The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Bottas wins as Hamilton is penalised | Russian GP Review | Episode 77

Episode Date: September 27, 2020

After a dominant win from Valtteri Bottas and a penalty for Lewis Hamilton at the Russian GP, the boys break down all the talking points from Sochi.Make sure to SUBSCRIBE! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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But don't wait. Like leftovers at midnight, our Black Friday offers won't last. Shop now at IKEA.ca.ca.com slash Black Friday. IKEA. Bring home to life. It was just another holiday party until Michelle arrived with a chocolate mask. cheesecake. Two rich cocoa's caramelized top, which Michelle claimed to have just whipped together. But the evidence told another story. An empty PC box, a receipt in her purse. All right, Susan, I bought the PC chocolate basque cheesecake. It was just $11. Can you stop

true cramming me? Can I have another slice? Try the season's biggest hits from the PC Holiday Insiders Report. Thank you for listening to the late breaking F1 podcast. Make sure to look out for new episodes every Thursday and Grand Prix Sundays. Hello and a very warm welcome to the Lake Breaking F1 podcast. My name's Ben Hocking and ladies and gentlemen, I am sorry. I am so sorry because on the Russia preview podcast, I told you the fans this race would be a cracker because everything in 2020 is upside down.

But it turns out even the lunacy of this year could not help Sochi provide a great race. Balfrey Botas might not agree with that assessment that it wasn't a great race as he took victory number two of the season and closes up to 44 points behind Lewis Hamilton. I'm of course joined by Samuel Sage and Harry Yead. What did you make of that one, guys?

All right, has it started yet? Have I missed it? Just tomorrow? Oh, good, because I had a weird dream like it was really bloody boring, so I'm hoping that actually it's going to be a lot better in real life. I would say it would,

was a serviceable Russian GP, and that's as high a compliment as I'll give it. Purely mediocre, I think, is perhaps the overall assessment of the race. There's plenty to talk about, though. We're going to be looking at some of the Steward's decisions. They were very, very busy out there. So we'll be discussing whether they were too harsh or harsh enough on turn two and turn three and a few other decisions as well. Ocon, who was leading Ricardo for some of the race, ended up 16 seconds behind at the flag.

we'll be discussing whether he's been doing enough so far this season. And Alex Albin and Lando Norris had very interesting races. Alex Albin just about getting into the points. Lando Norris' strategy not working out. We'll be discussing that as well. But first of all, we're going to be looking at Valtrey Bottas, who took his first race win since the first race of the season in Austria, a circuit at which he's won before.

Didn't start the weekend in the best possible way. He didn't claim pole position, but ultimately two five-second penalties for Lewis Hamilton, helped him on his way. He was fairly comfortable from there. So 44 points in it. Sam, do you think that this is a possible re-ignition of the title fight? I hope so. I'd like to see Bottas going a little bit of a run. The morale comes back. I mean, he was not, I wouldn't say, given this victory, I mean, Hamilton had an unfortunate qualifying session. The red flag came out when he was on his lap and meant he had to go out and set the time on soft. So he was at a tire

disadvantage from the start. And that looked positive for Bottas. It was also in probably the best starting plays realistically on the grid. P3, you get a great toe down into what is, for some reason, called turn two. So Hamilton looked vulnerable, almost the whole race. Now, Bottas got the wing. It was great to see him take that wing home. It's the first, since the first race of the season, of course. But it wasn't like he fought tooth and nail for it. It wasn't like he beat Hamilton in his own game. It wasn't like he took that victory from the six-time world champ. He was not gifted it, but it definitely came easy, right? Like, he had to just not make a mistake himself and the wing will have been his.

But I hope that maybe that's a good first step. That's the recognition that Bottas needs. And we move on to what are going to be a tricky few races. You know, we've got things like the Nürberg ring, what's going to be bloody cold coming up. And it'll be interesting to see how Bottas especially handles this pressure of, you are the one hope

voucher. You could possibly reignite a fight to the end of this season and not let Hamilton Capewalk another year. Bottas has got in him. He's a very good driver. regularly within qualifying, ironically not this race, but regularly within qualifying, he's been less than a tenth away from Hamilton.

In the race, you know, he hasn't seemed to have that next final step to jump Hamilton or to beat Hamilton, but he's always right there. And I think if you put anyone else in that car next to Bottas, it wasn't Lewis Hamilton, other than Max Verstappen, I think Bottas is a very good chance

of winning the world title. So I'm hoping that maybe a bit of luck goes his way. We get a bit of a balance in the field. Maybe Verstappen also gets a good run. Hamilton maybe has a couple of bad races, maybe a DNF. That would be interesting to see how that would occur. And we can maybe, for the next four or five races, see a proper battle. Hamilton get the elbows out, least you go toe to toe with each other, and maybe see something exciting.

Otherwise, if Hamilton, I think wins the next few races, we're done and Daski, that's game over, move on to the next season. So I'm hoping that Bottas really brings it from now on. Harry, any chance that this championship's back in the question? I go with Sam on the old hope-so bus. Yeah, if maybe this is the bit of fortune that Valtrey needed. There are a couple of races this year. Maybe he has been slightly hard done by and lost points or not quite the win. But maybe this is the spark he needed.

I'm not sure. I wouldn't bet against Hamilton winning the next couple of races again anyway. But yeah, he had to take the chance. He had to take that win today. Once Hamilton was out of it with the penalty, then he had to take that opportunity and win the race. And he did, you know, pretty convincingly. I mean, the Stappan gave it as all,

but that Red Bull isn't capable of challenging Mercedes, made up for a slightly dodgy qualifying. And maybe that's the secret. Maybe he needs to stop qualifying within a 10th of Hamilton and get absolutely battered by him. And then he wins the race. So think about it, Valtry. Do worse in qualifying.

may win the championship. I mean, there is something of a point in there, like on a serious point as well, in that Valtry Bottas, in most circumstances, can afford to be like three, four temps behind Lewis Hamilton and qualifying, know that he'll still get P2 and have a better car for the race. So there is maybe something in that. In all seriousness, I don't think the championship is in question. I think Lewis Hamilton has won this. I fought that after the first race of the season.

and this hasn't changed my view on it. You know, he's managed to change a 55 point deficit into a 44 point deficit. So, you know, he's taken 11 points out of the lead today. So essentially he's got to do that four more times before he's even level with Lewis Hamilton, let alone in front of him. And given the bulletproof reliability of Mercedes, I just can't see that happening. And that's not to take away from Bottas' good performance out there today. I just think in terms of the overall championship, it is over.

