The Late Braking F1 Podcast - F1 Drivers vs. Team Bosses: Top Drivers of 2024

Episode Date: January 8, 2025

The LB boys compare the drivers' and team principals' rankings for 2024's top drivers - who do they agree with most? They also discuss whether Sauber was a career mistake for Bottas, Aston Martin's development failures, and Alpine's 'statement of intent'. They finish with a game of Order Please... FOLLOW us on socials! You can find us on YouTube, Instagram, X (Twitter) and TikTok SUPPORT our Patreon for bonus episodes JOIN our Discord community JOIN our F1 Fantasy League 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. Welcome to the late breaking F1 podcast presented by Harry Ead, Sam Sage, and me, Ben Hocking, here for your first regular Wednesday episode of the year, still in January. Um, anything else, Sam? Do you think if you did the intro the other way around, it would throw you off for the whole episode?

How do you mean the other way round? Hosted by Samuel Sage, Harry Ead and me, Ben Hocking, or hosted by me, Ben Hocking, Samuel, Stake. Do you think if you ever vary up the names? Just you're saying that is messed up with my brain. You just can't work it out. I don't know which way the right one is now. It's not three people, it's one person that has six names.

It's just six names all listed off in a random order. Right, sure. Yeah. Oh, good. Great. I'm going to be overthinking doing the outro now. And I've been... I'm eating. I'm each age.

It's like the impersonation episode all over again. Let's never speak of that. We are never going back. We'll never win another award because we can never outdo that promise. We will never go for another award. Yeah, we've got a one-of-one victory rate. I'll never spoil it back.

100%. 100%. That's how we live our lives. Right. We have got plenty to talk. about on today's episode. We've got some comments from our good friend Olly Oaks, our good friend Mike Crack, our good friend Valtry boss ass. But we're going to start with something that we look at pretty much every year. So what Formula One has been doing for the past seven years or so, they will poll all of their drivers and all of the team bosses with the quest to put in together the top 10 drivers of the season. So recently for 2024, all of the drivers, apart from three,

17 of them in total, got together anonymously put in their top 10 votes for who were the driver of the season. The team bosses, all 10 of them, did the same thing. We thought we'd compare the lists, I don't know, just think, see what stands out and discuss some of the points. So to run through the lists in the first instance, the drivers have Max Verstappen as their driver of 2024. And then Lando Norris and Charles LeClaer joining on the podium in second and third respectively. then it's George Russell in fourth, Oscar Piastri in fifth, Carlos Seinfth, Pierre Gazley, 7th, Holcomberg 8th, Alonzo 9th and Lewis Hamilton in 10th. The team bosses list starts the same way.

The top three are all identical, Vestapp and Norris de Claire. There's a bit of difference in the middle order, so Piastri is fourth, signs is fifth, and Russell's 6th, so there's two positions lower than where the drivers have him. And then there's also a switch between Hamilton and Gasly. So they've got Hamilton's 7th and Ghassly 10th, and Holcomb, Bergen Alonzo are in the same order in eighth and ninth. So let's start towards the top of the list, Sam. We've got Vastappan, Norris, and then Lecler,

in that order on both lists. Understandable? Yeah, honestly, I've got absolutely nothing to argue about here. Max Vastappen, Landon, Norris, Charlotte, were the class of the field. And if you were to tell, you could sit down with me and make an argument for any one of those three, being any of those three positions.

And I wouldn't be angry at you. I wouldn't be mad. I'd listen to you. And I think, fair enough, you've done some analysis there. and you've made a point that I can get on board with. And that's how arguing works, folks. Thanks, Sam. Point, evidence, explain.

There you go. You learn it here. So those three for me, exactly how I'd have put them, and I don't mind if they're going to put Norris first, for Stappling, second, LeCler, third, whatever way around. Those had to be the top three. I've been pretty shocked if either list gave a driver who was different to that inside the top three.

Another point to note on this is that every single one of the 10 team principles took part of this. The first time in the history of doing this vote, that it was a unanimous first place. All 10 team bosses had for Stappen first. We don't get the points breakdown for the drivers, so we're not quite sure exactly how that works out. But, Harry, any surprises in terms of that top three?

No, I'm with Sam. I think you could fairly have any of those three in whatever order in the top three. Obviously, you know, we went for Claire in our awards at the end of the last year, which wasn't controversial at all. They don't put me in that. Me and Sam went for Lecler last year. You went to Holkenberg, didn't you? We'll get on to Holgerberg in these lists.

But, no, I think that's, you know, I think that's a fair shout from a fair shout from both sides. Like Sam said, I'm not sure I can have much argument with that. Fair enough. I mean, if you want to check it out, by the way, folks on our Patreon last month. Myself and Sam did a review of all the drivers. We went from, I think we

included 23 drivers. I know there were a few substitute drivers throughout the year, but we went from 23rd all the way to first. It is quite comical, if you like, agreement where we didn't know there would be agreement for a long time on that list before we had a few differences. So do feel free to check that

out and see how our top 10s stacked up against the top tens here. It's a bit of a spoiler for that. I think Vostappen is right. rightfully the driver of the season, and I'm glad to see both the bosses and the drivers have got that in place. I would have Norris and LeCler the other way around. I think Charles LeClaire just about did enough to get second place on this one. I know they were only separated by 18 points at the end of the season in Norris's favor.

I just think the McLaren was marginally stronger than the Ferrari for more of the season. And actually, LeClair did a slightly better job of maximizing what he was. he had underneath him versus Lando Norris, who on a few occasions, and I do mean a few occasions, he was still great about eight out of ten times during the year, but there were a few occasions where he maybe missed a position where one was possible. So fair plays are both as well, because I don't think either of them had a particularly poor race all season long, but I would have had them the other way around. There's a bit of a disagreement from the bosses and the drivers about George Russell's position.

So the drivers have George Russell in fourth. Team bosses hate George Russell, though. They've only got him sixth. Sam, surprise at the difference there? Yeah, I got fans of Toy Story are those team bosses, are they? They absolutely hate the sheriff, and they don't want to be anyone's favourite deputy.

I think George Russell deserves to be, as hoping in that top five. The one for me that kind of throws George Russell out of that rating area in the drivers, rather than, the two bosses, rather than the drivers, is Piastri. Piaastri makes that appearance in fourth place. on the team bosses list.

And I've got a bit of an issue with this. I think Piastrian had obviously a really solid season. It was only the second year in F1. And I do think he should be in the top 10. But I don't think he should be fourth place. I think Russell, who had a much more troublesome season with that car, really overcome a lot of the odds. Thrash Lewis Hamilton came through a lot of bad luck to do so as well.

Fantastic job. I was a carlo-science who finished, what was it, like two or eight points, something behind Piastro overall in the driver's title. He missed a race. He was not there for Azerbaijan, not Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, sorry. Jewish Appendix got being there. One, plenty of Grand Prix himself was fantastic towards the back end and was doing it without a drive for quite good Porsche of that season next year as well.

