The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Could Mercedes soon be the FASTEST team?!

Episode Date: July 14, 2024

Ben and Sam talk through the latest in F1 - from news of Mercedes unleashing a double upgrade before the summer break, to the announcement of the 2025 sprint calendar, Verstappen's health issue revelation, and Williams' recent hires. They finish with naming their Top 5 races of the season so far... FOLLOW us on socials! You can find us on YouTube, Instagram, X (Twitter) and TikTok SUPPORT our Patreon for bonus episodes, historic race reviews & more! JOIN our Discord community JOIN our F1 Fantasy League: SIGN UP & create your team, and JOIN our league (join code: C3PHEQHPU04) BUY our Merch SEND us something! We have a brand new PO box - address: Late Braking Podcast, PO Box 821, TRURO TR1 9PE EMAIL us at [e-mail] & SUBSCRIBE to our podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network. Thank you for listening to the Late Breaking F1 podcast. Make sure to check out new episodes every Wednesday and every Sunday. Very warm, welcome to the late breaking F1 podcast presented by Sam Sage and me, Ben Hocking, on what is oddly a Sunday that doesn't involve F1? We haven't had many of those recently, Sam. 24 bloody races in a year. I can't believe there's still weekends that haven't got anything on it.

Bloody Goodwood. What's that? Not earlier that. I have, really. badwood. Bloody racing up hills, aren't they? Yeah. It's not as good as F1.

Oh, good. Yeah, nice. Midwood. This is terrible. This won't be the worst talk we've ever done. Maybe. It's up there. It is odd, though.

I mean, we've got a double header after this as well. So it's like the only time in six whole weeks that we have a Sunday off, which we're spending talking about F1. Of course. I actually quite looking forward to hungry. Like, I don't know. I think it's one of those underrated. Grand Prix, I think, is the Hungara Ring. Guaranteed to be a dull race now.

Cheers for that. Thank you. Sorry, everyone. It's all good. What have we got coming up on today's episode? We've got, well, we seem to get some positive feedback the last time we did a top five when we looked at our top five performances of the season so far. We've got another top five for you coming up later on in this episode. Williams have gone on a bit of a hiring spree. Our thoughts on that. The sprint calendar for 2025 has been released, so our reaction to that as well. but we're going to start with Mercedes who have won the last two Grand Prix,

the Austrian Grand Prix with George Russell, and then, of course, last time out, Lewis Hamilton, winning the British Grand Prix. Mercedes, though, are bringing upgrades to both Budapest and Spa in an attempt to keep up their recent form. Toto Wolfe admitted he was surprised they were so competitive at Silverstone, was actually expecting more of an improvement instead at the next two Grand Prix. Sam, can they, based on this position, themselves as the fastest car in F one.

Sure, the weirdest part of that entire point that you just made is saying Mercedes have won the last two Grand Prix. That's been a while, isn't it? That's alien almost in, that's what been 2020. Was the last time we said they won two four in a row? Crickey, that is bizarre. It's a funny statement to say, you know, could they end up being the fastest car? Because we've had this almost cannibalization of other teams, points, other teams formed,

because of the way that, you know, one team has kind of surged to the top and then rapidly fallen back again, or the other team's kind of got close and then upgrades haven't worked. Ferrari were right there with Red Bull, put these upgrades on their seemingly now the fourth fastest team, well, that's how it's looked over the last Grand Prix or so. McLaren have been there and thereabouts were able to convert. Red Bull are kind of driving with one hand behind their back at the moment with Paris's form, and the car isn't 100% where it needs to be. And we've said this time and time again that when fully firing, we think that Mercedes

driver line up is probably the best guy. going. The best out there is a total combination, a total package. So if they have a car that can even be close to competing, there is every chance that results can really start falling in their favour, because I know, I believe, that Hamilton and Russell, if given clear opportunities, will convert very regularly. I think they have the pace of the likes of LeCler and Verstappen, but I think they have the converting power that Norris doesn't essentially, if that kind of to understand what I'm saying there. I just think that Norris can't get the first. final product over the line at the moment.

But I think if you were to give some of those opportunities to either Russell or Hamilton that have come previously in the season, I think there'd be more wings from the Sages. I think they have more chance of scoring more victory. So I think Silverstone looks better than it was. And I don't think we should read too much into Austria, of course, because Russell was picking up that victory was, what, 12, 15 seconds behind the battle for the lead until those two came together. So got the victory.

You've got to be in it to win it. And he was faster than the Ferraris. he was beating Perez, of course. Piascru probably would have been a hang of him had he qualified better. But I don't want to read too much into that because it was a bit more of a, oh, got a bit lucky, well done

for being in the right place at the right time. Good job. Silver So is a tricky one. Because of the very cold and mixed conditions that we had on track, because of the way that, you know, certain mistakes and drivers stopped being involved in the Grand Prix.

We saw Norris Mrs. Marks, of course. We saw the fact that the Red Bull was seemingly very much not on the pace, was at a one-off because they were so good, of course, in Austria with the first. Stappen, but was it a one-off at Silverstone, or is that now the form? And the fact that Lecler, again, was absolutely going near the front, more due to strategy, but the car wasn't really there either.

It's hard to say, our Mercedes is going to be the fastest, but more are they the most complete overall package. I think if conditions are complementary to them again in the likes of Hungary, Spar, it's cool and maybe damp, sure, I think there's a chance, but there were clear moments in the British Grand Prix where McLaren were definitely the faster car. Once Norris and Piastri broke free of Hamilton and Russell, you know, Norris was three or four seconds clear at one point. And the gap that like if it was going to stay in that exact environment, it was stretching. It would be very much status quo.

So I don't think they're on track to be the absolute fastest. I think McLaren have that crown currently. But hey, I'm all for another couple of upgrades on a car that is getting there and they're going in the right direction. And they could definitely be a real threat now for regular polling positions if these upgrades properly stick and they're right inside the mix. Like you say, it's upgrade plus lineup. That's how it works in F1. I think it's certainly possible that they could get to be the fastest car. I'm not saying it's definite or even probable, but certainly it's possible. And depending on how these upgrades go, we might have to finally retire one of the age-old jokes on the late-breaking podcast, which is that Mercedes and Toto Wolf

finally understand their car. Yeah, sure. No, they might actually understand it this time, depending on how these upgrades go. I will say one name that hasn't come up yet in terms of this topic that I think absolutely deserves to is James Allison because he deserves a lot of credit for what he's been able to do since his return to the role of technical director. Of course, Mercedes were in a really bad place, by their standards at least earlier on in this season.

I'm not sure exactly when it was at its worst, but I would hazard, I guess, and say Australia was up there. Now, of course, if you remember back to that Grand Prix, both cars retired, but actually that masks how slow they were if they had both finished that Grand Prix. George Russell was the lead Mercedes in that race,

and you'll remember late on, he was battling with Fernando Alonzo that saw Russell crash and Alonzo given a very fair penalty. Anyway, the fact is, Vastap and DNF from that Grand Prix. and Alonzo finished a minute and 20 seconds behind the leader of Carlos Sines. Russell would have been there or thereabouts, right?