It's always been over and it will continue to be over. This race doesn't change anything. I think the race itself, he did a really good job. Yes, it was made easier for him, obviously, but he still had a job to do. He still needed to make sure that he didn't make an error. Vastappen, particularly in that first stint, was still within about a second, two seconds of him. So he needed to keep his calm. Even in the knowledge that Lewis Hamilton had those penalties,

it would have been very easy to get carried away. You know, it's very easy on a losing, not I don't want to say a losing streak, but on a winless streak that he was on, you know, eight races or so without a race win, it would have been very easy for him to panic in that scenario, the prospect of a race win with those two penalties beckoning. And he didn't.

He kept this call and he did what he had to do. So fair play to him on that. But in terms of the overall championship, I don't think this makes any difference, I'm afraid. A bit of a tough question, but also a very simple question, Sam. Would Bottas have won without Hamilton's issues? So, again, this is what I alluded to in the first point I made. I feel like Bottas really did have the wing gifted to him.

Hamilton comfortably made those tyres work, the softs onto the hails strategy. He had no tire issues. He clearly said over the radio while he was racing, why did you box me early? I understand why they boxed him early with the penalties. It makes sense from the team. I get that strategy. but if it was penalties removed and Hamilton was simply out there racing from the front. Hamilton definitely could have gone another five, six laps later we saw the likes of Perez

and Ferraris definitely push the tire life of the soft and the medium tyres, so it shows there were more life into it. Russia is famous for having low tireware. I feel like Hamilton was pulling out a gap, three, four seconds. It could have been easily achieved all that the safety car as well. Definitely didn't help him. Comes onto the hard, gets the undercut of Bottas as well because you've got to stop slightly earlier, Bangton a couple of fastest laps, hasn't got to worry about doing the delayed pit stop.

I think it becomes a hell of a lot harder of Avry Bottas to win that race. And I think that will have possibly changed how Bottas viewed the race. He knows that he had to drive carefully to the end, unchallenged from the Scapen due to the Red Bull not being on the pace. It was an easy wing for Bottas. Does he do that if Hamilton is right there with him? I don't know. We've seen it time and time again that when Hamilton's on the back foot, he's often able to turn it around. Unlike Bottas, when he's challenged throughout the race, doesn't have that same capability to

drag out that extra big of performance, that extra lap time. That extra bit of fight. I feel like it would be close. Bottas did have very good pace. He was setting faster lap after fastest lap. He got the fastest up for the race in the end. But do I think it would have been enough to win the race? We can never tell for sure.

But I would never have given it to a certain Bottas at that point. I really do think that it would have been a close scrap. What do you reckon, Harry? Who would have taken the win without those penalties? I wouldn't say it was a certainty for Bottas. But I think he still had a fairly good chance. he was on that alternate strategy and even when Hamilton came in,

his pace on the media was after Hamilton's stop was still pretty good and I think that still would have helped him because Hamilton would have had to take those harder tires longer so it would have been nursing them for a bit longer too.

So I think it would have had a fairly good chance of winning it and if he'd got out in front of Hamilton after his pit stop, if it was without Hamilton's penalty. So I think Bottas probably would have gone to win not regardless, but he was, he would have had a solid chance of going on to win because we've seen before once Bottas is in front,

he's actually pretty good at controlling a race. Just getting to the front sometimes is an issue because there's a certain six-dance-old champion in the way. So yeah, I don't think he's a certainty he would have won, but I think he would have had a pretty good shot at it. I actually think this is the most Sochi thing ever. in that in 99% of circumstances,

a penalty for Lewis Hamilton would have created more chaos and created a better race, like we saw in Monza. I think in 99% of situations, that's what happened. But of course it's Sochi, and it's the one time where I think Hamilton getting a penalty is actually ruin the race, because Hamilton went back out,

well clear of the Renault. There was never any question that he would recover to P3. And once those penalties were applied, at that point, essentially, Bottas Vastappan and Hamilton in that order was completely set and it was never going to change. I really think that if Hamilton did not have those penalties, it would have been really, really close. I think what likely would have happened is, you know, Hamilton was planning to pit on the lap that he pitted anyway,

maybe he had chose to extend it. He did a good job of extending those soft tyres, but Bottas still would have gone longer on that first in. And I really think that Bottas on slightly fresh or hard tyres towards, the end of the race would have been behind Lewis Hamilton, but really threatening him. And we were robbed of it because Sochi is Sochi. It can't let us have good things. Anyway, yes, I think it would have been really close. If I had to put money on it, I still would have gone with Hamilton for the race win because I think he would have had track position

and track position is king particularly when it comes to those Mercedes. It's very rare that we actually see those Mercedes switch positions on circuit and whoever gets pole position and whoever comes out ahead at the pit stops generally goes on to win the race. So I think Hamilton probably would have still taken it, but I think Bottas would have given him a good run for his money. So I think it's unfair to just say that, you know, Bottas won this race conclusively because Hamilton had those penalties. I think there was still a reasonable chance he would have done,

even if that didn't exist. And, I mean, Bottas, we heard a couple of years ago when he won at Russia, a bit of a post-race message. and we got one again today, essentially going after his critics, telling them to mind their own business, I think is probably the diplomatic way of saying it. Sam, what did you make of it?

I bloody love it. More of that. Botas telling people to sit your fingers up at Botas. Give us the performance we well on track. Silence those people being rude. Especially on your social media, which I'm never someone to condone. You should not be going on to anyone's social media

and slagging them off like that. We want posse vibes here, please. If you don't like what someone's doing, have a chat about it with your mates all game, but we don't need to be rude to someone to make them feel rubbish. If you've got a fair critique, fine, but that's just got to be horrible to someone.

