The Late Braking F1 Podcast - 2023 Singapore GP Review

Episode Date: September 17, 2023

Carlos Sainz takes victory ENDING Red Bull's perfect run! Sam, Ben & Harry review what was a gripping Singapore GP where the final few laps gave us a four-way battle to victory... and Verstappen nowhere in sight! They break down the race, discussing everything from Mercedes' strategy calls to just what went wrong for Red Bull this weekend. As always they also review their predictions, name their drivers of the day and hear your Moments of the Race.. 🌎Get Exclusive NordVPN deal here ↣ https://nordvpn.com/lbf1 It’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money back guarantee! 👍 FOLLOW us on socials! You can find us on YouTube, Instagram, X (Twitter) and TikTok SUPPORT our Patreon for bonus episodes JOIN our Discord community JOIN our F1 Fantasy League BUY our Merch EMAIL us at [e-mail]   & 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 check out new episodes every Wednesday and every Sunday. Hello and a very warm welcome to. Hello and a very warm welcome to the late-breaking F-1 podcast presented by Harry Eid, Sam Sage, and me Ben Hocking. Today, reviewing the Singapore Grand Prix, a Singapore Grand Prix won by the Ferrari of Carlos Signs. The first time this season that a non-red Bull driver has won a Grand Prix, the first time

since Brazil of last year when George Russell took victory. But, of course, today, not only no Red Bull on the top step of the podium, no Red Bull on the podium, full, stop. Carlos Sein's taking the win, but then Lando Norris for McLaren in second, Lewis Hamilton for Mercedes in third. George Russell probably would have wanted to have been there, and he could have been until the last lap. But no Red Bull to be seen. Max Verstappen, best performing there in P5. What's all that about then, Sam? Oh, God. I still think I'm going to talk I go, ah! Because those last 20 laps, that is what we've been waiting for. When all season,

we've been saying how, you know, if Red Bull didn't exist, if we say, you're too good, so we just can't remove you from the equation, we'll watch the other teams crack on with it. This is what we would have been. This is how close they would have been time after time. And we've finally seen it happen where they all got to fight out front for a win without Red Bull interfering. And the funny thing is, this is such a compliment to Red Bull because you've been that good that I've just been desperate for you to not be there so we can see just how good

other people can be. It was so thrilling. I've wanted to shout and scream for the last 25 minutes. I've had adrenaline pumping through my very veins. I imagine George Russell is absolutely furious with himself. But walking into a Grand Prix, and may I say, God bless virtual safety cars, because what was a...

Getting holy. Getting holy with it. Because tactically, it was an interesting Grand Prix, but the level of management, the level of maintaining that tire where to try and get to the end, it dragged on a little bit, didn't it? It got a little bit frustrating. So when that VSC came out,

and the strategy team at Maseguis said, we're going to go for this. Took them a lap. But they then did say, we're going to go for this. They spiced it up. It may get a little bit spicy. And I'm glad they did because it was looking like we might get a bit of a snooze

fest all the way to the line, but with a different victor. And I was going to send you guys a text before that VSC came out that said, isn't it weird that all the races with Max Verstap and winging 10 seconds down the road had been maybe more fun than this race where he's not even in the top five for the most of the Grand Prix

but yet we were proven wrong and it was a real fun fesk so yeah you know what turned out to be an absolute banger I loved it I think Carlos signs might be a genius actual genius like certified genius I know we've seen him run

honestly we've seen him run the strategy before at Ferrari but this time the man was on another level. Yeah, the group of Sam. Delightful race to watch. And actually, I wasn't even that mad about them managing at the start because I think even without the VSE,

we'd have had some spiciness at the end. It was building up to it. We were getting there just, you know, they were warming up by driving really slowly. I disagree. I thought it was going to be an awful race about that VSC. Oh, no. I don't know.

I didn't think it was going to get there. But, like you say, indeed, cynical Ben makes an early appearance on this episode. But yeah, it doesn't matter anyway because the safety car, the virtual safety car did make an appearance. And you're right, it was almost the exact right time for it to come out in that it gave Mercedes an option, but not an obvious option, to go ahead and pit both their drivers. We'll, of course, get into all of that over the next hour and 15 or so. We're going to be discussing Alonzo and Aston Martin, not a good weekend for them whatsoever. going home with zero points. Charles Lecler, watching his teammate secure first place himself, not even on the podium.

So we'll be discussing the disparity between the two Ferrari drivers. We'll, of course, give some time as well to Red Bull, not being able to put either of their cars on the podium. And Max Verstappen's recovery to fifth place. But it's only natural to start out front with the Mercedes versus Lando Norris versus Carlos Sines battle towards the end of that Grand Prix. We had four cars separated by what must have been about. a second or a second and a half. Ultimately, Carlos Sines ends up winning with Lewis Hamilton in third place, and George Russell, of course, looking like he was going to take third

before crashing on that final lap. Sam, do you think it was the right call for the Mercedes? And do you think it was the right call for both of them? I, quite publicly over on Twitter, slated the Mercedes strategy calls when they had driven past the pit lane for the first time. and I said Mercedes strategy is genuinely quite bad and I think that their success

I've said this on the podcast before I said that their success has masked the fact that their strategy calls having ever been particularly bold or daring or they're not first in the punch and I thought it happened here again and you know what

I still think I'm right in thinking that because it didn't fully pay off did it and I think it was right for Masegas to give it a go and I definitely think they should have done it with Lewis Hamilton out of all the drivers because George Russell, you've got to remember, was in second place before that VSC comes out.

And I don't think there was any major risk of Landon Norris overtaking him come the end of the race. He managed to keep him behind comfortably the whole way through. And we heard the radio back and forth from Science and from Russell, who were both really enjoyably chatty over the radio, confirming a lot of strategy call, a lot of management call, you know, how much pace they think they've got in hand. And, you know, we heard science say,

I could drive around at this pace forever. I've got a second in hand. Russell going, I'm surprised it isn't too. I think Russell could have quite easily have put his foot down come the end of that Grand Prix and fought with Norris and Sites have potentially come out on top without having to make back the 13 or 14 seconds that he did have to make back on the Mee games.

Now, Lewis Hamilton on the other hand, I think he had a little bit too much traffic in front of him with Norris, Russell and Sites. So for me, nothing to lose by dropping Lewis Hamilton back into that empty piece of race track that they've got behind them, just got overtake Charles Lecler, which we saw was incredibly easy for both drivers to do. I think splitting the strategy at that point was probably the best option.

They happened to go for both, and I don't think it really paid off for them. One drive was in second before the VSC, he crashed into the war in features with no points, and Lewis Hamilton only moves up one place. So as a net loss, they lost a whole, what, 15 points out of that situation. Genuinely, it was exciting as a viewer to watch because a team bringing home points, you know, to the championship didn't work out well for them. And again, the strategy failed to pay off for them long term. But from a viewer, super glad they did it.

Absolutely loved it. We asked them to do it again. But yeah, I think overall, not the best call to make them both go on. I would have just pit Lewis Hamilton myself? Harry, would you agree with that? Do you think splitting the strategy would have been the right decision? Yeah, I agree with Sam. I think it was, that's a real tough call for them to make Hamilton's the obvious one to pit there.

