The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Ham-Merc era OVER! + 2024 Prediction Review

Episode Date: December 11, 2024

The LB trio question whether we've just witnessed the end of F1's greatest partnership and how the 7-time world champion may fare in his new chapter. They also review the season predictions made at the start of the year... find out if they got ANY right, before they finish off with F1: Fill in the Blank... Get your friends or family the gift that they truly deserve... gift an LB Patreon membership HERE

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 Heed, Sam Sage, and me, Ben Hocking, a few days after the Habibabi Grand Prix, of course, the last race of the season. But we've got predictions to review Sam. We made some predictions like nine months ago, 10 months ago,

and we got them all right. We now get to review all of them. Well, we don't need to review them, if we got them all right. That's it. Job done. Nourator. They did not get them all right.

Ah, yes. No, famously, we're terrible at them. Hence, our bold predictions combined, we only got seven out of a possible, whatever three times 24 is off the top of my head. I'm tired. Seven. 100%.

Good. Harry, you're here. Hello. Hello. It's my least favorite episode of the year. Oh, it's the joke. The joke's coming. Also, it's ironically.

happens at Christmas when we have the song it's the most wonderful time of the year yet this is not the most wonderful time of the year Andy Williams I beg to differ yeah suck it

Andy Andy how I heard the joke when he wrote that song the big beef of 2024 Harry versus Andy Williams honestly

that George Russell versus the stepping I'm here for it get the popcorn out it's a Wednesday episode so you know you might be Andy Williams at the end of this thing

I'm excited it's a good point there you go We've got one ready just in case something else. Yeah. We are going to be reviewing our predictions. So we did teammate wars at the beginning of the year. We did drivers and constructors predictions.

We'll get to that a little bit later on. We are, though, going to start with a little bit of chat on Lewis Hamilton, who of course completed his final race for Mercedes at this weekend's Abidabie Grand Prix. His Mirk career comes to an end with six championships, 84 wins and 153 podiums. Not bad, as the kids might say. Not bad at all. NBMB. And at all three metrics, that is the most anyone's got for a single constructor.

So, I mean, big picture, Sam, we'll look at, I'm sure this will be a question for years to come. But is it the, do you think at this point it's the greatest team and driver partnership that this sport's ever seen? I mean, factually, statistically, yes, you've just said it. So, yeah, I mean, you can't really argue with the stats. the numbers are telling a whole story, right? They went on to achieve everything you could. They won a lot of Grand Prix. They won a lot of championships.

They picked up a lot of pole positions and scored a lot of bloody points. And I think the comment that really made me laugh, actually, was Toto Wolf coming out and saying, he'll always be Mr. Mercedes. He'll always be an ambassador. I thought, yeah, but the reason he left you is because she didn't give him an ambassadorial role for Mercedes.

So that's why he's gone. So I thought that was quite fun. but nonetheless, I do think Lewis Hamilton will be synonymous with Mercedes. And not just the racing team, but as a brand, you've got to remember that he's only ever really driven anything Mercedes-related. Even in his junior career, he was part of that Mercedes Junior program, went into McLaren, which is at that point, of course, powered by Mercedes-Famous McLaren, Mercedes-Parcarship with that silver chrome livery

that Ben famously hates. He has been a runner of the Seagies. His entire life, pretty much his entire life. So you've got incredible partnerships throughout history. Schumacher Ferrari is the one that really comes to mind as another big one. Vastap and Red Bull now is becoming incredibly popular in the modern era, of course. And there are others throughout history that really do stand clear.

But this one really feels like it went above and beyond, not just in the longevity of how long they were together, but in what they were really able to achieve. It's culturally, they became really synonymous with one another. The Seigis themselves adopting a lot of what Lewis Hamilton believed in, what he stood up for or what he was an advocate for. And I think Hamilton really, it was able to bring up the Mercedes brand to a whole new demographic, a whole new world of people that'll be interesting in the sport,

and people that follow just Lewis became more interesting in the Mercedes brand themselves. So, yeah, it's not just on the racetrack in terms of their success. I think culturally, financially, in a business sense, they are very much one and the other, and they've helped each other at every turn. So I would listen to an argument if someone said it wasn't. But I do think they'd be wrong. Harry, are you wrong? I mean, constantly, mate.

As we're about to find out, I think, on this episode. It's plenty to share around, don't you, Orii? Oh, goodness. It's not good. Sena McLaren, Schumacher Ferrari, for Stamp and Red Boas, you've mentioned Sam, and Hamilton and Mercedes. They're the four synonymous.

If you think of F1, you say someone names a driver, or asks you to name a driver and team partner partnering. They're the ones you go to that just make you think about F1. And I think that will be enshrined in F1, F1 law, Hamilton's and Mercedes-Rame, because as you say, Sam, it's statistically the most successful pairing we've ever had. And I don't, it's, I mean, we said about Schumacher,

but it's very unlikely that anyone's going to beat it. Well, TBC about what this happened as a Red Bull. but it's very unlikely and he was going to beat it anytime soon so yeah I think it'll be a part of the culture of the sport for forever more and what a legacy

it's weird and I saw Landon Noah's made his comment about this he clearly isn't but the way everything's we've been talking about it and the way the weekend went really felt like he was retiring he obviously wasn't he's not he's coming back

but just that but that I think in itself speaks to what a big deal this is that he's leaving, he's leaving the team because you, you know, it's a bit different, but, you know, Sena left McLaren in the, in the early 90s,

they didn't make quite as big a deal, but I think that was, if that was nowadays, we'd have had the same, the same celebration around it. When Schumacher left Ferrari, he was leaving the sport, so that was slightly different.

And I think that's why that felt like, it was like a retirement party for Hamilton, when it obviously wasn't. So yeah, that in itself speaks to the legacy that he and Mercedes are leaving behind. And it's a brave new world we're entering in. Formula One has not existed

without a Lewis Hamilton Mercedes partnership since 2006, which is quite a while ago now. So it's a brave new world. It's a brave new world. It's a brave new world for Mercedes as well. They've not had a non-Hamilton, in Northern Hamilton year since 2012. So there's a,

there's a, it's an interesting time for a font, but there's no doubt the legacy of those two, those two leave behind and we may never see a, as successful a partnership as, as they were. It's certainly at the very least in the mix of the greatest of all time. And you've done a good job of listing the ones that are definitely contenders for that

number one spot. I'd throw in Vettel at Red Bull as well. Oh yeah, very fair. Sorry, Seb. Well, I mean, you know, Max has essentially done exactly what Vettel has done in the four consecutive drivers championships at that team. Six titles, as we've already said, is a record for one driver at a constructor. 84 wins is also a record. Schumacher on 72, Vastappen on 63.