So I do think that at least Russell and Sites in both lists should be in front of Oscar Piastri at a bare minimum. I do think Piastri should be further down that list because he's about 85 points of his teammate in the title fight as well. he did have some races where the inconsistencies really showed especially in qualifying so I was surprised

that he especially fourth in that team boss of this I was really quite surprised lose your appendix Oscar and then we'll talk yeah yeah yeah your thoughts on fourth fifth and sixth

and how there's a little bit of disagreement there between the drivers and the bosses yeah I I agree with the drivers with Russell up there I think I there's an argument so that I might put Holgerberg above him.

But I think him, him being above Piastrian signs is the, is the correct order. I don't agree. I'm with you. Sam. I don't agree that Piastri was, was fourth best driver of the season. And again, like I said on Sunday's episode, this is not criticizing him because he's only,

we know, about to start year three of his career. But, and he's had a great, great season. There's just, you know, a couple of, couple of errors in there that, um, you'd say signs,

didn't make during the year or at least inconsistencies that signs didn't have during the year. So I'd have put signs above Piastri as well. So as I say, I think Holcombogne would be in that mix for me, but I'd say Russell, Russell signs, Piastri would be my order

with Russell leading the way. So I agree with the drivers there. And as you say, the team bosses clearly hate George. Apart from Toto Wolf, who will keep on hold of him for as long as Vestappen doesn't want to be in his seat. I think the driver got this one right. I think

George Russell was the fourth best driver of last season. He did a good job earlier on in the year with some at least relatively bad machinery. If you look at Bahrain and Japan and Monaco, I think he over-delivered on what the expectations

were, just based on that car wasn't ready to go at the beginning of the year. And when the car became a little bit more competitive, particularly in the mid-season, you think, I know Austria was a slightly fortunate, at win, but he still had a good performance there, even if it wasn't going to end up in a win. He had a poll at Silverstone, only a poll at Canada. He had a great performance of Belgium,

even if the points and the wind don't reflect that. So I think George Russell did enough to be fourth. I also agree with your point on Oscar Pastery. Astrid, I would have had him lower down in the top 10 rather than in this battle for fourth, fifth and sixth, because whilst he was, he was phenomenal in the middle part of the year, going back to the anti-Sanoda. Oh, come on. She's back. Anti-Sanoda. The beginning of the end of the year weren't great.

That's the whole of fame right there. The beginning of the season was a bit iffy, and Lando Norris had the advantage on him in most of those early races. And if you think about his win at Baku, as brilliant as that performance was, if you go race by race after Baku, oh, great for Piastri. There aren't many, if any, standouts.

He was 40 seconds behind Norris in Singapore. He lost out to Norris in Austin, even with Norris's penalty. He qualified 17th in Mexico. He had a collision with Liam Lawson at Brazil. He didn't beat Norris at Vegas. He didn't really have the pace to beat Norris at Qatar, even though he eventually did based on Norris's penalty. And I know his collision with Verstappen was certainly not Piastri's fault at Abu Dhabi,

but the one a bit later on with Colopinto definitely was. So it was, yeah, I just think he had two spells of inconsistency that particularly signs and Russell didn't have. What about the difference between Hamilton and Gasley? So we've got on the drivers, Gasly 7th and Hamilton 10th. For the bosses, we've got Hamilton 7th and Ghazley 10th. I'm actually surprised that either put Hamilton in their top 10. This was the biggest game that shocked me here.

I thought he could have been maybe 11th or 12th if we were to go all the way down the bottom of the list here. I've stated it many of the time. I know there's some slight trepidation on what season we would put there, but for me, this is Hamilton's worst seasoning F1, compared to a teammate anyway, especially. The performances were poor. He has claimed how poor it was, you know, race after race.

We've heard him say, I don't know if I want to turn up for the next Grand Prix. That's how bad it got. The Saturdays were really were abysmal for some of Lewis Hamilton's standards. So I know the car wasn't always there. And when the car was really, really good, when it fitted him, he did turn up. You look at Silverstone, you look at Belgium,

you look at Vegas, even Abu Dhabi on that comeback. He had some brilliant races, but I could pick up maybe four or five of 24. It's not good enough in my eyes to be consistently inside that top seven or eight where the team bosses have put him. I do think there is some legendary bias, if you know what I mean,

some old-school bias of his brilliant successes and the way his career is panned out that they've gone away. So it's sort of it's Hamilton. So we'll put him higher anyway. And that drivers in worse cars maybe aren't getting the favour that they would have got if they have had better cars. So Bossass, for example, who has a trio, we all have put above Mingi lists because he was driving a terrible car. Didn't score points, but was so regularly outperforming that car.

So for me, I'm surprised that Hamilton makes either list, but I'm surprised that he's been put up as high as seventh place for the team bosses. For me, Gasly and Holkenberg should be the ones that are in that fight with Russell and Sites. not Piastri, not Hamilton being the next driver in the team boss. It should be Russell Sites and then Holgerberg, Gassie. And again, like I take with the top three, if you were to give me an order of those four drivers in any particular order, you can make your case. I would have been mad, dang it.

I might not agree with you, but I wouldn't be mad at your reasoning because as we've really mentioned, Science and Russell, they really have a fantastic season, incredibly consistent, score points for their team, deliver when they need to. Gasly delivers regular top scoring points, great qualifying performance. When the car got better, he smashed it. But Holkerberg was possibly the most consistent driver

of the whole season outside of the top teams, was inside the top 10 of the points for so long before Gassie turned up right at the end. Really out drove that car. It was pretty much the core reason why Hart was regularly fighting for sixth place. They should get a bit more love, I think, on these lists. So more surprising where Hamilton is

and how it's displacing others on these lists for me. Unrelated, well, somewhat related, unsirious question for you both. because these are all anonymous, how much money would you pay to see Fernando Alonzo's list? Oh, at least five pounds. Yeah, many, many pounds.

I really want to see it. Yeah, the thing is, it would just be him in first, second, himself, like, strong second. No, he'd be top nine. He would definitely be strong second. He definitely would.

And he's got Papa stroll over his shoulder and just looking like, what's what literally got there, like, son? No, he's just making it. himself look good. Oh, well,

you know, my teammate is the second best driver in this sport. Yeah, I'm back myself, as you'd expect, but Lartes'

but Lartes'Roll is incredible, guys. Yeah. Thoughts on Hamilton, Gassley, Harry? Yeah,

the Hamilton one. I think I agree with the drivers. I think he just about scrapes into 10th. Despite how, how poor some races

were for Hamilton, he did also pick up some wins and had some great performances along the way. It's just the fact that he had some real highs and some real, real lows. So the driver's front, I don't necessarily disagree with P10.