But say they had pit Hamilton and the... then he cruises up to the back of that, you know, top three and they've left Russell out there and overtakes Russell for the win, you know, that would seem unfair on Russell. But on the flip side, we saw it was difficult to overtake out there today. Mainly just because of the temperatures, they couldn't really follow for that long before overheating, cut the car, the ties, etc. So they, it was a gamble. We, if anything, we love the bold strategy here. And I respect for it. It's true.

We love it. And as Sam said, as a viewer, it made a cracking end to that race. But I, I think I'm with you, Sam, on that I might have left Russell and P to it, to see what he could, to see what he could do.

Because I think Russell was probably quicker than signs all afternoon. And it was getting back, it was getting past Norris that was their undoing in the end. And I've seen a few people say they think Hamilton could have got it if Russell got out the way. but I'm unconvinced on that one. But yeah, a tough decision. As I say, I'm glad they did it,

but potentially it would have left Russell out there, pitted Hamilton. And yeah, they're a bit slow on the uptake as well. Luckily, it wasn't a short VSE, took them a lap, because I think they had the opportunity to pit Hamilton when it came out. It's like a two and a half minute long VSC.

It was ridiculously long. It was long. it was a long LVSC. So yeah, it was, I appreciate it was tough call. But I probably would have just Pitt Hamilton. I think Lewis Hamilton was the no-brainer of the two. I agree with you both on that front. There was no reason not to put him out into space

because as we saw multiple times throughout the Grand Prix, not even just limited to Mercedes, whenever someone, and I mean literally anyone, had some space to work with, they immediately became the fastest driver on track. As soon as Joe Guan Yu pitted to be last on lap three, he set the fastest lap of the race. It didn't matter who it was.

If you had space, you were the fastest person on track. So it absolutely made sense to put Lewis Hamilton into that. And I have to say, from Lewis Hamilton's perspective, obviously he struggled throughout practice and qualifying. He was very comfortably slower than George Russell on Saturday. But I think today, especially the same, second half of this Grand Prix just goes to prove that in the zone, Lewis Hamilton is a thrill to watch. He is a real thrill to. Whether you like it or not, it is really exciting entertainment to see

him in that zone because there aren't many drivers out there that can be in the zone in the same way that Lewis Hamilton was. And he was all over the back of his teammate, let alone the other drivers, come the end of that Grand Prix. And from Russell's perspective, I actually think it was the right decision to pit him because I don't think there was any chance he was overtaking Carlos Sides. I just cannot, cannot see that happening if he didn't pit. I know he joked to say that I'm surprised he hasn't got two seconds in the locker. Unless you were extremely quicker than the car in front, you weren't making overtakes out there. Unless realistically, there was a massive tire difference as we saw towards the end of the Grand Prix, you weren't making those overtakes. So I

respect Mercedes trying something. Because if George Russell doesn't crash on the final lap, he loses three points, so what? I just don't really see the, you might as well go for it. Mercedes are trying their best to win Grand Prix whenever they've got the opportunity, which they aren't getting as many opportunities as they used to. I think it was worth them trying something. I think if you're looking at the pure numbers of it and how it actually panned out, yes, George Russell would have benefited pure championship standings-wise by staying out there,

taking second place and taking 18 points. But in the interest of winning Grand Prix, I think you give it a go. So I can respect Mercedes-Trying it. I just want to... Sorry, Gary. Sorry, Sam. I would say it's a pure Red Bull like

2017-18 strat, wasn't it? Which is quite ironic given the... Yeah. If he's in a championship fight, that means no sense whatsoever. But I think... At this stage, you might as well go for it. That's very fair, and a fair argument to make. I do want to go back to your point discussing Lewis Hamilton, and I was, I said at the start

of the weekend that he's my under pressure driver, and I think for the last two weekends before Singapore, he's really being average, it's probably being his worst to Grand Prix maybe that we've seen from him all season. But the fact that, you know, when they came up the pit lane after that VSC, and Russell was, what, 14 seconds behind LeCler, I think it was, and Lewis Hamilton was another four or five seconds back. I was thinking, yeah, Russell might get the chance at a podium move here, but I don't think Lewis is going to get it. I think by the time they get round to the last couple of laps, Russell will be scrapping around and Lewis maybe get one go, one or two goes that maybe the fight with

Norris. But the fact that, you know, by the time that Russell had caught up to LeCleur and even more so Norris, the gap between Russell and Norris was smaller than the gap between Russell and Hamilton was what shocked me. The fact that I think Crofty, despite all his faux paths over this race weekend, and we're going to get on to a few more of those in a little bit, I imagine. Yeah, Davey win for Ferrari. Great job, Carlos. You know, despite all of those, he did come out with a very interesting

time stat that was Lewis Hamilton, three lapsing a row, was six-tenths faster a lap than George Russell, which, on the same tire, at the same length, you know, both in clean air, is a thrilling amount of time to make up over your teammate when there is no difference in anything you're racing with. So the old boy's still got it yet, isn't it?

You can still throw a car around when he wants to. As Harry mentioned, he was, Harry was doubtful that if Lewis Hamilton had an opportunity, he'd have made any advances on Norris or signs. Would you agree with that, Sam? Yeah, I understood his frustration as a racing driver, you go, give me a go. I reckon I can do it.

You're always going to say that, you're always going to advocate for it. But realistically, we've seen over the years now, since George Russell joined us saying, is that he is more than capable enough of putting his foot down, and getting moves down. And the move against the Claire, for example, was swift, it was brilliant, he got the move done, the up and over that he liked to do, worked effectively, and Hamilton following him through really nicely.

And I don't really see why Hamilton really could have done too much more. He definitely had the pace at the start of that stink. As we just mentioned, the speed difference that he was able to carry was huge. But once it gets two drivers following each other with dirty air, science, the absolute Einstein of a racing driver that he is, giving Lando Norris that DRS every single sector, which genuinely as a driver's play is so far above. You know, when I heard him say,

I want the gap to Norris every lap, please. I'm thinking, uh-oh, Carlos is panicking. He's, you know, needs to get him out of DRS. It was the total opposite of going, no, no, no, I don't want a plus one second. I want a plus point eight is what I want to know that I'm good. And it's so good. I don't think Hamilton really could have done too much.

I don't think Hamilton was going to win that race. I think they may be needed two or three, maybe even four or five more laps for the hard tires could completely die off. So Russell crashing is just unlucky Hamilton benefits. I don't think the result particularly changes if they swap those around with a few laps ago. Yeah, very difficult to predict. If I had to make a projection on it, I think if they were the other way around, Hamilton gets Norris, but not signs. It is my prediction on that. But having said that, there was a reason Russell was ahead of Hamilton.

and that's because he outqualified him very comfortably. So, you know, it's all if buts and maybes at this point. From the Ferrari and McLaren perspective of first and second, Harry, what did you make of Carlos Sines' drive? Because he has led every single session this weekend. Yeah, I've already said it, genius man. He signs, I know Sam said this in the quality review yesterday, saying he didn't know what he had for breakfast.

I don't know what I did over the summer because he's come back a new man he is looked comfortable over Lecler probably less so in the race in Monza but at least pace-wise every Leclair and Monza

and this weekend he's just not really put a foot wrong his pace has been ridiculous around here so and obviously you know he drove the slowest race humanly possible but it was a really intelligent race like in all respects

so very impressed by signs and it's good to see I think again I said this yesterday it's good to see him taking a step forward somewhat and you know I'm not saying the colours under pressure or anything

but giving Charles something to think about slightly I think because signs has been very good these past couple of races but yeah today today was exceptional that was I know he was doing it on purpose having Norris behind us behind him, or that close behind him, but he drove the entire race effectively,

apart from when Lecler had to drop back five seconds in five laps, which we'll get on to. He drove with someone behind him the entire race. And around Singapore where it's hot and its race goes on forever, I think he cope with that pressure extremely well. So, yeah, very impressed by the smooth operator. Yeah, and I feel like the nickname Smooth Operator is always, very apt for this for this win because that's exactly what he needed to be for this Grand Prix. And ultimately, I think he did everything he needed to do.

