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

Episode Date: August 7, 2024

Here to separate the overachievers from the flops, the LB boys give a mid-season review of all of the teams' performances so far by providing a 3 word summary and graded review for each. They finish off with a game of Late Faking... Reminder! Tickets for our Austin TX LIVE SHOW on OCT 17 are available NOW for those on our Patreon on 'Friend of the Podcast' or 'Hall of Fame' tiers (you can join with the link below!) Any remaining tickets will go on general sale at 6pm BST on AUG 18. 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. Welcome to the Late Breaking F1 podcast presented by Harry Ead, Sam Sage and me, Ben Hocking. It's another off-season episode, which probably means there's not much going on, Sam. There's not much going on? I'm going to hit you with a... Yeah.

Goodness me. Why are yeha and Sam? Well, I'm going to let Ben feel you with a few things. Yes, it's not a yeha without reason, because as we have alluded to, very subtly a few times on this podcast before, we are going back to Austin in October for the United States Grand Prix, but that's not it. Because Thursday, 17th of October, 7pm, Peached Social House, Brentwood, North Austin, to Lake Breaking Live show. we're coming back, we're doing another live show. Tickets are on sale now for our Patreon subscribers today, Wednesday, 7th of August. You've got just over a week as we're recording this, if you are a Patreon subscriber on our middle or upper tier, before any remaining tickets

go on general sale. So you've got until next Sunday, which is the 18th, and 6pm British time on that day, so that works out to 1pm Eastern and 10 a.m. Pacific. You've got But until then, if you are a patron subscriber or want to become a patron subscriber to take advantage of that benefit, all the details, of course, will be in the description. And you can go ahead and avoid disappointment because last year, Sam, they went very quickly.

Oh, they sold out. And we were so much smaller as a show back then. And you get other little cool things like free parking. A drink is including in your ticket. Free parking. Free parking. You can park your giant cars wherever you want. Harry was really keen to get the free parking in,

so I'm glad we've done. Yeah, thank God. He said, please shout out the free park. There's a real debate about the free parking whether it should be included. And do you know what? We made the right goal. I'm so glad.

It's a goddamn right goal. Free parking rang out. Producer Girstie's got ahead of hands. It's crying. It's completely fair. Yeah, we'll run through a whole live show. We play some games. We'll have a chick chat.

We stick around as well all evening, talking to you lovely lot as well. It's a really, really fun time. We've done two now. This will be number three. on the live show count and they just get bad at every time. So don't this out?

Come along. I've been so excited for this that today I listened to our last year's live show and I spent the last year practicing how to say Austin. Hey, going right! Thank you.

I love that. If that's not a reason to come, I don't know what is. It might not be right on the night. I'll get nervous. We're right on the night. So yes, we've been waiting a while to finally make this announcement.

So thank you for bearing with us. And we would love to see as many of you there as possible. Thursday, 17th of October. If you're a Patreon subscriber, middle or up a tier, you can get those tickets right away. Come back to this episode, obviously. You can do so right away.

Kirstie is now either going to give me the thumbs up or the thumbs down in case I have forgotten anything to mention. Yes! Yay! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Very American of you, Harry. Piyo, piao! Good.

On with the show then. We've got a show dedicated. Of course, it's the summer break. It's a good time to reflect on what has already happened and what might still be to come in the F1 season. So we're going to look at all of the 10 teams and we're going to give a three-word summary each on how we think their season has gone to this point and we'll give them a grade as well because, you know, we like to do that. We're going to go in championship order, constructors championship order. So we will start with Red Bull, who. who are leading the way, perhaps not quite as comfortably as they would expect or like, given how well they started this season. We'll kickstart with our three-word summaries each, and then we'll get into it. Sam, what's your three-word summary for Red Bull?

I've gone for squeaky bum. Oh, I like that. Harry? I've gone for Good at F-1. Ah, nice. You had to get that in there somewhere, too fair. I mean, have any of one that had to be then. I can't wait for whatever team you've decided to do.

What are you doing? And then just put an apostrophe somewhere in it. What a year. What a year is one word, isn't it? Well, what are you? I have gone for Dynasty under threat. Sam, squeaky bum time. Why?

Yeah, should I get my grades at this point as well, Ben? We'll do grade at the end. Okay, grade at the end. A little sandwich moment for you there. We're really bookmarking this. Squeaky bum time. They have been so dominant over the last couple of years. And, of course, they dethroned Mercedes in 2021 with the driver's championship.

And then I want to be incredibly dominant last year with a Stappan won. What was it? 18 of the 23, 17 of the 23 across the whole season, breaking records left, right and center. And it looks as though the start of this season was going to be very much, the same medicine that we're all going to be spoon fed for the next year. No, no, not to be. Because the car has begun to crumble. Sergio Perez's form is nowhere to be found.

It's like a where's Wallybook. Can you see it on this page? Who knows? Is it really there? But I found the dog, he's over there. No sign of Paris's form, though. And then, of course, you've got... Roscoe in the corner, yeah. Yeah, good old Roscoe.

Max Verstappen is carrying the entirety on his shoulders while people are quite literally jumping off at the nearest life raft they can find. It might be in the scope of Audi for Jonathan Wheatley. I've heard that Adrian Nui is secretly disguising his life raft, refuses for some reason show who is actually signing for, and Christian Horner is doing things that he probably shouldn't. So, yeah, it just feels like it is falling apart, having a bad time.

It's really not going well for them. And I think the staff is doing a grand old job at scoring as many points as he can and keeping this championship alive because without him, they would be in the mud. So I think our, as in our, myself and Sam's three-word summaries have certainly focused more on the negative aspect of Red Bull so far this year. But Harry, forever the optimist. I don't disagree with any of the points Samman's made

or you're about to make, I'm sure, Ben. But despite that, if we're going by the first half of the season, they still lead both championships. Max Verstappen and Lepaerese is his own separate issue. Like I said, I don't disagree with what you're saying. But if Red Bull and, if F-F-M is a one-driver per team sport, Red Bull and Max Verstappen would be like ultimate team. because apart from maybe Hungary

where they had a little falling out in the middle of the race, the strategy wasn't good, Max was mad. Apart from that, the rest of the year, even when they're not winning, they'd just be picking up good points every race.

And they're just quite good at the F1. And like you said, Sam, the start of this year, it's easy to forget how quick they were at the start of this year, especially in the hands of Vestappen. There was a point, I think, at the start of the year

where we were, all three of us were like, oh, oh, no, it's 2023 again. China. China was probably that point, yeah, especially when they did, you know, four pit stops and 7.8 seconds are some ridiculous. So, yeah, yes, they've had some more, they've had some challenges in the, in the past few races. But as I said, they still lead. And as of the last race, Vastappen extended as well,

championship leading the driver's championship. So good at F1, I think summarizes how their year has gone so far. I will say it is ridiculously impressive how Vastappan has managed to extend his championship lead even though he has, and this isn't disrespect to him, no right to. There have been so many instances where it's like, oh, that hasn't got very well for Red Bull and Vestappen.