The bosses, I don't know what I think in there. Seventh, no, that's far too high. And above, above Holkenberg, I don't agree with. And above Ghastly, no. But yeah, then on the Ghazey front and the drivers in the drivers top 10, above Holkenberg. Look, Gassie was great this season. But come on.

did none of the drivers see none of the other 19 drivers see Niko Holcombberg this year this is a problem with Niko Holkenberg he's just invisible he's Teo Porcher one step ahead but just made it into F1

that's the translation of Teo Pochere into German Nico Hulkemberg You stop talking random French yeah I can't speak French we've learned this come on yeah although you say Teo Pochere

perfectly ironically oh gosh that's the French belt I just take a four sheds trying to go on the podcast it just sounds like a phantom noise in the background we've hit our French quotes for the week it's the gong

but yeah I just the Gassley above Holkenberg doesn't make sense to me and that's no criticism to Gassley I think he had a great year but like I said earlier I think I'd have Halkenberg up in the top five

so I don't agree with that one don't agree with that once that one whatsoever but yeah we'll see I know the the the bosses as well had him down in eighth which again don't agree with especially with Hamilton ahead

because I know Hamilton had ups and downs but it wasn't a consistent year at all so don't know how is it how is it up in front of Holcombberg so yeah this is where this list for me starts to fall apart a little bit I'll be real I agree with the drivers putting Hamilton 10th I think that's the right spot for him the first half of the year was

was solid enough, but there weren't many great races in the first half of the year. And I understand the car wasn't all that good, but I think Russell on a few occasions was able to shine in a way that Hamilton wasn't. The second half of the year, there were a lot of, there was a lot of great. There was just a lot of bad in there as well. I actually went back to our power rankings for the last six races of the season. And these are the six ratings I had for Hamilton to end the year. 27339.

Like that is, that's pretty up and down. I mean, just call him Roman Keating because those ratings were like a roller coaster. Yeah, yes. Proud of that one. Well on. Well on, Sam. Yeah, Ron and Keating in 10th, I completely agree with.

Ghazley from Zamvore onwards was fantastic. So I don't have any problem with him being in the top 10. And yeah, fighting with the, likes of those drivers. I think that's completely fair. I have a slight gripe of the list. Go with them. Fernando Alonso's too low.

People aren't talking enough about Alonzo's season. It was better than people think it was. It was a bad car. It was not a good car. It was a bad, bad car. And that's, I think, the point, particularly in the second half of the season, some of the results he got at, like,

Singapore and Azerbaijan shouldn't have happened. And yet they did. He maximised his points in the first half of the year. I know there were a few shockers in there for Alonzo, but for the most part, I don't know. He single-handedly got them fifth place in the championship. So pretty good.

Not that should be a reflection of weight is on the list, but I do feel like Fernando Alonso doesn't have shockers. Fernando Lanzo just gives up. He just can't be asked this. It's just in sprints. Yeah, especially in sprints. It's like, I'm old. This is too much racing.

Yeah, this hurts this weekend. I don't want to do it. The car's not that good, so I don't care. I think one of the best things about found a lot, so it's knowing when to give up. Yeah, he's been around long enough. He knows the game. Not worth my time.

We go again next to it. We go again next year. I think they got the 10 drivers right. We're debating the order here. I think they got the 10 right. Yeah, sure. I think Ockon and Bottas and maybe Sonoda were, close, but I think they had the right 10.

I probably would have kept alongside where he was, maybe bumped him up one place in front of Piaskeri. That's fair. If you're talking to the bosses, that's good for fourth, so that's fine. Yeah, I'm going to hang in about eight. Fair enough. Any love for any drivers that didn't make the list, Harry? No, I think you've already mentioned them,

but Botat to knock on, but I don't think they would have, I don't say they should be in, but they're probably on the fringes, aren't they? Yeah, they never just jump into that top. 10. No, but apart from that, I think it's a very, very fair list. Logan's sergeant just missing out as well. Oh, did you have to do sergeant like that?

Sorry, Logan. It's been a while, mate. But I hope you well. I hope he's, is he going to be an Indy car this year? I'm not sure. I don't think it's looking all that. There's only one or two spots left, I think. Is Roman Grosjean going to be an Indy car?

That's the question. That's another question. Well, he'll rise like a phoenix. He always does. He always does. Shall we take our first break on this episode? On the other side, sadly we're not talking about Roman Grosjean, but we do have some comments from Valtry Bottas.

And Lindycar. And IndyCar. And IndyCar, surprisingly, yes. Welcome back, everyone. Something that was announced just before our Christmas break was that Valtry Bottas is heading back to Mercedes as reserve driver. And he's also had some comments about his time at Salba. He's had a really lovely time, isn't he?

He's had a great time. Belt-in. Delt in time. His three-year vacation is over. This is what he had to say. If I could go back three years, I probably would have chosen another team to go to based on what the situation is now.

But you just can't predict the future because in the first year when I signed up with Fred, Fred for three years, there was a clear plan and clear goals. The first year was, I think, great overall. But then when Fred left, things kind of collapsed a bit, including the goals,

and the targets. There has not been enough stability in terms of the leadership. We now have our third new leader within three years, and with each of the changes to the topic, it has also meant that key people have changed in their roles. He goes on to talk about how that's basically not the case at the Mercedes with longer contracts and a bit more stability. Don't talk about longer contracts.

Yeah, come on, Voucher, men. You don't want to talk. Do you remember your time? Fair point. Harry, are they understandable comments? Yeah, I think it's fair. I think that it is fair, fair for Valtrey to make these comments.

It's not panned out in the way, I think at the time, and I was thinking about this at the end of 2021, or, you know, it was middle of 21. It was announced, wasn't it?

And he knew he was going from Mercedes, but he already made the deal with, with Alfa, yeah, Elfa Romeo, as it were then. At the time, I think that looked like a sensible move.

There wasn't really anywhere else for him to go, particularly. we'll get onto that. But it didn't seem like the worst move in the world. And you saw when Reikinen, who he was effectively replacing at that team, when he joined in 2019, first half of 2019 for the Alfa Mayer team was excellent, especially Reikening. He had a great year.

And in fact, even in 2020, when that car wasn't very good, it had a Ferrari engine, he still had a pretty good year. Portugal, exactly. But, yes. So for for for for for for for for for I think this pretty looked like a good move. It was going into 2022 when you know brand new regulations. And again,

that car looked pretty decent at the start of that year. It all went down or went downhill pretty quickly. But I don't think he can have any regrets for that move. I, I, if he, he wanted to stay in F1. I think it seemed like a sensible move. He couldn't have predicted the way this panned out. You don't, you know, on paper the Audi.

move like a great opportunity for him. But the problem was it was so far in the distance. And as he says, they've had so many changes in turmoil at the top since then, that it's not really, it's not going to happen the way he probably thought it was going to happen. So I think their fair comments,

I think is a case of what if for Valtry there. It's almost just the time he season work out, did they? How did he join a couple of years later? And it was, you know, only had a couple of years before the. Audi partnership properly kicked in, then maybe he'd still be there and will the drive.

But as it stands, he's seen a lot of turmoil alongside a lot of slowness, which hasn't helped his cause. And it's not his fault. It's not his or his fault. But yeah, that car's been bad for a while now. So I can understand if he's frustrated. The Mercedes move was the obvious one. He wants to get back on the grid.