Vastappen on 63. That's a bit disgusting. He's only 18. That's ridiculous. But he's already there somehow. I think in terms of wins, rate. Vastappan and Hamilton are actually very similar now if you're looking at them with their respective teams. Schumack has got a bit of an advance on both of them. So Schumack is on about,

or he got 40% win rate at Ferrari compared to 34 for Vastappan and Hamilton. So I think I might still, I think I might still say that Schumacher and Ferrari is the greatest partnership of all time, but you have to be very picky at this point. And you're discussing and debating between all time, partnerships and this one will absolutely go go down as that and I think like what's what people sometimes forget and I know Harry you mentioned it is where Mercedes and Hamilton were before their partnership happened particularly with Lewis Hamilton bear in mind that obviously Hamilton comes into the sport he's a rookie he nearly wins the championship in his first year he does win the championship in his second year but then through his team not being as competitive as it was

and some errors by himself. There was a time where Vettel was a four-time champion of this sport, and Alonzo was a two-time champion, and Hamilton had just won championship. And I think there was an outstanding question of, is this going to be a career of such early promise that hasn't been delivered on? And fortunately, whether you think it's luck or skill

that he ended up at Mercedes and in the right spot, it all worked out for both Hamilton and Mercedes. So the way in which he was able to advance his career, the way in which he's gone on to far more success than he even had at McLaren. Deserves a lot of respect from both sides, really. In terms of the final season, Sam, obviously we've routinely throughout the years checked in on this sort of question. But how do you think the final season went?

I think this might have been his most tumultuous. The last couple of years, I've got been easy for Mercedes or for Hamilton. but it felt like at that point, it was okay because there was more to do. There was another season coming. There was more time coming up. They had worked together longer. The effects of that development, those risque setups, you know, experimental setups that are working on, developmenting new parts that were uncertain to actually have any effect.

It was okay. They could go back to the drawing board. They could try it again. As much it was frustrating, you can hear it in their voices and you saw the apology letters. There was more time. but the way that this season began with Lewis Hamilton announcing he was leaving Ferrari, which doing that with a whole year to go of a competitive sport where you are considered pretty much the pinnacle, that's so difficult to maintain.

That is so hard to run against. And when the car was so regularly poor in comparison to three other cars that seemed you able to regularly go out and wing multiple Grand Prix, it was a real struggle. And I think this mentally was the lowest we maybe have ever seen, was Hamilton, even after Abidabby, 2021, I think as much as he was struggling with that, he was good to bounce back. He kind of got the bit between his teeth a little bit. I think he came back to 22, ready to go, and the car wasn't there. But here, it was, you know, the time is

running out. There are already 24 Grand Prix. With every single one we knock off that doesn't go to plan, it's another miss, and it's another miss, and you don't get it back. You're not having another go. I think it was counteracted with some incredible highs. You only have to look at Silverstone this season and the reaction from everyone in the Formula One community to see how much that meant to spectators

to the team. To Lewis himself, Lewis has won everything under the sun. Everything you can win, he's won it. And you still heard just how much that meant from the relief, the outpouring of emotion, his connection with the team and the fans. This year really was a

tale of the lowest lows. And I've, I wouldn't be surprised if Lewis Hamilton puts out there as one of his highest highs. It really was a significant moment in his career. Because it wasn't just an easy drive. It wasn't lucky. The car worked there one time, put it on pole and he went to the lead. It was a tough race and he won it. He really won it.

So, difficult year for Lewis. And I've said it. I think it probably was overall his worst year that I've seen him in Formula One. And yet there was still some absolute gems and performances in there that he can truly look back on and be proud of. Silverstone, Spa. I even think Hungary he did a really good job, but the car wasn't particularly good.

Vegas was fantastic. The comeback we just saw in Abu Dhabi. There really are some great highlights that he could take away from. But I do think this has been the hardest year he's pretty much had to face throughout the entire season. And I'm sure, like many of us,

it'll be excitement to see him move on to something different rather than thinking there might be another year of a difficulty like this. How did you find the final season of Hamilton Mercedes, Harry? I only rate two of Lewis Hamilton seasons worse than this one. 2022, which I still think is marginally worse, and 2011, which was also pretty poor. And I know he got wins in 2011, but in terms of just a year, that was terrible.

Filippo Massa. Filippi Massa. Magnet. They hated each other. Gosh, yeah, they hate each other all the time. Um, this year was not as good of 2020. And I know we got a couple of wins. But in terms of consistency, Hamilton was underratedly good last year, which is ridiculous to say because he's a seven time old champion.

But he's very good last year. And it just, the car wasn't there to get the wins that probably he deserved to, to get with the performances he was delivering. This year, I think some, as you said, Sam, there have been some highs, um, some great performances, but also some, really crap ones. And I would say this is the first time, the first time ever we've seen

a real lack of consistency with Hamilton, which I guess is probably why, so, you know, we've spoken about it before. There's been some, not many question marks, but some discussion about where his performance really, truly lies as he heads to the Ferrari.

But I think it's fair to say that this, yeah, this year has been, his least consistent year. And again, I'd like to reiterate, that's a year where he's picked up two wins. He's pretty, still pretty damn good. But for Lewis Hamilton standards, I think this has been quite rocky.

I put 2020 less because I think he probably made more mistakes in 2020. I think there's an argument to say that it's because he was trying different setups with the car, etc. The car was some bag of crap. But, yeah, in terms of his performance, he had some really sublime. I mean, the Abu Dhabi GP weekend is like, as the synopsis, sorry, a summary of his season in that the Saturday was terrible and,

you know, not all his own fault. The Saturday was terrible. The Sunday was sublime. And that just, you know, illustrates where he's been this year for me. So I hope that's a one-time thing and it's not a, you know, the start of something. But I think, yeah, that's probably why I, even though he had wins this year and didn't last year, I'd rate it underneath 2023, to be honest. Just, yeah, some inconsistencies with Hamilton. I think you've both summarized it very well. It was a tough season and tougher than I thought it was going to be. When he made that announcement back in February and before the season even started,

I was less concerned that it would impact his performance. And maybe it did, maybe it didn't. But it has been a more difficult year than I thought it was going to be. In terms of championship position, he's finished seventh this year. That's his worst ever finish in a championship. which speaks to how good he is that he's been around F1 this long and seventh is worst. But yeah, by Hamilton standards, it was difficult.

But I agree with you that the peaks were still there. Certainly Silverstone, some of those other races that you reference as well. I feel like Hamilton on his A-plus game was not only a match for George Russell. He was, at his best, I still think he probably was better than George Russell. But the issue was twofold. It was consistency. and it was qualifying. His consistency has been really his trademark across his career,

certainly his Mercedes career. But we did often see bad qualifying good race or just a week when nothing went right and then the next week everything seemed to go right again. He never seemed at one with the car from the off, to be honest. So that was certainly one thing. Russell was by far the more consistent of the two drivers. And then in terms of qualifying, like we've only seen once,

in before this season. Lewis Hamilton outqualified over a season by a teammate. And that was Rosbergh in one of their seasons together. Other than that, he's either drawn or beaten his teammate. And this year, it wasn't close. Like he was outqualified 17 times by George Russell. So he was taken to the cleaners.

