The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Best of LB 2023!

Episode Date: December 28, 2023

In this special episode, we've pulled together some of our favourite discussions, debates, and silly moments from this past year of the podcast (there were of course far too many of the latter to choose from). Enjoy! 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 F-1 podcast. Make sure to check out new episodes every Wednesday and every Sunday. Hello, everyone, and welcome to the first of two special highlights episodes to round off your 2023. I know we promised a fully pre-recorded episode, and that's what you will get, but we just wanted to say hello to it. Again, we just want to talk to people. Very alone. on this festive period.

Another festive hire coming at you. We're feeling fat, we're feeling merry, and we're feeling festive higher. So I hope you have a lovely time being jolly or not celebrating and having a delightful time just chilling out and maybe seeing some family. But Ben, what we're getting up to in this definitely

not pre-recorded pre-selecting episode. Yeah, we're actually just going to take our best moments from 2023 and recreate them for you live rather than just take the originals. Yeah, complete change of plan. No, we've just got a random selection. Like, you know, one of those selection boxes

you get around Christmas. This is your LB version of that. We've managed to scour through however many hours of content we've put together this year and somehow managed to find enough okay content that it can be included in this episode. Trust us when we say it was a really difficult find. But yeah, some very,

some just very random discussion points, talking points. I would say I know exactly what's going to be in there, but we don't know yet. Let's guess. What could come up? Perhaps Othma, perhaps Fulando Alonso, something related. Insert here. Will any of the episode where we intimidate?

No. No? Absolutely not. I'm feeling a bit intimidatory today, punk. It's not appearing. in any capacity. We do have to wonder,

is Kirsty going to pick any episode that Harry's actually in? Maybe this is the only part of the episode you're going to be here for, Harry. To be fair,

that would be really funny. I kind of want Kirsty to do that. Bye. Yeah, that's Harry's done for the episode. Done for the year. We'll shut up now

and we'll let the moments roll. All right, I'm going to Sam on this one first because I want a good laugh. Sergio Perez, he's setting his sights on the 20203 title. He thinks in a recent interview that he is currently operating pretty much at his best. We saw him have a pretty good start to 2022, but unfortunately for him, his title challenge faded mid-season. He did claim a few podiums and a win towards the end of the year, but certainly it was the middle of the year. in 22 that seemed to cost him the most. Sam, obviously,

well, you can say for yourself, but I'm pretty sure your opinion is that this isn't going to happen for him. But what is possible for Perez in 23? Yeah, you're saying you're getting a laugh. That's exactly what I got when I read the statement on Twitter. It was a good approach at comedy from Sergio. Sergio is, you know, in the top 1% of drivers worldwide.

Let's not laugh, his actual talent. He is a phenomenal racing driver, the brilliant behind the wheel, has some exceptional talents and can really pull incredible results from cars that are often mediocre, midfield, you know, not meant for top running. As we saw that victory that he picked up in Bahrain, where he went from the back of the grid to the front of the grid,

remember, in the bloody racing point, it was phenomenal. He has some spectacular performances. But it only takes you to look at the last season to show that he thinks he's operating at his absolute best and that his title challenge might have faded. mate, you were so far away from the points tally required that it took you until the final race of the season to wait for it, not beat the driver from the other team

that had so many technical issues, strategy problems, their Ferrari, you know, and you still didn't really manage that. You couldn't even grasp the one too when your teammate was knocking up, what, 140 points in the league, something like that. I value Sergio Perez in our sport highly. massively. He's a great asset to F1 and I'm so happy he's skilled racing with us and didn't get kicked out of the sport after

the racing point incident where he was out of the seat. He's a great second driver for a top team and he brought home the Constructors' Championship for Red Bull. Brilliant stuff. But his ceiling is far below the likes of Max

Westappan, Lewis Hamilton, Charlenelechle, and I feel like if you put him up against any of those drivers, you know, Landon, Norris, even, you know, George Russell, I don't think Perez Mounts a title challenge. I do not think he's capable of being on that top step or fighting until the last lap for that top step

every single race for a whole season straight. The only time he's won is often when there's been a failure in Vastappen's car or some bizarre circumstance that's like him to take victory. The only way I think he wings a championship, this is the only way I think he does it, is if one, Red Bull, build an absolute monster of a car, car, right? That's part one of this. Essentially what they did in 2022.

And then part two, he executes plan Nico Rosberg, where he tries to become like a little brainworm inside of Max Verstappen to destroy any form of confidence, continuity, comfortability in that car that he can and get under his skin in every single asset possible. You know, there are stories of joking stories, I don't know, of Nico Rosberg. cooking baking outside Lewis Hamilton's motorhome to try and wind him up. That's the level of in your head he needs to be to annoy Max Verstappen. And Max Verstappen, quite honestly, is an absolute weapon when it comes to mind games. The bloke is not phased by anything.

You know, even when he realised he, you know, in Japan, remember when they said, you've won the world's either. We've got the guy, like, don't think I have, mate. Anyway, we're doing it next week, not a problem. The guy's not faced. He's not phased by anything. So Sergio Perez, I know what ministry of defends has got to the ministry of mind attack and do something absolutely special.

I'm sorry, Sergio, love you dearly. You're a real asset to Formula One, but you're not going to win this title. Love the mental positivity and try and push yourself up, which is great. Let's just be slightly more realistic with our goals. That's okay. I've got realistic goals. Go out of the house once a day. You know, eat more fruit.

All things are achievable. Sergio Perez, winning the world title for the driver's championship, that's more like me becoming an astronaut. Not really going to happen. Please don't let that happen. Although NASA, if you aren't listening, it could be fun. Great content. Great podcast content.

This week, Sam goes to space. Let's do it. Let's do it. Why not? 22 views. Australian Grand Prix review time. We didn't think we'd ever get here to the review of this race because we didn't think it would ever end. But eventually, Max Verstappen took victory at the Australian Grand Prix, joined on the podium by Lewis Hamilton,

and Fernando Alonzo yet again finding the longest route to third place after also being out of the points with a lap to go somehow. There's a lot to break down here. Couldn't really put together a schedule because it's all just carnage. Sam, I mean, have you had your poo now? You're... Oh, good. That's a great way of kick off the show.

Folks, I went out yesterday for a friend's birthday. And I'm sure you've all had it. You know, you have a few beers, you get a bit tipsy, then you come home and you have a bit of a cheeky takeaway, right? A little bit of a greasy takeaway. Anyway, obviously, woke up at, you know,

crack a dawn to watch the Australian Grand Prix. And about by lap 30, I was like, oh, I do need the toilet. But there's some exciting info, folks. Here you go. Yeah, this is on Ben. I mean, it takes me a little while to go to the little. I like to take my time, right, play a little game, watch a little video, you know, relax into it.