Surely, no, hang on, it's bigger than it was before. Great. What was bigger? You don't want to know. Dynasty Underfrette is what I've gone for. So, you know, I'm joining Sam on the, the negative train. It was an excellent start to the year.

Four of the first five races, they had double podiums, and one of them was on the top step, of course, but it has been much tougher since then. Everything about this team right now, at least to me, is just like at odds with their championship position. Like, if you didn't watch any of the races

and had no idea what was going on in the races, but you were keeping up with everything that happened off track, you would immediately assume this team is like midfield and plummeting based on everything else that's happened off track. Yet despite that, as Harry mentioned, they are still very good at the F1 and they are getting by. You know, they do have a lot going on. I do think 2024 in years to come might be seen as the start of the decline of this dynasty.

Key personnel leaving, Christian Horner allegations, Perez's form. they don't know what to do with their junior team. Helmut Marco, Yoss Vastappen, Christian Horn are all seem at odds with one another. And I think a real concern for them is that, yes, Vestappen has been brilliant,

but I don't think they have ever been more reliant on Vestappen in their life. He is so integral to their success right now with everything else happening around him. So, yeah, there are question marks. I don't know. I do have one more question for both of you. I'll start with you, Sam.

And this is very hypothetical. This is not going to happen. I give you £10,000. Oh, I really could do with that. But there's one condition. You can only spend it on a bet on who's going to win the Constructors' Championship. Who is your money going on at this point?

McLaren. Harry? Claren. Ben? yeah McClellan We've got me with poor boys Oh boy But Stapper walking to the book

He's like When they win Grade for them Sam I'll give them a B Straight up B Harry I've gone for an A But I love that positive

So Yeah I'm with Sam I've gone for a B as well I think on track It's better But I'm at least Including some of the off track stuff in this grade

I think it matters let's move on to McLaren again let's go through three word summaries Sam I borrowed from a famous phrase I'm sure you could all finish off because I can only use three words but I've used futures now and that's because their young driver lying up is fantastic I'll get into the details in a minute but I'm sure you can work out with a meme that I'm referencing Harry I've put fast but silly I like that I like that a lot my my three word is Miami momentum shift so yes um Sam young driver lineup that you like yeah I mean the future is now old man and Landon Norris and Oscar Piastri have arrived on the

scene and whilst Norris he's an absolute bot the way it comes to starts he's still an absolute threat in every single Grand Prix he competes in he believes that he's an absolute top tier driving hour and we're starting to see what he's really made of and Piastri's really kind of stepping into the ring. He's really announced himself. The car is actually spectacular. Stella and Zach Brown are brought together a fantastic team

that seems to really be able to harness along the key skills, understand the characteristics of the car. They're delivering well on that Mercedes engine as well because I think it's not theirs, of course. I just think that everything is swinging in the right direction for them. The only thing that is bringing their grade down

for me at the moment is slow starts to the season, but they are recovering very, very nicely. And of course, as Harry's already referenced, the silliness that they went through in the likes of Hungary, which I do think they need to eyeing out pretty darn quick, otherwise it might come back to bite them. But for me, this is, oh, it's looking pretty tasty. Harry, you've managed to summarize McLaren season

and my approach to sex, so... Oh, I did not see... I was about to say that. Did not see that coming? And I guess that also goes. That's also appropriate. Oh, boy. Gosh, I might re-record that.

I guess it was bigger than they said. I would leave that in. Definitely leave that in. Okay. Harry, you've gone for Fast but silly. That has to say enough because there's no context for the laughter. I'm just doing. I've gone for Fast Macsidio, which, which, yes.

because they are very fast McLaren, but they're silly, silly boys and girls because they've wasted opportunities this year. Hung, well, the hunger is not wasted because they obviously won. So that's different silliness.

But things like Silverston Spring to Mind, they should have been a one two of that one. Spa, I think they should have done better at spa. So there are some opportunities that are not grasping. And hopefully the 30 grand that we've invested in them winning the constructors is not wasted

because they could still, there's a real possibility that, you know, they could still not quite clinching if they carry on their silly antics. And all it takes is for Sergio Perez to come, walk back from the summer break, refreshed, rejuvenated, and with the confidence that he's not going to get sacked. I wouldn't be that confident, Sergio, but it might walk back from the summer break and just be back on form and it can make it a real headache for McLaren because when he's not been on form,

I'm not sure they've actually grabbed all the points they should have done in closing that gap down. So fast but silly. I've gone for Miami momentum shift. And I was thinking about this. And there were three things, I think, that were true.

Well, two of them were definitely true, but the other ones, a bit more of an opinion, that were true heading into the Miami weekend. So Norris had no. No race wins going into that race weekend. Piastri had had a pretty bad start to the season. And Adrian Newey still had a contract at Red Bull. And I think in years, not only for this season, but actually in years to come,

Miami is going to be seen as something of a turning point because the most obvious of those three, Lando Norris took the race win. That was a massive moment for him, given how many close calls he'd had to that point. And actually, even though we have questions, some of, of his execution since that point, he has routinely been him and Vastappan fighting first and second. He's been second or third in five of the eight races since Miami. So it has helped him, I think, in terms of his confidence.

The one that's not spoken about as much is how much of a turnaround it was for Oscar Piastri, because he didn't score points to that race. But in terms of the pace that he displayed, it was such an improvement on what he had done, I think, in the first part of the year. So if you were to look at his first five races of this season before Miami, he was eighth in Bahrain, but was outqualified by Norris and behind him in the Grand Prix. He was fourth in Saudi Arabia, which was fairly solid. He was fourth in Australia, but he was 30 seconds behind his teammate in third.

He was eighth in Japan when you might remember he lost out to Alonzo and Russell, and he was eighth in China when his teammate was second. So it wasn't a good start to the year for him. But again, he didn't score any points to Miami, but it was far better performance-wise. And that has, as we went through with some of the statistics on Sunday's episode, that has been something of a springboard for him

for the rest of this year. And then the third element, I know it's not McLaren specific, but it might be Red Bull News, but Adrian Newey leaving at that weekend, fills a void. That void can be filled by McLaren. So I think, I just think actually,

when we come to the end of this season, even if they don't win either championship, in terms of like what could be achieved next year the year after that. We might just look at this weekend and say there was a lot different after it than what was before. Grade for them, Sam.

I get them in A-minus. Yeah, don't like that. I've got A-minus as well. Oh, copy-cat. Oh, no. I've got A-minus as well, if I could say it. Oh, copy, copy, copy. We all love A-minus.

We'll do one more team. We'll do one more team before the break. We'll have a look at Ferrari. Sam. Free Shal LeClaire. Nice. That is a fair shall. I've gone for potential wasted again.

