The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Do Bottas and Russell both have 'great options' for 2022? | Episode 140

Episode Date: August 18, 2021

We've almost made it folks, the summer break is nearly done! To keep you entertained in the meantime, the LB boys are back with another podcast of cracking F1 content. This week, we're talking about Bottas' and Russell's options for next year, the cancellation of the Japanese GP and we play F1 Alphabet.JOIN our Discord: https://discord.gg/dQJdu2SbAmASK us a question: https://forms.gle/N6mSiEnyycseesDR6TWEET us @LBrakingSUBSCRIBE to our podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network. This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network. 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 late breaking F1 podcast presented as ever by Harry Ead, Sam Sage and myself Ben Hocking. we're a few weeks into the summer break we are very very quickly going mad Harry's been doing about 70 laps of his house

making a podium out of boxes I've been shouting its lights out and away we go at every traffic light that I've ever seen Sam I've heard that when you put your shoes on you make the noise as if tyres are going on is that true? Yeah correct I've actually asked my girlfriend to stand around the corner with the screwdriver

So when I sit my feet in, I say, right, press the button, and it goes, weir. And it feels very satisfying. I am down to a 1.99-stop. Haven't been in the Red Bull Pit team, just yet. I actually have been making a podium out of boxes, but I never win. Only you, Harry, would not get on the podium when you live in a house with one other person. That's impressive.

Yeah, girlfriend's inferred, and there's a succulent. one, whatever. I imagine that you've just ended up getting stuck on the things of your balcony that you've got, and then got rid of going what way to go since then? Do I fall off? Do I stay in my flat? Have I hit the wall? Is my tyre gone?

Oh, dear. It's impressive. We're already over a minute and a half into the podcast, and I don't think we've said one factually true statement so far, apart from who's presenting the podcast. I guess that was true. But outside of that, I think everything else we've said up to this point is a lie. Yeah, if you didn't know, this is late breaking still. Yes, absolutely assure you of that.

But we won't be lying for a special podcast episode that we do coming up this weekend. So bonus podcast coming for you. We're doing a Q&A session and we promise to give you fully truthful answers as much as we can. So get your questions into us. We're basically, if you can get it to us via facts, that is our preferred method of communication. But if you're not using facts nowadays, we do also have the Discord channel,

if you're in there, let us know on Twitter at our breaking. Let us know. We'll also include the form that we've used before in the description. Harry, that's a note to do that, if that's all right. So just whatever method you see fit. sorry Ben, I was going to jump in there. You know last week when I accused people of clicking the link wrong,

it was me. I had the wrong wink there, so apologies to everyone. Oh, what an absolute shock. It turns out you were to blame. Crazy revelation. What a crazy revelation that is. So whatever way you want to get the questions to us, we'll be answering them all when we're in the same place this weekend.

But we've got plenty to chance. about tonight. We're going to be talking about Nick DeVries, the new Formula E champion, whether he's going to make a move over to Formula One. The Japanese Grand Prix, unfortunately today, as we record this, has been cancelled, so we're going to be looking at the implications of that, whether it will be replaced, whether we think that those potentially going the same way as the Japanese Grand Prix, whether F1 should make a decision on that early. And we're going to bring back everyone's favourite game. Maybe it's not everyone's favourite game, but it's F1 alphabet, Harry versus Sam, in a true test of general knowledge.

But first of all, we're going to look at George Russell and Valtry Bottas because Toto Wolf has come out and said that regardless of which one gets the Mercedes seat and which one doesn't, that there are great options for the pair of them on the 2022 F1 grid. We've seen Bottas link to Alpha Romeo and to Williams. We assume if Russell does not go to Mercedes, he will stay at Williams, although that is an assumption. there does seem to be options out there for both of them, whether they're great or not. That's another debate in its own right. So Sam, what do you make of Toto Woolf's comments here? I think the issue for the two parties is that they are both in incredibly different situations.

Yes, it's nice for Toto to sit there and say, oh, you know, this is a great option for George Russell. He can sit there and be at Williams or he can go to Masegis. Great. He's either stays where he is or he upgrades himself to the off at the table. It's not really so much the same for Valtry Bottas, where he's going up going from the best team in Formula One over the last seven or eight years to two of the bat marker teams, essentially. I think Toto is being rather kind. I think the options for VB are not great, but yeah, no, essentially I think that George Russell is definitely getting the better end of the stick, and Valtry Bottas, if he doesn't stay at Mercedes, is going to be relegated down to a place that doesn't look so kind upon him. So yeah, better for George, not as kind for Valtrey Bottas.

Full disclosure, didn't quite understand everything Sam said, although that is the norm. Actually, in summary, probably the most accurate thing you've ever said. Harry, what are your views on exactly what Sam just said? I mean, that's difficult because I too, I too didn't hear what Sam said. folks of some technical difficulties say it wouldn't be a late-breaking podcast without one. I'm not going to comment on what Sam said.

If you could have said absolutely anything, then, I mean, who actually knows? As for what Toto Wolf said, yeah, I think the phrase great options is maybe problematic

because if you've actually bought us, going to Williams in 2020 compared to where you are right now, it's not a great option so I don't know whether I agree with that one alternatively though George Russell going to Mercedes that is a great option