And it's tough to put it into words, but certainly if you compare this race, which is almost a complete opposite to what a Monza race is, right, where Monza is just flat out for 75 minutes. And if you've got the car and you deliver the performance, you get the win. Whereas this is a very different sort of race. I think if you ask the majority of Formula One drivers, what is easier or more difficult to pull off? I think they would lean towards this one being the more difficult ones pull off

because you have to be so unnaturally disciplined as an F1 driver. And it was referenced so many times how much slower they were going versus what their true pace could have been, which sounds like they're taking it easy. And it is to an extent. But it's much more difficult than it sounds because it is so tempting to not stick to that. And it is so, we heard it over Max Rastafin's team radio. You know, don't push up to Esteban Ockon. There's no, there's no value to it at this stage. It is really difficult to essentially

be responsible for the pace of the entire field as Carlos Sines had for the majority of this Grand Prix. It's, it's not only impressive, it's more impressive than what it sounds and looks, which is saying something. Any last words on Carlos Sines, Sam? Best race of his career so far. I think I would go as far as you're saying. He wowed me. I do think that Lecler hasn't got, you know, the pressure to, oh, good Lord, am I suddenly the second driver? But as Harry said, something to think about massively there.

And a lot of Ferrari fangs give Carla Sites a lot of stick that maybe he isn't the man that should be there in that, in that seat. I think after we've seen from this summer break, if as long as he keeps this up, he's more than worthy of a drive at that Ferrari team, and he's such an asset because the way he uses his brain in the car is so far ahead of so many other drivers. He runs that pit bull. He runs the strategy. You hear him saying what's the time to afford, you know, back and forth to other drivers. He managed every single aspect of that Grand Prix exquisitely. Drivers such as Hamilton, such as Aloncso, such as Vastappan,

would be covered in, you know, compliments left, right, or centre from so many drivers if that was them. He deserves endless praise for just how well managed that Grand Prix was. It was mind-blowingly good. Great first win for him too. I love, I finally got a winning Ferrari's. He never done that before. Honestly, I'll accept the odd faux path of Crofty, but that one, the fact that no one's correcting him either. No one's gone. Crofty, he won at Silverstone. I think Brondell did after, Brundle did after the podium, but yeah. He got there in the end. But I mean, speaking about that British Grand Prix first win, I agree with what you're saying, Sam, in that I think this was a step above what he was able to deliver that day.

Because whilst it was a monumental occasion for him, he was benefited a lot from what was going on around him. Here, he just fully deserved the win. He was the quickest, he was the smartest, and he delivered the performance. So really impressive. Before we go for our first break, Harry, just any words on Lando Norris? It feels like that first win is surely somewhere around the corner.

Yeah, Norris has been excellent this weekend. Obviously, he's had the upgrades and Piastri didn't. but he's getting achingly close. Again, I'm not sure pace-wise whether he was quite there with Russell and signs, but he was there or thereabouts. And if you think about where they were at the beginning of the year, it's an excellent result for Norris. But yeah, he was, he'll get there at some point, I'm sure.

Yeah, I mean, there's not too much to say at this point, which is a really good thing about Lando Norris in that it's just another very, very good performance from him, where, you know, he can, Mercedes can go out there and do whatever they want strategy-wise and, you know, Vestappan can struggle to get out of Q2. And Lando Norris is just there and picks up the pieces for P2. And it's surely happening at some point. It's a matter of when rather than if, I think.

Right, we'll take our first quick break. We're going to be discussing Red Bull and their misfortune right after this. Now, a quick word from our friends at NorgVPN. Are you tired of missing out on live sport events because they aren't televised available in your country? Or maybe you're looking to save some extra cash while staying secure in these uncertain times. And let's not forget the growing concern about cybercrime. Well, we have the solution for you. NorvVPN!

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Okay, welcome back. We've discussed the good fortune of the likes of... Lando Norris and Carlos Sines and Lewis Hamilton, before the break, unfortunately we now turn to Red Bull, who Max Verstappen managed to get P5, which I think was the absolute best he was ever in during this Grand Prix.

And Sergio Perez did score points as well, provided he doesn't get a penalty for murder of Alex Albon, if you haven't seen that incident. He also hit Lawson, didn't he? It was Sonoda. It was Sonoda. It was Sonodal, isn't he? Of course. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Anyway, so given

Max Verstappen has won 10 races in a row and Red Bull have failed to win a race all season. This wasn't an ideal Grand Prix, to put it mildly. Sam, do you think that this was, based on their qualifying performance at least, about as good as they could have done? Have we ever seen from one race to another such a downturn in form and ability? I know that, you know, okay, they struggled a bit, but I was, I'm just a bit flabbergaskid. I'm a bit speechless just how bag the car was. And on top of that, Sergio Perez had a bit of a stink of a race weekend. I think he actually got a little bit lucky to find himself back in the points again

because overtakes rapport. He wasn't moving through the field well. You know, he mucked it up in qualifying by spigging the car rather than getting a clean lap in. At least Max Verstappen managed to utilise those fresh tyres and really work his way back through the field. Realistically, I think Sergio Perez probably should have been finishing pretty much right behind him at least three or four seconds off of him in what she'll be in sixth place. especially when you look at the D&F from the likes of, you know,

Sango didn't make it round, and poor Eske-Besky on his birthday without Enging failing. It just feels like they should have done more here, but I am absolutely flavagascar and what happens to Red Bull around Singapore. And usually this is a track that they thrive at as well. That's the crazy thing. Like you think throughout history, what tracks do Red Bull do well at?

Well, they've done pretty well at the likes of Monaco. They do well at Hungary. This fits the same, you know, archetype as what is a good race track for Red Ball, and they fluffed it massively. But all fairness to Max Verstappen, he drove a world champion's drive to get himself back to anything respectable. And even with the poor timing of safety car, the bad strategy call not to stop at the right time, and the VSC coming out after they already stopped, the fact that he crossed the line essentially at the same point as Charles LeCler, it's a little bit worrying still for the other guys

the fact that Ferrari, despite having such a good Grand Prix, we're still only just beating Max Verstappen with one of their drivers by, what, a tenth of a second? I think all that Verstappen probably could have done was get the fastest slap if he had timed the pit stops better and finished ahead of Lecler rather than behind him.

But that is again really splitting hairs kind of stuff. So Verstappen, I think he drove well and he came back nicely. Perez, again, I just think a bit more from him. Harry, your thoughts on Red Bull? Do you think they got as much out of this weekend as they could following double Q2 elimination? Vestappen did.

