The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Grading each F1 team's 2024 season so far!

Episode Date: May 12, 2024

We're a quarter of the way into the 2024 season, so the LB boys share their gradings of each team's performance so far. They also discuss Zak Brown's comments that Newey won't be the last domino to fall at Red Bull, and F1 launching a free streaming channel in the US, before finishing 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, historic race reviews & more! JOIN our Discord community JOIN our F1 Fantasy League: SIGN UP & create your team, and JOIN our league (join code: C3PHEQHPU04) BUY our Merch SEND us something! We have a brand new PO box - address: Late Braking Podcast, PO Box 821, TRURO TR1 9PE EMAIL us at [e-mail] & SUBSCRIBE to our podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network. Thank you for listening to the Late Breaking F1 podcast. Make sure to check out new episodes every Wednesday and every Sunday. Very warm, welcome to the late breaking F1 podcast presented by Harry Ead, Sam Sage, and me, Ben Hocking. A non-race Sunday, but that doesn't mean we're going anywhere because we've got grading to do, Sam. Grading? God, I remember back in my day when I was, at school. I used to dread my grading. I didn't really. I was a straight age Q.

You had a lovely time. We were at school with you. No, you weren't. I wasn't. I wasn't at college. Tell us about that time. You didn't come in because you were playing Candy Crush. It was actually bad. I'm fluffy, but I take it. I'm sure there was a Candy Crush one where he's like, Sam is off sick and then it came

up on Facebook. Sam's just gone in New High School on Candy Garage. That was two steps. me and college shouldn't vibe. Okay. But anyway, we're going to give the class our gradings, right, Ben? We are indeed. And it is important to note as well that we're recording in the pursuit of all three of us being on as many episodes as we possibly can. We are recording this on Wednesday. So I can't imagine what news has happened in the last four days.

Who is so? Who's left? who Max just happens left red ball probably that's probably happened to be the team principal at Alpine he's actually going to be the fright right front tire changer Alpine Max just Oh no no Sanchez's doing right front

Left rear though could do with left rear Trent's off again playing football God selfish selfish Trent Do it for the Euros and he Get Max in there to the end of summer So as already reference Yes we do have grading coming up on today's episode.

So we're grading all of the teams. It's not the only thing we rate. We also rate drivers after every Grand Prix. You know where you can find that? What? I don't know anything, mate. Do we do that? Where is that?

I think it might be a Patreon. Oh, yeah. Patreon. I wouldn't bother with it, though. It's probably about £100 per month. Honestly, I reckon... How many times are you going to do this? How long is this plug?

How long does this check going for? No, I reckon if, you know, power ranking sounds like a top quality piece of content. And that's something, is that something that's done every week, guys? After every single race, I've heard that we do that. Goodness. I reckon that must cost the average user around £500 a month. This man's in debt. Everyone that's subscribed to us currently is make us millionaires.

And go, no, we're joking. It's £9 a month. What? You are crazy. And you get not just power rankings, beer with breaking, historic race reviews, extra episodes, everything's ad-free. So much content for so little money.

You guys should put up your prices because I pay £500 per month for that. Well, we're not going to because we care about you, the consumer. I hate us. I'm not sure how long man who doesn't understand value of money character can carry out more. It's still got legs, damn it. It's the worst plug at the start of the afternoon.

If you're new, you're gone. Yeah, sorry. Welcome. Yes, we're grading all of the teams today. So I thought this was a natural place to do this because we've had exactly one quarter of the 24 race season so far. So we're going to look at all 10 teams. We're going to go in the order that they are in the championship right now.

So naturally, we'll start with Red Bull. So anything from an A plus all the way down to the dreaded U ungraded. Sam, what are you rating Red Bull? I'd give a Red Bull. nice comfy A grade. And we're going A plus, because there's been some mistakes, there's been some slip-ups, and we're talking all encompassing here,

drivers and team together. You know, Sergio Peros hasn't been flawless. It's like a couple of places where he's finished for your fifth position, not ideal. Max Verstappen has won every Grand Prix, and they haven't taken home the absolute four points that they dominated, obviously, last season, and they haven't done that this year so far.

So whilst the car is still clearly very, very, very good, and Max Verstappen is clearly extremely good at the F1, there is still room for improvement. What are you going for, Harry? I've gone for an A-star or A-plus, what I mean we call it. I know they've not won every race this year, but good Lord, that team and car and driver set up.

Max for Staffen, that is, they are operating at the highest levels of peak performance. And I know they've not, again, I know they didn't win Australia and that was due down to reliability. I know they didn't win Miami, but for the most part, it's everything at the same time,

which I know it's boring for the most part in terms of, you know, we don't get an exciting championship and we miss out on that sort of battle. But to just admire, I think China really summarizes for me, just to admire a team, a group of people being really freaking good at everything. For stopping being so quick during China,

like he was just miles ahead of anyone, else. Them doing four pit stops in less than eight seconds, ridiculous. So yeah, I don't, eight star for me. I don't know how they can be any better. They can win the other two races. Get good scrubs. Get good scrubs. You know, the, the most telling thing of like, Red Bull dominance becoming so normalized is actually the stat about Max Verstappen and how his pole position record start the year. It's the most pole positions to start a year for like, was it 40, just over 40 years back to Alam Prost? And it's like, yeah, sure.

It's not even a big deal. It's just like, of course he's done that. And it can be easy to forget that, yes, that has gone decades and decades without being matched. That's how good this accomplishment is. I've gone with an A minus. I think in terms of on-track performance, you know, four out of six race wins, very impressive. I think Sergio Perez is on the plus side as well in that he has been.

I think slightly better than expected. I think he's picked up his form a little bit versus where he was at the end of last season. Or even though the last couple of Grand Prix have been a little bit more dodgy. So that does count against them. I have marked them down a little bit, though, based on Adrian Newey,

because I think that if we're looking at off track as well as on track, that is going to probably hurt them years down the light. It's not going to hurt them now. It's probably not going to hurt them the rest of this season, but that will hurt them in a couple of years' time. at the very least. So not being able to keep your house in order

behind the scenes as cost them in migrating a little bit. A Ferrari, Sam. Hey, a Ferrari. I don't know what bees in Italian, I'm afraid. So, um, B. The letter Bs. Being accents are like two peas and apart, honestly. You can't fight.

