The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Hamilton beats Verstappen in Qatar! | 2021 Qatar Grand Prix Review | Episode 162

Episode Date: November 21, 2021

The first ever Qatar Grand Prix saw Lewis Hamilton take a vital victory as he remains on the heels of championship leader Max Verstappen. Ben and Sam react to all of the action from the race including Verstappen's fight back to P2, Fernando Alonso's return to the podium after a 7-year absence, and the multiple tyre punctures throughout.JOIN our Discord: https://discord.gg/dQJdu2SbAmSUPPORT our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/latebrakingTWEET us @LBrakingSUBSCRIBE 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 look out for new episodes every Thursday and Grand Prix Sundays. Hello and a very warm welcome to the late breaking F1 podcast. Qatar Grand Prix Review, where Lewis Hamilton claimed another victory and he narrows the championship advantage, meaning it's just eight points between him and Max de Staffman at the top, and just a solitary point between.

between the Mercedes and Red Bull in the Constructors Championship. Plenty to discuss first ever Qatar Grand Prix. Only two of us with which to discuss it. No Harry Yead on this podcast. But fortunately, alongside myself, Ben Hocking, we do have Sam Sage. Hello. First of you, I guess I want to say thank you to Harry because every time that he decides to not appear for a race review podcast,

we have a bit of a rogue podium. And of course, Big Fernando Alonso, ironically Harry is the least. leader of the Fernando Alonso Fan Club, he's not here to enjoy one of the longest time periods between two podiums. So, yeah, it was, I would say, good, not amazing Grand Prix. It's great for the championship fight. I'm very exciting for the final two Grand Prix. So that is always fun to see. Eight points. If Hamilton wings with the fastest slap in Saudi Arabia and Maximus Staffman in the second, they go into the final Grand Prix on equal points. It is incredibly exciting. But in terms of just a race on its own, yeah, it was.

wasn't absolute thrill fest until the ties started going pop and then we didn't know what was going to happen there was some real moments around the track with people riding around on three wheels so that was quite exciting drivers maybe pushing it too far pirelli maybe getting the rescue if it's wrong that happens i suppose when we go to a new place so it'll be interesting to see if the other guitar track that we're going to um will provide a more or less exciting grand prix maybe we'll regret leaving la sale who knows but uh yeah overall i give it maybe a five or a six out of ten Not too bad then. That will do nicely.

That will do. That will do. Yeah, I mean, you mentioned how it's good for the championship this result. It's good for both championships. Like I said in the intro, it's getting closer between Vastappen and Hamilton. But due to Bottas's retirement, it has really made things very close in the Constructed Championship. I'm just thinking it's probably the first time since, well, the first time in nine years that both championships, have been alive at this stage in the season.

Because obviously in 2016, you still have the driver's championship to contend with. But the Constructors was long done by this point. So, yeah, very interesting. And even in 2012, I can't remember if the Constructors' Championship was alive for this long. So it's good for the championships, very good for the championships, which does give us plenty to talk about today. So Sergio Perez ended up off the podium, of course, Fernando Alonzo, already referenced was on there instead in P3.

Look like it was on the cards for Perez for quite a long stage of this Grand Prix. So we'll be discussing the strategy behind that one. Bottas, no points at all. Puncture for him as he was again in contention for a podium position. Had a bit of time outside the top ten eventually retired. We're going to be discussing whether Mercedes potentially made a bit of an error there. And the Fernando Alonzo podium itself, we will discuss as well. We'll start at the front though.

Lewis Hamilton, after that epic victory in Brazil last week, comes into this race, delivers another great result, never really in trouble out front. The five-place grid penalty, definitely helping him. But Sam, do you think that Hamilton might well have done the same thing regardless of that penalty? Or do you think that maybe if Vastappan had started P2 could have been more of a fight in this?

I mean, we're living in a hypothetical world, but yeah, of course, if your title Challenger is starting alongside you and Vastappen hasn't got to clear, you know, four or five cars in the first couple of laps and get into that second place, of course, it's going to be way more of an exciting fight up front if Vestappen can challenge. We've said the same thing similarly in both Sao Paulo, in Brazil,

and in the Mexico Grand Prix. You know, if Max Verstappen doesn't get around the outside of Hamilton in the first corner of Mexico, is there a tight to fight throughout the race? And if Hamilton starts where he's meant to start, do we actually see pure dominance from Hamilton? Does he just drive off into the distance? We come to Qatar here,

and the speed difference, the time gap between Hamilton and not just Verstappen, but the rest of the field, was unprecedented it felt like for the Mesaegis this season. The fact that he had almost a five-tenth gap between himself of Vastappen was absolute domination from the Masegis. And considering that he felt like he was off the pace through the practice sessions, and actually it was Valtry Bottas who led the sessions. It was almost unexpected, I feel like. It came as a little bit of a surprise to all of a sudden see the gap that. big. So do I think it would have been any closer, any more exciting? Yeah, for a few laps, I do.

But do I think that Vostappen could have fending off Hamilton? Do I think that there's a chance to be there for Vastafin to take this wing? I just can't see that happening. Hamilton and that Mercedes together was so impeccable, so clean, so dominant. You know, the fact that they got the gap up to six, seven seconds in a few laps and then it just stretched pretty much from there. The gap ending up, I know we obviously had the stop, but before Vestappen stopped under BSC, the gap was about nine and a half seconds. That's a pretty telling gap. So yeah, it might have been a slightly more interesting start to the race, but I do think the result nonetheless would have been exactly the same. I do think the staff and who had, by the way, an exception to start in this Grand Prix to get himself

up to second place. He did really, really well to cut through traffic so quickly. I think it will have say exactly the same. I think the staff had did a brilliant job in damage limitation, and I think Hamilton did exactly what he needed to do. Yeah, I think overall Lewis Hamilton, really it was turn one that he needed to avoid more than anything, even with Verstappen's great start, which he did a fantastic job based on what happened to him in qualifying. We'll discuss that incident separately in a little bit. But yeah, I think Hamilton just needed to avoid T1 really,

just making sure that he can build up that gap. It was 1.8 seconds after the first lap because he was able to get into the lead after turn one. You know, if he ends up stuck behind Alonzo or Gasly, I have no doubt that he eventually would have got passed. I was a bit unsure coming into it. I wasn't sure how overtaking, how easy it might be. As it turned out, such an advantage in that sort of DRS stretch.