I guess what he's trying to say is that they'll both have a seat in 2022 whether it remains as the status quo you know what still remains to be seen but it sounds as if neither one of them will be without a seat and we expect that of Russell but I guess for Bottas that's reassuring

in a way that he's not he's not going to be left left out in the cold all alone but yeah I think great options depends on which

a viewpoint you take your look at this from because it will be difficult to imagine Toto sits Valtry down and goes look Valtrow and go level with your hair son we're not going to keep you next year but we've got a great option

you can drive a Williams next next year and voucher goes thanks toto that's right that is a great option thank you very much for you thank you very much for your time i'm going to have espresso bye-bye it's not going to happen is it that sounds uh and apologies very british reference that sounds like the old uh bull's eye you know when when you'd have the consolation prize you know you could have won the speedboat but instead you've got your bus fare home so um maybe maybe not quite as good of an option as the Mercedes seat um i don't know if you look at if you look at the pair of them i i understand what toto wolf is trying to say here i think he's either he's either massively exaggerating

the prospects for the driver who doesn't get the Mercedes seat we're assuming here it will be one of the two of them i don't think nicholas latifie is going to go into the seat but it hasn't been confirmed that he won't be there um so let's just assume that one of them is going to be in the seat the other one isn't he's either he's either exaggerating what a great option is uh in terms of williams or alpha rameo or he's got something up his sleeve um that we don't know about maybe there is another seat elsewhere that it comes in as a very um unexpected answer to the salute to the problem that they've got at the moment i don't expect that to be the case i think it is just toto being uh being a bit exaggeratory about the options available for their drivers. I think ultimately, if you look at

George Russell, I think he will either stay at Williams or it will be Mercedes. I don't think there will be a third option for him outside of those two. If he doesn't get the seat, it would be incredibly frustrating for George Russell, of course, because this is by far the closest he has come to actually getting that seat. But, you know, we can't tell. And ultimately, I don't know if Mercedes are worried about this in any way whatsoever, but what has been the thing that's keeping George Russell going? It's the competitiveness of that Mercedes seat, right?

You know, he would only sit in a really awful William's seat for a few years if he knows that the prospect of what's at the end of the road is amazing. However, we have seen this season, the lure of the Mercedes seat, while still incredibly strong, is not quite the ticket to a dominant championship that it was in 2020 or 2019. And with these regulation changes coming in in 2022, I don't know if Mercedes will be worried at all. If they do, and I don't know if they will, if they fell down the order somewhat, then suddenly the appeal of George Russell being loyal to Mercedes isn't there anymore. So I don't know if that's something they need to consider

if they did go the route of Bottas for the seat. If Bottas doesn't get the seat yet, it does look like it would be Alpha or Williams for him. Who knows? Maybe it will be a massive shake around next season and we're going to see Mick Schumacher claim 10 pole positions and Mazapin compete for the championship. I don't think so. So I don't think Alpha Romeo and Williams

will be suddenly fighting at the top. We'll see what happens though. ultimately I think what Toto Wolf is trying to do here is almost play both sides and I don't think he wants to outright annoy either of them at the moment and just keep things as they keep all options open until they go ahead and make the decision the Harareid approach as it is known it on fence I've heard that Bossas has actually sold up his house but just kept the front fence and that's where he now lives just simply on the white picker effects at the end of that lovely drive yeah true story it

might be this but it might not be the harry ead conclusion nothing quite beats it what an autobiography title yeah i'm fully expecting that to be the case when we of course all do release autobiographies that will be read by but every but every chapter finishes with it may be happened it maybe it happened I didn't. Chapter 13. Harry was born July

1996 or was he maybe? I don't know. Is my name even Harry? My friends can realize

that maybe it wasn't until a few years in. This is very true folks. My real name is not actually Harry, so I'm

leaving a lie. Imposter the entire time. Can you guess ladies and gents what Harry's first name is will give a prize to the person that guesses it correctly. Ben Hockey cookie could be on your way.

It could well be. Yeah, let us know in the Discord. That could be very interesting. And no rude name. Yeah, legitimate names. Harry has got another name that is technically his first name. It's got a joke, it's got a lie. What do you think it is?

It's not Princess Consuver, right? Get that one out of the way. Sure. I mean, from going back to Mercedes, so I think that's what we were talking about possibly. Are you surprised that they haven't made a decision yet? They did initially say that the summer break, and we are still in the summer break, of course.

They said the summer break was when they were looking to make this decision. It hasn't happened yet. There hasn't really been any rumours that it's happening. It's on the horizon either. So, Sam, do you think that they will make this decision in the summer break? And if not, when do you think they'll leave it to? I think it is a lose-loose. lose decision for them if they make it in the summer break.

I think that if they, let's say they go with the George Russell option. Let's say they announce that Russell is going to be the Mercedes driver for the upcoming two, three seasons alongside Hamilton's and minimum, let's say. That means that Bottas has nothing to fight for for the rest of the season. In a season where Mercedes have not had a closer competitor at this point since the entire time that they've become dominant, you need both drivers on form. And the best way to keep Bottas on form is to make sure that he is driving essentially for his career. He is driving to stay in his seat. That compliments Mercedes in Toto

massively. That means that, you know, they get the best Bottas, the ultimate team player. The man is going to do whatever he can to score the points and get Hamilton into the prime position to maximize every weekend. If you announce that Russell joins him summer, you know, okay, come December, they'll be swapping the drivers, Bossass will leave and either go to, let's say, Alpha or Williams, whatever it might be, and Russell will be joining us. Then Russell doesn't need to impress anymore. He can sit back and relax, so that might not be beneficial for the form. Secondly, what's Bottas fighting for? Potas might have to impress another team, I suppose, but Bottas has done his speaking already in other seasons. It's not like he's been bad.

So I generally think that this is a negative situation. I would not be shocked if they leave it. So let's say October, where the season is almost at the end and they've only got a race or two left to go. That wouldn't shock me if they try and play those mind games to ensure the team is motivated fully coming into the season. If Red Ball are going to maintain this offensive that they've done, so far in the first half. What do you reckon, Harry? We saw with not necessarily Valtrey Bottas's side of the garage, but Lewis Hamilton's side of the garage,

that his contract for this season was arranged very late, so it wouldn't be against what Mercedes have done in the past to go quite far into the season before making the decision. But do you think that they'll make it in the next couple of weeks? I mean, yeah, you're right. We could be here for another half a year, yeah, before they make a call. No, I think that's unlikely.