Let's face it on Saturday performances. But yeah, overall, I do think the peak of his performance is still there. But the question for next season is, can he find his qualifying? form again, or at least some of it. And can he reclaim that consistency? Sam, where are you at in terms of him moving to Ferrari next year?

Scooie, a really tough challenge. It's not just going to be difficult to set into a new car. He's going to have to culturally adapt. I wouldn't be surprised if Lewis Hamilton behind the scenes has been on Duolingo all year, desperately trying to learn Italian phrases so he can fit more into the team. I'd watch that.

You want Lewis Hamilton on Duolingo? Yeah. That sounds like the next Sky Sports special. Like, away with him and Brondel of the and the home cinema onto Lewis Hamilton's secret Juolingo account he's got a lot to fit into

this is the biggest change in his career and it's being a pretty long and magical career as we've already stated so a lot of challenges a lot of things he's going to have to overcome

he's going up against Charlotte Clare if you think George Russell was bloody good on a Saturday and then Charlotte Clare is pretty much the man to be at the moment if he finds

if Hamilton finds even 50% of his Satasgo form he could still work a title of Ferrari give it to him. If I ride him the car, I do think he will settle and he could still go on and win it. Because I think Hamilton can still throw an overtake when everything needs to. I think he could drive off into the distance wherever he wants to. If you give him a sniff, he's like Fernando Alonkso. You know, we've seen those guys, those OG Formula One guys that drive in a certain way, you give

him a whiff of a win of a championship and they will not let it go. They will not back down. You know, it's like a dog holding on for dear life. They will not let it go. And I think that's still the case. He just needs to settle and be comfortable. And I do think with Lewis being such a sensitive soul and quite introverted, there is a real risk that he's almost backed into a corner a little bit. It gets to him a bit. It's overwhelming.

You know, he gets to be of a sensory overload. And I do hope that they seem all very friendly and like they're already making effort. You saw it when you go out the car at Aber Dhabi. The amount of Ferrari engine is to walked over to him and kind of shook his hand and pat him on the back. And Lecler was there who has such utmost respect for him. I do think they'll welcome him with open arms but I hope he embraces that and he settles and he doesn't go into this all bit rigid

or is it going to be like last year I hope he just shakes it all off remembers who he is and he's able to crack on because I do think there's enough of him in there that could pull out a championship if the car is given to him. I think at a minimum he needs to do what Carlos Sines has done on the qualifying

which is over the four seasons that LeClair and Sines have been teammates Leclair has out qualified signs 64% of the time. And if Hamilton can meet that sort of standard, then maybe he will back himself in terms of his race pace

to be there with Charles Lecler. The key is in terms of qualifying, even if he is being outperformed by Lecler, it's just ensuring it's not by much. Because if he's a tenth behind and he's starting one position lower, he can work with that. But we've seen at a few occasions this season,

like Vegas is a very good example. His race pace was phenomenal. But for fighting, for the win, it didn't matter, because by the time he'd got by all the cars he needed to get by, Russell's got a lead that he can't catch. So that for me is going to be the key. I'm maybe slightly controversial here, Harry, but we know the Abu Dhabi post-race test has been going on. And as far as I understand it, Lewis Hamilton had the opportunity to test with Ferrari. Fred Vassar wanted him to test at Ferrari, and he turned it down saying that it wasn't how he wanted

to start his Ferrari career. It didn't feel right, which I don't argue with. But a lot of other drivers have taken this opportunity where Hamilton seemingly hasn't. Is that a problem? No, I don't think it's a massive issue. I think we said this previously about this end of year test. The drivers have been there today as we record this testing,

which is, you know, well, well, well, and great, get a good few, good few press shots of them, in their new gear and doing some laps but they're then good then going to disappear for a good month or so and you know we're not saying they'll be out of contact but it's it's quite a it's quite a what's the word I don't know just quite a jolted start to the to the to the their career there and you know we've seen lots drivers to it before I don't think it's going to put him a particular disadvantage especially you know the cars aren't going to be the same it would just be more about around personnel, but

Hamilton can do that in his own time in terms of he can visit the factory and see them there after they've had a rest and stuff. And often it, you know, especially with Ferrari as well, we've seen the videos of Carlos Sines goodbye. I think they're quite emotionally attached to Carl's signs.

I'm not saying they wouldn't be professional about it, but just give them a bit of space and let them do their thing and then go from there. So, because performance wise, I don't think you gain anything. Don't learn anything from these cars versus next year, apart from maybe a gauge on where, you know,

where the performance lies right now versus where the performance lies in 20, for 25. But it would more be from a personal level. And to be honest, I don't think that's going to make a huge difference for Hamilton. Fair enough. We'll take our first break on this episode. On the other side,

we're delving into preseason predictions. Uh-oh. Welcome back, everyone. This side of the break will have a look at teammate wars predictions. the other side will look at drivers and constructors. So if you weren't with us at the beginning of this season or indeed any season that we've done on this podcast, we do teammate wars,

which is essentially looking at all 10 constructors, and we ask ourselves the question, which of the two drivers are going to finish with the most points? We add them all up at the end of season as to see who was right and wrong, and the person with the most points wins. This was possibly the most boring version of teammate wars we've ever done because we agreed about nearly,

everything. But there's still some interesting results for us to discuss, even if we agreed on all of them. So we'll go in Constructors' Championship Order, which means we'll start with, doesn't seem like a correct sentence. The Constructors champion, McLaren. Lando Norris managed to win this one by 82 points, 374 versus Piastri's 292. All three of us were correct in saying that Lando Norris would win this one.

obviously the car was start to finish Sam a little bit stronger than it was last season even if the car did improve last season both drivers have scored quite a lot more points than they had in 2023 if we're looking at the margin between the two drivers is it roughly what you thought it would be yeah pretty much piastri's second season only of course I think if I go back and listen to the actual episode I think I said if they come around about 50 points away from each other at the end of the season piastri can hold his head up and say I've done a really really good job here against someone who's really embedded themselves into the team, into the sport. Piastri season looks very much like Mount Everest.

It started pretty low at the start of the season. In the middle of the year, it was sky high. He was having a great time. And then it slowly seemed to tumult back down again as the form got worse. So I think what's a little worrying for Piastri is he didn't end on a high. It didn't get particularly very good. The last three or four Grand Prix. He was very good about Baku back to Hungary.

And then that was it. So I'm hoping that he kind of picks up that fall. at the start of the year. But yeah, when they end up a team mate together, pretty much as expected. I thought Morris would beat him and it was relatively comfortable in the end.

Harry, did it go roughly how you thought it was going to go? Yeah, I think so. As Sam said, Piaastri is only in year two and I've said many times this season. I think that's quite an easy fact to forget just given how good he's been. We, you know, our expectations for him go up and up.

