The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Goodbye Daniel Ricciardo?

Episode Date: September 25, 2024

Ben, Harry and Sam discuss more of the fallout from the Singapore GP, including whether that really was Ricciardo's last race and how RB have handled the affair. They also discuss swearing gate as well as the fastest lap saga that reignited concerns over the Red Bull/RB relationship, before finishing with a game of Back and Forth... FOLLOW us on socials! You can find us on YouTube, Instagram, X (Twitter) and TikTok SUPPORT our Patreon for bonus episodes JOIN our Discord community JOIN our F1 Fantasy League BUY our Merch EMAIL us at [e-mail]   & SUBSCRIBE to our podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network. Thank you for listening to the Late Breaking 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. We're on a mid-week. Mid-Midwake? That's a great start, isn't it?

I'm going to say mid-week instead. We're on a mid-week. There's someone passed away. We're half-place for having the buffet. Yeah, we all unprofessional. enough to do that sort of recording. So maybe. No, it's a midweek episode,

but there's no race coming up this weekend. So do we have anything to talk about? She's just a crowd for a bit. That's the thing of the show. Thanks, guys. Keep breaking away. Honestly, the worst game true. I think we might have ever done.

That's not true. Definitely not true. Good. I mean, that's not a positive either. Like, it wasn't great, but we've had so many bad ones that it just doesn't even register. Right.

What are we talking about? It's a good question. because we do have plenty to talk about. I was lying. We're playing back and forth, of course. Glad you're happy about that, mate. I was just injecting a bit of enthusiasm into this intro. That's what you're here for, mate.

Like you, I'll go now. We're also talking about Zach Brown's comments after the Singapore Grand Prix about the way in which Ricardo got the fastest lap. It's not the only time we'll talk about Ricardo on today's episode. Of course, there's a lot of rumours that he will be no longer in the car.

when we get to Austin, and I literally mean when we get to Austin, have you heard we're going. We've got tickets. Are we? Yeah, I think we're going. I'll have to pick it off work. But we're not talking about that.

We're talking about how Lauren Meckis, who is the team principal at RB, has confirmed that there will be a review of its driver's performance following the Singapore Grand Prix that's just happened. Daniel Ricardo's position at the team next season has not been confirmed,

and there's plenty of speculation that actually the Singapore race was his last. Ricardo was noticeably emotional in his post-race interview. He had earlier in the weekend commented that he didn't know what was going to happen from Austin onwards

and the team even gave him a guard of honor after the Singapore race which you usually only do when something like a driver's leaving. So I guess the first question, Sam, before we get on to

how maybe R.B. have handled this. Do you think this is his, what that, do you think that was his last race? And is that fair if it is? I mean, as you already mentioned, all signs point to yes, being at his last race. I mean, the crying, it's why, tearing up rather.

I shouldn't do him like that. Blessing me, held it together, but it was really tough to see Daniel Ricardo. This would be quite emotional. The guard of honour, the clapping. The drivers were walking over and kind of giving him some pads on the backs and things like that. People speculating was the fastest lap for Max and Red Buller. Was it actually for Ricardo to have some kind of big moment? We'll get on to that later running the show.

I don't know. if it is his last race, shouldn't be his last race? No, no, I don't think it should be. Daniel Ricardo has not had a stellar season. Daniel Ricardo has not set the world on fire. Daniel Ricardo is nowhere near being the driver of the season. Has he been better than Yuki Senoda?

No, I don't really think so. But does that mean he's been so poor that someone of Daniel Ricardo standard, who you hired going pretty much what you were guessing at this point in his career, should be let go at a random point throughout the season? No, I don't think he's earned that kind of treatment. They are still very, very close overall in points.

Only 10 points separate them as teammates. I also think that the way the car has been developed, Yuki Sanooga is obviously a very long time driver in that team. Very comfortable. He goes to the team very well. He understands the car dynamics very, very well. And at the part of the season where the car was actually all right, actually competitive, actually good enough to see the top 10 on a regular basis in race days,

Yuki was very comfortable. Yuki was in a good place. And Yuki had the best start to a season that essentially, he's ever had. I think it's very valid that he keeps his seat somewhere in Formula One. Daniel Ricardo, you remember, of course, towards the end of last season when he first got back into the team, had broken his hand, barely got a racing.

Liam Lawson took his place for a while. They got a couple of races. Then we start the season. He takes a bit longer to get used to the car. There's maybe rumors of a cracked chassis or something not going to way that he wants it. And then as the car worsens, Dania Riccara's form in comparison to Yuki Sanoda, which is very similar, by the way. Only a couple of races difference where when they have finished,

because Recaulte had been behind Senoda. It's very similar. He kind of starts to get the better of Sonoga throughout the mid part of the season. And the Menardi, the R.B, whatever you would call it, the Visa Cash app, basically ain't got no funds left. It wasn't it, it wasn't buying you anything. It wasn't cash and no checks.

It was not good enough. And that's when Daniel Riccara started being good enough. Races were 13th, 14th at the maximum were what was achievable. And Yuki's Sunoda was finishing 16th, 17th, 18th on raw pace alone. I don't think he is called. serious issue for the team. I don't think he's costing him a lot of money. In terms of crushing the car,

I'm sure he's quite expensive driving a sign. But I also don't think he's embarrassed himself or the team either. He's not the Ricardo Inou in 2018. He's not the Ricardo Inou back when R.B. was originally his team and he was licking the stamp and sending out on everyone. But is he bad? Does he deserve to be cut off halfway through a season? No.

I really do think it's a slightly unfair treatment here of Daniel Ricardo. And at this point, give it to the end of the season at least, having a proper send-off. Out of all drivers, he deserves a proper bloody send-off where he gets to do cool donuts. We will get to have a moment about him, talk about his best moments.

He's an eight-time race winner. He deserves some proper credit. He's a legend of the sport. It's gutting if we see him leaving. He never even gets a goodbye. Harry, do you think that this might be the last we see of Daniel Ricardo, at least for RB this season?

And do you think it's fair that it might be? It's most bizarre. I've never experienced anything. thing like this, where the driver potentially leave it. Like, there's always like rumors, oh, it might be a last race, but to be going into a weekend where it's almost like confirmed, but still not confirmed for the entirety of the weekend. It's very odd.

Look, all signs point towards the fact that it could well be, that could well have in his last race. But as we joked over the weekend, it'd be really funny now if he turns up in Austin with a drive still. After all that. I'd just give them the championship at that point. I think they'd be, they'd have earned it. What for the poo-housery?

For the poo-housery, I'd give them the championship. The thing is, no one's said anything. It's all just rumours. Like, not even, no one's really, they've said they're obviously re-evaluated, but no one actually just said it is going to be his last race. So anyway, there's a lot of speculation. But I, I agree.