I actually think Vestappen, I will get on the drive the day, but he's in contention for that because he flew under the radar somewhat, but I think he was actually pretty impressive, given the pace of that car. So, yeah, he's got, obviously he was fortunate with Russell going out on the last lap and a couple, you know, Alonzo falling out of the top 10 sort of thing. But, yeah, so Vestappen scraped as much as he could from that performance. Perez was less convincing, should we say,

bashed into everyone, apparently, just to get his way through. But such an odd weekend. I already am in fear about what Max Vestappen is going to do to us all in Suzuki next weekend as revenge. But we'll have to see. But, yeah, they interviewed Papatoto straight after the race on Sky. And, you know, he was saying they, we pointed this out, they had the similar weird race in Singapore when they came here where they were dominating.

It's just perhaps a unique track that, I don't know, something for a car that's dominant, it just throws a spanner in the work so they can adapt to. So I don't think they're washed. Won't say Max Verstappen washed is yet. but yeah a very strange weekend for them but I you know it had to happen at some point

but you know it happened in quite dramatic fashion you would have thought maybe the NM might be second but they were nowhere near really all weekend so an odd one for sure but like I say they'll probably be back in Susuka

yeah probably yeah from from Max Verstaffin's perspective people probably won't want to hear it on a weekend like this given it is the first time this season he's finished worse than second so you know it will probably forever stand out as this really weird result in what was an epic season

but it really was a very good performance from him people won't say that it was but it absolutely was in the we referenced this in the preview and indeed during qualifying review yesterday that overtakes are difficult to happen around here. Yes, the track configuration changed slightly this year, which helped a little bit, but not a huge amount, to be honest. And yeah, I think ultimately he probably took every chance that he could.

I think he dispatched of cars relatively quickly. We know that as soon as he got on the back of Esteban-Ock-on in the first stint, that that probably wasn't going to happen. But that was par for everyone. It was a case where unless you did have brand new tires on versus tires that were 20 laps old, you probably weren't going to make the moves. And Red Bull strategically, you can't blame them for this because they needed to try something different, but it just didn't pan out for them.

You know, they were desperately hoping for a safety car to happen essentially after everyone on the medium tire had pit, but before they were going to pit on the hard tire to take advantage of that reduced. pit stop time. As it happened, they managed to, you know, it's 20 laps in when the safety car came out, literally the perfect time for anyone on the medium tires to go in and box. And at that point, what do you do if you're Vestappen and Perez? You've got an option. You can either go straight into the pits at that point and you know you're going to be sat wherever you are until the end of the Grand Prix, basically, or you try something else and you keep going. But ultimately, you've got Carlos signs who knows that that strategy is in play and is keeping the field as close together as he

possibly can, in which case there's not much of a gap for Vestappen or Perez to come back into. And I guess it's somewhat weirdly lucky that the VSC came out a few laps after they'd gone into the pits, which could have been disastrous for them. Ultimately, it kind of wasn't. And everyone who stayed out on those old hard tyres ended up giving way to Vastappen. So, you know, that aspect of it worked out for them. But overall, this was not the way they would have wanted the race to pan out to give the step and the best possible chance of getting up the field. Realistically, either way, I don't think he was getting on the podium.

So a bit of a head scratcher for Red Bull. In terms of, in terms of Sergio Perez, Sam, I know you've mentioned this already. Hang on a second. Was that Rosie giggling in the background? Yes. I have a carrot. I have a carrots. Oh, my God.

Sorry, everyone. That is very disruptive. I should put it down. No, that's all right. I mean, after a performance like this, Sam, what do, what do Red Bull do about Perez? Did they give him the carrot of the stick? Oh, God, Ben.

So good. This is what we pay you for. Daskar-Stang. It was one of yes. So they give them the character of the skate I think they give them a proper hiding I'm not going to lie I think obviously

We don't endorse that Do not endorse that Corporal punishment No thank you But when you look at someone like Liam Lawson Who we're going to get onto Had an absolutely blinding race weekend

And you've got to feel for Yugi Sanoa in this little situation Who of course again Has another DNF He said what A DNS in Monza I think he finished last in Zangvo. And now he doesn't get to get round to lap 10

at the Singapore Grand Prix. Meanwhile, every round, Liam Lawson, who is not necessarily in contention for the Red Bull seat right now, but who is building a fantastic CV of results in that junior team. There's surely got to be showing what could be done. Even the few corners that he and Max Verstappen were side by side for each other, I was watching with a smile on my face because I thought, this guy's not giving up easily.

He's having fun with it. He's fighting Max for Stape again. It's fair. It's good wheel to wheel battling. You know, staff has got to do it properly. You want to see someone pull out the way. And it's like, oh, free plays because it's Red Ball. No, he was great.

So when Sergei Perez can't even get past Liam Lawson for the majority of the Grand Prix, especially before they went for their pits stop onto the medium tires. And Lawson was keeping him at base so well. Sergei Perez has to be looked at at this point. He has to be considered it because, if Mercedes, if McLaren, if Ferrari do take a proper step forward next season and next year we get a lot more races like what happened right here in Singapore

and we're seeing, you know, Rebel not dominate. We're seeing cars take a step above what they could do in certain areas. You need both drivers being able to do what Max Westappen was able to do today to get back to fifth place. But they don't have that. In a close title fight, do I have confidence that Sergio Perez could do it, enough to bring back the title for Red Bull. I don't need to guess.

I've already got an answer to 2021. They lost the Constructed's Championship because Sergio Perez was not good enough in comparison to the other team's second drive of Altrey Botas. I think Carlos Siteslerker beat them an equal car. I think Hamilton and Russell beat them an equal car. And currently, I think Norris and Piastri beat him in an equal car. So I do think that right now, they need to look elsewhere.

And I think they need to set themselves up for the long haul. for going into this new era of Formula One of, you know, when the new engine regs coming, we're having the new changes to some areas of the car for 2025. I think sooner rather than later, you got to get yourself someone who can sit there for a while because he's not cutting the musket right now.

He's looking a little bit, a little bit nath, bit rubbish. So for me, you're giving the stick and the carrot can come to me or I will eat it while one of you talks. Great stuff. Good stuff. Let's go to Driver of the Day, shall we?

Harry, who've you got? My God, Sam is actually eating his carrot. He's muted himself, so there's no crunching. Quite a few contenders for this. I'm not going to give it to him, but obviously he mentioned Vestappen, quietly under the radar, but it's a pretty stellar drive from him. Liam Lawson, Oscar Piastri. Piestri?

I swear down, Piastri. I've made up ten positions on this one. on, pre. Not only he made one overtake. Love it. But yeah, just kept his head. You know, that man, well, he's a young man, but he's got like his head screwed on so, so well, because he just seems so, I don't know, chilled like yesterday. It wasn't a good day for him.

But he was like, yeah, you know, we're working it tomorrow. It was just, he was fine with it. So, yeah, Piastri is another one. but as I'm going first, I'll steal the obvious one, can I've already said it. I'll say it for a third time. A genius.

He's my drive for the day. Fair shout. I also had it written down to give Piastria a shout-out because I think it was a very good recovery from where he started. I also want to give a shout-out to West about Ockon. I thought he delivered a really good race out there. And I, I mean, he probably would have finished

6th if he was able to finish. Yeah, exactly, yeah. And he was quite comfortably clear of Gasley as well. So I think he deserves a lot of respect for what he was able to do. The way he dispatched Perez in the way that Alonzo wasn't was really impressive, especially against someone as experienced as Alonzo. So I wanted to give him a shout out. I will give it to Carlos Sines as well.