But it's important to remember he is only in year two. So I think it's probably about where it was. He's made some big leaps this year. Has given Norris something to think about, sometimes more than something to think about, especially on a race day. And I can only see that improving. So next year I expect to be,

I think mightily close between the two of them. But yeah, for now, I think that's probably about where I thought they were going to be. Yeah, I'll admit I was a bit wrong on this preseason because I thought the gap was going to be larger than this. I kind of saw Piastri's game coming between this year and next year rather than the first year and the second year. And in that sense, he's exceeded the expectations that I had for him. There's still a way to go, particularly in qualifying. Qualifying is the one where he really needs to step it up and get closer to being on a level playing field.

But during the races themselves, where Norris did make some mistakes throughout the year, Piastri, for the most part, was able to avoid the... So I've been impressed and that gap was a little bit smaller than I thought it was going to be. Another one we got right between the three of us was Ferrari. We all said that Charles LeClerc would beat Carlos Sines for the third consecutive year. 50 points exactly was the margin there, 340 to 290. Sam, your thoughts on that one? Exactly as expected.

Those two I think are by far the closest pairing in Formula One right now as teammates, obviously not anymore. Science did what science always does. He's just misconstistent, just misdisconsistently not quite there with Charle-Cleur. And that's got to say that doesn't mean he's not very good. And he was very good, picking up a couple of wings,

a couple of poles. Every time LeCleur was unable to do what LeCleur does, science did relatively pick up the pieces for the most part. I'll be very happy with our scientists before, but Charlotte-Cleur is Charlotte-Cleur. We could have got LeCleur for a reason, and he just keeps pulling it out the bag. So no, not shocked at this.

The team delivered and they missed out on the championship by a tiny margin. So I'm not surprised that as a pair, they delivered so close together. To me, Harry, it felt like the four years that these two drivers have been teammates, where the car has got better and better, the more LeClaire has kind of showed himself to be slightly superior to Carlos Sines. We had a couple of years, 2021 and 2023, where it was very close between them. But we saw 2022 when at least for half a season they had a good, car and this season of course where they've had a good car for most of the year that's

where charlerc's extended the gap a little bit is that in line with what you're thinking with this partnership um yeah i think that's fair to say i would i would also say though i think 2024 has been card our science his best year in f1 uh and i think that proves how good charler is a debate around that one but he's had a he's had a good year as signs and like i say i think It just proves how strong Sherlock Clare is. So, yeah, like you said, I'm a very strong partnership in Formula One,

which I'm sure Fred Fusser is very wary of. But, yeah, this is probably again about where I thought it was going to be. Another one we got correct was Red Bull. And boy, was it, a nail biter. 437 to 152. So not far off 300 points separatees. A winger. Those drivers.

Yeah, we all said Vestappen, surprisingly. The one takeaway I had on this was, I always look at kind of the percentage of points that each driver's taking of their total points for a team. And how that's gone, again, this is another one. We've got four years to compare the data. The first year, they were teammates. Vestappen scored 68% of Red Bulls points.

Year two, which was 2022. That was actually Perez's best year because Vastappan only had 60% of the points. That then last year went up again to 67%. So roughly where it was in the first year. This year, 74% of all the points Red Bull scored. Pretty much three quarters was Vastappans. So it's pretty damning that start.

It's not a deal. It's not a deal for Sergio. It's like standing on the cube and suddenly smelling a really eggy fart and you can't get out. This is horrible. who's done that? This is horrible. It's hot.

It's uncomfortable. You don't want to be around it. You know, I'm three stops away. I've got to bear through this. He was crap. That is a niche analogy. I'm glad you committed. Much like that shoot journey.

I'm glad it's over. He was crap. He was really crap. I'm sorry, Sergio. What's Sergio fans than Sergio? Sergio has control over this. the fans who had to sit through it. And you know what?

You Sergio fans are relentless, bloody relentless. Awesome. You back him. And I respect that. I really respect how much you stand by your driver, but it's been a tough year for him. And I think Hill's Secret be a little bit glad that it's over now

because it was not good. It was not good at all. He was, I know we're going to get onto this, Ben, but he was by far my, by far my biggest surprise of worst driver of the suit. I didn't think he'll get this bad. I can't get over that analogy.

Oh, dear. Right, let's move on from Red Bull. Let's go to Mercedes, because this is where all of the getting right comes to an end. We all agreed that Lewis Hamilton would beat George Russell after beating him last year, not to be. Lewis Hamilton had the lead for a good chunk of this season, but George Russell, some good pace in the second half of this season

means he wins a narrow one, 245 to the last. 223. A nice win, Sam, for Russell, given that he's obviously staying at the team. That gives him some nice momentum for next year. Yeah, Russell will, I think quietly walk away with a little smile about this one. I also think Russell had some really bad luck throughout the first period of the season. Things like the weight discrepancy in Spa. You know, he pulled off that fantastic strategy. I can't really blame him for the weight discrepancy. It's not like he's able to check what's going on during the Grand Prix to know if he's got that right. He had a couple of instances where luck did go is on the other hand, though,

where, you know, the crashing Oscar meant that he was in third place to me first, but got to be in it to win it. There were so many instances where I just think Russell was quietly the dark horse of a lot of Grand Prix where he was elevating that car. So I do think this is the correct telling of the story. I don't feel like Russell's ending up there because of a one-off kick result that meant that was some good luck that went his way. And I don't think Hamilton will be too decided.

He knows how bad he has been. He's been very openly honest about it. So, yeah, I think it's okay. Good news for Sergio Perez. I've got a stat about Aston Martin that might be even more damning than the Perez one. How about this one, Harry? If Fernando Alonzo, after the Japanese Grand Prix,

which was race four of the season, decided, you know what? I'm done for the year. Done for the year. 20 races, sits them all out. He would have drawn 24 all with Lange Stroll this season. Oh. Oh, crap.

Oh, crap. That is damning. That is more damning than your peristach. Well, let's focus on the positive of it because Fernando Alonso didn't have much to work with this year, but the fact he's got to 70 points. What is it doing? I think so.

I mean, that car was okay at the start of the year, wasn't it? And boy, did Fernando make the most of it, because then it was not okay for a lot of the year and he couldn't make any headway. I don't think it's as we said in I think our power rankings his head dropped a bit in the middle part of the year because he's old and there's a lot of effort to drag that around. But he definitely picked up again towards the latter

stages of the season picking up some more points. So, yeah, it's just, I think Alonzo dragging around a car that didn't want to do a lot of what he was making it do. He was hustling, even in those early races where it was a slightly better car. I saw the other day the clip of him making that save in China, which I had completely forgotten about as he's chasing Hamilton down. He was ragging around that, Aster Martin. So, yeah, overall, pretty good season from Ronzo, and that car probably didn't deserve the amount of points that it got. from his side of the garage. You've done a very good job of summarizing Alonzo's season.