It was very powerful to the point where I'm sure Hamilton would have been able to find his way back past, but it's more in terms of seconds lost versus Vastappen rather than the positions itself. So being able to get that gap early on really helped him. If Verstappen had started second and, you know, let's say Hamilton is still in the lead and he holds off for Stappen, I think it could have been a more interesting race. I think overall Mercedes did have the pace advantage on Red Bull from first moment to last. But even so, I think being in a slightly reduced gap between the two drivers would definitely have helped for Stappen. their overall strategic attempts in this Grand Prix.

I always think there's sort of like two gaps between, if you're thinking of two drivers battling, there are two time gaps you have to be interested in. First of all is the DRS gap of one second. You don't want to fall underneath that because the difference between nine tenths behind a driver and a second behind a driver is not actually one-tenth. It's worth much more than that.

Similarly, I think there is that next gap, which is almost about two seconds where you're suddenly in the undercut region where these teams, they want to be reactive. They want to be in a position like Mercedes were today where they don't have to be the ones calling the shots because they can respond. Martin Brundall referred to this in commentary. It almost doesn't matter if you get it wrong

because you know you've followed the other team that have also got it wrong. You just don't want to lose out if you're the one with everything to lose. And realistically, once you clear that two-second gap, as Hamilton did very early on, I think it was about four, four and a half seconds by the time Vestappen got up to P2, when you've got that distance, you don't need to be proactive, which is great for the leading team. You know, Vestappen was able, went for a fairly early pit stop, which kind of committed to a two-stop. But Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes, even though Lewis Hamilton protested on the radio, he was, you know, he definitely didn't have the overall picture.

Mercedes was absolutely right to bring him in the next lap because they just have to play it as safe as possible. And they did. You know, they executed it perfectly. Team and driver were in perfect harmony all weekend long. Qualifying lap from Hamilton on Saturday was sublime. Really, there just wasn't any touching it, which if you look at it from Vastappen's perspective, actually is all right, because Mercedes have absolutely nailed the weekend. They were the fastest car. Hamilton got pole.

very nearly got a grand slam, just lost out on the fastest lap point. And you might well have got that if he had the opportunity. So really, given how well Mercedes did, I think Max Verstacken could probably be pretty happy with 19 points and only losing six. I think that will do from his perspective. I think what was absolutely baffling from the front two, despite Max having to claw his way back up to second,

they can take it so quickly. So I want to really commend that. Max Verstaffing had a brilliant Grand Prix for only finishing the seconds. The speed difference between Hamilton and the Staping in comparison to the rest of the grid. The fact that I think after lap 11, they were over 20 seconds ahead of Fernando Alonso in third place, and there was almost a full pit stop gap

in less than 20% distance of the whole race. They were an absolute... I mean, I think it was Brundell that said it as well. They're almost in a different formula in comparison to the rest of that grid when those two get to be out from on their own. Hamilton lapping well over half the grid, I believe it was. It was absolutely spectacularity,

those two, just how quick they could go. And I mean, it wasn't the most thrilling of races, but it was actually a surprisingly enjoyable Grand Prix in terms of watching the cars go around the track. It felt like a really fun flowing racetrack. And being able to be reactive for the first time of thinking a long time from the say is allow them to just be calm. We've seen a lot of mistakes pushed by mistakes because they've had to be the first ones to push the boat out or to be a little bit risky. It doesn't really seem to suit them. So knowing that they've got like a six or seven gap to play with and they can just calmly react to it, They played a blinder.

They were calm. They were collected. They called the right choices. They only let one lap go on the undercut. It worked brilliantly for them. They did exactly what they need to do. On one half of the garage, of course. On one half of the garage, which we will get to.

Referring back to the point of Vestappan and Hamilton being so far clear of everyone else, obviously helped by the fact that Bottas got bogged down at the start and you had Perez who had to make his way through, if they had, you know, similar to Brazil, if they had been P3, P4, would that gap have been the same? Would have been very interesting to see. But regardless, Vastappan and Hamilton, you're right, were miles clear in the midfield. Were you in any way surprised by that? Because I have to say I was, going into the race, particularly based on qualifying,

few, you know, I know Hamilton pulled it out the bad Q3 as he does quite often. But throughout the first few, you know, Q1, Q2, the gaps were half a second, six temps, but even between the midfield cars, it didn't seem like there were going to be these big gaps, and then there were. Were you surprised? I was really surprised. The fact that it was a two-second advantage,

a lap after lap after lap. And those tyres didn't really seem to be falling away. You think for at least the first five, six laps, where Alonso, Gazeling, Norris were running on those softer compound tires, you think, okay, we know that the car is better for Red Bull mistakes, but surely that tire compound has got to give a pretty good advantage to balance that out. I was thinking we might see Hamilton extend the gap by, you know, be a second away at the end of lap one,

because, you know, the leader tends to really gallop off sometimes. And then I thought the gap might exchange two-tenths, three-tenths. You know, I thought by lap 10, we might have a five or six-second gap back from Hamilton to whoever was in second at that point turns out to be Vastappen. But the fact that it was two, two and a half seconds a lap was quite surprising. And they weren't even fighting wheel-to-wheel-to-wheel. Alonso, Gassley, Norris, were all running simultaneously together. They weren't really challenging one another and actually running each other side by side, ruining lap times.

I think they were doing quite well to follow and just minimise the damage done from the cars behind. Two seconds is absolutely baffling on a race pace, let alone quality pace. Race pace, it was quite shocking. Yeah, I mean, I agree completely. Just to put this into perspective, because I think Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, this is the first time in quite a while where both drivers can walk away from the search. and I think they can both be happy. You know, looking at Brazil, I think there was definitely a case to say Max Verstappen probably

isn't going to be happy based on what should have happened or what he believes could have happened as a result of Hamilton's penalty. Hamilton goes on to win the race. So I don't think he went out of that weekend as happy as he could be. But I think even though Vastappan obviously wants to win every race he's in, I think both of those drivers can walk away happy. Hamilton, because, you know, he took the momentum character. over from Brazil, which was a big unknown. It's only the second time this year that Hamilton's won

back-to-back races. I think the only other time he did was Portugal and Spain, round three and four. So it's been a long time since he's had back-to-back races. So he's got to be happy about that. And at the same time, Max Verstappen, given he had the five-place penalty, given that he had to make his way through the field, and he probably felt didn't have the fastest car, to walk away with 19 points, and to take the championship lead in the Constructors Championship, I think he can be about as happy as he could be as well. And just to say, with Max Verstappen, because Hamilton will get a lot of credit and rightfully so for this weekend.