I thought he was driver of the day, but just wanted to give a few extra shoutouts. Sam, who've you got? Yeah, I mean, I want to shout out with similar people. 17th to 7th for Piastri is incredible because he doesn't even have the upgrades on the car that Norris has. I thought all that Frank Lott did a fantastic job. I want to give a shout to Liam Lawson, the first person ever to get debut points around Singapore.

He was sensational and I really do think he should have a seat next year, whether it be an Alva Tauri or they're loaning him to someone else, but he deserves to be there. Magnuson picks up a point as well. That car was not good and they did really well to get themselves a point overall. but I'm going to have to go for the really obvious one that we've all gone for. The smooth operator is an actual genius and deserves all the credit he could get for this Grand Prix. And worst driver of the day, Harry.

I was struggling on this one. I will give it to Logan Sargent, mainly because you shouldn't drive into a wall. You've got a good point. his pace this weekend was actually relatively good versus Albon I thought but in the race less so and then he drove into a wall by himself so I feel like it's an easy option but I'll give it to Logan Corporal sort of great move as a racing driver is it

it's not an ideal one yeah it's not not great I will admit that um certainly yes I think so and is in contention for this award and I'd written him down. I'm not going to give it to him though because even though you shouldn't crash by yourself wasn't a great, wasn't a great race for Williams and I don't think he'd have been able to salvage much even if he performed very well. Fernando Alonzo is my worst driver of the day. It's a fair show. I need a mistake by himself in terms of the pit lane and not being able to stick to the line there.

again, he couldn't make it past Perez in the same way that Ocom did and he lost the position there. And then obviously he went on by himself a bit later on in the Grand Prix as well and didn't score any points. So it was weirdly non-Alonzo. It was like he kind of, I don't know, he seemed like a rookie for one race only, which is odd. He does it. Do you remember like Qatar, Jeddah 2020. and he had an awful race like he spun, just having a day off,

not doing this one, lads. It hasn't gone well, I've got all the bad luck now, just release it all. I'll get it out of the way. Yeah, just get out of the race. He's going to win. He went down the skate run on purpose.

Just get out of the way. I got that mistake. Your worst driver of the day, Sam. Yeah, I can't disagree with you, Ben, for the annual long. So I think this might be one of the worst races I've seen for annual alongside have, since he's come back to Formula One.

It was a real shocker from him today. So many, you know, errors made entirely by him and with no one else around him, couldn't get the moves done where others could and cars that, in theory, are worse than his. Really not good. Sergio Perez, I think, deserves a bit of a shout-out as well. As much as he did get back into the points,

I think he was helped by Escherbang's DNF. I think he was helped by the fact that the heart's worked very good. And I think the fact that he drove into multiple people and I somehow managed to get away with that also somehow releases him a little bit but he was not good again so but Alonso was genuinely really quite bad amateur hour at Fernando Alonso's house

you know delivery for one that's a good line that one big brain strategy Harry um look they won today so I can't be too harsh on them but the backing into the other cars

was screaming for them to get him mugged off in a safety car and lo and behold it got mugged off on a safety car and I understand why they were saying it um sorry specifically my big brain strat was can you make five seconds in five laps like drive extra slowly shawl

he had to make up like lose half a half a second per lap by that because he was only two and a half back. So I can see the logic-ish as to why they wanted that. And I don't think they were sacrificing LeCler. But it was what they left themselves open for. And LeCleur got royally mugged off by it. So I'll go for that one. Ferrari, even though you won, you still got a big brain strap from me.

I'll give it semi-seriously for once in the... Yeah, I'll actually give it to the Carlos Sines DRS thing because it was really intelligent. And of course, Ferrari still had to be told what he was doing rather than the other way round. It really should be Ferrari telling Carlos Sines to, hey, keep Lano Norris and DRS to help yourself out. Instead, he had to go over team radio saying, yeah, yeah, I'm doing this on purpose, guys, just to let you know. Which is brilliant. But yeah, I'm going to give it to Carlos Sites for that. Sam. I mean, I was going to give it to the Carlos Sites.

I just want to give a shout out to Valtry Bottas, who clearly thought he was in a Red Bull today by following the exact same strategy that Red Bull did. And then he just kept driving until his car broke down, which, you know, hey, that works for you. But I think I'm going to have to give the award to Sikes. The IQ of that man, the fact that he's running the entire Ferrari business at this point. And I imagine both their road cars,

and sports cars, whilst he's driving around Singapore at the same time. He deserves all the cricket he could get. So both your answers were fantastic and the ones that I've chosen myself. Just a quick shout out as well to Lando Norris showing George Russell where the wall is, and then George Russell deciding that looks fun.

He did that on purpose. Exactly. Great dummy from Lando Norris. Big brain. Right, we'll take our next break. We'll be discussing Charles Leclair right after this. So whereas one Ferrari ended up on the top of the podium, the other Ferrari, despite being in P2 early on in the Grand Prix, did not make it to the podium and only barely survived. Max Verstappen's late on Slot to finish, fourth place. Of course, first race win for Ferrari this year. So it's a while since Charles LeCler

has stood on the top step. Harry, from your perspective, do you think that Charles LeCler and the team could have done more to get him on the podium here? Potentially, yeah, as I just mentioned, I think I'm not sure it was the right call to make him back up the pack

because he lost out massively from that. Having said that, I'm not sure LeClaire had the pace anyway. It might have been if he had he remained in too at that safety car, then he could have just held them off

as signs did for the rest of the race. But it was, I think they shot themselves in the foot slightly there. Having said that, I just not quite sure he had enough pace this weekend to be on the podium.

He obviously qualified P3, but Norris and Russell were rapid and obviously Hamilton too were rapid behind them. It might be difficult. So a tricky one, I don't want to to blame them too much on that one. I know I gave him big brain strategy, but I'm not sure there was much more they could do apart from maybe not back that, make him back up into the

pack. So yeah, lookalow, I'll be disappointed. I just don't think he was quick enough, to be honest, which is a bit savage, but I just don't think it was. And weird, sounding. Yeah. very odd. Sam, what do you think? Yeah, how often have we ever said that Charlotte Claire simply is not quick enough? And I do agree with the general statement all weekend,

not quick enough. But for me, they could have picked up more. I think they were flattered because, of course, Fustappen didn't get past him right at the end there. But equally, George Russell hitting the wall means that they picked up that extra spot that they wouldn't have done had he not essentially throwing himself into the barrier

on the very final lab. He should be P5 rather than P4. You know, again, it flatters just a little bit to make it not look as bad as it was. The fact that the gap between Sikes and LeCleur were four places, not three, I think speaks volumes about just how good science was here, but just how poor Charlotte Clur was. Now, the backing up, I understand the Clare wanted to get the double stack and wanted to be able to be, you know, fitting properly.

But we all know that with a safety car, when every single driver on the grid is pretty much running the same strategy that if a safety car comes out at the perfect time, you know, 15 out of the 20 cars are all going to be done. driving in, don't push yourself that far back to a queue of about 12 drivers because your pit box is only two in from the start. And when every person filters into the pit lane, you've got to sit there and wait to have a safe release. And Ferrari did the right thing. They held and they held and they held until the appropriate spot came about. But at that point, all the good work that he'd

done in that first sector to get himself, the first stint rather, to get himself into second place on those soft tyres, and sit behind Carlos Sight to manage that gap was immediately undone. So, I really do think that it's amazing how Ferrari can be so good on one side of the garage and so poor again on the other. I think most of the responsibility, though, has to sit on LeClau. I really do think this has been one of his poorer Grand Prix. And I think he'll have to go away and reevaluate what's going on there. He's got to hope that this trend of science being brilliant doesn't continue for his sake.