Oh. Harry, I've gone for good at Monaco. Oh. Matter of fact, I enjoy that. Sam, tell us why. That's what it says on the thing, right? Free the boy. Yeah, I mean, LeClaire sold his soul for that Monaco win

because they've never seen to be remotely potent again after that moment. But they should show them so many moments of potential. And to then go from being arguably as fast as McCarran was in the first few Grand Prix. And it was on a knife stage. McClaron fell one way, Ferrari fell the other, where McLaren fell forwards and ended up becoming the ultimate challenger for this season so far. And arguably the favorite, the frontrunner for the championship at this point, Ferrari very much toppled backwards and had been now overtaken by me.

Mercedes on pace, Red Bull are still fastened them, and McLaurang are well off into the sunset. They're lucky that someone like Ashton Martin is so far behind that this won't really be a challenge for them. But when you've got drivers as high potential as Charlotte Clur sticking around, you owe it to him to provide a car that can regularly be right up there time after time after time. And when you see the demise of Red Bull and you think, oh, who's going to take over from that, you know, that falling in form? You think it's got to be Ferrari. They were there in 2003. They were there to a degree. They were there in 2021. They were there in 2022. for half a season as well.

You think, oh, they could grasp this. They can now be the ones to move forward. And then not even the second team closest to them at this point. So the fact that their upgrades have been such a failure, especially with the hiring of Big Freddie Vass, you'd like to think that he would have got this underway, but the strategy is still bad. Freddie Vass seems to have made the technical impact

that I expected him to have made this early on. I am thinking that he should have made his impact by now. I do think we're following up in that I'm expecting it. And, you know, Sykes has been a little bit absent, since being throwing away so early with that decision to sign Hamilton so long in the season. I don't think he's been brilliant for the last few Grand Prix. It's just going the wrong way. At a time where it could easily be success story for them is very much going the wrong way.

And that's why I've got potential wasted again because it should be so much better. I want to paint a scene here and it refers to Monaco. So of course, Charlotte Clare won that Grand Prix. Carlos Sines was also on the podium. So after that race, Red Bull did lead the Constructors Championship, but they led it only by 24 points ahead of Ferrari. McLaren were then 68 points further back from Ferrari, so it was at that point at least a bit of a two-horse race.

You tell Freddie Vass, jungle is passive, in the next six races, Red Bull are going to win two of them, and they're only going to have one other podium alongside those two wins. What would he have said? He would have said, great, we must be leading the championship, because if Red Bull are only going to achieve three podiums in six races and Ferrari are only 24 points behind, you immediately assume we've probably won two then,

or maybe even three, we've probably got more podiums than they have, we're probably winning this championship. And not only is that not true, they're not even the closest challengers anymore. They've been usurped by McLaren, and they have somehow managed to get their magician's hat out and they've turned a 24 point deficit

into a 63 point deficit. This is the one instance where more points is not better, a deficit. You want less. Honestly, and maybe this is going one step too far, but who knows, I think by the end of this season,

we might look at that Imala upgrade of Ferrari and say that costs them the championship. I really think that they should be, at the very least, in the mix with McLaren and Red Bull right now. I think they should be winning the Constructors Championship if those upgrades work. I guess what I applaud you on your use of usurped, by the way,

is a phrase that should be used more and you delivering it brilliantly. Thank you, sir. Underrated Wood. Do you remember when Carlos signs was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, we're going to win? That's going to be, we're going to be not. We're unbeatable now.

Excellent. Good at Monaco, Harry. Yeah, they were going to Monaco, and that is it. Australia, obviously, they won as well. Somewhat fortunate, I think, that Rastapen retired and McLaren hadn't woken up yet after 2023. They were still asleep back in awoking because otherwise I don't think they brought a won that race. But Monaco is the clear one you can point to where they were quick, but mainly as Monaco

and LeCla could back everyone up so there were no gaps. And that's been the story of their season. I also imagine that Shal Lickland, you know, in one of the Simpsons, you know, Halloween specials where Homer sells his cell for a donut to devil Ned Flanders.

God, I love that episode so much. That's Charlotte Claire. He sold his soul for a Monaco GP win and the price is... Did it make his head the shape of Monaco?

Yes. He didn't even sell his soul for a world championship. Like, you're not even doing that right. A home win. Yeah. Come on.

But yeah, it's the summary of their season. That's all they've been good at. And as you said, you'd rather be good at like a whole year of F1 than just Monaco because Monica's quite the, quite the anomaly in F1. So yeah, it's not been amazing. And as you say, it probably should have been so much more so far.

What would you grade them, Harry? I've given them a C. Sam. I've given them an E plus. Oh, God's me. I've matched Harry. I've gone with a C. we'll take our first break on this episode

but on the other side we're looking at Mercedes we're looking at Aston Martin and we're looking at Menardi we still refuse to call them Oh yeah corrects Okay welcome back we've done the first three teams on this grid We now go to the team sat in fourth place That's Mercedes and what is your three word summary sum I've gone for just keep swimming

Because they are swimming very much in the right direction And nice consistent pace and they finally understand where they're going. And let me tell you, once you learn a swim, it's much nicer than not knowing how to swim when you're in water. That's a great point. Wow.

Goodness me. They finally understand, and they're finally going the right way. They got their 15-meter badge. They did. So to their towel. So-to-proping it on your towel, mate. They got the Frosties.

You got the Frosties collection. So you travel with them. Good, man. Lined up a lot on the bottom of the towel. That's a very British reference. That's so British. Look up. You're asking swimming badges if you're up from the UK.

They're agreed. He's hit the mic and everything. God, this podcast is a mess. Summer break vibes. Sorry, I'm not having my three-word phrase. We've ever got some explanation yet. That's all right. Harry, what's your three-word summary?

I've gone for crap now good. You're really literal with these. Thank you. Mine is another way of saying that, which is back on track. But I think we've all gone for a very similar vibe on this one, Sam. Yeah, I mean, like I was saying, it feels like they have so many months and races of, we've understood the car and then you really haven't understood the car. And we're bringing upgrades and then they're releasing apology letter.

And we're back. And then it's 9th and 11th been qualifying. And finally, there's some consistency. Three of the last four have been wings. George Russell O'K has had a DNF, no fault of his own and they've been disqualified. Got said that's his fault, but some mistake of the team. But the fact that Hamilton's got two, Russell's got one, arguably they could have been more, available to them.

They're bringing upgrades and going, we don't understand them because of the car, but we don't understand because of set up. We're going to make some additions. Fine. It feels positive. It feels like going the right way about things. And let's just hope they're absolutely mucking up

with half a season to go because there's genuinely a chance that they can sweep themselves right up the championship table if things continue to go to plan. Harry? What could yours possibly mean? I was just going to say on a, on understanding the car. There's still a little bit of them

even though they won, they've won a few now, they won in spa, they interviewed Toto after the race and he still was a bit like, I don't really know how that happened. Did anyone know that? I'm not sure.