I think Vestappen deserves a lot of credit for what he did, particularly on that first lap, because I'm sure the Vastappen of old would not have approached that first lap as he did. He was very conservative into turn one, You know, he was, out of all the drivers, he seemed to be the driver that took the most shallow line into turn one, broke pretty early by his standards. Had the incident with Alonzo, he played it safe there, didn't try and make the overtake there and then trusted his ability to get it done within the next few laps. And to only lose that, I know it ultimately took him out of strategic window, but to only be four, four and a half seconds behind Hamilton after starting P7, I think that's pretty good going.

He was also on the medium tires to start the race where a lot of drivers in front of him started on the soft. So I was very impressed with Vestappen's demeaner more than anything on lap one. I completely agree with you, Ben. The fact that Vestappen at any moment could have thought, I've avoided at this penalty. I mean, he seemed a little bit irritated on the grid before the race began, and he could very easily have carried that.

The hot-headingness of old that we used to see from Max, you know, two or three seasons ago when mistakes came quite regularly when he was frustrated. He balanced that aggression that you need to have as a Formula One driver with the understanding of, I have got the better car, I am one of the best drivers in Formula One for a long time, and I'm going to make this work for me. And like you said, that shallow lying, it almost felt very Fernando Alonso-esque. You know, we saw it actually in the Netherlands, right, where on that banking, they all took the inside line, and Alonkso just said, why are you all on the Yonzo?

inside. We all know the outside lines the fastest around this corner, so I'm just going to use that. Whereas Max decided to go, the clean line is down the inside. You're all fighting on the outside. So I'm just going to be nice and careful through the inside and he made up places very, very calmly. And then we got that reggae message. I'm a bit stuck. Gassley runs wide, whether that was planned or whether it was, you know, accidental. Regardless, he took full of antics and within a lap was also then passed along. So like you said, Ben, to only be four and a half seconds down on Hamilton after, I think it was four or five. laps. What happens if the coin flips, and actually that Red Bull car might have lost out in qualifying over a one-lap pace, but they might have better long-term pace. They might have better

race pace on that medium, on that hard tire. Four and a half seconds over a 57-lap race is not too much to make up. He put himself in the perfect place. Turns out he didn't have the car, and Hamilton was absolutely electric all weekend, but he did absolutely everything in his power to make sure that he could take advantage of anything that went along around. It went along around him. So I think it was absolutely flawless, really. I think he pulled out absolutely everything he could have done, stake out of trouble, deliver the most points possible. The staff who's doing everything he can do currently to bring home the championship in his favour. Whether that sticks, I think only Saudi Arabia can tell. Yeah, I think regardless of which way the championship goes, both championships

go, when this season is reviewed, and we know this is going to be a season that is reviewed for a long time to come. This is one of those where you'll look back in 20 years and this will be one of the ones that stands out for sure. And I've got no doubt that the incidents that will stand out are the flashy ones, the Hamilton winning in Brazil if he goes on to win the championship. You know, if it's the crashes at Monzer at Silverstone, there will be the incidents that are played over and over again for years to come. But honestly, if Vestappen goes on to win the championship, it will be results like this one, which will not be remembered at all from his side, like the P2 at Russia as well. It's those sorts of results that will have got him there.

I've always said winning championships, it's often not about what it is you do at your best. It's what you do when you're not at your best or when your car is not at its best. It's how you take advantage of those situations when you get the five-place grid penalty. How do you respond to that? So I think this result, again, pending what happens towards the end of the year, could be a really important one for Vestappen. One of the biggest compliments we've always given Lewis Hamilton over the years

is his ability to be so consistent. And he's not first. When is he rarely off the podium? Second, second, second, second. You know, if he's not winning that race, he's the next man there picking up the next biggest amount of points. And I think it is a huge compliment to play to Verstappen to say that he is emulating that.

He is delivering that exact same level of professionalism, consistency and pure speed, a management of a race that Lewis Hamilton has done in previous season. So if he doesn't win this year, he is demonstrating, I think, pretty much every skill needed to actually go on a win a championship next year, the year after, who knows, the rebel might next be on top. It might be next year,

it might be the next dominant car for four or five years. We don't know, of course, with the new regulations. But if Vestappan doesn't win, and it'll be by a tiny margin, if he doesn't, he definitely has all it takes over the next few years. Well, I mean, from Vestappan's side, if we're talking consistency, he's been off the podium four times this year. Three of them have been retirements,

and the fourth one was his ninth place finish at Hungary, where bowling ball ball botas got him on the first lap. He's never finished third. It's first or second, right? Yeah, that is the additional thing. It's either first or second. So, you know, the consistency's definitely been there for him, but still all to playful with two rounds to go.

We absolutely love it. Let's have a quick review of bold predictions that we made on our preview podcast. As usual, this went fantastically well. What was your bold prediction, Sam, to kick us off? I said that Bottas was going to tangle with the Stappen and that neither of them would finish on the podium and when they both got the penalty

I was like, hang on, we're in the traffic here, they're going to be down to turn one at the same time, it could happen, here we go, and then it really didn't happen and Botties managed to let me down once again. So I was very wrong, very wrong. Remind me what was yours? Oh mine was a good one

So this was again Pretty close to happening Could have gone either way I've gone with a different strategy Where I know I'm going to be wrong So actually I just put myself out of my misery Earlier in the weekend So I can watch the race free

So my bold prediction was that Mazapin Would get out of Q1 Which if you were paying close attention He didn't do How far off? How far off was he? A few years I think it was in the end.

Yeah, it might just be working up the time to get there, who knows? A few thousands, I think it was. But, you know, we move. We move on to the next one. Just two more bold predictions to go in the season. Even though he's not here, we would be remissed for not including Harry's bowl prediction, which, given his notorious track record,

you're probably thinking he got right. But actually on this occasion, he didn't get it right. Oh, shot. He said his bold prediction was that a Red Bull or a Mercedes would not win this race, which of course we know a Mercedes did win this race. And if he didn't, it would have been a Red Bull. So good work from Harry. I mean, his additional bowl prediction was that Charles Leclair would win the race. And the last I checked, the numbers one and eight weren't the same. So tough luck, Harry. Driver of the day, if you got some. Obviously, big shout out to both

Max and Lewis. Lewis was electric all weekend. I think this might other than Sal Paolo, this might have been Lewis's best weekend of the whole season. And it is coming at the right time. But again, as you said, Max's consistency was brilliant. But I am going to give it to the final man on the podium. Fernando, you know, coming over the radio,

tell Esteban to fight like a lion. I absolutely love that from Fernando. He knows how important it is to hold up those every single, you know, every tenth of a second counts. He delivered on the strategy, brilliantly, made those tyres work. It was absolutely fantastic. He really made the most of the penalties going in his favour.