So it's not a fair way to, I know Red Bull are famous for this, but it's not a fair way to do this to Ricardo. And I'm with you. so I mean that he's not been a steady year but he's form turned around just as the car got crap which is really really inconvenient for him because at the points difference to yuki you know the 10 points you mentioned I think could have been the same points if not he might score more if he had that form at the beginning of the season but there's no one else to blame apart from ricardo on that front

but since that point I think he's been as good as sonoda um at one point it looked like he was going to replace Perez. I mean, that was the rumor mill. And obviously, they then confirm Perez. Question for you both, has Perez had a worse season than Ricardo? Because I think he has. Respective to teammates, 100%.

Obviously, you're there in various different cards. So all I can grade them on. So all I can grade them on is their fight against their team mating in that sense, yes. Yes, but I think it's an indictment that those are your two options. No, I agree. But my point is, if you won't get rid of Sergio Perez midseason, why are you doing this to Daniel Ricardo?

And I know this because they want to evaluate Liam Lawson, but it's a known fact that Lawson's going to have that drive next year anyway. You had him in a few races last year. What do you need to see from him in the last few races at the end of this year? That do they need to be convinced of something? Do they just want to give him more time? I don't know what they gained. from having Lawson in the car

versus Ricardo for these last few races. So it's all been, it's been handled weirdly. I don't understand why if they're going to be so cutthroat with Ricardo, why they couldn't be cutthroat with Perez, because I still think they should have got rid of it. If they're going to do that,

they should have got rid of them midseason. And it's just, it's disrespectful to Daniel Ricardo on just a human, human level. And again, I know they've got form here, but, you know, they've got form with drivers who probably delivered less for a team than Ricardo did.

and this feels like a particularly crappy way of doing it because it's not even it's not even just like rumor mill and we get to a summer break and then yet then they're cut it's almost like there's a known quantity before we get to a race weekend and riccada has to go through a race weekend thinking it it probably is it might be his last race but not actually getting that send off as you as you said to sam so it's it feels like a crap crap move i think i was i know you mentioned this to us harry then. I think I was on your sort of wavelength of thinking that Christian Horner, when he was asked about this, was quite careful with his words. And it sounded like the review would be a bit more wide reaching than just Ricardo's position in the team. And at that point, I was still of the mindset that maybe it's not going to be goodbye yet. And even with Daniel Ricardo being quite, I don't know, he was definitely approaching the subject earlier on in the weekend.

And even his uncertainty at the situation, that didn't quite prompt me to think that this was going to happen. But the God of Honor, like, you're not going to do, you're not going to do that, right? And how emotional Daniel Ricardo was after that race? I was just say, do you think he had a, there was a clause to say he had to finish a certain position? Because I'm sure I saw something about,

Christian Horner saying he didn't have a great race, he had the opportunity to have a good race and didn't have a good race. Do we think if he'd finish better? Do you think he just knew because he had a crap race that it was done? I wouldn't refuse in comparison to Singada. Maybe. Maybe.

They're all possibilities. But yeah, I was, really the emotion that he showed and it was a lot of emotion that he was showing in that post race interview. You're not going to be that emotional if you're moving on to Red Bull. Are you?

I can't believe I'm leaving this great seventh place in the championship team for the team that's currently in second place and has the potential driver's champion waiting. So I think at that point it was, yes, this is probably his last race. In answer to the question, is it fair? Or do I understand it maybe is another way to phrase it? Yeah, I understand it.

And Ricardo's situation was an odd one when he came back, right? Because he's not the typical junior driver coming up from Formula 2. Obviously, he has done that, but he's then gone back to the team. And because his situation was so unique, I think the question that Red Bull were always trying to answer was. is the old Ricardo still there? You know, the one that beat a four-time defending champion and Sebastian Vetzel, the one that was a match for Max Verstappen

across nearly three seasons together. And I think Red Bull and R.B. Almost had, because they've got four cars between them, they maybe had a bit more flexibility to put Ricardo in a junior seat, whereas another team like Ferrari or Mercedes might have just not had the ability to risk putting Ricardo back in the car.

And I think they were just working for two different situations where if Sergio Perez does a great job, then, well, great, they've got a good lineup in for Stapin and Perez. And if Perez doesn't do a good job, then if Ricardo shows enough promise, they can make that happen. And I think ultimately, he hasn't shown enough. And I do agree with that he did a better job midseason than he did at the beginning of the season. There were races. The Spanish Grand Prix immediately springs to mind where he puts in a really good race. and the car is good enough for like 13th. But I think he's kind of regressed a little bit back again

since that sort of good run that he had around Spain, Austria, or at least he hasn't kicked on. And I feel like the minimum for him being considered for that seat, that Red Bull seat, would have been beating Yuki Sonoda. And he has been comfortably beaten, you know, 2212 in terms of points is okay enough. But he's only outqualified to know him six times all season. there's a good chance that he will do a worse job in qualifying this year against Sonoda

than he ever did against Max Verstappen. And I think we've just got to the point where we've definitively answered the question. No, he's not what he used to be. In which case, from Red Bull's perspective, there's no point sticking, there's no point to him sticking around. As brutal as that is, and I completely agree with, and I'll get onto it a bit about how it's been handled, because I think it's been handled atrociously. But I understand why we've had a year now where I just don't think he's,

shown enough. I think some of these other teams as well might have just woke and Red Bull up and said, look, we've got if you look at all of their rivals like top half of the championship, Ferrari, they are secure in their future with Bearman going into Hass from next season. You've got Mercedes who are taking Antonelli directly

into their team. You've got maybe not driver related, but Aston Martin, have got Adrian Newe coming on board. You've got McLaren who have a 24 year old and a 23 year old making their line up. All of these teams are building for the future. And at the moment, Red Bull are so Vastappan dependent. And if Ricardo's not your answer, you might as well move on sooner rather than later.

So do I think it's fair? No. Do I understand it? Yes. I think it does beg the question which you both sort of alluded to in the points you made. What were the Red Bull family doing in re-signing Daniel Ricardo anyway, really? For this team that is meant to represent junior development, encouragement, practice time, allowing them to prepare themselves to be, you know, the teammate essentially to Max Verstappen right now,

because until Max Verstappen leads, it is his team. And when you sign something like Daniel Ricardo, who was in his 30s, he'd come off a big of a tumultuous time at McLaren. A lot of people are lost facing him. Us lot on the podcast, I think rightly criticised his form and his ability at that point, saying maybe he's not who he was, maybe the car isn't suit him, we're not sure. Why they don't, at that point, replacing Nick DeVries with Liam Lawson or another. a young driver that could have two or three years to develop into a role if Senoda isn't exactly

what you want. It's very confusing and I think it shows you what Red Bull has become now as a team. They're not this driven, unified unit that allows them to make rash decisions, that allows them to be cutthroat like they used to

be, that allows them to be the ones that you know what? They pull the ping where other teams wouldn't in certain scenarios, whether it both be on track or off track. People are leaving Red Bull left, right and centre. I mean, just today, Will courting from Red Bull was announced and he's going to go to McLaren, right? He's been there since Red Bull's birth, essentially,

in the sport as a team. That's a long time, so much experience gone. And this is one of so many that have left Red Bull over the last 12 to 18 months. It shows you that I think they're so much unified. They do not have a strong direction where they're going. They've lost sight of what this team is meant to be. And it's reflected on the ability of the drivers

with the development of the cars and what their identity is. So I think it's unfair that Daniel Ricardo goes now. I think he's a victim of a bag system that he should have been able to rely on after what he did so well for him in the first place. I do think he should have got the rest of the season and then they should have said,

you haven't been good enough because I can understand that, that's fine. But I think the way they've handled this, which I'm sure we'll get onto now, has been atrocious. I was fine with the decision to rehire him just because he struggled so much of McLaren that I think Red Bull would have been a little bit foolish

not to at least take him back and find out whether the Ricardo of like 2017, 2018 or even as Renault days was still there. And I think we've just got to the point where that has just been proven wrong. I was okay with the decision to try it, provided that the other seat is still sort of used for what the team is supposed to be there for.