And the guy turned around, and yeah, okay, it might have come in fortunate circumstances. He was still the man there to take the victory. He was still the one that walked away with 26 points, and he did dominate that race after Hamilton stopped. So tell him to shut up, Bottas. Bring some more results. You need to now,

follow that up again with another result and another result and another result. Pressure Hamilton. Get into his mind. Show them why you should be in that seat for the long time and we shouldn't replace you with Lando or Russell. I say we like us here at Lake Breaking have to say on who gets the next Mercedes drive. But my point is, thank you. It's been confirmed. Sorry, Toto. My point is more fight from Bottas.

I want fire in the porridge eyes, you know. I want fury coming out of the man from Finland. So yes, more of it. We love to see it. I want to see it again. Turn up next in the next fortnight. I thought you've got to race this weekend. Turn up in the next fortnight.

Deliver it again. Please, I want more of it. Take it to Hamilton. Give them a challenge. I mean, if we had a say in who race for Mercedes, we'd probably put Ricardo, Rosset, and Harry Hill in that car. But, you know, I guess. A lineup.

To be fair, that is a goat lineup. Harry, what did you make of his post-race statement? Yeah, I guess it, I didn't really know about the comments on social media. I mean, I'm sure they get it every time I post. But I guess it was kind of in response to that. And yeah, I'm kind of with Sam. I like the fire in his belly. It proves he still has it.

And, you know, after a couple of the races where he's just been beaten by Hamilton, or even if he's been absolutely walked by Hamilton, and he seemed a bit down and down and out of it. Whereas, yeah, I want more of that. I want more of botas swearing at people down the radio. Whether it was, for the race it was, whether it was wholly justified, I don't know. But, you know, it's a bit of showmanship. I like it.

I want him to be a bit more feisty. So hopefully, yeah, like Sam says, that carries on into the next couple of races. I agree that there is no need for people to be horrible on social media without reason. It's ridiculous. And anyone who does it, just for the sake of doing it and trying to ruin someone's life, it's sad and pathetic and it should be absolutely, it shouldn't happen. It shouldn't happen at all. However, I think that's where my agreement with you stops.

I thought the message post-race was ridiculous. I can't understand it. What has he proven? He's proven he can win a race. We already knew that. The criticism about Valtry Bossass has never been about his ability to win races. He's done it multiple times across multiple seasons. We know he's good enough to do it.

So what has today proven? The criticism that I have always had of Valtry Bottas is that he can't bring it consistently against Lewis Hamilton. So unless he follows that up with another two race wins or two wins in the next three races or something along those lines, then he's proven absolutely nothing to me. There's a reason that Lewis Hamilton doesn't go over the radio and say these kind of messages after races are done, because winning races is just what he does, and he does it so often. You know, Valtrey Bottas, in what is the absolute best car this season, has just won his second race, which I would say is fewer than he should have won, and yes, he has had bad luck at times this

year. But this wasn't, this wasn't a statement to his critics. If it, if it was a statement to people who say that he can't win a race, fair enough, but the people who are saying he can't win a race of morons, because we've already seen it happen so many times. You know, my problem, yeah, my problem with Valtrey Bottas's performances are through his consistency. So unless he follows this up, that, that message for me is, is pointless. So, yeah, that's what I think about it. I thought it was a bit, to be blunt, I thought it was a bit embarrassing. Well, I hope it ignites a thigh in his belly. It gets this anger almost and turns it into these performances.

I hope that this is what makes him that more consistent challenger. And we don't just see it. Because it would be embarrassing if we turn up in two weeks' time to the next race and he's half a second away in qualifying and he's 10 seconds behind Hamilton in the race, then just looks silly, isn't it? But that's my point. If he wins, say, the next two races and he does it, and he says that message after the third race win in a row,

and he says, you know, to all of my fans, to all of my critics, there you go. Yeah, shut it, fans. I'd have no problem whatsoever, no problem whatsoever. Because at that point, he's proven something that we didn't know about him. I hope it just means that Ben calls people morons more often on the podcast. Yeah, I thoroughly enjoy that. Yeah, yeah. Maybe we can introduce that as a regular segment on the show.

Ben's Moron of the week? Yeah, yeah. I'll get the blueprint in place. Moving on to Driver of the Day. A few strong contenders here, but Sam, who are you going for? Driver of the day. Well, Daniel Ricardo had a wonderfully cheery attitude. I thoroughly enjoyed the way that he kind of, even after that penalty.

And this is a kind of thing that had frustrated me. There was a lot of hate on social media for how Hamilton handled his reception of a 10-second time penalty, which is something that I've never seen before, a double whammy like that before for one incident. We never even saw the secondary incident. that I'm aware of. And, you know, Ricardo got his five second penalty. He said, yeah, that was not me. My bad.

I'll drive faster. Hilarious, though. I love that. But let's not slag off one driver just because it's a completely different scenario for how another driver acts in a completely different scenario. Ricardo drove well. He was quick. He beat his teammate comfortably after Ocon looked good at the early stages of the race.

He was able to keep up with the top guys to a degree. He was comfortably fastening everyone behind doing a world of his own almost. The only other person for me that really stood out was Sergio Perez, who had an incredibly quiet race. He's in a car that is not as well upgrading as Lance Stroles was. And he delivered. He delivered. He was about 15 seconds behind Lewis Hamilton after everything.

Yes, OK, Hamilton served a 10 second penalty. But he was there. If anything happened, 20 of those top three, that man's on the podium. That's exactly what you need to do when you've got two dominant teams. So for me, I'm going to just give it to Perez, but Ricardo is right up there. Who you going for, Harry? I have exactly the same. answer. Sergeo Perez for me, I think

he had a very quiet race. We didn't really see much of him, but he, all weekend, I think he's been pretty much faster than Stroll. I know Stroll had issues in quality, but he was already in the drop zone in Q2 before they hit. And Perez doesn't have

the upgrades on his car. Doesn't, at the moment, have a drive for next year, and I think he just, it was just a classy drive from him. He did a nice overcut on the two Renaos and then just, you know, was in a world of his own. Couldn't touch the top three, obviously. But, yeah, I think for a man who needs a drive for next year,

he proved why he still deserved to be in that team and on the grid. So Perez for me. Yeah, I'm going to say Perez as well. I thought he was really impressive. A triple Perez. I know, right? Oh, baby, a triple Perez. Great overtake on Daniel Riccardo.