Yeah, I think from at least if we go back to the start of the race, Charles LeCler, the only driver in the top 10 to start on the soft compound tire. It was a gamble and it worked out for them. Good start from Charles LeClaire, managed to get up to second place.

And I think realistically, I somewhat agree and disagree in that I agree that Charles LeClaire didn't have the pace of a couple of the drivers around him. But I honestly think if he stays P2, I think that's where he stays until the end of the Grand Prix.

I don't think he was slow enough to be over taken by some of the other cars if they'd got the strategy right. And I mean, the strategy itself was right in that it was right to double stack. And I think it is probably the case where I don't know if this is a trust thing again, because the gap that Leclair managed to push himself essentially back into P3, 456, like he gave himself more of a gap than you need to. Like they comfortably double-stacked. It wasn't like a, as soon as LeCler came in, they were scrambling around.

They had more than enough time between those two drivers. In that I think that if Lecler trusted his team a little bit more, I think he could have probably given himself like one second or so to, you know, still pull off the double stack. But you've always got the question in your mind of, is the team going to be able to pull this off if they don't have that extra one second, I'm going to give them here by backing off a little bit more? So I don't know if that plays into it.

Certainly I agree pace-wise, he wasn't on the pace of Carlos Sines this weekend. We said it after qualifying as well that I think him being about one-tenths slower than Carlos Sines was about the closest he got to him all weekend long. And ultimately, yeah, I mean, P-4 is probably where he deserved to be on pure pace. But ultimately, strategy, I think probably, or the executioner strategy may be more actually. accurately, I think, cost him a spot on the podium here. And now we're looking at 19 points between himself and Carlos Sines in the championship. And the other podium. You can't remember, of course, that Sites hang a podium before two races ago.

And it was all a clear. And now they're very, very close. Indeed. Should we review some? Oh, no. I'd like some knots, but I also think that Harry deserves a rang of applause for this one. Come on. Let's review some.

bold prediction, shall we? Let's start. All right, let's start with Sam. Get yours out of the way of, Sam. We'll just get it out of the way early. I did come around and say that Ferrari were already going to score four points as a team. I think they scored a lot more than that.

Yeah, times that by nine and you're still wrong. Couldn't have gone much worse. When they were one and two, I really thought I was, you know, in the mud at that point. I am quite dirty, but, you know, was not good. To be honest, though, I respect it because, as, as you know, on this podcast, we like to be wrong. So you can thank us for Ferrari getting their first win of the season. Yeah, I'll take that. Thank you, Marangelo. I'll expect a Ferrari in the mail. Indeed. Mine, mine didn't go much better. I said that there would be a double DnF for either

Ferrari. Well, that didn't happen. For Mercedes. George Russell tried. He could have taken out his teammate at the same point, but decided not to. And Aston Martin, which we've already discussed this pre-episode, would have got into technicalities if Fernando Alonzo had retired. And I was hoping that down in P-17, he might just give up. Unfortunately, it's Fernando Alonzo, so he doesn't know the meaning of that. And I was wrong. But one person who wasn't wrong was Harry Ead.

With me. Genuinely, we haven't had one writing so long that I'm actually happy you've got this point. I think it puts me even further behind, but I'm really pleased for you, mate. By virtue of hurry getting it right and you're getting it wrong, yes, there is a bigger gap. I'm also trying to be really nice because the realisation that I'm definitely going to have

to give up my Twitter account for 24 hours is really starting to dawn on me. It's still a long way to go. Yeah, but we don't get many right. This is true, law of averages. I, after Friday practice, I was like, oh, this could be.

happening. This could be happening. But I still even, I mean, to be honest, he wasn't, Vestappen still wasn't that far off. Like, he tried.

Is it a couple more cars out of the way? I mean, one more lap he would have been fourth because he would have got Leclair. Yeah. And then one of those cars in front of him to disappear and he still would have ruined a day. So thank you,

Max, for not being quite that good. I respect the bowl prediction so much because you could have just said, Vestappen. not on the podium. That would have been sufficiently bold. You said both.

Cheers, Red Bull for being bad. You're not getting two points, but fair play to you. Yeah, well done. Nothing but respects for it. Okay, let's move on. Astor Martin, well, they came into the weekend with a certain number of points,

and if anyone on a chalkboard at home is keeping count, you won't need to rub out the numbers. Nothing else has changed. Yeah. They leave with as many as they started with. Landstrol, of course, didn't even take the start of the Grand Prix after his crash in qualifying on Saturday, although I think Mike Crack did confirm that he'd be fine

for the Japanese Grand Prix, which takes place in a week's time. Fernando Walonzo did start the Grand Prix, but by the end, he might not as well have done because he scored absolutely no points after quite a few things didn't go his way that we've kind of already discussed as a result of worst driver of the day. I think with Monza, we identified that as a Grand Prix that probably wasn't going to go well for them, and we were right.

Here, Singapore, naturally, you thought they might be able to muster up something else, but pace-wise, they just weren't there, Sam. Yeah, this is, I think, NEF on team's biggest fear, that you go from one extreme to the other, and you don't perform in either circumstance, you kind of think, okay, straight lines, heavy braking, you need top speed. We don't have that, and that's okay, we can accept it, but next race weekend, it's all twisty, you know, twisty tight corners, very minimal throttle.

You're only on the throttle for 50% of the whole lap. You know, you need to have downforce and abundance. Like, okay, if we're not good at the first one, then we should be good at the last one. And we weren't good at either. So I brought this up a little while ago, maybe after, you know, the Australian or something Grand Prix around that time, Spanish, whatever it might think. But I said that I think that Asken Martin are in trouble. and I think that they were, because they run almost a copycat style development system where they look at the big boys like Red Bull

and go, what's working there and how do we bring that into play whilst nabbing all of their engineers previously, that I think they've run out of these ideas. I think the originality has run out, and they haven't decided to pick up their own journey of developing a car, and now it's biting them, now it's costing them, we're seeing the fall off in pace. You look at how McLaren have stepped up,

running their own profile on their car. how Mosegis have started to understand the car works. Ferrari, we don't know when they're going to be good, but when they are good, they absolutely smash it out the park, a Red Bull and Red Bull. Ashton Martin, they've taken a few bits from Red Bull, and they've taken a few of their personnel, and it's just going to have fallen apart a little bit, and it's becoming a bit worrying that they've really, over the last few races, stepped so far away from the top boys. They are very much a MIG field team at this point, and I argue that Alpine are on the brink of outscoring them more regularly than they're not.

and this is pretty disastrous. I brought it up a little while ago. All that money spent, all that time, all that investment, and they finished joint sick with Alpha Romeo last year. And this year, at this point, there are a massive risk of finishing fifth. And if it doesn't get better again, they could be at massive risk of finishing fifth again next year.

All that money for nothing. So this is a real, real panic stations moment, I think, for Ashton Martin. They need to get their eggs together and adapt and hope that they can put it off for either the end of this year and get some more points or consolidate and push forward for a really big 2024.

It is ironic that a lot of the pre-race media questions were around can they get back into second. Looking at the standings now, they are 72 points behind Mercedes in second place. They're only 78 clear

of McLaren in 5th. So they can be somewhat thankful for that George Russell DNF because otherwise they would be closer to 5th than they are to 2nd at this stage. What are your thoughts, Harry, on this one and then just not seemingly having a lot of pace? Hypothesis here, which I know is a dangerous thing for me to say. It's a big word. He gets a full prediction right now. He thinks he knows everything.