You've also done a good job of describing Alonzo's career. That feels like the case nearly every year with Fernando Alonzo. Let's head into the second half of the championship because finally we did have some disagreement and it came at Alpine. Pierre Gasley versus Esteban Ockon, Gasly with a narrow win last year. And even with taking out the points that Ghazley scored at Abu Dhabi because they weren't technically teammates at that rate,

It's still a win for Pierre Gasley by 13 points, 36 to 23. Sam, you were the only one who picked Pierre Gasly. Well done, sir. Yes, it's time for the smug phase. It's a real shame. It's null and void this season. Oh, don't wear it. Yeah, it's a concess excuse.

I wanted him to get excited before I... It's unfortunate, actually. The people will give me the wing. It's fine. It's a democracy here. Democracy here. Two versus one. Unless I say no.

No. Yeah, I mean, take your victory laps, your thoughts on Ghazli. He was superb. Through the first half of the season, it was very much tough to pick between them. There were a couple of errors from Ockong's side, but Ockon's pace equally was so good regularly that it's a shame he wasn't there really for the rest of the season to compete with it. It did seem clear that after a monocco incident,

the card of element very much went towards Gassley. He was able to control what went on the car and what didn't. It seems like, you remember that period of time where they were swapping back and forth between who had the heavier car and the development on the car? Good times. Yeah, foreign concept to design two cars that were the same way. Shocking, I know. I know.

And then one day that kind of just stopped, and that became Gasly's car, I think. The better car just became Gasol's car. But he didn't disappoint with it. It's not like he didn't go anywhere with it at all. He regularly scored brilliant points over the last five or six Grand Prix. qualify so regularly inside the top 10 and in the last three of four Grand Prix

inside the top six or seven which is sublime, truly phenomenal. He showed the gassi that we knew in Alfatari after he kind of stepped back from Red Bull and I was really impressed with his latter half of the season. I'm walking up to be harsh on. I do think he was kicked out too quickly, treated

unfairly and was unable to showcase what he truly is able to do. He's a very good racing driver and I imagine if he had equal machinery, this would have really gone down to the wire. So I'm not going to be too silly and gloaty because I did get this from handed to me a little bit. Yeah,

I think O'Con had a pretty good season based on what he had to work with, which was nothing. I think at the end of the season, that Alpine for Gatsley was probably on a par with the Mercedes of a couple of years ago. Like, it was that good. And the Alpine that Ockon was driving,

I think he might have been walking. I'm not sure he was driving. Fred Flintstone style. Yeah, fair play to what both of them have done in a car that was not very good. It felt like to me that I know Ockon made the most of it with that second place finish at Brazil. When it was decided he was leaving, it was always going to be an uphill battle from there for him. Because at that point, it was fairly close between the two of them. But it makes sense.

Well, the decision I don't think made sense. But after they made the decision, then prioritizing Ghazly, sure, of course you're going to. Who's up next on our list? Hasse. We're back to agreement because we all said Nika Holkenberg was going to meet Kevin Magnuson. And he did. 41 points to 16. Harry, this felt pretty similar to 2023, apart from in 2023,

Holcomburg qualified well, and then they had no raise pace, so they just dropped back to Magnuson. This year, Holcomburg was actually able to take advantage of some of those qualified performances. Yeah, I think we just applied 2023 logic to this one, and it actually paid off because. because the Hasse did have race pace. I probably didn't think it was going to be as big a gap between them as it was.

Some of KMAG's early performances this year were not great. He certainly came on song towards the end of the year when it was all too late for his F1 seat. But yeah, I think to me else, it's more a comment or compliment towards Hockenberg, who has been sublime this year, underrated. driver of the season. I think he has been bar Qatar where he was terrible

apart from that he's been sublime so yeah, I deserved a win versus KMAG. It wasn't really a close one at all. Yeah and it's a good thing for Magnuson that it hasn't hurt him

in his quest to get that Red Bull seat for next season and they're going with him anyway but yeah, he did like to have exited Hass with a win I'm sure. Do you remember when Lewis Hamill and hadn't re-signed for Mercedes for ages, even before pre-season.

Who was the person we were peddling the rumor of that was going to replace him? Was it Gutierrez? Probably. Oh, it's always estimated about good tiara. If in doubt. It's good sires. Yeah. That sounds like late breaking shore.

A few more teams to look at. We go to R.B. next. Now, of course, this one ended earlier than expected based on Ricardo leaving the team and Liam Lawson replacing him. But we all said Daniel Ricardo would beat Yuki Sonoda. He did not. 22 points to 12 in favor of Yuki Sonoda. I mean, Sam, given that we are often out as being Ricardo haters,

we sure do have a lot of support for someone who didn't win. I love to support the people that I despise. That is how I live life. I lift those up who I detest the most. So privately, we all know who sits on my shoulder as firmly. Yeah, I mean, Ricardo claimed that he had a cratched chassis. There was something wrong with his car for a while. And then he fell into his good form kind of period, that purple form,

as the car just became really bad. That spaying area, the RB suddenly dropped back from being a back end of the points occasionally, as we so regularly saw, to being a 15th, 16th, 17th, place contender. And it was so difficult to show any promise, any progress, in his ability. and I think unfortunately by the time that they got fed up with him the car hadn't improved at all and then we saw a couple of better races later on

where Lawson and Sonoda scored points again he really was negatively affected by the timing of the season and the way the car was developed but Sonoda you know he just kept soldiering on even when the car was bad even when the form was struggling

even when he had to go up another teammate even when there are stories about him not getting a shout for the Red Bull seat he comes out time and time again and for the most part beats his team mate regardless of who it is

yeah a really solid year probably the best cure I've seen Singapore have and that's it's got nothing I think to really show for it yeah I need to stop going against Yuki Sanoda I'm still burned by the fact

that I said DeVries would beat him oh yeah same Harry I assume next year you'll still pick Ricardo I have to it's the law yeah I this is probably one for I pump the brakes

if Dane Ricardo had as good a start to the season as Yuki Snowdo. If he was equal to, didn't have the issues that he did. He sat in the Red Bull next year. They have to discuss now. But my point being, I think that,

and whether you're paying the crack chassis or not, that affected his standing within Red Bulls so much that it probably was never going to turn back. And as you said, Sam, as soon as his form did begin to pick up, it was too late because they put upgrades on it and it never recovered. it recovered a little bit towards the end as you mentioned

but it just never recovered and yeah then became a bit invisible yeah I was surprised by how this one went particularly the beginning of the season I thought they would have been closer for those wandering we didn't predict Sonoda versus Lawson when the change was made but Sonoda beat Lawson eight points to four

another driver who had two teammates throughout the year was Alex Albon and him versus Sargent was the one that we predict obviously at the beginning of the season and he won that one for nothing. He also beat Franco Colopinto 8.5. We all got this one right. Not much to say here.

We all said he shouldn't be in that suit. Yeah. To be fair, that Williams was not very good to start this year and Albin had to take advantage of a couple of opportunities but there weren't many of them. He did very well at the Monaco Grand Prix if you remember, he finished ninth there.