I thought that was a brilliant move from him. And yeah, generally, he just raced very well. He was, I think, 30 seconds behind Bottas at the flag, which, you know, over 53 laps, that's about half a second, about six tenths of a second per lap slower, which, given the circumstances, is very impressive. He did a really good job on that first stint. You know, he should have ended up behind at least one of the Renaos after, in fairness, he made a bad start himself. but, you know, that first stint, he should have been, after the pit stops, he should have been behind, at least one of them.

And he managed to overcut, which is almost an impossibility in today's F1. But he managed to do it because of, you know, how brilliant he is on those tyres. Yeah, he did a really wonderful job. I will give a mention to two other guys, Max Verstappen. Given the pace of that Red Bull that we saw on Friday, he did a really good job to be as close to Bottas and Hamilton when he was there as he was. and Charlerclair as well, who first lap aside, and we'll get onto that shortly. He did a really good race. It was a long, long way clear of Seb Vettel.

But I'll give it to Paris. Worst driver of the day, Sam. Can I say Alexander Albon? I'm not going to get absolutely ruined by him. You can say who's the new one. Alexander Albon. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

It's not good enough, is it? You get overtaken by both the junior cars. I don't care if you stop twice. Your car is clearly capable of. lapping way fastering everyone else on the grid. Max Verstappen finishes the race, what, seven seconds behind the Mercedes of Botas and maintains the gap

to Lewis Hamilton at 10 seconds for the whole second half of the race. So the fact that Albon struggles to get past to Williams and McLaren for a long time is painful to watch. He's clearly gnaff on his tyres. The guy seems to have to stop on lap

one or two all the time. I don't understand why they keep doing that. Yes, he got a grid penalty, but he barely he found his way back up to his start in qualifying position. Ghazly, who stopped twice, beat him again. For me, these performances are so poor, so, so poor from a man that should be backing up his teammate. Only if Hamilton has this penalty, and Albon's five seconds behind the Stappen,

Hamilton's got a nightmare at his hands. He's got to drive faster with the secure himself on the podium or face losing more points to both the Red Bull team and his teammate brought us in the championship fight. But it doesn't. How was he could cruise around? He was moaning about how he's going to have to, you know, tire save for the whole race, and he did it without any trouble.

He was saying his post-race interview. I didn't fight for my position. I just got out of the pits, and I just drove. Everyone pitted, and I ending up back in P3. You know, it could have been easier for him. But Alba not turning up again,

even with, you know, the fact that they had to double pit him and, you know, he had to start with a penalty. If the staffing starts in P-15 with a penalty, to be honest, I expect for Stappan to be in P-5 by probably a half-way of the race. And then probably finishing on the podium again with the car that he's got and the ability that the Staffan has. He's a brilliant, brilliant talent.

Someone is to step up to me at least 80% of what the Staffan is. Just like Bottas is doing with Hamilton. Bottas is a perfect number two for that team at the moment. He wings races when Hamilton doesn't. What is Albon doing? For me, Albon, again, shocking. Wow. I'd love to tally up how many times he has received worst driver of the day from you, Sam.

I don't think it would be good reading for him. What do you reckon, Harry? who you're going to give it to? I think probably have to give it to Alvin as well. And worst drive of the day on Saturday, I mean, his race today was pretty much sealed by his quality performance. He was so far back from Vestappen, and the last of the top 10 runners,

when his teammate put it on the second row. And then, yes, I know he had the five-place penalty. But say he had qualified where that rebel should be, which is fourth, if you've taken it as the second-best car, then that penalty we were only putting back to ninth and he changed early because he was still on the soft ties because he qualified in the top ten

but all of that started because he qualified so far down in the first place in the top ten shootouts out so yeah we saw how much Norris struggle at the end so the second pit stop obviously secured him that point but yeah he's Saturday after what's such a positive result in Mujello

it's just a shame that his Saturday performances went downhill again yesterday. Another notable shoutout is Grosjean, just because he didn't like turn two. Just didn't bother with it for most of the race. And after the goat half a start, they had, yeah, he just fell back. But, you know, I'll have to go for Albonne as well, I think. I'm going to save you, Alex Albin.

It's not going to be a triple whammy on this occasion. I am going to give it to Carlos Sines. I mean, I get why it happened. You know, adrenaline is pumping. It's first lap. I understand why he's done what he's done. But he was nowhere near not crashing going through those, going through the escape road. I mean, if he had been a little bit slower and he had just like grazed the wall, I might have let him get away with this.

But he was nowhere near making that. He properly went in. that barrier could have extended for another 10 metres and I still think it had gone into the wall. Again, I understand why it happens. Adrenaline, of course, but that was a rookie error from someone who rarely makes them. So Carlos Sines for ruining his own race

after all of about 20 seconds. And what about moments of the race? What have you got for this one, Harry? I've already mentioned him. It's Roman Groson for just disregarding the bollards at turn two. He does not care for them anymore. And it was excellent. And I love that there's lots of spare bollards. I said this to you during the race. I wonder how many spare ballers they have because lots of drivers have hit them this weekend. And there was a bollard maker in Sochi

somewhere who's had a very profitable Sunday afternoon. Yeah, I just enjoyed that. At least he gave it an attempt. It wasn't a very good one, but he tried. Yeah. I give him credit for at least trying to adhere to the rules, but I can understand why Roman Bollard has got that one for you. What say you, Sam? Daniel Riccardo's cheeky attitude after getting the penalty. Going

forward, unless you're really fighting for a world title and this is just a race, you're going to contention for the race wing. It's a fantastic attitude to have. He came on the radio and I immediately went, that's on me, sorry team. Off I go. I'll go faster. And the little chik-chat between his mates just showed the

signature that he has with his team, which is a shame that he's going to lose that, because he clearly gets along well with the Renault team. And just the mentality that he has at the moment. He's clearly a very positive place. It's very uplifting and a great race today. Rengo seems to be on the up. Very exciting from alongside steps in to what's going to be Alpine,

of course, alongside Ocon, who we're going to be talking about in a minute. I generally, I'm quite impressed with how Rikaga's been at the moment. For me, that was almost like the little cherry on the top of, this man's got together. He knows what he's doing. It was fun, it was interesting, and the guys are going to roll. So I hope that carries forward.