It was great to say. see him on the podium. I mean, over 2,000 days, I think it's his previous one. And he was the highest man in the championship without a podium. And yet we get another new driver for the season on the podium. So this season does keep delivering. Fernando was fantastic. The top two. If Alonso wasn't on the podium, if it was Perez, I think Perez might have a fair shout as well. But yeah, Alonso for me. Yeah. For Stappan and Hamilton were both brilliant. I think there were a lot of contenders. I remember last race, I only thought that I thought it was Hamilton and there was no doubt about it. This one, I think there were a number of contenders. Hamilton and Vestappen were exceptional.

I'll give a shout out to a few others as well. I thought Lando Norris did a great job, very unlucky to end up. I think was it P10, P9 at the end of the race. Lansdrol, I thought he did a really good job as well out there. He had a good one. And overall, though, I'm going to agree. I'm going to go Fernando Alonzo. That move on Gasly on the first lap was brilliant. You knew how ultimately it didn't matter too much because of Gallesley's strategy, but he could tell it was fairly important to get past him on that first lap, which he did. That move around the outside was beautiful. And from there, really, he dictated it. And it was a bit touch and go towards the end of the Grand Prix. He'd have been very thankful for that VSC, even though more of the case of the tyres rather than Perez. I don't think Perez would have

caught him regardless. But for the sake of the tires, I'm sure he was glad the VSC came along. But yeah, I think after Russia was such a near miss, it's good that he got another opportunity. And hopefully, you know, there are plenty more great performances from him to come. But we have to take every race as it comes, not just with Alonzo, but with all other drivers. You know, there is a reality. Maybe Alpine don't deliver a great car next year. Given Alonzo's age, maybe this will. be his last podium ever. We definitely hope it isn't, but we have to enjoy it like it might be. So very good performance from it. Let's just assume also that Harry's driver of the day was indeed

Jack Villeneuve, because always in his heart and mind delivering the top spot. Let me just, I'm just going to call Harry right now. Oh yeah, good one. Hello, Harry. You're right, mate? Yeah, we've just revealed your bold prediction was wrong. Just thought you'd like to know that. and your driver of the day is he has gone for Jacques Villeneuve Oh good, Sam, well done Harry, you know, we're best buds, I'm glad I'm glad we could get that one for you

Ah, good old Harry Ead, great friend of the podcast Just doesn't know he loves platinum blonde hair Yeah, he really does, really does Moving swiftly on, worst driver of the day A few contenders for this one as well, who are you going for? There genuinely are a few proper conditions, tenders for this one. Usually it's just kind of, oh, it wasn't ideal for you. You know, Botties, that awful start, then only just started to cut through traffic. And I'm not going to give it to

Bodies because I actually think that the strategy was just starting to come back to him and maybe a top five was on the car. But that first half of the Grand Prix was not great. I am going to give it to Daniel Ricardo, who I think for the third racing a row hasn't scored points. He was nowhere when he had the pace of his teammate landing Norris, and when McLaren and Ferrari are this close and McLaren need these last

gas points to go their way in Ferrari being so consistent, even when LeCler was really struggling out there to game, managed to finish just behind his teammate, where is Ricardo? You know, it's not Big Goofrey in the last three or four Grand Prix.

So, for me, it was him. It was a big one is Danny Rick. He needs to be up there with Norris. Even if it's ninth and tenth and tenth that they finish, they need to be in the point. He just wasn't all weekend.

Yeah, a tough one for McLaren because obviously they're the ones that need to make up ground in their championship battle with Ferrari. Lando Norris looked on course for P4 with Carlos Sines in the back end of the top 10. Leclair a lot of the time, not even in the top 10. It was looking pretty good for them and it hasn't ended up well for them at all. And Daniel Ricardo never really contending for points. It was never going to help them. Yeah, he's definitely a contender for me as well. I would like to give it to the Alfa Tari strategist to be honest,

because maybe I shouldn't because it's not as if they were going against Pirelli or maybe I should give it to them for going with Porelli because Porelli were predicting a two-stop race. They're the ones that went along with it and actually seemed to time, seem to plan for a two-stop rather than being forced in due to a puncture, but it just didn't work out for them at all. I am going to give it to Nikita Mazepin because he was a long, long way behind his teammate.

I think it might have been more than that by the end of the Grand Prix. And apologies if there was something that we missed because obviously the Haskai don't get a lot of camera time. Maybe there was a reason why Mazurpin was a long way behind Schumacher and we just missed it, if so apologies, but I couldn't see anything so I'm just got to judge it by the time. First stint on the medium tire versus the soft tire of Schumacher

was pretty much there. I think he was about two seconds behind. Seemed all right, seemed competitive. And then from that point onwards, from the first pit stop onwards really, nowhere, absolutely nowhere. And yeah, like I say,

that because sort of a gap does raise questions, but yeah, tough one for him. If I want to... Everyone wants to get over onto social media and let us know why Mazepin was over a minute behind his teammate, with no explained reason.

We will happily revert that decision. But if not, I think it's fair. Yeah. Yeah. So, sorry about that. Sorry about that, Nikita. Moment of the race. What have you got?

Well, Fernando getting a podium is definitely up there. And I think my moment of the race is just going to be all of Fernando Alonso, because he had to get past Valtry Bottas, who quite literally sprayed him in the face with as many sparks I've ever seen in my life. But I think the answer, actual moment was Mick Schumacher having a moment, going off the track and then suddenly

almost destroying Fernando Oloxo on re-entry. How he didn't get a penalty for a dangerous re-enture into the track? I don't know. Co. Brown in Car 14, I think he's a very, very correct. Fernando did brilliantly to get out of the way and make sure that nothing happened there. But yeah, Fernando Oloxo in general, but that moment was mental, absolutely crazy. Yeah, that was, I agree with that one completely, absolutely bizarre. first of all, just a shout-out, because I was just thinking about this. Shout out to the TV directors this weekend, who managed to miss so many second stages of overtakes. I don't know if you spotted this as well.