So I was okay with the decision, but I think they've kind of just reached the understanding that it's not going to work. In terms of the approach, Harry, as you kind of referenced, I'm baffled by this. I don't understand. It feels like something's gone wrong here communication-wise, because I don't remember the last time anyone driver-wise was handled this way, let alone, as Sam referenced earlier, an eight-time winner, someone who has been instrumental to the sport for nearly 15 years. Why is it going down this way? I don't know.

what are you doing, Red Bull? We've had mid-season dumpings of drivers before. Never seen anything like this where we're saying buy to a driver, even though it's not confirmed. And if Red Bull have made their mind up on this, which it seems like they have, what was the point in like waiting to last this weekend

to do an evaluation? Because even the fact that they're having this evaluation means that they've made their mind up, they want to replace him with Lawson. So why do we have to, why make him go through this weekend with that in the back of his mind? because, yeah, like I said,

maybe there was a clause if he performed well, then it might be a different situation, but I just don't think that's the case. I think the damage is already done. So I just don't know from Red Bull's point of view, why, and again,

I'm not saying it's one rule for Ricardo, another rule for other drivers that have been in the Red Bull program. But as you said, Sam, he's an eight-time race winner. He's won seven of them for that team. You know, we didn't bring championships for them,

but there was never an opportunity to. He's a big part of their history. and they're treating him like a bag of crap. And it's just from a human personal level, I just think it's brutal and doesn't cover Red Bull in any glory whatsoever. It does, like you say, Ben, feel like something that's gone awry behind the scenes. And I don't know whether this is to do with some more inter-team fighting

in terms of the people at the top, because it feels like maybe someone's fighting his corner and others are not. And maybe this is why it's not being able to just be handled a bit more clinically. than they have done. So it's poor. It's poor from Red Bull. We've heard multiple times Helmut Marco advocate for like Liam Lawson.

It wouldn't shock me at all if something like that happened internally at the team. Yeah, it just doesn't make any sense to me. He deserves so much more in terms of a say. Even though I understand the decision, the way in which it's been carried out is just ridiculous. He should have been allowed to control the narrative this weekend. The fact that he was, you know, fairly emotional

but not able to be fully emotional because he'd be giving away exactly what's happening. And even he might not know exactly what's happening at this point. It's just disappointing. And you see some of the other drivers that have retired of similar stature, I guess. And they have had the ability to have a proper send-off. And I'm not sure Ricardo would be overly fussed by this, but like, you know, social media posts

and getting the drivers involved with saying a goodbye message, like all of that, he's at the opportunity to have none of it. I appreciate this is an awful example because he didn't end up retiring. But you remember like Felipe Massa when he's walking down into Lagos, Brazilian Grand Prix is a Brazilian flag sort of draped over him. Incredible moment. And even though he didn't retire that season, he retired the season after, that will be a moment that stays with him forever.

Ricardo hasn't had the opportunity for any of that based on how Red Bull have handled this. Funny enough, you speak of another person who actually ended up retiring, and that was Fernando Alonso, of course, who got to have the infamous triple donut moment, with him, Seb and Lewis can have his biggest rivals across his whole career. And that was a moment that we all remember. It's ingrading your brain. The photos are iconic.

He got the send-off that he deserved from Formula One. Ricardo's a human being. He's a person. He's spoken so openly, honestly, about his issues mentally when he was stuck in, away from home through COVID. He couldn't go see his family. He struggled so much from at McLaren. He was so down.

He's a character that wears his heart on his sleeve. and the respects he still managed to show the Red Bull family with tears in his eyes while being interviewed potentially during the last time he'll ever get through the sport he loves tells you what a great guy he is he doesn't deserve that he's worth so much more than that I was I was a little bit heartbroken for him watching him give those possibly last messages that we get to see from him he's a character everyone loves he deserves to have a proper send-off

a proper proper motor sport send-off from the people that have loved his career. From Red Bull's perspective, I feel like there's an argument to go a bit nuclear with this now, like in terms of their four seats to say Vestappan and Sonoda at Red Bull

because I think at some points, they've got to either cut him loose or give him a shot, Yuki Sanoda. I'm not convinced he's the answer, but do something with him. I think there's an argument to go Vastappan and Sonoda in Red Bull and then leave Lawson and Hajar

in the junior team. Because at that point, you've at least got roots for the future. Like if Sonoda ends up being way better than I think he'll be, great, you've got your line-up. If one of those two rookie drivers, Lawson or Hadjar's great, promote them. And then if neither of those two options work out, we know not one to discuss today, but Christian Horner has mentioned his interest in the likes of George Russell. Maybe you go outside higher. I just think at the moment that they kind of just don't have any avenues to go down.

And they just need to open up one of these. Because you don't need all three of them to work. You just need one of those possibilities to work. I know, Sam, you've mentioned before, like giving Sonoda a shot. I feel like the time to at least give it a go is now, because that Constructors' Championship, I don't think they're going to get that back. And they need to at least ensure that in the future

they're going to have something to fight with. This is nothing to lose. This is a nothing to lose situation. Stick Senoga in Red Bull. If he does okay towards the end of the year, you give him a one-year deal in Red Bull. And you get to 2026 at that point. And to be honest, if Senova hasn't wowed you,

you go, all right, now's the time to say goodbye, because Hajjar and Lorsen have had a full year together in the junior team and then you pick one of those to go into the new era with the new regulations to lead Red Bull alongside Max Verstappen and then you're radical again. Red Bull seems to only be able to do it one way or the other. They're either too ruthless with their drivers and they destroy careers that need to be rebuilt outside of the team or they don't see if you can pull the plug at all and they've got so much dead weight and confusion floating around

and they're now missing endless opportunities for growth and development and change. You know, there is a balance. Haas found it once. Rookie experience. Rookie experience. Red Bull can find it. Ruthless thinking, but not actually career destroying or sitting on your backside doing nothing.

There's a balance of strike here, guys. You can find it. Rookie an experience. Sounds good to sell. Don't tick both the experience boxes, Ben. No, sounds pretty good. Selba. Right, we're going to take our first break on this episode.