I think there was a, you know, if it had been any other driver other than Lewis Hamilton, that have told him to do one and sign someone else before I got to February before testing. So, no, I think it'll be sooner of that. I agree with what Sam said. I think they want to keep Bautas sweet, so to speak. So they don't want him to, if he thinks he's going, there's every chance that Bottas just starts driving for himself and becomes a bit more difficult than. and he possibly could be.

And I don't think he is that type of driver anyway, but why risk it when you are in this very, very tight battle with another team, which, quite frankly, Mercedes-Henhan had to do very often in the past, however many years, seven years or whatever. So, yeah, I think that's a completely fair point. But in the other sense, you know, how long can they string George Russell along for? I don't know how long that boy's patience will last.

and he has the patience of a saint so far, but how much longer before he says on going to Red Bull instead? I don't know. But yeah, I'm not sure. I think it will be done sooner rather than later. I mean, there were lots of rumours flying about that it was going to happen.

At Silverstone, we saw a leaked article suggesting that there is some sort of embargo that's not been lifted yet, so I think it will happen at some point. But, yeah, it's not highly likely, but it's fairly likely they're holding off to keep Bottas a bit of. sweeter for the rest of the season.

And maybe he does already know deep down, but at the moment, I think they just want to keep it under wraps. Yeah, I think that's the point you made in terms of Russell being patient. It's kind of going back to what I was saying on, you can afford to be patient when you've got something so lucrative in the not too distant future. Like, if you were told, okay, you have to live on a salary of £15,000 per year for the next three years, you might not be overjoyed at that number, but if you know that at the end of those three years, you're guaranteed to have a million pounds, you'd probably be like, yeah, all right,

I'll wait it out, because you know something great is happening in the future. So, yeah, I think it is, Russell's patience is tied to how much of an appeal that Mercedes seat is. And at the moment, it is still, despite the pace of Red Bull, still a very appealing position for him to potentially be in. I think I am not too surprised that they haven't made a decision yet and I'm not entirely sure when they will. I've said before that I actually think when I say the decision has not been made. It has not been publicly made. I still think that they have made a decision internally. I do believe that Russell will be driving for Mercedes next season. I think that is, if not in writing, I think that is a done deal. And they are just waiting.

for the best moment to release this because it doesn't, as Sam, you kind of mentioned, it doesn't make sense at the moment and it isn't going to be good for anyone. Valtry Bottas, there is a very good chance he will decide the championship, the Constructors Championship, that is.

I don't think he'll decide the driver's championship, but we can all live in hope that he will win a race. You still win it? Yeah, it's still math. It's not going to happen. No race wings, sorry. But in terms of the Constructors' Championship, he could well decide it,

with Perez's pretty similar performances to Valdry Bottas and there isn't much separating Hamilton and Vastappan, you might get a situation where even if Vastappan does win the driver's championship, if Bottas does enough of a job, Mercedes could still clinch one of the two championships, that being the constructors. So they need Bottas on the best possible form they can get out of him. And I don't think telling him at this point that, yeah, it's not happening next season,

mate, you're being shipped off to Williams. I don't think that's going to go down particularly, well. I don't think that would be great at all. And I do think they've made this decision just based on, if you think back to Monaco when Bottas obviously retired from the race when he was doing very well, he was looking like podium position was definitely on the cards where Hamilton was struggling that weekend. We saw that Toto Wolf didn't necessarily completely blame Valtry Bottas for the retirement because he overshot his pit mark. But he did definitely say that he contributed to it. And since that point, I think Toto Wolf has been much nicer, shall I say, to Valtrey Bottas.

There hasn't been anything like that. And I think that's because there's no point in kicking a man while he's down. And I think they have made this decision. And they realize that actually making those sorts of comments isn't going to be constructive for a guy they need to win both championships. I also think that Valtry Bottas, even when they do, even if an up, if or when, depending on your view on it. If Valdri Bottas is not a Mercedes next season, and let's say he isn't,

he does go to Williams, it makes sense for Mercedes to keep that relationship alive with Valtry Bottas. It's the one disadvantage that Mercedes have over Red Bull is that Red Bull have their junior program and they have the Al-Fatari team. We saw what happened with Pierre Gasly and they can just allow him to be there in that spot in Al-Fatari

and then if they need to use him or, want to use him, they can. They can do it whenever they want to. They don't necessarily have that same flexibility at Mercedes. So if Valdry Bottas was to lose that C, they would want to keep the relationship open. So for whatever reason, if they needed a driver to step in, either short term or medium term, they know that Bottas has done it for the last five years and could step in quite easily. So I think he will look to protect Toto Wolf. He will look to protect both relationships, regardless of what the decision is. But I do think the decision has. thing, mate.

I mean, from one Mercedes to another, we're going to look at Formula E, because Mercedes win everything, and apparently that doesn't just apply to one motorsport anymore, just applies to everything they do. In the hotly contested Formula E championship this year, Nick DeVries walked away with the title, despite there being about 612 drivers in contention going into the last weekend. I thought for a minute I might stand a chance. It wasn't far off that mark. Anyway, DeVries did come away with the victory, and a lot of attention has turned to whether he might secure himself a Formula One seat or not. Quick disclaimer, we understand that Formula E is not a feeder series to Formula One. It is a world

championship in his own right, and there isn't necessarily a need for the Formula E world champion to prove himself in Formula One. But this has been talked about a bit. He has been linked to William, so it is worth the discussion here. Sam, do you think that DeVries, based on everything you've seen, do you think he is worth a shot in Formula One? I mean, the guy won his F2 series, right? He has won the Figa series for Formula One, which is what we're talking about here,

and then he's moved into Formula E, and within a couple of years of sorting himself out and adjusting, he comes away and he overall wins the season. Now, I'm not the biggest Formula He fan. I haven't kept up with every corner and every move that's gone on. And so those of you that are listening that might be big Formula E fans, you might be sat there thinking,