The amount of times where you had car side by side and you're like, this move might be done, but there's still something in it. You might still, and they've missed it, particularly with the Ocon. Ocon one on Perez. It seemed to happen at least three or four times. It's like they had the camera. replacement, the exit of turn one went down a little hill and they had

the camera too low. So every time we cut to the camera, you couldn't see what was going on on the back end of turn one. All of a sudden, you're like, oh their will-to-will skill, are they? We had no idea. You're right. It was a bit of a rubbish one. Yeah, there was one down the start finish straight where it was

a Ferrari involved. I can't quite remember who else was involved. The second they pulled side by side, they cut away to the crowd. What are you doing? Come on. What you're doing, man? I don't even see people. I don't even see people's faces, they're not my friends. F1 Carver. My moment of the race, though, is not going to be that. And as I mentioned last time we gave moment of the race, I am basically rebranding my

moment of the race to Ferrari moment of the race. And this one, for the first time ever, is going to be a positive one. 4.6 seconds, I think if it was one pit stop, would probably be faster than 95% of pit stops, have done all year. However, they did four point six seconds worth of pit stops on two double stacking pit stops. Carlos signed, I could see the double stack happening and I know it's Ferrari. So I'm like, okay, which one is it going to be? Is it going to be Carlos Sides is going to be really slow in the pits and LeClaire's

going to be sat there waiting? Or are they going to do Carlos Sines's pit stop fine and then forget they also have to do Leclair's one and leave him there? And I couldn't work out which way they would mess things up because Ferrari liked to keep us on our toes in that respect. But they nailed it. They nailed it. They did a 2.2 second pit stop for Carlos Sines,

which might be genuinely their fastest pit stop at the year. And then along comes Charlotte Clare, and they bang out a 2.4. Which makes me realize that Ferrari can only do good pit stops if they do two at a time. They will now, forever be known to me as Scuderia Noah's Ark because two at a time or not at all is the Ferrari approach apparently

couldn't believe it I love that mission float now because they really need to make sure that that boat stays afloat with a two at a time pit stop yeah I mean they were faster as a pair than some team's actual pit stops in that Grand Prix it was quite impressive to see a double set goes so well at the Ferrari garage I mean miracles can happen they really can so well done Ferrari i think for every ten mentions i give a Ferrari on this podcast there's about one compliment for every nine insults so here's the compliment this time out

should we move on to sorgio Perez because he had a very tough time of it in qualifying didn't make q3 um but ultimately did a pretty good job getting through the field looking like third place was on the cards was in third place before they decided to pull him in for his second pit stop, made his way back up to P4 as a result of a few overtakes, Lando Norris coming into the pits, but ultimately couldn't get back to where he was, which at least on paper, three lost points. Rather than 15, they picked up 12 for his fourth place finish. Sergio Perez himself actually said over Team Radio that then he wasn't sure that they nailed it. There were also questions about how early they bought him in for his first stop. So, Sam, what did you make of the overall strategy that they had for

Perez today? Firstly, I want to start by saying they shouldn't have had to make those strategy calls if Perez had just done the right job in qualifying, right? We need to call that out as a real thing. Perez is a race winner this season. He's driving the car that currently sits at the fight for both constructors and the driver's championship. His teammate leads and has been on poll more times than going else this season, Perez couldn't get into Q3. That is a huge failure from the second driver Red Ball that's not good enough. Moving on to the race. I think Red Bull had a tough time of it in terms of strategy. I think Perez did brilliantly to cut through the field how he did. His overtakes were strong. He utilised the DRS zone really, really well. He wasn't stuck in traffic for a very long

time. If you compare Perez and Bottas in terms of their way of getting through the field, you think that they'd be so close together, considering that Bottas were backwards and Perez moved forward a couple of spots, that they'd be very, very close on track. But there was a huge golf in time. So I think that Perez did really, really well cutting through track. I have to, you know, commend him for his overtaking of getting through those midfield cars. The first stop did come surprisingly early. Yeah, you know, free tire choice. I think he was pretty much the first person in his area of the grid, which was an old one. You think you want to get him into some clean air and let him run deep. Perez is one of the best tire management guys on the

whole grid. He's up there with the likes of Lewis Hamilton and making tires work long term. Brundale said, for those who watch the UK commentary team, don't pit Lewis Hamilton early, that man loves can run long. And we know that from the saying is they did the right call with that security on the tyre, but Perez is the other one that likes to do that. He can make tyres work long term.

They pull him in super early, which then put him back into traffic, and he had to once again overtake the cars. It was like he had 30 or 40 cars on the grid. He had to overtake so many people. So I don't necessarily agree with that one. It felt a little risky. But Perez did make it.

work. He was doing a really good job and did get himself back up into those poli positions, despite there being almost one minute of time at one point between Gestappan and Perez from second to third. Come that second stop, I totally understand after the Bottas puncture, after we saw both Williams go through an issue, and there was others as well that were struggling. Norris as well, obviously had the issue as well. They made the security stop. And finishing fourth instead of third, and going that you're still securing points and you're still challenging more than what Mercedes have done, I think that is a very safe and sensible call.

The miss out there was very minimal in comparison to what they could have missed out, have Perez picked up a puncture, ending up in the gravel, had to retire the car. They could have lost 12 or 15 points in scale of just three. So I think in that sense, they've gained nine on the risk of there could be a puncture from 12 points to no points. I think that is a better solution than 15 to 12 points. but I also think that Perez actually

the move still could have been on I know Ben that you say over in the podcast and you think there was no chance of it really happening he was closing at a huge rate of knots Fernando Alonkso really had to be careful and the gap had come down from 10 seconds to two and a half seconds with three laps ago as you know the famous Murray Walker always once said

it's one thing to catch it's another thing to pass the straight line speed of that red ball with that DRS advantage if Perez caught him at the right time I think the pass will have been on very very easy I can't see Fernando also defending too hard around, possibly the outsider Perez, on those fresher tires on maybe the last lap or second to last lap. I do think the VSC saved Fernando a little bit there.

But no, for me, that second stop was more sensible than the first stop. The first stop didn't make as much sense to me. Don't really understand why that one was happening when it did. The second stop, I totally understand. And I think it was probably the right call with the security issues that we saw with other cars up and down the grid. Yeah. in terms of quality, I would agree with what you said. The issue was that he had to come through the field in the first place

when he really shouldn't have done, particularly on a day where Vastappan and Bottas picked up grid penalties. This was a golden opportunity to start on the front row. And if he gets ahead of Lewis Hamilton into that first corner, even if he doesn't hold it, that potentially decides the race. So, yeah, there is that aspect to it. And ultimately, we spent a lot of time, as many others did, questioning Albin and Gassley in the Red Bull seat when they wouldn't make Q3,

which in fairness did happen more regularly. However, we have said this a few times this year. Perez has got a better car at his disposal than either of those two guys did. So him not making Q3 is more of a sin than those two not making Q3. So you have to call it out when it happens. On the flip side of it, you know what you're getting with Perez. You know you're not getting the best qualifier in the world. You know sometimes this sort of result will happen on a Saturday,

but you also know that on a Sunday he will generally make it up, which he was doing very, very well. The first pit stop, yeah, I agree. I think it was a little early. I think probably what Red Bull's line of thinking here was, Perez made his way through the traffic, certainly easier than what I thought he would do and probably easier than what Red Bull thought he would do.