On the other side, we're discussing naughty words. Oh, I like those. Welcome back, everyone. It's been an interesting weekend for a number of reasons. We've discussed the Ricardo side of it already. But the other thing that was going on, swearing. This is an interesting one. FIA president, Mohammed Ben-Suliam, said F1 must differentiate itself from rap music

because that's the thing that needs to happen. It's tough to tell between the two. He criticized excessive swearing over team radio with a view to clamp down on it. stewards then ordered Max Verstappen to complete some work of public interest, direct quote, for using a profanity during Thursday's official press conference in Singapore. And in response to that, Max Verstappen only gave short answers in the FIA press conference after qualifying in the race. He gave more in-depth answers to journalists outside of the media centre.

There's quite a bit to look at here, Harry. Let's start at least with, let's go chronologically, with Mohammed Ben-Suliam's comments. do you find a difficult to distinguish between rappers and F1 drivers? Yes, actually. I'm a lifelong rap fan, and I've only now just realized that I've not been watching rappers every weekend. I thought it was just a tour of the world of rapping. Oh, 20 best rappers.

What the freaking hell are you talking about? Why is this even an issue? It just feels like this is something he doesn't. oh, you don't like a swear word. Grow up. You're pathetic. This is not even, this is a non-issue.

And, right, first of all, don't mind driver swearing, you know, when they're in car. It's, it's funny. I'm not offended by it, but also shows, like, the passion they have.

Most of the time, it's, they're passionate or annoyed or something. Because they're passionate and they're competitive and they're sports people. It is the least non-issue in F1. I mean, it's not even a thing.

This has never crossed my mind before. So why have you even made this a, made this a point, Ben, not you, Ben, Sullyman. Ben Sillyman. Yeah, why have you, why is this even being raised as a point? I do not, I do not for the life of me, I don't understand it. The comparison to rappers is just poorly judged. As Nurse Hamilton's pointed out, it's got racist undertones to it as well, which is excellent work, Ben, against Suleim, not you, Ben.

Yeah, people are coming after me. Sorry, mate. On this episode. Goodness. But, yeah, just the fact that we're talking, I know it's a topic point, but the fact we're talking about this is ridiculous because why do we care? Well, we don't care. It's just Ben, Solium cares.

It's just, it's just, it's just pathetic. I feel like today's, like, theme is just us being confused by things. Yeah. confused about how Red Bull treat Ricardo, confused about these comments. Sam, you've, well, between the three of us, you've already said your thoughts, but for the people at home,

what do you think about this? The comments are so multi, there's so many strands of wrong that's come off this. It is mind-blowing. Let's talk about the swearing issue to begin with, right? Okay, I don't want race drivers to swear,

says Ben Silliam. We don't need them to swear. Okay, so many ways you can go with this. Firstly, let's look at all the other problems that we've had when it comes to Formula One. The amount of nations that we go to that have got human rights problems that we just go, you pay enough money, we'll race there. Now, of course, I agree that those people in those countries, conservatives, and F1 race, but money is king, and that will get rid of all your issues there.

Do you remember when Lewis Hamilton wasn't allowed to kneel anymore? Yeah, because he was trying to support Black Lives Matter. That was a problem. Do you remember when he was allowed to wear a T-shirt and they weren't allowed to wear T-shirts to support? equality and equal movement. And rainbow flags are possibly going to be banned because the LGBTQ plus was to... What?

To what? Nothing. That was a problem. Perswearing, that's a problem. And then you use one of the worst metaphors of all time that F1 driver swearing is similar, not if not the same to. Indistinguishable to rappers on songs,

which get bleeped. And you know what else gets bleeped? F1 broadcasts, because they're delayed, because you have full control over what goes over air because it is censored by you, which you create. You have full say in the TV direction. You don't want swear words broadcast.

Blip. Blip. Blip. You can do that. It's a little button. We've got one. Can I ask you put it on? Well, I swear.

To be fair, on this point, I guess it's F1, the control of the TV direction, not the FIA. And is this another swipe at? Yeah. Because F1 are never going to get rid of the swearing or this. Of course not.

Because it's, you know, it's exciting. It's show-stopping. And then on this point of the swearing, you've made a comparison between rappers and Formula One drivers, which has got massive racial undertones to the only black Formula One driver that has ever taken part in the sport because rappers are majoratively black men

in the current pop industry. So that's another swipe. And someone who you clearly don't get along with. We've seen Lewis Hamilton's reaction to Bencilium every time it gets out the car on the podium. It doesn't talk to him. Doesn't he's around him. Doesn't he's around him.

That's very clear. So the fact that these drivers who have trained all their life, they're so passionate, they're driving at 200 and something miles an hour, they're hitting walls, they're hitting each other. They're ecstatic when they win. They are desperate when they lose.

And you have an issue with the occasional F word or the occasional S word, you know? Grow up, actually grow up. I'm not even joking. I'm really annoyed about how pathetic this is from the FIA and Ben Silliam. genuinely one of the most minute, pathetic problems I've ever seen someone have a go out in my life.

It is tragic. You are tragic. Grow up, mate. Seriously, frustrated by this awful conversation. Max Verstappen, I think, reacted perfectly. Be a child for such a childish, silly topic. I think he was right to act like that. If I was driving an F-1 car,

I'd swear every, like, 10 seconds, because it would be that scary. Literally, it would be one long swear word for 61 laps. Yeah, yeah. He embarrasses himself sometimes, don't he? Oh. Every time he opens his plug-in-mouth. He's made a fool.

Fool of himself. I'll tell you what, he should go to, like, a football match in the UK on like a Wednesday evening, and then his eyes would be open. That was the exact point I was going to make, is what does he think would happen if you put, if you miced up 22 players on a football pitch? Like, what would be set up?

Good play, old chum. You got my ankle there, you cheeky bugger. I'm like, what do you think's going to be said in that situation? Come on. Yeah. The thing is he doesn't just embarrass himself. Like he embarrasses the sport and he embarrasses the FIA. And look, the FIA needs a lot of help.

It doesn't need help embarrassing itself without your support, Ben Sillium. Yes, you're right. There are racial undertones to this, which just, it would be stupid unnecessary anyway, but throw that in there as well just to compound it. I mean, to your point that you made, Harry, about how these are very raw reactions that we're getting from the drivers. And I'm not accusing any particular driver of this, just generally. Drivers are very well media trained when it comes to anything conversation-wise out of the car. The one time where that media training completely goes out the window and you can really hear what people are thinking is when they are in the cars.

So I'm fine with that. And as you say, Sam, they have a choice. They can bleep it. they can choose not to broadcast something. That's up to them. They created a situation of essentially listening into an internal conversation and externally broadcasting it.

And I think for entertainment value, it's a good thing. But it's your decision. If you don't want to do it, don't do it. And if you do want to do it and you want to change the way you do it, fine. But yeah, as you say, Harry, it's probably another area where the FIA and F1

don't see eye to eye on something. Unless you're George Russell and then you can shout about how it's like a song or in here. Yeah. That's true. I... Leaves. I think we should get Ben Sodeum to meet Jordan Pickford and then see...