So I can't just get up and go and only lose a lap. So when 83 red flags happened and now the year is 2037, I had to really crack on to that bathroom when, find and we got to the podium, please. Anyway, so I'm good. Thank you, Ben, for asking. I'm not following that up. Fair.

I take full responsibility for that. I apologize profusely. Formula One. That's what we're talking about. It was a mess. It was a mess. Chaos. Loved watching.

it, went on for too long, needed the loo, but absolutely love the drama. We've established that already. Good. Unfortunately. Did you enjoy the drama, Harry? I mean, I love the drama, Mick, but... It's all about the drama Mick. It's a Gavin and Stacey reference or anyone didn't get that.

Yeah, it was... Drama was good, but it was... F-1 again didn't necessarily cover it. cover itself in glory with the first red flag I get. I know they said it was for gravel but actually I saw a couple of screenshots afterwards and like the tech pro

is not on the wall anymore so fine, fair enough. Clear the track up and it's quite a fast part of the track there so it's easier to just stop the guys coming around. The second one I feel like maybe they panicked slightly. Michael Massey was

there this weekend and not not sing out of the floor. But they do. just panicked and were like, oh God, we can't do a safety car before the end of the race. So they're just like, Red Flag, what does Red Flag?

And then after that, that's all they did. We had Red Flag, restart, a sector, Red Flag, finished the race, and then another red. They red flagged after the race had finished. How does that work?

How can you red flag a race that's already done? They can't. red flag. I don't know. Just really twitchy finger on the old red flag. So first one I think was fine. Second one. I think Ben, you said this at the time. Why was it even a full safety car initially

for Magnuson's crash? Because he did pull off. I guess the debris, yeah. But get that. I mean, there was a fire, literally in the middle of the track. I know, I get that. But you can pick that up quite easily under a VSC, I think. Anyway, I don't think.

Fine. I'll argue the safety car, but I don't think a red flag would necessarily just felt like they panicked a bit because they saw the end of the race was coming. And there's, I guess, Monsa, 2022 as well. They got a bit burnt there, and they finished it under a safety car, which probably would have been, would have happened here.

You were there for that. That was popular. It went down really well. People loved it. Stop Charlotte Claire winning. Well, Charlotte Claire didn't need much stopping of winning today. He did that all by himself one lap in. But, yeah, Actually, no, before I say anything else, there is something else I need to address,

just in case anyone hasn't got the memo because of Sam's moronic April Fool's post yesterday. I'm not leaving, okay? I'm still here and I'm staying here, okay? So many of you for bags of chips all over the world. There's people getting chips right and centre. Since our last recording, Mohammed Ben Suleim essentially said, roll up, roll up, looking for teams, Andretti and General Motors.

Jetty teams. Go for a penny for a team. So essentially, he did do that, probably paraphrasing a little bit. And Andretti Cadillac said, yeah, all right, we'll give it a crack if you want, mate. What's like your offer? Yeah, go on then. Sam, what's your thoughts on Mohamed Ben Suleim's response to comments regarding, because he said he's surprised at the adverse reaction.

of the teams. What's your reaction to his reaction? Thanks, Siliad. I'd just like to conduct all his professional business on Twitter, apparently. Hello, Twitter, we're looking for new teams. Hello, Twitter. I'm surprised at the current team's reaction to the prospect of new teams. I think he's quite naive if he thought that all the teams were going to skip around in glee around the maypole, chanting the name of the new team that was entering Formula One. But equally, I do think that Formula One team to a currently on the grid need to butt out, shut up and go away, get on with your job, and welcome new competition into the sport. I think he has every right to go, oh, I'm quite surprised that

people are against, fire and I'm, are against coming into the sport. At the end of the day, it shouldn't be up to the current teams. It should be up to the governing body to work out, are they financially viable? Do they bring something to the sport that we know and love currently? and are they going to be a worthy addition? And if I'm any team on the greed, it's not, and Ben has already pretexts this show off air saying that we're going to talk about the budget issue, so I'll get on to that in a minute.

But if I'm any team on that grid, and I go, oh, new team coming in. Well, I want to beat them. I want to be the best. Regardless of who I'm racing, I welcome competition. I want to beat them. But as we've seen from their reaction,

very much not the case. Now, I am hoping that Ben Silliam is deciding to, overrule that, try and be a bit forcible, forcible, forcibly political? I don't know what the word is. I don't know. I got forceable, forcibly political. We know how I got Flando along, so. It was wrong last week. Fanonzo, not Fianzo.

And now we said this incorrectly. It's the start of the year. It's going well. My point being, I'm hoping that he maybe steps in, uses a bit of that political muscle to override what's going on and tell the TV's basically to pipe down, shut up and get all of your lives. because we want Andretti Kagalak. We want new teams. And we went through a few teams recently about who would be welcome in the sport. They would be back, because I don't think.

They've got the financial backing. They've got the thoroughbred race team. You know, they understand success. And, you know, General Motors, Kagalak, they know how to put something together. They know how to make cars. They know commercially what they're doing. They will bring so much revenue into the sport.

Again, we'll get into more in a little bit. But it's a very, very wise short. is a new partner to come into Formula One. They're just, the current teams are a bit scared of the finances, which I think is a bit pathetic. And again, we'll get onto it after the boys have spoken to. So there's my thoughts. I want Mr Suleim to quack down.

Hard action, you know, like Chief Wiggum, Gagam, boys. That's what I want him to do. Your aspiration, Ben Sullyam, is to act like Chief Wiggum. I would argue that's already the case. Hey. Clax is a good guy. Clax is a good guy. In the world.

Shoots his gun as he's eating a donut. Clancy. Oh, so Ralph's adorable. If someone could bring Ralph. My cack's not like cack food. Right. It's enough of that. Harry, your triumphant return to the podcast.

Are you going to sit on the fence and say that, you don't mind if this happens or not. No, I would like this to happen a lot. Just dying in the corner. Sorry, this Clancy that got me. Yeah, more teams on the grid, better. And I've thought this for a long time. It was, obviously didn't work back in 2010

when we had this three new teams. But the grid. HR 2 is still going to strong. What are you talking about? Oh, the Smash. Healthy racing team it means. Right. But the grid looked great when it was much more full.