Exactly. There you go. Grazie, everyone. Yeah, I've given them a B. I think they won the one race that really, realistically, they should have won. They took full advantage of Max Rastapin's struggles, and they picked up the W. Well done, Carlos Sites as well.

I think both drivers seem to have not performed at their best at any one time. They seem to be on ups and downs. Carlos Sites had a bit of a run. I'm doing very, very well. Charlotte Clare is kind of bounce back. He's now, I think, doing better than Carlos Sites. The car hasn't had any major developments yet. They're expected to see them take that step up that we just saw from McLaren that they did at Miami.

But overall, it's solid, right? it's very, very solid. They haven't stepped back because like Mercedes have. They're still regularly beating McLaren throughout the season. And quite often, more than not, they're beating Perez as well. So I think it's very, very strong, but I think some improvements can be made, which, you know, in theory, we're going to see very vast, Carlos Sites will be very vocal about the upgrades.

We could see them take that big step forward. So Ferrari is a be. Have they had the best line up so far this year? Yes, I think they have. What do you think, Harry? to that question and also what the grade is. Yeah, I think, I think definitely a case of best lineup. I've also

gone for a B, I consider B plus, but there's some, you know, a little bit it's a classic Ferrari creeping in there, you know, the fake pissed off in Miami being one of them. Comedy brilliance. But having said that, I think I know we're in a quarter of the way into the season, but generally

less chaotic, do we think? Yeah, I think so. It was a low bar. It was a low bar to begin with. But I feel like they've got better this year. So hopefully that is the Freddie Vass effect coming in. But yeah, I've gone for, gone for a bit. I think they've been very, very solid this year. Obviously picked up the win when Vestappen retired in Australia,

but you know, got to be in it to win it. And they were on it that weekend, to be honest. So that was good. And yeah, just been thereabouts. Pacewise has been pretty good. I think the least convincing performance is probably China, do we think? They were a bit sort of nowhere there. Just a bit slow, weren't they?

So, yeah, I think solid. solid season for them so far. There's a good chance I'm forgetting something, so please correct me. But no clangers so far this year? No, real clangers. I can't think of any. Like slow pit stops, strategic errors, they've been pretty all right in both of those departments, which is definitely plus.

I'm going to match you both. I'm going to say a B for Ferrari as well. I think both drivers are in pretty good form. I do think that they have had the all-round best line up so far this year. obviously the fact that they were able to overcome what happened to Carlos Sines and the appendicitis bringing in Olli Behrman and Behrman picking up good points I think obviously Behrman deserves a lot of respect for that as an individual but I think the team deserves a lot of respect as well because there would have been a lot

of work behind the scenes to ensure he was up to speed as quickly as he possibly could be and I think they you know they worked well on that and overall like pace-wise I think they are roughly where they ended last year, which could be a plus or a minus, really, in that they maybe haven't moved forward quite as much as they would want to, but equally, they haven't dropped back in the same way like Mercedes, don't you worry, Mercedes, we'll come to you shortly. The negatives, I guess you've already referenced the upgrade that's coming at Imala, and we don't know whether that's going to work yet or not, but at least the last couple of Grand Prix,

McLaren have jumped them. You know, Lando Norris, obviously taking the win in Miami, but equally, Norris was comfortably better than Leclerc and signs in China. So losing out to McLaren is a bit of a negative. So I've gone with a B. Speaking of McLaren, Sam. I've gone with a B. I've kept it pretty equal because as much as they have started to beat Ferrari

in the last couple of Grand Prix, the first four, I do think like Ferrari were the overall better side. And I think the points in the table display that. Equally in the team's layout, I do think that Landon Norris has been pretty great so far this season and I think Piastri has had a couple of moments where he's let himself down or is not shown

as much as I expect him to. Australia is one that springs to mind. You know, it's not been disastrous, but I expect it. Like, you know, before you're hit by science in Miami, Piastri was sensational. The fact that he drove so well with half the upgrades that Norris had on his car

and he was still so competitive, that's what I want from Piastri and he delivered then. But there's been a couple of performances that have been off. Equally, they've got the race wing and the upgrades have work. And Norris, of course, picked up pole in China in the sprint race,

which is a fantastic lap in those conditions. So, yeah, there are some ups and downs, but I think unlike Ferrari, which has been steady and consistent, I can't have never said that about Ferrari. I think McLehran are being a little bit more worse, and equally a bit better in certain elements, which is again, levels out.

That would be. Harry? Yeah, also B, I think very similar reasons, and similar-ish season to Ferrari, you'd say. just kind of been pretty solid for the most part. And obviously I have also picked up a Picked up a win, obviously in Miami with Norris. A couple of mistakes along the way.

And yeah, like I say Sam, a piastri, a couple of slower races. BF for the most part, very solid. You know, compared to this time last year, miles above where they were at the start of 20203. So yeah, a B. Yeah, I've got B minus. I think the last couple of races have been very good.

good. I'm just dropping them down a little bit because like you say Sam really, the first four races belong to Ferrari. The last two have belonged to McLaren. I think if it was three all, I'd probably put them both a beat. But yeah, Landon Norris's win, obviously the standout highlight, but China podium, very impressive as well. And as you've just said, Harry, they haven't had a slow start, which is just great news. Even if it's not quite as good as what is yet to come,

the fact that they're not 17th and DNFing, that's good. And yeah, they have momentum, right? They are going nicely across the last couple of Grand Prix. From a negative point of view, if we are comparing it to Qatar, Japan, that sort of run last year, they are still further behind, I think, Red Bull, at least the first few races of this year, than they would have liked.

And also, yeah, Piastri has been a little bit, a little bit hit or miss to give a little bit of insight into our power rankings that we do exclusively on Patreon. We kind of have him middle of the road. So Sam has him 13th in the 20 driver list. Ivan 12th and Harry is a 9th. So we're all kind of around the midfield for Piastri,

which feels about right. So there's probably still more to come from him. Mercedes, Sam. E! Excellent. Yeah, the only thing, the reason they're not getting an F is because of Lewis Hamilton's podium in the sprint race in China, where he excelled. Other than that, it's been a real sorry story for Mercedes. No idea what's going on the car.

