say, pretty chalked this one up to just a bad weekend. It doesn't have many of them these days, but yeah an odd one for Max he he odd for I know we've said it but just odd

than him and Hamilton the ones you'd bet on being the two the two great ones in these conditions were when we're not we're not amazing goat stroll look at mate it's goat strong well exactly he held all of them up

it was funny when they were talking about there's 12 world championships between you know in this battle and then so and then it was Crofty was like and stroll it's holding them all off It's like, yes. The troll is defending like a king. Yes, he is.

Yeah, that was funny. But yeah, just a messy weekend for the pair of them. So they'll move on, I'm sure. They will indeed. And Vastapa needs to get back on the bike because the championship battle carries on to Japan. It could go anyway, folks. Early start for us, of course, Japanese Grand Prix.

Again, the first one we've had since 20. It's tough to be a European F1 fan once again. It always is. Really difficult. But we will, of course, be back for a preview midweek and then a review in a week's time. Just to say that we are now 20 past six here, UK time as we're recording this, we still don't know who's actually won the race. Sam, if you wouldn't mind getting us out of here.

Goodness. Yeah, isn't that funny? I think there's been one report that's come out that says Sergio Perez has banged to essentially talk himself out of any penalties and the stewards understood why he did what he did. Having another hot dog eating contest as we speak. Look, if I beat you in the hot dogs, you're on a shadow.

You keep eating until you drop. Anyway, if you'd like to see a late-breaking hot dog eating contest, then please make sure you stick around. Subscribe to the podcast. Make sure you're, leave a little review, little five-star and massively helps us to grow. We appreciate it. If you've enjoyed the podcast,

Why don't you jump into the Discord? Have a little chat with everyone in there. There's well over 1,000 people chatting F1 all the time and many other things. Follow us on the social media at L. L breaking on Twitter, the late breaking up on podcast on Instagram. And when the kids come, we go TikTok. We go TikTok. Damn with the kids.

Thank you, Ben. We do have merchandise, which is available. It massively helps the podcast out if you buy a little bit of merch. But if you want it a little bit cheaper, then why don't you consider subscribing to our Patreon? Where one of the benefits, depending on the tier you're in, is to get a discount on that merchandise as well. You also get ad-free podcasts and you get extra content once a month. Thank you very much for listening. Thanks for dealing with me being wrong. Thank you very much to deal with Ben and Harry being smug idiots. And we will see you in the midweek for the

Japan preview. In the midtime, I've been Samuel Sage. I've been Ben Hocking and I've been Harry Ead. And remember, keep breaking late. No, I'm too tired, we're done with this. Hot dogs! Part of the Sports Social Podcast Network.