And now, yeah, you know, it's a good bunch of teams. And I don't want to go back to the 2010 issue where we had these three teams where they couldn't compete at all because it just made them being their pointless, basically. So I want a viable, viable candidate to come along. And Andretti, Cadillac is. I mean, Andretti on its own was. Andretti Cadillac punches even more weight now. So I hope this happens.

This whole thing is fascinating because we're, I think we're at the beginning of something that could become much more bigger and controversial between the FIA and F1. Because I sense, as do you a lot of people, I reckon, that there's a bit of tension between these two bodies. not seeing eye to eye on everything because obviously Ben Wiggum wants new teams in F1 but does he want them in F1 for the reasons we want them F1

or does he want them in F1 to cheese off the people at F1 like Stefano de Mani Cali unsure. I think maybe the latter because I think he's better. Petty, Petty Ben, we'll call him. I'd love to get to the stage where being petty involves allowing, like, a multi-billion-pound company into a racing series. Like, I can be that successful and rich.

That is my version of being petty, rather than just, like, not doing it, not doing the dishes or something. You imagine signing the contract with Agretti and him putting the pen down, turning to Steve Sunday, going, Ha! Suck it, Stefano, and then walking out the room. so guilty. With his gun and his donuts. Yeah, exactly. I do think that's what we're witnessing here. But, you know, if pettiness gets us an extra team in F1,

I'm all for it. I'm a fan of petty. I'm a fan of petty. So, yeah, I think there's a... I hope it happens. But I think we're at the beginning of a fascinating, fascinating time for F1 and the FAA, which, you know, ever since the day,

of Max Mosley and Bernie Eccleston. Has it ever been as harmonious since then? Doesn't mean it was better than, but just saying has it ever been as harmonious since those days. Is that what you're saying? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, triple Bs on this occasion. It's getting quoted on the Twitter account. No.

Please know Bernie. God, we don't need Bernie. But yeah, anyway, so I hope it happens, but we'll see. whether it would be drivers, mechanics, engineers, strategists, all the way down to the people who are, you know, working at the factory, doing all the bits of pieces that we don't ever get spoken about. Very important that you have that representation.

But just coming in with a gimmicky name like Formula Equal tells the world that that's all you're here for. If you were called Pollock Racing, which just sounds like you're racing fish, quite frankly. I love Pollock Racing. straight out of Grimsby. Oh, anyway, that's what the game should be. And if you were called Pollock Racing, right?

And part of your company ethos was building equality and you created a ground route system that allowed for, you know, apprenticeships and the support from schools through universities to, you know, independent schools that allowed you to learn these specific skills. And you cherry-picked talent from a young age to go through racing categories and engineering schools

and you brought that into the sport, then good Lord, I think, yes, what a fantastic initiative and a great way to spend your cash and your time and your investment in Formula One. Brilliant stuff. I love that. The difference is that's not what they're doing. They're not setting up the grassroots stuff. And also, I know it's only rumoured, but their backing is currently, in theory,

from Saudi Arabia. Now, very recently, women in Saudi Arabia weren't allowed to drive. So the fact that that was only just brought into the law makes me very very much. very nervous that this feels like a pure sports washing publicity stunt. Before we move on, yes. Do you see that the FIA rejected Ferrari's right to review? Oh, thank goodness for that. Oh, my word.

I mean, who would have thought that was a bad idea? No, I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. I'm mad about this. Right. I tried. I tried, folks, and I've been baited in. I'm willing to accept this. Carlos Sines and his penalty have been rightfully. dismissed by the FIA today. It's so angry. Their mitigating circumstances were, it was sunny.

The sun was in my eyes. I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was overcast for all the other 19 drivers. It was only sunny for Carlos Seines. He had cold tires. Yeah, everyone else's were blistering, weren't they? God. Do you know, they pulled out

something that happened in 2014. as a basis for getting this thrown out. They pulled up an incident from when Lewis Hamilton was a one-time champion to say that this penalty shouldn't be applied. Are you mad? There is literally, I've never seen so much uproar about such a clear penalty.

He hit him. No, we joke. Alon to Will have. to retire at some point. I'll retire before a long time. He will have to stop and he can't keep doing this. He hasn't really dropped off that much.

Probably only his qualifying pace, I'd say, is the thing that's dropped off. Everything else, he's still the same. Do you think he still could win a title if, like, the Red Bull and the Aston were equal? Do you think he still got the ending? Because you're the number one in the fan. I am.

It just happens very good. He is. And I think. Alonso would be, another singer from me, Alonso would be the most menacing menace. I think a different side of him would come out. Again, we see the old Fernando. It would be, I mean, we've seen glimpses of it,

as I say, with the yes, yes, bye-bye. But it would be just a menace. Maybe that could make the difference if there's an equal fight between him and of a staff and in a Hamilton. I don't know, but... I don't bring Lewis into this. Good Lord.

The world can't deal with that. all three of them. I reckon none of them would finish that many races. They'd just run into each other all the time. Sojo Perez is mopping out with George Russell. Yeah, Ghazly wins. Actually, to be fair, I think Alonzo would be smarter. Hamilton and Stappen would take each other out.

Alonzo wins. That's where I'm going. Russell, with his hands on his hips going, crikey, at the end of interest. Blimey. So, yeah, I'd be great to him in a championship fight. And I think, as I say, I think you'd be a right nuisance. Yeah, a few wins.

I don't, it's hard to see because I think Asston deals only two years long. I don't know how old he'd be by the end of that, but is he going to extend it again? Who knows? Yeah, 43 and a half, I think. 3-107. Yeah, that is getting on slightly.

So who knows if it'll extend past that and whether Aston are going to... Five-year deal. Five-year deal. 57. 57. whether Aston are going to be able to make such another leap that they are now championship contenders

when it comes to 2024. I keep seeing a Red Bull person out, they might. They might do. They made a big one this year. Maybe they'll make Adrian Tui. I have a second version of him at their team. Adrian Tui. I like that a lot.

Anyway, it goes on package holidays. Pucket version. I thought he might be proud of. Oh, that's so niche. Good. It's very, Gittish. Prudish niche reference.

Nittish. Nittish. Maybe you can coin that. Yeah. It's going on. A couple of wins probably, you know. Off you go. Good.

Ah, good stuff. So we've got merchandise. I also made a baby onesy. This baby's a late breaker, it says on the front of it. I did see that the other day. Yeah, someone requesting it, so I made it. Little breakers.

Little breakers. We could start a crash. More like a crash. Anyway, that's more than enough. Next week, the preview for Baku is the episode where we will intimidate each other. Intimidate. I meant intimidate. What's your bold prediction?