That seems difficult as well. but yeah, I guess we'll get into that. I think the real kick in the teeth of Valtrey Bottas in terms of timelines is that he's essentially being replaced by the same sort of driver that he is. Like he's being replaced by another experienced driver who's been around for over 10 years now. With less wins.

With fewer wins. And he can like just raise his out and say like, yeah, I could do that job. I'm already here. You don't have to worry about onboarding. Like I'm already here. I know the car. And that's still not good enough for him.

Sam, your thoughts on his comments, understandable frustration from him? 100%. He went from being a semi-regular race winner, pole sitter, podium scorer. We did it in our last show that we did, right? Back and forth, we spoke about the most poised with Hamilton alone, waiting on his own. He's third most of all time with another driver. That's a crazy statistic.

So to go from being this driver, even back at Williams, before he went to Mercedes, who was considered so, promising and up and cunning and really quick young driver who could go on to achieve many things to end up in a team like this where he has to score points. And before that, only 10 points. So that's not great after finishing so regularly

in the top five of the championship winning races and titles. Yeah, understandably, very, very disappointed. Understandably having to struggle with the fact that he made that decision and he went from such a high to such a low. And I do think he's moved to Alpha Romeo in the moment. first place was a slight risky one when he replaced Kimi Reichen and he can score too many points that final year he was in there i think it was you know in the teams the amount of points he scored but he would have been reassured because the second year that he would he got up there rather

the first year he was there he finished his 10th in the title chase he's he's got 49 points he smashes joe guang you and that's as good as it gets it literally doesn't even come close to that ever again and he has to watch so many other teams and drivers around him surpass him so i imagine he is disappointed and frustrated that almost what should have been the very top end of his career, it's amounted to nothing. He's had to sit at the back of the grid for a long time watching this big company crumble around him. It must be very frustrating.

It is incredibly understandable. It's three years of his career. Like we're not talking about one down year in a team. This is three years where he has not been able to show what he can do. And I reached the same conclusion as you, Harry, like thinking back to it. And it seemed pretty promising at the time that he made the move. And the first year, as Valtrey Bottas attest to, was encouraging. You had Fred Vassur there.

You had all of these goals and targets. But it just unravels so quickly in that first season. He was sixth on debut at Bahrain. Sixth place, in Asalba, on merit, as far as I can remember, that's almost unheard of now. And, I mean, if you're Valtrey Botasen, you are listening, and I know you are because you are a big friend of the podcast. Love you, Valtrey. Maybe cover your ears for the next two minutes or so.

After Canada in 2022, so we're talking roughly the midpoint of the 2022 season. Valtry Bottas, talk about contrasting fortunes. He was four points behind Lando Norris and McLaren. Oh, no, no, no. That's a project for a reason. Yeah, right. And I know they're at completely different ends of the. their careers. But what Lando Norris has achieved since that point and what Valtrey Borsas

has achieved since that point are two very, very different stories. And I'd keep covering your ears for just a little bit longer Valtrey because the first nine races of his Salba career, he scored 46 points. In his last 59, he scored 13. It went downhill fast and then just never really recovered. So I think it's comments are spot on and there is a big dolep of irony and I know we've kind of already spoke about this in terms of contract length because Valtre Bottas for the longest time was just given one year contract extensions at Mercedes because they weren't willing to put faith in him being a long term option and it just so happened every year that he was still good enough to keep retaining and he always wanted that long term security of a multi-year deal

and it's kind of cost him here because if it was only two years, years or if it was only one year, he would have had options to get out and instead he's been there three and achieved nothing in terms of like on track performance. Going back to the time where he makes that movie, says there's regret and how he could have done things differently. Sam, what else could he have done at that at the time? I think as much as they were slightly more difficult options to achieve, he does have two options at this point. And they are riskier. They are definitely riskier. So I can understand how with hindsight, they look like easier choices to have made, but at the time, they have almost been daft.

I do think that Harsk get rid of Nikita Mazepin at the end of that year, the year he leaves Mercedes. Nikita Mazepin also is replaced by Kevin Magnuson. I think that that was an option immediately for Vowdry Bottas. I really simply think if he got onto the horn, Gunterstiner, you know, have you got a plan in place? I think that they could have picked him up. and actually what ends up being Holgerberg Magnuson,

could have been Holgerberg Bossass, and we're going to be a pretty decent line-up for a good few years at Hars. On the flip side, another team that was really struggling at that point, who also got rid of their driver at the end of the season, pretty much. Williams got rid of Nicastus and Sifing.

And I think that again, as much as we haven't seen them leap into the top half, they have a plan now, James Vowis is building something, they've got a great backbone to their team. that could have been Alex Albonne and Valery Bottas long term and maybe Carlos

Cynes doesn't ever end up there maybe he still gets replaced I don't know but I do arguably think that that they will have been slightly more rewarding opportunities for him than what ends up being steak salver I was going to say

they are the two options the problem with Hass was they didn't get rid of Mazpin at the end of 21 they he did the first test and then something happened in a country called Ukraine and then he didn't do anymore. So that

probably would have been the issue, you know, Bottas was already signed up for Salba by that point and doing the testing for the start of 22. Williams, I think, yeah, is your other option. I can't blame him for deciding to go for Salba on this one because

in terms of a prospect, you go, yeah, they've got Alfa Romeo backing of this point. There's Ferrari links. Why wouldn't you go for that option? And Williams, where they were, and Alfa May had been better than Williams for a few years at this point I know the result he made the right call in my view yeah like if he was at Hasse by the way like if he was at Hasse he still would have had to endure like two awful years

yeah he'd have just done Alfa Romeo but the opposite way around and he'd have had a good final year rather than a good first year but if he had decided to join Hasse and where they were at that point we'd have called him a madman overall from here. I think looking back, we can maybe say like he would have had a good 2024, but Williams, I think is, Williams was the other obvious one, which of course would have been a straight swap with George Russell.

Even then, like, I'm not quite sure the vision was fully in place by that point. If it happens a year later, then I think maybe, but I think they were too far off this whole 2026 idea and who knows maybe it would have gone the same way and he would have been dumped out before the time where they got good it's complete hypothetical he basically didn't have a good option no he didn't no i think that's completely valid um talk maybe of if he can't get back on the 2026 grid harry indy car yes do it i'd love to see that i think that'll be a great option for Valtry. And for Indica.

And for Indica. That's, that's, no offense to Grosjean and, and, and, and, Mark Saracen. But, that's a Indy 500 winner right there. No, that's what I'm saying. No offense. He's made his Mark. Um, but that would be the biggest F1 name bar, Bar Alonzo, who obviously did the Indy 500 a couple of times.

That's biggest F1 name to join. That would be to join the series. Um, so yeah, it'd be quite the cue for them. And I think it would be, I think it'd be good for Bottas. He's had a lot of time. By the time he gets the end of 20205, if he hasn't got an F1 seat for 26,

he'd have done, well, two and a half crap years in a crap F1 car, and then a year on the sidelines. He'll want to go and do some racing, some racing, racing. And I think Indykel will provide that. Whether he wants to do the ovals, that's up to him.