And I'll go for the battle that we had between Albin, Norris and Gassley. That was fun. We don't get too many battles at Sochi, but seeing those three attempting to get the position, and Gisley did really well, actually, there. You're seeing Gassley, just a fear on the left-hand side of the mirror when we were on board with Alex was a bit of a thrill. I know it's not competing with a great deal when it comes to this circuit, but yeah, that was a good battle. So I'll go with that for the moment of the race.

Shout out to Gassi at the moment, who is just being, I don't know, like he's just turned a corner, isn't he? I mean, literally on racetrack and in terms of his abilities behind that wheel is unlocked something. The man is just on a role of great drives. Yeah, no doubt, no doubt. Something of a resurgence in 2020. We'll move on to some of the stewing decisions,

because we saw them quite busy today, the four of them, turn two and turn three, particularly, with drivers just not opting to, not opting to take the corner, Roman Bollard looking at you. And we saw on the first lap as well, we saw Leclair versus Straar. I think we'll go with that one first.

Sam, what did you make of that incident, that Leclair got away with racing incident from the stewards? It was just scruffy. It was just a scruffy, scruffy incident. I feel like LeCler gets away with things a little bit. We saw it last year in Monza when he cut the track. He muscled Hamilton off. He cut the track again.

I only got one black and white flag. No penalty was given. It's come back around here. I feel like if that was say Bottas on the staffing or something like that, a penalty would have been given. To me, that is just a really scruffy, silly move. You've got a lot of track. You're not being challenged by that given point. And you've literally ruined someone's race.

That's not a racing incident because Lance Stroll has no. it's not like their will to will and, you know, a puncture happened. Like we saw in the F2 race, right, with Aiken. There's nothing happening there. That is entirely on Charler-Cleur. He faced no punishment. And the fact that Daniel Ricardo, who was only passing his teammate to be let through on a team order, suffered more heavily than what Charler did.

To me, it just seems like they've got their priorities wrong. Again, it feels like the consistency on penalties. It feels so out of whack. You gave more to Lewis Hamilton for a pre-race start lineup. that you did for Charlotte Clare for ruining someone's race. I don't understand where your priorities are in terms of severity on penalties. Why was he not penalised? So I love that we're trying to have more racing incidents.

I think racing should be encouraged, not actually crash into each other, but that decision should be a more encouraged decision. But when you're all on your own essentially, no ones beside you, you've just punted someone out of the race. That's your fault. So, yeah, I feel like it should have been way harsher. What penalty would you have gone for out of interest? Stop going.

Oh, interesting. Yeah. Race bad, mate. Harry, what do you reckon? Do you think it was a racing incident or should Leclair have been penalised that? I know it's lap one and they do try to let things slide a bit more on the first lap. But that was almost a carbon copy of the Albonne-Hamilton incident from Austria. Lecler didn't mean anything by it.

He clipped the curb. He understood it a bit wide and spins. stroll off in pretty much the same manner, his left front hits, strolls rear right, and strolls in the wall. And, yeah,

I would have said it's a five-second penalty. I don't know, yeah, it's got to be, if an incident that looks almost exactly the same as that Hamilton album one, it's got to be the same penalty. So why is it not?

And yeah, like I said, I get the lap one, trying to let them race rule. But yeah, stroll was in the boonies after less than 30 seconds and out of the race. So, yeah, I don't get that one.

I would have done the same penalty as they did for Hamilton Albon, five second penalty for Chuck. Yeah, I think the only instance where Leclair could have defended himself was if he was ahead. As it happened, I don't think he was even alongside, really. It was Stroll who had the corner. And, yeah, I don't think he could have, I don't think Stroll had any more room to work with.

And regardless, like, he's entitled to it. So, yeah, I think this was a, this was a bit lenient from the stewards. I would have gone for a five second penalty here. Yeah, you raise a good point, Harry, about it being the first lap and how they usually are more lenient on the first lap and try to let them get on with it. If this happened on any other lap other than lap one, I'm convinced they would have penalized this. And I don't, I don't think that should be a reason. You know, if it's the first corner, then I can understand it. But by this point in time, yeah, I don't see any reason not to penalise this.

It was a bad move from, from McClare. It should have been five seconds for me. I mean, just on this, Daniel Ricardo, who hadn't cut that corner on the slightest before the race, he bumps over the curb. He doesn't gain any time from it at all. I don't know where the black and white flag's gone, by the way. Someone get the John Travolta giff out because no one can see it anywhere. That to me, why don't you get a warning for doing that once, right?

Grosjean, who desperately tried to go round the bollars, even well after it, just drove straight through him, because he thought, at least I've tried, at least I've given it a go. You would have to get this in the instance if you've got a warning first, and the fact that Ricardo gets a five-second penalty for making one mistake on one corner,

and Charler-drives off Scott Three after ruining someone's race. It just feels like, as well, a five-second penalty for LeCleur for taking someone out, and Ricardo bumping over a sausage curb, should not be the same level of penalty. You shouldn't be having a five-second penalty people who both of those things. The fact that he got off with nothing is just hilarious. I'm glad you've brought up the black and white flag because obviously the last time we saw that

was Silverstone. So apparently, you know, Roman Grojean nearly driving into people on straits. Eh, that's a warning. Don't do it again, Roman, you naughty bollard. But apparently, you know, just about missing a corner because it wasn't much in it. And there's no black and white. yeah, I completely agree with you there. I think it's ridiculous. Harry, do you think they were too harsh at turn two there? Well, yes, because I get what the, you know, the bollards are for to, you know, if you completely overshoot you, don't just rejoin straight away.

But for instances where they're slightly wide and they bounce across the curves that they've put in there, already they're disadvantaged because they're bouncing across the curves. are already slower. Why then do they need to then immediately turn left, which is really difficult to do as we saw with Roman Bollard, a name that will, I hope never dies, Roman Bollard.

Yeah, why do they then need to try and go around it? Fair enough if they completely overshot, I get that, go through the Bollars, rejoin safely. We're trying to do that jinking left to get through the Bollard, as we saw signs do pretty poorly. I don't get why they need

to then penalise him. And, yeah, Five seconds is a harsh one, especially when you've literally just bounced over some curbs, lost time. And then, yes, you've got back on the track. But the disadvantage is already there. You've bounced across the sausage curbs. So, yeah, I don't understand it. It's, I know they're trying to, I can see it in, you know, in the Stewart's mind. They're trying to be black and white.