Come on, obviously. Paul, one, do, three, punk. Oh, in the meantime, I'm not so much. I've been Ben Hockey. His second outro in a row, he's absolutely lost it. Any thought Sam on Perez's chances? I know this was obviously a race that he won last year. Do you think he can take it to Vestappen and take the race to win?

They call him Mr Street Circuit. They don't. They do? No, they do. Street Circuit King. I don't want you to do that ever again. Oh, Mr. Bumastic. I actually do.

Oh, God. Yeah. Thank you. Sammy G. They've got it, Viscar Street Circuit. I've changed my mind. No.

We're going on watching work it. Anyway, I genuinely think, you know, that's where his powers lie. That is where he gathers the source of all strength, his old Sergio Perez.

If it is on the streets of a city where he could go and drink and party down the road the moment he gets out of the car, which he has shown he likes to do. Oh no, no, no. Yeah, hang on, we won't go into two million years since what happened last year.

Oh, no. Then, you know, he has a great time. And he is showing it time and time again that it often seems to be street circuits where he absolutely thrives. So, you know, it used to be a time where Perez was the one I would count out and go, you know, maybe he'll be third or fourth

of Vastappen takes the wing. I think he's got absolutely every chance of doing the old double here, two in a row. So I think if he wings here, because he'd win it more than Vastappers won it? Yes. For Stappan will be on one, he'll be on two. Right?

Yeah. For Stappen washed. Nonetheless, sorry, I'm being silly, as always. I do genuinely think, though, that Perez has absolutely every chance. If Perez is in the right frame of mind, if he's got the motivation behind him, if he's one with the car, there is every chance that Sergian of Perez can absolutely wallop it on pole position.

I'm interested to see it. I think from Vestappan's perspective, how to protect against it, The one thing he can't afford is what happened last year at Monaco and what happened last time at Miami. He needs to nail that first Q3 lap because he can't deal with the risk of not getting that second lap in. It's cost him a couple of times now. So I think whatever happens this weekend for Vastapp and based on how important qualifying is, for both Red Bulls and anyone who's planning to fight out of the front, nail that first lap in Q3 because more often than not, you don't have any certainty that that second Q3 lap is actually going to happen.

I am at the point now where I am actually going to start some sort of fundraising page for people to help me out in terms of numbers of people and resources to get my man out of that team because they are crushing his career race after race. What does the guy have to do? he is no longer God Leclair and it's not because of his obvious godly ability he is trapped Leclair because he is trapped

I know that we've had some rumours recently of Leclair to Mercedes I don't know if Charles Leclair started them himself but if he didn't it would have been a good idea what more does the guy have to do yeah I think they've I think something went wrong with that car this weekend and maybe it will get better

in Canada in two weeks time but it's these are, he's heading into his prime years and he hasn't got a car that is capable of, I'd say winning championship. He's not got a car that's capable

of winning races at the moment. It's sad to see. Sad to LeClair. Yeah, maybe that's more accurate. He looked, I mean, he looked very sad after qualifying. D.C. is in, interview in the pen afterwards.

he didn't look happy. Didn't look like a happy boy. Happy bunny. Can't blame him. Well, since we've got more time on this segment versus the last segment, should we give out our Big Brain Award? Yeah, well, I think it's an appropriate one.

I'll do the jingle again. Hang on. Please hold. Nice. Beautiful. What was your big brain moment? I've already said it. Charlotte Cleve been on soft ties

after running hard tires for 17 laps I know we've said it before this award was was made this year for just Ferrari basically and others have made it in but Ferrari are like no we want this award every race so yeah it was

I just I don't as I said I don't understand I don't understand I don't I don't know and I get in in the race situation it's tough for the strategy team to sometimes make the calls under pressure. They were under no pressure for this one.

There was a lot riding on it. And if we can see from the outside, me and Ben and everyone else watching, and we're idiots, if we can see that that's a bad call, I don't get how they didn't see it. So easily... You just look at the top drivers,

like the Mercedes and the... Well, as you know, it would be Mercedes. And they're still going around on... soft tires. And you're like, do you not see the same thing that we see? Do you not see what you've done here? Yeah, I know.

Yeah, so anyway, that one for me. I probably would go for that. But in the interest of variety, I will offer up something else, which is Alfa Tauri just trying to talk strategy to Yuki Sonoda, it just never goes well. He just tells you to shut up every time.

Shut up. And yet they still persist. Do you want this or do you want this? Let me rise. Yeah, don't give Yuki the option. Just tell him what he needs. You're coming in now, Yuki. Drivers, drivers like snowflakes, aren't they?

They're all unique. I don't mean snowflakes in the sort of 21st century meaning of the term. I mean actual snowflakes. They're all unique. They're all brilliant in their own individual way. You don't talk strategy where Yuki's Sonoda. Might work for other drivers, not Yuki. Can I just make an honorary mention?

for this award, but it happened on Saturday. It's the menace of F1, Fernando Alonzo. Fernando Alonzo, having witnessed Gassley impede Vestappen into turn 4 or on his flying lap, immediately on the radio. And I guess Astin Martin thought

Alpe might be challenging them this weekend and they were kind of right. I know they ended up in front of the end of Ocon, but immediately he's on. He's on the radio going, Blighton and beating that, lame to look at that, blah, blah, blah, blah.

The man doesn't switch off ever. You're right, but there's more to it than that. And it proper railed me in the... He said on the spot, three places. Yeah, I know. And it ended up being three places. Fernando Alonzo was able to see... Quicker.

While driving in a qualifying session, what the penalty should have been, if there's no excuse for the stewards to take two of us. hours to say the same thing that Alonso said after two seconds. Come on. His brain is too big for his helmet. He's too big for the sport.

He needs to be a steward after he finishes. If he's willing to hand out penalties that quickly, he's got the job in my eyes. Usually when you're a rookie driver like Nick DeVries, you've got another rookie driver. driver or an inexperienced driver in the reserve role, right? So there's less pressure there. You've got to feel for Nick DeVries that part of the Red Bull reserve program is someone who has won like eight races, got like 30 podiums, beat Max Verstappen over the course of a full season when they were teammates of Red Bull.

Like normally you don't have that pressure from a reserve driver. Nick DeVries has got this guy staring down his battle. He also does the big smile, which I imagine at nighttime is really. really scary. Who Daniel Regardo. Yeah. Not only is he staring down at you, but he's got that really big,

lovely, gorgeous gring. He stares down at you and you're really happy about it. Oh, good. He's really nice too. Great. It's terrifying. I also think,

you know who's judgment? I think this looks really bad on. I think Toto Wolf looks really bad right now. Because he advocated for Nick DeVries for years and years and years. And it was always in the press of, give him a drive. He's my driver.