Grosjean didn't do that in his first year, just did the rest of them and not the ovals, but I feel like Bottas is a guy who doesn't really care too much about that. So I think he'd give it a good old whirl. But I'd love to see it if it doesn't work out for it doesn't work out for him. I think a lot of drivers that come across from a more European perspective

opt not to do ovals in the first instance and nearly all of them end up doing them. Obviously Grojan has, Armstrong has. I think Max Schulton didn't do ovals to begin with and then end up doing them. So I think maybe he can look at those and say, I'm probably going to be talked around doing it anyway, so I might as well just do it from the off.

I'm not sure. I think the opposite. I think Bottas is like a, he's like a, you know what he's like now. His new personality. He's come out of his shell. He's got the mullet and the tash.

And he was back at his Uber pickup truck the other day. I think he's like, cowabunger, dude. You imagine the nickname they'll give him whilst he's a, they'll be the mullet. Yeah, it was something like that, wouldn't it? or the bear bum The thing

Australian because he's adopting Australian from Finland or something like that They might just go boring and go ice man Oh yeah Yeah fair

There's something in there With a peach Peach man The peach on the beach Oh nice There it is So I mean Are you in favour of

Indy car of F1's not an option son I actually would rather he go to Indica. I think he would be great for the series. I think they need another, you know, personality from outside their norm. You obviously get these a brilliant North American personality. Some great drivers from South America and, of course, Mexico appear in Indycar. But I think he would really add something very different. I think he's got a big enough appeal worldwide that he would give them a lot of new viewers and a lot of interest.

Plus, as I mentioned, the way he's come out of his shell and he's willing to take the Mickey out of himself and have a lot of fun. I actually think America would love that. I really think they enjoy his silly over the top, the mullet, the tash, a silly outfit he'd probably be willing to wear, the stuff he'd probably put on his car for banter. I genuinely think he would add a great dynamic to what Indy car is. So go for it. I also think it'd be great.

The guy is happy to throw himself into everything. And I'd be really intrigued to see how he got on because whilst a lot is made of F1 rejects, in quotation marks, going over to Indy and competing, a lot have been competitive, but none have really gone over and dominated, at least in modern times. You think of Grojean and Erickson as the two most recent examples.

I know Erickson won the Indy 500, but equally, he has not had a perfect time. He couldn't compete with his teammates at Chip Ganassi for titles. And you think Grojan has essentially moved on from two teams in the last two, years because he wasn't retained. So I think maybe there is a narrative about F1 drivers going over to IndyCar and

because, you know, they think they can win there rather than F1. But the reality is a lot more difficult than that. So I'm intrigued to see how we'd get on. Right. Should we take our second break on this episode? On the other side, we've got comments from the one and only might crack. It's a stinker. Come on.

Less of that. Welcome back, everyone. We have got some comments from the one and only us to Martin team principal, Mike Crack. What's it funny? Why is it still funny now? It shouldn't be. The cat said, obviously.

Shut, shut, close on me. Ian. Absolute Joker over here. He was talking about their 2024 season and this is what he had to say. We delivered below expectation so we cannot be happy with how our season went. We stayed in P5, but had

the championship started in the summer, we would not have finished in P5. So I think we all need to reflect on the season and see it very critically. The steps that we have brought to the car have not managed to improve the car. And there is a little bit of parallel to last year, talking about 2023 in all of that. We have now two years in a row not really managed to improve from where we started, but rather slipped back. I think it's a concern because if you've done that twice in a row, it's not a one-off. It's something you have to look at in your system.

Then you have to be self-critical. did we take the right decisions at the right times? Should we have waited with maybe one or two steps until they are properly proven? Or did we just rush into things because the pressure is high? So it is all questions that we have to ask ourselves. So you've got, Sam there might being rather, I don't know, critical of the team and his role and being, I think, fairly honest

with how the season has gone. Would you agree with his assessments? I would agree with his assessments. I think he's been rightly critical. He's analysed the situation well. I do think he's aware of what Ashton Martin's weaknesses are. The good thing for Ashton Martin is that a solution is right around the corner by an old, bold man with the brain, the size of Jupiter. Because that man can literally see how planets shift in the sky.

But Adrian Becoming and Alonso can finally get off from his shrine that he's got set up in the corner, I'm sure, of the factory. The long-term issue with Aston Martin, which I think Mike Crack does touch on. that's a guy's name I don't do it so funny oh sorry Mike Mike crack is being very honest Mike crack is being open here yeah yeah yeah yeah

the point he's touched on is that they they don't fully realize a lot of their designs and I think Aston Martin took a bit of a shortcut to success in terms of moving up to the midfield

quite quickly. You'll remember that when they were racing point back in 2019, they were dubbed the pink Mercedes, right? They famously copied a previous car design, almost piece for piece, and it looked almost identical to the championship winning car and Mercedes the year before. And then they went out and they hired a load of Red Bull personnel. And suddenly, it looked like red ball designs were appearing on Aston Martin cars. And it just feels like, I'm like a broken record on this. But it does feel like Ashton Martin continually don't know what to do with their own car from innovative stance

that it's fully realised as you know we have, we hear these engineers talk about how the cars are a certain development cycle and they get to the end of a certain cycle so they go right, we've got the most out of this one, we're going to take it and go in a different direction. I don't feel that Aston Martin have cycles. I think they just have photographs of other cars and they go

that will work, let's try that. And I say this all speculatively so if any lawyers are listening I ain't actually saying you're copying, by the way, but it does feel like once a Red Bull gets the egg of their cycle, you go, we'll have to wait for the annual cycle to start before we know what to do with ours. And I think that's why they can never close the gap.

So once Adrian Uri gets there, I do think we'll see a innovative, new, fresh focus, Gaston Martin. A blanket message for all lawyers. If you do ever want to come at anything Sam says, just make sure that you don't bring me and Harry down with it. It's not late breaking. It's very much Sam's individual comments. Views are his own.

And if you agree with him, then we're of the same opinion. Harry, what did you make of the comments here? Yeah, it's an interesting one because I think the other problem, Asam Martin have had, are when they've put upgrades on the car, both the back end of this, this, um, sorry, 2024 season and 2023 season.

Um, in Austin, they put upgrades on that did not work both times now, um, which is bizarre. Uh, but, you know,

we witnessed both of them and they were terrible. Did we? Um, what were you trying to hide us? But that, that's the other part of the problem. They may not be able to keep up, but when they put upgrades on,

they've not worked or they've taken a long time to, to work. So that's, I think that's one of the, maybe they're bigger problem, to be honest. And, you know, I'm sure that's what Adrian Newe is looking at because there just hasn't seemed to be any continuity from that early peak performance for 2020. And it's all sort of gone downhill from there. You know, beginning of 2024 as well, they weren't at the highs of 23. But they were certainly better off than they were at the back end of the, of 2024 season,

and certainly versus the middle. So yeah, it will be a concern. But I think the problem lies in not in them being able to keep up. I think they just don't seem to fully understand the concept of their car, which I guess is what you were touching on Sam, because when they put upgrades on, they don't work. So I guess that then, you know, you lose confidence in what you're trying to do and whether you should put upgrades on cars in case it doesn't work.