well, Sam, what about this incident? Or Sam, what about when this event happened? But I'm going to compare him to his teammate because I've looked at the results, I've looked at the overall points, and I know that his teammate is ex-Fourn one driver, Stoffel Van Dorn. Someone has also rated very highly

by both the saying East McLaren and other F1 drivers. DeVries beat Van Dong, quite comfortably from what I've seen in the points tally, and that, okay, yes, secured them the Constructors Championship, but from what I can see, Vandong wasn't really in contention for taking home the driver's championship and going near as much as his teammate was. So when they're both reserved drivers for the current Formula One World Champions,

and there's only one seat going, unless you give that seat to a rookie or Valtry Botas, I don't really see where else that seat goes if it has to stay in the same family. Now, Total Wolf, as we discussed earlier, said some nice things, but either driver, Russell or Bottas, would receive a good seat regardless of where they end up. I think that's PR-loving us, and I don't. I don't think Bottas will get a good seat at all if he leaves Mercedes. I don't know what else he would provide to Mercedes the moment he leaves their actual seat. He's too old to really be a feeder driver.

They've got good reserved drivers which they very rarely use and he costs more money. I don't know what he really brings if he does leave that Mercedes seat. So to me, Nick DeVries has more advantage in terms of being the one that takes a younger, lower level, mid-table seat. And I think it allows them to check their options to prove themselves. And if Masegis are lacking in anything, it is key young drivers that could feed in to when Lewis Hamilton leaves. Yes, they've got Russell. But who have they got that is an instinctive choice after Hamilton leaves? O'Con is essentially left that programme.

He's now part of the Alpine team. Norris, yes, is managed by the same team. But he is so at home at that McLaren team. He leads that McLaren team. And I think if McLaren carry on the way they are, they can have a race-fucking car very, very soon. It's exciting to see. So I don't think he's going to be a unique choice. So where do Masegis go at that point?

I don't think Van D'Org is going to be the pick. Unfortunately, I don't think he's impressed enough, as much as I think he's a good driver. So I think DeFries is the obvious choice. Do I think he's done enough to warrant an F1 seat? I'm not sure, but I would definitely be interested to see how he would fare if either Latifie were to leave, and he would replace him there and would go along Russell,

or Russell would move to that Mesaigie seat, and then DeVries would move against to Latifia, maybe in that William's seat. It's a very curious case. There could be a lot of shuffering going on. But I definitely think Nick DeFries has quite rightfully put his hat into the ring as a name being mentioned alongside the empty seats left in the sport. So I'm interested as you can see it. I don't think it's a wrong choice if it does happen.

What do you reckon, Harry, do you think he's got a shot? Yeah, I don't see why not? Because, you know, the reason he went off to Formula E's because he won the F2 Championship and then there were no seats for him in Formula One. So he didn't really have much of a choice. And as Sam said, he went off to Formula E, and it's not taking him particularly too long to win. Well, he's the first world champion in Formula Rigs before it's just series champions.

So, yeah, he was obviously a talent that was destined for Formula One, but when he got to Formula One, got to that point, the doors were closed and all the seats were filled. So maybe he is due a shot in Formula One. I guess for him, the problem is, you know, it's different because a lot of drivers want to go to Formula One, but does he want to go to Formula One and drive a car that isn't very competitive, or does he want to stay in a series where he can, you know, make at the moment, make more of a difference than he could in Formula E.

I guess that's a decision on his part, but, yeah, I definitely think he's a viable option for Williams. but they could end up with too many options which is a lovely problem for them to have considering the position that teams in currently but yeah who would I take a Bottas or DeFries I'm not entirely sure it depends who they have in that other seat I guess maybe a Botas and DeFries partnership that would be pretty tasty I think

but yeah it's definitely an option I think it just depends how it all plays out with the Botas Russell Mercedes saga and DeFries is just a just a pawn in that in that little game there, I think. Yeah, I mean, from my side, if I had a decision between Bottas and DeVries, I'd take Bottas every day of a week, to be quite honest.

If Nick DeVries got a seat in Formula One, I think that would be fair enough. I think he's a good driver. And so I don't think it would be crazy for him to get into Formula One. However, I think he would be, he would hold his own, but I think he would hold his own, but I think he would be one of the worst drivers. I would put him in definitely the bottom half, possibly in the bottom quartile. I just don't think he's on that same level

as some of the other drivers that have come through in the last few years. I think he would do an okay job. I don't think he would embarrass himself in any way whatsoever. You don't become Formula E champion without being talented, so he would do a job. I've got no doubt about that. But based on what I've seen,

I just don't think he would compete with some of his peers. I just don't think he'd be there. So I don't think there's a burning desire to see DeVries in Formula One. I mean, if we look at his record, first of all, we have to look at this. He's 26 years of age, which would actually put him in the older half of the grid, which is not an ideal place to start in terms of Formula One. If you look, for example, Carlos Sines, who's been in the sport for how many years is, he's been in now six years, is it, five years?

They're the same age. And DeVries has such a massive task, would have such a massive task at hand to even catch up with someone like Carlos Seines who has a real experience edge on him. Other drivers like Max Verstappen, who has a very clear experience edge, he's younger, so is Pierre Gasly,

so is Esteban Ocon. So you've got quite a few drivers already who have F1 experience and quite a bit of it, and are younger than DeVries as a starting point. If we look at DeVries's record, we know he's a Formula 2 champion, which is an achievement that no one can take away from him. I do think he won the Formula 2 championship in arguably the weakest field that Formula 2 has had in the last five years or so.

Nicholas Latifi, for reference, was runner-up that year, and nothing against Nicholas at all, but he isn't the best driver we've ever seen in Formula 1. And if we look at the season beforehand when he finished fourth place, which is definitely a respectable result, you have to look at the drivers who finished behind. And I always say with Formula 2 and Formula 3, age is a really important thing.