Yeah, big brain. To a point Sanders made, were Aston Martin not great here because their car is like a Red Bull? We know there are similarities. Well, anyway, just putting that one out there. It could be, because you're right, we fully expected them to be in the mix. And I do wonder, I know Strull was really struggling in qualifying yesterday and then struggled even more when he crashed.

I do wonder whether Alonso dragged that car slightly further up the grid than it actually should have been in qualifying. Because, yeah, they didn't look great. Not really today. well the one car didn't look great. Alonso, I was, I said this, I've watched this with my, my dad, and I said I wasn't sure whether Alonzo was slow, or he was just like keeping a gap.

And then after half the race had gone by, I was like, no, he's just, he's just slow. He doesn't have any more pace. So yeah, it's a worry because we've fully expected them to be on the, on form here. I think Suzuki might be tougher again for them, but it's an odd one because I don't think they've, the form book, I don't think it's fully dropped off, and this is why I brought up that point about, is it because it's similar to the Red Bull,

because Zandvort, they were well up there again, or Lisa Lonzo was. So I don't know whether this is just a very weird Singapore-specific thing, but as you say, it's considering the start of the year, it's getting a bit squeaky for them now as to whether they can hold on to fourth, which, yeah, take us back three or four months. I don't think we would have been considered that.

So it's not an ideal day. And I think that's the first time this season, Alonzo's not been in the points, right? I think he's been in the top ten every race part for that one. Yeah, it's the first time. It's a bad day. Yeah, I think there might be some accuracy in that hypothesis you just gave. The problem is, if it's going to work like it does here,

it needs to also work when Red Bull are good. And that wasn't the case with Monza in that they won Monza and Astor and Astor Martin scored two points. So, yeah, it was a surprise. I expected Alonzo and Astor Martin to be quicker than this weekend. I predicted them to get a podium, which almost certainly led to their demise.

But, yeah, I don't think pure pace-wise, they were probably level playing with Alpine, probably. I mean, they were definitely slower than Ferrari, the Mercedes, the Red Bull, then McLaren, and I think maybe then at that point, there's somewhere around where Alpine were. But it's a far cry from where they were at the beginning of this year.

We heard how quick Aster Martin were at the beginning of this year and a lot of comments that Fernando Alonso made about how beautiful the car was to drive. And now we're in a position where just so far away from that, and he called it undriveable. And based on the evidence, evidence. Yeah, it was. I mentioned on the preview podcast that I think Alonzo and Astin Martin are under

pressure at the moment to build a bit of a gap over Lewis Hamilton in the Drivers' Championship with some of the races coming up that we don't think they'll be particularly quick at, namely Abu Dhabi, Austin, Las Vegas. And this is arguably one of the three that we thought that they were going to be good at. So slightly worrying times ahead. And you're right, Sam, given the start of this year. If the end result is one position gained on where they were last year, it's an improvement, but you kind of have to view that as a failure versus what it could have been. Okay, we'll take our final break. We'll be back with moment of the race submissions right after this.

Okay, moment of the race. I'm giving Harry control of the soundboard here, which is truly terrifying. But hey, he got a bold prediction right. You can do whatever he wants in this episode. Hey, I normally play these out anyway, so, you know. I mean, on the actual soundboard, though. Me and the soundboard, I have a real connection.

No, you don't. You hate each other. It's a love-hate relationship. Are we going first, or we're letting them go first? we'll go first shall we? We don't go ways every time. Yeah, I know, it was weird.

Wait, who's going first? Me or Sam? You are, you, you. You're talking, you can do it. My moment of the race, there were a few actually. I've got to say a shout out to, and again, sorry, this is quite sky specific,

but shout out to a couple of sky moments on there. One being Ted Kravitz shouting, shoot George when he's talking about trying to overtake signs. The other one which wasn't even in the race

but was on the grid was Martin Brundel asking Oscar Piaastria question putting the microphone to his mouth for the answer and then turning away and shouting Happy birthday Esteban as Ocon Wolfram

and Oscar Piaastri bulbs it. Doesn't care. Whatever. Yeah, see you later, mate. I will set up for settle for.

Also shout out to Hamilton just not doing term one. I thought I was inspired. Fernando Alonzo tactics right there. Fernando was proud. Yeah,

he was proud of that one. No, but my favorite one was Logan's sergeant just crashed, got around to the pits, made it back, new front wing,

safety car deployed. And then there was a shot of the safety car coming down the straight with Logan Sergeant behind it weaving like warming to

warming up his tires. And then the safety guy was like, go fast, Logan, go away. Can you get on with it, Logan? And it's like they have the green light that comes on on the safety car for lapsed cars, right?

Which was on. And it's almost like Logan was like, I'll just pretend I didn't see that. And then the hand coming out the window on the safety car was gold. So that was my, that was mine. Moment of the race for me. I do want to give a shout out

just hearing the Italian national anthem. Oh, so good. I don't, I'm completely unbiased. I don't care who wins. or, you know, how they win or what team it is. But I just really like the Italian national anthem. It is, as I think Beef might have said in our Discord, an absolute bob. But my actual moment of the race was very, very early on.

My moment of the race was Yuki Sonoda picking up a puncture. Now, if that's Fernando Alonzo, he is dragging that car around to the pit. He is getting out of the car to push it to the pit. Yuki Sonoda picks up a puncher. Now, I'm done, lads. One corner. He's for home race next week. He did one corner!

No, Logan Sargent is dragging around a scrap heap of garbage around to the pits to get that racing again. Yuki Sonoda picks up a puncture. That's not four wheels. Can't do it. No, mine. Lewis Hamilton has won a race on three. You can't go around one corner. He didn't even think about it.

No. Better park up here, lads. Cheers. Yeah. Your one, son. Speaking of Sky, I think I text you guys this. Absolutely love the conversation about going to all you cook eat takeaway. And he says he hopes you get your hungry appetite song

because there's plenty to gobble up, which is a real moment from Crofty. Also, as we've already mentioned, sites were getting his debut. get his maiden wing for Ferrari, which is just such a blunder for a league commentator. But my moment with the race is the fight at the front between Science Norris,

Hamilton and Russell. I stood up for a lot of it, just realizing that you can see you on camera here, folks, this is what are going to look like. Sam, standing, for audio listeners, Sam is standing. And you can't really see my head. And I imagine that my screen had that exact view.

But it was brilliant, and I loved it. And I wanted to see more of that because it was fantastic. Also, sorry, one more shout out to Esteban Okon, sending Sergio Perez for an absolute bag of chips when he overtook him. Get ready, son. Absolutely filthy. Leplan.

Oh, thank you, Gassily, for getting more points. So my teammate wars is, I'm flying high. I am flying high. And Madison got a point as well. So, aren't they equal? Oh, that's close now. Yeah, I'm not. I'm not sure, actually.

I don't have to look. I don't know. Might be 6'5. I'm not sure. Right, let's hear from some of our Discord submissions. If you do want to get involved, if you want to get involved in this segment or indeed our preview segment as well, you can just get in the submission channel.