Basically, their car was heavy similar to Alpine and there were just a couple of races here and there where it wasn't the end of the world Monaco was one of them and Albin took advantage of it so fair play to him. The last one this has real Robert Kubitsabising George Russell

in Williams vibes. Unbelievable. No offence to show Guan Yu who had a very very good Qatar Grand Prix but I feel like his 4-0-0 win over Valtrey Botas a bit misleading. He's done us there. If the sixth sense as a film was a racing driver, this is the end you wouldn't expect after watching that season. So anyway, maybe it was Bottas conspiring against us to ensure that we all got another one wrong, which means at the end of this season, I finish up with six points.

Harry Ead, looking for his first teammate wars win, has finished up with six points, which is one point short. of Mr Sam Sage, who takes the victory with seven out of ten. Yay. Thanks, gang. Collectively, not our best teammate was. I think seven out of ten is acceptable. I mean, it's acceptable, but it wouldn't be a winning score most years. No, I think we've had eight to nine.

About eight and nine before. Yeah. Speak for yourself. Sorry, what one of you won? That's what I'm saying? Speak for yourself. Oh, Carri-type one of five. I think we're exactly where you want us.

The Skype meme comes out again. Yeah. Yeah. There's always next year. Exactly. 2025 is the year of Harry. I'm backing it. Come on, T. Meade.

It's like a really terrible Chinese calendar. Yeah, it's not a year of Harry. The internet will say it's the year of the snake, but it's not. It's the year of Harry. Is it actually the... year of the snake? I believe so. I'm impressed you know that. Yeah, why do you know that?

Okay, it came up and work. Don't worry about it. Oh, okay. Okay, okay, move on. Can't go away for that social post. They have to mind snake. We're going to take our second break. On the other side, we're looking at driver's predictions, and we're looking at constructors' predictions. We get to see if our constructors' predictions have fared any better than our teammate wars predictions.

No, we haven't, but we'll do it. way. It was like a misery. We started off, we predicted all of these, by the way, from first down to 10th. We all predicted

that the defending constructors champions, Red Bull, would reclaim their crown. They did not. It was actually McLaren who won. So that's not a very good start.

But second and third place, there is a point to give out because two of us had Mercedes in second. and Ferrari and third. No points for that. But one of us at the beginning of the season who questioned in the very episode,

do I have mug written on my forehead, has got a point for Ferrari finishing second. So well done, Mr. Harry Ead. Well, hey! Oh, God, I thought it was going to be Sam. Nope, your faith in Ferrari has helped you out here. The word mug on my forehead is a 101 Harry Ead phrase. I accept that.

But it was on our foreheads. It is. Hold on. Good. Sounds put a mug on a thawad. It's very physical humour, unless you're on YouTube. Humour's stretching it. We're all laughing.

Sure. So yeah, well done. Harry managed to get Ferrari ahead of Mercedes. And it wasn't Mercedes that came next either, because it was Red Bull who finished third. And if you're paying attention, we all said Red Bull would win. I just can win this one-0.

We're still at 1-0. and if you have paid attention none of us have said McLaren yet and they won the championship we all put them forth okay that little bubble's done now there's a new leaf to turn over before we move on to the next couple

just a quick question on this one Sam obviously all three of us had more faith in Mercedes than we did McLaren going into this season and we were proven very very wrong what's up with that we're morons. Yeah. I mean,

I'm serious, the Mercedes are the most successful team of all time in terms of consecutive world titles. They're only a couple of years off of that. They had Lewis Hamilton and George Russell who are way more experience as a partnership than Norris and Piastri at that point. You'd like to think that Mercedes

who are supplying McLaren their engines would be the team they're supplying. They are the works team. You know, loads of things. Loads of things. And when you look at how, I'm going to bring it up. McLaren started 2023 with a 17th and a DNF,

the fact that within one season they've gone to then turn that around to wing the whole thing felt very unlikely. But they divide the odds. They did indeed. I was surprised with how slow Mercedes started this year because, I mean, my prediction was that they weren't going to be brilliant out the gates and then improve as the year went on

because they finally had a concept that they somewhat understand. I'm not convinced they ever did fully understand it. But whilst that was true, they did improve throughout the year, and they did fight for wins at some points. They just, the start was so bad. They weren't competing for podiums until we got sort of one third of the way through the year. So we were all wrong on that. Now, fifth place.

Aston Martin finished fifth. Two of us said Aston Martin would finish fifth. It's not me, is it? One of us said R.B. would finish fifth. I said R.B. will finish fifth. Well, it's good to know you're right about one thing, Sam. It's just not the thing you need to be right about.

It's simply buying those top five finishes that they were coming out with. Yeah, I mean, we'll get on to it, but it's not just you that's been mugged off, really, because we both get a point, Harry, but we also said that R.B. would finish sixth, which they did not. And Sam, you said Astermott would be sixth. So somehow it was our pick. that ended up finishing there. Oh, it's a novel that's wrong as well then. Yeah.

That's the problem with these predictions. As soon as you get one wrong, it's a bit of a chain reaction. Okay. Young, right. There's still a few to go. Seventh place was Hass. None of us predicted Hass would finish seventh. We, I said Alpine would finish seventh, so I'm annoyed because I'm only one out with that.

You both said Williams, which... No. No. No. Wrong. Still wrong. There's only one team not mentioned yet. They are based on 23, though.

That's not the worst shout in the world, and I think, didn't build on it. No, I actually think they under-delivered. Yeah, no, I agree. I mean, I think they... Is it a surprise that they have? I know they're focusing on 2026, but they ended 23 quite well, so... I'm surprised that.

I think it would have been acceptable for them to lose out to your horse, your alpin, your R.B, but by a much smaller margin. This was a disastrous year, really, if you look at where the points lie. In terms of a percentage difference, I think there is far away from that middle pack as Aston Martin are away from Mercedes in court. It's a huge gap to sending you to make up.

And it's not like, I know that Logan Sargent didn't help matters, and if Colopinto had started the season, they might have scored a few more points. They weren't getting in the fight ahead of them. They were pretty solidly ninth. And I know Alpine had a good dollop of luck, with what happened at the Brazilian GP,

not putting down their performances. They were both excellent that day, but certainly weird factors and weather factors helped them out that day. But even with some of Gassley's late season performances, Alpine still would have beaten them. So, yeah, not a good year for Williams. Unfortunately, whilst I was a little bit closer

to being right about Williams, I was still not right about them, because I said there'd be eight, which they weren't, it was R.B. And you both said Alpine. No. Which leaves us with two to go, ninth and tenth place. Harry's got two points.

I've got one point. Sam has got Zilch. I ain't getting any points. And if you've been paying attention, Salba and Hass have not been mentioned yet. And Salba finished 10th. One of us said Salber would finish 10th, and Hass would finish 9th.

Two of us had it the other way round, which is good for no points. I massively recall calling one team the impostors for a long of last year. Slightly concerned. Yeah, you did call them imposters a lot. But you did put faith in them to beat South. Yes!