Your upgrades, when you have brought them, don't seem to make any difference or seem to work. He seems to claim understanding and progression and then the next Grand Prix in exactly the same space. You've lost your key driver in Lewis Hamilton. George Russell is not exactly pulling in the success stories like he did a couple of seasons again. go multiple times now you've had one. It's got both drivers eliminated before getting into Q3. You've not scored any higher than a sixth place in a main Grand Prix. It is not a good time to be a Mercedes fan.

So, yeah. Six races, no top fs. It's awful, isn't it? It's a neat. Again, the only reason you're not an F is that one spring pole. I think I'm being generous with that, if I'm totally honest with you. So that's one. Yeah, so it's not good.

This is the time for the apology later from totally August. Not Australia back then. Harry, are you also going E? I haven't been that harsh. I've gone for a D-minus. It's close. It's close, but I don't know. I've given the benefit of that a little bit.

Nice with a D-minus. That's really telling. But it's not been a good year for Mercedes so far. Like you say, it's... Yeah, worse than it wasn't, start at 2023. Yeah, I'd say so. it's not like that car just is nowhere. And even operationally,

they just seem a bit, not Mercedes. There was a helmet's on the pit crew. Yeah, no, how long you've been doing this for, guys? This was a team that, and it's a clip that gets reused a lot,

especially when we came up to, before the Chinese Grand Prix, of them doing their double stack at the 2019 Chinese, Chinese GP, you know, they were untouchable. back then. And obviously now it's Red Bull doing that sort of thing.

And they, you know, these things, Eben Flo and F on. But 2019 wasn't that long ago. And now you're walking out and the pit, they were no helmets on.

Come on. So, yeah. So even, pacewise is terrible. And they're a bit, shunky elsewhere as well. So D minus.

Prediction. Harry Eid, Bould prediction, X Grand Prix, Mercedes will wear helmets when they do their fist stuff. Easy point. No point.

I've also gone D-minus. as well. If you're looking at positives, there aren't that many. You have to really pick out individual results that have been good. So the sprint podium is definitely up there. Hamilton in Miami was pretty good. Russell in Bahrain was pretty good. But you are having to pick out very individual results to really get any positive from this season. And the negative is very obvious. The car's not very quick. Could be better and probably should be better. But also, and this might be quite savage, but on the drivers, Russell's been okay, Hamilton's been poor.

I don't disagree with that. I don't disagree with that. I don't think they've been great. So D-minus. And to round out the top five, Aston Martin, Sam. I've lost my list. I've given Ashton Martin a D.

I think with where they were progressing towards up and down last season, and there are some real highs. And then some big lows. I remember I think, well, was it, Cota, where Alonsociccicos goes to go back to the old spec, and they had both cars, basically starting for the back of the grid. And yet, a couple of races before that,

they were picking up podiums. And also had that run where, yeah, three or four podiums very close in a row. I kind of expect a gaston mars to kick on a little bit, to be a bit closer to the likes of Mercedes and maybe McLaren and Ferrari. Much not they were last season. I still think they're comfortably the fifth best car. Well, actually, well, maybe Miami proved. Would they be that far clear of Menardi without Alonzo?

Well, exactly. How you say that? As I said that, I kind of thought when Miami maybe proved if the car shows a weakness, they seem to really struggle. So, yeah, it's a D for me. I expect it a bit more.

It's not a total disaster. You know, they did end up being the fifth best car overall last season. In the championship, they are currently the fifth best car. So, but I think it's meant to be closer to the front than they are actually closer to the back. So it's not good, but it's not a disaster.

Same for me. D. there's not a lot of positives. Alonzo has been brilliant, particularly in qualifying, but that's really where the positives start and indeed end. They are a long way clear of where they were this time last year. There were some comparisons, at least in terms of qualifying, where Aster Martin were this time last year versus now.

And I can't remember the exact delta, but they weren't anywhere close to where they were last year, which is worrying. Landstrol is a continual negative for the team. sorry to say it. And it just feels like they're going the wrong way. And they weren't very far clear of a lot of midfield teams at Miami. Harry, what grade do you go?

Also, D. Yeah, it's not been something the most positive start of the year to Asthma, for Asthma, and like you say, I think of the points they have picked up is mainly been down to Fernando Alonzo more than anything else to do with the car. So, yeah, not much more to add on that on that one. It's not been not been ideal, particularly around Miami, where they really struggled.

Yeah, it's not quite, not quite where they want to be, considering how they started last year. And it's kind of not carried on the form, but sort of carried on the form from the end of 2020. Okay, that will do it for the top half of the championship. On the other side of this break, we're looking at the bottom five teams. Okay, welcome back.

Minardi, R.B. Minarbi, Toro, Orso, whatever the hell you want to call them. Sam, what great. you're going for them. If you're actually on YouTube, my camera has 2% left. So if you see me disappear. Bye, Sam.

Do I'm still, well, audibly, I'm here. You can hear me. Podcast people are like, yep, nothing's changed. God, that was unexpected. It was. I mean, it's like, music. Bye, bye, right. Okay, don't let go, Jack.

Anyway, Mangardi, I've given them a C. They weren't exactly brilliant last season. They, you know, they struggled towards the back of the grid for quite, a period and they had some good moments. And then when Liam Lawson was in the car, they seemed to do really, really well, and then it kind of faded off again. Now, they're not bad.

They're kind of scoring more points than the rest of the bat markers, which is positive, but with their claims of greatness on the horizon, a few top fives I keep loving to heart back to, it's not come to fruition. So I think they're in an all right spot. I think things have gone okay.

I think if both drivers can start performing at their best rather than one weekend and one another and they can start maybe get a couple of double points finishes on the regular. They'll be up to a B grade. You know, they'll be hustling Aston Martin. Maybe they'll beat Ashton Martin if it goes their way. But yeah, it's not quite there. But it's not bad.