And we play out a select number on both preview and review episodes. So, Harry, take us away. Fingers crossed, everyone. we're on the old soundboard today so here we go. First up press the live button. Yes, I've done that. Cheers, Ben. First up is Scott, oh God,

you're not with all your demands. All right. Skyler. Lendon noise hit the wall. You're not wrong. You're not wrong. George Russell might have hit it harder, but he did it at the wall, yeah. He did it first, didn't it? A real double slap to the face on that lap, ding it? Been there all racing. It was bam, bam.

I even moved. Did you see, by the way, that when Stroll hit the wall yesterday, it moved it back like half a meter, like the actual concrete. That's crazy. Damn. Next up is a first-timey, I believe, Elplan Sam, which is a great name. Great name. Hey guys, first-time submitter here.

Absolutely love the podcast. I know literally probably everyone is going to say this, but moment of the race, I totally called it like 10 laps before it happened. Carlos Sines and Lano Norris working together to hold off the Mercedes signs being a smooth operator

I can't even get over it I don't think if during Red Bull's crazy run before the summer break you said the first person to knock them off the top step is going to be Carlos Sines like don't get me wrong he's a great driver but I don't think any of us saw that coming also Liam Losson scoring points

Daniel Ricardo better watch out You better watch out. Cheers, Chris. Yeah. Yeah, it was really interesting to see two different drivers, is in two different teams, somewhat work. I think Signs was helping Norris, perhaps more than Norris was necessarily helping signs.

I think Norris might well have grabbed that race win if it had opened up for him. But, yeah, it's a good point nonetheless. Okay, next up is Callie 70, who I'm sure is very excited. I'm sorry, is very excited. What a race! Finally!

Finally, Red Bull does not win a race. And on top of it, what a one and two. Carlando. What a moment of the race is the final couple laps. Science helping Norris out to get second place. Oh my God. Two different teams helping each other. The bromance lives on.

Let's go. McLaren on P2, baby. Sorry for George, though. That's a good man. We come down at the end. I'm sorry, man. Sorry, George. Go on.

Oh, my lord. Okay, next is Hazer with a cameo, apparently, from Northern George. So brace yourselves, everyone. Right, boys, return in Northern George. What was your moment of the race, pal? Well, moment of the race, got to be winning some money. Galas signs, beautiful. How much do you win?

Just a 50 pound. and any others, what are you going to spend your winnings on? Oh, I'm just going to get a huge takeaway. So we're going to have a large chattahs kebab, galate bread, supreme, chips with gravy, and ten pieces of onion, for years.

Jigs. Ten piece like your rinks. Great choice. I reckon. I reckon there'll be a good chunk of our audience who didn't understand what George was said, but thank you anyway. To be honest,

I enjoy your country. bad, mate. Enjoy it. Yeah, enjoy your winning. So I'm happy for you, Northern George. Bly me. Okay. Very much to two different places. Norr from Texas is next. Oh, hello, my friends.

It is I, Norm from Texas, and I am here to give you my late-breaking moment of the race, and my late-breaking not-so-good moment of the race. My late-breaking moment of the race, that is a four-way battle for first. It's what we live

for in this sport. My downvote of the race. My God, TV director, here is some advice. Maybe if there are overtakes happening, don't cut to an overhead shot of a highway overpass. He's not wrong. Anyway, keep breaking

late. He's not wrong. I like the new feature downvote of the race. Yeah. Yeah. Not done that before, but love for more. I don't remember asking for that. But, yeah. Okay, one car guy or the one car guy sorry it's next hey what up guys the one car guy here with my fourth mission ever and my more of the race today was the last like 10 laps when the Mercedes were catching up to

lando and carlos lines that was crazy lando defending for his life carlo's helping him Mercedes both mercedes fighting for it and then george's like nope i ain't finishing this race I'm hitting the wall. Well, that was it. You guys keep doing what you're doing. Join the Discord right now. Love you all. Cheers, one car guy.

One more and you get your five-time badge. Yeah. You've been getting those when you used to go swimming and you used to get like a five-meter bag, checking and whatnot. Oh, yeah. It was by Frosties, weren't they? Like Tony's the Tiger.

Yeah. They're great. So niche. Five-meter badge. That's so, such a little. little distance. What is the point of that? Get on with it. Swim further from that. All right. Next up is SoCal Jen. Hey, it's Jen from SoCal. My moment of the race is just that battle for first place. That was amazing.

When you take Red Bull out of the equation, OMG. That was spicy. And I'm so happy Hamilton got a podium. Woohoo. Join the Patreon. For that reason. Woohoo. Big up SoCal. Uncommon hoodlum. What a race, boys. My motor of the race

absolutely has got to be Esteban Ockon going to war to get a couple of positions off of Fernando Walancho and Sergio Perez. Sometimes the sausages are out for Gasly, but today the bacon is out for Ockon.

Yes. Love it. Baking out for Rock on. A new phrase has been unlocked. Yeah, you're baking out for rock on. Bake it out of a plan. Oh, yes.

Yeah, you have a whole barbecue with this. Yeah, rashes for rock on. And they're extra smoky. Oh, yeah. Well, they would be here today when his car blew up. Anyway, um, smoke on. Smoke on. Smoke on.

Okay, uh, wrath is next. Rath. Behave. No, come on. Beave. Doing so well. Oh, bloody hell. The wrath of the soundboard.

Sorry. Sorry, wrath. I'm sure it was really good. Um, we'll go for, oh, well, last up is, is Carlos Sines fan, I believe, uh, Tenerife beef, well, berated beef or whatever she's called this week.

Hello. What a race. I don't think I'm ever going to recover as a Carla Sines fan girl. This is why I put 25 pounds on him every year to win the driver's champion. What a waste of money that is. George's been in it. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but I don't know why I've got a little bit of George Russell hatred in me. But it felt good to me, but also just it was, the race was really good and it was just that cherry on top of the cake.

Okay, bye. You know that irrational hate? I have it for a couple of people, like Stephen Mulhern for his foresight, so I understand. A sadistic beef there. Yeah. Enjoying George's damnful beef.

Hateful beef. That's all right. Let us know what you spend your 25 quid on when you don't have it at the end of this year. Send it to us to X gear, please. Yeah, I'd say it would be a better investor. but, not to be honest.

No. I guess that's going to do it for this review. But the good news is we've got another preview coming up very shortly. It's the, well, one of two opportunities

during the year where we get to complain about being Europeans. For when we do that during the midweek, which is almost definite, just make sure you know we are being ironic

about it. Trust us, we are. But until then, Sam, if you wouldn't mind, getting us out of here. Folks, I hope you enjoyed the Singapore Grand Prix and this review

as much as we have. We've had a lovely time and make sure you tuning of course midweek for the Japanese preview, the one as Ben said, well we have to get up super duper early. But that's okay. You'll just hear us remember about it anyway. We are on social media, late breaking F1, everywhere

and on the yubtub, so get subscribed because there is video of this and most other content that we make. We also have two extras every single month for you Patreon subscribers. And they are all ad-free. Every bit of content you get on Patreon is ad-free, including all the standing episodes. Also,

beer with breaking. It's a laugh. The last time we talked about the crazy frog. So if you do want to hear to us talking about the crazy frog and what we think of steak, then you know, get subscribed. Have a little listen. You also get a birthday shout out for those top tears. It's a lovely time. That's it. We're a good time. We're going to go and relax now.

In the meantime, I've been Samuel Sage. I've been Ben Hocking. I've been Harry Ead. And remember, keep breaking late. I've got to carrot. is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network.