A lot of that, a lot of that will change. where they do new is arrival. A lot of that will change with the, the fat pH, fat wind tunnel they've got now at Silverston, which they haven't had before. Obviously, that takes a long time to calibrate, but that will make a big, big difference, I think, to their development cycles.

So I expect things to change. Yes, it will be a cause for concern for them. But this is what they've been, this is what Lawrence Stroll has been writing all the checks for, basically. So long checks. A lot of checks. A lot of checks. I could call it a checklist.

Nice. Thanks. He's being very honest and upfront, which I, and he's right with everything he's saying. I appreciate him, him saying things that I agree with and not things like Lansstrol and Fernando Alonzo

are the same driver. He's, he's right because he could frame this a completely different way and say, hey, look, 2024, we finished in the top half of the championship and for the second straight year, we finished fifth. That wouldn't quite be telling the whole story

because they achieved those fifth places in weirdly very similar and very different ways because in 2023, they walk away with 280 points. Last season, 24, they only scored 94. And it was just the case of those other midfield teams, particularly early on, couldn't get their poo together, right? Like they just could not put together a...

No, I was talking about Mike Crack, come on. Yeah, I thought that. Off the car, come on. None of them could put together like what they needed to to actually for a full season catch Aston Martin and beat them because they were, let's face it, they were there

for beating Aster Martin in that second half of the year and none of them could quite step up to the plate. If Alpine had done the first 18 races of the year, maybe they would have had a chance but ultimately they didn't. Actually, I was looking back at this. Their seventh and eighth place finishes,

Aster Martin, that they got as Silverstone. that locked up fifth place. They didn't need another point after that. That got them the points they needed to finish fifth. So I think that just tells you how far, how important that first half of the season was to just distance themselves from any other midfield rivals, but also the top four in the championship,

which is never really, never really there to catch based on how slow the car was. And if you look at how much of their points come from the first half of the year versus the second half of the year, it's pretty eerily similar between 23 and 24. At 23, 66% of their points came in the first half of the year. And last year it was 72%.

So it's quite similar in both years. So it's something they need to figure out. And I guess the next question, Sam, is do they need to figure that out in 2025, even if it is not a year they're targeting to be that competitive? No is the answer to that question. I don't think they need to figure it out entirely in 2020. I think they have so much coming their way that will muck up that change even more.

It will throw things in the air and they'll have to work out how that all fits into place. Like Harry said, there's a big wind tunnel that's come their way. Not big. Fat. How'd you spell that? P-H-A-T.

Thank you. Sorry, let me re-correct what I just said. There's a fat wind tunnel coming their way and there's also a fat scientist coming their way with a pH at the start of that. Scientist. He's not fat. You've called Adrian Nui, old, bold and fat in the same conversation.

And it will follow us on Instagram soon, I'm sure. My point is, there's a lot of big things coming their way. There's a lot of things changing. And so it's kind of okay if actually 2025 is the final year of them doing the fifth place finish, but being in no man's land by half and through the season. If it means that come 2026, all the upgrades they've been working on in the background when they're put on their calf at the start of that season, work, and they understand them, and they get it right.

So I kind of don't care how Aston Martin perform in 2025. It kind of feels like there's no point to the being there, because we know they are one of these teams that are never going to try and compete for wings in 2025. We know their destination starts. They generally starts in 26. 2025 is a get-it-it-self-together year. We know that.

So I think they'll be fine with it being bad anyway. Harry, your thoughts? yeah I look it's a similar story for like Williams isn't it we said it before asked him on it what don't want a terrible year but next year again it's just a it's a hold year for uh for 2026 they don't need to get everything perfect next year sorry this year I should say um it's it's it's all eyes on 2026 so um yeah I don't think it matters too much if this year isn't perfect in terms of sort of these problems out as long as they've got it ready to

to go for 2026 because otherwise they will incur the wrath of Fernando and I don't want to deal with that no one does no it actually would make great content so I kind of do fair point um I think it is important they solve it in 2025 and I'm not even talking about like actual outright performance but in terms of this seemingly regressing trend that they have throughout the year I think they need to solve that in 25 because I like the comments kind of say it's it's less about the regulations and it's more about the process and they look like they're going to be really delving into that process to make sure it's right and I think they just need to have that nailed on by the time they get to 2026 to be clear like even if next seat of this season that's coming up if they start as the

eighth fastest car and they finish the sick fastest car outright performance that's not a great year but that would be fine in my opinion because they've shown at least that they can develop throughout the year. And whilst Adrian Nui is going to be very busy with next year's car, I think he starts work at the beginning of March, he can still have some input on the process of this 2025 car. And in terms of like what they're seeing in the currently Finn wind tunnel and why it's not corroborating with what's actually going out there on track, because there's a disconnect at the moment.

and if he can solve that this year processes will carry on from regulation cycles so I'd like to see them make some at least some progress on it this year how are you spelling a thing pH-I-N brilliant finn

thin and fat hard to say where you've got a speech impediment for me thin we'll just stick to big and small little and large perhaps Good.

Should we move on from one team principal to another team principal? It's Oly Oaks, everyone. Play in the jingle. The jingle's just you go around in your chair. Al's Trish. Oh, man. You're going to have to watch some old, like, be a breaking clips, folks. I'm a roundabout.

It's true, he is around about. Oliver Oaks has got some comments. He was recently on another F1 podcast Beyond the Grid. So at least it's the legit one. It's just a, yeah, actual F1, otherwise, why we wouldn't use this quote. No. Very true. He was recently on there and he was talking about the decision of Alpine moving away from producing their own power units

and instead taking Mercedes power units from 2026 until at least 2030. This is what you had to say. Times change and you can't rest on your laurels. We have to be honest. the decision to become a customer team was in the right interest of the team, and I know it was a difficult decision. I know there's a lot of emotion there because we are proud to be a works team, and we still have a year altogether,

but I do feel that this was also a big statement of intent, really of where we want to go. We're not here just to be making up the numbers. We want to be pushing forward. We're here to go racing. I want to be at the front of the grid. I don't want to be walking to the back. The choice we made was to get the best engine in the back of the

and help the team climbing back up the grid. Sam, does his justification here change anything for you? Yeah, the famous phrase, statement of intent, really is encapsulated well by selling off major key parts of what is being a constructor in the automotive sport, buying them in from a team that has not seen fantastic success other than one outfit in the last few years, and then basically putting yourself up for sale.

There's a famous scene in The Simpsons, where Homer Simpson turns up to buy a new car and ends up buying an ambulance because in his mind it says, buy me, buy me, buy me, buy me. That is what our peeing are doing right now. They're like, look, we have good intent. We have good, also there's nothing for you to buy.

You can just come along and pick up the team. That is what this is. They're a shop shop waiting to be bought up. And Oli Oaks, who I think is doing actually a pretty good job in all of that mess, is just trying to keep the ship afloat until someone comes along and buys the whole dock and stays the ship.