In Formula 1, it doesn't matter too much when you get to 23, 25, 27. It doesn't matter a great deal how old you are. But the difference between a 20-year-old and a 17-year-old is pretty massive in the lower formulae. So if we look at 2018 in terms of Formula 2, George Russell won the championship that year. at the age of 20.

Lando Norris finished second at the age of 19. Alex Albin finished third at the age of 22, and then you've got Nick DeVries who finished fourth at the age of 23. So you've got Nick DeVries at four years older than Lando Norris, who finished second that year, which just says to me that someone like Lando Norris, as he's showing, has a lot of potential

and I think has much more potential in Formula 1 versus Nick DeVries. And in terms of the 2021 F.E championship, It was a, I mean, Formula Rees very rarely unbongers, but it seemed like this season really took everything to an extreme in that sense. Nick DeVries managed to in 15 races. He failed to score more times than he did score. Of the 15 races, he only scored at seven of them, and he won the championship.

He won, you know, he won with two wins, which it's a very competitive field. And there are a number of great drivers in Formula E. I think to a day, and this probably won't get me many fans, I think Formula E the way that it's set up at the moment is not necessarily a lottery, but there is a good deal of luck involved in Formula E. Just there is a lot of craziness that happens, and you just sometimes need to be on the right side of things. Not saying that doesn't sometimes happen in Formula One as well,

but that just seems to be the lay of the land there at the moment. bear in mind every driver in formulary this season down to 20th had a podium every driver down to 20th place had a podium and here's another is a great one nick de vries if you take away one of his wins only one one result all year take away that from his championship he finishes 15th that's how close the championship field is in Paul Rilly at the moment. So like I say, I think Nick DeVries, he would hold his own in Formula One. I'm sure he'd do absolutely fine. And if he ended up getting a seat, I would wish him the best of luck. And I think he would get on okay. But do I think he's on the same level as some of the other guys that are coming through at the moment, the likes of

Vastappen, Leclair, Russell Norris. I don't for a second think he's in that group. I mean, just to comment on the wing number, I agree that FE does seem a bit more like a lottery. It seems more up and down. And I agree that it doesn't look great. rate. But also, if you look at F1 greats, it's been a while, but if you look at F1 greats like Mike Hawthung

or Rosberg, Kecky, that is, not Nico. They did win the season with what, I think, a single, maybe two wings in their season, so it hasn't happened for a long time,

but you can have great names with minimal wings in a season. I don't, I think you're right. I completely agree most of your points. I'm just throwing a little spanger in the works here that you could theoretically

be deserving of greatness and go on to big things or be a big name even whilst achieving what looks like a small thing on paper. That's true. I would say in those instances, Mike Orphan, when he won, I can't remember how many races there were that season,

but it wasn't many. In terms of the Keke-Rosberg season, you're absolutely right. And the early 80s was a bit of a lottery when it came to the Miller one. It was, yeah, I think there was one set. I can't remember which one it was, maybe 82, 81 or something. Alam Pross managed to win the first two races of the season. Pretty much did nothing for the rest of the year and still managed to nearly win the championship.

The early 80s is pretty wild time in Formula One. But yeah, I think that's where we'll leave that one. We'll move on to Japanese Grand Prix,

unfortunately cancelled for the second straight year, hoping that it would go ahead. Great race. We absolutely love it there. Apart from the early mornings, we can't complain too much about the early mornings,

though, being in the UK because we only have to do it like twice a season. Apologies to those that have to wake up in the early hours of the morning consistently. But yeah, Japanese Grand Prix, not going ahead. F1 are looking at plans to potentially replace it. They're looking at what they can do with the calendar.

Sam, with the championship, I'm going to focus this on Vostappan-Hamilton, the championship, looking like it could go down to the wire. Do you think it is in any way unfair for them to have uncertainty about the races that might or might not follow? and in instances where something might get cancelled, do you think the FIA should make the move early rather than leaving it last minute?

I 100% believe that that is true. I feel like when we've got a championship that is this close, if you were to do this last year, where Hamilton was waltzing away with it, he was incredibly dominant. Then who cares if you lose two races? Hamilton wings regardless, right? But when we've got one of the closest championship fights

that we've had for nearly a decade now, what we've argued, 2012, was probably the next closest one that we've had, between two different teams, then it would be rude, it would be wrong, it would be unfair to start dropping Grand Prix when we're two, three weeks away, especially if, let's say,

let's say the Botas incident happens again and the race in two weeks time then gets cancelled, and that means that Vastappen can no longer win the championship and he got taken out by something else completely not his fault, right? Let's say that happens. How robbed would Vastappan be,

his fans be, Red Bullby, so I have a real chance, a fair chance of taking that championship fight back, I do think that maybe after the spa mongsa section, which is what essentially about three to four weeks from now, you need to have the rest of the calendar cemented and done, and that is it. You can't be adding stuff, you can't be taking stuff away, and you need to almost have a, you will have a minimum of X races left,

so you will have the chance to decide the calendar. Because also, what a shame it will be for the fans. So we've gone through this whole COVID situation. and then it turns out, oh, Hamilton happened to be leading after the Brazilian Grand Prix, and we've just decided to cancel Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi

due to COVID flaring up massively in the Middle East. So Hamilton wins, and you'd be like, there's only three points between them, and we had two races to go. So we've been robbed of a mad championship end. I think that there needs to be some kind of security measure put in place to make sure that we get a fair, on-track measure that allows a championship to be deciding.