So they were just slow on that day. And it just shows the progress. I think Alison resumed his role about a month or so after that Grand Prix took place. So he deserves a lot of credit for the turnaround. And the thing is, the majority of this progress that they've made, because it's not, I understand Silverstone is a massive leap, but equally Austria, despite the fact that your points are 100% correct. he would have been a very comfortable third.

It was still more competitive than what we saw earlier in the season. Canada was a step forward. We have seen progress, even if it hasn't been race leading progress. But a lot of it has come from understanding the car rather than upgrades to this point. Now it was going to be a very interesting time to see, you know, was, as you say, is Silverstone an outlier? Is there more to this car? and can the upgrades put them over the top here?

And I think it is a genuine question because a lot of the time when we talk about upgrades, we immediately think, okay, this car is it 100 performance? It will now be 120 based on these upgrades. But this season particularly, it's been really hit or miss whether upgrades have worked or not.

I was having a think about this yesterday and you could probably put as many teams on the upgrades gone good side as the upgrades not gone good side. If you think the likes of, of, you know, McLaren have made good progress this year. I'd definitely put them on the positive side. Hasse have definitely made good progress. And whilst there are mitigating circumstances, and the mitigating circumstances are they were so slow to begin with. Alpina probably on that side as well. But then you look at, you know, Ferrari, they have gone nowhere since

similar and it's really hurting them. R.B. really struggled recently. Astor Martin, stroll came out with comments recently that basically no upgrades have worked on the car for a year. So just because they're bringing up, Guides, doesn't necessarily mean it is definitely going to work. But if they do, I don't know. It's possible, I would say. I feel like they owe big James a big apology. You know, the guy knew what he was doing, and they shuffled things around. And you kind of very quickly saw the demise of Mercedes to watch the drop from being so far at the top.

Or he was essentially spearheading that side of the team. Obviously, he moved into that new role for a couple of years. and those two years are essentially the time where they absolutely fell off. But I do think that Mercedes, as I've said already in package, are the overall better team. I think if they've got a car that, let's say,

is attempt slower than a McLaren per lap, I think the partnership of Hamilton and Russell would be able to do enough to counteract that difference in the overall pace of the car to beat the partnership at the moment of Piaschri and Norris. I think Piascri is a fantastic job,

but he's obviously still only a season and a half thing. He's got a lot to learn. Managing of his tires, he's not 100% there at the moment. But it's improving. He's definitely getting there. And Norris, we've seen him. That raw talent is quality. The guy is unreal. But he's struggling to get it across the line. He's struggling to convert maybe at least two or three other wings that he maybe should have had under his belt by now this season that he hasn't got done. I think Hamilton and Russell could put that to bed. Which ones out of interest? Do you think he should have won? Austria. He should have won.

I think he should have got that move down well before the collision ended up happening. I think most other drivers get that over the line much sooner. And there was one other Canada? No. He was in the mix in Canada. He was in the mix. He was very quick. But I do think there's at least two or three that he should.

Obviously, one, Imala. I think he probably could have got Imala. And it was hard. I reckon very tough. I'm not saying it was on the plate, give it, you know, a gimmie. But I do think he could have done that. I think it was definitely possible. Yeah, the close one, of course, the Spanish Grand Prix to mention that one as well.

Yes, of course. In terms of the Constructors' Championship, Sam, the way things stand at the moment, Mercedes are in fourth and a very, very comfortable fourth. It's incredibly unlikely anyone behind them is going to mount a challenge at this point in the season. They've got 221 points. McLaren 2995, Ferrari 302, Red Bull, 373. So they're about between 70 and 80 points away from the two teams in front of them, and then about 140 away from Red Bull and first.

What do you think is achievable based on recent form for the rest of this season? Yeah, in recent form, you argue that despite not being the next team in line, Ferrari are arguably the biggest candidates for being overtaken at the moment. If they're going to keep pulling out, you know, fifth as their overall best performance or a sixth place with one of them finishing maybe not inside the points, and that's happening more often than not, then you spoke about the amount of points that they'd scored in the last few Grand Prix very recently, where we spoke.

about how Red Bull have fallen off. Actually, it's McLaren that we're making up the difference. I do think that's a catchable gap. 80 points in Constructors sense is child's play. It's a very small gap. If you're winning and getting podiums on a regular basis. 12 races to go. Right?

It's a long time. Literally, you've got a less than 10 point difference every single Grand Prix. It's easily doable. You know, if you get a wing, if the same is pick up another three victories, that's very easily done. You're going to close that gap very, very quickly. So I actually think Ferrari are the biggest candidates. I think McLaren need to be careful.

Like I've said, it's converting. It's making sure that both cars are regularly finishing. If you're not winning two and three, they haven't had a lot of two, three performances or two four performances, despite the car really being very competitive. I think Red War probably too far gone. Even if they don't develop that car any further and they don't go on to win, let's say they win six of the next 12 races,

which is highly possible. That's what they did the first time round. I really think that it's unlike. that the points difference, I think it's just a bit too big to haul over, especially with the fact that you're going up against Ferrari and McLaren. And I'm sure Perez will find some form and pick up some points. I just think it's a bit of a stretch. But I think third place, definitely on the cars from the Sengis. This not entirely related.

Well, somewhat related to this point. But I did just have a bit of a random, F-1's very good at the moment, moment, which is, imagine if I said to you after, let's say, the Bahrain Grand Prix, when Vostappen was very dominant, or one of those early races where Vestappen was very, very good and he was winning comfortably. Imagine if I said at that point, okay, halfway through the season,

Lando Norris and McLaren are going to have a win, but three different teams are going to have more wins than that. Yeah, that's mad, isn't it? I find it weird that Mercedes have won more than McLaren. Yeah, yeah. It is odd. I do tend to agree. I think Red Bull are probably,

that's a lot of points to overhaul for, even with Sergio Perez struggling, and Vastappen is still doing such an incredible job that I don't think they're going to be catchable. But equally, you know, you look at the last four races, which is really when Mercedes have started to come into their own. Yeah, yeah. They've scored the most points in the last four Grand Prix with 125.