They just be like, well, that was good. Don't know. That's a very good excuse for a Patreon plug because this is something that myself and Sam talk about regarding Andrew Shufflin's comments about how it looks like they're bringing

the floor upgrade back on Zand vote when they took it off after practice it. So I think you're right though. I don't think they still are a thousand percent sure. Yeah, not sure I've got one to. Anyway, yeah, crap now good. I went for this because they were still a bit crap at the start of the year, obviously. But I was thinking about how George Russell's crash he had in Australia,

which whether or not you believe the Alonzo break testing theory. But that's who they were battling. they were with the Aston Martins and now they're winning races which given Australia wasn't that long ago it was only March to have that sort of turnaround in form

I think warrants a crap now good in my view yeah the only thing I would disagree with is that it was a bit crap it was awful to start this year by Mercedes I need three words mate so I can

that's a very good point about the rules sucker for rules if you're looking at the high Bridera, 2014, 15, 16, 17, 18, 18, 20, 21 and 22, every single year in that times span, they got a podium at the first race of the season, at least a lot of those were wins as well, but they got at least a podium at the first race of the season. 2023 was the exception.

It was an awful start. They didn't get a podium until their third race. Took them nine attempts this year. They were really bad to start this year. were routinely, like you say, battling the Aston Martins. There were a few Grand Prix, Australia particularly. They weren't that far ahead of the RB, guys. It was a tough start to this season, and it's important that we, you know,

review the full season rather than just the last couple of Grand Prix, which have been obviously far better. The fact that they didn't have a podium for the first eight races, and they've had a podium at every race for the last six, it does show the transformation that has happened. But yeah, I don't think we can ignore where they came from. on. There's a reason they're fourth in the championship, which if they finish there, that will be their worst championship position since 2012. This is still, even with those wins, the recovery

still needs to go much, much further. It was so bad at one point early this season where I think after the eight races where they didn't have a podium, there were five drivers who had more points than both of their drivers combined. Like, this was an awful start to year, but you're right. It is certainly getting better. Grade, Sam. Because of, I think, you're a very rightful explanation. I feel like they've almost split

the first half of this season, exactly half and half. I've given them a C. I think they would die as to start with, and I think they'd been superb, the last kind of five or six races. So right down the middle of the grading, it's a C.

Harry? Yeah, I'm exactly the same. If first half, I'd have gone, or first quarter, I'd have gone like a D minus, maybe an E, the second half of B plus,

uh, second quarter B plus. So, yeah, a C in total. Yeah, fair logic. I've got C minus, but, you know, we're fairly close on that one. Aston Martin, Sam. Ouch, Mike Crack!

For God's sake. Ben, you weren't here before this episode started, and Sam tested that one before. He was like, I want to make a Mike Crack joke. What goes with it? And Kirsty suggested, ouch. She gailed it. The thing is, I'm sighing here.

I can't even complain that much because I made a half-mic crack joke in a Patreon episode. Tell the joke, I don't even remember what it was now. Now. Mike crack in the hot seat. Oh yeah, I was asking is, is Mike crack on the hot seat? Nice. It's all right, Ben.

You've got the Alpine one to go yet, and I know what sounds going to say. Oh, yeah, that's very good. I highly doubt that. Harry, what was your three word phrase? I said, try again 2025. We're using the numerical version of 2025. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, okay.

I had to get some alliteration in here at least once, so I've used it on Aston Martin and I've said, Fernando feeling frustrated. Nice. Love a bit of alliteration. Sam, I'm not going to repeat yours, but why do you think it? I think as we discussed very much in the Patreon episode, I think we're getting to the point where the responsibility is coming down to the man

at the helm of the development of this team in this car. And that is Mike Crack. I do think that he, look, Harry, I say it at the straight face. You're laughing. Come on. I've done this chilly bit. God.

Oh, dear. I think that realistically he's just got to a point where I think he's lost his way. I think he's struggling to keep his team under wraps. I think the development of the team in the car isn't going the way he wants. And Lawrence Stroh is shelling out. He's paying for every hire he can get. They've got the state of the art facilities now. Things are moving in their direction in every way but results on track.

And as we said again in Patreon, I think that they haven't had a solid result since May, June time last year. They got a consistent run of really good results. that's like 14, 15 months at this point it's not good enough and at what point do you start blaming the guy who's running the show? So I think they're struggling but I think he might be the guy to blame.

Harry, you just think that this season's done? Just move on to 2025. Yeah, I'd give this one a rest to start again next year. They could try and continue to improve but the upgrades they have been bringing have been, I mean, they haven't done that much, have they? They've been worked.

Yeah, so I call it a day on 2024, get ahead to start. When I was writing this out, I almost didn't put 2025, I almost put 2026. And I was like, maybe just sack off the next year and a half. Faganda would murder you. Yeah, but if you tell Fernando, you're aiming for 20, if you get to 26 and then it's still crap, then he will come and it will hunt you down. He will. Yes.

But if you tell him 2026 is going to be good and it is good, then it'll be happy boy. So I didn't write that, but I think the general gist is forget this year. I decided to focus on Fernando Alonzo for my three words. Is this the worst car he's had since the start of 2022? Because the Alpine car he was in in 2022, at least the end of that year wasn't too bad. I think you might have to go back to the beginning of 22 for the last time. He had a car that was struggling this much.

but you know at the start of this year it was okay enough like there were plenty of occasion he outqualified the car on quite a few occasions I think and essentially the race was a question of can he hang with the drivers that were probably quicker than him

but starting just behind him and sometimes the answer was yes sometimes the answer was no but there were a few occasions like Saudi Arabia Japan being another one where he was at least in the fight with some of these Mercedes and McLaren guys

but the last eight races he's only scored three times. It's just been a bit of a dire run for, and not for just Alonzo, just for the team generally. The problem I think with Aston Martin is they, if you're doing Alonzo 101, don't give him a competitive car

and then take that away from him. Yeah, yeah. That's not how you do Fernando Alonso. Like, don't do that. You know, sorry, Ben, so you know he's frustrated. At the start of races, especially last year,

Alonzo would hang back. He'd always hang back and he's fighting for those podiums because they could they could look after their tar's quite well and that was kind of their strategy.

The start of this year you started to see the same thing but like oh he's doing the same thing and then it was like oh no wait he's just our reign straight away out of the gates wasn't it? Oh he's doing the same again

and then it was like oh no it's not it's just not quick yeah I did just want to say this as well because obviously he moved on from Alpine he spent his last two years at Alpine he was obviously

he moved away for something far better. He only scored 81 points in the last two, like in both of the last two seasons he had at Alpine. He's currently got 49 this season with 10 races to go. Sounding very similar to what he had at Alpine, isn't it? Like, it's going to be probably about the same number. Yeah, but he could be at Alpine.