And that was on either the same or similar times. definitely in terms of life that they were very similar. But, you know, sometimes they were soft versus medium, but he was essentially on a level playing field and overtaking a lot of these guys with ease. So I think their theory was, yes, we're putting him back into traffic. However, if he was able to do that on similar tires, surely on fresh tires versus some of these guys,

he's going to blitz past them even easier. Didn't quite work out like that. But I can understand the theory of it. But you're right, Perez is renowned for going longer on stints. And this seemed to be on a race weekend where it was touch and go between one stop and two stop. This seemed like a perfect opportunity for Perez to do a one stop. And ultimately, I think he could have done a one stop. He just needed to make that first pit stop around where Alonzo did.

Alonso took the soft tires and so did Norris longer than Perez took the mediums. So I'm sure Perez could have gone more laps. I think they might as well have just left their options more open and gone slightly longer on that first stint. I know they were trying to get an undercut on Alonzo, but as Perez proved with his moves on the likes of the Ferraris, he was getting past these guys of ease. And I think he probably could have done with Alonzo as well.

In terms of the second stop, I fully commend Red Bull for this decision. I think they were spot on with the decision they made to bring in Perez the second time around. Like I say, they probably don't even need to do that if they make the first pit stop a bit later on, but we'll let that be and say, you know, that's done, that bygones be bygones. They made the right decision calling him in the second time around. And I would give them a fair amount of respect if they had made that decision after the

Williams tire blowouts. They made it before that. So they made that move in anticipation that things were going to go awry. for these guys. And we saw both Williams guys get punctures. We saw Norris pulled in for a puncture. We saw it happen with Bottas. So really it was a preemptive move rather than reactive move, which you've got to give even more credit for that. I know Perez didn't agree with it. But risk versus reward, it's always about that. And the reward was not enough to allow for that risk, especially on a day where Bottas is not picking up any points. You know Bottas is not picking up any points. You know Bottas is not

picking up any points. You know Vostappen's taking home 1918. You've got to give, you know, everything that Perez makes over Bottas in that race is an advantage. And the Constructors Championship is where Red Bull were losing out. You know, Vestappen was leading coming in, but constructors-wise, Mercedes had an advantage. Through these 31 points that Red Bull claimed at the end of the day, they actually hold a championship advantage now in the constructors. So I think they made, for the sake of three points, yeah, they made the right call because losing three or losing 15 potentially, it's not worth the risk, not by a long shot. And Alonzo was struggling towards the end. Perez would have been struggling even more, even with his tire skills, his tire preservation skills.

Alonzo went longer on that first thing, so he'd have found it even more difficult. I think they made absolutely the right call. and you could say, well, they were pretty lucky because Lando Norris had to make a pit stop that they probably weren't accounting for. That's the reason they made the pit stop, is that something like that could happen to Norris or themselves if they tried it. So I agree with that second decision, less so on the first one. The only reason I disagree with the VSC deciding things or potentially deciding things, I have, and this might be wrong, my suspicion is Fernando Alonso could have gone a bit quicker at the end of the race if he wants.

wanted to. I just think that wily old fox was... I think if anyone could work out, I can be a second slower per lap for these next three and get away with it. If anyone's in that mindset, I would back for Alonzo to be that guy. So, yeah, that's just a theory, though. There's no way to tell, apart from asking him. And we just don't have that access. Why? It's poor, really. We should really get on that. Yeah, you know what? Actually, hello. F-O-M-M-man management. I'm on the phone to then, just like you were to Harry. Stefano, do you mind

Fernando is a friend of the podcast he just doesn't know it yet. If you could give him a mic and just send him the link to our recording, we'd just like to ask him. The Wally Old Fox, was he backing up?

What'd you mean? He's too busy having a sponsorship deal with that sunglasses brand that he likes. Is he called us a yoke? You know he has multiple times. Don.

Never mind. It's an egggy situation. Love it. From the Red Bull side of the garage, we'll switch back over to the Mercedes side now, because whilst there were a lot of points on the table for Vastappen and Perez, and there was a lot of points on the table for Lewis Hamilton, Valtrey Bossass walked in with 203 points in the championship, and he walked out with 203 points in the championship.

Potentially P3 could have been on the cards, took that first stint longer than any other driver did, and all of a sudden we pan to him and he has a puncture. He did eventually go back out after an 11 second stop or so but ultimately I think by that point the car had sustained such damage

that it wasn't the Mercedes that we are so used to. So no points for Bottas at all. Do you think Mercedes made an error by not bringing him in? He said on the radio they even said with the engineering you know it just went

and we don't often see many punctures and Perrelli kind of pride themselves on this where the tire just goes and it was well inside their you know their warning zone you know I think you can only be on those tires about what 20 laps or so it wasn't ridiculous length um so they were running a very similar situation to what the likes of Fernando Alonkso was running which managed to pull it off there was no problem with that whatsoever yes they said that we've got to be careful but we saw how long they took those tires and the soft tires I think went longer than what bought his hard tires stink went.

So there was something a little bit iffy, a little bit wrong there. I don't know how Mercedes were really meant to go. I feel like it's a bit cut and dry on Mercedes front there. They were trying to be clever. They tried to get the overcut. The gap was about 19 seconds back from Bottas to the Alonso Perez situation. So if he did come in for a second stop, which felt like the sensible option, but not necessarily essential, as we saw with Fernando,

then he would have come out behind him. and I think Perez, you know, if the race had unfurled in the way that it did without the Botas situation, I feel like Bottas wouldn't have beaten Perez, but I do feel like they could have both got Fernando Alonso at the end, possibly, with the BSC and whatnot. So I feel like he could have walked out with a good haul of points. I still feel like he would have lost out to both the Red Bull drivers, and when you have a start as bad as he did, I think that fourth or fifth would have been a very positive result, a very positive recovery after it was a bit of a shocker. But, yeah, I can't blame the Mercedes strategists too much, really, for this issue. It did kind of come out of nowhere.