You either follow it or you don't and you get a penalty. But they're always like doing the opposite of what they need to do there. you've got to have some leniency on those sort of situations because not every situation in Formula One is exactly the same. As we saw, some drivers went really wide and they can use the bollards. Some drivers were barely off the track like Ricardo. So yeah, just use your brains a bit, please, stewards. Yeah, and I think because the way that the corner works,

if you miss that corner by a long, long way, It's very easy to go through those bollards. But as we saw in the Ricardo situation, like he only just missed the corner. He would have had to have gone so far out of his way to then get. I almost think it would be more dangerous to get him to go full lock steering to the left in order to get back into that zone to go through the bollards. I think that would be more dangerous. So I think I didn't agree with a penalty there.

And I don't mind the stewards penalising this. but I really do think as if the black and white flag would have been effective there for a first time, first time offence. And just use common sense, like particularly with the Grosjean one where it was Grosjean versus Vettel. You know, Vettel didn't leave him any room at all. Grojean was literally forced to be there. So, and, you know, Grosjeon did his best, bless him, but why should he need to? I think if a driver forces you out there to begin with,

you shouldn't be the one that's penalised to then go off circuit and go out of your way, you know, 50 miles towards Kazakhstan. Like, come on. Use your brain. Yeah, I think it was a bit excessive at times, to put it bluntly. Bless bro, man.

Oh, bless Bullard. R.B. Moving on, in Lewis Hamilton, Sam, you've touched on how you think the penalties were a bit harsh, the two five second time penalties. After the race, we heard him speaking in the media pen and saying how he thinks the stewards are out to get him. What did you think about those comments?

He, hmm, tough one. Now, there definitely is a difference in terms of their media approach to everything that's going on in the world and how he, views his media and his outlet. And I think that Lewis Hamilton is using his media outlet and his presence and his pedestal on social media the correct way. He's voicing his issues. He's standing up for things.

And he's influencing his fans and fans of the sport he's in to do the right thing. Right? They're bringing a Taylor T-shirt. For example, he stands up there and he makes a name, makes a voice and he shouts it out. And then the FIA turn around and go, well, let you have that one, Lewis. We're going to ban it now. So you can't do that again. And you kind of think, you have a real shot there, FIA, of, uh,

of doing something good, of doing something supportive. And then Lewis is often being hit by penalties where he often feels like they aren't fair. And that's the same with every driver at the end of the day. You're always going to get penalties that aren't fair on you. I suppose he's also pairing that to the fact that they've taken away the party mode recently, the ancient modes obviously from the saying he's powered cars because they're a bit too fast, which I also think is a bit silly.

Other teams need to get better, not reduce the best team because they're too good, silly anyway. And as we said earlier in the podcast, I've never seen a penalty given where you get a double whammy like that. I've never seen one five second time penalty come up, another five second time penalty come up. Do I think they're actively trying to slow him down?

No, I don't. I think that's a little bit ridiculous, a bit too far out there. But I can see why he's frustrated. I can see why he's becoming a little bit tired of it. He's had more penalties this season than I've seen Lewis Hamilton having in a long time, if not ever across the season.

far and he's being affected by it. The fact that he's still got a 44 point lead, he's one wing away from matching Michael Schumacher's record, he's probably going to win a seven time, the seventh title and match Michael Schumacher's record again, and he's racking up poll with issues weekend after weekend.

He probably should just carry on because he's still the goat of what's going on at the moment. He's still winging everything. He's still obliterating his opponents nine times out of ten. So, yes, he's got a right to be frustrated, but I think maybe he's overthaw it there and he's just decided to not have a deep breath as for a speaking to the media and has avoided frustrations. Everyone has a right to do it.

But I think if you think the FIA are actively trying to prevent you from doing something, you might need to just remove that tin hat and have a think about things. What do you reckon, Harry, do you think those comments were fair? Do you think they were just? No, I agree with Sam. I don't think the FIA are actively trying to stop Hamilton for winning races. The thing is with these penalties Hamilton's had, in the past, you know, three races, he's had, well, three penalties, I guess, if you count two today and one in Monza. That have been so weird and random. And ones we have never or hardly ever seen.

I don't remember having any penalties like we've had today with the pre-race designated practice start area. I've never seen anyone infringe that one before. So I can understand, you know, emotions running high. the race, why he might feel frustrated about that. But I don't think the FIA would do that. You know, it is still the rules. He has broken the rules and they've put a penalty in place. Same for Monza.

I do think, and I probably will word this really poorly, but I think Hamilton's kind of not his psyche, but there's a bit of him about he likes to portray the character of being, you know, on the back foot, the person who's trying to be stopped, you know, winning, stop, stop winning races. And but he feeds off that. And that's what, you know, he puts himself into that kind of corner of, you know, people are out to stop him for being successful.

And he uses that and challenges it to be even a better driver. So I kind of see that again today. And it's not something unusual for him to do. But yeah, I don't, I don't think, I don't think the FIA trying to stop him winning races. And I'm sure, you know, it will move on again to the next race and he'll equal the record of Schumacher and it will all be forgotten. Yeah. In terms of the penalty itself, I agree it's a little bit strange sort of receiving sort of two five second penalties consecutively. It's not something we ever see, although I understand why that's happened.

You know, if, for example, someone out there today had, you know, if they'd cut turn two and had, and had. and gone through the right, the right, ballards, and they'd done that twice, I think they would have received five second time penalties one after the other. I think it's just a really bizarre one where, you know, he's done it twice, so he deserves to be penalized twice. And, you know, I've got no problem in the race, Lewis Hamilton, questioning that decision. And generally, you know, that's a general rule, actually.

When the drivers are in the cars, you know, the pressure is high, the adrenaline's high. I've got no problem with these sorts of comments that are made by the drivers. So, you know, him questioning it, him being a bit grumpy about it, that's fine. I've got no problem with that whatsoever. And rules are rules at the end of the day. He, you know, he infringed them and he got penalised for them. I don't see any issue there at all. However, his comments after the race, I don't think were appropriate.