Good Lord. You know, like the high performance podcast? We're only talking about other podcasts. I would like to see Georg and Pickford interview Ben Sillian. Oh, dear. Moving on in terms of the timeline, Sam, Vestappen has got some... What was the phrase again?

Work of public interest or something. Essentially community service. it's not the first time, of course, the Vastappan has had community service. What was the reason he got community service the first time? Oh, God. I can't remember why, but he was sentenced to watch Formula E. It's because he assaulted another Formula One driver.

Oh, yes, of course it was the Ocon incident, which, you know, feels like it was more of a thing than swearing. Assault is a crime. In the normal way of life, you would be giving some form of prison sentence or criminal conviction. Do you think Vastappen will be forced to, I don't know, be one of the marshals at British touring car on a wet Silverstone Saturday?

I swear a lot more then, I'll tell you that. I hope so. We'd have a great day. We had a great time when we went. The disparity between severity of issues here, you know, he assaults another driver outside of the racetrack on F1 property during a race weekend, community service. I don't disagree with it.

I disagree with the fact that the community service watching Formula E, that was great. That's bad for. If they said, you've got to walk around Brazil on Monday, the race track near into Lagos. The country.

A lap of Brazil. You know, you've got to walk around into Lagos litter picking. I'd be like, fair. Okay, I don't disagree with that. Feels okay. But the difference between a swearing, which, as he made the point of,

children do when their parents aren't around. People do it work all the time. People do with their friends all. the time. You know, it happens on the telly in every sport. He has to go and do community service for this. So I think he's childish, silly reaction of doing interviews while walking, not doing them in the media paying one word responses. I can't talk. I've got a problem with my voice. I loved it. I'm eating it up. Give me another course, Max. I'm munching it down. You got Lewis Hamilton and Landon Norris, giggling like little kicks on the sofa. I'm living for it. I'm here for it.

If you're going to be that pathetic, be that pathetic in return. I'm all for it. Lewis Hamilton just like, yeah, I probably wouldn't do that, buddy. You want a whole lot of smoke. What are your thoughts, Harry, on this? I immediately think that you think it's a justified penalty. Yeah, obviously. What are you doing?

There I guess. Why are you giving a man a punishment for a swear word? that is what it is. Someone has sworn he just said a swear word. There's not a bad word. It's not a in terms of, you know, there's no racism.

There's no. Abelism, got the sojouristic. Exactly. He's just, carism, maybe. Apart from that. And you're going to give him, you've given him community service as a punishment. And you're just trying to make a point,

but you look like a bunch of muppets, like an actual clown. show, FIA, once again, back at it again with the clowns. It's just, I'm with you, Sam. I think, I don't even think his response, Max's response was childish or silly. I think it was, it was very measured, very measured and very, like, poignant. Like, it made a, made a point. He didn't, didn't go off and one of the, in the media, you know, in the, not the media pen,

in the press conference room, but just calmly wouldn't really answer the question and then did it outside instead. And that in itself actually is, I think, done more reputational damage to the FIA in this issue than anything else has because he made them look like fools, even though they were doing that themselves already. But, yeah, it's just a sorry end to a sorry saga. I'll keep my reaction short. It was ridiculous. Yeah. And I want to give credit actually to Vastapen for one thing he said on this. which is that he doesn't blame the stewards who gave him the penalty. Like he was absolutely fine with the stewards giving him that penalty.

He had a discussion with the stewards about it. And his point was, and I think it's very right, in saying they were working to the rulebook in giving him the penalty. And it's the rule book that's moronic. And I completely agree. Maybe the one time in the history of this podcast, I'm not going to go in on the stewards for something. I expect that to change within about 10 minutes.

But do you think, Harry, this will continue. you on at all? Do you think this will simmer down? Now we've got a few weeks off or are we going to get back to swearing gate when we're in Austin? Yeah, well, we'll be there, so just be effing and blinding everywhere.

I can't help myself. I'll go stand next to our microphone for the TV broadcasting a sweater. The gnawn guy. It's going to be me, just F-bomb, over and over again. I'll go back to Austin. Good.

Yeah, that's it. No mind. This might roll on. It's been rolling on for the year, really, because we had didn't Toto and Fred Fassarget. Yes. They called out for doing the,

or investigated, and I think didn't LaClair as well. So this has been rumbling on. It's obviously just the comments from Ben Sully and the Reignited it this weekend. Sadly, probably, yes, it will,

but it is ridiculous. Do you think it'll disappear, Sam or we'll stop and keep this going? I hope he keeps it going. And I think what will be very telling now is how the FIA and Formula One react to Landon Norris, who dropped the F-bomb in the call-down room,

straight after the Singapore Grand Prix, which again is broadcast on a delay by Formula One, and they didn't believe it. And Crofty on the British broadcast had to apologise immediately for any foul language that was heard. So if Lando gets to walk out of that, and it could be any driver on, saying there's Lando,

if he walks out of there, and with no comment from anyone at all, but Max Verstappen gets this, something fishy going on there, and I have every right for him, him to kick off even more if that's the case. So it'll be interesting to see how it kicks on into Austin. But it's the same issue as the jewelry thing for Hamilton before.

It's just petty, pointless comments and pointless rule changes that quite frankly are taking away the organic natural passion and the people within it that make Formula One something special. Yeah, I, um, my instinct is the Vestappan will probably tone it down. I just don't think Vostappen will go I can't be bothered to keep this battle up which is completely fair enough I would not be mad if he continues this on

but I think between now and then Red Bull will probably just rain him in slightly and he'll probably go fast not really worth it but he to the point of like giving full answers in in press conferences and being as I think he'll hold something back for a while even if he's not like the level that he's been this weekend

And I think that does affect things medium to long term in terms of how we might approach those sorts of situations. Right, let's take our second break on this episode. On the other side, we're going to be chatting through Zach Brown's comments on Ricardo's fastest lap at Singapore. Welcome back, everyone. A lot of Red Bull and RB focus on today's episode. Purely coincidental, they've just given us all the things to talk about. But we actually have some comments from Zach Brown here. understandably from his perspective,

based on his previous comments, he was not happy with the way in which Daniel Ricardo stole the fastest slap point away from Lando Norris at the Singapore Grand Prix. This is what he had to say. That's a nice AB team sporting thing that I didn't think was allowed, but that's not the first time we've seen it,

probably won't be the last. It's something I've spoken about in the past, and I think it illustrates that it does happen because I think he wouldn't have made that pit stop to go for that. It's not going to get anyone a point. So I think it does illustrate the issue around that topic. Now, Lauren Mecky said afterwards that this was about giving Daniel Ricardo a fastest lap

as maybe a last race ever. Daniel Ricardo insinuated that there might have been Red Bull reasons behind this. I guess the first question, Sam, is why do you think they did this? Was it Ricardo-based? Was it Vastappan-Noris-based? And should it have been allowed? It's amazing how one thing can tick two boxes, isn't it? It very much was a both thing.