So for me, it's a middle of the road, C grade. Harry? Yeah, I've also gone for a C grade. Yeah, not a mixed start, but I guess mix for their drivers, but it's been going for better for one half the garage than the other. Ever at Monardi. but it's been positive for the most part and kind of picking up, not entirely, but kind of picking up where they left off

at the end of 2023 in terms of the pace they have on their car. It's a little bit inconsistent, but for the most part it's been good. So yeah, I see. I see both of your Cs and I will go see. Yeah, it's been fine. It hasn't been much better than fine,

but it hasn't been worse than fine. I think versus, yeah, versus last season, they're pretty much there with where they ended, end of the year. Sonoda has been good. I think Sonoda's had a pretty solid year to this point. So he's a plus. And Daniel Ricardo,

despite having a bad start, has over the last couple of Grand Prix got more comfortable. Obviously, the sprint result was a great one for him in Miami. In terms of negatives, yeah, top fives. I can't see any. But from Daniel Ricardo in Miami.

which I guess is a fair point. But other than that, sprint race. Yes. Not a lot of top fives. So, and yeah, I still think, at least from a Red Bull perspective, no disrespect to Yuki Sanoda. They're still not an obvious successor for if they wanted to go in a different direction. They might say that, you know, Sergio Perez is doing a good enough job

that they want to keep him and that's fine. It would have been good to see more of a challenge from one of the drivers. It kind of isn't there. I've given them a C. Hass. Sam, what have you graded them? I don't think we'd have thought they were seventh at this point. No.

And my rating displays that because I have given them an A minus. And I never thought in a month of Sundays. Sorry, Sam's given an A minus to a. I can't. You know what? You spell imposter without an A because they're not imposter anymore. They're turning up. They're actually making.

an effort and I'm proud of them. Kamatsu is cooking. And what's he cooking up? Khamatsu. He's cooking up like 11 places. But you know what else he isn't cooking? The tyres. They're out back. They're fine. They're chilling out. Because they've understood the assignment. They've worked out. What doesn't work

for us? What do we need to change? And how will we improve? And they've got the job done. Holkerberg has been exceptional. I think he's maybe had one properly poor performance. Magnuson is a menace. So on the entertainment scale had a great time. In the result scale, he's been nath, and that's why it's not any higher than this. Magnuson has dragged

them down from like a real top grade, but generally, the team's moving in the right direction. There's only about 12 of them there because Gene Haas doesn't have any mates and he won't hire anyone new, but with what they're doing on a shoestring budget, coming out from being what, one of the worst teams we've seen in Formula One for a long time, I'm really happy to see them turning it around. So, Haas, A-minus, generally brilliant steps forward. Well done. Harry? I've gone for a B. I've not quite as kind of the same. but I agree. This has been a much better year for house.

The thing is, much better year for House, it's not still brilliant in terms of F1 teams, but for House, it's been, considering where they've been in the past few years,

it's encouraging. And like you say, Sam, we, look, we openly mocked them when in testing, they were like, we're just here to understand ties.

And you were like, oh, God, that's how bad it is. But fair play, they have. They did three days of testing and at the end of it, they must have gone,

oh, we understand what they are now. the four round things ago on the car. Got that. So yeah, excellent work from Haas. It's a B. I've gone in the middle of you both. I've gone with a B plus.

Yeah, Nika Holk, if you take out turn one of Bahrain, Nika Holkenberg has been pretty much perfect to start the year. He's been great, particularly getting Q3 appearances like it's nothing and doing a good job in the race as well. As you've already said, tyreware is far better than it was last year. I still think they have one or two issues with it, but it's not race destroying like it was last year. They can still fight.

And another plus. And obviously, Kevin Magnerson has flirted with the line of what's acceptable, but their teamwork and their tactics have been great so far this year. Kevin Magnuson has helped Nico Holkenberg score points. In terms of negatives, I guess Holkenberg being so good is also a negative because they've lost him. which is, I appreciate Audi's coming in,

but at least on the face of it, they have lost the driver to the team that is currently 10th in the championship, which isn't ideal. The other negative, I guess Kevin Magderson started the year quite well, but has dropped off a little bit the last couple of Grand Prix.

And also it's just a shame, I guess, for Has that none of their good work has resulted in anything better than a ninth. It would have been nice to see them rewarded for their good performances with, and more DNFs and getting a P5 or something like that. But overall, great, great start to the season for us.

Let's go to the eighth best team. Oh, God. Alpine. It's miraculous that they are the eighth best team after some of the results they've had. I've given them an E. And the reason why they haven't been given an F is simply because of Ocon's scoring a point in Miami and it looks like the first set of upgrades

has actually started to do a job. O'Conn has been the shining light for that team this season. You know, they've got Begging a dog changing tires and running the finance department at the moment, and it is a real struggle for them. Gassley has just been like non-existent up until Miami, and I actually think that he probably drove better than Ockon for the first time. He deserved some points. He was shafted a bit by strategy.

But yeah, it's still not good. Their setbacks from last year are abysmore, and where they were from a couple of years ago when they were fighting with McLaren for points regularly is an awful, you know, rolling down the hill of misery. So, yeah, it's not ideal. They are struggling, but they've scored a point, which is more than what the other two teams below them have done, which I'm quite surprised that they were the first of those three to score points.

But it's something. So it's an E. Harry? I've given them an F. I agree with you, Sam. And it remains to be seen whether it does continue the performance out in Miami, but it did look better more. encouraging there, but Alpine should not be anywhere near where they've been the first part of

this year, first quarter of this year. It's been, and I agree on your points on Auckland as well. He's been, he's been excellent all season and not, not winged about it as well, which he could have easily done, easily done, given where his position is. But it's, it's not acceptable for Alpine to be this bad. I know we mock them and we, you know, the butt of the joke, but on the, on the, it comes down to it. Alpine, with a resource they have, should not be where they have been for the first quarter. I'm confident that that grade will go up as the season goes on,

but for me, it's an F, it's no good. I swear down before Miami, this was going to be a straight up you. They did not deserve to be graded before Miami because, like you say, Harry, they should not be in this position. But well done, your performance, at Miami has granted you the same as Harry Ede, an F.

They are at least going the right way. The upgrades seem to be working. Ocon has been brilliant so far this season. And Gassley's been fine, I think, as well. And like you say, Miami was probably his best race of the year so far. But, and I can't stress this enough, you have one point. You are Alpine. You have one point.