And I think he really needs to reconsider comments like that because it's not a good look for the sport. It's not a good look for himself. And he shouldn't make those comments if he doesn't have some. sufficient evidence to back it up. You know, the definition of corruption is dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, which is essentially what he's accusing the FIA of. So if you've got nothing backing that up, if you're not willing to say, okay, I think this because point A, point B, point C, exhibit A, exhibit B, don't say those comments because it's really bad look for himself. And the sport itself, you know, if somebody out there is, you know, if someone in power was calling

FIFA corrupt or anything like that, they'd get a good talking to. You know, you can't go against the FIA unless you've got the evidence to suggest it. And looking at his points that he's accumulated on his super licence, yes, the last two have been a little bit weird, but I don't think they've been unjust. Four of the points are down to his incidents with Albin, which I don't think you can have much of a case for not getting the penalty points there. And he's only two points away from getting a race ban now. Yeah, if you can't back it up, don't say it. And I think he needs to be told that. We move on to Renno, because they had a pretty good race today.

Daniel Riccardo and Esteban Ockon, both well within the points. They've already overtaken their overall points tally for 2019. But Estaban Ockon is 6336 down to Daniel Ricardo at the moment. Harry, do you think Ockon's done enough so far this year? Yeah, it's a tricky one. I thought this weekend he looked a bit close. closer to Ricardo, but he has, you know, he has had a year out, well, a year and a half out, I guess, because we didn't start the season until July. But yeah, he's, he's, I think

Ricardo's doing really well this year, and I still think O'Hon is finding his feet. And, you know, we saw Ricardo last year, it actually took him a while to find his feet within that Renault car and team. He's having a much better run this year, I think, as a driver. Yeah, I think O'Hon just needs He's not going to lose your sea, I don't think, and we know he's going to be there next year. But he does need to step it up soon, I think, because, yeah, today he got past Ricardo on lap one, good stuff. And then he was clearly the slower of the two runner drivers,

and obviously then they let Ricardo go past. With the, I guess, the intention to swap them at the end if Ricardo couldn't make any progress. But Ricardo did make progress, and Ocon couldn't even catch the Ferrari. and I would say that the Renault is a quicker cars than Ferrari at the moment. So, yeah, I think he will need to step up soon

because he's got the presence of Fernando Alonzo about to rock up and ruin his 2021 if he doesn't. So, yeah, it's not disaster stations yet, but I think he needs to be wary that he's got to start beating Ricardo soon because, yeah, next year is going to be even tougher. What do you reckon, Sam,

do you think Ocon's done enough so far this year? He had a tricky start to the year. Don't get me wrong. It was not the most positive start. It's taken a little while to get going. And as Harry rightfully said, he's had a year and a half out. He's got to find his feet in what is one of the most difficult things to jump back into, essentially. It's hard to go from zero to 200 miles an hour and be incredibly competitive, especially with someone like Daniel Riccardo, who is arguably still one of the best drivers on the grid.

And therefore, due to F1 being the pinnacle of a motorsport, one of the best drivers in the world. So it's not easy. but I think he's getting there. I think this weekend showed signs of promise. He also did well last time out at Mijello. I think he is improving. I think he has a great lap one. I think he needs to maintain that consistency

and pick up that pace a bit more and we'll see good things. I'm looking forward to seeing what he brings for the rest of the season. And if he can close that gap a little bit, if he can ensure that Renault secure a good fourth place in the Constructors' Championship, even a third place in the Constructors' Championship,

and if that's down to his point, then great stuff, that's what Renae need. There's nothing. wrong with having a good strong second driver. And if Ocon can do what we're asking him to, which is probably finished between five and ten seconds behind his teammate with maybe no cars between them, that's all you need them to do. For longso ends up finishing fifth and O'Kong next year finishes sixth, that's fine.

That's quite all right. So I think it's getting there. I think we'll get to the end of the season. And I'm hoping, with the trend that it's going, we'll look at O'Con, and go, yeah, he's all right. I think next year, the season, 2021, that's the year he's going to really kick on. and he'll be a very strong competitive midfield driver. But currently as it stands, if it were to carry on the same trajectory that is ongoing downwards,

I think 2021 will have to be his proving year. And I think if it went the same way as it has done this year, he'd be out of a drive. But for now, I'm happy with the way it's going. And I think if you continue to improve, it'll be there for a while. Yeah, I definitely sympathise with the position that Ocon has been put in because it's a really, really difficult one. You're not only is he coming into a brand new team, He's coming into a brand new team with 18 months out of the car, pretty much.

Ricardo has been, has a year of experience under his belt. And as you rightly say, Harry, you know, Ricardo wasn't fantastic against Holcomburg in the, in the first part of last season. And I think a lot of that is due to the lack of experience within the team. He's got that now. And Ricardo generally is just a quality driver. We're talking about someone here who was more than a match for Max Verstappen. We're talking about someone who defeated a reigning,

four-time consecutive world champion. Ricardo is one of the best in the sport. So Ockon was put in a really difficult spot here. I think he's done reasonably well to this point, but he needs to start showing a bit more. And he did show a little bit more out there today. You know, being able to, you know, it was very intuitive the way in which he got past, Daniel Ricardo,

seeing that the position that he was in against Verstappen was going to compromise his exit at the corner. And as a result of that, you know, Ockon was able to, to capitalize, that was great. But even the first few laps of that first stint, he did seem to have a reasonable gap over Ricardo. But yeah, the second half of the race was a bit more disappointing. And Daniel Ricardo, he was able to clinically get past Sebastian Meadow

in the way that Estabana Ockon was not able to do. So he does need to show more. From Renault's perspective, I think what they need to see is just progression. It doesn't have to be the finished product now. We know the situation he's in is tough. We know Alonzo's around the corner. For Ocon, he just needs to show that he's improving. We want to look back.

We want to get to the final race of the season and think, okay, Ocon is at this level now. He was at that level at the start of the season. And that's always the thing I say about, you know, rookies entering the sport and how to assess their performances. It's not necessarily about how well they're doing in the championship or how many points they've got against their teammates. They're obviously important, but one key aspect you need to see from these guys who are returning or getting into the sport is progression.