I think if it was sung over in that position, I still think they would have done it, but I think it's really nice and helpful. They give Ricardo a little extra. I want 100% think that, you know, a message would have come through over a little text message or a little birdie will have flown on down to the Alfa Tauri Monardi Rabe Toura Roso garage

and said, want to put on some fresh offs there, my guys. Want to do a little fastest slap at the end there just to take that from McCarran. And I'm sure Ricardo, out of all people, happily obliged, you heard him over the radio go, if he wings by one point at the end of the season, that's going to be a lovely little Christmas present coming my way.

You hear Max for stopping over the scene radio saying, thank you, Daniel. They know what it means in that car. They're not stupid. A point is a point. And when it's this close in the drivers, it could come down to it. We saw what it meant as well.

Because at that point, Max doesn't have to win another Grand Prix. You just have to finish seconding absolutely everything. And he wins this title. It does make a... difference. And I think, yes, it also so happened to give Ricardo a lovely little mark on the record book against his name, should this be his final Grand Prix?

Harry, why do you think they made the play? Yeah, I think it is both. I'll be more optimistic and, you know, I do genuinely believe they gave that, Ricardo the opportunity to do that. He'd have a crap race, we had a crap weekend. but it was obviously very useful that it meant that he could take the fastest lap off Norris. I've got to say,

there's no guarantee he gets the fastest lap because he's driving. We saw the pace Norris had and it was just banging out fastest laps for sheer fun on really old tires. We've seen Lance Joel tried to do it before. And I don't think there's a guarantee. So that's why I'm being slightly more optimistic

about the fact that it was just purely for Ricardo's enjoyment and not for RB, for Red Bulls benefit because, because there's no real guarantee given the car he had and, well, you know, the pace of the weekend he had, there's no guarantee he would have actually got it. So I know you get fresh tires, obviously, you're light on fuel. So you've got things going for you.

But again, I'll use the Landstrol example, where it's not a guarantee. So I think it's a bit of both, but I'm being more, I'm not being too pessimistic about it. If it is for Ricardo reasons, it just makes the whole sucker even more stupid. It's like, oh, we'll give him something for his last race. Oh, it's his last race, is it? I don't know.

Maybe. Come on. You've taken the optimistic side. I'll take the pessimistic side. Come on. Psychic Ben. Cynical Ben, here we go. Sinical Ben is absolutely here.

Yes, I have an issue with this. Yes, I think this was driven by Red Bull and not by Minardi. we've seen it so we've seen it before and I think Daniel Ricardo's openness is probably quite telling I don't think he'd have been quite open about as open about it if he wasn't you know leaving the team after the race otherwise I think he probably would have said the same thing that Laura Mecky's did that I was just doing it for myself but I mean we've spoken at length about and Zach Brown has spoken at length about the difficulties of having these sister teams on the grid.

But I remember at the end of last season or maybe the beginning of this season that don't worry everyone, this new RB, Menardi, Alpha Tauri team is no longer a B team. It's a red ball. It's now a team in its own right. Nah, not having it. Not having it. It's zero benefit, obviously, to R.B to get that point. It's only benefiting Max Verstappen.

You know, RB aren't exactly doing the old, the old salber technique of taking a point away. from Alpine, there's no one else around them that's in danger of getting that fastest lap point. Like the Hass of Nico Holcomberg or the Astermastomarsen of Alonso, right? Then they're not going to get the fastest lap at this point in the race. So they don't need to take it away from someone. I think this was maybe Red Bull driven. But you know what? It actually gave me another thought even more pressing than that.

Can we get rid of this now? The fastest lap point. Yeah. yeah, why not? I don't care. I feel I wasn't in love with it to begin with, but not really fun. I don't, yeah, I just don't care about it, I suppose. I just don't care. What I do care about is the B team,

and I've said it so many times, so vocal about it, I hate that Tora Roso, Alpha Tauri, R.B, Visa Cash, and whatever are low-key controlled by Red Bull, and it is essentially takes up another team on the grid. Someone like Andretti with Cadillacca's their engine can't get on the, grid and yet we've got a team that we will never be allowed to win it won't ever be in what win a race and we've seen it win a couple of grontrees but it will never ever be allowed to be properly competitive that's not the point of the team it is a waste of space in formula one and

i think it would be so better served if it got bought out if they forcedly had to sell it and they were not allowed to control two separate teams i do think it's very different to mercedes lowering a driver to williams for example i think it's very different i think it's far removed I just hate this concept in Formula One that actually it's not 10 teams against 10 teams or one team against nine it's two teams that get to secretly work together and there's no real rules that allow them to stop it

because you can't control all the conversation and the communication between them. I really hate this rule in Formula One. Well, it does lend itself to that question of what do you do about it? Even if you can't solve it completely, how do you limit it? I don't know how you limit it.

I genuinely don't know how you limit it. To me, only solution is they legally force them to make them set the sale to another team. I don't know how you limit this in a way that is provable. You know, you can come back and check and you can then punish if that is broken. Apart from literally monitoring all comms devices and even then, there's a enough way to get around it. So I don't, I don't know how you actually put in a mandate that says you can't work as two related teams. Yeah.

Yeah. It's a constant dilemma It's not a new one, is it? It's just with this fastest lap discussion. It's kind of been brought up again. But yeah, it's a tough one. Should we move on to F1 fantasy? I'm quite annoyed by it this week.

Sure. I really thought I did quite well. This has been the most frustrating week of the lot, I think. I don't care. I'm going to spoil it. I don't care that curses in front of me. I just thought. I actually dig well and I didn't.

Sounds like you do care. I doubt. I do. I do. Extra doubt. Let's, before we focus on ourselves, Steiner redemption. It is redemption for Gunther Steiner because he,

and it's definitely him, because he's a big fan of the podcast, obviously. He has won this week in Singapore, 294 points. Not too shabby. Certainly a lot more than we got. Top three. Overall, it's all bon wrong.

The Max Verstappen of this league continues to lead the way. Got a good gap as well over now second place, prancing Zebras. Team Austrian Anthem is now third. How did we do? I didn't think I did very well. And it still wasn't very good, but it was maybe slightly better than I thought it was going to be. I'm down 12 positions to 184th. But as Sam very much alluded to, there has been a chance.

for second place because Kirsty has improved by 14 points to go up to 321st. She was rather menacing this. She's coming after me. She was very clear about that. So I'm kind of scared. You're only four positions behind Kirsty,

so there is a chance at a fight back. You're down 18 positions to 325th. Harry, we made a big deal of you going up by eight positions. last week. Rightly so. I was wondering if you'd keep up that momentum. And the answer is?

No. You've gone back down seven positions, which means in the last two races, you have a net gain of one position. That's a great move forward, my guy. I see no negatives in that. I only see positive, so quite frankly, I'll take it. They're definitely negatives. Well, not because I'm net plus one.

There were seven of them. There were seven of them. Yeah, but net plus one. But there could be net plus eight. Yeah, there were. And then I'm net plus one. To wait. I haven't done the maths, I'm afraid, on this.