Give him a go. He has big. the worst driver on the grid by a country mile and I think maybe the all seeing Toto Wolf hasn't got a perfect eye. But for Toto Wolf's perspective, all of the terrible results are coming at his main rival sister team.

I mean, if he's played the game, no bad results in Merck. 1,000 IQ plays. He's thinking years ahead this guy. Red ball playing checkers, Totos on chess. On that point, I saw today, and this is getting off topic now,

but there's a few things about Logan, sergeant and, you know, a bit of calm, a bit of calm needed within his, in his camp. But also that Toto Wolf might be trying to always whispering in his old friend

James Vowal's ears to give Mick Schumacher. I did that, yeah. That's banter. Schumacher to Williams. I like the idea. This has happened to Ockon now and now to DeFries.

If it does it a third time, it's like, that's his niche now. That is his niche. Just taking drivers and I'll get you, don't you worry. I'll put you at the back of the grid. I'll sort you out, son. Don't you worry.

I'll get you an Alpine drive for 46 years that doesn't do anything apart from finish fifth. Thanks, Toto. Love you, Toto. Papa Toto. That's all I ever wanted. Papa Toto. I'm hungry like the wolf.

Oh, Papa Toto definitely has potential as a character. Oh, man. Papa Toto. Oh, yeah, hello, Papa Toto. Right, we're going for a break. Sandwiches time. One thing I've just noticed, and appreciating we do have a few more races this year than we had 10 years ago, but certainly at the rate Perez is going, we're looking at a 200 point gap after 20 races.

We started to talk Vettel Weber sort of distance from 2013 or so, aren't we? That was probably, I haven't got the stats on me, but that was probably around 200 points, I guess. Is that one of the most... is Mark Weber as much as we love him dearly that season big of a shocker right from Weber to be that far away from your team mate in that car

I think by 13 I think he'd gone washed his hands of it I think yeah by 13 he'd already he'd already made his mind up he was leaving to go to wet or something so have some pride sunshine you don't care mate don't care

got the money got the dough off anyway a bit of a random detour but to illustrate the point we aren't halfway through this season yet and there is essentially a 100 point gap between the two drivers, in which case this could become, if we carry on at this rate, a pretty large margin of victory by Vestappen by the time we get to the end of the year.

I guess the first question that needs to be answered here is not necessarily about replacements, but it's instead about would Red Bull move away from a driver who has still got a year left on his contract? And to which I would answer, yeah, they would. If they felt it was the right decision, let's say it's the same situation as McLaren and Ricardo were in last year. They decided to move on from Ricardo.

He's still had a year left on his deal. They were happy enough to pay Ricardo, however much money it was. They would do the same thing with Perez in a heartbeat if they felt it was the right decision. So I think we can say, yes, he is at risk in that they wouldn't, that wouldn't stop them, right? I think generally, though, you're only as at risk as the options around you. So you could be a nine out of ten driver. If there's a ten out of ten driver who could be coming in to take your seat and he's available,

you are at risk. Equally, you could be a four out of ten driver, but if there's only ones and twos on the market, you're probably safe. So it is a bit relative in that regard. And I think Perez can be somewhat happy in that there isn't anything that is a slam dunk replacement for him. There are a few options, but there's nothing that is, yes, that would definitely work. So firstly, I would say, I don't think there is anyone internal to Red Bull. I'm going to put Ricardo to one side, but in terms of the Alpha Tauri seats and junior drivers,

I don't think there's anyone there that would take his seat. Yuki Sonoda, Nick DeVries, Liam Norse, I don't think any of those are options. So I think he put that to one side. I think you've then got the two options of option one, looking outside of the Red Bull program, which is what they did for Perez. or option two, Daniel Ricardo. And again, I don't think either are great because option one,

there isn't the only driver that's out of contract at the end of this year that is good enough to be in that Red Bull, which we'll get onto later, is Lewis Hamilton, right? And I don't think... That would be banter. I would love that.

I don't think that's going to happen. I can't wait for this to be replayed in two months time when he's driving for Red Bull. They're best mates now. Have you seen that? They're best mates now. Yeah. Yeah.

They get along it all the time. fancy contract loose. Yeah, right, man. Unless they're literally in the cockpit of the car when they turn into rabid animals that cannot stand each other. But on a sofa, yeah, I mean, should I find?

Did you see they're on the Maxwell Experience podcast? It's good, wasn't it? It's some of the greatest photoshopping I've ever seen. It's so good. I've never, I thought it was real. Yeah. Should we employ Photoshop to make it look like people are on our podcast?

We have employed Photoshop many a time, and it is flawless every time. Good. some of the time. Anyway, there was a point in there somewhere. Oh, Lewis Hamilton, don't think that's going to happen. In which case,

they'd have to look at a driver who is not out of contract by the end of this year, someone like a Ferrari driver or Lando Norris, and there are questions about whether any of those teams would actually want to make that happen.

So that is one option that doesn't seem completely obvious. The other option, Daniel Riccardo, going back to the scale, I said, from like noughts to 10 to 10 out 10. where's Daniel Ricardo on that scale? Who knows? I got the clue.

Let's just say, hypothetically, he turns up in a Red Bull next season. Could he be a two out of ten? Yeah. Could he be an eight out of ten? Sure. There's no one of ten out of ten. I mean, obviously. Surely that's why they must be looking at.

I know DeFries is helping this course there, but they must be looking at getting him in that Alvatarie. Well, yeah. What's the point? of put a Ricardo in our well they can see what if he's put

McLaren behind him the car scale will win anyway you may as well put him in the Red Bull but then what if he's a two out of ten yeah

you can be a two out of ten so he'll win that constructors at the moment he's a two out of ten maybe not next year though that's forward thinking

that's why I don't get that's forward thinking I don't like I find that yeah so I think obviously Ricardo's a massive risk it's going to be difficult to get someone external.

So I think overall Perez is at risk, but he can be buoyed by the fact that there isn't like an obvious, yeah, that'll work. Definitely out there. Ben, I'm going to have to rip your stat man title away from you because the gap between Vetter and Weber was 198 points, not 200.

Well, in that case, it's pretty much spot. Hold on. I've got a new title for Ben. Bradman! Go on. Right sausage. Two points. you go nothing says the man

that say hi as Harold Frexing for some Argentina if the gap's 99 points now double that is 198

so I don't want to hear your maths oh he's others is actually you what to be he's called him Pratman

and what part of us I am interested to see the evolutionist that man though how many different mans are there out there

hat man oh no I've got cats man that's me Ian Batman I have the Batman

You know when you say something You know it's a mistake Yeah You go like when you see someone Walking through like a busy space And you go Oh have you seen that guy over there Who?