Otherwise, it could go down. forever as that championship didn't deserve it they weren't they weren't deserving of their wing secondly it will probably be the most controversial or one of the most controversial championships in history of formula one if that were the case so um yeah no it definitely needs to have some kind of security level behind it to make sure that we get an on-track definite racing end to this season what are your thoughts on that harry yeah i mean uh look the japanese gp is not the only one that's at risk is it well it's not it's it's gone now but there are

the GPs at risk and sounds absolutely right we can't after the spa Monza Dutch GP triple header which are you know the next set of GPs that are all but certain then we start going into what would be the flyways again but we're not

entirely sure where we're flying to well we're not flying anywhere but where the teams are flying to if you want to fly somewhere please take us I promise you I'll do a lot of things. We are shallow and we will accept brides. Anyway. Yeah, and it's just that even from the championship perspective,

you sound right on that, but even just from a logistical and personal perspective, you can't just, they're not, these people aren't cattle. You can't just take them around the world whenever you want to. So, yeah, there needs to be some structure in place and the ones that are at risk, I'm thinking Brazil, potentially. I don't know what Mexico's like at the moment. I mean, even the US is slightly iffy on COVID. So talking about two GPs there, I think that will still happen. But yeah,

they need to make the decision early and not try and get to an Australia 2020 situation, which I'm sure they wouldn't do because that was horrendous for F1, but they don't want to walk into that trap because it could be easily done when we start doing flyways. Abu Dhabi will forever be on the calendar. It seems nothing. Not even a deadly world's pandemic will get rid of that goddamn racetrack. Although there are changes there this year. We've got new corners.

Yeah, true. So I'm actually interested in what I'll be like. But yeah, the ones that are a bit iffy, I think they need to start making an earlier call. And Japan, this one's early enough, but they need to make some bold calls now, I think, rather than later. Also, side note, sorry Ben. Sad for Honda in the last year. They didn't get to have their home jeezing. Yeah.

And Yuki, it would be cool for him to drive a Honda power car at his home grand prix. That would be a lovely thing. I'm sure Helmut Marco was probably planning to get rid of Sonoda on the day of Friday practice. So it saves him from that, I guess. And just to say, actually, on Abu Dhabi, wouldn't it be the most Abidavie thing ever that the changes they make

actually make the race more boring No overtakes were had Yeah, that would be impressive But it might happen Yeah, I First of all, F1 are probably going to scramble around for a replacement for Japan And I would tell them,

don't bother I love Formula 1 With everything that I have But I think 23 races I think this season has taught us you don't need 23 races put it back down to 20 it's fine just don't bother we're replacing it it's okay um it is a it is a bit of a loss because tizuca's great it's such a great atmosphere that the japanese fans are fantastic it's great to go there every time and who doesn't love in the

uk a 6 a m wake up on a on a weekend love it um oh baby my favorite i i echo what you what you two have said. Now, it's difficult with COVID because it is, there are peaks and troughs to it and there isn't much consistency and there isn't much in the way of predicting what is going to be the case in a few months time because we have seen in various different places around the world, it become much, much worse for a few months and then get slightly better and then get worse again. And who knows what it's going to be like in November and December? We don't know yet. So it is really difficult to tell. But I do think for the fairness of the championship, it is best to give a, and I agree, I think Suzuki that it has been enough time between now and when the Grand Prix was set to be held. There needs to be a nominal

amount of time before you say, okay, is this going ahead? If the answer is yes, brilliant. If there is doubt as to whether it can go ahead, let's can it. Because, yeah, I think there should be a fairness in terms of the championship fight. And yeah, there is definitely the purpose of. personnel aspect that you've already mentioned that you know you don't want to mess these guys around you don't want to you don't want to mess the people around you you want to be able to to give to give an accurate calendar so um yeah i if they end up replacing it they should absolutely put qualolumpur in there i will forever say that qualolumpur should be a member of the f1 calendar only if it rings it's it's it's well lumpper of course it'll rain it doesn't not rain um but yeah um

Yeah, get something in place. I don't know exactly how many weeks they should make it, but just cement the calendar as early as you can. So we know everyone's got a target to hit. And these guys in the championship fight, which will hopefully go down to the last lap in Abu Dhabi. They know what they're doing. I mean, hello, America is a, you know, a crazy town.

Everything happens in America. We love that. We love that about America. You have a lot of great racetracks. And currently, we're still going to America. Just F1. Hello, I know you're listening there. I'm not talking to any of the listeners now.

It's just you, F1. We have Indy and we have Daytona. So if you want to make both of them happen, just once. Just once. I'm on board for it. Please. If you like me at all, please make it happen. And that's before we're going to Watkins Glen and Road America,

but after we're going to Laguna Saker. I mean, sure. I'm all for it. Yeah. Let's do it. Why not? All right. Let's move on to the return.

of F1 alphabet. Have we got a theme ready? No. You've got a gym for this. I've sung one. I've sung it, but I think, oh, I add it. Is there a song ready for it?

I don't, I don't think so. I think I do have it somewhere, but I don't think we loaded it into the system. But don't worry, folks. I will have dropped it in and make this look seamless. Yeah. Yeah, I haven't got to sing it.

A to K, K to Z. Well, what could be. To be It's time to play Formula One Alphabeti A to B It's F1

Alphabeti Alphabeti There you go Sam You have some great theme songs This isn't one of them Thank you I think it's a favourite

Well Yeah I would love to get rankings Of all the theme songs you do from the people Folks in the Discord If you're interesting

in chatting Sam's theme songs as about four to five of them, I think. Then let me know. And if if on back and forth isn't first, then you're wrong. Yeah, that's true. Yeah, that is true. Higher and lower is a dark horse in the charts. And if you aren't aware

of what we're wrong about folks, and you're going to get charting the terrible theme songs that I sing out of tune and out of time, then join the Discord. The link is in the description of the podcast. We should put the theme tunes on iTunes. You can imagine. Stream the theme songs. We make

money office folks we're very poor any pennies would be helpful all the three people that would buy them yes i'm looking at you discord guys yeah all right f1 alphabet we've played this one a couple of times before um essentially it's a general knowledge quiz with sam versus harry they get five questions each um my last subject yeah each letter responds to uh corresponds to a particular category uh that these guys don't know as of yet so the first time we played we went from a through to, what would it be, J, I think, A to J. And then we went from K to T. So now we have a bit of an awkward one where we've got the last six letters of the alphabet,

but that isn't enough questions. So we've got the first four again. So it's U to Z and also A to D. You to Z, A to D. What will the answers be? Thank you. Still way. And you'll soon find out that I've had to come up with questions.

questions for, well, Z, but mostly X, which I have cheated for, but you'll find out when we do that one. So, Sam, you can kick us off on this one. You had a pretty dominant win last time out for higher or lower. So see if you can do it again. What letter would you like? I can't wait to lose this big time now. Where do we start? Is it you? We're starting at you. You to D. Oh my good Lord. That's a weird way to look at the alphabet. I'll go with you then. Why not? All right.