McLaren are then second with 111. Red Bull are third with 97. And then Ferrari have just 50. So that's 75 points that Mercedes have got more than Ferrari in just the last four races. So given they are 78 points behind Ferrari at the moment, you can quite quickly do the maths and determine they don't need, at this rate, they don't need 12 races. They need five. Now, I trust, for some weird reason, that Ferrari will not be quite as bad as this for the rest of this season. I think at some point, they will decide to put dry tires on when the track

is dry and wet tires on when the track is wet. I can't guarantee it because it's a Ferrari, but I will make a bold claim and say that will happen. But even so, they don't need to catch at 75 points for every four races. They only need to catch it, you know, a third of that. It's far, it's far more achievable than I think people think it is for Mercedes to catch Ferrari if Ferrari don't get their act together. McClaren, if they can, you know, convert on the car that got, I think that is going to be the trickier challenge. I don't think it's impossible, but equally, you know, the last four races, they have only got 14 more points than McLaren, even with, you know, a few races that could have gone a different way. You know, Lando Norris

didn't score points at Austria very easily could have had the win, could very well have done better than third and fourth at the British Grand Prix. Maybe that continues, but equally the fact that they were only 14 points down, despite a couple of those things not going their way, indicates to me that that will be the tougher challenge for Mercedes. But I've got to be honest, I don't think Toto Wolf and the team are going to be overly concerned whether it ends up being second, third or fourth.

Obviously, they'll take what they can get, but the overall sentiment of being closer to the cars ahead and knowing that they could, in theory, challenge for a championship when everything resets next year, that will mean way more to that team than whatever position they finished this year. Sure, if you said to Toto,

at the end of the season. Toto, you're not going to be, you're going to be fourth. It's only by a few points, but you're going to be fourth, but you're going to have more wings than everyone but Red Bull and the gap's going to be less than 50 points

across all of you. I think he'd probably go, well, that's odd, but I'll take it after last year because we barely won anything for the last two seasons. And that's weirdly where they are. One more wing,

and they are second in the wings tally. Yes. Also, that was a terrible Toto, well, he didn't even say Pumpanickle once. I was, because I was saying it too, Toto. But you know, you're right.

Oh, okay. It's also the COVID. I'm struggling to do the impression. Hello. Hello, it's Dodo. I want the wings and the Bomba-neekon. That's quite greedy, Toto. You kind of think.

So in conclusion, maybe they could challenge the others in front. Maybe they can't. Maybe the upgrade to work. Maybe they can't. Conclusive result, as always, from the light break. This is punditry. we do we just talk until something happens usually it happens after we've done the talking and then we have to talk about it again that was also harry ead's summation of the the situation as well it could work

true that's so true he's having a great time he's off a good one of at the moment which is what we spoke about at the start he's having a lovely time yeah he's uh he's been announced alongside fernando alonzo for next year yes he's playing a cameo as the the teammate so one of the greatest Crummers of all time. Good stuff. We're going to take our first break on this episode. On the other side, we're talking sprints. Hopefully we'll do it very quickly. Welcome back, everyone. It is time to talk about sprints. Now, as you know, sometimes when we talk sprints, it goes off the rails quite quickly, but we'll do our best to be objective. The reason we're talking about sprints today is the F1 has released its 2025 Sprint Calendar. And it looks very similar to

2024. So as a reminder, 2024 has six sprint weekends. At the time of recording, we've had three of them, Shanghai, Miami and Austria, and we've still got three to go, Cota, Qatar, and Interlagos. There will again be six sprint weekends

next year. The only change is that the Red Bull Ring, Austria, will not be a sprint for the first time in a few years, and Spa will return as a sprint circuit, having held one last year. Given Sam, that the format That started as just three sprints a couple of years ago.

And of course, there were fewer points on offer. And we know that Stefano Domenicali has made comments to say he'd like to see the number of sprints increase. You surprised that it hasn't? I'm very surprised it hasn't. Six feels like such a fickle number. At this point, it feels like it's really struggled to get off the ground maybe internally in the world of F1.

The people that are putting the rules in place and making the decisions are maybe not, as on board with sprint races as it would appear. that they like to talk about that they are. Also, I think what's frustrating is something I really haven't enjoyed about the sprint races this season, other than they're actually being sprints, is where they are in the calendar. They've almost weirdly grouped them very close together. And in such a very busy scheduled season, it's very frustrating to go from having no sprint, no sprint, three very intense sprint races, almost back to back, very close together.

And then at the end of the season, we're going to go after a pack session, three more sprint, is almost back together. You know, they're very close together on the calendar, these two groups of three. And they haven't really changed that too much in the new format. They're still very packed in. And it will make sense to me to have, okay, 24 is divisible by 6.

It means you get 4, so a sprint race every 4, every 6 Grand Prix, or every 4 Grand Prix, or every 4 Grand Prix, whatever I'm saying. Makes sense to me, right? You know, you have one at round 1, around 6, run around 12, 1, around 18, 1 around 24, wherever's going to be. Sure, makes sense.

At least you've got nice intermissions that go on. So, 6 is a very, very odd number, but it could make sense. It could be reasonable to some degree. But it just feels like they're half-assing it a little bit now. It's, oh, cursing, I'm not to say that, me or shaken way. I do know. It's half on cows, 301. That was almost, a technically swear, folks, you let us know. Do a five-star review and let's go if I was a swear. There you go, getting the plugs in without even realising. My point here is, Ben, I don't think they got what they deal with it. No. No, definitely got a clue.

To support your point as well on next season. So there's a slight change in the calendar, of course, with Bahrain and Saudi Arabia coming a little bit later than they usually do. So the Chinese Grand Prix will be the first sprint of the year. That will be round two of next season. And I think the first, the first slot aren't too bad. So you've got rounds two, six and 13 will be sprints next year. That makes sense to me.

Which is fine. But then you've got the last six Grand Prix, three of them will be sprints. So you've essentially got 50%. of the sprint calendar condensed to 25% of the overall calendar, which doesn't really make sense. Or I just don't, I don't particularly like that. I was, I was as surprised as you. I figured we were heading to a third of the calendar, which would be eight Grand Prix, as many as 10, I thought eight to 10 earlier this season would be.

10 is what I had in mind. Yeah. So I am surprised given the amount of comments from Dmanicali, the points that are now on offer for these sprints. You know, remember back to a couple of years ago, you'd get three points for a win. So it's far, you know, there's a far greater reward for these now. So I am surprised that we don't have more. What is less clear is why, because it could be that, as you say, internally at F1, there isn't as much appetite as it seems. It could be from the circuits that there isn't the appetite there. You know, we've had some comments previously. The coter promoter, weirdly, they've still

got one, but they have said in the past that we're unsure whether these sprint weekends are actually adding to attendance figures at all. The Canadian Grand Prix promoter has said quite recently that he doesn't believe, he believes it's poor value for money for fans. Like he doesn't think it's worth it. So potentially we've got circuits turning around and saying, actually, no, we don't, we don't want it. Maybe that's why they're struggling. Equally, maybe it is from the fans. Maybe it's not as popular. And look, I appreciate there are plenty of fans out there who do like sprints. Evidence of that is when we did our live show in Cota last year, we asked the audience,

do you like sprints? Pretty much 50-50 split, wasn't it? It was very close. 49, 49, and a good different. Oh, yes, sorry, there was one individual who was very enthusiastically, didn't care. But I don't know, it maybe is a case of F1 has been, you know, leading a campaign of trying to big up the popularity of these

sprints and I think it has always been overplayed in all honesty even if you are a fan I think it has you know the overall popularity isn't as big as F1 makes it out to be maybe they're starting to maybe it's catching up to them maybe they're starting to realise it

and sorry go on I'll just say the other thing that you haven't mentioning that your very good list are teams and personnel you know we've spoken about how packed this calendar is 24 races around the world That's a lot. It's a lot in less than a year.