I'm not saying, I'm not saying you should have stayed at Alpine, by the way. I'm just saying that him moving away was for an upgrade and actually, at least compared to Alpine of then, at the moment. there's not much difference a grade for us to mind Sam I've gone D plus I feel really quite let down with where they are at the moment

Ditto D plus Harry I have a C minus but that's probably me a bit bit kind one grade in it not too much at all the last one of this group of three RB Menardi Sam

let Lawson drive oh okay we're going into line up with Sam Harry I've said don't do upgrades. Interesting one, because you can read that one in two different ways. I've gone for top five, sure. There's not too much punctuation in your two words.

I forgot at the start of the year. They were like, yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll be top five. Top fives. So you're all aboard the Liam Lawson hype trains now. We've said it so many times. I'm involved in Red Bull in this as well. The team has lost its way. The purpose of this junior team was for driver development,

it was for experimental parts and it was to make sure that the top team, Red Bull, which is ironic that this team is called RB and it's real translation. Otherwise, it should get all of the goodies, right?

They're the ones that should be going on to race wings, for championship wins, to podiums at best, at worst, rather. And yet, it looks like they're all away at sea at the moment. They've got no idea

what they're doing with any of their driver lineups. Max for Staffordy should be the most secure man in Formula One could be going anywhere. Perez has got the worst form going. Daniel Ricardo's form was terrible for a long of the season, which it is increasing,

but arguably still isn't good enough to get put into Red Bull. So no one's been there for longer than any other junior driver going. And Liam Lawson, who looks like a real talent, and really impressed me and many others when he stepped in for Ricardo's seat last season, cannot break into this team, which is for junior drivers. And he's so much younger than the rest of them. So what's the freaking point of having a junior team

if you ain't got no junior drivers? I don't know. Yes, that was a reference. I'm not going to go to details. I really thought that was. Oh, boy. Yeah, I just think the team's an absolute state. The upgrades don't work.

They can't get results on track. They're barely beating Askin Martin or Haas unless they get a really lucky day. So I go who's putting, I think the best season he's ever had is getting no reward for it. They're just a state. I don't think they know what they're doing with themselves.

And we haven't even got on to Alpine yet, but they are in a bit of a mess, I think, older, old Arby. Harry, I wasn't sure whether you're one of don't do upgrades was that they seemingly can't them because they don't work or whether it was an instruction just not to try anymore to do upgrades. Both. Love that. They, their start of the year was actually, I mean, certainly in Sonoda's hands was going relatively well.

Then they brought upgrades to Austria and they were terrible and they just haven't really gained much momentum from there. Yeah, the ones they brought were terrible and it just suggested they don't know what they're doing with that car. So don't do them. Don't do them. Go back to the old car. Much better. Yeah, I think that's fair. Ricardo has said on a number of occasions that there were high-speed corner issues with the car that this upgrade was supposed to solve, and it just hasn't.

So I don't think it's the worst idea in the world. I've gone for top five, sure, because if you don't remember, this was touted by Daniel Ricardo as being a possibility to get top five finishes at the beginning of this season. 14 races in. They have a fourth place in a sprint. But apart from that, all they've got is a couple of seventh place finishes. It's just the team's not kicked on in the same way that a few people preseason thought they might do.

Because they did have some encouraging results at the end of last season, but it just hasn't really ever developed for them. I mean, Sonoda's been okay. Ricardo had a bad start, but since then has been okay. The car's been okay. they have actually scored points in eight of the last nine races.

The problem is it's all low points. And I'm astonished by this fact, by the way. This is even by my, I love this stat. Since the start of 2022, and so that covers Alfa Tauri, of course, not just R.B. They have scored points on 28 occasions that team. Not one of them has been a double points finish. They cannot do it. how do you score 28 consecutive

like 28 times since the start of 2020 you have to go back to 2021 for the last time that both drivers score points in a race yeah um anyway they're not in a great place I agree with what you've said some about the the junior program it's not just

I feel like you can with this team you can either be quick but not a great developing team or a great developing team but not quick but you can't have no either And at the moment, I think they have neither. The grade for them, Sam. I'm just giving them a D.

They're just letting me down. D plus. Harry, don't buy. I've gone... Please don't. For the same. Let's just burn this episode to the ground. I've gone for...

I've gone for D as well, unfortunately. Oh, that is a shame. Three Ds in the Mardi. There's a plus on one. Right. We're taking our second break on the other side. We're going to, we're going to so out the other four teams on this grid. Do you want to Scott Chegg?

Oh, not again. Welcome back. We've got through all the good teams on the grid. We've gone through the first six. We're now starting to get into the teams that have struggled to score points so far this year. At least one team that is, I would argue, doing better than they thought they might do, is Hass. Sam, three-word summary for Hass. Letka Matsu-Cut.

he's got that spicy oven moving around in there and it's tasty. I do need to confirm something. Are you spelling it with a K? I was spelling it with a K. Yes, both things of the word. Good. I appreciate that. Harry.

I've said, finally understood tyres. Yeah, that's pretty much mine. I've got entire struggles solved. Well done. I think that's the closest thing we've had to a match so far. Sam, you've gone for a cooking analogy instead. Why is Kamatsu cooking? Yeah, he's cooking off an absolute storm.

They finally found the ingredients and I can make a tasty meal. It's a shame really that it's taken them this long to get back to any resemblance of the form they had in the late teens where they quite regularly were finishing, you know, four, fifth, sixth in the Constructors' Championship and fighting hard with some really established constructors. And then from about 2020, it absolutely fell off a cliff for them. But it seems like there's some resemblance to that old form now.

Six good Steiner steps away. There seems to be a fresh approach to management. not saying that he was a total failure because even now, I imagine there are still some remnants of his design choices and the way he set up the team floating around. So I imagine it's not all just Kamatsu starting afresh, but I do think he's really grabbed it by the helm. I do think he's much more technically minded the goods of Stiger in this sense. I think he's pushing the team in the right direction. They have understood tires. Holkerberg is also having one of the seasons of his career and Magnuson's just a little box office menace. He's having a good old

for all of our entertainment. So, yeah, I mean, they're a little far down on points, but they ain't nowhere near as far down as we said they were going to be when we predicted our Constructed Championship. Oof, yeah, we'll be doing that in a couple of months' time reviewing those wrong predictions. Harry, I assume we're probably going to make very similar points, so I shall let you have the floor first.

Well, I'm going to start mine with a formal apology to the entirety of the HAST team because in testing, preseason testing this year, HAS came out and were like, we're not going for lap times. We're spending basically the entire test understanding ties. And I think we, and I myself definitely, were like, why a Hasse even here, this is ridiculous, there are a waste of space, impostors, etc., etc.