So, yeah, I think Ocon just needs to show a bit more, but there are positive signs there. And moving on to our final topic, we've already touched on this how Alex Albin and Lando Norris and George Russell all came into the pits at the end of the first lap, putting them on a different strategy. They went on the hard tires. Alex Albin ducked out of that strategy fairly early on and committed to a two-stop. Lando Norris tried to make it to the end. Didn't quite happen. He ended up outside the points. Alex Albin scoring won.

Sam, what did you make of Lando strategy? Did you see the reason McLaren went for it? Or do you think they made a bit of an error there? I understand in theory, the concept they were going for. But, yeah, I mean, it was proven by Gadsley. I think it was an error. And I think that Lando has the ability behind the wheel. He has the car in what is a McCarron on the rise.

And they have the team. They understand where the game's going. And they should have reacted a little faster. I was a bit disappointed, actually, that we've only got one car left in the race. All your focus should be on them. And it feels like he just got kind of forgotten out there. It kind of felt like he just vanished into nothing.

And there was no real. It felt very Ferrari, really. Do we do this? Oh, do we do that? Oh, we've kind of not committed to either. And now it's, we're driving around a really, really, really old tires and Wiggas being passed by people that possibly we can have easily defending from or re-overtaken should we have jumped on that strategy.

Now, Gassi went under like VSC when they had to change the ballads due to Miscossochi signman. And it was not the best VSC pit stuff. Obviously, it ended by that point, but he still got a little bit of a jump from it. And he was still not able to pass them both. Albon stopped twice, also beat Norris. Although I think Albuquer being way further up the grid possibly. But, you know, he still beat Norris. I think Norris should have followed suit.

The fact that they were trying to drag those tires around for ridiculous, there was a lapse afterwards. It didn't really work. It didn't work. I feel like that really threw a possible points finish away from McLean. I think they came home in, what, P-15 in the end? That's not good enough from McLean. One car out, one car P-15.

You expect a bit more from that. They should have thought earlier. They have a lot of smart people there. You can easily jump on those strategy choices and commit to them a little bit earlier. It really didn't pay off for them. Yeah, I mean, given the points of, of Perez, Ricardo, Ocon, Leclair. It wasn't a great weekend for McLaren

at all in that respect. No points, of course, coming from the race. Harry, what do you reckon? Do you think that McLaren were justified in their strategy, call? Yeah, I think they had to go for it. It wasn't a particularly fun race for Norris, was it? He was just kind of on the back foot from the start

having to avoid his teammate. And then he got put on this, you know, the long game strategy, which ultimately didn't pay off. and yeah, McLaren probably should have spotted that one earlier and brought him in as he did with Alwell and Gasly. Yeah, they'll see it as a tough weekend. I don't think they did a huge amount wrong. I think they had to give it a go.

Yeah, ultimately they didn't score any points at all this weekend, which they obviously won't be happy about. But, you know, Woody has got 10th still if they'd pitted him again. Not sure. Well, pitted him again earlier. He obviously did pit again again. Yeah, just a tough race for Macca, but, you know, they'll bounce back. Yeah, I think the poor start kind of necessitated this.

I actually think that if Russell and Albin had not gone on to that same strategy, I think it actually would have worked for Lando Norris. I think the problem was that all three of them made the strategy call, and they spent the first few laps of the race fighting each other, on a strategy where tyre conservation was absolutely key, and no fault of the three drivers, you know, You've got to fight for the track. But those three guys being so close on circuit and actively battling one another,

it just didn't help any of them at all. And Alex Albin, well, Red Bull specifically, they were able to catch this fairly early on. And, you know, it was good vision from the Red Bull strategist, really, because, you know, you can't, in the case of Lando Norris, they were able to stop him at the end of the race. But by that point, it was far too late. the key work of a strategist in this sort of a race is to work out what's going to happen before it happens. And that's what they were able to do with Alex Albin. I'm sure he wasn't struggling at the time that he came in for those medium tires to go to the end.

But they were able to see that he would struggle when Lando Norris did. And it's a fine line because it was only five laps or so. And Lando Norris would have been home and dry. I think it was lap 48 or so that Lando Norris had to come into the pits. So he was really close to making it work. And I think he did a really good job defensively against the line. likes of Albon and Gasley. But ultimately, those tires, he did as much as he could, but there was no defending in the end. I'm not going to blame Maca for this. I think they were right to give

this a go. A bit of a shame for him. But yeah, ultimately, he was behind Alex Albin on that strategy anyway. So even if he had two stopped, I think he would have been P-11. So no points versus no points. They gave it a go. And I've got no problems with that at all. Well, for a Sochi Grand Prix, we managed to get quite a bit out of that. Yeah. Yeah. It's good. Good chat. I'm surprised we've talked for so long. Wow. Anyway, so next Grand Prix is going to be at the Nureberg Ring, which I cannot contain my excitement for F1 back at the Nuremberg Ring where it belongs. But we'll be back next week with another podcast. Make sure you tune in for that. Sam, if you wouldn't mind getting us out of here. Before, I do get us out of here, because someone explained to me on Sky Sports, just because I'm an idiot,

I don't understand the reference. Why the Nürberg ring in Germany is called the Eiffel Grand Prix? I... Because I haven't got a clue. I don't know this, but is it something to do with Hockenheim having the rights to the German GP? Because I, too, was confused, but I've got no idea. Ben. Why don't they just call it the Nürbergring? Well, the Nürberg ring GP. Like, that's fine, in it?

Or the Bavarian Grand Prix, wherever it is in Germany, I don't know. Well, I think the I feel, I should have been the European Grand Prix, but I think the Eiffel Grand Prix works in the same way that Austria had the Styrian Grand Prix. I think it's kind of same. Not a hundred teacher on that, but.

I thought we might be racing up and down a metal tower in the centre of France for a moment. Um, anyway, folks, if you've enjoyed the podcast, well, we're going to be back again

later on in the week where we'll be talking all things Formula One for there is not a race unfortunately, but after that, we will be at the Nuremberg ring, possibly in the snow.

I am so excited. I love the Nürbergring. An F1 back there is fantastic, so bring that on. Make sure you join us. Go over to YouTube if you haven't been already. Hit subscribe over there as well.

We'd love to have you. Thanks for sticking around. Much more F1 content to come. share it with you, Ang, because why not? In the meantime, I've been standing to see. I've been Ben Hawking. And I've been Harry East. And remember, keep breaking late.

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