Obviously, we don't do it January to January either. The calendar is, what, the end of February to the beginning of December. So you're doing 24 races in 10 and a half, 11 months. It's a lot of work. It's a lot of effort to kind of get this carnival set up, running, taken down, moved on, shipped over again every single time you do it. So to have more races where actually get on with it faster, set it up one day earlier, you know, make sure we're racing sooner. Crashes are going to happen more often. there's going to be more damage, more repairs, more late nights.

I wonder if they've kicked back a bit and gone, you've got your 24 Grand Prix. That can we just chill out on how many? I wonder if they've had some complaints from seeing your management's within teams. I would be curious. If anyone is listening to this and works within F1 in one of the teams, firstly, hello, what you're doing here? But secondly, I'd be really interested to hear whether it is, you know,

more difficult to have a sprint weekend as someone working in the team. because technically in terms of pure track time, it's less. Like you have obviously three practice sessions go down to one. And that's only replaced with, you know, you've got two races and two sprints. You've essentially gone from, you've still got five sessions overall, right? But the sprint race itself is relatively short. It's not as long as a practice session would be. So I'd be curious to know if there's any difference at all, really.

But that is another set of stakeholders. You're right, that could be against this. I think you've got to look at this season. So we've had three spring races so far this season. I think you've got to look at them and say, what have they realistically added? Because spring races will always be entertaining to a degree because it's F1 cars going around a track.

That's what we love. It's racing? Yeah. So, of course, you're always going to have some form of entertainment. But equally, let's have a look at the three you've had so far. Chinese Grand Prix, the sprint, I think, was okay. It wasn't too much. qualifying was the most exciting part of it because it was in a different condition to the sprint with the standard qualify.

Yeah. But it was fine enough. Miami sprint. People will talk about the Miami weekend for a long time after this. Won't be because of the sprint. It'll be because of the main race and what Lando Norris did. I forgot there was a sprint race at Miami. Precisely.

But that's the whole point. Lano Norris does a different strategy. Strategy isn't something you see in sprint races that causes. People will talk about the race. sprint race. Exactly the same thing in Austria. What will people talk about from the Austrian weekend? Russell winning Norris and Vestappen colliding because of strategy again, because of a slow pit, stop pit stops don't happen in sprint races. We had a bit of a battle between Lando Norris and Vestappen in the sprint race. People will never talk about it again because we had more entertaining

version of it 24 hours later. So I think we've got to a point in F1 where, I mean, Silverstone, we've just come out of Silverstone. Is anyone saying that the, British Grand Prix would have been better if we had a spring week out. Yeah, if you went, guys, if you went to the British Grand Prix, do you wish you have a sprint race on? Also, and I might get some kickback for this. Lewis Hamilton's epic win on the side. It was epic, regardless of whether you're a fan or not a fan.

That would have been lessened if he'd want to sprint the day before. Yeah, I agree. It's almost like seeing the results of the, like the football match the day before and then going, I kind of know what I've got like an inside joke. I know what's going on here, you know, I know what the result could be. And then you get to, it's like seeing a trailer for the film the next day.

You kind of spoil some of the key bits. Well, yeah, we know that based on qualifying, Mercedes was very quick and qualifying, but there were questions. I asked these very questions on the qualifying episode where I thought, I don't know if Mercedes race pace is going to hold up to Lando Norris and Vestappen behind. My instinct was no.

And I was very happily wrong because it led to a more entertaining Grand Prix. If there was a qualifying had happened on the Friday and there was a sprint on the Saturday and we'd seen it in action, I mean, I'm not saying I wouldn't have enjoyed the race at all, but equally, I kind of would have known what we were in for. Yeah, there is a part

of me. And we've said it so many times. I imagine that you lot, maybe you're sick of hearing it, maybe you're screaming at your radio's going, oh, I like sprints, just let them be. Sure, you're in title to that opinion. But if we're going to have some kind of alternate Grand Prix, there needs to be something completely alternate to it. It can't

can't just be a mini Grand Prix that is directly copy and paste of the main Grand Prix, bring something new different to it, that actually kind of goes, oh, I don't know, reverse grid, or oh, rookies only, or something like, if you go right, I'm turning out for something new, something a bit different. I'm seeing something I'm definitely not going to see on the Sunday. You get more value for your money and people will be very, very interested to turn up and walk something very different. Yeah, as I said in the first segment when we were talking about how F1's in a good state at the moment. How far down the list of reasons would you have to get to

before you get to sprint races as to why F1 is great? I'd argue it's not on that list. Well, precisely. I mean, there's so many, you know, the variety of winners, the variety of Mercedes being good, McLaren being good. That has made F1, that has made a season out of what was seemingly not going to be a season earlier this year. And I just can't point to sprints and say,

thank goodness we've got them. otherwise we'd be in a worse position, which if you're pointing to something and saying, I can't see any value in it. And again, I appreciate there are fans of spring races. It makes sense. It's race cars going around a track. It's just, I don't really see it. Yeah, we're not talking about saving the world there, are we?

But at the same time, it is frustrating. And the F1 posting a social media graphic yesterday, I think it was, you know. It was all the drivers that had won a Grand Prix, and the caption was, who's next. The fact that we're at that point, that's so cool. Who will be the seventh winner this season? It feels very un-F-1

to be able to have that graphic and shout about who might be the seventh different Grand Prix winner in one year. It's got 2012 vibes all over it, which I love. They can't win the sprint race. He doesn't count.

So the achievement as well doesn't really emulate the big Sunday moment that we're all looking for as well. Like you said, if Hamilton won the sprint race at Silverstone, if there was one,

you could be going, Well, that was good. Should we do the actual Grand Prix now? And if Verstappen won it, or if Hamilton did indeed go on with it, it just sucks it out a little bit. The achievement of winning gets sucked away a little bit by just being a mini version of the main event. In terms of the circuits themselves, obviously five of the six are remaining exactly the same.

We've seen quite a lot of variety in the sprint circuits over the last few years. So I was at least a little bit surprised that there was only one change in the calendar this year. What did you think? I don't care. Do you know what I mean? Like, I see your point. And I don't think, I don't think they've worked well.

I think China was probably the most interesting one. And again, that's because we had the very cold, down and resurfaced conditions. That meant that actually we got a slightly shaking up grid between the sprint race and the main Grand Prix. That's where we had some differences. Again, that highlights why having a different kind of structure

might be interesting despite the staffing. ending up running away with it anyway. But yeah, I would like to have seen some big difference. I don't really get why we've gone back to Spa as the other option. It was fine when we went there, but it was no crazy, brilliant Grand Prix. So I'm a bit confused why Spar's been chosen. Oh, I've gone to new tracks entirely. I'll try something different.