So it's a tough place for him to be. He's trying to get fighting talk. You know, they were silly to throw away the likes of Ockon, but that wasn't really his doing. It's dead. Doing. I wasn't who's doing. That's two in two episodes.

Good start. It can be at least 56 of those. In the next four episodes. I'm doing it. Yeah. Yeah. So I do think he is getting the team in the place to be positive, to try to get something out of it, but also to become the best available product for someone to come along and take off the shelf.

I did realize I actually cut off the end of his quote, which says, buy me. Breast is a yellow man. Yeah. Harry, what are your thoughts on these comments? Does this change anything for you, have you been completely brought around by these comments? No. I would like to know if the statement of intent is in the room with us because I can't see it anywhere

Should we get as a guest on the show? Oh, I don't think it exists, mate, so it's going to be hard. Is it the butterfly? Statement of intent. Good meme reference from the meme lord himself. Yeah, look, I would have been less mad with this. I'm not that mad about it. They've done worse.

But I've been less frustrated with this if Oliver had referenced the fact that the team that won the constructors last season had these very engine. He could have just said that and I'd have been like sound reasoning actually, fair dues, fair enough because you can't you can't mock that. This is just waffle. Why are you waffling for? There's no need.

And the statement of intent thing, it's not a statement of intent. it's just, it's a second person to bash their mic. That's the statement of intent talking. Yeah, it is in the room. But yeah, I just, that's just waffily, waffly, you know, PR nonsense. I don't, I don't buy that at all. And he's trying to justify what they've done

when it doesn't make a huge, huge amount of sense. And like I said, he could have referenced McLaren as like, well, they did all right. the problem was McLaren had already given up their right to being a customer team before an engine manufacturer before because they went to Renault and then they went to Mercedes after that because the Renault was not very good. Ironically, the very engines that the Alpine team have. So, yeah, I don't buy this as justification.

I still think it's a poor decision but they've made it. now, so stop talking about it, to be honest. You made your bed. Yeah, not lying. Yeah, exactly. Proper Holyoaks line there. That really is.

Must be a shout over a town hall or something. Town hall. I'm literally ever watching. That was the last time you watched the Holyoke's episode. In my head. The Trish Town Hall. It's not after a... In my head, it all takes place in the 1800s in a town hall.

And everyone has Flamed Talkies. God, you really have never seen it. I had said. Literally, they're roundabouts. Well, yeah. And small bridges. Oh, good. Oh, God, I don't know where to go from that.

I came to the same conclusion, Harry did. Just say that McLara won the Constructed Championship. That's all you have to say. Now, in fairness, we don't know whether customer teams winning isn't frequent. It's not regular. So we've got no idea whether that will carry on into the new era. But that's all he had to say to try and judge. justify this position.

I just hate the attitude of, you know, it's a statement of intent to run away from us sucking so badly and going to someone else. Like, no, a statement of intent would have been recognizing that your team is not as good as it could be and fixing the issues, not implying someone else to fix the issues. And if you think, well,

if we divert attention away from power units and onto other things within the team and that's how we can win, if that's your attitude, you're not ready to win. Like Mercedes and Ferrari and other teams have done it where they have been able to focus on their power unit as well as everything else going on in the organisation. They've done it fine.

If you're that worried about it, you're probably not ready to win. And I think there's also a point. I'm not quite sure what the best way to phrase this is, but winning is obviously massively important in this sport. But there is also an element of who are you when you are winning? because if, let's say, best case scenario, Alpine hit the lottery and they hit the jackpot and the Mercedes power unit is great, which by the way is another question mark, we don't

even know how good it will be. But let's say best case scenario is great and they somehow win a championship. It is somewhat diva. It's less Alpine than it would be if it was achieved now, right? So producing their own power units has been such a fabric of their own. organization for years. Losing that means that it takes away something,

in my opinion. Shall we take our final break on this episode and play F1, order please? Oh, I can't wait for a burkow banger. Everyone is time for F1, order please. Whether it's a can of Coca-Cola

or a lump of cheese, or we're ordering drivers by the size of their knees, this game is full of facts, just you waiting see. This is Formula one. Order, order, please. Every time you play that, I think, I swear we had a new jingle, and I remember just how good the original was. Can't replace perfection, my friend. So true. Lumps of cheese need to be ordered. The echoey room in the background as well. It's all perfect. It's actually recorded inside

a can of Coca-Cola. With a lump of cheese with my microphone. F-1 order, please. Six questions in front of me, Sam and Harry will take it in turn. to order four things based on a certain category that I'll tell them. If they get it right, they get a point. If they get it wrong, the other person has the opportunity to steal, but there is a twist because if they also get it wrong, just in a different order, they lose a point. So, Sam, what number would you like to start us off?

One day you're going to do the funniest thing, and you are going to have the questions be, who's got the biggest knees? What size cocaine is the biggest can and what glove of cheese is the biggest? I will love you for it and so will the people. If you're holding out for me doing something funny,

you're going to be here a while. Sorry. Number five, please, Ben. Number five. Four drivers, I'd like you to list them based on how many race starts they've had in F1.

So you've got Noreen Carthacaean. Oh, God, I've got to write these down already. Yep, Carthage. Joe Guan Yu. Yep. Logan Sargent.

and then the obvious four person in this list, Sterling Moss. Obviously. The big four, as we like to call them. Okay, most to least. Yeah. We're going to go, Joe Moss, Sergeant Carter Cain. Not the correct order, Harry. Chuck.

Would you like the opportunity to steal? No. Fair enough. It's a good effort. Just one out because you had the top two in the right order. It was just third and fourth. that needed to switch. Joe Guan Yu, 68 starts his first.

Moss, 66 is second. Then it was Carthage and with 46. And then it was Sergeant with 36. There's no way that that cucumber drove that many Grand Prix. That's outrageous. That's outrageous. He's got a few stints, won't it? He did have a couple of stabs at it.

Yeah, that's fair. Yeah. A couple of stabs at the cucumber. It's a new book name. That is. Good name for a band. That is. Alternatively, it couldn't be.

we're yet to find out Harry what number do you like number one please I'll give you four F1 news stories from 24 and I'd like you to list them chronologically to when they happened in the year

unknown chance okay Adrian Newee joins Aston Martin okay Oliver Berman signs a multi-year deal for Hasse Big Jonathan Wheatley is announced as the new Audi team principal

The Jay Wheat How do you do that Oh yeah Gassley extends his contract at Alpine Just for reference I'm not stealing this I'm still asking Number number one

I'm saying number four This will be The Adrian Newy one I think Then Then The Gansley one then Big J. Wheat

and or Jueet as we call him and then never been said to the Olly Berman a lot of things on this podcast

have never been said by anyone but that's the first thing the final one at Olly Bermann it was a tough question no as if and that's why you've got it wrong no bloody charts he's got that right

Sam, you have already said you don't want to steal. Would you like to steal? I'd like for aluminium. God, that's bad. Aluminum, you mean? No. Three-pin plug. Not getting on that to be.