And I hold my hand up and I apologize to Komatsu and the rest of the team because it worked. It actually worked. And they're way better with their ties. and it's given them results this year. Holkenberg can have a belt in qualifying and stay there now in the race, which is rewarding for him

and not depressing, I imagine. There's only been a couple of occasions where he's ended up back down towards Manglinson in latter races, but for the most part, it's been good. So a much, much improved HAST team this year. And as you say, Sam, I think, yeah, Kamasi's been, I think he's been a breath of fresh air,

but good to Steyner probably, you know, lay the foundations for this before. this year. So let's give them a bit of credit as well. Yeah, I have to admit, I wasn't sure whether to make this three-word summary about Holkenberg, his P6 in Austria, Kamatsu, Magnuson's tactics at the beginning of this season, a brand new lineup for next year. And then I basically landed on all of that is irrelevant if they don't solve the tires. Like, it all starts and ends of what they did in that preseason test. And you're right, Harry, I think we all owe them an apology because they were We're seriously slow in preseason testing, but you know what?

They can be as slow as they like in those sessions if it means results on race days like we've had so far this year. It's easy to forget. Like last year, Nika Holkenberg, he made it through to Q2 or Q3 17 times. There was nothing wrong with the pure pace of that car last year. It was very good over one lap. This year so far, it's 11. So halfway through the year, it'll probably end up being about the same number.

but last year it was meaningless because they just couldn't convert anything. They couldn't convert Holkenberg getting into Q3. This year, they have been able to do that. So I commend the team. The only thing I will say at the end of this point is last couple of races have been a bit tough and I hope it's not the start of a decline. So so far this season,

they've only had three races where they haven't had a driver inside the top 12. They had a double DNF at Monaco. the other two have been the last two races. So as long as this isn't the start of them falling back down the grid, other than that, though, it's a very small negative and what has been a largely positive season so far. Grade for them, Sam. I've given Hasse a B plus.

I've gone even better. I've gone A-minus. Harry. I've gone for a B. Love that. Good work, Cass. Oh, Alpine. Well, you bet. to hit me with it, Sam. What is it? You fat, bach.

You fat, bachs. You fat. Sam sought express permission from producer Kirstie because that needs to be bleeped. Yeah, that's three bleeps. Apologies. I've used up my allotment for the year. I've got to admit, I was torn between two. I almost went with good luck Olly. In the end, though, I went with along the same lines, but perhaps a slightly better way of saying it. wait and understaffed. Nice. That's at those five words.

That's definitely three words. Harry. I've just gone for, oh, no, no. You can't play the extra no in there at the end. The mingle. You've got to play by the rules, son. Oh, no.

Right. Sam. You fat bachs. Oh, he's got a bleep in there. She's screaming. You take out for permission. Oh, I don't get, okay. After the earlier antics of Ben Hawking,

he doesn't need permission anymore. That's fair. He's swinging. Right, yeah, I mean, the car's too fat, but the team's too lean. I mean, what do you like I say? You don't know how to make a car that's able to actually go at a normal weight level

and every other. Mercedes were underweight. Do you remember a couple years ago, Alfa and Mayo, well, the only ones under the weight limit and they had to bring it up to make sure they're actually... I'd still feel bad for them about that.

Ridiculous. Ridiculous. Oh, we actually comply with the rules, so we're punished. Well, Alpino dreaming or something like that. I guess the car's overweight because they've got no longer in the team to actually take anything off of the car anymore.

They've probably just got top-geared dog trying to look for a spanger to take something off of it. That's how useless they are as a team at the moment. The team still doesn't like each other between the French and English departments. They've lost another team principle. They're losing team members.

They're right to send it so long. It looks like the bloody. Magna Cast has been signed by every county in the country. Honestly, it's an absolute state. It could not be the biggest mess. And remember, they're trying to make a Hollywood journey out of it, just like they've done with Rexham in football, for God's sake. It's not looking good.

It's looking more like a bloody DC Joker movie. It's got even part of DC. He's part of Marvel. No, he is. Batman's DC. Yes, nerds. That's as much as I know. My point here is Alping an absolute state and then you can sort it out.

Okay. I'm overweight and understaffed. Last four seasons, 155 points, 173 points, 120 points, 11. It's not good. And to be clear, we weren't being very complimentary

about Alpine in those three years because we thought they were still underperforming. But goodness me, if they had the opportunity to go back to that, they would take it straight away. I don't have all that much to add on top of what. Sam's already said. It kind of writes itself this one.

They've had nothing better than ninth all season long. Matt Harmon and Dirk DeBere took one look at that car at the beginning of the year and went, nope, we're off. And they haven't really replaced. I forgot that. I forgot that they left to start the year. Yeah. No one working there still.

Yeah. They just went, nope. They got rid of Ocom, which was obviously a great idea because I'm pretty sure if you spent another year at this Hellhole of a team, it had gone mad. so that's probably a good thing in the long run. Yeah, it's just a horribly overweight car that they actually somewhat solved and it didn't get that much better.

I mean, a little bit better, but again, they have 11 points at this stage. So not good. Harry? I mean, not too much more to add than what you've already said. We spoke with a Red Bull earlier and the positives on track, I think for me, still outweigh the turmoil that's happening behind the scenes.

Alpine have got, nothing. They've got the turmoil and they're really, really slow and unreliable. So it's, it's terrible. Hence that, oh, no, no, I'd have more nose if they could because it's that bad. If it was an appropriate number of those, that would be the podcast. We wouldn't have time to say anything else. What grade are you giving them then? I'm giving them a E plus. No, don't deserve a grade. You. Ungrade it. I've gone for an F. Good, it's me.

Not good. They are still somehow beating two other teams on this grid, though. And the first of which is Williams. They currently have four points this season for a couple of ninth place finishes. Sam? I have gone with two steps back. I've gone for future over present. Harry?

Very similar, but less eloquent. 2026, be good. I'm trying to be good Bigo Mungo I'm glad Mongo's made the appearance

Oh my God Oh Sam you've Two steps back Yeah one step forward Two steps back James Vowles is giving it all the big And he's selling absolute dreams down

Park Market As we've been wrong He's spoken about previously Someone commented on her Instagram by the way about part market which I respected as a listener out there has been

that Photoshop with James Vass at the barbecue or whatever it was as well looks sensational go check it out on Instagram you haven't seen it it's really good yeah I just you know

he's talked about this progression this slow steady progression we're getting a team in order they've got two drivers now that I think in his words for something on the lines of you'd be terrified to go up against or to stand next to

or something like that which is I get it album and science for that level of team is a very very good line up and fair play to what James Vows is doing on the contract side. But currently, there is still no real reward when it comes to the actual

track performance. And, you know, it's been a while now. We're 18 to 20 months into his proper term, proper delivery is not materializing to anything good. They're going backwards. With teams like Alpine struggling even more, with teams like, um, Mardi, who don't see not what they're doing with their drivers, that's in massing progressively not getting any better. I really thought that this would have been a chance than to start to capitalize and have that unity and have that brilliant team that they're pulling up to actually drive the team forward but

they still can't seem to get the car in a decent place and it's quite confusing. I'm hoping that it will get better as you guys said future not present or past but yeah it's not going well for them at the moment. Mongo? I'm not sure we can start using that as a game.