If you're going to struggle with it and go, let's relocate. Let's let's give something else to go. I've picked six completely new tracks. I haven't had one yet. I've given it to Baku can have one. I've gone with Singapore. I don't know. I just tried something a bit different to shake things up.

I think, to be honest, my overall verdict is not too similar, not too dissimilar from yours, which is that if a circuit can produce a good race, it will probably produce a good sprint race. If a circuit's not very good for racing, it probably won't produce a good sprint. Like there's not, like you said, there's not too. Man is shocked. Yeah. There's not enough separating sprints and main.

Grand Prix. So interlagos, for example, has delivered a couple of good sprint Grand Prix. Why? Interlagos is great. Like, of course it has. Most of them haven't surprised me too much. Cota did surprise me a little bit, again, based on those rather negative comments we've had in the past.

But I guess they're going back there. Spa, the thing that confuses me about going back to Spa is, I'm assuming Oscar Piastri, by the way, has put that request in so we can claim another win. Sorry, he didn't win that, did he? He got pole, though, didn't he? He finished second in that one. He did very well. But I'm surprised about SPAR because reportedly,

circuits have to pay an extra $4 million to host a sprint weekend rather than a normal weekend. Now, if we're to say any circuit on the calendar is struggling to stay on the calendar because of the amount that F1 charge for hosting, you'd immediately point to SPAR. So it's somewhat, maybe they think they're going to get a good return on investment by this. I don't know.

But it did somewhat surprise me because, yeah, for a circuit that is struggling or seemingly struggling to stay on the calendar as much as spa to then potentially fork out more money for a race weekend. I can't see the logic. There might be some, but I can't see it. Four million is audacious as well. That is absolutely, that's candy from a baby from F1. That is, I also don't see where are they getting the extra revenue from these tracks.

We've got a game from spending that four. million quid. Is it more TV right time? Do they get more advertising money through spenders maybe at the track? But you can't sell any more tickets for Friday. I don't know. Most weekend packages tend to sell out or get to a 90% sale anyway. So are they making up a $4 million difference by having a few more Friday tickets? You heard the words from Cota. We haven't sold any more. We haven't had any more interest than what we normally get. So, you know, I can't see them making back four million quid unless, of course, someone who maybe works in advertising for these kind of events understands that they make back a whole load because

there's another race on TV. Maybe, maybe that's what they get out of it. But in terms of pure footfall, I don't think they're getting an extra four million quits worth. Yeah, in theory, there's got to be some logic, otherwise they wouldn't do it. But you just be spending money for nothing. What's the point? Manco doesn't understand money. He runs the negotiations. God, he must be paying at least $46 billion to have. have F1 every year. F1 loves him. Okay, let's take our second break. On the other side, we're going to be talking Max Verstappen and Williams. Yeah, they're racing together. Yeah, yeah, that's not two topics. That's one topic. Okay, welcome back. Some news that came out

this week, some comments actually from Max Verstappen, as he's revealed his vision was affected by the crash he suffered after colliding with Lewis Hamilton during the 2021 British Grand Prix. the incident at Copps Corner saw Vastappen flying to the barriers around 51G. He was able to climb out from his cockpit, but he was taken to hospital for checks. Recently, he was speaking to Red Bull's website where Vestappen describes the vision problems he had following the incident, particularly at that season's United States Grand Prix. And now it is important to note, I do want to put this disclaimer in at this point. The article in question is in German, and there is some debate as to whether Vostappen is referring to these vision problems,

as being strictly in the past or if they're still ongoing. My instinct is the former, but I do just want to put that disclaimer out there. In the article, he states that the biggest problems were bumpy tracks and those with a lot of advertising boards. And in the US race specifically, he detailed how he was fighting Lewis Hamilton, but also blurred images and that it nearly caused him to retire. Sam, your response to those comments? Quite shocking, actually.

I was really quite surprised to hear it when he came out. I really think better checks need to be put in place for this kind of. Your vision doesn't work. Like your eyes, the things that when you're driving a car, you literally legally have to be able to use to drive the car. That's terrifying. Imagine being like driving with, imagine putting some cloth over your face and then go,

right, now go drive the car down the motorway. You can see a bit, but you can't really. I would crash. People would die? it would not be a good time for anyone involved, equally illegal. So, you know, equally the law. Equally against the law. I also think this is Max's fault.

He's an athlete. He's going to do what he can to be as competitive as possible. So he would be the level of discipline that Max Lestappen would have to be, I think, to withdraw himself from his first attempt at a world championship fight, which of course he then went on to win, then take that away with him because of a crash with his, direct competitor, it kind of screams louder and hunt a little bit, actually, with the whole, you know, louder getting back in the car to a much lesser extent, obviously, what Lauer did

was physically quite incredible. But for staff and driving around for the rest of the season, and potentially longer, with blurred vision, is quite a shocking statement and quite worrying that he was able to pass. I assume all the tests provided by the health team, the medical team, by his own physio team, to make sure that he is fit for purpose. and that he was competing at the highest level where cars going over 200 miles an hour full of petrol, heavy batteries

that have been known to catch on fire. It's quite a scary premise. And I'm not disrespectful to Maxwell. He got the job done. And, you know, he did a fantastic job in that championship, obviously. But that is worrying. That's quite worrying, quite scary.

Yep. I like eyes when driving. Yeah. Eyes are good. I'm not, I have to say, I'm not overly surprised, because a 51G crash is insane. And I remember at the time,

because obviously he went to hospital, had checks. Now, it wasn't a back-to-back race weekend, but he was in the car like 10 days, 12 days later at the Hungarian Grand Prix. And I was surprised, actually, because it was a very big crash. And surprisingly, I've never been in a 51G crash.

So I'm happy to, you know, deviate to someone who has. And I don't doubt any of the words that Vostappan is saying here, a few people seem to think he's timing this based on Red Bull not being as good. I just don't read into any of that. I think this is incredibly genuine. But yeah, I came to the same conclusion, which is based on this revelation, the checks surely need a better look because someone in that condition, in my opinion, shouldn't be driving a race car. Now, I know a lot of our listeners, at least some of our listeners, will be on the side of these guys as supreme athletes, let them race, they can make their own decisions. We don't need to molly coddle them. We know what F1 drivers are like. They will go

and race in any condition possible because it's their livelihood, it's their career, it's in their nature. And they honestly, they need protecting from themselves sometimes. It's very rare that someone like Logan Sargent makes a decision to retire from the Qatar Grand Prix. That doesn't happen very often. You know, Vestappen is still racing for a championship. He's going to get in the car at the first opportunity. And this isn't an isolated incident either. I think there are other checks that maybe need to be implemented or improved because another