23 was their worst season so far in F1. They had 120 points. Again, they have won this year. And Ocon, after the Miami race, was important. He thought it was important to stress that we shouldn't celebrate too much about this 10th place. You're goddamn right, you shouldn't celebrate about a 10th place alpine. You should be far better than that. So I've given them an F.

Harry's sure that that grade will improve as the year goes on. I'm less sure, but I hope. I hope so, Ben. Your career depends on it. Not really. No one else will do the job. That's so true. You are unfirable.

Right. Williams, Sam. I have given Williams a D-minus, which might come across as harsh, but honestly, this has been a real step back. And I think we all subscribe to, the Holy Church of Papa Vowls at the start of this year. And we all became followers of the faith last year.

And I've been led us straight. Papa Fowles has led me down a bad path. And I don't like it. Where's this progression? I'm not expecting leaps of bounds. This isn't doing the long jump here. We're talking steps forward here. We're getting ourselves up to the plate.

And he's not delivered. The, you know, sergeant, you kept him on, fine, took a risk. He's not delivered. Okay, potential might be there. I can't see it right now, but he's not delivering it. Albon, you're calling it World Championship Level drives. I'm calling it mistakes here and there in a car that's pretty gnaff. So I'm not blown away.

They've gone backwards. They're not progressing. I expect them to be where Haas are now. I expect them to be basterly with RB for these fringe points on a regular basis. They're just nowhere near it. It's a real shame so far. So it's a D minus from me. Harry?

Not for a D, but yeah, I could see a D minor. it's been a disappointing year for Williams. And again, I, for Williams, the goal isn't this year. It's not next year, it's 2026. So I understand if they're going to have peaks and troughs. But given where they were, their back end of,

given where they were last year, you'd have kind of hope for at least the same, but they've slipped back, which is an ideal. And like, again, like I say, they've got bigger fish. They're trying to fry here. But still, you want to see at least,

not necessarily even progress, but at least stay in the same. which they haven't really. So a D. E, not impressed. It's been bad. For all of these teams, by the way, I have put out like pluses and minuses for each.

This was the one I really struggled to put anything as a plus. There really hasn't been anything to talk about for William so far this year. I mean, Albin's been okay at a few Grand Prix. Yes, he's had a couple of 11th place finishes. But if that's your biggest plus from a season through six, races, it hasn't been great. They have no points. That's not a great start.

Logan Sargent isn't making progress, which they would have hoped that he'd had at this point. They might have, based on, and we'll get to Salber in a moment, Salber had some all right pace at China, Williams might have the worst car on the grid at the moment. And let's not forget, the only thing more embarrassing than delivering a poor performance on track is not being able to go racing, which is what happened to them in Australia. They could not go racing with two cars based on not having two chassis working. That was embarrassing.

As you say, Harry, and rightfully so, this is a long-term project. So we're not expecting everything to become better race by race. There will be peaks and troughs. So I'm willing to give James Vow's time, obviously. But no, this hasn't been a good start to the season on track at all. Which just leaves us with Salba. Kick Salba, Alpha Romeo, soon to be Audi. all the other names. Sam, what are you giving them?

This is the one I struggled the most with. I've given them a C-minus. Now, you've got to remember where they were last year. I'd argue that they were pretty shocking last year, right? Bottas and Joe, basically from the fourth or fifth race of the season, were absolutely nowhere. They had a torrid time. And then this season, they have had some form.

Bottas especially, on multiple occasions, I think, should and probably, could and probably should rather, have scored points. then being on zero is actually a bit of a surprise. The reason they're on zero, the bloody team can't perform a pit stop. They've only just learned how I do it. And that is massively knock them down. They were good in China, both show and Botas, really, really good, show great pace. I do think there's something in the car there that is looking in the right direction

that's able to be a jumping off point. But it's still not solid. So it's not been an absolute shocker on track. It has been a shocker in the pit lane. It has been a problem with kind of understanding where the pace is, and coming together as a total team. But there have been a few key performances, especially from Bottas' point of view,

that I think have elevated them, is showing that there are glimmers of them not being last overall. I think you're right, Ben. I think maybe Williams end up being tanked the gang if they get it together. Harry? I've gone for any for them, mainly because they can't do a pit stop, to be honest.

It would help. It might get them a degrade of that. I think it could do a pit stop. But yeah, it's not been... And this happened a bit last year as oh, some random bursts of pace in that car. And then it just disappears ultimately. Like, almost immediately. I don't really understand why that happens.

But yeah, it's just very, very inconsistent. So, yeah, any? I said at the beginning of this season that there's something I like about this Salba. And I'm sticking with it. There is something about this Salba that is all right. But like you say, it's so inconsistent. and China, they were great, and then they turn up at Miami, and they are very much not great. I've given them an E plus.

The China pace was very good. Botas has been very good to this point, but you do need to perform pit stops to an OK standard. Otherwise, you're not going to score many points. Simple as that. The other negative, Joe Guan Yu, I feel like he, I was surprised at how quickly he became accustomed to F1 in his first season. I think he got up to speed quite quickly and quite well. But he kind of just hasn't really kicked on from like halfway through the first season.

He's still at that same standard, which I've been disappointed by. Again, I appreciate the car's not in a great spot. But I would have liked to have seen him progress more, really, not just this season, but last season as well. But yeah, I've gone E-plus. It's not good when my expectations of them must be so low that I'm two grades above you both. True. Although you can count they're setting for the future.

They've got Holkenberg now. That's true. There you go. There's a reason for it. And a new race engineer for Bottas, if you were like. That doesn't even know him. Who's this guy?

Talking to me in my ear, or are you? Or not talking to him was the problem in Miami. Right, let's take our second break on this episode. On the other side, we're chatting Zach Brown and his comments by Adrian Nui. Okay, everyone. Welcome back. Zach Brown at the Miami Grand Prix was asked about Newy's departure from Red Bull. He had the following to say, six months ago, I would have been surprised.

But given everything that's gone on since the start of the year and knowing Adrian pretty well, he's a very high integrity individual, I'm not surprised he's moving on. I think the stuff that's going on there is a bit destabilizing. That's probably the first domino to fall. My guess is not the last based on the resumes that are flying around. He was then asked to clarify if McLaren had received more resumes since Red Bull's turmoil kicked off. And Brown responded, yes, we've seen an increase in CVs coming our way from the team. And I think Adrian is the most successful designer of all time.