The same was saying, I think, with both the Williams guys when they had their issues, when they just said, it just kind of went. We didn't even feel... Latifie, I think Team Radio came over after the Russell problem, where he said, Tiresville, flying no vibrations, boom. He's out with a puncture, and he's out of the race, and it happened in half a lap. I can't blame the Sengis and their strategy for not going on that one's going to come and happen.

Buttas even said that the tires. were all right and then out of the second out of nowhere he's got a puncture so this isn't uh their fault botas again shouldn't have been in the position he was in he should have been running in the same strategy that hamerton was running and fighting up there in the top two or three for staff was able to cut through as we saw botas should have been able to emulate something pretty similar and once again bogs down in traffic in the midfield can't cut through like his teammate has shown he can and he's out of the points he's out of the race um it wasn't really good enough at the start and then unfortunately it just unraveled from there the puncher not their fault i don't

think. Yeah, I'm going to be kind to Mercedes here and I don't necessarily think it was their fault either. Yeah, like you say, with all of these tire punctures, it's not as if it was a slow degradation to the point of can they hold on, can they hold on? Ah, it's gone. In nearly every single one of these circumstances, it was, tires fine, tires fine, bang, tires gone. Oh, okay. It really did seem like that. Particularly, yeah, with the Nicholas Latifie one, which, by the way, in terms of, where it happened. God, such bad luck. Couldn't have happened at a worse point. Yeah, if you want,

if you're going to have a tire puncture, have it in the third sector. But yeah, really tough for him. So yeah, I actually, one thing I do disagree on, I think he would have got P3. I think Bottas would have got P3. Given how much longer he went on that stint,

he would have had fresher tires at the end of the race. He was about 19 seconds. He probably has five seconds or so to make up. on the Perez Alonzo scrap, but with significantly fresh attires, I think he could have done it, particularly with how much we saw Alonzo struggling at the end.

Perez then has to make the decision, does he also try and hang out on a one-stop, which could have caused the issues, or does he do a two-stop, in which case I think Bottas beats him. So, yeah, I think Bottas, a P3 was definitely on the cards. Maybe they just pushed their luck by one or two laps. Ultimately, I think they were,

they were weirdly undone by Perez's lack of progress in that second part of the race. The apparel has made a lot of good overtakes in the first part of the race. But actually, even on fresher tires, Bottas was able to do a relatively good job on those hard tires to keep that gap around 18, 19 seconds. If anything, Bottas was actually extending that margin ever so slightly, even with that deficit. So, yeah, I think overall that's probably what prompt. did Mercedes to keep going. It's like, well, the gap's increasing. Might as well, you know, might as well keep going. And that's why I can't really blame them. If Botas was losing two seconds per

lap and he ends up getting a puncture, it's like, well, that's probably a sign the tyres were going, isn't it? But it wasn't like that. His pace was still very strong, even up until the point of having that puncture. So I won't blame Mercedes for this one. But even so, it's a tough one to take because now is pretty much even Stevens for the next two rounds in the constructors at least. There's a really strong chance, isn't there? That we're going to see a possible victory of the driver's championship

in a different car to the winner of the constructors. It really could go either way at any moment for these two teams in the last. A DNF could literally decide anything right now. Yeah. Yeah, I mean that's it. I mean, Max Verstappen could win the championship in the next round.

If Lewis Hamilton, Lewis Hamilton DNFs, the staff and goes on to win the race, that's it, championship done without going to a decider. So, yeah, D&F would be, regardless of which side it came from at this point, it would be utterly crucial. Oh, God. Don't, I don't want to think about that now,

because I'm really exciting for the last few races, and I feel like that can absolutely jinx everything. I mean, from a neutral point of view, I think jenks of button saying it in the post-race interviews, this is one of the best title fights we've ever seen. um i haven't decided through a dnf on the you know pre-ultimate race would be absolutely heartbreaking but the crazy thing is the same thing i've happened to hamilton right it was his teammate that went out of the race that's just how vulnerable actually you think it is i think harry's just got in touch to say it's the best

championship fight since villeneuve and schumacher in 97 because of course it went the way of vilnerve but yeah you're absolutely right and for the record it's perfectly fine us saying a dnf would ruin things as we know, and as you know, having seen our bold prediction from earlier, we get everything wrong. Everything. It doesn't matter that we can't jinx things. It's not possible. If anything, we unjinks.

You want us to predict stuff because it won't happen. Yeah. So it's not going to be a title fight, ladies and Jets. It's going to be decided next time out. And Abu Dhabi is going to be pointless. That's how it will go down. I swear to God if we get this right now, if this is the one thing, all podcast ever that we get right, I'm going to cry.

I think everyone in the F1 community would be after us. I mean, you insulted the whole world last time then. They probably already are. True. Yeah, that's a good point, actually. That implies that they're not already against us, which is wish we think... There's a reason why our locations are not disclosed. Yes, that's true.

And we won't disclose it now. We'll save it for a time where people are... It's good books. We might be in Alonzo's good books because we're going to discuss him next as our last topic. So Fernando Alonzo, first podium in seven years, just over seven years. Hungary 2014 was the last time he was there. Bit of a long time. So back on the podium at 40 years old, we know he's going to be there in F1 next year.

How much more do you think Alonzo has to give in F1? How much more has he got? Seven years is crazy, isn't it? I was finishing off my A-level starting university seven years ago, and now I am decrepit and old and miserable. How much has Fernando Alonso got left to give? I don't think Fernando will ever be the Fernando of old. You know, that Ferrari season against Vettel,

I don't think we'll ever see that level of prowess ability ever again. But there is still more than enough of that, you know, that juice that Fernando runs on, to make him incredibly exciting, incredibly fun to watch, and to still produce these results. It's not the first time he's come incredibly close to a podium, as Ben listed off several results earlier on, and his first season alone.

Took him a couple of races to get settled, and he even swore on his post-race interview about how much he's waited for this, how much he's enjoying coming back to Formula One and performing again. He's loving it. He's such a racer through and through. I don't think he ever wants to stop racing. He's still out driving Okon.

He's still outperforming a lot of the grid. He's still scoring so many points, and today they completely outshon, now for Tauri, 25 points clear of them now and they came in level on the start of the race weekend, which is big stuff for Alpine.

If I also can carry this on, this level of performance for another 12 months, I think Alpine's decision to keep him and to bring him into the team will have paid off massively. I think he'll give great tutoring to younger drivers and to Ocon.