But if you make up one position, every single, every two races, you might by the time you're in your 70s get up to first. It's doable. It's doable. I believe in you, mate. That's true. Yeah, possible. I am chipping away at it. You are.

really stretching the definition of chipping away. If the Great Wall of Shyinger is what you're working on and you're at it with a pencil. Plastic spade, in he? Yeah, you're chipping away. But chipping away nonetheless, that plus one. Thank you. Speaking of chipping away, we got chips left, folks.

I mean, Harry's used all of his, right? Yeah. I have all chips bar one. Yeah, same for me. So, yeah, I've got five, well, five, but you can't use one of them until the last race, right? Yes. Yeah, yeah. That might be right. So I thought there was a user now got one in the last corporate.

I thought one you, I thought the last one is you use after qualifying. Yes, that's right. Not that that's right. The final fix, that one. Ah. I'm just waiting. My three times I'm just waiting because I'm going to doom whoever that driver is for that weekend.

So I'm going to have to use that carefully. Does the final fix give me everyone else's points? Yes, that's the actual twist at the end. Harry version. whole league's points on you. You know, when you're playing football in the playground and then you go, last goal wins, even if you're 14 nil up.

Were you the last goal kid wins? Yeah, mate. Yeah, love that. Every time. Go hangar. Good stuff. If you haven't joined, I know we've only got six races to go,

but there's still opportunity to join the league. We will welcome you with open arms because you will probably just add to the comedy of beating Harry. So the link is in the description. Follow the instructions through. and we'd love to have you. Please stay away. At this point, please.

Right, we'll take our final break on this episode. On the other side, we've got F1 back and forth. It's time for F1 back and forth. F1. Back and forth, it's F1. Back and forth, it goes backwards. Then goes forth, it's F1. Back and forth, F1.

Anyone who's been a wrong, round for a while, we'll know how this works, but we'll explain the rules for any, uh, any newcomers. Welcome along to you. Um, F1 back and forth, Sam versus Harry, there is a category in front of me. There are a number of correct answers in this category. They will go back and forth until they can no longer think of an answer or give an incorrect answer.

I will give you, oh, baby. One strike. Okay. Oh, God. If it's a strike, then it's it's hard. I'll give you one strike. I would like you to name the 23 circuits that Lewis Hamilton has won at more than once. Yay.

Good stuff. There's a lot of, I thought you were here to bring optimism, Harry. That's what you opened the show with. Yay! Thank you very much. I'll let you know as well. There are eight circuits that he's only one at once. So those are the ones in particular you're looking to avoid.

But of course, if you give me an answer where he's never won, that's also wrong. But 23 circuits, he's won at twice or more. Sam, kick us off. Silverstone. You know what? He's won at Silverstone more than twice. You're absolutely right. Nine times, in fact, it's a bit greedy to be honest.

You just save some for the rest of the. That is mad at one track for one driver, in it? That is mad. You know what? It's not bad, is it? It's quite good there. Where else is he quite good, Harry? Australia.

Sorry, I've got Albert Park written down, so it's wrong. Albert Park. You know how many times he's won there? Three. Twice? Exactly twice, yeah. It's a correct answer. But yeah, it's one of those that he hasn't,

given how many times he's race there, you would think he'd have won more at Albert Park, but that is still a correct answer. Sam, back to you. Hungara ring. You've gone from his most successful circuit to his second most successful circuit because he's won there.

He's won there only eight times. Oh, just see, I'm pathetic, Lewis. Come on. Are you back to you? Barcelona. Another good track for him. He's won there six times. Of course, Mercedes, the goats of Catalonia.

Forever. Sam, back to you. Interlagos. Interlagos. is a correct answer. He's won there three times. Harry. Suzuki?

Suzuki's a correct answer. He's won at Suzuki four times. Sound back to you. Shanghai. Shanghai, another good one. He's won there six times. Going along very nicely here. Harry.

Monaco. Monaco is a correct answer. Three-time winner at that circuit. Sam. Bahrain. Bahrain, he has won five times. Correct answer. Harry back to you.

Montreal. And that's his third most successful circuit. Of course, he took his first win there back in 2007, and he's won there seven times overall. Sam? Cota. Yeah, another good one for him. He's won there five times.

Harry. Happy Tabby? Abu Dhabi is Oh yeah I've written Gasparina That's my bad Yes

Yes Sparina Yes I think we have a second Monsa Monza Monsa has not been said And it is correct

Dan's it's one there five times I hate how many times He's that anguingly successful Yeah it's pretty good. He's good at the F-1. He's got a lot of wins.

Spar. Correct answer. He's one there four times. How many have you got left? It's going very well here. You've got nine left. I'm going to go a little rogue. Maybe I'll go first strike for this, so I'm not sure.

Paul Ricard. Not rogue at all, sir. Two wins there. Okay. It's only just in the criteria. Hey. Oh, they all count, mate. They all count.

apart from the answer time. You know this game, like the box or... Harry. Singapore. Singapore is a correct answer. He's won there four times. Sam? Baku?

Who is your strike? Yeah, it's once, isn't it? He has only one there. I did think it was only once. Yeah, okay, fine. Back to you, Harry. Um... Oh, no.

I can't think of any circuits, let alone any of these one on. Sounds like a you problem. I know it is. Hockenheim. Hockenheim is a correct answer. Yes, he's one there three times. It's time to get tricky now, Sam. So you've got one, two, three, four, five.

You've got six answers left, but only one of them, he's won more than twice. so we are difficult. Oh, blimey. Okay, that is tricky. That's run DMC once said. Here we go. I have got like tracks in mind.

It's not like I've, I'm drawing a blank. I've just trying to really work out if you won there more than once. Obviously, now I've got that one strike. I've got to be quite sensible. May I ask a clarifying question? You can.

Harry, you let me know if you'd like the answer or not to this before Ben, is I suppose. How many of them are on the current calendar? Harry, are you okay with me answering that? Sure. Two of them, I think.

Yeah, two of them are on the current calendar. All right. Turkey for Istanbul. Yeah, that is the correct answer. One there twice. Harry, back to you. Five left. A1.

No, the A1 ring. Red Bull ring. No, I'm afraid Hamilton was born after 1962. A1 ring. That's a great answer though, yeah. I've put it down as a red bull ring. It is the red bull.

It hasn't been the A1 ring since about 2003, so apologies for that. Big fat of that. Yeah, he's on there twice. Four left, Sam, you got any left? Yeah, right on. Yes. So you said that before,

that. There's only one left on the current calendar now. Where? The thing is, I know there are a couple that he's, I think, just because of the way the car works and the wing, they arrived on the calendar of things. He hasn't got them, I don't think. But I'll give you a, I mean, it's not really a hint or anything, but there are three tracks that are on the current calendar that he's won at once.

Yeah. And that's, I think that's my issue, right? I'm just, is it, I'll take the L, is it Imala? One of the ones. Yeah, I think, there you go. There you go. There's only one at once. Harry, you didn't use your strike in the end.