Yeah I think very similar lines to what you guys are saying it's 2026 has to be and similar to what I was saying about Astin Martin and Alonzo, I guess, earlier on, but there's been a full admission from Williams that's what they're focusing on for 2026.

They've gone for that gamble and they're lining up, you know, lining everything up for that. Drivers, as mentioned, signs in Albon and then obviously everything behind that in terms of facilities and the resource to give them a good car. So it needs to be good because as of now, it's not great.

And those dreams that the James Viles is selling, they can't be empty because he's been selling them hard quite clearly. And it needs to work when it gets to 2026. So I think you said this, Ben, on when we were talking about signing for Williams, that of all the teams that need a good 2026, it's William. So it needs to be good. Yeah, not too much to word. Yeah, signs an album is a ridiculous combination for, or probably be a back marketing. team. Bad market might be unfair.

I don't think there are any back market teams in F1 at the moment, but they we've got one more two to go. Yeah, hang on. One more team yet, mate. I mean, Cape, yeah. There's one bad market team in F1,

but it's not Williams. Yeah, like you say, Harry, them selling dreams all year long because there's not really anything on track that they can point to. I think that this season was kind of lost in the winter. I think this season was lost before it even got started. That winter period was very,

very difficult for this team and I don't think they've ever recovered. But also, I'm not quite sure they tried all that. I don't know what the right way to phrase is, but I'm not sure they went all out to recover it knowing that that probably won't actually help them in the long run anyway. Obviously at the beginning of this year, we had instances like Logan Sargent not being able to start a Grand Prix. I think they could have done more potentially to salvage this year's car, but equally was the point when the focus is on next year's. year and more importantly, 2026. So their focus will shift to 2025 from now.

I would not expect them to score too many more points this season. It wouldn't shock me if they don't score anymore at all. But yeah, great for them, Sam. I've given Williams a D. Same, Harry. Yeah, a D. All agreed, which leads us nicely on to our final team, Salba. Sam.

Waste of breath. Oof. Gerdes me. Also can't disagree. Harry? Terrible green toaster. Can't disagree. I've gone with bottoms at bottom.

Good as me. Another bottom reference. Yeah. Well, I've decided that, you know, if I had one point for every time Valtry Bottas got his bottom out on Instagram, I'd have more points than Salba. I've got... Sam's got a picture of Valtry Bottas' bottom on his,

all. That's my calendar. Good. This is birthday this month. Happy birthday, luxury. You get his bum out, I'm sure. Yeah, well, they're not getting any points out, are they? So might as well get some in out. They have zero points for a reason.

They haven't got close on most occasions so far this year. They had an 11th place finish to start the year in Bahrain. They haven't had a top 12 finish since then. They haven't had, they've had nothing better than 15th, the last four Grand Prix. It has been a dire run for this team. And even when they have had one or two minor opportunities to get points, they've just shot themselves in the foot.

Because you think China, they had something of an opportunity there, but as DNFs because of an engine issue or something similar. Japan might have been able to get a point there. They had an awful pit stop because that was the time when they couldn't do pit stops. And then they did figure out how to do pit stops. so they decided to do an unnecessary one at Belgium last time. Now, when they could have maybe been somewhere near the points, decided just because they know how to do them,

they brought him into the pits to finish like 15th place. So this is a bad team that I hope will not be bad in two years' time. Harry? Yeah, they're just been terrible on all fronts. There's absolutely no relation to this because Alfa Romeo was just a name. but Alpha Romeo left. I'm not saying they were great in the last two years, but Alpha Romeo left,

and it's got so much worse. It's like, it's got terrible in line with them being kick or steak or whatever we're calling them. What are they called? I don't remember anymore. Everyone was just given up. They have, right?

Other than Salba? Yeah, they just call them Salba. No one calls them kick or steak because we can't keep up with what they actually are at depending what race we're at. It's a branding nightmare. It's quite funny, though. No one makes an attempt.

It's just Salba. Yeah. but yeah they've been as you mentioned they were terrible at pit stops which kind of covered up the fact that they were slow so even if they were having a good race you had a terrible pit stop and then they learned how to do pit stops and then they got trigger happy and pit botas for no reason in Belgium so yeah a terrible terrible year so far final grade of the evening from me harry an f yep same sam yep like your trio love that f's in the chat for salba we will take our final break on this episode

On the other side, we're playing late faking. Welcome back, everyone, to the final part of today's episode. It's time, the late faking. The late faking game, where one answer is fake, and the other one's all right, so help me, Christ, I'll make my decision in a second, Sam, you're gonna have to wait, because Ben made this game so hard,

and I'm down by five. Beautiful. stuff, late faking. So there are six questions in front of me. Sam and Harry will take it in turns to give me a number. I'll give them the question. Four answers. One of them is a fake, though.

They don't belong in the category that I say. It's their job to pick out which one is the fake. So, Harry, what number would you like to start with? Number four, please. Number four. Okay, I'm going to give you four drivers. Only one of them. Why is he laughing?

Oh, yeah. Why is he laughing already? Crikey. Three of these never raced an F1. You have to pick out the one that did. Here are you four options. Spider Webb. For goodness sake.

Rocky Rhodes. Tim Burr. Not my uncle. And Stan Still. Okay. Only one of those is racing F1. Unbelievably. Amazing.

Three of a bake. Spider-Web. I'm going to go for Timber. It is not Timber. Oh no. I've gone Rocky Roads. It's not Rocky Roads. You do a disservice to Mr. Spider-Web.

Surely not. Goodness me. One of the classic. I think he raised the $500 in the 50s. But classic. No, nil. Sam, over to you. Please, Ben.

Number two. Four drivers. Three of them finished on the podium in their final F1 race. One of them didn't. Okay. Nico Rosberg. Mark Weber. Alan Prost.

Nigel Mansell. I'm going to say, oh, thank you. Full title. I'm going to go Pross. It's not Prost. It is Dr. Naid. Oh, he was too busy down. the ER. Dr.

Nige would be a correct answer if he then decided to go to McLaren. If he decided not to come back and do a few races for McLaren. So we stay at 0-0. We go back to Harry. Number 1. Yeah, you can have one. Four drivers. Three of them

won a championship, a driver's championship for two different teams. One of them didn't. Nicky Lauder. Nicky Lauder. He's back again. Alan Prost. Jim Clark and Jack Brabham

What was the question again? Three of those drivers won a driver's championship with two teams or at least two teams Thank you I wasn't paying attention Alan Prost Who's the third one?

Clark was the third one Is it Jim Clark? It is Jim Clark, yes Nikki Lauder won a championship with Ferrari and then later in the 80s with McLaren Prost for McLaren and for Williams Brabham for Cooper and then his own team

Jim Clark did win two championships but won them both with Lotus So boss in it With your own team like that in Formula 1 That is so cool Big Prossbole Damn cool 1-0 back to you Sam

Hello number five please Ben Number five Four drivers Three of them have competed In the hybrid era One of them hasn't Oh God it's for the most vague you can names, isn't it?