one that springs to mind is when Landstrol raced at the Bahrain Grand Prix last year after damaging his wrists, he could not get out of the cut. without being helped by team members. And it's morbid to think, but if he's in a position where he needs to get out of that car appropriately at that circuit, right, if he needs to get out of that car as soon as possible and he can't, surely that's a hazard that needs to be seen to. I know you're never going to achieve 100% safety in F1, but I still look at a few of these incidents, this for Stappan one,

that straw one. There have been a few times over the last couple of years where Landon Norris has been quite ill and he said a few things where I've been like, I don't know if you should be driving. He had some serious tummy problems, isn't he? Lossed a lot of liquids, a lot of fluids. We've all been there. And, you know, the fact that he's then getting into a car incredibly hot conditions

where he's almost feeling faint and particularly passing out in the car, much like Logar Sard at Qatar is basically driving a missile on wheels. That's what a Formula One car is. If you were to drive that into someone because you've not hit the brakes, the damage you could do to yourself and to competitors or team members or stewards or people trying to work or god for big fans,

it's awful. That would be hideous because they missed a medical check. I also thought it was quite ironic, Ben, that you used the phrase. They need a good look. I thought, that's a good turn of phrase. We'll talk about eyes. Oh, yes. Even as you said it, I was like, where's he going with this?

I'm looking. That's what you do with eyes. Yes. It's a good look. Good point. But yeah, I was surprised by these comments. And, yeah, as you would expect, F1 Twitter and F1 social media has taken these comments and reacted to them very normally and with good reason. The way that social media picks something up and will just run in some kind of unknown direction through a burning building over a cliff and go, I am correct whilst plummeting all the way down to.

the ground is quite bizarre. It really, do not get your news directly from social media, folks. Please, have fun, be responsible, but do not get your factual accounts from social media. Please verify sources, people. Let's move on to Williams. Slight peek behind the curtain here. I have my notes right in front of me as we're recording here. This is topic four that is written down.

All I've put for the title of this is, Williams have hired. everyone. Good. Word for word. That is what I've put. Williams have hired everyone. And recently, they've been on a real spruce. They've claimed that they, over the course of this season, have secured 26 new hires

from other teams. And the latest batch include Matt Harmon, who was the Alpine Technical Director earlier this season, who will coincidentally be reunited with Pat Fry at the team. Ferrari's former head of performance analysis, who's Fabrice, Monskade, Juan Molina, who was former principal aerodynamicist at Haas. He's previously worked with Red Bull as well. Richard Friff, former head of performance Alpine, and Steve Winstanly, who's also formerly of Red Bull.

And they announced all of these pretty much together. Sam, the performances on track leave a lot to be desired, but they are making good progress in terms of hiring personnel. Why? I tell you why. Performances on track leave a lot to be desired. Has anyone walk around the factory? Bloody empty.

No one there. Don't have anyone working for him. That's why they had to hire so many people. There's no one but building the car. Okay. So there was no one to begin with now that they're bringing people in. Literally. You know, empty rooms, tumbleweed blowing through the factory.

That's a new wheel. Someone get that, could put that on the Logan's car. It's honestly, this is quite bizarre. This many new hires in such a short space of time. And what's so love that they're being ambitious. And they're doing what I've said so many other teams should do, which is go out there, thieving. Go out there, Robin, Nick your employees of other teams.

You know, you go, who's doing a good job for our competitors? Go get them, bring them in. I love that. I love that mentality. What does worry me about this is structural change to this level is quite big. There's going to be a longer disruption. There's going to be a longer change in culture in the understanding of how things work in processes. And also, I think, in the long term.

I don't do it now, I'd say. Yeah, correct. If you're struggling, now's the time to make the change. than doing it while you're on top. But there is every chance it's going to take a bigger time for all of these changes to really kick in. And I think there's a real chance that some feathers could be ruffled. I wouldn't be surprised if we hear some departures later on down the road as well.

But there's going to be a lot of changes there. And it's going to take a bigger time people to get their feet under the table and to start actually implementing changes that are going to be positive on track. Or we're going to see something tangible on the racetrack. That's a lot of new people to bring in for a lot of different places. I just, you know, I hope that they've got a good process. I think James Vows is a good leader, and I think he'll be able to instill good direction

and influence those changes and really harness them. I do believe that. I hope that comes to fruition for them, and this isn't just kind of them flailing around in the dark, hoping that someone is going to find the door and let them all through, basically. So, yeah, it's very interesting and very unusual in F1's high this many people in such a short amount of time, but I'm here for it. Now they're making the check.

They're at the back, make the changes, see if it makes sense. Yeah, I think it 100% make sense to make these changes now rather than 12 months time or 18 months time because, yes, you're right, it's going to take a while for those changes to really embed. And it might be difficult for the rest of this season. It might be difficult for the entirety of next season. But 2026 would be the season after that. And that rings up, ah, 22 new regs.

Oh, is that it? I think this is just James Vowles in the kitchen and he is cooking. Yeah, I don't know what he's cooking. The pat frying pan. But the Pat Fryen pan is out and Matt Harmon's just been chucked in. Honestly, he's such a well-respective member of the Formula One community

and the fact that we just refer to him all the time as a frying pan. It's so late. We've worked with Williams. We've been to their areas. They invite us along to stuff. We call him a frying pan. To Pat Frye, we collectively have the IQ of a frying pan.

That's the ironic thing. He's amazing. He's a brilliant person. I'm sure he laughs regularly. I'm sure he hears it in the wind. Friangang, once again. He listens to this. It won't be in the wind.

He is a big fan. Yeah, I think it makes sense to make all of these changes now. And you have to assume that Williams, I appreciate they're not in the financial position. They were a few years ago before Doralton Capital came along. But equally, if you look at Audi and you look at Alpine, you look at other bigger, more financially, not secure, but I don't know, bigger backing potentially.

It's hard to believe that Williams are outspending their rivals, put it that way. I think it's difficult to assume that these people all have the same deal on the table and it's just Williams are willing to pay them, their extra 100,000, 200,000 more and that's why they're going there. I can't believe that. So, and you can't believe in the results they're getting on track either. They are currently ninth in the championship and they have fewer points than they had at this stage last year. So I think, based on that, it's got to be the dream that James Vows is selling.

It's got to be the future that he keeps going on about and how this team is not set up for short-term success or even medium-term success. They want to get back to being a race-winning, maybe even championship-winning team than it hasn't been in a very, very long time. And I can only believe that that's what's going on here. And you have to remember there is, I think James Vowse is taking advantage of, something of a domino effect when it comes to hires as well because to get the first person through the door, to get the first big name through the door can be difficult because that big name will go,

well, there's no one else that I trust there. There's no one else who I think's worth me going. But if you can get, if you can just about convince that person to come along, then suddenly the second person sees that they've gone and thought, ah, that must be a good idea. I'll go as well. And then suddenly you've got 26 or 27, however many it was. And you're cooking. But I think that's what he might be benefiting from here. Yeah, I think having Pat Fry on board this early has probably really helped with the hiring process. He is incredibly well respected inside the paddock. And we obviously know within a few of those hires, they have worked directly with Pat Frye already. So that's positive. It's very positive. I didn't write this down, but I believe of all of those hires,

I think about 10 of them are from Alp. Alpina definitely the biggest contributor to Williams hiring. I think it's 10 maybe. That's so funny, is it? we could use those 10 over here. Come on. Come to us. We know what we're doing. Trent's playing in the Euro final later on. I can't rely on him. Oh, yes. Come along, by the way. Oh, okay. Good to know. Yeah, good point.