You. No, okay. Sorry, soldier boy. You stands for the United Kingdom. I live there. You stands for the United Kingdom. So you've got a bonus here. You know what it is.

Yep. That's something. All right. Two drivers have one races from Northern Ireland, as in they are. are from Northern Ireland rather than they've won races in Northern Ireland, of course. Who are those two drivers? I got a name both of them. Got a name both of them.

Oh, I can't, I can't tell you? Can I put John O'Shea as an answer? He's never from Northern Ireland. I'm just going to say two generic Irish names. To any Irish listeners, I'm sorry, this, you can turn off now. I'm going to say O'Reilly and O'Leary. I'm afraid,

whilst they are very stereotypical names, neither of them are correct. Harry, can you name both race winners from Northern Ireland? Well, Eddie Irvine might have been one. Eddie Irvine was. Oh, course he was. It's not as if he held you or anything.

I always thought he was Scottish. Oh, God. Wow. But I can't think of a second Northern Irish race winner The only one that I can think of is Ralph Furman But he didn't win a race I think he was also from the mainland But

Oh, sorry Irish listeners Who was the poor chap that got literally ripped out of his F1 seat In that horrific crash He was from Ireland, wasn't he? Oh, do you mean Donnelly? Yeah He was from Northern Ireland You didn't win a race though

The answer The other answer was John Watson Oh I mean I didn't know he's from Northern Ireland Yeah He's got the most English game going Yeah

I mean I might have just made a massive embarrassment Of myself And maybe he is But Well I've offended a whole Area of the world again So every week No points for Sam on you

What letter would you like Kerry? I'll go for A, please. A. A stands for Australia. Good day. How... Good a.

Thank you for that. How many Australian Grand Prix wins does Lewis Hamilton have? Oh, the little whip is going to play. You, well, definition of. 2008. 2015. I don't think he's one that many, actually. Hold the phone.

What the phone? 17, Seb did. 18, sev did. 19. Boss has, he's had two. He has had two. And you correctly named both years as well. Well done.

That is impressive because I have had no chance. Well done. I'm not doing well this week already. it sounds it sounds weird that Lewis Hamilton has only won twice at a venue that he's been to like a dozen times so it seems crazy that's why he's not usually good at the start of the year is he

Hamilton does like to ease into his championship victories given a rest of chance yeah he has as many Australian Grand Prix wins as Kimmy Reikeren and has fewer than Jensen Button so interesting one all right Sam what letter do you want next I'll take the big D

All right Good news You've actually got the true or false question This is the only one in there as well Oh I get all of these wrong You've got a 50% chance to get in this one right Is this true or false Every time

D stands for Diniz Is in Pedro Diniz Yeah So Pedro Denez Tested for Ferrari In 1998 True After doing it's not

over yet. Not over yet. After doing some warm-up laps, Denise put in a time that was five seconds slower than Michael Schumacher when he actually did a hot lap. Jean-Tot, this is great. He was so

angry, he wanted to go in the car himself to beat Pedro Denez and other members of the Ferrari team had to convince him not to do it. True or false. It's either so specific.

Go on, Harry. When you say, beat him, do you mean beat his lap time? Beat his lap time? Come here! Beat his lap time. I mean, a few people probably wanting to beat Pedro Denghis

back in the day. It's so specific. It's either such a bluff that it's like actually the janitor, who was Stefano de Manichali at the time, wanted to get in the car to try and beat the lap,

and that's the day. difference or it is true and if it is I have such a new fan respect for John Top that I didn't think I had I mean I love the guy anyway but this is new level I'm but I want it to be true so I'm gonna say it's true it's completely made up that's a great question it's a fantastic question literally everyone like everything of that is made up not one of it I want to be I really don't do it true Don't do it John. John! Come out the car!

He's not worth it, John. Or Pedro's wrung in down the pit laying away from him. I'm going to give myself a point because I want it to be true. You weren't right about one thing, Sam. You never get those ones right. Never get them right. Three for three, that is wrong. Yeah.

Oh, so that didn't happen. Did not happen. What letters? do you want harrow um sam will you pick that sorry what was yours uh d and you i've chosen i'll go for b all right b stands for button jensen button if you haven't heard of them belly button what is the only season jensen button has finished runner up in the championship that is correct he was runner up in 2011 third place in 04 you're really good at this Harry

04 or actually I thought 12 well anyway it was alright I don't know I don't want to make myself look stupider than that yeah stick with you first answer that one was alright okay well done 2-0 lead you've got something of a mountain to climb Sam what letter do you want

I haven't climbed a mountain in my whole life I'm far too lazy to give myself a chunks of a point I'm not going over for the silly letters just yet I'll go for C and hope that it is San, what country were you borning? I'm not certain you get it right. No.

All right, C. If it's a 50-50. C does not... If it's a 50-50, you'd everyone get it right. It's not good enough odds for me. All right. C doesn't stand for country. C stands for a much better word, catererum. So, who matched catererum's best

ever result in the 2014 Monaco Grand Prix when he finished 11th. Oh my God. I forgot they were in this sport at that point. It was their last evening. Who was driving from at the time? I want to get this right because I'm bloody

I don't want to be mass defeated but I feel like I'm going to be taking an absolute who won? Right, it's Masekis big time there. They were coming into it. I think Rosberg won it. But that's not relevant. No, I can't be the answer.