That's Batman It's some intro for a For a great joke I've got more lined up mentally Now immediately Oh I'm You know what There's a lot of words

That rhyme with stat Ratman You know when Fat Boy Slim grows up He becomes a Fat man Fat man slim Yeah

All right Let's move on Okay Oscar Piastri had a very good British robbery Qualified third finished four for 12 points So it's been really

The first opportunity He's had to show How good he is halfway through his first season. I'm sure he's fortunate. He's glad that they finally got there with the car. Whatever that stays or not is another question. So what are your thoughts on McLaren making the move?

We know at the time it was a bit controversial that they had to pay Ricardo in order for it to happen, weren't sure about the whole court deal with Alpine. Do you think at this point we can say it was a worthwhile decision or does more need to happen before you could say that? Do you think Othmars crying into his, Serial. Yes.

I mean, both Alpings, out, Alonso, good points. Piastri, nearly on the podium. Alonzo P3 in the championship. Alonzo Phaer in the championship. Piazcrii's first time of asking with a good car pretty much sticks it on the podium.

Almost levels the same result as best result of Alpine all season. Yeah. I think he's probably more upset about the car than the line. I don't think he's doing car wheels about the line up, but the car is just not. They're smug about something, though. Smug about being coming.

crap is what they're smug about. Perhaps it's just a prank and that's what they're smug about. That's what it is. We got you all. On to 2024. We built a rocket for next year. Suckers. Do I think it was worth it?

I mean, yeah, no, I do. I do. I think Oscar's had a really tough start to the season and that is through no real fault of his home. I think he is being relatively consistent when the race and the car allows him to be. But what is consistent when your car is a tractor, it breaks down a lot.

it has massive issues and everyone else is fast-selling you, consistently like P-12, P-13, every time he's had a chance to be near Norris or whatnot, he's relatively delivered. He's what-not. As a reserve driver. Michael What-Not. Oh, God's sake.

It's too hot. Yeah, hang on. So Norris, what-not. He has delivered. And then the first time of asking, you come to Silverstone, which is a really tough track when you're under pressure, you've got, you know, Ferrari's right up your chuff.

And other than a safety car, I think you're nailing third place in that race. And like we said on the race review, I think the strategy was actually tipped better to Piastri's favour, and there is every chance that he have got the undercar, Norris, and particularly jumps me in the pit stop phase. So he could have been second beating Landong Norris. And that shows me the longevity that they have with Piastri,

is better than sticking it out with Daniel Ricardo for another season who was, we already know, went into his 30s, he was not performing well with how the scenario was going for him. McCroney hadn't been for the last year or so either. It wasn't brilliant at Renault, very topsy-turvy, had some great moments, had some bad moments. So when you take a, you know, okay, a bit of a tough bet, but it is a bit of a generational talent

in someone whose junior career was so sensational, yeah, a risk. but I think for the longevity, the team leadership, the risk that Norris could walk off somewhere else, as we've already just discussed with how the Red Bull are interested, it makes sense for both their future and for the now. We've just seen that Piastri could deliver when asked to, but he could also deliver in five years' time.

The money, the investment that they've just given to him overall, it's all gone to Ricardo, but, you know, it's still like investment in him in a weird way. I think he's already showing that it's paying off. he's clearly a very cohesive, strong part of that team. And it was a risk that is paying off for them. Well done, McLaren. I think it was good.

You bring up Lando Norris in that. Do you think his leverage, it somewhat disappears or might continue to disappear as a result of what Piaastri can do? Because I think at least before Piaastri, McLaren very much needed Lando Norris. And I'm not saying they still don't. But if they've got another driver that's capable of either very similar or maybe just slightly, worse. Does that mean that losing Lando might not be as much of a pain as it was maybe a year ago? I see the point you're making, but I think if, I don't know, Lewis Hamilton doesn't extend his contract and Sergio Perez carries on in the vein that he's in and Ferrari do what they are doing,

if Oscar Pulaski carries on moving the way he's moving, you need to keep both those drivers and McLaren could in theory have the best driver line up on the grid. And if you want to fight at the front, if you want to win titles and races, you can't just have A Norris. or a piastry. As we saw with Ricardo when they were fighting Alpine, Ricardo was the outlier. He was what was weighing them down. He was causing them to struggle in that Constructors fight.

You need to have both sides of the garage firing on all cylinders to be competitive. Now, I don't think that means that Norris loses his edge in contract talks or in negotiations, whatever it might be, or sponsorship deals. I just think that actually McClaren themselves just level up. They get a whole lot stronger.

And you need both sides of the garage, right? F-on's a team sport as well as an individual players kind of game. You need both sides. This completes McLaren rather than allowing Landon Norris to walk away. I think if they lose Norris, they go back to exactly where they were two seasons ago where they're in a bit of a lost situation, only one driver looks good. Another thing that has been brought to my attention, which is not something that I think as a normal viewer who watches most of the season on the telly

would understand your experience. But the journalists, the pub members of the race team, a lot of the people that support the crews, the TV groups, because of the way that the Grand Prix are being set up for, you know, you'll have one race, two-e-break, one race, two-e-break, and in between them, we're flying half a continent away every time. It's great for freight movement, right?

It makes freight very simple. But in terms of you being a person that works in the sport, it makes it very difficult because you either have to be on the other side of the world for two, three months at a time, not come home, or you have to do your race, fly back, be at home for five days, fly back out again, do your race, fly back across the world, be at home for five days, fly back across the world. And that is, again, very, very draining. If they made them, like, triple header, three week break, triple hegger, three week break. I know that maybe as a viewer, that isn't perfect,

but for the mental health, the carbon footprint of everyone else involved, maybe that would have been a little bit more understandable and helpful. But again, I'm not an expert. I'm not an expert. I not doing that journey. It's just what I've read from a few of the leading journalists who are in the space who have voiced their concerns. They are almost there. It feels like they have hit like an 8.5 out of 10 for me, few tweaks, few date changes,

and this really could be what they want it to be. Also, include Africa, maybe. It's quite a big place. It is. Second most populated continent in the world. Maybe have a race there. I don't think about it. What are your thoughts on the triple head is?

because we do have two of them this year, Harry, next year. What do you think of those? Sure. I mean, they're just quite, not for us,

I guess, because we're just at home watching it, but for those involved, it's a lot of traveling about, I actually don't know off of my head what the triple hellas are. Do you, do you, it's, yeah,

Spain, Austria and Silverstone is the first one. And then USA, Mexico, Brazil is the other one. I did just look at the Cal and I think I've got those right, but I didn't actually double-check them. So if either of those are wrong or there are others that I haven't mentioned, I do apologize.