So do you want to see if you can keep that going? Can you ask if Mexico's one of the ones, please? Because that's the other one, I thought he only one won at. What, Nurbog Ring? Nubourne. Nubourne is a correct answer. Yeah, he's won there twice. Is Mexico a correct answer?

Mexico is a correct answer. Oh, damn it. That's where I was concerned. He's won there twice as well. How many of answers left? Oh, crakey. No. Porta Mao?

Yes. That was another one that he's won at twice, which means you've only got one answer left. He won there five times. As many as five. It's not on the calendar anymore. No. When was it last on the calendar?

Is it South Korea? No. That was Sebastian Vetter's. That was Big Bud. Four years ago. Hish. Four or five years ago. Malaysia.

Russia? Russia. Russia, yeah, that's a very good point. The, you know, the previous Mercedes goat circuit before Catalan. It's because Bottas was always quite good at Russia, so that always makes me think did he do it more than once?

Yeah, he was, he won a lot there. But yeah, that was your last one. The other ones that were near misses, if you're interested. Fuji, Indianapolis, Jeddah, Qatar, Magello and Sepang, he's one of all of those

just once. Interesting. That was a fun round. I like that one. I think you both did a pretty good job with that because there were a lot of traps in there that you managed to mostly avoid

until it got quite late in the game. It's a trap. Do you know what Admiral Atmar's favorite segment is in the whole of podcasting? I don't actually. Please tell me. Well, I can confirm that his favorite segment in all of broadcasting

In all of the galaxy I'll be questions of the week I assume that's how he'd say it. Sure. It's a question of the week. Is that more like Kevin

brings back to beans What a beans legend. Which is ironic because one of the answers to the question is Frank and Beans. Yeah, well, let's at least introduce the question of the week, which is, what should Franco Colopinto's nickname be? Kevin Love Cookie. Just for you give credit here to Sarah,

who has rightfully said, I don't think it gets much better than Colapinto Beings. And many of you have agreed. So I'll take the dub on that one. Thank you very much. Did you put collar pointo beans? She did put collar pointo beans. Well, I also said that one as well.

So that's fine by me. Also, the original answer to this one, I thought it was good. I thought it was good. But it was the conversation that ensued upon this answer that really brought it to life for me. So this is without explanation that said, any true Seinfeld fan remembers,

Jerry's neighbor of butcher, Frank. So Mr. Colopinto, you are now the butcher, slicing, dicing, and dive-bombing into the points of contention. But then AB 16 went, that's so Franco. And Fuzzy Ali replied, Sosky's out for Gassley. He's going to be nervous with the butcher out on track. And I think that was a great little interaction between our listeners on this conversation. So well done. Enjoyed that.

Great job. Dan fans with Franco Manor, though, which is, of course, sure. Have you seen the one from I gorge picks who said, you guys don't seem to to know what Colapinto suggests in Brazilian Portuguese. Yes. Yes. Which cola is glue and Pinto besides being the word for the young rooster is slang for the male organ. Yeah. Which is unfortunate.

I don't even need to know that. Oh, dear. I have you lived in bliss without knowing that, ingigurungs. Big fan of also wandering card just saying Barry. I've got a few that I like here. Daniel going for major beans as an upgrade from Logan Sargent. Yeah, nice. Baker beans.

Alex went with Roy. I just like it because it has no understanding to me whatsoever. Nick went with Even Stevens. So, beans. But I do have to give a shout out here to, this was my favourite answer, and it speaks to my nerdiness. But from Ethan, an anagram for Franco Colopinto is Canada. can portfolio, so let's go with that.

Oh, big fun. This is a shal anagram, that is. I'm not going to read it out, but there's one from average GTE that I thought, God, no, that's never making it on the podcast. And if you don't find it in the Instagram comments, I'll read it out to you afterwards. But that, that is not on. That's all I'm going to say. I don't know what this is.

Evans 1801 says, Harry was always right. Colob 8B. So that's good. Rob. He's not like you said I'm right. And now I'm trying to find this. Desper we're trying to find this comment. You're talking about.

I'm screenshoting it. I'll send it to the group chat. Excellent. Tyler, Tyler S.30 through on Instagram has put a list of nine. Number one, Frankie cold potato. Number two, funky cold pinto.

Number three, Franco Capuchino. Number four, colapinto bean. Number five, frantic colapinto. Number six, Frankie cold pizza. number seven, Franco Colopinto, which is just the same again. Number eight,

Franco Pinocchio, and number nine, Frankie Color Printer. Frankie Color Printer is brilliant. I'm on board with Frankie Color Printer. I hope you got to run out of ink. Oh, Lord. Anyway,

Frankie Shark Nado. No, Captain enough. You're not kidding. You think it works now. Yeah. Render Bear with Bob as well. I really appreciate that.

one-word ones. Bob versus Roy. Yeah. Pete, Dave. Yeah. Baby Otman number seven. I love that it's seven, for some reason. Oh, dear.

Anyway, thanks, everyone. Any last one, Sam? A lot of Mr. Bean references, which you know what? I'm ever saying, no, to Mr. Bing references. But yeah, Frank of Bean, I thought was fantastic.

It's a great throwback to a brilliant film. Loved it. Great job, everyone. Got a lot of involvement on that. So thank you again for all your interaction on our social channels.

It really does help us for flourish in the world of social media. It really does. Yes, I hope you are very satisfied with those potentials, colopinto, and we'll be expecting to hear from you as to which one you go for. And a thank you to Janna,

aka the Puff on Twitter for the suggestion of the question of the week. I've been waiting for that all the week to say that name. The Puff. Amen, I love the Puff. I was in a meeting when we first discussed that and I looked at my watch which showed me the notification, and I was literally holding in my laughter

while someone was speaking to me. Tierra Re GIF style. Yes. So thank you, the puff for making me yearly get told off at work. Would you mind getting us out of here, Sam? I suppose I can. Folks, go race for a little while.

So on Sunday, we're just going to do a bit more of this general chik chat stuff, topics. No, we don't do gossip. Factual stuff, changes, moving about, whatever's going on. We will bring it to you and give our brilliant opinions, which we know you all love.

and cherish. If you want to chat more F1, the Discord's available to you, the links to the description. We're in there, nearly 3,000 other F1 fans are in there from all over the world, and I assure you,

whatever weird corner of the planet you come from, there'll be someone else in there that's interesting chatting to F1 from you and might be near you. So get involved, come say hello. If you think, oh, I want to listen to more F1 content,

watch more F1 content, then the Patreon is available. The links in the description. It's great value for money. $12, 9 British pounds, is the top tier, and you get so many great perks, such as the power rankings for every race.

beer, we're breaking, and other many things. Everything ag-free, of course. Follow some social media, late-breaking F-1. You can join in with question of the week, and many other things. This was recorded for YouTube, late-breaking F-1, and we will be back on Sunday

for standard Chik-chat. In the meantime, I've been Sam and Sage. I've been Ben Hocking. I've been Frankie Color Printer. And remember, keep breaking late. This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network.