No, you can't say who won the race. Why? Why can I guess say he won the race? I want to say baby phase, because I know he was there at some point or another. Yeah, I'll just go Hakey Koviline, and he was about, and he, around that time? He was about around that time, not quite that time exactly. So it was a good guess. Unfortunately, it's his Scandinavian friend.

Marcus Erickson. Oh, race winner of indie, Marcus Erickson. Yeah. Twice race winner. He loves it. Yeah. So yeah, he was 11th place. Harry, you've got V through to Z left.

Let's go for V, please. All right, V, this is probably the team you know most about. V stands for Van Wall. So, in 1958, they won the Constructions. Constructors title, first ever Constructors title that year. And they were only one of six teams to score points that year. Can you name two of the other teams that scored points? Oh, that is the easiest question you've ever asked.

Ferrari is one of them. Can you name another? Yeah, BRM is another one. Well done. Well done. The other three were Cooper, Maserati and Lotus. Oh, you're on fire, Harry. yeah killing it i didn't i didn't know what the last sounds like sam's question is i'd have crashed and burned

so i think it's just the luck of the letters here you're a great letter selector um w through to z which one would you like sam uh i guess i'll go w we can have the meme questions at the end for both of us they're actually i mean they're all fairly normal questions but w is for water so good sprinklers yes

How do you drink water? Is it through your nose or your mouth? So you know how for the V question, we went back to 1958? We're going back further for this one. In 1955, which two-time champion went into the Monaco Harbour during the Grand Prix? It's not Fernando Alonzo. Are you sure? because I reckon it could be

two-time champion at that time Sebastian Vettel I would like to have you on the phone right now because he can sit there and roll with them back the year there weren't many two-time champs back there I'm going to go for Ascari Ascari is correct Come on! Celebrate like a madman

Alberto Escoban Yeah Thank you Alberto So. Yeah, really weird one. He went into the Monaco Harbour, lived, and then died in the testing accident. I can't remember a week after or something. It was a bit of a weird one.

But yeah, that is the correct answer. So we just got three more, X, Y, and Z, getting to the really exciting letters here. Harry, what do you want? Why, please. Oh, good choice. Why is for young? Now, this is a bit of a Jackie Hicks question, all right? You need to listen to this one.

Make sure you get it right. Who is the youngest driver to score points in F1 who is not on the current grid? A day off, Ben. Is it Jackie Hicks? It's not Jackie X. Is it Jensen Button? It is not Jensen.

button. There was only been one driver who's not on the current grid who was under the age of 20 when he scored points and his name is none other than Mr Danny Kiviat. I was going to say Felipe Naza but

yeah Danny Kibbiat yeah. Did he score any points? I know he did he did he did he was on his debut. Yeah you had got six I think it is It was only 19 at the time So yeah That's the correct answer there

So we've got X and Z Sam which one do you want? Go on then Give me X for the banter All right I do admit I've cheated a bit here Because X stands for Exico

Just without the M at the beginning At Ben No You should do the XGNA Question I could Well you already know

know the answer so I'm not going to do that Nicholas Latifie is ex-guyen A yeah everyone knows I couldn't full disclosure I couldn't find a relevant F1 question relating to xylophones so I had to cheat slightly so we are going with

Mexico how many times I love it about skilling E wow how many times has Sergio Perez raced in Mexico at his home Grand Prix in Formula 1

In the only one, yeah. Uh, okay. It's just trying to work out how long it's been around four now. I'm going to go for seven. Seven times. Not quite that many. It's five. Five.

Uh, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19. Pooh bags. So, Harry, you have a choice. Do you want Z or Z? it's a good one good good choice uh z stands for everyone's favorite team Zach Speed

who is the only driver the only driver to score points for Zach Speed in F1 Rungall I don't even know he drove for Zach Speed um Zach Brown

I think Martin Brundle did didn't he yeah it was Zach Brown I left Martin Brundle Well, it's not a bad guess. It's Marsim Runder. Well done. That's it. Yeah.

Yeah, nice and then. Yeah. He had a fifth place somewhere. Not quite, I can't quite remember where. Somewhere. Somewhere, Exico, probably. Yeah, might have been Exaco. Might have been Northern Ireland.

Not sure. Northern Irish GP. Let's go. Well, that's going to do it for F1 alphabet. Sam, sing us out. It's A to J. K to Z. What will the answer be?

It's time to play Formula One. Alphabeti. Beautiful. I mean, I didn't even have to drop anything in. Beautiful. Yeah, I was just... I quite like that one. Yeah.

I was just queuing up Harry to actually put the jingle in, but, I mean, you took the reins and you nailed it. So thank you. Thanks. I remember the words, that's why. I'm impressed that you did. I mean, we'll leave this podcast episode here, but as mentioned at the beginning,

there will be a special podcast episode coming up some point before the usual upload time, some point in early next week. It will be a Q&A episode. So if you do have questions for us, it doesn't even need to be relating to Formula One. It can be relating to us individually. Just let us know. Discord, Twitter, form, fax, pigeon. Doesn't matter. Just let us know. But Sam, if you wouldn't mind getting us out of here. Folks, if the question you do want to ask is, why do these two keep me around? Then I recommend you ask it, and I recommend that we have that discussion face-to-facing a car park, and I'll bet you there, sunshine.

I'm very not scary at all. Folks, hope you enjoyed the podcast. We are getting quite a thing of it's silly when we're all together this weekend, so I hope you're tuning for the extra. Of course, next week, it looks like there might be some racing going on. So keep your eyes peeled on the old TV sense. And, of course, we'll be back for that as well. In the meantime, I have been sang to say.

been Ben Hocking. I don't know Riley. Remember, keep breaking late. Brough. Find more great shows or join the team at sport-ssocial.com. UK. The podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network.