The thing is, most people will be listening to this after it has either come home or not come home. Oh, is that a knock at the door? I've just heard it come home. No, it's no one. Never mind. Sorry, that's just a Spanish Inquisition. Right. We're not. We're not going into a topic about the Spanish Inquisition. We're going to take our final break on this episode. On the other side, we have got another top five.

Welcome back to the final segment of today's episode. And as mentioned in the intro to the episode, we're bringing back a feature that went down quite well, which is us giving our top five on a certain topic. Now, last time we picked performances of the season so far, which, if memory serves me right, we both picked a Vastappen performance, but they were different for staff and performances.

This time around, we're going to be giving our top five races of the season so far. Now, we've had 12 overall. So we're going to give from fifth down to first what we think have been the absolute class of the Grand Prix that we've had so far. Sam, number five. Number five, I am going to go for, oh, I've got a couple that are right in the back end of this. I'm going to go for Imala. I think Imola was a really slow burner. And initially, it did start a little bit.

Oh, Tyson, here we go. We're at that phase of the season where the Stafford was still able to kind of giddy on up occasionally. It's going to run away a little bit with it. But watching that gap come down, obviously, Norris had not really triumphed yet and seeing the battle between those two, I thought was really thrilling.

It was really, really fun to watch. So in a fifth place for me is Imola. As much as it's not the best overtaking track, It's a great races track, and it's a lot of fun to watch and go around. Of course, it's always sentimental with the likes of, you know, Sena having that massive face statue just down the road from it as well. Emil is not on my list, actually. My number five is the Japanese Grand Prix.

Now, the first five-ish races of this season, not particularly great, were they overall? Most of the early races from this season are not on my list. However, I think the best of the bunch was the Japanese Grand Prix. The reason it can't be any higher than fifth is because the top four positions essentially work themselves out quite quickly. This was a time where Red Bull were very comfortably, the fastest car, and Ferrari were quite comfortably, the second fastest car. But we did get some strategic difference with Charlotte Claire pulling off a one-stop,

and we did have a very good battle between the McLara and Astor-Martin-Messad Mercedes lot. George Russell and Oscar Piastri, I believe, had a battle all the way. way to the last lap of the race. Fernando Alonzo was in that mix as well, which was quite a lot of fun. And it was quite an entertaining battle for the last points position as well until Valtry, Bottas and Salba decided they can't do pit stops. But that was quite, that was quite well fought as well. So again, can't put it any higher, but I've got it fifth.

Fourth place, Sam. Fourth place, I have gone for Miami. I thought it can't go any higher than fourth simply because the safety car intervened. And I do think it maybe got in the way of what could have been a really fun hunt down for the wing, much like we saw on Imola, but I think it could have really been on in Miami. But watching Norris come through,

obviously being so much faster, and the cars around was really interesting. The way that the safety car brought out that kind of interjection of whether Red Bull could keep up with McLaren or whether Norris could get that first win was incredibly exciting. And it was kind of almost the rise of McLaren, where they first really appeared back on the stage again. And then also we have more fun battles further back.

We had, excuse me, Piascary and Sites, of course, having a bit of a ding-dong further back, you remember? They hit each other a couple of times as well. It was also a really good run for Ricardo, because Ricardo finished fourth in the sprint race as well, and that was actually produced some kind of interesting and slightly different results for once. Not the best, and it won't remember, of course,

but it was still all right to watch. So I've got Miami in fourth. Yeah, same. I think this one, this one was quite a comfortable, for for me in that it was quite far clear of everything else, but equally the top three, I don't think it's close to the top three either. I agree with you in that I kind of wish the safety card didn't come out because I don't know what would have happened, but I would have enjoyed watching it. And of course, Landon Norris in the end, a very emotional first win,

of course, but he did take it with relative ease. The signs of Piastri battling, whilst there were multiple mistakes made. It was very entertaining. And that was a Grand Prix where we had the two Alpine drivers go side by side for basically a lap, which, to be fair, could be any Grand Prix. But I thought that was quite entertaining as well. So yeah, we agree on fourth place, which leads us to the podium, third place. Third place for me, I've gone with Austria. And I think that the reason why it can't be higher is, again, whilst we had the immense drama of Norris and Bostappen coming together. Again, I think the race would have been more exciting had they both finished the Grand Prix and fought it. I know for George Russell fans, you're all probably thinking, oh, you know, that was great. He got a win.

It was really cool and you have to be in it to win it and all that, which I agree. It was still made it exciting. When one and two come together, you always get a thrilling Grand Prix. But I do think that it would be much higher up the list, had Norris of the staff and managed to battle all the way to the end of the Grand Prix and safe with each other. We had some good events that generally happened, of course. That being the main one. But then we had a lot of the issues with the fact that Holgerberg was fighting with Perez, of course, further back, which I thought was quite fun to watch. We had so a lot of moves that have surfaced on social media later on because good old track direction. The TV could pick up half of them. But there were some absolutely great moves as well being sent down the insides of the likes of term three.

And Gassely going around the outside of term five of his teammate, Piazrici did it a couple of times as well. We got some good battles. And it was nice to see cars going wheel to wheel and unusual places. So, yeah, I thought Austria was good. I do thinking other scenarios, it might have been even better. Yeah, I have got Austria, the third as well.

It was, I think up until the point where Norris and Vestappen had their battle, it was okay to good. Like, it was fine. I actually thought the race up until that point was better the further back you went. So there were, I really enjoyed the, battle between the hash drivers who committed very early to undercuts versus the Alpins,

versus Ricardo was in the mix as well. And it was quite intriguing to watch all of those battles unfold. And I actually thought the closer to the front you got, the race wasn't all that interesting until the slow pit stop of Vastappan. And then obviously that's the thing that people will talk about for years to come when it comes to this Grand Prix. But I actually fought further back. It was quite interesting as well.

So we agree again. I believe it. Is it going to be almost a full house? It could be. Unless you're about to spring the Monaco Grand Prix on us here in second, it might well be. What have you got? Weirdly, I had to think about it because of the emotional moment of Charles LeClaire of some winging. I didn't have to think.

No thoughts. No thoughts. Where is it? There's nothing there. No, I've gone with, oh, Canada, at second place, because that had a lot going on. I think it came after Monaco as well, which I thought was great, because apart from, of course, McLeo winning Monaco, it was quite dull. Wasn't it? Let's be real. It wasn't exactly a thriller.