So in addition to the technical quality that he brings to the racing team, people want to work for people like Adrian and work alongside him. Sam, what do you make of his comments? It's very, very hard to disagree with Zach Brown in this coming. it would be pure coincidence, if Adrian Newe just decided after four races of a season at that point when all the news started to come out, I don't want to do it at this team anymore for absolutely no reason.

It's very, very coincidental that it perfectly lines up with a lot of scandal that's gone on behind the closed doors of Red Bull. And it might be quite worrying for Christian Horner, who I know has come out and defended this, that I don't think Zach Bram would lie about there being loads of CVs flooding. He's not stated too what or where. but I think he's right in essentially addressing the fact that people don't want to work for a culture that goes against maybe some of their basic morals. I know that what happened with Christian Horner hasn't come to anything.

It's not a rise in any kind of criminal punishment or even him being told he's guilty. But that kind of accusation alone is really not pleasant. It's really damning. And when we're in a world where we're trying to make things more equal, more modern and more expressive for a sport like Formula One, why would you want to stick it out at a place where maybe looks past that and thinks that that's okay? So, yeah, if Adrian Nui is the first to go,

that's worrying because if Adrian Nui goes, that Brown's entirely right, people want to work for him, people want to work with him, and he's not the only rumoured high-profile member of Red Bull to looking to be leaving. I said to our group chat earlier that Wheatley is apparently rumoured to be looking to move away as well.

Like if they lose both of those guys, that is worrying signs for Red Bull. You've really lost the plot if you lose those two guys in the space of a couple of months. You know, Max Verstappen is basically the third of the trifecta of those three to move away, and you're in a bad place. So I completely agree with Zach Bram. I think he's writing what he said, and I think Red Bull needs to shore up the ship.

They're going to plug the holes, otherwise they might end up falling a lot further than they anticipated. What do you think, Kerry? I think that Zach Brown just loves to wind up, Christian Horner. Mr. Marketing. He loves a little dig. It's excellent. Yeah, look, I don't... Hard to say.

Look, this is undoubtedly been the catalyst for Adrian New Living because he's a man who are... Because I know him well, obviously. But he seems like a man who just likes a quiet life. Like, to design his F1 cars in a nice, peaceful team.

And what's going on at Red Bull at the moment isn't peaceful at all. And he's decided... I'm not suggesting he might not all been thinking about leaving anyway in terms of this could be the end. He might just be retiring. It's entirely plausible. I don't think he is, but it's entirely plausible that he is just going to retire. So, but, but yeah, this, this is certainly helped him out the door. Whether there are others

to follow, I don't know. I don't know. There are a lot of, and obviously there's no, it cannot be overemphasized the influence Adrian Newe's had on that team and indeed F1, but there are lots of other people in that team designers, engineers, etc., who contribute a lot to the success of that of Red Bulls. So, and I don't see why necessarily, unless they really have problems

with what's going on behind the scenes, why they would necessarily leave. So, I don't know, it's an interesting one. I do feel like this is a bit of Zach Brown just having a poker, Christian Horner, because he doesn't like him. But he could be right, but I don't know whether this is,

is there's going to be some sort of mass exodus. I kind of find that hard to, hard to believe. Question, Harry. Do you think that, from what you said, do you think that maybe not, Adrian New's importance has been inflated, because I think that would be the wrong way of saying it, but do you think actually that Red Bull might be more okay than what people are saying if he were to leave? I think they'll certainly be okay in the short term. And also, like Adrian News helped build that team up. He's not going to, he, he, he, Again, I don't want to take away from anything from Adrian Newby, but he's built up a team around him, him and Christian Horner, you know, the rest of them.

He's built up a team of engineers and designers that work on this car or these cars. So I don't think it's just about to fall. I think people expecting Red Bull to just fall apart immediately. In the long term, yes, I think that'll undoubtedly be an effect. But I don't think you'll see that for years yet. So I think people hoping that next year, Max Verstappen isn't going to be competitive, have may be a bit disappointed. Do you think that maybe

Zach Brown is a bit more I know you're saying about him, liking to wind up Christian Horner and I don't disagree with that at all. Do you think he's maybe a bit more blasé with his comments based on McLaren haven't really been touted as a potential destination

for Adrian Newee, Williams have, Ferrari have, Astamartan have? Do you think that gives Zach Brown a little bit more flexibility with these comments? You guys, huh? Oh, I was going to say. Zach Brown has got a structure put in place and he's already Nick Rob Byrd off of Red Bull

and I think Zach Brown is the most confident man in all of the world. So I don't think Zach Brown believes that what he says in the media is going to affect negotiating power of someone like Adrian Newee. I think he believes that Adrian Newey wants to come to McLaren he'll come to McLaren regardless of what they

realistically put on the table. They'll make it work. So for me, Zach says what Zach says. He wants to say what he wants to say. I don't think he needs to be delicate about the situation to stop there being a relationship between the team and Adrian Nui.

What do you think, O'Re? Yeah, I don't know. It's an interesting one. Yeah, he, maybe he can afford to be a bit punchy because he's not, he's not any skin in the game in this one. Yeah, again, I just, I just think he's, he just likes, he's becoming a bit, and I don't mean this in any disrespect to Zach Brown, but he's becoming a bit like Christian Horner in his,

persona towards like the media and like saying things to the media in terms of like to get a little of quip in there every now and then and stir the pot a bit which Christian Honour has been so good at it's like the Netflix era of team principles um you won't catch Jean Totte doing this back in the day would you they become their own their own version of celebrities yeah exactly that's why I think he's really he's starting to play into that because he's seen what Christian Horn has done and I don't know good into was another one right gunter was a very good example, yeah, exactly. Do you think when Cyril left

Renaud, he went to Zach Brown and said, look, I'll leave on one condition. You take up the mantle. You be the annoying person in Christian Horner's ear. And Zach Brown was like, yeah, right, I'll take it on. I'll do it for you, Cyril. I'll do it.