Narrator. Yes. Andre Lottorer. Great. Charl Peek. Max Chilton and Will Stevens. Oh God, he's going to be furious

if I get drunk. I knew he was going to get a grumpy reference. I'm going to go Lottor. It's not Lottor. It's Charles Peet. No, that piqued my interest. That's a harsh one. Latter only did one race.

It barely did a race. Yeah. He was a standing for one Grand Prix, oh, Andre. Then it was a terrorized formulae. Justice for Pete. Still 1-0, Harry, back to you. Oh, man. Number three.

Yeah! Did you have to say three? Because he didn't know. Yes, literally, I can't remember what else I once. Right, number three. I'm going to give you four drivers and seasons. I'd like to tell you to tell me in which of these seasons, the champion did not get to 400 points.

Okay. So you've got Max Verstappen in 2021. Right. Max for Stappen in 2022. Lewis Hamilton in 2018 and Lewis Hamilton in 2019. They won, but they didn't get to 400 points. in one of those years that driver's champion did not get to 400 points in the other three they got at least 400.

I'll go with Vestappan in 21. It is Vestappan in 21, yes. Close run thing, which I know, but I didn't write down, but it was close. Okay. That does mean Harry will take the win on this one. He's currently 2-0 up. Sam, there is one question left, though.

Number six, please, Ben. You can have number six. Four drivers, three of them have at least 25 pole positions in F1. One of them does not. No, Samwitton, Michael Schumacher, Max for Steppen. No, no, Michael Schumacher, Max for Steppen. No, no and no. Shao Leclair.

Nico Rosberg. He's back again. Alan Brost. Can't keep him away from this game. And Fernando Alonzo. Oh, Buga. I don't know, Rosberg. It's not Rosberg.

Do you know what phrase I hate on this podcast? It's not. It's not. It's not. Because you never says it's not. It's not. And I'm sick of hearing it before I get things wrong. Get something right then, mate. It'll stop saying it.

Give me another answer and I might change. No, I won't go down this. No. Or this question? The question was, four drivers, three of them have got at least 25 pole positions. Oh. And it's not Rosberg.

I can't remember the other answers. Don't why. Of those four, Alan Prost has the most with 33. Then comes Rosberg with 30. Charles LeCler has exactly 25 pole positions, which is just tragic.

How that man has 25 pole positions and just nothing to show for it. He has more pole positions than Fernando Alonzo, who was the correct answer. He is 22. Goodness me.

Two time world champ. Yeah, two time world champ with 22. Two twos. Two. Two. Well, there's time for one more segment. Of course. You know what's coming up.

It is the one and only. What I would probably call the greatest segment in all of podcasting. It is the LB. Quashka of the week.

Beautiful. The question of the week this time was, what are we up to on our summer holidays? Of course, it is the summer break. We do sometimes have lives outside of this podcast, and I stress that sometimes in that sentence. But what do you think we're up to? Any answers that caught your eye?

I might actually leave because the comment section is just roasted me. It is brutal. It is a Harry hellfire out here. Oh, gosh. I'll go for one that isn't but roast to me, which is from Mura on Instagram, saying learning how to bake pumpernickel, which is...

That's nice. Yeah, it's a nice... I do, of course. Little group activity. Yeah. Master of the Sun says Soski's out, most likely. Wongering Carl says try to recruit Barry Mangalota filling for Harry. Obviously, if we could get Barry for Harry,

I'm here for it, then we could do the podcast in the Copacca Banger and we have a great time. Hashtag Barry for Harry is the campaign we're going to start. Vote Barry for Harry. I'm sure he'll lead the campaign. Graeme primordial soup, great name said this is a trick question. Harry's perpetually on summer break.

And the next one, again, someone has just said, Shrek party. I didn't see that one. I'm so here for Shrek party. I think that came in there, yeah. Alastair, 1992. This one really made me laugh today because it's simple. and it just says podcasting, which it's fair.

Like, yeah, we will be. There were a few I like, so this one was from Ethan and this might have been a repeated reference, but we do have a few that have just said, Jonathan Wheatley in reference to last episode. Steve, this one properly got me, gorge on gammon and jacketed potatoes. Jacketed.

excellent i love that Tyler s 33 i can't read your first answer but the second answer and gamin oh i know what the first answer yeah i'll tell you what what a combination i'll let people go and look at that on their own time it's on instagram but goodness me uh the dark night also says visiting all of nine old ones nine children because yeah obviously a lot of alt mal references of course as always there's one here from brand i really like Ben will do a photo shoot with his older brother, Big Ben.

That's such a bad joke, but also, it's very late-grateful. Martin Tom says take on Mission Impossible and make friends with Gene Hasse, which is... It can't be done. It's only a couple of weeks this summer break. Come on. Oh, yeah, I got like 10 years to crack that safe. Last one from me from Benjamin Rose, Worley Bar Factory tour.

Yeah, I would also like to really go to the Worley Bar Factory. So if anyone can arrange that, if you work for Aska, please hit me up. The last ones? Matthew Bonner, that's just disgusting, but composer list ranking all 20 drivers in order of who has the girthiest sausage. Yes. And finally, Chris May, Sam will throw a ring into a volcano. It's a great reference.

It's another wild and wonderful question of the week. And of course, we will be back with another one. time next week. Sam, if you wouldn't mind until the next episode, getting us out of here. This has been a summer break episode. It's been absolutely chaos. So don't forget, if you want to see this live and in person and you happen to be in Austin, Texas, yeah-hah for Cota, tickets are available. The link is in the description. Remember that Patreon people get it first. And you can sign up to Patreon and get tickets early. So that option is there for you. Please come and support us. It means the world to us. We'd love to see you. Have a drink with you.

And remember, you can park your car there for free. So don't miss out on that mega opportunity. Shut up. For free? Free parking. Man, who doesn't stand value of money. We'll still pay 10 grand, but the rest of you can have it for free. Oh, for goodness.

Oh, God. Follow us on socials, late-breaking F-1 everywhere. Watch this on YouTube for it has been video recorded. Twitch is available as well, Late-breaking podcast. And, of course, you can join the Discord to chat with us whenever. Ben, is that on the breezes outside? I hear L. There's another LB quiz coming up. That's right.

The Saturday of Zandvore, whatever date that is, that I've immediately forgotten. 24th. That sounds right, yes. Unbelievable. It doesn't sound real because that would mean two in one year, eight, two in three months. Right. Yes, I'll be doing another quiz at 9pm British time. There's so much going on.

We ain't resting of summer break. And we will see you, of course. what days it's going. It's going to be Weng's day when you're listening to this. So we'll see you on Sunday. Have a good one in the meantime. My being Samuel Sage.

I've been Ben Hocking. And I've been a burger up the wazoo. And remember, keep breaking late. It wasn't even in the show. This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network.