I think he'll help develop the team and, you know, coach the team. Brilliantly, the culture there seems really, really positive. It doesn't seem like he's burning bridges like he has done previously with other teams. We are seeing, I think, about 75, 80% of the Philando of old. And the same with Lewis Hamilton, I think Max Verstappen and Michael Schumacher. When you take 75%, 80% of one of the best drivers ever,

they are still better than a lot of the current grid or other grids that they can have been put on. So if I get to see a 75% Fernando Alonkso for another two seasons, I am very, very happy. I don't think he's wasting a seat, unlike maybe a few other drivers up and down the grid, maybe are overstaying their welcome. For me, Fernando is still doing more than enough

to be worthy of a place on this grid. And I hope it stays for another couple of seasons. I think he could do it. You referred to that battle with Alfa Tauri and how Alpine, they came in level into this Grand Prix and Alpine had a great day, 25 points to their names, nothing for Alfa Tauri.

So a really big swing in that championship fight. And you've got to, you know, as one of the senior figures of Alpine, just look at those figures and say, thank goodness we made the decision to get Alonzo for this year because there were a lot of question marks about it. At his age, given the number of years he was out of F1, would it be the right decision?

I know I was fully Team Alonzo from the start in terms of him getting that spot, but a lot of people weren't. And it was a question, should they go for a rookie? They've got a great academy. They've got a couple of drivers really coming up. We know Guan Yu-Juo is going to be in F1 next year. Piaastri, a lot of people have called out for him

and I still think he is worthy of a seat in F1 but there were a lot of questions going into the year who should get that seat and ultimately it was Alonzo and really you look at the championship fight now you look at how many points Alonzo's accumulated and you say well yeah good call because he has still, if not all of it he's still got a lot of it as you've already said

75% 80% that might be quite accurate in terms of the overall Fernando Alonzo potential what he's got left to give is anyone's guess. It's, as with most drivers and most cars, it's going to be dependent on the machinery at his disposal. Is he going to have a car next year that is capable of getting regular podiums? Is he going to have a car that is worse off this year compared to this year?

We just don't know at this point in time. So a lot of it will be decided by that. But based on what we've seen this year, based on Hungary specifically based on today. He's someone you want on your side. He's not someone you want. He's one of those drivers. You don't want to race.

You don't want to be side by side with him. You don't want to have the task of overtaking him. He's one of those guys where you'd rather have him in your camp than someone else's camp. He's such a fighter. He's such a, and his intelligence has come out so many. He's racing IQ, I guess you could call it. That's come out so many times. this year and that will stay that doesn't really go so that's going to be very useful for the next

year and potentially going forward i'm really fascinated to see what he can do going forward because it's almost uncharted territory or maybe not quite uncharted but it's territory that no driver has really come up to for a long time if we think of drivers at his age kimmy rikinen is without a doubt as good as i think kimmy rikens has had a good year i know i'm in the minority in that but he's not the driver that he once was. He's not the world champion of 2007. He's not the great driver of 05. So, you know, even though they're similar ages,

he's not there anymore. The last driver in his 40s to race in F1 before that, you've got to go back to Schumacher, who, you know, after his time away, just wasn't the same as he was when he was winning championships. Being successful in your early 40s in F1 is not a trait we've seen in a long time. You probably have to go back to the sort of mid-90s,

early mid-90s when Prost and Mansell were winning championships in their late 30s, early 40s. But realistically, they both had dominant cars with which they won the championship, which Alonzo probably isn't going to have. So if he can still be a great driver for the next couple of years at his age, that almost opens the door for other people at his age to be given a chance.

And then that also enables us to answer the question, is it just Alonzo's greatness? Or can drivers, when they get to that age, still be competitive in a more general setting, rather than just in an Alonzo setting? I'm really interested to see. Something that I've also noticed, just on Fulando Alonkso, is a lot of the newcomers of the sport who have come through Drive to survive or have turned up in the hybrid era where Alonso obviously was in that struggling McLaren and then retired. They have a different impression of Alonso as to what some of us who have watched Formula One

for 20, 25 years. That makes me sound very old. You know, I know that you do, and I work as well, I put Fernando Alonso in my top 10 of all time, considering he's only a two-time world champ, everyone did the dance. I think there's a lot of people who have won more titles than him that maybe I would put alongside if not better than. So I think we're starting to say he came out of the first. woodwork, a lot of the new entrants to the Formula One fan base, seeing Fernando Alonxo and enjoy

Fernando Alonso. And if you're interesting, folks, link is down in the description, are going, oh my God, I love Fernando Alonkso. I didn't know he was capable of doing this. I knew he was once good. And I think they compare him to Kimi Riking, what Kimi Riking is doing now, which isn't amazing. He was once brilliant. He's not so much anymore. And Fernando is just delivering and delivering and delivering. I think a lot of newcomers are falling in love with that Nando, you know, that cheeky boy that we all love. So it's good to see that he's still got that, that charm and that 4D IQ that he's able to deliver on a race trap because he really is a special talent. And, you know, a few, folks, if you don't know, if you are new, go check out some of the

stats of Fernando's championships. A few things go a different way. And Fernando could easily be the most, or one of the most successful races of all time. So he's still bringing it. And I think he still can bring it. It's great that he's able to pick up a podium. Yeah, absolutely brilliant day for him. Brilliant day for Hamilton as well. Championship is close two rounds to go. We're going to be back for more podcasts as we get towards the end of the season. And we'll be back next Wednesday as well on an off week.

First time in a while, end of the triple header. But Sam, if you wouldn't mind, for now, getting us out of here. I would much rather have a quintuplet header. Is that the right word? I don't know. But I want five now. I just want Saudi Arabia. I just want Abidabie. If you could give it to me tomorrow,

I mean, they're quite close. They could drive there in a few hours, can't they? Just set up, do it in the week. I think it's rude otherwise. As Harry isn't here, I'm going to laugh at him and say that he's probably watching Jack Vilner, somewhere in Italy, I believe he is. He's absolutely loving that.

So, folks, if you are loving that idea, subscribe to the podcast, get the follow button, join the Discord. Hang over to Twitter at El Breaking. We're there all the time. And, of course, we will be here midweek for a, an off week, which is very, very sad, and then we'll be back again the week after

for the preview for the very first Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. So it's all spicing up. Maybe we'll get a little bit more gandot to smash chili, just in there, just to make me a little bit more fun. In the meantime, folks, I've been sad to see. And I've been then, hockey, and remember, keep breaking late. I've got nothing funny to say at the end. Yeah, all right, man.

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