Three-pin plugs. That's what bad, then. If it's any consolation, Harry, you weren't close. Oh, good. Gassley was first, then it was bare, was it? Then Adrian knew he was last of those four. Bermann Sartre was signed

because Adrian knew he was in like, oh no, what was it, Newee leaving Aston, leaving Red Bull or signing for Aston Martin? Signing for Astorne. Ah, shi-da. Yeah.

No, it's not. I didn't swear. No one, no one listens in Germany. I can prove you wrong. We have the stats. It calls up Toto. He's like,

I'm Austrian. this is a riveting contest so far I'm no-nil. Oh God, and I'm free! Oh, he's got early doors. Oh, hang on, I've not even ready for it. First one of the year?

Yeah. Oh, hang on. Oh, God. This is going down now. Timer. Sorry, mate. Free! Thank you to the slug indent.

I hadn't renamed them yet. Sorry, it's sound six and sound eight. I got mixed up. Don't worry about it. Oh. you're under pressure submission all over again. Count three. Right. Four tracks here.

So Fernando Alonzo, how many wins he's had at each of these circuits? Okay. So you've got Montreal. This should be Harry's question. It might be soon. We'll see. Montreal. Hockenheim.

Yep. Spa. Yeah. And Silverstone. All right. Most to least on how many? How many race wins, yeah. Okay, okay, okay, okay.

Most spa, then Hock, then Silverstone, then Montreal. No. Good. Parry, steal, my friend. Stilverstone. Nice. You can't not steal this one, I think, has been... Yeah, I'll give it a while. Give it a stab.

It's definitely one at all of these. I didn't say that. Okay. Oh, there again. Montreal, Spar, Silverstone, and... Hock and Hockenheim. Hock The Benhawk

The big Bokkenheim The big Benhawk I'm trying to get It changed to that Hockingheim I'll go for most

I will go for Silverstone Then How many? Put a number on it mate Am I putting a number on it Yeah why not Put a number on many

I don't know I just think That's the most So that's the most And then Spar Montreal What was the other one again? I've forgotten.

Hockenheim. Sorry. And then So I don't think he's won a couple of these. I will say next is Hockenheim then Montreal, then

spa. No. Oh, no. Quite. He's won at Hockenheim the most. He's won three times there. Three times. 05, 2010 and 2012.

Then it's Silverstone, 06 and 2011. Montreal, he's won just once. He's never one spar, is he? It's never one spa, which feels very weird. That's fun. Never won a spot. It's nil-0. No, it's minus 1.

Oh, yeah, sorry, mate. Yeah, it's worse than nil. I don't favouritism existing on this show. Right. Harry, it's your turn. What number would you like? Number two. I can give you four drivers, and I want you to list them based on the times finished in the top three in the championship. So how many times they finished somewhere in the top three in the championship standings? Fernando Alonzo, Jensen Button,

David Coulthard and Mario Andretti Imagine if the question was McNabbatub who finished himself. Yeah, I'll give you a hint they have all finished in the top three in the championship.

The most times at Lonzo then Andretti Mario Not Michael No, not Michael Clarifat

There was Butter than who else Sorry. Button and Coolthard with the odd. DC. Then Button and Oh no, hang on. Yeah,

button DC. No. Sam? Oh, yeah, sure. I'll join your minus one. Oh, let's have it. It's good to be friends down there, ring it.

I'll also go along so first, but then I'm going to say Kaltag second, button third, and Dretti fourth. No. Joe Burko! How many times is DC finished the top three? One million!

Five times! Five times! Crucially, none of them were first where they gave you. That's outrageous. Yeah. Just tip to the post every time. Pretty much. Yeah.

Alonzo was first six times, then Coulthard five times. button three times Andretti just twice. Gosh. Which means, it's one minus one. We go back to Sam. What number would you like? Six. You can't have number six.

I can give you four constructors. I want you to list them based on how many seasons they've done in F1. That's not one of them. No. You've got Mercedes, Astor Martin, Jordan and Jaguar. Oh, crikey. Okay. And you can't add Astorne and Jordan together.

Damn it! Okay. Jordan, Aston, Mercedes. And who's the other one, sorry? Jaguar. Jaguar. Yeah. Thank you.

Right. Most Jordan, then Mercedes, then Aston, then Jag. Not correct. Ah. Harry, would you like to try and get back to zero? I'd love to, but I didn't listen to the question. Would you mind repeating?

For God sake, Harry Ead. I've had a think and no. I don't want to steal them. The question was four constructors listed by a number of seasons they've done. Ah, right, and they were Aston Martin, Jordan, Jaguar, and another one. Mercedes to see another one. Montreal. Okay.

I will go for the most Mercedes. I didn't even listen to what sounds ready. This is going to be terrible. Forget the same again. You've always got a difference. It's fine. Carol wasn't going to tell us. Did you just turn off?

You just literally turn there. I did. I just sound down. I'm so sorry, everyone. I'll go for most Mercedes. Then I'll go for Jordan. Then then Jaguar, then Austin Martin.

You only needed to change one of them. You changed both. Mercedes is right in that they are first with 17 seasons, then Jordan with 15. But Aston Martin, thanks to their pesky 1950s exploits, is actually third with six. And then Jaguar with five. That's embarrassing. If you put your efforts together, you'd have got a point there. Nice.

That's not how this game works. That's how the game works. This is a big interesting question. What would that would you like, Harry? the one that's remaining place. I completely agree. That's a great number.

What is it? Number five. Nope. Minus one is four. Great work. Four drivers, I want you to list them based on where they finished

in the 2022 season. I really hoped it was going to be the 2020 season. Sorry, can't remember that. You've got Sergio Perez. Yeah. Charle-Claire.

Lando Norris. and George Russell So top of that would be LeCler I think then Sergio Perez then George Russell then Lando Norris

Sam's nodding his head and he's right to not his head good work Lord Claude back at the end for a one minus one loss I tell you what

you've really recovered that's a nail biter well not Sammy take the win. Woo! Off to a good start. One lost one in 2025. That's good for me.

50, 50. Sorry to say, folks, that coming up next is not the greatest segment in all of F1 podcasting because we are recording quite early in the week this time around. But we'll be back with a question of the week next week. It's just what was the question that how it can remember. Love that. Samish, you wouldn't mind until later on. on this week, getting us out of here.

Recording early in the week. Very good. Very good. Just a little jiggling there for you, folks. Folks, thanks for listening. We will be back on Sunday. Just seeing your text. We can talk about that off air.

Maybe you'll learn these things on Patreon when we do beer with breaking because that's, That is basically behind the curtain. We want to go on Discord, the links in the description. Also, so good, really, like breaking F1, or watch it on YouTube, like breaking F1. Thanks for let's go, folks. We'll see you soon in the meantime why I've been saying.

I was worried about the outro anyway. I've been bed-hawking. Oh, and I've been an old, bold, fat man. How do you spell fat? P.H. Keep breaking it late. part of the Sports Social Podcast Network.