I don't really have too much to add versus what you've already said. I do think this is a case of him winding up Christian Horner because he likes to do that. And it's impossible to know how important this will be to any potential mass exodus. I know he's talking about CVs. I don't think he's lying. I'm not prepared to call Zach Brown a liar about this, but equally, I think, Harry, you're right. I don't think, yeah, you put it absolutely right. Anyone who is

expecting a quick downturn in fortunes for Red Bull, probably going to be disappointed because at this point, as important as Adrian Newe is for Red Bull, and any time, team that he goes to. He has been for quite a while a consultant of sorts, right? He's been a senior consultant. He hasn't been the leader of the team. So this isn't going to be, I don't think this will be an instance where he goes and his team rally around him and go as well. He wasn't really playing that role. So I think Red Bull will probably be mostly all right. Definitely in the short term. Moving on to something that's quite interesting that's come out in the last week, which is that F1 is launching a free commercial streaming channel in the USA.

So there's no live broadcasts on this. It's a 24-hour sort of channel, but they will show race replays, documentaries, highlights, and junior categories as well. So presumably F2F3 and F1 Academy. Sam, how impactful do you think this move will be? It could be bloody brilliant, I think. if they do it well, do it properly and put a lot of care and energy into it, I think good looks like the program has structure, it has something you can follow. For example,

if they were to put on a full series, so if they were to replay it all of 2022 for newcomers and they were to put it on every Wednesday, it was like a TV program, you know, that you follow week by week. At 9 o'clock, you go, oh, the next race of the 2022 series is on, I'll record it and I'll go watch it. Where it will fail, as if they just chuck content at it and hope that it sticks. They go, right, it's a random F2 race from halfway through the season. Here's the first F2 race from this season. Because people who are coming into the sport new with fresh eyes might go,

I don't want to spend any money yet. I'm not sure if I'm committed to this. I want to get behind it. I want to learn a bit. You know, might not have Netflix who's drive to survive or something like this. Might sit down at that channel and go, all right, it's free. I'm here to watch a few races. I'm here to pick something up.

I'm here to learn something new. And if it's just random content that it's just being thrown at them, they're never going to fall in love with a driver, they're never going to support a team, they're never going to understand the storyline. So I am hoping with the development of this channel, which I do think on the face of it is a really brilliant idea for attracting more new viewers. And hey, maybe some of those viewers might be old time that might go, oh, I remember that that race. Actually, that's re-envigorated my love for Fong. It might happen, but I do think they just need to make sure that there is proper structure to the channel. And it's not like what I think Sky Sports do on off race weekends where they just put on the same interview four times in a week

or the same highlights from a random thing just pop up. You think, I don't care. I pay for this channel and I don't want to watch it. So I just hope they've really thought out the structure and the plan and the delivery of content. And then that way it really could be effective. Hey, I'm looking forward to finishing recording so I can get back to Lewis Hamilton's Home Cinema again.

Oh my God. seeing it like 80 times. Goodness me. Honestly, when they first started Sky, the promise they had was, and it started off well, but now it's absolutely garbage on there. Sorry.

Should we step in and do something? Yeah. I'm surprised. I blow my own trumpet here. Why don't they have someone like the three of us doing a weekly show on Sky Sports F1? Many reasons.

Yeah, that's fair. Many legal reasons. Sky Sports F1. Put a son after watershed. Yeah, that's the only place we could go. Harry, do you think this move will have any impact? Yeah, I'd like Sansa. I think for the casual viewer that's not necessarily interested,

but not fully invested, sorry, but might be a bit interested. This is, again, going to help capture their attention. And like say, it's not a channel that people will sit there and watch it all day every day because they probably will see the same things over and over again. It's just for people flicking through and they go, oh, what's this? And something, on old races or an old interview or something like that. And then it peaks their interest. So it's what it's there for more than anything else.

So I think it's a sensible move. I don't see any real drawbacks to this. The thing is that as we just mentioned with Sky over here is actually populating a channel that's on all the time because it's actually quite difficult to do. So I'm confident F1 can't do that, but it's a tricky one to pull off. Yeah, I don't think this is a groundbreaking move,

but it's solid enough. You've got like F1 TV, exists for, you know, properly devoted fans who want to go out their way to pay for a service, whereas this is, this is more about becoming more of a household name and almost like infiltrating people's lives in the nicest way possible, like, you know, properly becoming a household name. So I think in that respect, it will work. And you're right, it's for the, for the casual fan, just flicking between channels and seeing this for the first time or seeing this and they've seen it a couple of years ago and they're vaguely interested and then that vague

interest sort of kicks on from there. So I think overall it is a good move. I do think, and I might be wrong on this, I think F1 does have a little bit of an issue at the moment in that it's somewhat trying to present itself as with this move. It's trying to present itself as a anyone can pick it up. We want to increase our audience as much as we possibly can. Similarly, to how NASCAR's viewed, I guess, in the US, where it is the every man sport or, you know, and I think they're going to try, they're almost trying to do that with this move,

but at the same time, you've got the likes of Miami and Las Vegas being so exclusive and being high-end. And I feel like they somewhat work against each other. Overall, yeah, I like this move. I think it's a good one. If we go to our final break, on the other side, F1 order, please.

Everyone, welcome back. It's 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 wait and see. This is Formula One. Order, order, please. What a great intro, as always.

F1 order, please. So Harry and Sam will take it in turns. There are six questions in front of me. And four answers. All they have to do is order them in a certain way based on what I say. if they get it right, they get a point. But if they get it wrong, it goes over to the other player with the opportunity to steal. If they then want to steal and get it right, they get a point.

However, if they try and steal, but they get the order wrong as well, they will lose a point. So Sam, kick us off. What number would you like? I'll have number one, please, Ben. Number one. Four drivers, I want you to list them in terms of their win percentage in F1. Right. So you've got Mika Hakenen.

Yeah. Damon Hill. Right. Sterling Moss. Okay. And David Coulthard. Oh, bloody hell. We had to throw Coulthard in there.

Highest win percentage I'm going to say is Hackan. Now I'm going to say Moss. Now I'm going to say Hill. Then I'm going to say Coulthard. That's not the correct order. No. He is not interested in the slightest. It doesn't want the heat.