Come from behind! No! All right, the no levels were hard. and then the wink and finger. Hey, everyone on the podcast, we're going to have known. Yeah, okay, sure, sure. Just relying on no one watching the video. Yeah, I said Salba of then Hass.

Harry said Salba and then Hass. I mean, to be fair, Hass, can you blame us? Like, they were really bad last year. We didn't know that Kamatsu could cook as much as he was. Yeah, we had a massive frying pan. We had no idea. Michelin Star Kamatsu out here, absolutely cooking,

which means, Sam, you do get one point. I get one point, but Harry Ead, you win the constructors. Have I ever won anything on these? Yes, you have. Have I? Yeah, it's just you never win Teamow Wars. I think it's funnier when you do win other things than not TeamOWW. Yeah, and you're able to win this by one point.

Look, I'm to South Street. This was 2-1-1. Can I agree down there. You had 1-0, which I think that was a year you also won. Yes, we both scored one point, Sam. There was one one there when I was one on Dale. Well, one point wasn't enough to win it this time around because Harry with the almighty score of two takes victory.

Drivers' championship. So as a reminder, we did first through to sixth and then biggest surprise, biggest letdown and the Wooden Spoon Award. These predictions start very well. We all said Vestappen win the driver's championship. He did. I'll take it. We've got a point.

I'll take it. boom. Yeah. Full disclosure, I've color coded this in Excel. There's a lot more red than green. Second place. We all said the same person would finish second. Do you recall who it was?

Lewis Hamilton. No. Charles Leclair. No. Sergio Perez. Yeah. Oh, that's a freaking laugh. We did it last.

I'll be real. Do you know I was saying about this the other day. We have been absolutely mugged off by GP and his laugh in pre-season testing because genuinely. Goodness me, we were scared for this year. By the time he was right, because they started very well. Very well.

It's just on GP not to know that it was going to end very quickly. I've never seeing a more menacing, muted laugh. There was no audio to that laugh and I was terrified. It was, I just happened to like a ridiculous time in testing and he was just laughing. Oh dear. We should have known.

It was so bloody good for four races. So Perez didn't finish second, he finished eighth. Third and fourth place. Every single one's going to be wrong. Oh no. No, no. There's a point to be given out here because two of us said Hamilton would be third and LeCleur would be fourth. That's good for no points.

But one of us said Charles LeCleur would finish third, which he did, and then Hamilton would finish fourth. Surely Harry because he put Ferrari on top of constructors? No, because I'm an idiot. Not that much of a number. idiot. Oh, I did. You did put Shal La Claire

third in the driver's championship so you get a point there. I mean. Thank you so much.

So we were all wrong about fourth place because that went to Oscar Piaastri. Fifth and sixth. Harry. Hi there. It actually went

signs fifth, Russell sixth. You had Russell fifth. Signs sixth. No, worse. You said Lonsorpea six. That's unfortunate.

also you can't have had science fifth and russell sixth uh sorry the yeah that way around because that's why i did i got them the wrong way around oh no sam i think i put science in my top six i wish i could invalidate your results based on how poorly you remember what you said oh because you did put science fifth and you did put russell six so you get a point for both yes i love surprising myself I didn't do that. We didn't do this. You imagine what I'm like, a birthday's Christmas, but I forget that I've asked of things.

Goodness me. A couple here that are a bit more up for debate. Well, at least a couple of these are up for debate. So biggest surprise. Now, we, and a positive surprise as well. Harry, I will be, I'll be real with you. Okay. I've already put yours in red.

Ah, okay. If you want to debate it, I encourage you, but you're going to have a hard time. I'm quite tired. I'm not going to bother debating it. Do you want to try and debate that the biggest surprise of the season was Daniel Ricardo? No. Cool. Fair.

Now, Sam, I think you deserve a point on this one. You said the biggest surprise would be Oscar Piastri. I think that's fair. I think you could debate that. That was correct. He did a great job. Did Wayne War than ever thought it was, close than Norris. I'm proud of that one.

Go on then, you can have a point. My one, my one's tough, because in terms of finishing position, in terms of points, it's definitely not right. But in terms of performance, I might argue that it is. Valtry Bottas. I'll give it you. I was impressed by Bottas this season, even if the results don't show it. I'll give it you.

It's Christmas after all. And it's Valkyri Bottas. Well, thank you very much, because I'm not going to. any points for biggest letdown because I put me at Oscar Piastri. You put the same person, you've both had Esteban Ockon. Well, are he crashing to his teammate in Longa can't get fired? I personally can't give myself a point for it though. Nah.

It wasn't a letdown. Love you, Esty. Al Ping with a letdown. No points all round. Wood and spoon. The funniest thing is, I think you can have three legitimate. correct answers for Wooden Spoon this year. The actual correct answer is Jack Dewan.

You finish last in the championship, but if you want to say that doesn't count because he wasn't raising to start the year, then you've got Logan Sargent. But if you also want to make the case, well, he didn't finish the year, then you could put Valtrey Bottas. You can do this.

None of us picked any of those three names. We also say Joe Guan Yu. Sam, you said Joe Guan Yu, and you were the closest of the three of us, being right. Because both myself and Harry, based on not thinking has to be very good, but Kevin Magnuson, who scored 16 points. Oh, well, can't win a more.

No, which we regularly prove. Sam, you've actually won this one. You get four points for the driver's predictions. Myself and Harry both have two. Cool. I'll take it. And that is it. That's our preseason predictions reviewed.

not many right but we try collectively as a team we've got about nine of 30 or odd points correct I think that's pretty good going actually pretty good sounds like almost a third brilliant it's alright that is uh should we take our third break on this episode and play a little bit of ill in the blank who's Phil who's Phil welcome back everyone it's Time to play, fill in the blank. He's filled. That is my proudest one. That's terrible.

I forgot how terrible that was. I'm sure we must have got that re-recorded. Why did that one not get re-recorded? What do you mean? Why did that one not get re-recorded? That's... It's so sensational. I've seen that that's in the modern art music.

Why is it in Cockerel? Why not? That's on you. You pick the random music. You just go, walk around your town every morning. Like, what are you doing, Cockrell? Why do you exist?

All right, Harry. Deal with it. I, the mind of me, created by the me. Wake up and smell the cockerel. Is a wonder to behold. A little piano medley followed by a cockerel and Sam saying, who's Phil. That's genius.

Oh, God. Oh, boy. Phil in the blank. There are three statements. There is a blank. blank in each of them and we have to fill that in with a word that we think is appropriate. So first statement, the driver who will be most disappointed in their 2024 season is blank. Sam.

I've really alluded to it earlier, Sergio Perez. You'll find it on power rankings where I replaced him, but he was really bad. Completely missed the mark and that little points in comparison to the Stape and knock a death. I'm going to steal Harry's impromptu pump the brakes because it's very similar to the point I was going to make here. I think the most disappointing season is Daniel Ricardo because I don't think he needed to be that good to get the Red Bull seat for next season. I don't think we needed to see the Daniel Ricardo of 10 years ago.