The USA one, sorry, the Americans one, I get because if you're not going to keep flying back in between those, so that makes sense. The European ones, you know, less so because they all go home in between normally because they're all based in Europe. So it's fine.

There's three. Is there another one? Maybe there's three. Yes, you've got the one that you mentioned. Explaining Austria, United Kingdom. That's a triple-hagger. S-A-S. Nice.

That's me. And then you've got USA, Mexico, Brazil, like you mentioned. And then Las Vegas, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi, or is a triple header. Oh, I thought there was an extra week between... 23rd, 29th, 8th. So I guess because... Oh, that makes sense, because Las Vegas will be... won't it?

Yeah, so technically I'll have an extra day of movement. Ah, why would they not put that on the end of the but anyway, make it quadruple? You're asking very simple questions.

Yeah. Sorry, I mean, that's a lot for F1 to deal with. Yeah. I think at this point, some people who are potentially newer to the podcast might be asking,

why don't you talk about whether 24 races is too many? I think we're all a line that it probably is, right? There's a T-shirt available. We'd be producing them

at this point. We'd be selling them, and you all have one saying, it's too many. It's in no context. No, just, it's too many. Too many. You can wear it to loads of things. Such as? The UK's prison society is overpopulated.

There's too many. Sure, that's the first example. When someone buys five burgers to have a day. dinner time. No, on that point. There's too many. When you go to five guys and they give you a portion of chips.

There's too many. You can order one chips and you'll still eat a thousand chips. I think it was it Lando Norris who said that 20 would be the right number? 20's a good number. It's nice round number, isn't it?

When you ask F1 teams if they want an 11th team on the track, there's too many. That's well done. You got there. That's the reference. first. Yeah.

Then the obvious port of call was prisons. Hey. You've got to hit the cultural issues. Society and it's integral. Got it had its core. I'm fighting injustice

and making the public laugh. Man. I can't not leave this segment by just saying shorter race weekends. That's the future. So more springs? No spring races.

Oh no. Just spring races. Do away with the main race. just do sprints. The most insane part of the weekend. Without a shadow of a doubt, please stop. When Ben sees that there's five sprint races in a season. There's too many.

That number could be editing above zero. I'm going to start making there's too many shirts. They have no Domenicali when he sees the number of lapsing the Grand Prix. There's too many. When you hear the song, too many men, too many many men coming in the club. There's too many. Everyone with me now. There's too many.

Sorry, we'll move on. Probably best. Lewis Hamilton. That's two minutes. But we're going to start with the feel-good story of the summer, which is Alpine. Not ideal in the words of Sam Sage. Following the departure of CEO, Lauren Rossi, about two and a half weeks ago, team principal, Othmar Saffnauer and sporting director, Alan Perman,

have left Alpine, Pat Frye, the chief. technical officer has also gone, so I'm not quite sure if anyone is actually remaining. In terms of Otmar Saffanauer and Alan Permanagh, their tenure at the team, a bit of variety there, because Othmah Saffanauer joined the team at the beginning of last

year, whereas Permanes actually been at the quote-unquote team since 1988 in all of its various guises. Following the Hungarian Grand Prix, Otmar said that he had confidence that the team, sorry, Othmast that he had confidence that the team would support him

in pursuit of the team's 100 race target. Alpine must have disagreed because they've let him go. Sorry, no, it was mutual agreement. Sure. It's all part of the plan. It is all part of the plan, Sam. You're absolutely right. Were you surprised by this, though?

No, of course, Scott. It's all part of the 100 race plan. It's exactly what was forecast. I'm sure Othmar is secretly rubbing his hands together like a super villain. No, obviously, what is going on at Alpine? Otmar has just had such a bizarre career since Ashton Martin bought out racing point that everybody know where he stands within the sphere of Formula One.

You know, they didn't give me time, which I get. He got a season and a half, so he wasn't there forever as a team principal. And you've seen the likes of what Toto Wolf has brought to Mercedes and what Christian Hall has brought to Red Bull. Stability can often breed a lot of success. But, you know, Pameen and Otmar going does feel like a good thing. wipe the safe clean. They weren't exactly on the up.

And they haven't really been on the up for the last four or five years. Even when rebranding from Renault to Alpine, it's got big strong before they turned up. And I would argue that when Otmar came in, they didn't get the rejuvenation that they realistically needed. The fact that he literally announced his 100-raised plan was 40% of the way through last week, though, is quite hysterical in timing.

And then I think he came out with one of the best quotes in all of all of his three. God. Which was, if you get nine women pregnant, you shouldn't expect to have a baby in a month. And I'm sorry. He's... What does it mean? Because he also says,

I always say, You always say, brings it out of barbecue. Why? At his child's school dance, I imagine. He hasn't got a child. He needs to be impatient for that.

He's got my wedding. Honestly, it is some of the worst public speaking in Formula One I've ever seen. I always say, getting I'm going to be pregnant, don't expect a baby in a month, sorry, did I come up with that absolute nonsense? Is that trial and error?

Yeah, what? Two for a penny, three for a pound, you may as well said there up, Marr? Because it makes as little sense when you break it down. It is, oh my good Lord. When you come up with statements like that, I'm not surprised you've got five or than 18 months,

because if that's the logic you're applying to any form of engineering or progress as a team, you may as well put me in the job, because we're just as qualifying as each other. There are three spots open. There are three of us here. I reckon we go for it. I reckon they might actually succeed.

There'll be a lot more shouting and they might get some more press. So maybe a positive for them. Interesting. Harry, do you fancy an Othmar switcheroo? So we'll have Othmar on the podcast. You go off, manage Alpine. It's true.

I wouldn't be there every week because I'm not here every week. That's so true. I don't think that would make much of a difference. Probably be more successful, arguably. Um, yeah, Alpine, what are you doing? There it is. That's classic.

I feel like that. That was a deserved one. Yeah. Firstly, I have suspected for a long time now that Othmar is an idiot. But that being said. It's the least on the fence you've ever been. That being said, I think this is a slightly harsh, um, slightly harsh decision. I think he's an idiot.

This is harsh. Sorry. I do think he's an idiot. I'm saying that about he's still on the face. So conflicting. No, but I do. But I, he can't have got all the way to the position of team principal and now two teams with Alping, having some skills. So it must be, you must have something.