So it was good to go back to a track that more regularly than not delivers a great Grand Prix. And we had quite tricky weather conditions going on there. It was kind of damp throughout certain parts of the weekend as well. We had a great battle at the top with Russell taking pole position, which was super exciting. And then the mix of fights between what seemed like a newly resurgent Mercedes being back in the action. Ferrari deciding to once again realize we don't know how to do strategy and we don't know what tyres work and the car is terrible was quite exciting and eventful. Obviously of course for staffing ends up going on to win. Sure, that's great. But then there were fights further back.

So both those Mercedes drivers and Craig will be close together, of course. We had multiple retirements with both the Williams going out as well, Ferrari's going out, Perez went off as well. we also have the drama around that with Shatville Nourves comments about Dangar Ricardo, which I think I got wasn't directly on the most track, but I think it added to the spice. I think it was good fun. Harry Eagled. Yeah, go we can hear it in the wind. He gets rolled up immediately.

So yeah, I thought it was a lot well on at Canada and I enjoyed it. So good Grand Prix, second place for me. Well, that pretty much confirms that we do have the same top four because I've got Canada second as well. We all know what's coming first as well. Yeah. Not okay. I think Canada and Austria were actually, I know conditions-wise, they were nothing alike, but it was almost, I thought the battle from like eighth down was very entertaining at both Austria and Canada.

Whereas Vestappin-Norris was epic for however many laps they were fighting out front for Austria. Canada was basically epic out front the whole way, you know, with the changing conditions, with McLara, Mercedes, Vestappen, all in the mix at one point or another. It was a really entertaining Grand Prix, but from like position one down to position 20, which got it, which for me at least gave at the edge over the Austrian GP. But it was, sorry, go on. And Albon's double overtake going to the final which you came.

I tell you what, we're only halfway through the season. We've still got 12 races to go. You know that Clive's Pigglesworth will be here at the end of the season, promote the LBs, the LB awards that we do. Overtake of the year, we got ourselves a contender already. It could already be on its way. That's gone take some beating.

Yeah, call, blimey. I can hear him actually in the cupboard now. He's very excited. Go on, Clives. Clive's, not Alex Albin, to be clear. That's not Alex Albin. Really want to be clear on this. Yeah, I haven't got anything else to say

on top of what you've already said. It was a great race, which means it is a form. Sam, why was the Monaco Grand Prix, the best race so far this season? Come on, as he's a cut above the rest is Charlotte Clare because his mum was a hairgrasser. Don't. I can't do it. No, not again. Can't do it. No, no. It makes me too angry. Oh, it's a terrible right. Really, thanks me. In serious words, the British Grand Prix has been by far the best race of the season.

British bias. Brexit, Brexit. Brexit. No, come on. It was immense. It had everything. Hamilton fan or not, it had, you know, the old dog winning for the night of time at the same track.

It had the step back up of that old man kind of being on the top again. We all had a cry. Everyone had a cry. But Vastappan was in it, dragging a car, which kind of was struggling. We had Norris and Piastri trying to fight back through to the front. And then we had the drama of the Miss Pit Stop. Russell, who looked so good.

And then, of course, he ends up retiring, which is such a shame. Everyone was involved all over the place. It was such a. thrilling race, that tire deficit at the end, watching the time come down, bit after bit after bit, was so, like, on the edge of your seat stuff, it's by far the best race of the season. It's clear of everything by a long way. Yes, British Grand Prix was the best race so far this season. And I didn't think about this properly before coming onto this recording, but probably the best

race in a few years. I'll have to give it some thought, but... Six-21 at least, I think. Maybe. I'll have to give it a four. in case there is something out there. But yeah, not only was it a great race, it was quite comfortably the best this season

and probably the best for a few seasons. And I'm going to be a poor Brit by saying this. Couldn't care less that Hamilton won. Don't care. Don't care at all. I love great racing. And that's what we had. I wouldn't have cared if Fostappan had passed him on that.

It would have made it a better race if Fostappan had passed him on that last lap because, yes, the result might not have been emotional, I've been as emotional if that happened. That was treason. Okay, maybe I couldn't care less is the wrong term. Like I care in that these great moments happen in F1 and Hamilton was very emotional.

My point is it was great racing regardless of the result and that's what I'm after. That could have, the result could have been anything and that would have been a great Grand Prix. That's probably the better way to make my point. It has been good going, you though, Ben. You're obviously strung up by, you know, British. it's everywhere.

Yeah. Ah, they're all in Berlin. It's fine. It was herky blaspheme. They're quickly on the train back home. God damn it. Gonna have to hide now. So, whilst we had quite a bit of variety on our first top five, not so much today.

But I think maybe we should expand our horizons on these top five. Maybe we could do like across the last decade or something like that. Or since the turn of the new decade. We'll come back with, there are plenty of topics to do. So we'll come back with some more of these in the future. future. Out of interest, were there any that nearly made the list? I'm not going to lie, apart from the Japanese Grand Prix, which you mentioned, which was kind of in all about where Imala was for me. No, that was pretty much it.

Yeah, I kind of had Japan, Spain and China all around the same sort of there. Spain's a clear seventh for me, I think. Yeah. China was okay as well. I kind of had those three all very similar. But yeah, it really made me, this exercise made me realize the first few Grand Prix really were very good. Yeah, Saudi had the fun element of bearman being introduced, of course, but that didn't exactly spice up the action everywhere else. Bahrain was really bad. Saudi Arabia wasn't much better.

You literally forgot Bahrain exists. I don't know it's the first race of the season. The Australian GP is worse than people think it is because... It sounded good because Kerski was there. Well, yes. That got it an extra point, but, you know, the Stappen retiring, if that doesn't happen,

people probably rightly remember that as not a very good race. I'm sure Mercedes would very much enjoy that comment. True. They very much would. Which completes the circle of today's episode. Oh, very good. If you wouldn't mind, Sam, until Wednesday, getting us out of here.

Oh, go power rankings tomorrow. But speaking of power rankings, you can join Patreon, listen to our power rankings so far, this season because of course we're halfway through. Get yourself up to scratch. You're your own power rankings as well. Compare them to ours.

And we can see you again on the power rankings on Patreon on Patreon, of course, which is going to be a week on Monday. Whatever day you're listening to this doesn't really work. So good. That's how that works. Anyway, join us midweek. Of course, we have the Hungarian preview.

Quite looking forward to it. Like I said earlier, I think it's a bit of a secret banger. So, you know, and I've heard Ben that rain is over the water park, like 15 minutes away. Oh, God. Get the umbrellas out. Get the umbrellas out. It's coming.

That is the niches joke in late breaking history, I think. Yes. Join the Discord, links in the description. Join our fantasy. F-1 fantasy. We've still got people joining. Still got people beating Harry E. Which is fantastic.

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