That's fair. The best win percentage, Sterling Moss, 24.24. Then it's Damon Hill, 19.13. Then Mika Hakenen, 12.42. And then David Coulthard, as you said, is for 5.28. Cool. I'm really glad that I took a plan on that one. And Harry most certainly is glad that he did not.

What number would you like? Four, please. Number four. I'd like you to list these four countries based on how many points they've scored in F1 history. So you've got France, Finland, Germany and Italy. You know old France, the driver. How many points has he scored? So most points scores by Finland.

then I don't know Finland, Germany, France, Italy That's not the correct order Sam, would you like to try and steal? I'm all about their minuses, baby, so yeah, I'm going to steal it. I'm going to say

what were the Finland, Germany, France, Italy was that Harry's order? Yes. Okay, I'm going to say Germany first. Then I'm going to say Finland second and then I will say

France third, Italy, fourth. Yep, just needed to change the first two around. Germany, 7,959.5 points. Finland and second, 4,397.5. France, 3,393.43.47. That's impressive. Sure. And then Italy is last, just over 2,000 points.

Right, so it's 1-0 Sam and it's back to Sam. What number would you like? Two, please Ben. Number two. Four circuits. I want you to list them based on the length of the track. Okay. So you've got Las Vegas.

Yeah. Istanbul. Right. Circuit Jilvilnev. Yep. And Silverstone. Oh, okay. So Vegas, Istanbul, Silverstone and Jilvilenev.

Okay. Vegas, the longest, then Silverstone, then Istanbul, then Vilnav. Man's on fire. Absolutely spot on. Las Vegas is the longest at 6.2 kilometres. Then it's Silverstone 5.9, Istanbul, 5.3. Jilvernav, 4.3. Uh, Harry, back to you.

What's left? 3, 5 and 6. 3, please. Pick number three, me lord. Three. Four drivers, I want you to list them based on how many times they won their home race. Okay. You've got Alan Prost.

France. Brazil. Max Mustafa. Max Mustafa and Johnny Herbert. Argentina. Johnny Herbert. Leeds. I'll go first.

first Alan Prost then Matt Verstappen Edton Senor Johnny Herbert Man You guys are on fire Oh yes Burkow bangers

What's that Frost six home wins Vestappan three Center two Herbert one Back to you Sam Do you want number Five or six

Another five Please Ben I'm going to give you four pairings of drivers. I want you to list them based on how many times they shared the front row of the grid. Oh, okay. So you've got Vettel and Weber. Hold on, I'm actually going to write this down because you have to write these eight names. Okay, so hold on.

Vessel and Weber. Yep. You've got Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barichello. Hemshoe and Baza. I don't think anyone's cool. Sorry, a really, really random point here. There's got nothing to do with the game. Have you heard of Teo Porchere's new nickname?

No. No. Oh, it's good. So he's been racing for McLaren as a substitute for David Maluccas, who's now left the team. But obviously, Teo Porchair is not going to be a name in the US. So they've been calling him Terry Porkch Shop. That is LB coded. Terry Pork shops.

Someone did send this in to us as well. So thank you. Thank you. doing that. But yeah, I did hear it as well on a broadcast last week. Here he comes. Terry pork chops. That is honestly incredible.

Well done America. Terry to the inside. These cook the pork chop. So, massive distraction. Hamilton Vastappen was the third pairing. Yeah. And Hamilton Rosberg is the fourth pairing. Oh, okay.

And this is just the front row. Yes. Yeah. Okay. I'm going to go Ham Ros. I'm then going to go Ham Stap. I'm then going to go

Shubara and I go Vetter Weber. That's not the correct order. No. Harry. No? No, no. Fair enough. You started correctly. Hamilton Rosberg shared the front row

44 times. Then it was Vettel and Weber who shared the front row 23 times. Then it was Schumacher and Barakl 16 times and then Hamilton and Vestappen shared the front row 14 times. Oh, is that here? Only 14. Surprising. Which means we'll go over to Harry Ead for number six. Number six, please.

Which if you get right, could be a two-all draw. I want you to list these drivers based on the furthest back they've been on the grid to get a win. Sweet. So you've got Kimmy Reichenen. Max Verstappen, Rubens Barichello, and Ayrton Senna. I'll go for,

sorry, Barakello, Reichen and... Staten and Sena. I'll go for Barrikello first, the most far back. Yeah. Then... Then Vastappen, Reichen and Senna. That's not correct.

Would you like to try and steal, Sam? It would be a terrible play if you did. I'm going to go with the no steel on this one. Yeah, that's pretty clever because you now win. The correct order wasn't that far off. So Barrichello was first. He came from 18th on the grid to win his first ever race at the 2000 German Grand Prix. But then Reichen and Vestappen were the other way around.

So Reikln was 17th when he started the 2005 Japanese Grand Prix. Vestappen was 14th when he started the Belgrade. Grand Prix in 2022. Etton Senna never won a race from below 5th. But to be fair, he was very rarely below 5th. Fair.

Yeah, all right. 2-1 win, Sam, well-down. Oh, I've done alright the last cut of the games, you know? Oh, hang on. John wants to play cell. Cheers, John. As my camera's died, maybe I'm just going to put my picture as John Burko.

Oh, that's a good shout. That's not going to make sense. for people until about 20 minutes after it happened. But yeah, go with that. Maybe I'll just change it to the burko when the game starts. Maybe that's fair. Would you mind getting us out of it properly, Sam? Folks, thanks for listening.

We're going to be back midweek for the preview of the Imala Gron Prix where we'll be doing our bold predictions. You'll be getting involved with who's under pressure. We'll be giving our predictions for who's going to win the race, who's going to be on poll. We'll be discussing more F1. Lowe's happening. Thanks for your support.

Join the Patreon if you'd like way more content. If you don't want any more content, you just like the normal stuff. Totally fine. Thank you for coming along. Join the Discord to be involved in the community. That's how you submit your points to be on the episode as well for before and after the race. Follow us on social media, Late Breaking F1 and watch us on YouTube, like Breaking F1. We appreciate your support.

In the meantime, I've been Samuel Sage. I've been Ben Hawking, and I've been Harry Ead. And remember, keep breaking late. This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network.