It's just not visible to me what they are. So I do think this is slightly harsh. I think the wider problem is just the management of Renault-slash-out. just that company as a whole. They are like just waving their arms up in the air, like got no idea. Like they just don't care. They've got no idea what they're doing.

All the people that have sort of been in senior positions in Alpine slash Renaud, Alan Brost, what's Budowski? Is that how you say that? Yep. Mike Budowski. His first name's massive. Yeah, Mike Badowski.

They've all been coming out and slating the running of Alpine slash Renault. And I think if you look at the evidence, I think they're correct. Because it's just utter chaos. And they're now making a thing of, we've got to have some dramatic like contract news before the summer break. That's clearly their thing. They do now. Last year is Piastri, Alonzo.

And this year is Otmar, Perman, out the door. they thought they're signing anyone. I don't know. They might have to start signing people at some point because they're running out. Did you hear what a long-so's saying about O-Mart though? Stop talking. It's just you should shut up.

It's not very successful. Based on his quotes, he's not wrong. Yeah, so the Othamar, I think both firings are harsh. I mean, Anna Permanagh has been there for a very long time and I get what they're trying to do in terms of, you know, clean slate. but they've had a clean,

they've had like 15 different clean slates over the past two years now it feels like. It's got a whole roof. How many slates do you need? Yeah, you're right. They do have an entire roof of slates. So, yeah, this is a team in complete house.

And I hope for their sake and for the effort's sake, they can turn it around. But we mentioned this before, Alpine slash runner, I've been trying to turn it around for years and they just keep finishing fifth. And I think that's all they're ever going to do.

And this year they're in danger of not finishing fifth. they keep at it. But, yeah, if you're Pierre Gassley and Esteban Okon, who's signed up for the next 37 years, you'd be a bit worried, wouldn't you? Or no. Or no. Oh, yeah.

To summarize, they are in turmoil, aren't they? I was surprised, and I mentioned this on the spring review I did, so I won't go too much into this. I was surprised by the timing of it, because they literally could have waited three, four days, right? And then suddenly the new. news is buried for like four weeks. There's no one there to answer why this has happened at press conferences and the likes.

So the fact that they announced it on a race weekend, I think I summarized that I think Alpine are just trying to throw Othmar and Alan under the bus by saying, okay, you deal with it for a few days because this is firmly on you. But to your point, Harry, the common denominator of Alpine and Renault's lack of success is Alpine and Renault. But that's the only thing that links every single time they've failed is that the team is still the team. So I get your point on individual-wise,

why it might not be fully to blame. Certainly from Alan, mate, yeah, he's been there since 1980. He's been at Team Endstone since Ayrton Senna didn't have a world title. Longer than we've been alive. That'd be a long time. Sam was only 30. I remember it well.

Hello and a very warm welcome to the late breaking Formula One podcast presented by Harry Ead, Sam Sage, Ben Hocking and a live audience in Austin, Texas. I was so worried there wasn't going to be a reaction. Oh, thank God. So worried. Silence. Well, where do we go from here?

I don't know. After you get stuck in a cupboard for an hour, this is a lot to deal with. I'm not going to lie. We were taking turns on a stool, okay? one stool in there, we were sharing it, so you know. Yeah, it was, it was do you know, it's not all glam. No, no, this life is very much not glam.

It's no glam. It's no glam at all. Yeah, yeah. No glam at all. The sprint race and the races are just fair, like, mini-meas of the actual race. And let's try and make that different, because it is boring. What if you were allowed

to change your setup, but you weren't allowed to any practice before I'm okay with that, I'm okay with that. Because that way you can really muck it up. That's genuinely a bit all right on. That's fine. I'm not mad at that.

But I've actually thought of a better idea. Oh God. Get rid of spring races. Every time. What do we reckon? Every bloody time. No? I mean, we will be here in 20 years.

I've still said when every single race is a spring race and up. We won't have main races anymore. Just spring races. Two sprint races. I am actually curious on this. Give us a cheer if you're a fan of a sprint race. Yeah. Yeah? Okay.

All right. There's a few. All right. What if you're not? I feel it's kind of 50-50. I feel a bit. Anyone indifferent? I've never heard of me half for an indifferent before.

I love the way you live. I'm indifferent? Yeah. Oh, dear. Let's go to Emily next. We're doing well. Three so far they're all here. This is good.

Yes. This is going well. If at any point we don't seem to have the person here, Kirsty, just pretend you're the... Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No one knows what you look like. No one or no. Okay. Hi, guys.

Hi. I feel like at my karaoke night. Yes, what are you going to sing? Rudy Spheres. Hit me, baby. Yeah, great son. Forget about under pressure. I submitted this so late last night.

I think I was getting picked. I said Lawrence Stroll. Yes. Because, you know, we focus a lot on Lance and his inability to be a driver. But I feel like as a fellow parent, I can relate to Lawrence. I, too, have a son who throws tantrums. The difference is that mine is four years old. But when mine throws a tantrum, we like to use the sad thinking chair at home.

Where we think about our feelings. So I feel like maybe Lance needs one of those, and it's not a chair that's actually a seat in F1. And I feel like eventually, I know, you picked me, it's your father. Eventually, I think Lawrence is going to need to wake up and realize that he didn't spawn the next F1 champion. And no matter how much money he spends on it, it's not going to fix that problem.

And he's just embarrassing himself and his family. and Alonzo is helping rub that in like, you know, salt in a wound. So that's my submission. Boom, rose kids. Sorry to any Aston Martin fans, I did just find out this morning that Harry, you work for Aston Martin.

So apologies, but not because Lewis Hamilton is my... That was sensation. Okay, so on the fence. On the fence. Yeah, yes. son. Yes, mate. Get us on her.

Oh, it's the exit, it's the outro! Thank you so much for listening and being here, everybody. It's been an incredible experience. The Discord is in the description. If you like to show on Patreon, if anyone is on Patreon, please, someone. And you get loads of extra benefits.

And free podcasts. You also get discount on merch. And you get to hear extra episodes. We recorded one at the Williams fans' own last, like, this morning. Last morning. We get confused. Okay, very confused with beer and breaking.

We were quite drunk last night doing beer with breaking. It might be the worst thing we've ever done. Which I say every month. You also get a birthday shoutout on your birthday month. Which we always remember ahead of time. Yeah, we actually need to do that again next week. Make a note, please. Also, follow our social media accounts like Breaking F1

and you can subscribe to the tubby on the same name if you'd like to see us in visual format. In the meantime, I've been Samuel Sage. I've been Ben Hocking. and I've been definitely fired when my boss hits at Lauren Stroll. And remember, keep breaking late.

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