And the fact that he couldn't really get anywhere near that is why I think that's the most disappointing. Harry? Yeah, Danny Rick. as Sam's already pointed out Paris was not good and I'm with you Ben I think as I said

I think he has a better start to this year doesn't have to be legendary stuff just better than terrible and I think he's in that Red Bull seat

so I think he'll rue he will rue how this well the two thirds of the year he did how it went next one the Chinese GP

being extended until 23 30 is blank sam fabulous i think it's a real yeah i think it's a real part of the f1 calendar i've loved the shanghai track for a long time produces great racing we regularly get a bit of a bang of there one in every day or nine is a duff one ironically the landmark or only when it's the thousand race i don't think it's two thousand so i'm sure it'll be terrible again as well um but for the most part i think it produces really fun racing we've got a lot of classic f1 moments from that racetrack. Most famously,

all of Aski Mubemis tires popping off at once, which is simply sublime. So, yeah, really pleased that it got an extension. I think Buehmi might disagree with you. It might be over there by now. This is sublime. Fight me, Buii. Oh, God.

Harry Hill is setting up fights again. Harry Ead, what have you got? I've said encouraging because we are, you know, the Chinese GP existed without Joe Gwain Yu. let's be clear but um uh i'm sure they f one were maybe wary or the chinese gp were sorry of losing joe from the grid and and their prospects for for a for a future with so many other races available now um but it shows it shows the faith f1 has in uh in in in in that circuit

in in the market for for of china for f1 so encouraging signs for for the chinese gp and like you some I'm very, very happy staying because it's a, it's a good old track. Yep, I've just gone with it's a positive. It's a good race track. There is a little bit, I know he didn't make this statement about non-European races, but it does amuse me that we've had a couple of extensions, almost immediately after Domenicali's like, yeah, we're going to introduce some, some real variety.

We're going to introduce races that change around each year. And then all of a sudden two races, including Monza have been a, extended, but I would have this on an every year deal anyway. So to have it locked in for another six years or so, that's good news, I think. The last one, there will be blank drivers involved in a championship fight next season. Harry, we're looking for a number. What have you got? Five.

Oh, boy. Do I have to name them? No, but five in a fight. Subscribe me. I truly where F1 is and how competitive F1 is right now and the fact that we don't have any rule change for next year,

no focus, real focus on development because of the fact we have 2026 coming. I think we could see a real scrap. We saw it in 2021 with Hamilton and Vestappen, but I think F1 is a closer sport in terms of performance now than it was even in 2021. So I'm going bold. I think you could have five in there.

I thought I was going to be the positive one and I've been proven wrong because I've only got four in the fight but hey, five sounds good to me. If we get a position similar to the end of this season and if that form continues, we could have a very exciting title fight less next season. If you look at the, since the summer break,

the driver's championship looks like this. this, Leclair 179, Norris 175, Bastappan 160. Ooh, 19 points between three drivers. And to be honest, Russell, Sines and Piastri are not a million miles off that either. So, yeah, I think there is a chance that, whoever it might be, we've got multiple cars in a fight next season. Sam? Harry stole the number right off my abacus. I was also going to go for five.

I genuinely think, I will name some games. I think both Ferrari drivers, both McLaren drivers and Vastappen could really bring it down to the wire. I really do think there's a real chance, and that goes a good portion into the season. I can't wait for the championship to be decided by Belgium. And it'd be won by long stroll. Sure.

Just one more thing. to do before we go. No question of the week this week. You'd have seen that we did put a post out on Monday, but the answers for Hall of Fame will come on the Elby Awards next week. We do need to do our final F1 fantasy update

of the season. Before we get into any of the standings from us or the top three in the championship at large, a big thank you to Beef who's done a tremendous job all season with updates in our Discord. I mean, we take all the credit revealing results on here, but she does

all the hard work behind the scenes, always providing Discord updates for everyone who's interested in how we're doing and how the championship's doing. So thank you very much, Beef. Fantasy beef. Nice. Sure.

Abidabie, let's start with that. First place for Abu Dhabi was handsome Charles. Well done, handsome Charles. Who is handsome? Yeah. Second was ugly Charles. I don't know that one.

No. Always second, aren't you ugly Charles? Have you just made that out? I've got to say. I've got a name called Ugly Charles. Top three in the championship overall. Go third to first. I will go third to first.

Sweet papayas is in third, 5,602 points. Well done to you. Prancing zebras in second, 5,628. But winning the league and finishing 185th in the world is ThiSinquento

5667 Wow, you beat me Kirstie and Harry in the world's table than what we achieved in our own league But I mean Harry's going to be pleased

that you've grouped all three you're together Very very close between us actually I'm sorry How have the four of us done? Well I actually remember to use a chip this weekend, the limitless chip, which helped me out because I gained 28 positions finishing 103rd just outside the top 100 in the end.

Kirsty also made progress on the final race of the season, up 14 positions, 219th. Sam, you're also in the 200s. 23 positions gained a very strong end to the season for you, up to 275th. Harry you came into the weekend 1,4th and I set you the target to get into the 1300s

do you think you did it well I mean I know the answer so can you say it no no you didn't it was a good effort to be fair you were also up 23 positions

to 1,411th damn you Valde botas and your inability to do the WGP could have been make or break if it's any consolation which it definitely won't be 1411 was actually the year of the battle of harlore which is one of the bloodiest what bloodiest fights that Scotland's ever had but it was actually determined a draw because there was no clear winner or loser well there go last goal wins I said it inconclusive yeah yeah I think we can call that safely, everyone's a winner.

Preferred about it, the song myself. Actually, I think the real winner is podcasting. Let's be real. You know what? All the podcasting from Harry Ead there. That's a beautiful way to end this episode, Harry. I agree with you. I'm sure.

You're a bad at the best of fantasy next season, where we will ask the question again, can Harry Ead win? The everlasting story. I forgot to use my final fix chip as well. I didn't use it either, mate. No, I missed, I forgot to use a three times DRS. That's, um,

still a hundred and third. Probably should have used that. Oh, me. Yeah, I think it's 100 otherwise. Right. That is going to do it for this episode. We've got a full championship review coming at the weekend, and we've got the LB Awards Sam coming next week.

Yeah, we are still absolute content packed, and it doesn't just stop at the end of December either. We don't go anywhere. We'll be here the way through January. Into February and into the new season. So stick around, get your effort on fix, lots of ceilingers, lots of reviews, and then we'll be kicking off lots of news and rumors as well. So thanks for listening.

Thanks for sticking about. Join us for all the fun stuff at the end of the year. Come and meet Clives. Come to get your Elby Hall of Fame involved. Come on get your votes for all the awards that we're going to do. Full Elbies is a fantastic one if you've never experienced the albies before. And if you're getting for anything, ag free, go to Patreon.

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Lair breaking F1. That's it from us. In the meantime, I've been Samuel and Sage. I've been Ben Hockey. I've been Andy Williams. And remember, keep breaking late. A most wonderful time of the year. Come on.

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